Part 45: The Tunnels

Music - "Spies of Darkness"
Download (Thanks to Grawl)



Chapter 40 - The Tunnels


VIDEO: Taxlehix and Nixfix


At the bottom of the stairs, Mort and D.K. were greeted by a now-familiar face.

Taxlehix!
Ughhhhh… I thought we had seen the last of him!
Oh, it's you! Wonderful to see your pockets again! You also visit uncle?
Who is your uncle?
Uncle Nixfix… old imp! Live here in tunnels! All imps left when demons killed Raanaar, but brave uncle Nixfix stays. You met him?
No, I haven't.
You should visit. He smart and he has *thinnnngssss*. I give you riddle so you can find him…
Why doesn't he just *show* us the way?
Me could show you! But far more fun this way. You getting hot under that helmet, Death Knight? Better take it off…

D.K. raised his dagger and pointed it at Taxlehix in a menacing fashion.

No, no no… put that weapon down, dark one… me give you riddle now… Where you level up count back from 10 and stop at T - turn to your heart and look for me - you can't see, but follow your knee…
How can we escape from these tunnels?
Escape from tunnels? Huh? You here, you must know way out!
*sigh* No, I meant a way other than THESE stairs.
Oh, many ways out, many ways. But is more fun to find for yourself, no?
Can we kill him now?
Is it possible to escape from this dimension?
Leave world? Why want go? This place is full of *things*. Because of demons? I not know way… Raanaar maybe know!
Bye.

Two doors from this room… lets go north.




As they passed by a torch, it lit up all by itself.

From where you level up… the stairs? Count back from 10… so 10…

As Mort and D.K kept walking, more torches came on. When they reached 1…




A T-intersection.
Turn to your heart… which is on your left-hand side…




A dead-end! Bah!
You don't see… but follow your knee… which is facing the wall.

Mort walked forward and passed through the illusionary wall. Somehow Taxlehix had beaten them there. But so was an old imp.




Who disturbs? Worthless nephew again? Ah, no… you really big, maybe you can kill monster?
What monster?
Monster? Who told you? You right, dangerous monster in tunnels… you kill?
This daft imp has a really bad memory… or he's completely nuts…
Who you? If you leave, be careful in tunnels… big monster somewhere... in case nobody told you…
What is your name, imp?
Me Nixfix…
What do you do?
Me live here…

D.K. got bored and started wandering around.

What do you know about the Academy?
Academy of Riftrunners… many study here… but no longer… demons killed all… and imps left…
All the other imps left this place?
Yes, all imps are gone. Nothing to do, nothing to fix anymore. Only Nixfix stay. This Nixfix home.
Have you seen the ghosts?
Ghosts… yes, yes, yes… strange things. Bodies dead, souls stayed. But why? Why?

D.K. found a door. He shook it, but it was locked.

How do we get up to the next level?
Stairs leading to next level. But only next… There is shaft leading from here to higher level, but ladder broke. You need rope from above… then you can come back here…
What about that locked door?
No no no… too dangerous… imp went there, never returned… I locked, never open again…

D.K. again pointed his weapon menacingly, this time at Nixfix.

I'm sure I could *persuade* him…
You not kill Nixfix, you not find key… you kill Nixfix, you not find key… you not need kill Nixfix…
Quite logical… for an imp!

Mort turned to Taxlehix.

Alright, spill. We need to get to the level above the initiate level. But the stairs are blocked. How do we get up?
You need to find teleporter up!
And where is this teleporter.
On initiate level, but hidden. You need to find other stairs up from tunnels.
And where are these stairs?
Leave room, go left, then follow hallway north. Turn right at intersection and keep going.
Thank you.




Mort and D.K. started heading north, but something heard them coming.




What the hell was that thing?
Who cares? It dies just as easily as everything else, human.





Turn right…





*Now* can I kill him?
Don't tempt me…




Enough games. Now tell me how to get through the four locked gates, or I will get very upset. And if I get upset I might just let my friend here do what he really, REALLY wants to do.
No need to get angry with poor Tax! There are four switches all over tunnels, marked with Raanaar rune of Wisdom. You need to pull to open doors
Why are there so many locked doors?
To keep students from sneaking to higher level.
If this doesn't work, I'll be back, and I will NOT be happy.

Mort and D.K. started to explore the tunnels.



Look out… I think this is a trap.




Yep…




Here's one of the switches marked with the rune.

Mort and D.K. returned to the entrance stairs and followed the other hallway.






Another rune-switch…




Hmmm… I think I see some gemstones in this pit.
I think I could barely reach it if I lie down and stretch….

After a few minutes, and many failures, Mort's hand eventually closed on a yellow gemstone.





What's this about?
That door leading to that large gem is locked.
There's a note here…



Somehow, I don't think he made it. This statue has two empty eye sockets.
Hmmm… orange…
That's red plus yellow, isn't it?
Worth a try.

Mort and D.K. placed the gems in, and the door to the gem opened.




That's a huge gemstone!
And yet, completely worthless to our goal of getting us our of these tunnels. Let's move on.




I've found the third lever, human.
Geez… Mushrooms grow everywhere, don't they?

Mort and D.K. followed the tunnel and wound back outside Nixfix's home. They returned to the four-way intersection, but headed north this time.






That should be all of them.
There's still another corridor we haven't explored, human.
Who knows where that goes. Do you really want to wander around these tunnels forever?





The Map





I probably shouldn't say FULLY voice acted, since the main character's lines aren't voice-acted, except for a few combat taunts and complaints about locked doors. But you can choose which voice style they speak in.