It took just under an hour to reach the base of the tower, but I wasn’t prepared for what I saw. It was unlike any human architecture. There were no bricks, nails, or any other signs of human construction. It was almost as though the tower had simply grown that way. It really did resemble a tree in a number of ways. The rest of the group seemed eager to explore the interior, though, so I set aside my misgivings once again.
Inside, the layout seemed to be designed to confuse and disorient visitors. Could this have been some sort of fortification? As we looked around, I noticed that there were strange glowing fixtures in the ceiling that made it surprisingly bright. We wouldn’t need to bring torches.
Gunzar, our scout, spotted something moving, and we prepared for battle. The creature in question seemed to be made of some sort of slime. It had a semicylindrical body, and a pair of round black eyes. It seemed aggressive, but it was so weak that you couldn’t really call its pathetic lunges attacks. One of the men sliced it in half, and it disappeared into flecks of light just as the strange goblins had. Were those other creatures connected to this place? But before I could think much harder about the situation, we discovered many more of the slime-like creatures lurking in the corridors.
After killing around forty of the little blobs, we discovered a staircase leading to the floor above. It didn’t appear to be old or rotten, so we decided to climb up. There were more of the little blobs on the next floor. I may have been imagining it, but it seemed that these were more powerful than the ones on the ground floor. Perhaps we were just tired.
We made our way through the winding halls, and fought around twenty more of the creatures before we found another staircase. Thinking back on what had happened when we entered the second floor. I suggested that we take a break before exploring the third. We sat down to rest for a few minutes and shared our thoughts. Morale was high; the men were excited about the potential discoveries awaiting us. After our short respite, we ascended the stairs to the third floor.
It wasn’t my imagination. The creatures on the third floor were much stronger than the ones on the first floor had been. They all looked the same, but there was a clear difference in the way they fought. The strength difference wasn’t enough to make us struggle, but it did catch us by surprise. They were faster, hit harder, and were more difficult to kill, but fortunately there were fewer of them. I’d say we killed around fifteen of them before we found the next staircase.
I cautioned the men to be prepared for a tougher fight as we ascended the stairs to the fourth floor, and I was correct to do so. We kept a tight defensive formation as we fought the creatures on the fourth floor. Unfortunately, even though there were just as many of them as there had been on the previous floor, the fourth floor was much smaller than the rest, so we encountered enemies far more frequently. By the time we reached the stairs, the men were eager for a little rest. If this pattern continued, we could be in for a much more serious battle on the fifth floor.
As we sat there, I did my best to keep up morale, fully aware that the next floor could prove dangerous if we weren’t careful. We ate some of our provisions, stretching out the break a bit longer. Nothing attacked us while we waited there.
I wondered if each group of monsters had claimed a specific floor as their own territory. Perhaps they preferred high places, so only the strongest of them could live on the highest floor...
I sincerely hoped that wasn’t the case.
We were thrust into combat the moment we arrived on the fifth floor. There were ten of them this time, and it seemed almost like they had been waiting for us. Even though we were outnumbered two to one, the men performed admirably. These were indeed stronger opponents than the ones on the fourth floor, but the difference wasn’t that substantial. In truth, I was afraid there might be an even greater monster among them, but my fears proved to be unfounded. The battle was fierce, but I’m happy to say we didn’t lose a single man as we whittled away the enemy forces.
With all ten defeated, I silently prayed that the worst was over. If there was a stronger monster that ruled over all of these, it might be able to inflict some serious damage on our group.
I couldn’t help but think back to the remains of that armed bear we found.
Our search continued. We entered a large, open area. Most of the tower was made up of somewhat narrow hallways that made it difficult to fight, so this was a nice change of pace. In the middle of the room was a single wooden chest, trimmed with what appeared to be brass. The wood was stained a beautiful deep red color. The men were beside themselves with excitement. I must admit, I allowed myself to get a bit caught up in the moment as well. Here was a reward for our trials. We all gathered around to see what treasure might be inside.
The chest didn’t seem to be locked, and there were no signs of traps, so Gunzar, our scout, opened it without hesitation. Inside were ten identical bottles made of blue glass, filled with some sort of liquid. Each bottle had a stopper, presumably to keep the contents fresh and contained. All of us were puzzled. Gunzar passed two of them to each of us, but as he removed the last two for himself, we heard a soft click, followed by a loud metallic clang.
The chest was booby-trapped! We hadn’t encountered any traps so far, and there were no mechanisms on the lid, so Gunzar had thought it was safe. It turned out the bottom of the chest was rigged with some sort of mechanism designed to spring the trap when the contents were removed. Unfortunately, the loud clang we heard was the sound of some sturdy looking metal bars dropping from the ceiling. Those same bars now prevented our escape.
We were trapped.