Ben
found himself in a room that seemed completely out of place in the monster-infested
and labyrinthine catacombs he had been exploring. The paladin had perceived a
jaunty tune echoing from a side passage and had chosen to investigate. The
hallway ended in a wooden door that did not fit in with the surrounding
architecture. Opening the door had momentarily blinded him with a flash of
bluish light, and moments later he found himself in his present surroundings.
The walls and ceiling of the
torch-lit room were crafted from stone bricks, and the floor was made of wooden
boards. To one side was a circular, wooden table with a few chairs placed
around it, opposite to what was the room’s main feature: set into one wall was
what appeared to be a shop with a wooden counter that had a darkened space
behind it. On the wall above the counter hung a sign that read “Jerry’s
Interdimensional Stuff Emporium” in somewhat crude, handwritten text.
Several objects sat upon the
counter. One of them was a small, boxy object made mostly from a dark-colored
metal. The device had several buttons on its front and a pair of knobs with a
tiny, glowing gem embedded in each. On the object’s side was a symbol of a skull
with one mechanical eye. The music that had drawn Ben here seemed to be
emanating from this device. Also on the counter were a series of colorful
cushions, each with an item resting on it.
“What kind of poor fool opens a shop
deep within monster-filled catacombs?” Ben wondered to himself as he strode
to the small store to get a better look at it. There were five main items on
display, each appearing to be a magical object of some sort. Below each was a handwritten
label on a small piece of parchment that described the item’s powers and listed
its price. The final item on the counter was a glass jar filled halfway with
coins of various types. On the jar was the word “Tips”. Ben could see little in
the rather unnatural blackness behind the counter, save for a few smaller
displays which were well-lit.
One of the displays featured a few miscellaneous
trinkets that looked like they were probably minor magic items. The other two
displays were a rack of potions and a shelf of rolled-up scrolls. “Where
could the owner have gone?” Ben contemplated. “Monsters probably got to
him. I guess that’s bound to happen if you set up shop in a place like this. Well,
if the shopkeeper is dead, then these items will certainly be more useful to me
than to him… I mean, it's not stealing if the place is abandoned… and it’s for
the just cause of helping me slay monsters,” the paladin rationalized,
making up his mind.
Ben examined one of the items
displayed upon the counter. It was an ornate longsword with a crossguard that
was stylized to look like the wings of a dragon. The label below the weapon
read:
Sword of Dragon Slaying 5000gp
Very good sword. Ruins dragons’ days with ease!
“Now
that… sounds useful,” Ben muttered aloud as he ran his fingers over the weapon.
Suddenly the paladin felt a tap on the shoulder, and he quickly whirled around
to see who it was. He jumped back as he immediately noticed an inky, black
tentacle retreating back into the darkness behind the counter.
It was much too dark to make out the
creature to which the tentacle belonged, however the paladin was able to spot a
pair of glowing, bluish-white eyes watching him from within the blackness. “You!
You slaughtered that poor shopkeeper!” Ben shouted at the monster as he drew
his sword and shield. The paladin swung his sword at the shadowy creature’s
tentacle, but it wiggled out of the way. A sound somewhat like a sigh echoed
from behind the counter as a second tentacle emerged from the darkness and wrapped
itself around the hilt of the Sword of Dragon Slaying.
Ben raised his shield just in time
to block the incoming blade, but he was not prepared for the other tentacle grabbing
onto his shield. The monster’s glowing eyes glared at the adventurer as it
wrenched the shield from his grasp and hurled it across the room. Ben blocked the creature’s weapon with his own
as it tried to impale him, and the two engaged in a brief contest of
swordsmanship. The paladin and the monster repeatedly swung and jabbed at each
other, their attacks being blocked or parried each time.
This stalemate was ended when Ben
harnessed his abilities as a paladin and briefly infused his blade with holy
light before striking the sword from his foe’s grasp in a burst of radiant
energy. He heard an irritated voice within the darkness speak in a language he
did not understand, and the next thing he knew, one of the dark tendrils
grabbed him by the arm and lifted him off the ground.
Before he had time to react, the
paladin was swung through the air and slammed painfully into the floor, his
sword escaping his grip in the process. Again and again, the tentacle hoisted
Ben off the ground before brutally slamming him against the floor or wall. Once
the adventurer had been beaten to a pulp, he was tossed across the room, where
he crashed into the back wall and tumbled to the ground. As Ben futilely
struggled to get up, the monster picked up the Sword of Dragon Slaying and
returned it to its place on the counter, then grabbed the adventurer’s sword
and shield and dragged them into the darkness.
Ben lay helpless on the floor,
watching on as the monster began polishing the shop’s merchandise with a rag,
and feeling as if the room’s cheerful music was only there to spite him.
Suddenly the door swung open, and another adventurer stepped into the room. The
man was clad in leather armor with a sword hanging from his belt. He stood for
a moment, taking in his surroundings.
“Hey, Jerry! Long time, no see!” the
man excitedly greeted. A tentacle waved from behind the counter as the
adventurer approached. “I like the look of that Sword of Dragon Slaying. I’ll
take it,” he stated as he dropped a sack of gold coins onto the counter. “I’ll
also take a couple of healing potions, one for me and one for that poor sap on
the floor over there,” he continued.
The eyes bobbed up and down in the
darkness as if nodding in agreement before a tentacle scooped up the money and
took it behind the counter as a second limb passed the man his goods. The
adventurer dropped a few coins into the tip jar, then walked over to Ben and
held a healing potion out to him.
“That thing is the shopkeeper?!” Ben
sputtered as he shakily reached for the elixir.
“Of course he is,” the man affirmed,
raising an eyebrow. “Later, Jer!” he called as he stepped out the door with his
purchases.
