Upon inspecting the dark opening in the cavern wall, the adventurers found a tunnel leading downward at a fairly steep incline. They followed the passage down for several hundred feet, until the slope finally flattened out and continued more or less at the level. There were several branching channels along the way, and they explored every one. Each of them ended up in a small chamber, many of which contained a few goblin grunts and marauders. Taking them by surprise, the party had little difficulty dispatching those isolated groups whenever they encountered them.

Eventually the quartet’s dark-adapted eyes detected a glowing light coming from the passage ahead. Creeping cautiously forward, they found themselves looking into an open cavern area that was roughly twice the size of the one where they’d fought with Zajet. Multiple groups of marauders wandered around the interior, ostensibly walking patrol, but the activity in the center held most of their attention.

In the middle of the room hung a naked gray-haired woman, bound and gagged, suspended by her ankles from a tall wooden tripod, and hanging head down over a small iron cauldron. The mouth of the cauldron glowed and bubbled with an eerie orange-yellow light, even though there was no fire lit beneath it. Nearby stood a large goblin warrior, dressed in copper chainmail and with an iron breastplate covering his chest. A thick iron helmet that looked like some sort of horned animal covered his head, a short sword hung at his side, and a shield rested on the ground near him. Another, much smaller goblin dressed in tattered and stained robes stood next to the old woman holding a wicked-looking, jagged dagger.

The two goblins watched intently as the robed one reached up with the dagger and made a shallow cut on the woman’s neck. She writhed and twisted at the wound, showing that she was still alive. A small line of bright blood welled up from the cut and trickled across the woman’s face, finally dripping off into the pot below. Each drop that fell made orange sparks fly up out of the pot and crackle crazily around the trio like angry little fireflies.

Niko studied the two goblins carefully, and then requested identifications on them.

Akk, goblin decimator, Boss, 9th lvl

Special abilities:

Able to see in complete darkness

Whirling Death

Temporary Physical Damage Immunity

Special Weakness:

Bright Light

Yargh, goblin shaman, Mini-boss, 7th lvl

Special abilities:

Able to see in complete darkness

Spells

Special Weakness:

Bright Light

“Well, this doesn’t look so good — but I’d say we found meemaw,” Kristius whispered, ”My ass is already feeling feeling sore from the kicking it’s about to get.”

Niko ran a hand over his head as he surveyed the room, “OK, first things first — let’s deal with those wandering mobs before we worry about the bosses,” he said in a low-pitched tone, “We’ll do it similar to what we did last time, except that we don’t have any hidey-holes close enough to duck into. Kristius, you bait them out here to the main tunnel and keep ‘em busy. I’ll try to be a shadow on the wall out here until you go by, and come up behind them after they pass. Hopefully, if you piss them off bad enough, they’ll ignore me when I pop up. Lucius, blast away at any opportunity, and Arabella — well, you already know what to do. Maybe not the best plan in the world, but hey, let’s see how it works out.” He got a couple of nods and a shrug in reply, and figured that was good enough.

Niko crept silently down the hallway towards the grotto. He froze as one of the wandering groups passed by the opening, but they moved on without any sign that they’d seen him. He found a shallow niche in the wall about ten feet back from the entrance, and pressed himself back into it, trying to think invisible thoughts.

Kristius exchanged his great axe for the smaller hatchets and moved up to the cavern entrance. Awaiting his best chance, he stood motionless until one of the wandering groups of three marauders drew near him and none of the others were close by. With a speed surprising in such a large man, he burst into motion like a predatory cat on the hunt. He shoulder slammed into one of the guards, drove one of his hatchets into the arm of the second, and used the other hatchet to club the third goblin in the side of the head. Then he turned on his heel and vanished back into the tunnel as quickly as he’d appeared.

Niko watched in silence as the enraged goblins pulled themselves together, snarling what he idly imagined must surely be horrible goblin curse words, and ran after Kristius with fury blazing on their grotesque faces. He pushed back harder and tried to become one with the wall, but the monsters only had eyes for Kristius and ran right by him without a glance. He jumped out and sprinted after them, catching up just as the first goblin reached Kristius, who had stopped and turned to wait for them.

Niko ran up behind the rearmost goblin and reached up over its head, grabbing its face and driving his fingers into its eye sockets as if the creature’s skull was a bowling ball. He yanked back on the head as he simultaneously kicked its legs out from under it, slamming the back of its head into the ground with crushing force. He dropped one knee on its throat with all his weight, and drove his dagger into its chest several times, and the creature quit struggling.

A wave of heat washed over him as the second guard burst into flames, and Kristius was still trading blows with the first one. From his kneeling position, Niko reached forward and slashed the burning goblin behind the knee, hamstringing it. It flopped to the floor, writhing, and he shoved his dagger into the side of its neck, ending it. Just as Niko jumped to his feet, Kristius pulled one of his hatchets from the top of the last goblin’s head and let the body fall to the ground.

The combat log reported 273 experience points gained, with only a few points of damage on Kristius. Arabella gave an exaggerated yawn and mimed filing her fingernails.

“Dude, we’re getting seriously good! Like, mostly no damage taken good!“ Kristius gloated as he looted the corpses.

Niko glanced back over his shoulder toward the main room, ”Enjoy it while you can, Goblin Chopper, but I don’t think it's gonna last.”

Kristius looked at Niko in admonishment and shook his head, ”That’s like real Debby Downer talk, and I would know ‘cause I knew her. She was in my advanced calculus class in school, always talking negative, y’know? Still, she was good to cheat off of, since she was like the best one in the whole class.”

Niko stared blankly at Kristius, ”You knew Debby Downer?”

“Well yeah, except she didn’t call herself Debby Downer, she said her name was Samantha McClusky, but she talked negative so much that I knew better.”

Niko hung his head and walked back toward the boss room muttering under his breath, “Why do I do this to myself?”

It took the four players most of a couple of hours to lure the rest of the wandering mobs out of the cavern, including another break back in one of the smaller alcoves to rest and recharge. By the time they’d cleared the room, leaving only the two bosses, they had gained an additional 1456 experience points.

Up till now, the goblin leaders had ignored what was happening in the room behind them, intent only on slowly bleeding out Meemaw and whatever it was that was happening in the small cauldron. The adventurers stood at the entrance in silence for some time, just scanning the room.

“Noplace to hide or use for cover in there,” Arabella observed.

“Yeah, I ain’t worried about tanking the main boss, but that shammie has me sweating. He’s kind of like a wild card, and needs to go quick as possible,” Kristius said, scratching at his beard, ”And I think one of those gobbo dudes gave me fleas.” He cocked an eyebrow at Niko, ”So, just charge in swinging and see what happens?”

Niko shrugged, ”Don't see a lot of options. You and I will go up the middle, with you taking Akk and me on Yargh. Lucius just keeps hammering the shaman, and Arabella stays at the edge of healing range. I have no strategy better than that.” He looked around the group, “Anyone?” No one answered, and he turned back to face the cave. ”Then let’s go bust some heads.” And with that, Niko and Kristius charged.

As they rushed in to the cavern, Akk turned and looked at them. He smiled — a grotesque expression of blood lust on that inhuman face — drew his sword, and picked up his shield. Noticing Akk’s sudden activity, Yargh turned to see them coming. He uttered something unintelligible in a guttural language, stomped one foot, then stood patiently with his arms crossed over his chest and a sneer on his lips.

As he closed on the big goblin warrior, Kristius brought his axe around in a powerful stroke, putting all his momentum, weight, and strength behind it. Akk effortlessly deflected the blow with his shield, instantly counter-attacking with a powerful slash of his sword. Kristius threw himself over the sword in a diving roll, coming to his feet behind his adversary, and swung a strong backhand strike at the goblin’s knee. The warrior dodged aside and took the hit on his thigh instead, staggering him back a step, but the axe blade bounced off of him with no apparent effect. Kristius scrambled around to face the creature in a defensive crouch, axe at the ready. The goblin shook his unhurt leg, then looked at Kristius with a grisly, sharp-toothed smile.

“Fuck my life… Ah, that would be a big checkola on the immunity to physical damage bit!” was all the fighter could manage to say before the goblin boss launched his own attack.

Niko dashed at the shaman and sprang into the air, activating both Stone Fist and Focus Energy, hoping to overwhelm the mini-boss with a single overpowering blow, but instead he suddenly slammed headlong into an unseen solid barrier with crushing force. Dazed to the verge of consciousness, he fell back and collapsed to the ground in a senseless heap. Shaking his head and trying frantically to pull his wits together, he looked up just in time to see the shaman throw his hands up, palms forward, and release a wave of crackling green energy at him. It engulfed Niko in a sizzling tide of pain, causing his muscles to spasm and cramp uncontrollably and rendering him wholly incapable of movement. The agony of it was absolutely staggering. Screaming, he convulsed helplessly as his health gauge began to plummet, swiftly dropping below fifty percent.

As he watched his life bar drop yet a few more points, he’d begun to fear that his part in this adventure was swiftly coming to a close, when suddenly the juddering pain ended and the energy field released its crippling grip on him. Gasping in ragged breaths, he managed to focus his eyes, and saw the shaman lurch back from a barrage of fire bolts. The fiery blasts weren’t breaking through the goblin’s shield, but the force of the magical energy pounding against the barrier sent the creature reeling back and pulled its attention away from Niko.

Clambering shakily to his feet, Niko felt a blissful wave of healing warmth wash over him, easing the pain in his quivering muscles and boosting his life bar back up to 74%. He moved gingerly forward, one hand stretched out in front of him, until he had located the invisible wall. Having found it, he reactivated his Stone Fist ability and began pummeling the shield with his heaviest blows in the hopes that the magical barrier had a fixed amount of damage it could absorb before collapsing. Just as if his thoughts had conjured the reality, the air in front of the shaman suddenly became riddled with cracks, like broken glass, and shattered into flashing shards that tinkled to the ground and faded from sight. The shaman screamed in pain and clapped his hands to his head, as the feedback of arcane energy from the broken spell hit him.

Not wanting to give the spellcaster a chance to recover, Niko dropped down into a spinning side kick, sweeping the shaman’s legs out from under it. The creature hit the floor ass-first, and Niko pulled his dagger and leapt on top of it, knee in its chest, gripping its throat with one hand while driving the dagger towards the monster’s eye with the other. The shaman grabbed Niko’s wrist and, with an unexpected show of strength, held the blade back — and even managed to push it away a bit. Grunting with effort, Niko threw his full weight behind the dagger, making it creep back down toward the goblin’s face again — only to be sent abruptly flying off to the side by a savage kick in the ribs.

Niko howled at the sudden burst of pain as he rolled up to his feet, clutching his injured ribs. As stars swam in his vision, a calm corner of his mind noted that his health was now at 42%. He looked back and saw Akk yank the shaman bodily to his feet by the neck of his robe. Several fire bolts slammed into the big goblin’s back, setting him ablaze, but he just snarled and didn't show much other reaction. On the other side of the two monsters, Niko spotted Kristius climbing groggily to his feet, shaking his head and looking disoriented.

Gritting his teeth against the pain, Niko charged at the goblins. He leapt up precisely between the two, kicking the shaman in the head while simultaneously kicking the decimator in the chest. Even as he landed, gasping from the sharp daggers of anguish in his side, he had to congratulate himself on the skill of pulling off a maneuver like that.

While the shaman was sent staggering back with a bloody nose from the kick, the decimator didn't even budge. He brought up his shield and turned with Niko as he passed, and shield-bashed the monk with a bone-crushing broadside as soon as he landed on his feet. Niko went flying to the side and came down hard, sliding across the floor on his back, broken, bleeding, and barely alive.

As luck would have it, he slid to a stop nearly at Arabella’s feet. Her face was drawn and pinched with exhaustion, and she was barely standing herself, but she reached deep and somehow summoned the reserves to revive Niko back up to the halfway mark on his health bar, after which she collapsed to her knees, panting heavily. He climbed heavily to his feet, his ribs still a persistent ache, and turned determinedly back to the battle. Kristius had recovered from being stunned, and was now pushing the decimator hard to keep him occupied. The shaman was just preparing to hit him with a spell when he was interrupted by a gout of flame that washed over him and quickly extinguished. Snarling, the goblin magic-user shifted his stance and threw a green bolt of energy at Lucius that took him completely off his feet and had him twitching and jerking helplessly on the ground.

“We have got to get that boy some more spells,” he muttered under his breath, as he prepared to go after the shaman again.

“Cut me down, I can help!” Niko looked up, startled, and saw that the old woman had worked the gag out of her mouth and was squirming around, trying to loosen the ropes binding her. Niko spotted the dagger he had dropped earlier, grabbed it, and ran over to the tripod. He kicked the cauldron out of the way, sending eerie orange sparks flying as it slid across the floor, and slashed at the rope suspending the woman in the air, while at the same time trying to ease her down gently — which only ended up with them both landing on the floor in an embarrassing heap.

Cursing, Niko managed to get out from under the naked woman and cut the ropes binding her hands, when suddenly his muscles locked up in agonizing spasms as the shaman hit him with the green lightning again. He watched through pain-filled eyes as Meemaw untied her legs and climbed to her feet, grunting with the effort. She uttered some peculiar, guttural-sounding words, and launched a glowing globe of yellow light at the shaman. It hit him with a soundless explosion and sent him flying across the room, where he hit a wall with a loud impact and slid down it to the ground. Meemaw stalked towards the fallen goblin with vengeance in her eyes, uncaring of her nakedness, forming another globe of yellow light between her hands as she went.

Kristius was bleeding from multiple cuts, but he’d been giving as good as he got — the decimator was bleeding from several wounds as well. Lucius, shaky but back on his feet after the attack from the shaman, grimly sent bolts of fire blazing against the goblin fighter, but the flames died out as quickly as they hit, doing little damage. Taking Kristius by surprise, the decimator suddenly bellowed something unintelligible and started whirling around in place like a deadly green spinning top. He extended his sword as he spun, and sliced the human warrior numerous times before the big man could dodge out of the way. Kristius’ health bar plunged alarmingly down into the red.

Steeling himself, Niko moved up closer to the boss goblin. He gauged his timing as best he could, leapt forward into the dervish of blade and muscle, and desperately wrapped his arms around the creature. He took several hits from the sword in the process, dropping his life bar into the yellow zone, but he managed to pin the monster’s shield arm tight against its side. He activated his Focus Energy and Immovable Object abilities and locked the goblin in place, bringing its lethal whirlwind to an abrupt standstill. Niko held on with grim determination while the decimator used its free sword arm to elbow him in the head repeatedly, trying to dislodge the troublesome human. Niko’s health gauge dropped a little further with each blow, edging from yellow down to red.

Kristius didn’t waste the opportunity Niko had bought. He drove a two-handed roundhouse swing of his axe into the goblin’s thick neck, sending a fountain of blood spurting from the wound, then whirled the weapon back around in a 360 degree arc and struck the other side of the creature’s neck. Akk dropped his sword and clapped his hand to his throat with a strangled gargling cry, lurching back on unsteady feet. Screaming with fury, Kristius swung the axe up and over his head with all of his remaining strength, and delivered a piledriver blow to the top of the goblin’s head, driving it to its knees. Niko released his hold, hopped back, and launched a standing side kick into the decimator’s back, pitching it forward onto its face. Gritting his teeth with the effort, Kristius hammered another overhead stroke down on the back of the monster’s head, cleaving through both the helmet and the skull beneath. Akk was dead.

Niko — dazed, exhausted, and wobbling on his feet — turned around to help Meemaw with the shaman, only to find said monster encased in a fist of living stone rising up out of the ground. He watched transfixed as Meemaw strode up to the stone fist and faced the goblin eye-to-eye. The battered creature whimpered, squirming to escape the rocky grasp, and Meemaw sneered at it as she raised her own fist up in its view, clenching it slowly tighter. As she clenched her fist, so also did the stone fist begin to squeeze more tightly around the goblin. It uttered a pitiful wail as its bones crunched and snapped with a stomach-twisting noise that could be distinctly heard throughout the cavern, making the adventurers wince and blanch. With a final squeeze of her hand, she caused the fist to crush the remaining life out of the shaman, then let it open to drop a pulped and unrecognizable body to the floor. The old woman turned and regarded the four of them with a look that was every bit the vindicated predator.

You have gained 1300 experience points (1000 + 30% bonus)

Congratulations! You have gained a level!

Kristius gulped audibly, “Dude, if you decide to fight her, you’re on your own,” he whispered to Niko.

“I second that,” Arabella whispered from behind him. Even though he couldn’t see it, Niko was pretty sure that Lucius was nodding his head in agreement.

“No death wish here, guys, let's just play nice and hope she got the ‘pissed off’ out of her system,” Niko replied quietly, as he started across the floor toward the waiting Meemaw.

”Thanks! That shaman was about to do me in! I’m Niko, the big bearded guy there is Kristius, the lady is Arabella, and that quiet one is Lucius.”

Meemaw glanced back at the mangled goblin and spit on the floor, “No thanks needed, young man, I owed that little bastard a lot more pain than what he got.” She favored Niko with a matronly smile, ”In fact, I need to thank you. If you hadn’t’a shown up, I’d still be hanging up there. That little bugger Yargh made himself some ropes that he enchanted so I could only get free if someone released me, and that whole damn’ blooding ritual was getting to be a serious pain!” She proffered a hand, “And you can call me Shalee, or Meemaw if you prefer.”

Niko took the lady’s hand and shook it, studiously ignoring her lack of clothing, “Um, nice to meet you, Shalee. Timm was the one who sent us here. He left a message pleading for help back in the village, which I found, so my friends and I decided to come see what we could do.”

Shalee made a sour face, “Hmph, you're from the village? Surprised ya concerned yourself with me, then. Most folks in the village would prefer I dried up and blew away.” She crossed her arms over her breasts, ”But you’uns came out of the goodness of your hearts, I suppose?” she asked in a derisive tone.

Niko”s temper flared, ”Yes ma’am, as a matter of fact we did,” he replied heatedly. “I was raised to judge people on their own merits, so whatever beef the village has with you is their problem. A boy asked for help, and we helped. The only thing we were offered was that you might be able to teach my friend Lucius here a few new spells. His spell knowledge is pretty limited, and he could really use some training. If you can help and want to, that’s great. If not,” he jerked his shoulders in a shrug, “then we’ll collect whatever we can find here and be on our way.” Niko turned away and stalked over to the fallen boss’s body to search for treasure.

“Well I’ll be, an idealist! Here to right the wrongs in the world!” Meemaw chuckled, ”I didn't think there was any of you left.” She fixed him with a sharp glower, “Ya need to be a little less touchy, boy, could be the end of you someday.” She turned to Lucius, who took a step back, staring at her with wide eyes, ”So ya wanna learn new magic, hmmm? Ok, sonny, let's teach you some magic then.” She marched up and grabbed Lucius by the shirt sleeve, pulled him over to the tripod where she had been hanging, and pointed at the cauldron that Niko had kicked aside earlier. ”That be-damned goblin was distilling the magical essence from my blood. In that there cauldron is a small bit of my knowledge — not much, mind you, since I was resisting the little bastard the whole time, but enough for you to get a little something from it. You want spells? Then drink it. If it don’t kill ya, you’ll have what you’re after.” Lucius hesitated, doubt on his face as he eyed the thick, viscous orange liquid in the pot. The old woman scoffed at him, ”You’ll never amount to much if ya don’t have nerve, boy.” She turned away and began pulling clothing out of a crude wooden box near the tripod.

The other players surrounded Lucius and looked down into the cauldron.

“Whoa!” Arabella pinched her nose shut, ”Lu, are you sure you want to learn that bad? That smells like rotten socks mixed with dog crap!”

“Aw, it's not that bad,” Kristius responded, ”I remember one time, at band camp, we had a lunch that smelled so bad even the bugs wouldn't touch it! It was like seriously horrible! You can't even imagine, and we were supposed to eat it. We didn't — well, except for that one kid named Mikey.”

Arabella glanced sideways at the fighter, “Oh, you play an instrument? What one?” she inquired.

“Nope, can't play a thing,” Kristius replied, still looking in the pot.

“But, you were at band camp?” Arabella asked, confused.

“Well yeah, how else would I know about the lunch?” Kristius answered, in a tone as if that explained everything.

Niko rolled his eyes, shaking his head, and then squeezed Lucius’ shoulder, ”Your call, compadre. Maybe some free spells.”

Lucius glanced over at Niko, then looked uncertainly back at the cauldron. He took a deep breath, screwing up his courage, and reached down to pick up the cauldron. Surprisingly, it was cool to the touch, even though the curious liquid inside continued to bubble and spark. The stench was eye-watering, and Lucius held his breath as he tipped the pot up to his lips and chugged down the noxious draught before he had a chance to change his mind. His friends watched in horror as Lucius flung the cauldron to the ground, his eyes blazing with orange energy, and fell to his hands and knees. His back arched and he retched as he tried to vomit the concoction back up, but he produced only a thick orange mucus, streaked pink with blood. Lucius’ health bar began a steady decline, while Arabella cast healing spells on him as fast as she could summon energy to do so.

“What the hell did you do to him, lady?” Kristius roared. Eyes blazing in anger, he raised his axe threateningly.

Meemaw, now clad in a worn dress and a weathered cloak, shrugged nonchalantly, “Gave him what he wanted. Magic always comes with a price — if he’s strong enough, his price will be a few moments of discomfort. If not, it’ll be his life.” She faced the enraged warrior without fear.

After several tense minutes, Lucius fell over onto his side, chest heaving as he gulped great mouthfuls of air, and the freakish orange glow faded slowly from his eyes. Eventually, his breathing evened out, and his health bar climbed gradually back up to full. Dropping to her knees beside him, an exhausted Arabella helped the mage sit up.

“You ok?” she asked, concern on her face, as she supported him with a hand on his back.

Lucius closed his eyes for a moment, pain still etched in the lines of his face. Finally, he opened them and looked up into her face, and nodded wearily.

Niko watched Lucius anxiously for a bit, but when it seemed that the mage had recovered, he asked, ”Well, did it work?”

Lucius looked up at him, and a broad smile slowly supplanted the weariness on his face as he nodded and held up three fingers.

“Three new spells?”

Lucius nodded again, triumphantly this time, as Arabella helped him clamber to his feet. Swaying on his feet for a moment, he steadied his balance and uttered a series of arcane words, ending with a slashing motion of his hand at the ground just beside where Niko stood. A ten foot by ten foot area of the stone floor shimmered and pulsed weirdly, and when the effect subsided the stone had become a puddle of thick, gooey mud.

The mage then turned to point at the wooden tripod. He gesticulated in odd patterns with his fingers while he uttered another series of unfamiliar words, and Niko felt cool air brush across his skin as a rime of ice formed on the base of the tripod legs. The coat of blue-white crystals crept slowly upward to the top of the structure, until the entire thing was encased in sparkling ice.

Lucius grinned over his shoulder and winked at Niko, then faced Kristius with hands upraised. He spoke another mystic phrase, clapped briskly twice, and threw his hands out in a pushing motion. A powerful gust of wind blasted the big man and sent him reeling back several steps, where he teetered just at the edge of the mudhole before Lucius dropped his hands and let the gale die away. The mage looked back at Niko again with a huge smile on his face.

“Very cool! You're no longer a one trick pony!” Niko exclaimed, clapping him on the shoulder, ”So it was worth it, then?”

Lucius’ smile faded, and he solemnly held up one hand and waggled it back and forth. He mimed reading a book and pointed to his head, then clapped both hands over his stomach with a nauseated look on his face.

“Ok, fine… we’ll buy the spells next time,” Niko said, grinning at the expression of relief on the mage’s face.

“Dude! I didn't know you knew sign language! Being bilingual is awesome! Though I’m curious why it’s called sign language when you use your hands instead of signs?” Kristius said, with a look of perplexity on his face. Lucius and Niko both looked at him, and then at each other before finally shaking their heads in unison.

Niko addressed the group, “Ok, let’s search the other bodies and sweep the room. We’ll see what we can find.” The team split up, rummaging through the piles of detritus scattered around the room, while Meemaw looked on with an air of studied disinterest. All in all, they found some weapons in good enough condition to be worth selling, the staff that had belonged to the shaman Yargh, the horned helm that Akk had worn, several small gems in a variety of colors, and a generous pile of coins. Kristius found a shoddy brass strongbox with a crude lock on it stashed in a pile of junk near the spot where Akk had been standing, and Niko handed him a small iron key that he had found on the goblin boss’s body. Kristius slipped the key into the slot, and there was a promising click from the lock as he turned it. He started to pull the lid open when Arabella stopped him with a cautionary hand on his wrist.

“Don’t you think it might be trapped?” she asked.

Kristius inspected the box carefully, turning it about in his big hands to examine it from all angles. “Nope,” he pronounced finally.

“You can detect traps?” she asked.

“Nope… ” he repeated. He turned his head and tilted it away from the box with his eyes scrunched closed, and quickly flipped the lid open. When nothing happened, he slowly opened one eye, and then the other, and then finally looked around at his companions’ angry faces with a big cheesy grin, ”...but I’m really good at setting them off!” Arabella bounced a tiny fist harmlessly off of his brawny shoulder.

They all peered inside the box to take stock of its contents.

Ring of the Warrior Gods

Occurrence: Rare

Durability: 1000/1000

+1 strength per every 3 levels

+1 constitution per every 3 levels

+1 damage per every 5 levels

Usable by warrior classes only

Bracelet of the Lich Kings

Occurrence: Rare

Durability: 1000/1000

+1 intelligence per every 3 levels

+1 wisdom per every 3 levels

+5% to spell damage

+5% to mana pool

Usable by arcane classes only

Amulet of Life

Occurrence: Rare

Durability: 1000/1000

+1 wisdom per every 3 levels

+5% to healing per every 3 levels

+5% to mana pool

5 points of damage absorption per every 3 levels

Usable by divine classes only

Pattern of the Ophidian

Occurrence: Rare

Durability: 10/10

Mystical tattoo template; the specific properties of the resultant tattoo are determined by the ink used in its creation

Usable by monk class only

In addition to those items, there was a small blue silk pouch nestled in the bottom of the box. When Kristius took it out and upended it into his hand, four dazzling white gems fell glittering into his palm.

“Diamonds?” Arabella whispered, ”Wow, the bonus for a first clear is amazing! And it looks like there’s a prize intended just for each one of us.” She took the amulet from Kristius and clasped it around her neck.

Lucius nabbed the bracelet and slid it on his wrist, while Kristius pushed the ring onto a sausage-sized finger. Niko looked down at the parchment, upon which an intricate-looking design was drawn, and grimaced.

“Anyone know a tattoo artist?”

“Oh yeah, dude! His name is Maurice, and he is epic! I got a tattoo of a dancing bear on my— ”

“In game, Kristius, in game,” Niko interrupted, hanging his head.

“Oh… sorry dude, no luck.”

Arabella looked up from admiring her amulet, “Maybe you could find one when we get out of the Hampton area and move on to Oppida, since it’s the center of commerce for this continent. Just bank it till then,” she suggested.

Niko turned to Meemaw hopefully, “I don’t suppose you…?”

The old woman snorted sardonically, “Phht! I could try it, but I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t like the results much.”

Disappointed, Niko shrugged, “Thought I’d ask. Timm is waiting outside. Shall we go meet him?”

Meemaw picked up a woven basket full of mushrooms that she’d recovered along with her clothing, and turned to hobble toward the exit. As soon as the group stepped out through the shimmering field covering the cave’s entrance, an iridescent banner unfurled in front of them:

Congratulations! You are the first adventurers to complete The Goblin’s Lair. Reward : 4800 experience points (3000+ 30% first completion bonus+ 30% pain bonus)

“Meemaw!” Timm screamed joyfully, as he scrambled out of the bushes where he’d been hiding. He dashed up to the old lady and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, nearly knocking her off balance in the process. He buried his face in her dress, babbling happily. “I’m so glad you’re okay! I was feared you was eaten by them goblins! I knew mister Nee-ko would find you, I just knew it!”

Several messages winked into view in rapid succession:

Congratulations! You have completed the quest Missing Meemaw.

Reward: 2600 experience(2000 base + 30% pain bonus), a special gift from Meemaw Cranton

Congratulations! You have gained a level!

Congratulations! You have achieved 10th level!

*Your class specialization trees have now been unlocked. Please choose your specialization carefully — once chosen, it cannot be changed.

*You are no longer bound to the starter town of Hampton and its surrounding area.

*You may now learn non-class skills.

*Once per day, you may recall to the life obelisk to which you are bound.

Meemaw draped a protective arm over Timm’s shoulder. “Well, I thank you youngsters. You helped Timm, and helped me, and for that you should be rewarded. Come on back to my house, and we’ll see what we can do. With Akk and his little shaman pet dead, the goblins won't be a problem again for a while, as there’ll be a lot of squabbling and infighting until a new leader takes over.” She gently disentangled the boy from her skirts and took his hand, and headed back through the woods towards her cottage, with Timm chattering merrily the whole way.

The trip back the Cranton home was uneventful — it seemed the goblins were unwilling to face the group, now that Meemaw was free again. Once back at her home, she seated the players around a rickety table, and busied herself making some tea. Timm followed her around like a lost puppy as she worked, touching her frequently as if to assure himself she was really there.

Arabella looked around at her companions and spoke in a low tone, “Ok, so now what? We can head out of the training area now, and learn trade skills,” she said, absently toying with her new amulet. ”Personally, I think I'm going to stick around until my brother is allowed back in the game, and help him get up to tenth level. He might be an azzle, but he is my little brother. And I might talk to Mrs Magen and see if she’ll teach me tailoring and cooking.”

Niko studied the rough tabletop for a few moments before looking up at his friends, ”I’m going to go ahead and move on.” Arabella looked somewhat doleful at his pronouncement. “For one thing, I want to see what my specialization has in store for me. On top of that, I want to pick up some skills in herbalism too. I'm not sure about a few of the ingredients in this recipe I have, and I have a hunch I'll need to know some herbalism to figure it out.” He hooked a thumb back at his pack, where he’d stowed the tattoo parchment, “And, of course, I also have to find a tattoo artist and see what this pattern does. Geez, can't anything I do just be simple and straightforward?” he grumped, rubbing a hand over his head.

Kristius grinned at him, “Joys of the class, oh mighty bald one. No armor, few weapons, few options. Still, you seem to be adapting to it okay. You’re no world-shaking warrior,” he said as he flexed an enormous bicep, ”but you do have a kind of quaint charm.”

“Gee, thanks for your generous praise,” Niko replied sourly, ”So, how about you?” he asked the big fighter.

“Hmm… well, I’ve kinda tossed my lot in with you, so I guess I’m moving on too. Besides, without me along, you’d be PK mincemeat,” Kristiius answered, still flexing his muscles.

Arabella gasped, “You’re going PK?” with a look of surprise on her face, ”Why?”

“The glory, the fame, all the hot chicks!” Kristius answered with an air of hauteur, “Plus, it’s kinda my thing. Been a PK in every game I’ve ever played, and baldy here wanted to try it out,” he said, before Niko could formulate a reply, ”I sure can’t let my favorite uncle go getting his ass kicked all on his own.”

Arabella furrowed a suspicious brow, looking from one to the other, “You’re related?”

“No!” Niko exclaimed in exasperation.

“Yeah well, Uncle Niko doesn’t like to admit it, but he took me under his wing while mom’s in the penal colony,” Kristius told her, shaking his head sadly, ”The rest of the family kind of disowned us after the ‘incident’,” he hooked his fingers to make quotation marks in the air, “Uncle Niko was the only one who stood up to the family for her.”

“Ohh, that is so wonderful of you, Niko!” Arabella said, placing a consoling hand on his arm, ”Sometimes families are the hardest on each other.”

“Yeah, thanks,” he growled through gritted teeth, while fixing Kristius with an evil stare. The big man seemed not to notice, as he was busily examining something caught under a fingernail. Niko turned his attention to the mage and firmly changed the subject, ”What about you, Lucius? Staying, or going with us? You’re a good hand in a scrap, and you’re sure welcome to come along, even if you don’t go PK.”

Lucius pursed his lips for a moment, and his eyes flickered briefly over at Arabella. ”Stay,” he pronounced.

Kristius sat forward in his chair, “Ok dude, why don't you talk, when you obviously can. I mean, you do spells, and every now and again you spout a word of great wisdom, so what’s up?” He leaned on his elbows, staring at the mage.

“Mysterious!” Lucius said with a big smile, waggling his eyebrows.

Kristius snorted a laugh, then caught himself and looked at Arabella with a serious expression, ”Wait a minute! Do women think mysterious guys are hot? I mean, would it work for me? I'm already brutally handsome, and there’s no question about my charm, so what do you think, huh?”

Arabella stared speechlessly at him for a short while, and then turned to Niko, ”Can we join back up with you two later? I mean, once my brother is tenth level, and if he promises not to be a complete sleemo? He really wants to PvP, but you pretty much showed him that he has no clue.”

Niko and Kristius exchanged looks, with the latter shrugging, ”It wouldn't hurt to have another fighter on board. Fodder for damage, and a group of PKs is less likely to get shanked than one or two alone.” He fixed Arabella with a stern look, ”but tell him not to get too attached to his equipment, since he’s going to lose something every time he dies — and he will die, probably a lot.” The fighter pulled a ring off his finger and tossed it to Arabella, ”Here, give this back to him, I didn’t really need the extra point of strength.”

“I’ll tell him, and I’ll tell you thanks for him,” she said, as she caught the bauble and put it in her bag. ”I’d like to add you guys to my friends list, if that’s ok?”

A message blinked up in Niko’s vision:

Arabella Starbright would like to add you to her friends list.

Accept? Yes/No

Niko had no sooner accepted the request when another message popped up:

Lucius Doombringer would like to add you to his friends list.

Accept? Yes/No

Niko cocked a sardonic brow at the mage as he accepted that one too, “‘Doombringer’? Isn’t that a popular Goth rock band?” Lucius ducked his head and shrugged sheepishly. ”So, you wanna PK?”

The mage considered the question for a minute, lips pursed in thought, then looked up at Niko and nodded.