Mizor (Chapter 8)

Template:Mizor nav Beyond the dry hills was an oasis, though its waters were fouled with muck and full of insects. And what insects they were! Huge crawling things bigger than Mizor, giant beetles that spat out lightning, and demonic clouds of midges which acted as though guided by a single mind. His fur was almost alive by the time they cleared the oasis, and to his disappointment, there wasn't a single tomb available for delousing. Just a round hole in the ground, with more bugs crawling, flying, or stumbling out of it. There must be something unnatural down there, to be producing all these things; something that needed killing.

The hole was just wide enough to accommodate Mizor. The tunnels beyond were rather... slimy, and full of every sort of evil bug imaginable. At the bottom, in a huge chamber, was a maggot five times the size of all the others, with veiny tendrils burrowed into the earth, laying more bugs as fast as its huge, bloated body could force them out. And when it died, the squeal was deafening, before it exploded in a shower of venomous slime that covered everything in the chamber in rank, sticky goo. Adventures in mucous.

Antidote potions were distributed to all. It sure killed off the fleas, but Mizor preferred the mummies. Paige didn't like it one bit; she was huddled against the wall, whimpering "gross gross gross gross gross gross gross gross gross gross" until Mizor had to slap her. The Maggot Queen had a chest with a staff in it; why would a bug want such a thing, Mizor wondered? But who can say with these unnatural creatures? In another chamber of the lair, Mizor opened a single chest, and found no less than six rare items! None were particularly useful for him, but these bugs seemed quite adept at collecting treasures.

In the hills beyond the oasis was a ruined city, its buildings in ruins and filled with the dead. The fate of all cities, though not all cities had such active dead. Soon after Mizor came within sight of the dead city, the sun... went out? Something large and black was covering the sun! No one in town knew anything about it, but Drognan, who was otherwise not very helpful, suggested that some snake people called Claw Vipers could be responsible. Mizor had seem pictures of them on the walls of the tombs, big snakes with arms and a foul disposition, judging from the human heads they were always holding. Goat people, cat people, and now snake people; these demons were giving animals a bad name. No wonder ordinary people were nervous around him, Mizor thought.

The city of the dead had many zombies, most of them infected with the plague that must have wiped out the city. In an adjacent valley, a huge temple, decorated with serpents, led to an underground complex. More underground tunnels. Mizor sighed. In the future, he resolved to only save the world from demonic invasions if they remained strictly out of doors. And no blotting out the sun, that was just creepy. The temple was full of snake people and mummies, a sure sign that these serpents were in league with evil forces. Sure enough, in the basement, they had set up an evil altar to worship demons. Mizor and his friends smashed, shot, and chomped through every snake in the place; he even summoned up another wolf just for a lightning-spitting one by the altar. After smashing the alter, Mizor found an amulet, and was glad to see the sun had returned when he got back to the surface.

Mizor: "Whawarrrityesrrr?"

Paige: "Mizor wants to know how the people of the city died, and why the Claw Vipers had built their temple right next to it, and where the diseased zombies came from?"

Drognan: "I am impressed with your keen ear, Rogue. Your master is correct in surmising that the three things are connected. In ages past, men made attempts to be friendly with the serpent men, reasoning that kindly overtures may be reciprocated, and a cold exterior may conceal a better nature than was actually the case. The Claw Vipers were allowed to build their home next to the city, and relations were good at first."

Paige: "So, you're saying the Vipers are pretty good liars."

Mizor: "Sheekrnnge." (Speak with forked tongue.)

Drognan: "In so many words. The Claw Viper's hearts are cold and empty, and they took the gentle words of the city people as a sign of weakness, to exploit for foul sacrifice to their dark masters. The entire city was wiped out by the foulest disease many decades ago, and its former inhabitants' bodies are enslaved for the demon's foul purposes. But there is another matter which concerns us more now. You must speak with Jerhyn immediately."

Jerhyn was eager to see them. It turned out that his palace was being invaded from below by demons! A Vizjeri wizard had wandered in and disappeared while exploring the cellars, near a strange gate Jerhyn had down there. Since then, demons had been pouring through the gate, and every guard Jerhyn had was pulled away from the town walls and put in the palace. Now, there were only two left, Kaelen and one other guy. Jerhyn was distraught, lest his city be overrun from within his own palace. "Do you wonder, could there be a connection between that mage, and the demons now driving upwards from my cellars?"

Mizor blinked, smacked his forehead, and wondered why he was helping these people. Jerhyn had a strange gate thing in his cellar, and didn't know where it led. Some demon-summoner wizard wants to be left alone with it, and Jerhyn allows it. The wizard disappears, and then demons start pouring through the gate. And he was wondering if there might be a connection. It took all of Mizor's willpower not to clobber Jerhyn, just to try to knock some sense into his head. Muttering to himself, Mizor smiled, which made everyone nervous, shoved the guards aside, and entered the palace.