Becky and Kadlin unite one more time.

This's the last 'true' mission roleplay, since the next one is just a flashback. I'll explain that when we get to it. For now, Kadlin's in the sewers of Seaside Town as our chapter starts..

Kadlin led her team through the sewers underneath Seaside Town. Some of the local citizens had escaped her to flee the battle, and she could see handfuls of refugees fleeing from her whenever she got near. Maybe it had something to do with the squad of goblin grunts. Or maybe she had done a good job of turning two goblins into massive mutated freaks. Who was she kidding, of course she had done a good job. Fear was as strong a weapon as any blade, and Kadlin had designed them with that in mind..

Her favorite piece of work was the grue. Making something grow bigger was relatively easy. Making something grow smaller was trickier, especially if you wanted it to stay strong and dangerous. The grue was small, it was fast, it was strong, and it was very deadly. She had worked on a dwarf goblin for the smaller skeleton, shrunk the skeleton, strengthened the bones, and stripped out as much of the fat deposits as she could. The creature couldn’t go more than a day without eating, and was constantly hungry, but it was fast. She also sped up its metabolism and increased the muscle density. It was tough, but the result was small, stealthy, and nearly impossible to hit.

Kadlin opened her third eye, not a physical eye but a spiritual one, and looked for the temple below. Magic streamed nearby, behind the wall. It looked like there was a section that was bricked off, that had once led even further down. Kadlin pointed at the section of the wall and said “Break it down.”

The grue was a work of art, but the brutes still had their uses. The wall was down in seconds. She then sent one to fetch Becky Joy and her four Knob Goblin soldiers. Behind it lay a tunnel that no doubt led to the Temple of the 8 Magics.

Kadlin hefted a torch and looked down the length of the tunnel. “You remember any of this, Xanadon?”

“A bit, my young student. The temple was a center of religious zeal in its day. People came from hundreds of miles away to see it. And we only used a couple of the tourists in sacrifices.”

The tunnel was short, and within minutes the group arrived at the entrance to the temple grounds.

“Wow,” said Kadlin “It’s huge. I expected it to be all caved in.”

Xanadon laughed. “The temple village was built with a dome over it. We couldn’t let light in.”

“Why not how come?!” Becky asked, enthused. Why? Who knows?

“Well, light disrupts the magic we were working.”

Kadlin considered the wisdom of inviting Becky along. She needed another mage, and Becky was better than most everything the knobs had available. The girl was... unpredictable, but she would likely be helpful. Sending out a horse for her had been a good idea so far, although she seemed rather upset they didn’t bring her carrots or apples to feed the horse.

“Becky,” Kadlin said, “If things get dangerous, stay behind the muscle. That’s what they’re for.”

“Stay behind the muscle!” Becky called out to her own four Knob Goblins - Goblina, Red, Green and Darson. “Cause that’s what we’re here for!”

“Aye, aye, Captain!” Darson said, soon echoed less proficiently by the other three.

They moved through the ruins of brick buildings, though they were mostly still intact. The architecture featured a lot of spikes, sharp angles, and twisted features.

A howl echoed from somewhere, could have been anywhere, maybe even everywhere. “It’s probably just some sort of air movement,” said Kadlin, keeping a sharp eye out.

The goblins fanned out into a protective formation, in a circle around the mages, and everyone moved forward, winding through the ruins.

“I wish someone would invent me a flashlight,” Green whined, thinking about his frequent mansion problems.

Kadlin handed Green a torch.

They moved a few steps when one of the goblins exploded suddenly. Kadlin opened her third eye again and say dozens of magical wards, still active after all these years. She rapidly began shooting tiny fireballs at the ground where they were located. “Avoid the scorch marks.”

Becky copied her then said, “Whoever is down here, you better not mess with me and Kadlin!”

Darson examined the sewers. “Hm.. you people keep some dangerous glyphs down here for a sewer.”

Xanadon paused. “We didn’t put those there. They’re new. Well, they’re kinda old, but we can’t have exploding wards randomly thrown around a working village. Kills off the wrong people too quickly.”

A few rocks tumbled off a building, but when Kadlin looked it was gone.

“All right,” said Kadlin “Into the temple. And careful.”

“Why carefully?!” Becky asked, skipping ahead.

“I’m not sure. But I don’t feel safe right now.” Kadlin wondered what it meant that her sixth sense was troubling her even with her astonishing magical talent and imposing squad of bodyguards.

The temple was a maze of twisting columns and crumbling furniture. They were in a courtyard. Scrabbling sounds echoed throughout the chamber, impossible to pinpoint.

“Stop!” Kadlin shouted, trying to lock down the noise. The scrabbling noise stopped too. “Okay, resume.”

“I hope it’s not a hammer sister, bro,” Red confided to Green.

Xanadon looked around. “The central spell chambers are ahead.”

“Did you used to do sleepovers here, Fluffy chef?! Oh and hop socks, and snacktime and stories about cute boys?!” Becky excitedly asked, not keeping her voice down.

“No,” said Xanadon. “Well, except for the hop socks thing, but none of the others.”

The scrabbling continued and a horde of rats came toward the group. Kadlin whipped them with tentacles and the goblins began firing with arrows and then attacking with their swords. Becky jumped ran back squeeling, then stopped running and froze several of them in place. Her four Knob Goblins watched, and held up scorecards of 7-8.

The rats just ran by, ignoring the danger, and they were gone in seconds.

“They were just terrified of something,” said Kadlin. “But what?”

“A death elemental... of dooom!” said Xanadon.

“What?”

“A death elemental. That’s why this place got evacuated. It was killing everyone, and growing stronger with each death.”

“WHY DIDN’T YOU MENTION THIS EARLIER.”

“Oh, yeah. Slipped my mind.”

“It happens to me all the time!” Becky said cheerfully. “I should bring my buddy box after we kill this demon, and we can make Fluffy and Buddy Box dress up for a playdate!”

A black cyclone of whirling necrotic energy moved down the hallway. Bones flew around it and blackened blood circled in rivulets in the opposite direction.

Kadlin shouted. “Run, this is a job for the mages.”

Becky handed Red some meat. “Go buy everyone somethin’ at the mall while we work! Hehe!”

Kadlin through several blasts of stinking tentacles at the beast and it let loose a thousand shrieking wails, even as their backup retreated out of harm’s way. Becky nodded, contemplated, and threw her hands up, causing dangerous winds to howl past her and Kadlin. Becky smiled slightly as they slammed into bones and blood, blowing the creature’s exterior away.

The elemental disappeared.

“It’s not dead,” said Kadlin.

“If we beat it up, is it gonna be our pet?!” Becky got excited. “Can I keep it? I’ll feed it souls every night!”

“I... don’t think that’s a good idea. Split up. It can’t follow us both.”

It suddenly returned, and streaked after Becky who ran away simultaneously screaming and giggling. “It wants to play but I don’t wanna play, make it stop! Make it stop!”

Kadlin moved into the temple altar area. She began chanting. Somehow, that made Becky braver and more serious. She created an ice patch over the sewer that coated the wall. Becky dove stomach first, letting the curved ice surface take her in a full circle over the wall and circle. It was enough random movement for the death elemental of doom to streak right past her. It caught itself and turned around, only to to find itself assaulted under the force of a hastily summoned Winter’s Storm area attack from Becky!

Another wailing of souls and the creature turned. It emitted an aura of terrible fear that washed over Becky. She actually stopped smiling! The creature drew slowly closer, a single taloned arm reaching out for Becky’s soul.

“Eep! Go away!” Becky ordered it, to no success. Ice armor started to form over her body, but a bit too late.

The creature’s spectral talon went though Becky’s chest and right into her heart. She felt cold, as the life energy flowed from her body. Then, the creature disappeared. Kadlin walked in. “I finally got that counterspell to... by Thor! Becky, are you okay? Becky, speak to me!”

“Urgh... no more death touch, please?” Becky whined, eyes welling with tears. She then realized it was Kadlin. “Oh hi!”

“It looks like you’ll recover. Come on. We came here to coat Seaside in a counterspell. You still up for that?”

“Yuppers,” Becky said. “Hm... pro’lly, anyway. Ice cream cookies would help a lot!”

Having the Knob Goblins to play off of, from Becky's trademark squad to Kadlin's scientific experiments, is always fun, too.