Octophobia

Spire's Spite Chapter 25

The world lurched and Fritz woke, this was one of the better ways to wake. What with the luxurious conditions of the carriage but also the fact he wasn’t in immediate danger. He hoped. Stretching into the suitably soft seat. He groaned as his aches from the day’s battles and challenges reasserted themselves painfully.

“Oi, get out! We’re here!” yelled the beast pulling the carriage, his booming tones jolting Fritz out of his stupor. Fritz looked around blearily, not knowing ho...

Spire's Spite Chapter 24

The Dawndove kneeled at Bert’s side, a grim expression on her exquisite features as she inspected his wounds. She nodded once.

“The curse is not particularly potent but it is persistent, it would interfere with the most basic of healing magic and the personal healing of a low Powered mortal. And there’s something else, a lingering trace of corruption, of blight, in his blood.” She explained in resplendent tones.

“He’s on the brink of life and death at this very moment,...

Spire's Spite Chapter 23

The open door led into a darkness that was suddenly banished, it lit up as a host of golden lanterns bathed the entrance hall in orange and yellow light. The hall was large, far too large to fit the manor’s outside dimensions and hung with bright tapestries and paintings of the surrounding lands.

Hung from the tall ivory ceiling there was a chandelier of gold and gleaming gems of all colours glowing softly in strobing patterns. The dark wood floors were covered with a rug the purple o...

Spire's Spite Chapter 22

Fritz scrabbled and struggled on the uneven stone, the dark making it far harder to pick out a clear path to where he had seen the lavender light. Even with his amber stone, it took some minutes to reach and stand where he was sure the light had been. But there was nothing revealed under his swirling orange-yellow light. “Final Spire, I better not have just been seeing things,” Fritz cursed, shining the amber stone’s light this way and that.

After no success, he turned to leave an...

Spire's Spite Chapter 21

Sid’s hand grasped the collar of Fritz’s increasingly ragged shirt and pulled him up, choking him in the process as Fritz was dragged to his feet.

“What are you grinning at you bloody fool! Get up we have to get out of here,” Sid growled.

Fritz was hoisted up unsteadily to his feet. He felt embarrassment that bordered on shame that he had suspected Sid would turn on him. Not everyone is like Toby and Jane I guess. Fritz dusted himself off hiding his surprised expr...

Spire's Spite Chapter 20

“A bit rich coming from you, arsehole,” Fritz drawled out exhausted, far too tired to say something witty. What he wouldn’t give for one of those stamina potions they had found, he should have gotten Jane to leave him one. Anger burnt at the thought of Jane leaving with all those valuable potions but Fritz pulled his tired mind back to the fight. Just in time too as the darkened blades sliced in, one after the other, at his wounded side.

His sword felt heavy in his hand, too heavy...

Spire's Spite Chapter 19

Fritz pursued the glimpse of silver, up and down the small jutting ridges and across the difficult broken ground. He wiped off the budding sweat on his forehead and ran on, the room wasn’t hot per se but that bright pyramid burned overhead like a mockery of the sun and baked their flesh if they didn’t find some time in the shade of the pillar forests. It hadn’t been this hot the whole time, Fritz assumed it was just some new torture the Spire implemented for its own arcane reasons.

Spire's Spite Chapter 18

Fritz leapt out from behind the stone pillar he had been using to keep out of sight.

He was loath to do so, as sneaking around and stabbing the monstrous men in the back was likely to lead to better prospects. For him, but not the subdued women. For them every moment might be a new pain. The men began to grin and leer, keeping their weapons in their fists but reaching out with their free hands to feel fair flesh with their foul fingers. They went to touch, to paw at the ladie...

Spire's Spite Chapter 17

Fritz’s boots scraped against the gritty stone as he ran up the spiralling ramp. He saw the exit. Bright white light poured from the next floor onto the ramp almost blinding him. He kept running forward embracing the cleanness, the untinted normalcy, of the light as it illuminated his face.

As he ran he spotted a dark figure standing before him, silhouetted against the light. He stopped in his tracks. Recognising the figure as human, or human adjacent, Fritz whispered over his shoulde...

Spire's Spite Chapter 16

They were packed and ready before the five minutes were up. Fritz led the way, scouting the darkness ahead with his amber glowstone. The tunnels were labyrinthine, Fritz ran into abandoned goblin's nests, still active pit and alarm traps and the occasional group of goblins. The crew took a grim satisfaction in ambushing these isolated groups and slaughtering them. Jane especially took a dark pleasure in running the goblins through with her fish rib spear and watching them gurgle and die.

Spire's Spite Chapter 15

A rushing tide of grey, wrinkled, stick-thin figures began streaming out of a recently burrowed hole opposite the Stinkwall, catching his crew completely off-guard and unequipped. The goblins carried a multitude of scavenged weapons and mining tools and rushed the crew's camp in a giggling, guffawing and jabbering flood.

Fritz wheezed out a warning, “Greg... Stop... Look... Goblin... Hole... Goblin hole.” He forced out the words hoping they’d reach the bulky man looming over his p...

Spire's Spite Chapter 14

The hours melted away as Sid and Fritz focused on their study of the technique book, pointing out interesting passages and committing to memory the useful weapon drills and the pages that displayed them. The book was surprisingly short as they were able to read through the entire thing and were just going over the starting passages for a second time when they were interrupted.

“Learnt the Technique yet, book buddies?” Bert asked startling Fritz and Sid who now realised they were sit...

Spire's Spite Chapter 13

Fritz tore his eyes away from the ‘problems’ and took in the details of the chamber. It was a large circular room, around sixty feet across and its dirt roof was suspended eight feet overhead, supported by many rough wooden columns. There was easily enough floor space to hold them all, the only issue was the six monsters gathered in the centre, clicking and scuttling about mindlessly.

They look like skulg, Fritz thought uncharitably about the creatures, then amended his obs...

Spire's Spite Chapter 12

The object of Sid’s interest seemed to be a long length of wood with a subtle curve. On closer inspection was definitely an unstrung short bow. Right by the bow were some lengths of what must be bowstring and a leather quiver with nine arrows, all with green feathered fletching.

“Anyone know how to shoot a bow?” Fritz asked hopefully.

The team shook their heads but Sid was still looking on in excitement and spoke up quickly, “No, but I can learn, plus it works well with my...

Spire's Spite Chapter 11

Fritz didn’t know how long he was asleep, but no one had come looking for him yet so it couldn’t have been more than fifteen minutes. He looked around his eyes a bit blurry at first, when they cleared, he was fully able to see the room cast in the swirling orange light of the amber stone.

His body ached from the fight before and the goblin's spear was still lodged in his left arm, he tried pulling the shaft free but it was agony pulling the thing even an inch out. He decided to leav...

Spire's Spite Chapter 10

Dread seeped into Fritz’s limbs, his quick, quiet pace slowed to a stealthy trudge. The dark of the dirt tunnel was near absolute but there was a soft orange glow up ahead emanating from a side passage, painting the red-ish dirt a vibrant orange.

The giggle he had heard before had stopped and all he could hear was the crunching of the loose gravel and dirt under his and his allies' shoes. The air moved like syrup, it felt warm, heavy and sticky.

Fritz turned around and whispered...

Spire's Spite Chaper 9

Sid nudged Fritz, glancing in the direction of the trio of women who were surreptitiously listening on. Well, now is as good a time as ever.

“Might as well talk to them now,” Fritz conceded. He turned, then strolled up to the young ladies with as much confidence as he could project.

Fritz met the interested gazes of Veronica, Lynn and Naomi then asked, “Who is the leader of your group?”

“We don’t have a leader, we vote,” Veronica espoused cool...

Spire's Spite Chapter 8

Fritz sat and closed his eyes, then he relaxed. He pulled his attention away from his aching body and the sensations of the room thinking at the tiny star in the centre of his chest. Focusing on it its cool light, paradoxically freezing and warm, pulsing in time with his heart. He had that radiant energy in his mind fully.

Shutting all else out, he could feel its subtle pull, he let that soft invisible tide pull him in gradually and then that tide turned into a current, then a torrent, ...

Spire's Spite Chapter 7

Fritz led the way slowly through the ancient gnarled trees and the shadows they cast, fish blade in hand and his crew following stealthily behind. Occasionally he would hear a snuffling, or a single bark or whine but nothing disturbed them under the quiet, creaking branches. Still, they moved on through the gloom.

They had been walking for some time before they were forced into fighting, they stumbled upon two blight hounds growling and sniffing at the air, drawing ever closer to his cr...

Spire's Spite Chapter 6

Fritz walked up the gloomy stairway and immediately noticed a change in climate, the dry heat of the previous room had vanished replaced by the cool humidity of night. The still air was suffused with the stale scent of decaying leaves and old soil.

He was glad to leave the overwhelming smell of the butchered fish behind, unfortunately there was still a lingering trace of pungent fish seeping from the bag he carried over his shoulder. He could hear the footsteps of Bert squelching behind...

Spire's Spite Chapter 5

Fritz awoke, this wasn’t the worst way to wake. For one he was significantly warmer than he had been when he passed out. “Ah is this paradise? It’s so warm and my aches are fading. Is this an avatar of the beautiful Goddess Alestria I see before me, was I worthy enough in death to enter her realm?” He asked the bright blue eyes of Sid looming over him.

Sid for his part, looked startled, “I don’t know about no goddess mate, you must be crazy, still seeing things are you?” H...

Spire's Spite Chapter 4

The lake was freezing, Fritz’s muscles cramped as he sunk through the darkening gloom under the eldritch waves. His chest heaved and he had to resist letting out his lungful of air as the icy cold sank deep into his flesh. Fritz made sure to clutch to his rock with all the grip he could muster even though he began to shiver violently and his body disobeyed his will to be still.

He held on, letting the cold take its toll, feeling the shivers rack his flesh until it settled i...

Spire's Spite Chapter 3

Waves broke below Fritz, the sound of splashing echoing oddly in the too-smooth dome. Before anyone had time to gather their wits and ask anything of their captor-guide, Jagged Nic spoke up, cutting off any questions before they began.

“I bet a lot of you are thinkin’ ‘I ain't never heard of no Sunken Spire’ if you’re thinkin’ anythin’ at all.” Nic derided. “That's cause it’s a secret, known only to the Nightshark, his gang leaders and a chosen few others,�...

Spire's Spite Chapter 2

Meals of bread and dried fish came to Fritz and the other prisoners sporadically, carried in by gruff, vicious and short tempered gaolers. As the hours wore on, more and more people were brought into the cellar. There was no sun to set the time by Fritz could only guess at the actual time passing, though it couldn't be more than a couple of days.

Each time they had added captives to the cell Fritz would cajole, coax and wheedle the men in oil-coats. Bargaining with t...

Spire's Spite Chapter 1

Waking up with a black bag over your head and a foot in your gut has to be one of the worst ways to be woken up, maybe not the worst way but it's up there. He struggled at first but it turns out fighting while blind and outnumbered were still no strengths of his. Not that fighting ever was a particular talent he possessed, well,not unless his foes were looking the other way.

He struck out at the blackness, hearing a couple of grunts and curses as he wildly swung his limbs and connected ...