We left tha cave o' the wolfman n' headed off ta the lake where the skum were. Personally, I was happy ta be done with the bandits, fightin' decent but dumb folk ain't really my cup o' tea, but scatterin' evil fish folk sure is. Now, I ain't never seen no skum before, bein' from the desert n' all, but the stories ain't so kind of their type.
As we approached the lake, a pair o' skum charged us. We charged back at 'em, reckonin' that these two lil fellers had a death wish. Well, turns out that waitin' inside tha lake was some sort o' ooze hydra, who came on chargin' out o' the lake after the skum. It struck an imposin' figure, if ye could call it a figure, but everytime we cut 'im, he split into two smaller figures. Now, that seemed scary at first, but them smaller ooze hydras weren't too hard to kill once they finished splittin' up. Seein' how Mr. Clount is a blade frenzy, we dispatched the feller quickly 'nuff.
Nearby, we found a hole leadin' down to a mud dungeon o' sorts. Was kinda like what I reckon the inside o' an ant hill is like - 'cept instead o' dirt everywhere, there's mud n' water tricklin' all over the place.
The first room we came across there were these big ole' smelly piles o' excrement. These big critters were sittin' in em', some sort o' animals but I ain't never seen em' before. They were slow n' tough, n' they packed one heckuva wallop with that tail o' theirs.
We fought a few o' them skum, they even had a few fellers that were smart 'nuff to be castin' some sort o' spells at us. Ipmerk n' I would wait for them fellers to start castin' spells n' then he'd shoot em' and I'd chuck a bottle o' flamin' love at em'. Spellcastin' dudn't work too well when you're on fire.
Some o' the tunnels were flooded, so a few o' us had to swim ahead, n' then we set up a rope system where we'd help pull the folks who ain't so good at swimmin' along. Most o' them tunnels weren't so long, so the Tin Can man Rayden could just walk along the bottom holdin' his breath 'fore poppin' out the other end o' the tunnel.
We were approachin' a big ole cavern when a bunch o' skum started rushin' us. We could hear the mutterin's o' a caster in the back o' the cavern, but Clount n' Rayden, who ain't much for seein' in darkness, couldn't see her. N' they were up front. So we had a few moments o' tryin' to push our way into the room, thankfully the two o' them fellers are tough as rock, n' I ain't talkin' 'bout that crumbly desert rock, but I mean like the mountain rock they got 'round these parts. In the meanwhile, I was drinkin' down potions n' turnin' inta the big ole' burly mean guy that I turn into when things are a mite bit concernin'.
I shoved my way in finally, n' I see the caster lady n' the back n' she's got a crocodile o' sorts who wants to tangle. Turns out though that my teeth were bigger n' his, n' I ripped his guts out. Meanwhile, the rest o' them were tearing 'bout a dozen skum up, n' makin' short work o' them. Zuzmo n' Tourniquet were just about to chase out into the watery room n' get that caster, but she turned tail n' ran, or swam, or what have you, down an underwater tunnel leadin' elsewhere.
Clount n' Rayden were a bit hurt from the beatin' o' the many Skum, n' Rayden ain't much of a swimmer. Neither are Ipmerk, Zuzmo, nor I. Difference is, I was a ragin' angry Glauko n' that makes me strong 'nuff to be a passable swimmer. So without missin' a beat, suicidal, bloody Clount, myself, n' Tourniquet went swimmin' off after her. I din't realize at the time quite how hurt Clount was, but I would in a moment.
We pop out the other end o' the tunnel, n' the lady caster is complainin' to just bout' the biggest man frog beast I e'er seen. Now, wiser men mighta turned back at this point in time, but Clount ain't so wise, n' truth be told, I ain't so much neither, specially not when I'm two feet taller with claws and tusks the size o' yer skull. I figured takin' down the caster was a priority, so I guzzled down a potion o' invisibility n' moved inta the room.
The giant guy charged Clount n' gave him a really hard thumpin' with that club o' his. Clount was spinnin'. I popped outta nowhere n' gave the lady fish caster such a rendin' that she shrieked n' ran back to cower n' the corner. Clount took 'nother swing at the feller n' straight up passed out on the spot. So, seemingly, it came down to this king fish n' m'self. But ye din't forget bout' Tourniquet didya? Tourniquet loves fish, even if'n they look like giant ogres. That allowed me to surround this big feller. And we were goin' at it. Truth be told, I reckon this feller was tougher n' I was. Other truth be told, fate was on my side. He dipped outta the way o' one claw just to get the other rippin' up his side. With him trapped in my hand, I brought them tusks up across his belly. Smelly fish guts spilt' all over me.
Even so, covered in his own black ichor, this feller wasn't givin up. He gave me a thumpin' so hard I knew that if he clocked me again then Clount n' I might never see the sun rise 'gain, if'n ye catch my meanin'. I was also worried the lady caster would get a hold o' herself n' could maybe heal. Time wasn't 'zactly a friend o' mine, not to mention my friend bleedin' to death on the ground.
Another brutal claw swipe cross his chest. He dropped his club down so hard I'd prolly have turned into pulp if it weren't for that magical hoverin' Shield potion I had taken some o' earlier. The air crackled with the stark electricity o' the force shield. The recoil from the strike was all I needed, I pounced onto the feller n' sunk my tusks deep into his neck. Near took his head right off.
To be honest, I can't remember if I went n' finished off the cowerin' caster or if I stabilized Clount first. I reckon I finished off the caster first n' case she got her courage and had some lucky shot on me, 'cos I was bleedin' pretty badly. In my state, I plum forgot that I had all sorts o' healin' potions on me, n' I tried to get Tourniquet to get Zuzmo. Poor feller din't un'nerstand nothin' I was sayin', so I dropped a fire bomb at our feet ta scare him off. That worked n' after a bit Zuzmo came back on Tourniquet's back. He asked me if'n I ain't got any healin' potions, n' I sheepishly said that I did n' I jus' plum forgot.
We went back to town n' headed to the magistrate's office. He's a needle nos'd feller. One o' them folks that would probably die where I came from but has met with some sort o' success in this kind o' place. I dun like him one bit, but he had information on the Dark Rider, n' that's why we went to do these tasks in the firs' place.
Well I ask'd the feller what was with them bandits sayin' 'bout their burnt down town. I din't even mean anythin' by it, I jes' wanted to know what happened. But he directly said he wasn't gon' answer me about it. N' I told him that if I do work fer him n' I'm askin' him a simple question about the work, then he's a bit remiss in not informin' me o' such. He retorted back with that we did the work for information, n' I remind'd him he ain't even given us our information yet. He asks if I want to know about that or the town. I say the Dark Rider, o' course.
This shit snot. All he does is tell us 'bout a person in another town that has information, n' he gives us some token to talk to her. I tell him that ain't the deal, that he said he had information on the Dark Rider. N' I started to get real angry. I dun like liars none, specially not folks that'll lie to my face. I told him that since he better fess up 'bout the town burnin' or we were gonna have a problem. N' then I see him tuggin' on some sort o' alarm cord on his desk.
So I told him that he'd better start talking, or "I'll fuckin' kill you." Like I said, he made me pretty mad. I could see my party members unclaspin' their scabbards. All hell was about to break loose.
