Chapter Four: Excavations and Explorations

After a while Joe managed to recover himself. Sure Tara had died, but that didn’t mean she was dead in real life right? Joe thought for a bit longer about that. It was one thing to say they had been pulled into Nethack, but why? And more importantly how? Joe didn’t know. The oracle might have been their only hope of knowledge, but now there was no way they could reach there until they were much stronger. But when they were Joe would make that barbarian pay...

“We need to get a move on,” Joe said, getting up from his resting position on the floor. It had been great that Gareth had kept watch, even killing a jackal or two while Joe recovered. Joe would do anything to make sure he didn’t die the same way Tara had.

“Are you sure you’re ready?” Gareth asked. Joe nodded, and took up all of his few remaining items. Hopefully he could find some armour, or a better weapon then his current scimitar in the mines somewhere. Joe called Bill over. He jumped on top of the saddle, noticing Bill seemed to have grown a lot more powerful while he had been temporarily abandoned in the main dungeon. Joe took out his lance, and rode up to Gareth. Two moved slowly out into the level. The mines here seemed to be constructed of smaller interconnecting caverns. Joe skewered a few weak monsters, until he and Gareth came across a gnome lord.

“They’re all dead! They’re all dead!” the gnome cried in fear, running up to Joe and Gareth. Joe thought for a moment. Gareth himself was a gnome, so the gnome wouldn’t be hostile towards him, but why would the gnome not attack Joe?

“Who’s dead?” Gareth asked in concern. The gnome looked more carefully at the two, and edged slowly away. Joe put away his weapons and dismounted Bill.

“It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you,” Joe said, showing his empty hands. The gnome moved forward again, but still much closer to Gareth.

“My king, and all the other gnomes! Someone has killed them all!” the gnome said quickly, glancing around. Gareth turned to Joe questioningly, and Joe shrugged.

“Who killed them? Was it an orc barbarian?” Gareth asked. The gnome thought for a moment.

“No! I didn’t get a good look! I was the only one who escaped! He moved like the wind, striking at them all!” the gnome screeched. There was a movement from nearby and the gnome jumped behind Gareth. Joe walked over and found it to be nothing but Marmalade, caught in a bear trap. Joe pulled her free and rejoined Gareth and the gnome.

“Did you see anything at all?” Gareth asked.

“I did see something. The attacker, he didn’t seem to have any weapon. He wore a large robe too. He was so fast! Everyone just dropped dead! It was horrible!” the gnome said, panicking again. Gareth turned to Joe.

“I couldn’t have been the barbarian then. I don’t think he had any sources of speed. Besides, he couldn’t have gotten from his base to the mines that quickly before we arrived,” Gareth considered.

“What about that guy you met before, the one you couldn’t see properly?” Joe asked.

“It could be, but I don’t think so. The player I saw seemed more... I don’t know. He just didn’t seem the kind to just go around killing hoards of creatures though. Plus he was wearing more of a cloak than a robe,” Gareth said.

“This guys sounds like some kind of mage, or at least someone playing as a mage,” Joe guessed. “A wizard, a samurai, a knight... a barbarian can get reasonably skilled at attack magic too, thought I don’t see someone trying to play one of them as a mage. Either way we’d better be careful moving onwards.”

“What about me!? You have to let me come with you! You have to protect me in case he comes back!” the gnome screeched. Joe opened his mouth to decline, but Gareth got in first.

“You can come along with us, on one condition. You have to give us anything you find or get to use okay?” Gareth said. Joe was annoyed at this.

“What!? Having a gnome lord travel with us now isn’t really going to help,” Joe exclaimed.

“Why not? Every ally we have helps. Why bother keeping Marmalade then? or Bill? Besides, it would be cruel to leave him now,” Gareth argued.

“How do we know the player wont come back to attack him? If he managed to wipe out the whole mine level easily, we’re hardly going to be able to stop him. And anyway,” Joe said, motioning towards Marmalade who had begun to rub against Joe’s leg, “I can’t help it if that stupid cat won’t leave me alone!”

“If the player comes back he’ll probably just kill us anyway. The gnome can help us get through the mines quickly, reducing that chance,” Gareth said. Joe sighed. Staying here arguing wasn’t doing them the least bit of good.

“Fine. But he leaves as soon as we reach mine town,” Joe said. The gnome grinned and did and little dance.

“Thank you, thank you! My name is Larry! Follow me and I can show you the way to the stairs!” Larry said, dashing off. Joe watched cautiously. Hadn’t he been incredibly scared a moment ago? Joe didn’t trust the gnome one bit, and made a note to kill it the instant it did anything wrong at all. Joe and Gareth walked through the caverns, following the gnome. The level was almost empty of any monsters at all, save for a few weaker creatures that Gareth killed with his magic. The area felt very empty without the usual army of gnomes, and not even a single dwarf. Whoever had killed the gnomes was also very neat, as well as efficient. Though they came across several corpses not so much as a single dart had been left behind. Once Joe, Gareth and the gnome had reached the stairs Gareth asked them to stop.

“What is it?” Joe asked. Gareth responded by pulling a worn book from his backpack.

“I was just thinking I’d better learn this spell now, since if the other levels are like normal it might be a while before I get a chance,” Gareth explained. Joe nodded and dismounted Bill again. He began to stand on look out. Gareth sat down next to the stairs and began to read through the book. After twenty minutes Joe was growing bored for the first time in Nethack, but noticed that the gnome was looking more and more nervous now that they had stopped. Joe took another look around the cavern, but this time he saw something. Joe walked forward and peered at it. It seemed to be a flying creature of some sort. As it flew closer Joe recognized it as a raven. Joe frowned as he looked closer as more ravens flew in, and soon there were five of them. The ravens moved into formation and began to soar towards Joe. Joe quickly backed a few metres into a thin passage leading to Gareth. The first of the ravens reached Joe, and he slashed at it with his scimitar, missing. Joe managed to avoid the raven as it dived for his face, but missed once again himself. The gnome suddenly noticed the ravens and walked up.

“Kill those ravens! You go Joe!” the gnome cheered loudly. Gareth looked upwards, distracted by his voice.

“Give him the lance,” Gareth called. Joe turned around to reply, but Gareth had already returned to studying the book. Joe shrugged and dropped the lance in front of the gnome. As he did this the raven in front of him took its chance and dived for Joe’s head. Joe instinctively put his hands up to protect his face, but the raven tore at his eyes. Joe screamed in pain, clutching his face. He could feel blood dripping down his face, and he couldn’t see at all. He knew by Nethack logic his eyes should heal in time, like any other would-be permanent wound, but that didn’t stop the pain or fear. Joe swung forward with his scimitar, and felt it connect with the raven. Claws began raking at him again. Joe had no idea if it was the same raven or another. Joe continued swinging his weapon, rarely making contact. His wild swinging seemed to keep the ravens at bay however, and no more attacks on him were made. Joe felt a sharp pain in his ear, and he guessed that the gnome behind him was not great of a shot with his lance.

“Joe, look out!” Joe heard Gareth yell. Joe was about to angrily yell out exactly how little use that would do him in his current state when something freezing cold hit his skin, causing it to ache painfully.

Winter wolf Joe thought, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out the potion of oil he had taken from Gareth earlier on in the mines. Joe heard the gnome screaming behind him. Joe lit the potion and hurled it forward. He heard a loud explosion and several screams of what sounded like winter wolf cubs and ravens. Joe grinned through his pain. He swung forward with his scimitar but didn’t hit anything. A few seconds later he heard another raven scream from ahead of him.

“They’re all dead Joe. You can stop now,” Joe heard Gareth call, and Joe stopped swinging his scimitar. He listen carefully but couldn’t hear any more monsters. He carefully sat down onto the ground and held his head in his hands. His eyes were still aching badly, but the pain had subsided somewhat. Joe waited for a few minutes and suddenly saw a bright light. Joe blinked a few times and the brightness dimmed. In a few seconds the image of the caverns around him appeared again. Joe got up and looked around. The gnome was waiting nearby with Joe’s lance at the ready, and Gareth was just closing up his book. Joe snatched his lance back from the gnome and felt his ear tenderly. Like his other injuries it was painless and healed... but there was still a small hole in his left ear. Joe frowned. It was one thing to want an earring, but it was another to have it done by a clumsy gnome wielding a sharp weapon. Joe walked over back to the stairs when Gareth suddenly disappeared. Joe became slightly annoyed. Surely he hadn’t put his ring of teleportation on again...

“Hey cool, it works,” Joe heard Gareth say. Joe looked around but couldn’t see Gareth nearby. The gnome was looking around nervously. Joe felt a prod on his elbow and he swung around to see nothing.

“Calm down Joe. I’m just invisible,” Gareth said. Joe paused in thought. This was going to be a real pain unless he had some form of see invisible...

“Could you not do that? I’m just a bit edgy,” Joe asked.

“I have to wait for it to wear off now. This is really annoying for me too you know, I can’t actually see myself,” Gareth pointed out. Joe sighed to himself. It seemed like they would be waiting for a bit longer now. Joe settled down again, and began to wait. After five minutes Gareth spoke again.

“Did you just hear something?” Gareth asked.

“No. What did you hear?” Joe replied.

“It sounded like a shriek or something,” Gareth considered. Joe shrugged and went back to relaxing again. After a minute or two he pulled out a slime mold. Joe stared at it, wondering if it was fit to eat or not. He took a tentative bite and tasted it carefully. The slime mold tasted like a cross between jelly and lime, with a unrecognizable tang. It was a taste unlike any other Joe had had, but he found it to be quite pleasant. Joe took another large bite from the mold, then spat it out and dropped the whole portion. All thoughts of food were driven out of his head as he saw a huge creature charge quickly through the caverns towards him. Joe’s body was filled with fear as he recognized the monstrous enemy: A purple worm.

“Gareth! Get downstairs now!” Joe yelled, grabbing his items and jumping on Bill. The gnome saw the purple worm slithering down the passage, and ran down the staircase without any extra prompting. Joe had no idea if Gareth was down the stairs or not. He dug his feet into Bill, encouraging him to run for the stairs. Bill stopped suddenly next to them.

“Where’s Marmalade!?” Joe heard Gareth ask. Joe looked around, but couldn’t see the cat anywhere. A booming burping sound filled the air, and Bill whinnied in fear. Joe winced and directed Bill down the stairs. As he reached the bottom Joe noticed a blur nearby, and could see Gareth slowly fading back into visibility. Joe rode forward and looked around. The caverns here were dark, unlike the previous level. It was difficult to tell, but these caverns seemed small like the last ones. Joe couldn’t see the gnome anywhere.

“Do you think we’re safe here for now?” Joe asked.

“Normally yes, but given how things seem to work here I’d say not for long,” Gareth replied.

“How do you think that thing appeared anyway? There must have been a polymorph trap or something...” Joe considered.

“It’s too early in the dungeon for polymorph traps. It must have been summoned by a shrieker,” Gareth said.

“Since when do...” Joe began, but was stopped by the sight of the purple worm tumbling down the stairs. Joe and Gareth fled forwards into the caverns. Joe saw the cavern up ahead split into two passages. Joe rode to the left while Gareth ran to the right, gesturing wildly in the air as he did so. Joe was half relieved and half worried to see the purple worm follow Gareth. Joe stopped to look around. He couldn’t see very far in the dark, but the caverns seemed to be empty here as well. A spider suddenly jumped at him from the darkness and bit into Bill’s leg. Joe sliced at it angrily, chopping through its eyes. Bill managed to swing his head around and bite the spider to death. Joe felt very edgy. A spider was nothing much to worry about but there could be much worse enemies nearby, and Joe was woefully unequipped to deal with a much more dangerous threat.

“Joe! Where is Gareth? Where is Gareth?” a familiar voice called out from the darkness, causing Joe to almost fall off Bill. The gnome lord from the previous level ran up near him and started jumping up and down frantically. Joe put away his scimitar, only just aware that he had drawn it again.

“He is somewhere in this level. The purple worm followed him, but he should be able to escape with invisibility,” Joe said. The gnome looked worried.

“I’ve got to find him! He said he’d protect me!” the gnome said, scurrying off. A second later Joe remembered something and called out.

“Wait a minute!” Joe called. He heard the gnome quickly run back.

“What is it? I have to hurry!” the gnome said.

“Do you think you could help me out a bit? I can’t see in the darkness well, so I’d appreciate it if you could come with me as look out,” Joe asked. The gnome looked a bit annoyed.

“No! I have to get to Gareth now!” the gnome said, running off again. Joe frowned in the darkness, listening to the fading footsteps. This was going to be difficult.

Gareth ran as fast as he could through the caverns. He had only just managed to escape the purple worm with his invisibility spell, but he could hear it moving about nearby. Gareth wondered where Joe had ended up. Gareth’s foot collided with something, and he fell down face-forward into the dirt. Gareth was surprised to hear a hiss from whatever he had tripped over and he looked at it closely. He was even more surprised to see that he had tripped over Marmalade! Gareth stroked the cat for a moment, and got back up. Suddenly there was a loud SPLAT noise, and Gareth gasped in horror. Where Marmalade had been a second ago there was nothing but a dead corpse, a puddle of blood, and a single crossbow bolt. Gareth heard a faint laughter from nearby and he became angry.

“Who’s there?! What did you do that for?!” Gareth yelled. He could see someone standing nearby, but couldn’t make out much in the darkness. He considered casting light for a moment, then changed his mind. The purple worm was still out somewhere and he didn’t want to draw any more attention than his hasty shouting already had.

“That stupid cat stole food from me,” the person calmly explained. Gareth felt his anger grow.

“You didn’t have to kill it!” Gareth screamed. The person chuckled, and walked away into the darkness. Gareth stood next to what was left of Marmalade and tried to calm down. Loosing his cool wasn’t going to help him. Gareth tried to think of something more constructive than hunting out and killing whoever had done this. What needed to be done right now? He had to get to somewhere safe away from the purple worm. And how was he going to do that? He had to find out where Joe was. Gareth began walking but had gotten no more than two steps when he heard another voice call out to him.

“Gareth! Wait for me!” the gnome yelled, running up to Gareth.

“What is it?” Gareth asked. “Do you know where Joe is?”

“You said you’d protect me! You have to protect me!” the gnome said.

“Do you know where he is or not?!” Gareth snapped. The gnome looked downfallen.

“Sorry. Could you please tell me where you last saw Joe?”

“Follow me,” the gnome said unenthusiastically, walking slowly away again. Gareth followed, glancing from side to side. A few minutes later the gnome proved to be true to his word and Gareth saw Joe nearby, holding a lit lamp. Bill was standing close by as well.

“Gareth! I found another chest with this... Is something wrong?” Joe asked, jogging up.

“Some other player killed Marmalade. It sounded like a male, I’m not sure I didn’t really see him that well...” Gareth explained. Joe looked sad, though not much so.

“That sucks. Anyway, I found another chest just a minute ago. It had this lamp in it, and another spell book,” Joe said, handing Gareth a spell book. Gareth flicked through the pages for a moment.

“Looks like some kind of attack spell... but we don’t have time to sit down now. We have to get to safety,” Gareth said.

“Yeah. Have you seen the stairs down yet?” Joe asked.

“No. I think they must be...” Gareth began, but was interrupted by the gnome.

“I know where the stairs are! Quickly, run to safety!” the gnome exclaimed, running off. Joe frowned.

“I wish he’d stop doing that,” Joe complained. Gareth shrugged and the two set off after the gnome.

Joe was glad when he finally saw the stairs emerge into the flickering light of his lamp. Maybe it was just his imagination, but it seemed as though they had walked around the whole level several times before reaching their destination. He couldn’t help but feel having this gnome around was becoming more of a hindrance then a help. Hopefully the next level would at least be lit.

“Here’s the stairs! See! I can help too!” the gnome said excitedly. Gareth smiled at the gnome and looked down the stairs.

“At least the next level is lighter,” Gareth said. Joe walked over then looked around.

“Where’s Bill gone off to now?” Joe asked. Gareth shrugged.

“We don’t have time to wait for him,” Gareth pointed out.

“Never mind, here he is now,” Joe said as Bill emerged from the darkness. Joe swung his leg over and slipped, falling to the ground. Gareth watched in amusement and Joe shook himself off and got on Bill properly. Joe frowned and descended the stairs. At the bottom he looked around and was relieved to find this level was indeed magically lit, and seemed a lot more open than the previous one. Unfortunately the area was filled with what could almost be classified an army of gnomes and gnome lords.

“Ah damn it,” Joe cursed, noticing the hostility of the gnomes towards him. “I was just getting used to having an easy journey as well.”

“Joe stay back. Hopefully I can convince them to let you through,” Gareth said. Joe shrugged and remained waiting on the stairs. The gnome that had been following them had already ran off and rejoined his community. Joe watched as Gareth walked up to the gnome lord nearby and began talking to him. The gnome lord motioned for the gnomes to hold back, but he didn’t seem very happy about it. Joe listened carefully and could just make out what they were saying.

“Why should we let this human through?” the gnome lord said, spitting out the word ‘human’ as though it was a curse.

“We just want passage to the town nearby. Surely you can find it in yourselves to help out a couple of lost spirits such as us, despite my friends race!” Gareth pleaded. Joe snorted slightly, trying to control his laughter. ‘Lost spirits’ indeed.

“How can we trust you? We have reports of a dangerous human that has killed a large number of our population! How can we be sure it wasn’t him that did it?” the gnome lord questioned.

“He is not the one you speak of! We ourselves are hunting the gnome-killer, trying to bring him to justice. Can’t we join forces and fight a common enemy?” Gareth asked. Joe wasn’t particularly pleased with that. He didn’t know who had slaughtered the gnomes on the previous levels, but they were obviously much stronger than he was at the moment. He doubted there was much he could do, even with the gnomes.

“I thought you just wanted passage, and now you offer to help protect our whole city?” the gnome lord said slyly. Gareth paused, looking a bit nervous.

“Uh... That is I... Well we would need some supplies from the town first before we could help you... Can’t you just trust a fellow gnome?” Gareth asked.

“I could indeed. But what is to say the human has not deceived you? Have you thought of that?” the gnome lord countered. Gareth frowned, obviously becoming annoyed.

“What is it you want? How can we prove that my friend means you no harm?” Gareth asked in frustration.

“Now that you mention it we gnomes are...” the gnome lord began. Whatever he was going to say next was drowned out by a scream from nearby. Everyone turned in the direction it had come from, and most of gnomes gasped. Lying on the floor was the dead body of a gnome. Joe jumped up and began to run over. The furious gaze of few dozen gnomes stopped him.

“Look what your ‘friend’ has done now!” the gnome lord yelled. Several gnomes nearby readied their weapons and held them out angrily.

“I was sitting next to the stairs the whole time, how could I have killed that gnome?!” Joe yelled angrily.

“With your devil magic that’s how!” the gnome lord yelled, stepping forward and holding his club angrily. Gareth stepped in front of him.

“Joe doesn’t even know magic. He’s a knight!” Gareth said. Joe saw a blur over Gareth’s head and another gnome fell dead.

“The murderer is behind you! Run!” Joe yelled. The gnome lord turned around for a moment and saw someone disappear behind a large rock. The gnome lord stared for a moment and turned back to Joe.

“It is clear now that you were not the one who did this. Help us now and you will be worthy of our trust,” the gnome lord said angrily. The gnomes nearby were looking very nervous. Some were staring at the two bodies, while others were glancing about. One or two had turned to flee already. Gareth ran to where Joe was standing.

“Come on, we have to save the gnomes!” Gareth said.

“Are you insane? We’d have more chance of killing the whole army here than against that guy! He’s obviously got speed boots or something, and some powerful attack. I say we head for the stairs now before these gnomes get angry,” Joe said. Gareth look shocked.

“We can’t just abandon them!” Gareth exclaimed.

“Think about it for a moment will you. Whoever is killing those gnomes is another player like us. Would you kill another human that hadn’t even hurt you? Whoever it is we need to befriend if we have any chance of getting out of here alive. Would you be so concerned if it were just a bunch of Gs on a screen?” Joe said quickly. He could see the gnomes were getting restless and panicked. It looked like another one had been killed.

“I guess... I guess you’re right. But why didn’t you say any of this about the barbarian?” Gareth asked.

“Why aren’t you helping?!” the gnome lord yelled from nearby.

“I...” Joe faltered, “This isn’t the time to talk about it.” Joe put aside his thoughts and readied his lance. He nodded his head to Gareth and kicked Bill into a gallop. A few gnomes dived out of the way as Joe rode forward. The gnome lord saw what was happening and ran over.

“He is a traitor! Stop him!” the gnome lord yelled. The gnomes nearby became angry and drew their assorted weapons. Joe swung his lance and killed one in his way. He didn’t stop to see how Gareth was reacting. All that mattered now was getting out of here alive. Joe heard screams, war cries and the sound of dying from behind but he ignored them. Ahead of him the cavern became smaller until it was nothing more than a twisting passage. Joe directed Bill into the passage and stopped for a moment to slay two gnomes still following him. Joe couldn’t hear anything nearby anymore, so he dismounted Bill to look through the corpses. All he found of interest was a sling and a club, neither of which were particularly helpful for him. Joe instinctively took a defensive position as he heard footsteps come near, but it was only Gareth.

“Have you noticed anything odd?” Gareth asked as he walked up.

“No,” Joe replied.

“It’s just... I haven’t seen any other monsters here accept for the gnomes. It just seems weird that’s all,” Gareth said. Joe thought for a moment, and realized that he had seen any either. That large cavern before must have taken up at least half the level as well. Joe was interrupted from his thoughts by a spluttering from his lamp. Joe swore to himself as he remembered that he had forgotten to turn it off before they entered the level. He wished now that he hadn’t wasted their only potion of oil earlier when the wolves attacked. Annoyed, he dropped the empty lamp. The chances were he’d find another one sooner or later anyway. Joe heard a noise and listened carefully. The sound was faint, but sounded like a lot of walking feet.

“Uh-oh. Let’s go,” Joe said and began jogging out of the passage.

Gareth descended the staircase wearily. He felt exhausted from the amount of spells he had had to cast just to get away from the gnome army, and now all he wanted to do was rest. As Gareth reached the bottom of the stairs he looked around. He sighed as he saw what seemed to be another unlit level. How much further would they have to go to get to mine town? Gareth lent against the rock wall for a moment as Joe came walking down after him with Bill close behind.

“Do you think we could rest for a while?” Gareth asked.

“We can’t really afford to. Mine town should only be one or two levels off now,” Joe replied. Gareth groaned slightly to himself and began trudging into the darkness. He was stopped by the sound of Joe’s voice.

“If you’re getting tired why don’t you ride Bill for a while?” Joe offered.

“Thanks for offering, but I don’t have any skill in riding remember?” Gareth said. “Trying to ride now would just slow me down for a while.”

“Sure, wizards start with no skill in riding... but up till now I’d never ridden either. Just because you couldn’t do it in Nethack... why shouldn’t you now?” Joe pointed out. Gareth shrugged. His argument made sense, but he got the feeling it wouldn’t be that easy. Still... he wouldn’t know until he tried.

“Ah, why not?” Gareth said and walked up to Bill. Joe helped Gareth get a leg up, and soon Gareth was sitting on top of Bill. Gareth experimentally kicked Bill. In a moment he was shaken off and fell hard onto the floor. Gareth got up and scowled at Joe who was laughing at him.

“You’ve actually got to...” Joe started. Gareth caught a movement in the corner of his eye and turned his head.

“Joe move!” Gareth yelled. Joe followed his orders, hurriedly moving over several metres. A huge set of jaws clamped down where Joe had stood only moments ago. The purple worm had caught up with them again. Joe saw the monster and his eyes bulged. Joe swore and ran over to Bill. Gareth hurriedly began to cast invisibility. Joe managed to clamber on Bill and dug his heels in. Bill reared up angrily, but began running quickly into the darkness. Gareth finished casting the spell and glanced around. He couldn’t see where the purple worm had gone in the darkness. Gareth took a nervous step forward and felt the ground move from next to him. He withheld a gasp as he saw the side of the purple worm move in front of him. Gareth held his breath and stood perfectly still. The purple worm vanished from his sight and seemed to be slowly moving away. Gareth slowly breathed out and began to sneak forward. After a few minutes he had had no problems at all, and was starting to get suspicious. Why weren’t there any monsters? Even if someone had killed them all surely more would have been generated just in the time they had been in the level... Gareth was thinking this when he saw a small shape move ahead in the darkness. Gareth wasn’t sure whether to be worried or relieved at this. After a moment’s thought Gareth decided to cast light. It may attract attention, but he was going to take all day finding Joe or the stairs down if he didn’t do something. Gareth drew upon all of his magical energy and concentrated. A moment later the area was lit up. This area seemed more rocky than the previous, and the rock formations cast eerie shadows upon the ground. To Gareth’s surprise the small creature standing nearby was none other than the gnome lord that had followed them earlier. Gareth wasn’t surprised to see he wasn’t look very happy, but he was surprised that the gnome could see him in his invisible state. Looking closely Gareth could see he was wearing a ring of some kind, presumably see invisible.

“You said you’d protect me!” the gnome hissed angrily. “And now you kill my family!” Gareth became worried. He could see where this was going, and he didn’t have any of his magic power left to defend himself with. Gareth thought for a moment. All he had in terms of weapons was some darts he had grabbed on the way down and a single elven dagger... Gareth wished Tara was here right now...

“Technically, I never said anything about protecting your family at all,” Gareth said hurriedly, but the gnome was having none of it. The gnome had a look of rage in his eyes, a rage that frightened Gareth.

“You took away everything I had. Is that protecting me? Is it? Is it?!” the gnome yelled, reaching for something in his pocket. Gareth gasped as he recognized the item. A wand of create monster. Gareth’s mind raced. He threw his darts as hard as he could at the gnome, but they fell short. Gareth swore and turned to run. Behind him he heard a crack, and a loud whoosh. He took a quick look behind and saw a dozen or so assorted monsters moving around. Gareth was invisible, but sooner or later one of them would find him...

“Joe! Joe!” Gareth called out. His voice’s echo was all the reply he got. Gareth’s body suddenly stopped and he fell forward. He tried to move, but his body was held fast by something sticky... Gareth struggled, but only became more entangled.

“Can’t even protect yourself now?!” Gareth heard the gnome screech from nearby. He turned his head and swore as he saw a potion crash down on his face. Gareth choked and swallowed a small amount of the liquid. He felt his legs numb, then his torso, and then...

“Joe! Joe!” Gareth’s voice echoed. Joe looked around worried. Why was Gareth calling out? Surely it was too risky to attract any attention at all. Joe listened to the fading echoes, but couldn’t tell where his voice had come from. Joe walked along slowly. He listen carefully, and could make out different noises from nearby. Joe drew his weapon and held it out. A pale light suddenly moved over him as a yellow light floated over to him from around a corner. Next to the yellow light was a bugbear. The two seemed to spot him, and the yellow light increased it’s speed. Joe’s mind turned to his inventory. He didn’t have anyway to prevent blindness, not even a towel. Joe covered his eyes with his hands as the light came closer, and saw the area get brighter for a moment, then darker. As Joe dropped his hands the light was gone. He remembered what he had said to Gareth before. Just because he couldn’t do something in Nethack doesn’t mean he couldn’t do it now... The bugbear came next to Joe and he swung his scimitar at it. The bugbear raked at him with his claws and Joe flinched. Joe aimed his scimitar carefully and sliced forward at the bugbear’s eyes, hitting the left one. The bugbear grabbed his face in agony and Joe rammed the scimitar into the bugbears stomach. The bugbear gasped and staggered backwards as Joe struck him a second time, and another. Joe stepped over the corpse and was surprised at what he saw. Around the corner an area was lit up, presumably by magic. There were several monsters in the area, including the purple worm. Joe saw no sign of Gareth though. Joe ducked behind the corner again out of sight. What had happened here? Joe stepped back as a tengu appeared in front of him, but to his relief the creature seemed neutral towards him. A moment later it vanished again. Gareth felt a tapping on his back and he turned around. In front of him was the same gnome lord from before.

“What do you want?” Joe asked. The gnome didn’t seem too happy. Understandable considering that Joe had killed several of the gnomes on his way down. The gnome didn’t reply, but drew a potion and tried to smash it on Joe’s face. Joe jumped backwards as the flask narrowly missed his nose. Joe wondered what was inside the flask. Something nasty for sure. The gnome was not deterred and threw the flask at Joe. Joe slashed at the potion with his sword, and managed to smash it in mid-air. The liquid spilled onto the floor and Joe could faintly smell it. The gnome began to run away and Joe started to follow, noticing his legs seemed strangely unwilling to move. Joe watched in dismay as the gnome vanished into the darkness. Just as he stopped to slay a nearby dog he heard a high-pitched scream from not too far away. Joe walked forward to find the dead body of the gnome, and Bill standing nearby. Joe was glad that Bill was still alive, but only just. Joe grabbed a food ration out of his backpack and handed it to Bill. Bill ate the food greedily and look a bit stronger. Something on the ground caught Joe’s eye and he picked it up. There were two rings on the ground, one of which he didn’t recognize, and one of teleportation...

“Gareth,” Joe said in worry, and took of at a run to the lit area. When he arrived most of the monsters had spread away from the area. The purple worm was still nearby sliding off slowly. Joe paused for a moment and thought. Gareth had been invisible, so if this was the ring Gareth had had the gnome must have had someway of seeing him. Joe took a risk and slid the unknown ring onto his finger and began to sneak forward, edging away from the light. The silence was broken by a huge burping noise and Joe panicked. He ran in the direction of the purple worm. It didn’t take long for him to catch up. Ahead of him he could see something on the ground. Joe ran forward and saw that it was the body of Gareth. Joe stared at Gareth in fear. Was he already...? The purple worm seemed to see Gareth, and began to speed up. Joe swore and ran after it. He collided with something and felt a chilling cold rack his body. In front of him was a blue jelly. Joe attacked it angrily twice, but he had to stop when he body was immersed in painful cold. Joe looked around but couldn’t see anything around. He tore open his backpack but couldn’t see anything in it that could help... Joe tried to squeeze past the jelly but it moved over and froze him again. Joe lent against the wall, gritting his teeth and trying to stay upright. He watched in fear as the purple worm charged over to Gareth body. Joe drew random items from his backpack, hoping that he could find something he had forgotten about, but there was nothing. Joe slumped to the ground shaking. He couldn’t lose Gareth as well... he couldn’t go through this game alone! Joe took one last wild swipe at the jelly, killing it. He barely had the energy to crawl, but he struggled to his feet and ran slowly forward. He knew he wasn’t going to make it in time, but he had to try. The form of the purple worm reared over Gareth, blocking out Joe’s view. Joe closed his eyes and waited for the worst...