Rantic leads the way and goes back to the room with the Giant corpse. "Okay... guess I better tell you guys now. That symbol... I know them. They're Necromancers. But... the wrong kind. I am the good kind, by the way. They are a cult that wants to steal Dredmor's power and use it for themselves. And believe me, the world will suffer if they ever obtain it. These guys are serious. They are powerhungry and willing to do almost anything, use almost everyone. What's more... they know me. They tried to recruit me, and when I saw through their bullshit smokescreens and lies and politely declined they came very close to killing me. More specifically, the eyeless guy with the red symbol. He's powerful and high-ranking. So yeah... I didn't know they went so far as to actually enter. This might be bad. Hence, I suggest we all clean up as much as we can behind us, maybe lay some false tracks at times, keep an eye on our rear, explore the dungeon methodically and tactically. I'm not afraid of them, but I do not want to give them any one edge if I can help it. An edge would be an undead Giant. They're necromancers. They can raise it. I will make sure they can't. By raising it myself."
Rantic casts Animate Dead on the Giant's (Ettin's?) corpse and orders it to come over, holding open his robe. The creature vanishes. [Animate dead requires no saving throw... I can make it a zombie or a skeleton, I want whichever is most powerful]
[What happens to all the flesh of the giant ? It disappears or does it justs falls to the ground as the skeletton raises ?]
Torma seems to hesitate " I... I cant allow such filth to roam this world... If all that you are saying is true..." He seems more resolute though still weighing his words "Then... You can count on my help to stop them." " Yet, I still dont understand why they got Dan to join us." He quickly adds " Not that I distrust you Danton."
"Thank you Torma, I know you dislike wizards so I'm happy you make an exception for me." "And yeah... it's puzzling."
"Maybe the eyeless guy is one of those villains that you always read about in the book depositories, the kind that likes their 'heroes' to be a threat."
"So much for this just being a simple 'walk into the dungeon and slay the ancient evil at the bottom to escape' kind of deal. If we're going to be covering our tracks, then maybe it would also be a good idea to leave traps behind us! Maybe I could pick up a thing or two about that..."
"What if those traps hurt other wanderers like Danton who might have nothing to do with those necromancers ? I would have agreed before but it seems there is a lot of activity down here and I am not fond of the idea of endangering innocents."
"Good point Torma. However, I think this dungeon's magic works to negate that particular point. What I mean is that adventurers enter this dungeon a lot. You saw the inn, the town. The bodies being led down the path we took to the entrance. There's no way they all fell in those few traps we encountered before. There's also no way they all decided not to disarm them. So either the traps reset anyway, or the dungeon has a some devious system of randomizing itself after a certain time interval. Maybe we enter on what's really floor 1-23, while the group just before us entered floor 1-88, and the loner after us entered floor 1-05. Eventually they all lead to the one central floor where Dredmor reigns, but in between there are vast area's of dungeon that connect to different 'pockets' of adventurers. Whatever the case, resetting traps behind us will only affect those near us. Chances are pretty big it's those so-called 'Cult of Saviors' fellows. Especially with them vanishing and walking through walls etc. You only do that if you have a certain spot to go to or you feel secure enough about where you'll end up. Since they actively hindered us it's logical to assume they will do it again and thus stay near. They'll have superior knowledge of the dungeon. Chances are extremely low, and the more so the further we go in the dungeon, that we encounter friendly people behind us. Torma and Danton here we also encountered in front of us. If we were to ever really go so slow as to be overtaken by other adventurers then we'd have bigger issues than worrying about our traps harming someone friendly."
"Maybe, maybe not. None of us really know this place and I, personally, won't put others at risks - But that's just my point of view. Don't know anything about the Inn or the town however, never been there and got in here through a tunnel." " If you are right however about the central floor, then our best bet to stop the necromancers could be to intercept them there."
"Ah yes that's true. Well I can tell you. On our way in here there were loads of adventurers here. Really... it seemed like a kingdom's capital during the coronation festival of the new King. If there was not a strange magical rearranging of the dungeon we'd have seen their blood or other unmistakable signs of their recent venturing through here. We have seen nothing of the kind. For so many adventurers to dissipate so quickly through the fairly limited dungeon as we have explored it so far is impossible. Also, the very last thing I want is for them to use us. Say they lurk behind us, we conquer every enemy, and near Dredmor after a pretty exhausting fight they immediately finish us off. Then we would have handed them the world on a silver platter. So I'm very much in favour of traps. And being carefull and trying to shake eventual pursuers."
"Traps it is then! They will be oh so fun to make! Just think of all the creative ways I could plan for causing harm to anyone stalking us." Hort thinks for a moment "Ya... just think about it."
Danton's face lights up suddenly. "I... I can sense a shrine to Her Magnificence somewhere to the north! If you all would be so kind to accompany me to the statue, I think the Goddess might be able to provide some help."
"Let's go through that door I was checking out earlier then! It's already cleared for traps so let's just go straight through."
Danton grins. "I'm glad you asked Torma. Her Magnificence is a symbol for all things good. Her mortal enemy is the heathen Cult of the Lutefisk God. She believes in working for rewards, so she gives tasks out to her followers often, usually with some enchanted item as a reward. I just know she'll be of great help!"
