I Can't Get the Vampire Rogue to Romance Me

Chapter 88 - The Real Visceral Experience

Evangeline couldn't help feeling like she was missing something. Maybe it was Meta trying to tempt her into burning her last Special Ability points, but it was driving her a bit crazy. Why wasn't the lawyer in his shop when they went to go consult with him about Artmond's marital problem? Her first spent point had directed them straight there, but he in fact hadn't been. And now she was being led down this other quest to get Valerian's amulet back?

This feels like someone is trying to... redirect me? she thought. But why would Meta do that?

Either way, getting Artmond's amulet back was of upmost importance. She remembered getting stuck on this quest once in her previous playthroughs and going all the way down into the Underground of the city to retrieve it, only to really hate the quest because it locked in some of their choices in regards to Artmond's story line and decided instead to go back to a previous save. On the second round, Valerian noted the attempted theft and the whole quest line ended there.

But there was no previous save this time. No way to go to a "main menu" only her personal character level.

So locked in they were.

"You got to be jesting. I'm not going down there," Sigismiund argued, folding her arms resolutely as they stared down at the rough hole that was the entrance to the large town's underground sewer system. Already a particular funk wafted up, one Evangeline had been spared on her previous "playthroughs."

Getting the real visceral experience now, she thought. "It'll be fine. We know the thief went this way, and it will be safe enough down there."

"Except of course for whoever works with the thief," Sigismund pointed out.

"It'll be fine. Meta said so," Evangeline insisted.

Hagor intervened, setting a hand on Sigismund's shoulder. "We are decided. We are all going and the nature of our predicament indicates that you can either come with us or you will be dragged with us. I would usually hate to tether your decisions like this, but Valerian needs his amulet to survive. That takes precedence over your desires."

Sigismund shrugged him off and huffed, but didn't argue further.

Knowing she would need to go first to get this side quest going, she sat down on the edge of the hole, then rolled onto her stomach to drop her legs in. Luckily, her toes found the rungs right away and she began her descent.

There was a brief moment of panic as the whole passed her head, plunging her from lighter to darker, then the pressure of the enclosed tunnel like space. Yet it only lasted a couple of rungs, and the space opened up. She couldn't see the bottom as there were no lights down there except what came through the hole and had a brief moment of wandering if the bottom of the ladder ended in the sewage itself. Then her foot it flat stone and she breathed sigh of relief, then regretted it. As one could imagine, the smell was... more down there.

The rest of the party entered, each having their own reactions to the new environment, with Sigismund being the most... offended. Artmond covered his nose but looked around with wide, fascinated eyes. Hagor remained acceptingly stoic, but his nose flared, giving him away.

Harrowheart was the most straightforward. "Smells like a Troll Shithouse down here," she said, with a laugh, setting her forge hammer she was now carrying around as a weapon, up onto her shoulder.

"The thief went this way," Valerian said, and that was when Evangeline noticed his eyes. They glowed read in the dim light. For that matter, so did Harrowhearts, those her were a yellow color.

Knowledge: General. Success.

"You both have night vision," Evangeline said.

"Well, yes, obviously," Valerian said, a bit offended by the statement.

"I am going to shift into something more, environmentally comfortable in this setting," Hagor said, then shifted. At first, Evangeline thought he would choose a rat, so was surprised when the lumbering bulk of an elf transformed into the lumbering bulk of a honey badger.

"Alright, let's get moving," Valerian said, his usually affected, flighty voice a degree lower with seriousness. He was pissed and Evangeline had the distinct impression that someone might die at the end of their search.

Before Evangeline could say anything about her concerns about not being able to see in the dark, Valerian grabbed her hand and pulled her into the dark after him. Glancing back, she saw Harrowheart loop her arm with Artmond's who in term grabbed Sigismund's hand to pull reluctantly after. Hagor simply trundled between the two groups.

Once they were immersed in the dark, claustrophobic space of the primitive sewer system of this medium sized community, Evangeline wished she had suggested it. It was had been one thing to send her character's avatar through the space, knowing no video game designer would be so cruel as to make you watch your sprite self suffer a gruesome, agonizing death based on a suffocation. Even if she should get jumped by some underground monster or crushed by an avalanche, the character would just drop like a rag doll and the screen would be overlaid with a "Game Over" screen that blocks. Which of course didn't happen and she really wished she wasn't thinking about it right then as the very real walls felt like they were beating down on her.

At least we aren't walking through the sewage, she thought to herself. They were in fact on a paved path of bricks that ran along a shallow creek of sewage. The walls themselves were a rough mix of rock and sediment, with roots and little spills of dirt decorating all around. Nothing about this screamed "safe" to her, but Valerian moved through it without hesitation.