Abandoned Asylum
Abandoned Asylum
A tall ship approaches an island fortress rising out of the sea like an imposing edifice of granite casting dark and sinister glances to all who might in the midst of a terrible storm that seems to be a permanent feature of the island itself. The fortress is made of gray stone and concrete with abandoned catapult turrets on the bluffs while deadly ballistae that have not been fired in years stand at attention in their turrets at sea level ready to wreak havoc in crossfire upon any ship invading the channel that leads to a sea cave and the docks within which are the means in or out by sailing vessel.
The tall ship itself flies a black flag that acts as a dark sea from which a crimson colored octopus surfaces menacingly. Up in the crow's nest a skunk in a leather smock is looking into a crystal ball as a quartet of small pyramids of the same material as the sphere float above him and rotate in place. Below the skunk other furs from otters to dogs and cats are doing their best to keep the black and red sails from being shredded by the winds and rain.
Below decks a lion has a young wolf-bear of about eighteen years of age on his knees with his muzzle servicing the feline's prick. The wolf-bear is clearly not enjoying this even if the older lion clearly is. The lion is about to force the younger canine to lift his tail when an alligator comes down.
"By Neptune's Beard!" The gator exclaims. "Honestly, Jaxon, can you leave off the new hires for one fucking voyage!"
"Fuck you, Borax!" Jaxon Sharpton growls to Borax Riverrazon. "I gotta have me fun before they die."
"And it's almost time for one of those trials," Borax snarls. "Come with me, boy, you're going for one of the final trials for full membership as part of the crew."
"Yes, sir," The wolf-bear says as he gets up and salutes the gator.
Kodyax Zavaj, the wolf-bear in question, is black furred with red hair and red tiger stripes and a single gray eye wearing shark leather armor and a black leather head wrap that includes a covering over the empty socket that used to hold his left eye, follows first mate Riverrazor to the poop deck of the Dark Treasurer Upon coming up to the main deck some of the madness of that was Tempest Island when it was in full operation comes to light as cages containing the skeletons of the damned sway in the breezes that forever blow in these channels. Rumors that the dead sometimes reanimate here are unsubstantiated but to look upon the skeletons and how they seem to move in such a way that the wind can't account for gives some credence to those poor unfortunate souls who visit here.
Other raw recruits being brought before the Captain, a black bull whose 8'7" height dwarfs all but Kodyax himself who is 9'6" and dressed in what could be considered the finery of an Arabian corsair, include a vixen sorceress, sea blue and green furred with tattoos of waves and shells on her body which is only really barely clothed to the point of distraction, a rakish looking purple raccoon with green markings and hair to match and orange eyes, a turtle whose shell has many glyphs and runes carved upon it, an alligator who could be the younger brother or son of the first mate, the daughter of the skunk alchemist in the crow's nest, a clouded leopardess in a suit of scaled leather and all the fetishes of a Kahuna and a horned sheep girl who is also scantily clad but her pink wool betrays her nervousness as if she sees and hears spirits around her that are not very happy with her. Kodyax is familiar with everyone here as they have all trained together in some capacity as Aurora Oceania, the vixen walks over and hugs him a little more lustfully than he might have liked, as they have been trying to keep their more amorous activities a secret. Jun Chan, the lady kahuna and Mata Hari, the oracle ewe, giggle at this display while Barbarella Pasteur, the skunk, just smirks, Borat Riverrazor, Borax's son who is coming of age, and Jonathan Cagne, the coon share a conspiratorial glance with Albert Tesla, the turtle as they watch and listen for their instructions from the captain. Captain Sinbad Barbosa addresses the would-be pirates before him with a smile.
"Alright ye swabs!" The captain bellows. "Listen and listen good, because I am not in the habit of repeating myself. Ye might have noticed we be sailing into Tempest Island with its perpetual storms and supposedly haunted interior. We use this accursed place as a testing ground fer raw recruits such as yerselves. Ye'll be set loose without weapons and have a week to find yer ways around and come back with somethin of value. I want ye all to work together on this. This is as much a test of how well ye can perform as a team as it is an examination of yer individual scavengin skills. Weapon caches are stashed at guard stations throughout the prison walls of the place. Keep in mind that this was a place where the most insane criminals of the empire were locked away to rot until they could be cured or until they died. Executions were sometimes done fer the amusement of the guards and to make room for other patients."
"Sounds like a breeding ground for the undead," Kodyax states, "I wouldn't be surprised at all if the place was haunted."
"So says our would be Marine Ranger," Captain Barbosa says slyly. "But you're more of an expert on that than even me. That's something we lack and the reason I hope you make it, boy."
"Speaking of his skills at identifying monsters," Jonathan says, "I just saw something in the water here I think we may want him to identify."
"Yeah," Borat seconds, "That fish looks too big and nasty to be natural."
Kodyax takes a look over the side to see an oversized tadpole with an armored head, a double quartet of tentacles with slits at each bulbous terminus and four whale-like flukes at the end of its tail. "It's an abhorrynth," the wolf-bear states. "I really don't like what this could signify."
"And what pray tell might that be?" The Captain asks.
"Abhorrynths serve the entities of elder evil," Jun answers for Kodyax, "It is taught among the Wardens of the Waves that they caused the great flood and instigated the great plague that did in the human progenitors of our world. Whatever something like that is here for, it can't be good."
"And none of us are powerful to take it down," Kody chimes in. "I'll want to see what it's up to but after that, I'm going to need to report my findings to the Wardens."
"I keep forgetting that you're here because the Wave Wardens requested it as a favor I owed them," Captain Barbarosa states. "Sounds like I'm getting a favor in return by having you as a member of the crew. Caution is a virtue for a pirate. We have a reputation for being bold but we pirates try to get an edge on those we fight so we can win even if the fight isn't exactly fair."
"What will the Wardens do?" Borax asks.
"That depends on what I find," Kodyax says honestly. "Tempest Island is rumored to have had a lot of heinous doings go on within its walls. Cult worship of the elder evils being just one of those things that cause the dead to rest uneasy in their graves and if one of those things is here then a just a hunt may be what's needed. More than that or if there is cult activity with that thing at the center...it's grounds for a temporary quarantine and a purge." A ballista on the top of the canyon tilts down and loads itself. "Captain, are the siege engines around here noted for being animate?"
"Not especially, there are rumors that ghost guards occasionally man them..." The Captain explains and then glances up to see what Kody saw. "Tits of the Morrigan! Defensive magics! We're under attack by an animated ballista!"
"I'm on it, Cap'n!" A painted wolf bitch yells as she begins to chant. "Don't worry, Aurora, I can handle this."
"Yes, Madam Calypso," Aurora says with a heavy sigh as her mentor, Calypso Undine whips up the winds to protect the ship.
The ballista fires its heavy bolt at the ship but wild winds alter its aim to send it careening into the wall on the opposite side of the channel. It goes noticed by all on-board the Dark Treasurer but an eye attached to a tentacle surfaced as the attack took place and then submerged when the bolt went off course. Beneath the waves the abhorrynth angles its armored but featureless head at the boat above and emits special waves of invisible energy that helps it scan the ship before it enters a sea tunnel that only its kind knows about and is gone.
Ghostly lanterns float in the sea cave that served to welcome visitors to the island in its heyday but now the wooden docks are starting to see signs of decay as the preservative magic that once kept the ravages of time from destroying them is starting to fade. Calypso dives beneath the waves wearing only a tool belt to repair the docks as the raw recruits disembark via the ships gangplank. Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor starts to play as they approach the main doors the frame of which is a human skull with its jaws open wide as if swallowing visitors whole, which must have been something else with humans controlled the island centuries ago when there were still humans alive to be scared by such things, but now they are gone, places like this standing as their legacy to the animal folk that have risen to take their place.
Kodyax has to duck to walk into the reception hall but once inside it's not much better as the ceilings are ten feet above the floor which means his head almost hits said ceiling as the walls start to bleed phantom blood and the skeletons in the cages that flank the door suddenly have the flesh returned to them albeit temporarily as they become human females devoid of clothing that spread themselves to offer their bodies like good slaves. Ghostly bugaboos, hulking brutes of the Hobgoblin Empire reach into cages and crush the skulls of the human women; laughing as they scream in agony and pain as they die again before the murders spasm as they themselves are killed by spectral archers as scenes of the demise of the complex play out in full view of the newest living visitors. The skeletal corpse of the bugaboo in the vision is still there laying where it died as Borat defecates on the remains in a kind of bravado that causes mixed reactions among the party as Aurora is still creeped out by the whole scene and is still in shock as Jon and Al face palm as they shake their heads, Barbarella, Jun and Kody shake theirs heads as one as Mata is completely unphased; to her this is actually rather...normal.
"What!?" Mata asks as everyone just looks at her. "You mean, I'm not the only one that saw the haunt?"
"Alright, let's get armed as quickly as we can incase some of the dead in here are more than just phantasms and decorations." Kodyax suggests and gets a round of nods from the gathered.
Back at the boat, Jaxon prepares to take a little swim when Borax finds him.
"And just what do you think you're doing?" Borax demands to know of Jaxon.
"Oh, nothing much," Jaxon says slyly. "I'm just gonna have some fun that's all. The little fish ain't been seasoned enough yet."
"JAXON!!!" Captain Barbarosa bellows. "If you embark on what I think you plan to do, Kody will not be punished if he kills you."
"He's no shark yet!" Jaxon yells back as he dives in.
"Should we warn the ranger?" Borax asks of Sinbad.
"Nah, I get the feeling that old rogue is about to get his comeuppance." Sinbad says with a grin.
Jaxon swims into a cell in which female prisoners were subjected to the attentions of octopi for the amusement of their guards. His plan is to climb out of the pit and surprise Kodyax somewhere in the dungeons where he is supposed to stalk as part of the ordeal he needs to survive to join the crew. What he didn't count on is the fact that one of the huge octopi that were trapped here eventually became one of the swimming dead as part of the malevolence of the prison continuing to make the lives of its inhabitants as difficult as possible.
The hellish glow from is crimson eyes bathes the lion in unnatural light as his first indication that this may not have been such a hot idea. One glance down is enough to encourage Jaxon to swim a lot faster to evade the undead octopus behind him. Unfortunately for Jaxon the door out of this cell is locked and the key is hanging on the opposite wall, just out of reach.
Some part of the zombie octopus still remains as it first grabs for Jaxon's pants and tears them off to reveal his naked groin. The arms of the octopus invade his mouth and tail hole as another grabs and tugs at his sack. Jaxon grabs the pars of the cell and holds on for dear life as the monster tries to drag him into the water.
Upstairs in the main keep of the castle asylum, the novice pirates have found a weapons cache. Al takes a staff with an iron scallop as its finial as does Aurora, Jun and Mata along with a gut razor, a curved blade that can filet folks right quick if used right with Jon taking a set of razors for himself both in a style more like fencing blades and scalloped basket hilts to sere as rapier and main gauche along with a set of throwing knives. Borat takes up a gaff hook on a short pole, and a short cleaver like sword with a guard over his knuckles; Kodyax also grabs twin butterfly swords, which are what they are called, a net and a trident which makes him look like sort of fisherman which draws snide comments from Jon and Al but Borat glares at them.
Barbarella stuffs lots of reagents into her pockets before taking up a gut razor herself. She is busy getting a few things ready when everyone hears a sound down the hall. Kodyax gets low to the ground and closes his one good eye to better hear what is going on while everyone in back of him gets ready for battle. He hears much, including the panicked whispers of his fellow apprentice pirates but what he hears from the corridor are the creaking of bones and the clatter of bony feet on concrete.
"Crushing weapons only!" Kodyax growls as he cracks his knuckles audibly. "It sounds like skeletons are approaching."
"Who made you Captain?" Jonathan demands to know.
"If you want survive," Borat growls. "I suggest we listen to him.
"Says you!" Jonathan grouses and starts to move by Kody. "I'll pick them apart bone by bone if necessary!" Then as he makes it past the wolf-bear and runs head long into battle. "Tally Ho!"
"Any indication on how many?" Al asks in all seriousness as he reads his spell book and goes over the formula of a spell he may need. "I have a spell that may help."
"I can't tell exact numbers but it doesn't sound like a lot." Kodyax states then looks at Mata. "You have access to healing magic right?"
"Yeah, and I can channel holy power when need be," Mata answers honestly. "Will it be necessary?"
"I have healing potions already prepared if need be, Kody," Barbarella states.
"More than likely," Kodyax says and then looks over at something in the corner. "Borat, would you bring that out a little so we can have a better look at it?" Then to Barbarella. "I would rather we keep that for later now, Barb, you'd need a lab to restock wouldn't you?"
"The grinder in the corner here?" Borat asks and Kody just nods. "Looks like it would take both of us to use it properly..."
"Good point," Barbarella concedes and looks through her little black book of formulae as if looking for something to use. "Hey Al, do you think detecting undead is viable in here?"
"That's what I thought," Kody says and readies his net. "I'm going to retrieve the coon before he gets himself killed. When I get back we're using the grinder."
"Against skeletons?" Aurora asks as she watches Kody go into the corridor and then thinks about it, "I guess that would work..." Then sees something interesting: "Hey, Al! Is this what I think it is?"
"Bless my soul!" Al exclaims. "A spell battery!" Then he smirks at Aurora. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"I think I am but while I know of the spell, I don't know the spell well enough to actually cast it." Aurora states.
"I got it," Al says with wicked glee. "And knowing where we were going I prepared it for casting. This won't take long."
Kodyax descends the corridor, which slopes down gradually, he finds Jonathan being overwhelmed by human skeleton warriors. The wolf-bear throws his net and captures the coon and drags him back to the armory. Once the rogue is out of the way the ranger and the barbarian roll the grinder, a heavy cylinder of iron that requires them to work in concert to move, down the corridor as fast as they can.
The non-mechanical steam roller flattens the skeletons and grinds their bones to dust under its heavy cylinder. The spell Albert cast into its battery fascinates the dead into passively standing by and letting themselves get destroyed like deer caught in the headlights of a semi it was just that easy to run them over. Mata is healing Jonathan of his wounds when Kody and Bo pull the grinder back in the room as the raccoon is sulking that the wolf-bear saved his life.
As he packs his net back up Kodyax refers to Jonathan as the "Catch of the Day" which only deepens the rogue's resentment to the ranger, until Al strikes his rear and reminds him that it was his idea to call him a fisherman in the first place so if it comes back to bite him in the tail it's his fault and not Kody's. Phantom sobs start to sound as the grunts of goblins having their twisted version of fun fills the room. A pack of goblins wielding oversized knives are filleting a human woman as they rape her while a larger hobgoblin stands ready with a great-ax and eventually decapitates the poor victim and another human is brought in from a pit below.
Jonathan, Albert and Borat pulls up trap door, using a gaff hook for leverage as they look to see if there is anything to loot from the corpses that could be there. Broken bones fill the pit with the marrow extracted and the tell tale marks that the bodies were butchered before being thrown in here. Barbarella drops a bomb that cremates the remains before Borat sifts through as to see if anything valuable was left but finds nothing as Mata cowers in the corner seeing other spirits that only she can perceive.
Kodyax, Jun and Aurora descend down to one of the main execution chambers which is actually somewhat pristine as if the room was still in use. Cold steel over concrete and stone bridges a five foot square hole that leads straight down to the water below. The condemned where hung or decapitated with one of the three guillotines in the chamber.
Both Kody and Rory note that the coils of rope are in the process of decaying from disuse but the guillotines are in perfect working order. In fact the guillotines have wounds burned into the wood and stamped into the blade. Albert and Barbarella have to be dragged away from scouring the pit to find something of value and look over the runes on the guillotines to see what they could be for.
The fact that the runes are enchantments is immediately obvious to both the wizard and the alchemist at first glance but when they study the runes in greater detail their use and purpose quickly takes on an ominous tone. The runes on the blade trap the souls of those it slays to be released only the proper conditions while the runes on the scaffolding and the gurney that transports the victim and holds them still until they are decapitated, are there to paralyze and fascinate the unfortunately into complacency, Upon closer inspection it is discovered that the main plank on which the victim rest can be swapped out as needed with special holes and pivots indicating the victim is stripped naked and pleasured to further help ensure complacency until the finality of the event.
When Mata wanders into the room another phantasm is triggered as if the malignant spirits are amplified by the very structure of the haunted asylum and grant the power to taunt and terrify her companions with visions of horror conduct on an almost daily basis in this forsaken place. Unlike the other haunts, the actors in this phantom pageant are all furs like themselves. The scene is a more ritualistic and sensual execution than what ever took place when the asylum was in its heyday.
An immaculate white mink with luxurious blonde hair down to her ass is lead naked to the guillotine by a wolf and a female rabbit in dark robes as other assorted furs in similar robes, each marked with what could be a representation of an eight armed sea star in crimson in various places, chant in an alien tongue as the mink's eyes have the glazed look of a drug induced stupor so that she must be led to the machine that will mete out her fate. A column of ice containing if not the same abhorrynth they same earlier then one very similar rises out of the square hole in the middle of the floor in a truly ominous manner as if summoned by the cultists gathered for this ceremony of death. It does not make a sound or even move as the bulbs at the end of its tentacles open to reveal alien eyes that seems to glow with an unholy inner light as it seems to direct the cultists.
All attention is centered around the wolf, the mink and the rabbit as the scene progresses with the rabbit woman's head coming up to the groin level of the wolf and the mink and as the procession proceeds her muzzle is planted firmly in the mink's rear with some intimation that she is rimming or eating out the naked one. The wolf seems to be the high priest as he leads the chanting and bows to the abhorrynth to acknowledge its presence as an honored guest. When they arrive at one of the guillotines the mink kneels before the wolf and reaches into his robe so she can draw out his sheath and scrotum so she can perform abject worship on it with her muzzle.
The chanting intensifies as the mink sucks on the wolf's balls until his member is enticed from its sheath and once that has been achieved she performs fellatio on him with all the love and reverence of a female enamored to outright worshipping the male she is servicing. The wolf howls in ecstasy when he climaxes in her mouth as she swallows every drop of his semen before she is strapped into the gurney with dildos placed in her anus and vagina that seems to move on their lonesome as she lies on her front and slip into place. Her hair is carefully moved to the side as her head is secured before the blade and she makes a final request for a second helping of semen as she awaits her fate.
Her last request is granted as the wolf lets her get him hard again before fucking her face as the blade is brought into position. The rabbit stretches his nut sack and secures a black leather strap that has more runes on it that glow an angry red. The blade is released and does it bloody job cold and efficiently with the mink's head getting trapped on the wolf's dick.
With the rabbit's help the wolf removes the mink head from his still rock hard rod and then disrobes to lie on his back on the gurney. The rabbit straps him in and disrobes herself to impale her pussy on his prick. The gurney and stock animate itself to bring the head and neck of the wolf into position.
The wolf howls in ecstasy again as he cums in the bunny as the blade comes down to take his head. The rabbit diligently picks up the head of the mink and presses her lips to the blade of the guillotine while speaking something in that same alien tongue. The mink head animates and starts to flit about the chamber with her long locks transforming into alabaster white serpents.
The rabbit then does the same thing for the wolf's head and it also animates and flies around albeit without the snakes as it seems to turn vampiric. The mink head gazes intently at the rabbit and turns her to stone. The bodes of the wolf and mink are dumped into the water as the rabbit statue is carried off deeper into the prison as the ice pillar shatters and the abhorrynth dives back into the depths below.
"Well, that was rather disturbing," Albert states when the vision dissipates. "I wonder if the Captain knows that this place is still being used in some capacity."
"I doubt it," Kodyax relates, "I think the worst he thought we would run across as far as the living goes is if any jerks from the crew decided to bugger us."
"Like Jaxon," Jun suggests. "I know he liked to prey on you sexually."
"Don't I know it," Kody admits ruefully. "I fully expect to run into the bugger at some point before we're through."
"Knowing, Jaxon," Mata says, "He's already lying in wait somewheres."
A loud rumbling sounds behind a split second Jonathan and Borat come racing down the corridor, skirt around the gaping hole in the floor and continue to run deeper into complex with Jonathan yelling: "Faster! Faster! You Fool! You Fool!" at the top of his lungs as he rides on Borat's back. Everyone in the execution chamber looks at everyone else and shrugs their shoulders when what only be described as a hydra-crab constructed from the bones of those the other two wanted to loot comes careening into the chamber. Mata, Al and Aurora immediately bolt out of the room while Kodyax and Jun first draw weapons, it dawns on them and realize what this really means and joins the others in a full run as the thing pursues.
When Kodyax reaches one of the major cell blocks with a heavy door to lock it he finds Borat waiting for him. Together the wolf-bear and the gator shut the door as Jonathon bolts it shut and Al works on adding a special rune to the door. He carves the same rune into the floor as a further precaution against the skeletal nightmare starting to knock at the door mere moments after the team gets the door shut. The rune Al carved glows and angry red and seems to fill the portal with its light straight through to the other side which causes the undead beast waiting there no end of pain.
Ghosts of prisoners and guards flicker in and out of view as the team explores the chamber. The locks of the cells have long since rusted away as there is a huge hole leading to the sea below as well as an open area to the north where mass executions via hanging were performed years ago. Nooses sway in the wind waiting to claim still more lives years since the prison has been abandoned with gibbets containing skeletons that fortunately are not animate hang from the ceiling and festoon the outer walls like some kind of sick decoration.
The chamber is bathed in amber light as the first sun starts to set and the second sun is not far behind even though it is not yet in sight through the aperture of the doorway leading from the cells to the hanging execution dock. Kodyax and Jun march out to the dock and kneel in the direction of the suns setting as one. The others gather behind them and watch as the wave warden and the kahuna pray in silence bathed in fading light of the twin suns.
"Somebody explain to me just what is going on please?" Barbarella demands to know. "I know Jun is a priestess of nature so this is a kind of ritual for her. But Kody is a warrior isn't he?"
"Wave Wardens are almost exclusively rangers," Aurora explains, "The forces of nature have yet to bestow upon him the ability to cast spells, but it is still his duty to honor them."
"So he prays to the suns," Al asks in a mockingly somber tone, "Does he pray to the moons too?"
"Actually, Al," Borat says as both Jun and Kodyax pull out ocarinas and start to play as the gator take out a set of bongos and adds rhythm to the music, "they would I need to accompany them now that I think of it. Aurora, isn't there something you need to do?"
Aurora steps out onto the veranda to do an interpretive dance as the music of the other three plays, singing something akin to Blackmore's Night's song "Ocean Gypsy" all the while.
"You know if they're going to do something like this every night, I'm not going to mind spending the week here," Jonathon says as he is partially entranced by the performance.
"I suddenly feel the need to join in the dance," Mata says and does just that.
Orbs suddenly become visible like fireflies on a summer's eve to provide their own light show to the proceedings. The glow from the drifting orbs becomes more after the second sun sets and before the second moon rise. After all three moons fill the sky the orbs start looking more aggressive as the performance has ended and the cook fires have been lit as the recruits make a fish stew for the evening meal.
Here and there an orb will fully manifest as person it was in life briefly before going back to the other state. Human shades and phantom look angrily at the party as they are what took over and deep in their undead hearts, the remains of human consciousness just cannot accept that the time of humanity is truly over as they whisper dark comments into the ear holes. The furry adventurers respond by getting frisky with one another and reminding the dead what they can no longer experience.
Jun starts getting a little frisky with Barbarella while Al rubs Borat's groin to get things started but Jon practically pounces Mata as Aurora sashays up Kodyax as things begin heating up. Both Mata and Aurora go down on their prospective partners as the gay couplings open up in the 69 position. Orbs start popping like balloons as things start getting heavy in the petting zoo as if entities themselves were getting off on what is happening.
Both Jon and Kody lift their shipmates with benefits onto their masts when they are fully erected and from there they set sail for the decaying hay of the cell floor to continue their plundering of booty in relative privacy and leave the others to their fun. Jun and Barbarella smirk to one another and get in a cell next to Kody and Aurora, playing with each other as they giggle in remark to how much the straight couple is carrying on. Al and Borat get each other off before they both get a calling to heed the urge of nature.
While Borat goes looking for the privy Al decides it would be easier to just go out to the execution dock and piss into the bay so that's what he does. Borat finds that the cells have chamber pots which boils down to the same as a privy so he relieves himself that way and finds a second story cell to nest in for the night. Al is more intent on pissing in patterns to amuse himself than pay attention to his surrounding which ends up having deadly consequences.
A noose drops down around Al's neck as directed by a phantom executioner and tightened quickly. Rope that hasn't seen use in ages binds his wrists behind him before the turtle finds himself dangling over the bay like a worm on a hook, strangling all the while. He can't cry out for help and the rest of his party has gone to bed so there is nothing for him to do but suffocate in wee small hours of the morning without anyone thinking to go look for him as the chamber pots are there for their use for now.
In the morning the hanging corpse of the wizard is found with the noose still tight around his neck. Scavenger crabs are already nibbling on his dead flesh when his ship mates find him. The crabs attack the pirates when they move to claim the body of their fallen team mate, a fact that pisses Barbie so much she lobs a bomb at them that incinerates the turtle as well as the crusty crustaceans.
Borat gathers up the remains of the crabs to make their breakfast as Jun prays for Al's spirit. Mata smiles and waves good bye to Al as his shade lingers on to bid his companions farewell. An orb drifts away as the second sun begins to rise and the rest of them feel he is at peace, at least for now.
After what happened to Al, the entire team decides that sticking together is the best thing to do. Unfortunately planning to stick together and actually doing so are two different things. Kodyax takes point while Borat volunteers for the rear guard position while Jonathan picks up a crossbow to take the middle spot and the four ladies on either side of him as they travel down the corridor leading deeper into the asylum single file.
Ironically it's Jonathan that sets off the trap that claims Borat's life as he steps on a pressure plate designed to aid in the defense of the prison as a guard would lead an invader to this point and catch them by surprise. Trap doors open beneath the gator's feet which sends him plummeting down a deep shaft where buzz saws come out of the walls slice off his hands, feet and tail. Momentum is his enemy as a web of blades awaits below and by the time he hits it the sharp edges cut him into much smaller pieces which then drop into the water to feed the sharks.
As the team passes through one corridor littered with skeletons blood trickles down the walls and starts to flood the room in the gore. Some of the skeletons do try to rise but the pirates never let them as they smash the bones as they get up. Once the team gets to the end of the subtlety downward sloping corridor they come to a series of pillars with platforms jutting out like stairs that have to jumped in order to be traversed, the now slipperiness of the slope providing an additional challenge.
Barbarella mixes a potion and drinks it that allows her jumping skills to be enhanced magically as Jonathan also prepares to make his leap the old fashioned way. Far below them Kodyax thinks he sees an abhorrynth swim around the pillars which makes him wonder what is going on. There are also chains higher up that Kodyax and Jun climb for so as to try and swing across the chasm or at least to the pillars.
Lurking among the chains is another monster but one that keeps its presence as well hidden as possible. It looks like a brownish gray skinned humanoid about the size of a child. As it spies the adventurers moving through its territory it decides to make its move.
Jonathon and Bararella make their jumps with no problem and land near perfectly on the first platform to hop down the stairs almost like rabbits. Aurora and Mata use their staves to help vault themselves across the void and while the initial jump was an almost failure for both, the subsequent hops are much, much easier. Kodyax swings through almost effortlessly and has just as easy a time getting down to the final platform as the others; Jun never makes it across.
Unbeknownst to the others, the little brown humanoid managed to grab Jun and with its elastic arms and wraps its fingers around her throat. Jun was unable to call out for help as the thing strangled her to death and while the others move on, devours her corpse. The abhorrynth shoots a ray that kills the strangler once the adventurers have passed which causes it and its victim to drop into water for it to devour as Kodyax secretly watches on and glares at the scene of carnage; deep inside he blames himself for Jun's death as he should have guessed that the forest of chains above were too inviting to be entirely safe.
When Kodyax rejoins the party Jonathan and Barbarella are doing a sweep for traps while Mata and Aurora are looking around to see if anything untoward is still here. No traps in the floor or walls are found as they investigate the cells at this lowest level which was used to house the least dangerous prisoners, the torture chambers and the laundry. It is here that the body of Jaxon is finally discovered, drowned and molested sexually as well as partially devoured by some aquatic monster.
Kodyax pisses at the corpse and gets a nasty surprise when tentacles horror that killed Jaxon attacks him. It manages to bite off his right hand before Kody flies into a rage and bludgeons it second death with his own bloody stump of an arm. Mata bandages up the bleeding arm as Jonathan finds another cache of weapons that included a steel urchin fist sleeve that gets strapped to Kody's now handless right arm.
"Greedy bastard," Kodyax growls, "I hope I destroyed enough of it that it won't be back."
"Where is Jun?" Aurora asks. "You and she left the same time didn't you."
"The chains apparently had a strangler lurking among them," Kody reports. "It got her and the abhorrynth got it."
"The abhorrynth is still prowling about?" Jon asks. "Persistent bugger ain't it?"
"More than likely," Kodyax postulates, "it's taken up these ruins as its lair. Beyond that one vision I don't see much of a sign that there is cult activity going on here. But I haven't seen enough of the place either."
"I saw a pantaloon bridge as we were coming down," Jonathon reports, "it could lead to other warrens within the complex."
"It's definitely something to consider," Kodyax concedes. "Where was this?"
"The platforms actually submerged just before you came down," Jonathan admits. "Does that say anything to you?"
"It says a lot actually," Kodyax says as he makes his way back towards the platform at the entrance they came in on. "I'm going for a swim. Watch what you do until I get back."
"I think I'll join him," Barbarella says as she mixes up a quick potion. "Oh, Kody!"
"What, Barbie?" Kody asks with annoyance.
"Drink this, hun," Barb says as she hands him a ready made potion from her pouch.
"What is it?" Kody asks as they reach the platform and then he notices that she isn't wearing much. "What do you have in mind?"
"Aqualung potion," Barb announces. "As for the second question, drink up, dive in and find out."
Kodyax can guess what the skunk wants and shrugs his shoulders before drinking the potion given as she does the same. Upon diving into the water they find that that water is as breathable as the air of the dungeon above them. The flooded portion of the chamber is rather deep but somewhat contained as they can see a worked bottom to the grotto as well as coral sculptures unlike anything that has ever been seen and that which defies explanation in its construction; if Lovecraft ever took up abstract sculpture to make a vague attempt to rip the weird things from out of his head and realize them in sculpture form, such are the things that are before the wolf-bear as he swims around.
Back on dry land, Jonathon finds a secret passage and decides to explore it, with the two girls coming with him so neither one of them is left alone when the other accompanies the rogue. Enchanted lanterns light up as the three approach and descend the stairs to a glass walled corridor below. More mage lights turn on when they get down there to banish the gloom as much anything can as they see the base floor of the dungeon at this point with Kody and Barbie swimming about on the one side and the resting form of an abhorrynth on the other.
Initially the sight of the abhorrynth causes all three of them to jump until they realized that it was sleeping and in that state it wasn't going to harm any of them so they silently agree to keep quiet and let it sleep. Although what they thought was glass turns out to be some kind of transparent membrane that is rather porous as Aurora almost discovers to her detriment as she goes to press her front against it only to almost fall into the water below; a depth from which she would be able to escape from to take a breath above. There is a lever in the middle of the corridor that nobody wants to trip for fear of what it could do.
Aurora was thinking of teasing Kody initially by offering him a show but its her, Jon and Mata that gets the show when Barbie makes her move. As pirates they all have a kind of "shipmates with benefits" relationship even if Aurora wants to sleep with Kodyax more than most other males. But Barabarella uses the opportunity to take a turn on Kodyax's pole as she rubs his groin to get him going despite the relatively cold water that they are in and manages to succeed in getting what she wants.
Barbarella wraps herself around Kodyax and impales herself along his length as they continue to swim around and inspect the submerged pantaloon platforms and then goes to see where they lead. He doesn't let on, but the wolf-bear is enjoying the fact that the skunk girl is clenching and unclenching her inner walls around his cock as he swims into an underwater temple to dark entities the Wave Wardens would just as soon have the rest of the world forget about. She is still clinging to him as he ascends a wide ramp leading up to a sacrificial altar where some fur can be tied down easily for various purposes.
Kody and Barbie swim out of sight of the other three who immediately run off to follow and see where they end up. The other end of the corridor features a set up steps leading back up or a set of double doors made of stone. The doors are too heavy for the raccoon, the sheep and the vixen to open so they run up the steps and into another corridor with deep grooves in the floor and on the walls.
Jonathon stops dead in his tracks when he sees the grooves as this smells like a trap to him. Aurora skids to a stop behind him but Mata just runs straight forward and discovers first hand what those grooves are for. Bladed pendulums swing back and forth from one end of the corridor to the other; Mata gets about halfway through, just missing the blades until her timing on where she is when one goes through is just good enough to get her sliced in half lengthways.
The raccoon and the vixen time their crossing a little more carefully than the sheep and thus make it across safely. However, their passage did not go unnoticed as black robed rats watch the pair from behind the walls. Frescos of gruesome executions are painted on the walls that disgust Jon and Rory but little do they know that a few of the frescoes hide peep holes, originally for the guards but now for the cultists of the insane elder entities that want only global annihilation, whose main servants are abhorrynths but those creatures are bound to the water and thus are quick to use cults of land folk to do the bidden of their masters in areas it cannot get to very easily.
Some of the walls are actually secret revolving doors that Jonathon has yet to discover but the cultists know all too well. This particular sect has a ghost for their high priestess and she sees in Aurora a body she would like to possess and orders the vixen to be captured, but to kill the raccoon. Once the pirate pass by one such secret door the cultists strike with one of them covering the mouth of the vixen with a cloth soaked in chloroform and the other using a wire garrote to first strangle and then decapitate the coon.
In the hidden sacrificial chamber Barbarella and Kodyax witness another vision of the recent past. A male dog is strapped down to the table while a cat high priestess first fondles him to get him hard and then mounts him ride 'em cowgirl style as he just moans in pleasure. Once he has climaxed within her the cat takes out a sacrificial dagger and cuts out his heart before giving it to the abhorrynth as a sacrifice.
Barbarella has to slide off of Kodyax afterward to cower behind him; never noticing the dark shape swimming up the ramp behind them. Without warning, the abhorrynth strikes; reaching a tentacle to drag Barbarella into the water and forcing Kodyax to whip around and see what is going on. Before he can blink the thing has drilled a tentacle into her chest to extract her heart which forces him back to see if there is a door he can pass through and escape as he knows he does not have the skill to kill that thing on his own.
Cultists burst through the door lead by Aurora whose fur is now shades of grey and black with a crown of obsidian on her head. The abhorrynth retreats into the deeper parts of this temple portion of the asylum, content to watch for now as the rats rush the wolf-bear, kris daggers drawn. Kodyax can only wield one of his butterfly swords but that is enough to slit a throat as he gives a second rat a face full of spines.
All four cultist rats go down that easily as the possessed Aurora claps her hand paws mockingly. If the vixen that was Aurora is still in there her soul is being repressed as the spirit of the high priestess is obviously in charge of Aurora's body. Calling herself the Shadow Queen she addresses Kodyax.
"Well done, whoever you are," Shadow Queen says in honest admiration. "Even without you right hand you killed my subordinates most handily."
"The name's Kodyax Zavaj," Kody says to introduce himself, "I am a Wave Warden..."
"A Wave Warden?!" Shadow Queen inquires incredulously. "How did you find out about us? We were so careful..."
"I'm still an apprentice actually," Kodyax admits, "this was supposed to be a simple training mission. Then I found the enhancements of what you had done here. And the phantom visions helped to clue me in as well."
"Phantom visions?" Shadow Queen asks and then realizes something. "This place must be a magnet for recording horrific scenes and then playing them back for the unwary. I wonder what it will record when I kill you?"
"Let's find out shall we?" Kodyax challenges. "In the name of the Goddess Morrigan Undine and her mate Taran the Storm Lord I shall end this NOW!!!"
A bolt of lightning comes crashing through the skylight above and strikes Kodyax. The net on his hip glistens in the light as if charged with the power of nature incarnate while the spiked fist sleeve on his right arm becomes a triangular blade like a katar with scything side blades making a kind of bizarre combination of trident and claw in its configuration. None of these events fazes the Shadow Queen in the slightest as she casts a spell that sends a powerful thunderbolt hurtling at Kodyax who brings up his net as a shield.
The net absorbs the bolt harmlessly as Kodyax tosses it at her expertly. The Shadow Queen tries to evade but ultimate fails as the net wraps around her and discharges the electrical spell she cast at him into herself. In addition the more she struggles to get free the more she injures herself as the net was made from razorwire.
Kodyax plunges his trident claw deep into the borrowed body of the Shadow Queen while she herself only laughs.
"I can always possess another body Kodyax," Shadow Queen warns, "But when I'm..."
"Something wrong?" Kodyax mocking asks.
"It seems her soul has already departed," Shadow Queen States, "Which makes this fight worthless really." Then Kodyax grabs at her crown. "Oh, please do take this crown; it's how I possess this body. And whatever poor schmuck puts on next will be my next vessel..."
"Thanks for the tip, Shadow Queen," Kodyax says mockingly, "I'll make a note of that in my report."
"You weren't kidding about being a Wave Warden were you?" Shadow Queen asks as Kodyax confiscates the crown.
"No, I'm not very high up in the organization but I'm gaining notoriety," Kodyax says as he goes to find a box to put the crown in and finds an excellent black mahogany box with red velvet interior the cult was using to store the crown in the first place and then comes back to try and awaken Aurora. "Aurora?" he shakes her hard. "Come on, Aurora, wake up! Please, Aurora, you're scaring me..." He shakes her corpse harder and then realizes the truth as kneels besides the altar cradling her body in his arms. "AURORA!!!!!"