Shump, The Spriggan Gladiator

This page is a Diary of a Crawler, the journal of an individual character. This page probably contains spoilers.

I trained for a few weeks to fight with a cutlass, so I went to the arena to join as a fighter. They laughed at my small size and told me to go get the Orb Of Zot from the depths of the dungeon, then I could become a fighter. Bastards...I waited four hours in line just for them to tell me that. Oh well, I descended with my family cutlass that was given to me as part of my father's will, some animal hide, some bread, some throwing nets and a hat.

The moment I descended, I saw a few pillars of stone walls with some parts of the pillars being translucent. It made me wonder who the builder of this dungeon was and if they were mentally ill.

My first enemy down here was a bat. They sure do grow 'em big down here! I was trying to swat at it for what felt like five minutes, but after a while, my cutlass got buried deep into the bat's skull, sending the thing to the ground. I felt great knowing that I could fight off minor threats like this one, but this is only the first level and I've heard that there are over a hundred!

The sound of me fighting the bat attracted some more threats: a hobgoblin and another bat, and they were trying a pincer attack on me. I fled into a corridor where I could try to fight them one at a time. That hobgoblin managed to hit me, but I had the last laugh as I triumphed over both of them.

I slew yet another hobgoblin and felt myself growing in strength. Perhaps this was the work of the dungeon itself? Either way, I knew that if I killed everything that wanted me dead, I would grow powerful enough to slay a god.

I found a pair of gloves and tried to put them on, but they were much to large for me. Shame, when winter decides to come, I will almost certainly die of hypothermia.

I felt myself getting stronger again, and I also felt a lot lighter and faster as well. At this rate, I'll get the Orb in no time at all! Those arena owners will fell like complete idiots for turning down Shump!

I have finished the first floor of the dungeon and have accumulated quite the store of potions and scrolls, so I decided to read and drink them all. The first and only potion that I had made my scar from a childhood accident go away, the first scroll made my cutlass sharper, the second scroll provided me with knowledge of my stack of two remove curse scrolls, the third made my cap stronger, and the fourth brought me to some other room!

Dungeon 2:

I found yet another unknown scroll and considering how well the last ones went, I read it and felt like my ears were being assaulted. I will do quite well to avoid those in the future.

I found a giant worm down in the dungeon! Like the rest of the dungeon's denizens, it wanted me dead for whatever reason, but it was extremely slow, and given my extreme speed, I was able to just hit the thing and step back over and over again until it was dead. I wonder if all creatures down here are this stupid.

I found what appeared to be a mound of ice cream on the floor, so I went to go scoop some up when the thing reached out and tried to hit me! I didn't take kindly to this, so I impaled it upon my cutlass and vowed to be more careful in the future.

Another level completed and still no orb! Like last time, I identified my scrolls and potions through use. pink was my favorite color, so I drank that one first and found myself moving faster even faster than I already can! Sadly, my extra speed ran out quite quickly and I was back to normal (though still quite fast) speed. I read the only unknown scroll that I had and suddenly, I was enveloped in a thick fog and couldn't see!

Dungeon 3:

I found a snake the second I descended the steps and tried to sneak up on it, but I accidentally kicked a rock which woke the thing up. I was very confused by this because I thought that snakes couldn't hear anything, but I managed to kill the thing and once again felt strength coursing throughout my body.

I found a ring and put it on. The thing stuck to my body and on top of that, I felt like I was being tugged at and could be pulled away at any second! This was bad, so I read a scroll of remove curse and took the thing off.

Hmm, a spell book. I did not dabble in magic, but I figured that some of the spells contained within could be of some great help, so I memorized confuse right away, reciting the spell to myself hoping to make it easier to cast. Afterwards, I found an enchant weapon scroll and made my cutlass stronger.

I was beginning to become hungry, so I drank my potion of porridge and felt very full afterwards, praising my small body.

Ah, another ring, which I put on. This one made my cuts close and seal almost instantly! I was very pleased with this one.

Gnolls, I'll try not to forget them. They are truly terrible things indeed, particularly when armed with halbards or flails. I nearly died fighting one off, but there were more behind him, and I was forced to flee. I didn't feel proud of myself, but survival was paramount down in these depths.

Dungeon 4:

I saw a man sleeping in the room I descended into, and recognized his attire as Sigmund. Just the name sent a shiver down my spine as I knew of his deeds. I knew that if i lingered near him for any amount of time then he would certainly kill me before I even had a chance, so I fled again.

Back to dungeon 3:

As I finished exploring the rest of this level, I found that gnoll again. This time, I decided to make use of my throwing nets and got him trapped in one, where I cut his arms off, then his legs, then I cut off his head. I knew that he was alive until I cut off his head and I wanted to make sure that he suffered for making me flee like that!

Before I went back to the fourth level, I found one last gnoll, but this one was not armed, so I easily killed him and once again felt strength coursing throughout my body, and I also felt lighter.

Back to dungeon 4:

I reminded myself to stay as far away from Sigmund as I could until I became stronger, then I would make sure that he suffered the same fate as that gnoll back on the third level.

I found an ugly goblin wearing some blue rags named Ijyb. He looked like a leader of some sort, so I tried to talk to him. The only response that I got was a very angry "Me no like you!", so I was forced to do battle with him. Pitiful fool, he didn't even stand a chance.

A gang of orcs also seemed to have laid claim to this level, and when they saw me, they immediately thought that I was a threat and rushed me. I killed the lackeys with great ease, but the leader of the bunch was a powerful wizard who put up a good fight, but I was the victor, and took his right index finger with me as a trophy.

I found an unfortunate prince of some far off land who had been cursed and turned into a frog. As much as I wanted to help him, he wanted me dead, and I knew that I wasn't strong enough to fight him, so I was forced to flee.

Dungeon 5:

I found an orc priest, which was unusual to me because I did not know that orcs had any form of religion. He saw me and shrieked out something along the lines of "Beogh is the one and only true god!" before I cut his head off.

The scroll that I read off the floor this time was very...peculiar to say the least. It made my cutlass flash brightly for a moment, and then a barrier appeared around me. I felt safer somehow. afterwards, I found a mass of acid, and avoided it entirely because I did not want my cutlass getting ruined by this thing.

The moment I stepped into another room, I was greeted by a centaur and THREE orc wizards. It made me think that they had all ganged up against me, as if they knew I was trying to get the orb. I went into a corridor where I could fight them one at a time, and they didn't stand much of a chance against me.

I had heard that scorpions on the surface were quite mean, but the ones down here are another matter entirely! This one was twice my size and looked as if the venom in it's stinger would kill me instantly! I got in entangled in a throwing net, and then ripped it apart with my cutlass. Afterwards, I felt even more strength coursing through my body.

That mass of acid woke up, and came after me. I ran away from it, as I had no means of killing it without damaging my equipment.

I found a creature made entirely out of ice which struck me as odd and struck me as extremely painful. I didn't want to take any risks, so I ran away from this one...for now.

I found an entrance to a temple of some kind, but it was surrounded by bushes and plants, and there was an oklob plant guarding the entrance anyways, so there wasn't any chance that I could go into there. I guess that I'll have to find some other way to join a religion.

That ice creature found me again, but this time I just ran up and killed the thing without taking a scratch. I felt invincible.

I tried to make it past that oklob plant, but It clearly didn't want me getting past, and threw acid at me. The acid ate away at my flesh, and I ran. Luckily, my ring healed my wounds after only a few minutes. Still, during that time, I was in intense pain.

I was hearing slurping noises coming from all directions which meant that that mass of acid was eating everything that it could find. I ran to the nearest staircase and made another descent.

Dungeon 6:

I found an altar to the stormy god Qazlal, the chaotic god Xom, and the trickster god Namelex Xobeh. I didn't want anything to do with either of those gods, so I passed up on all three of them and pressed on.

Those orcs are starting to get somewhat smarter it seems. This band had not only an orc wizard, but an orc priest too! I killed all of them, and once again felt more strength flowing throughout my body.

I read yet another strange scroll and found myself surrounded by beasts! I took up a defensive stance, but these ones showed no malice towards me. In fact, they were actually friendly! I was glad to have finally made some friends down here because I thought that I would go insane from being alone for too long. After a short amount of time, however, my summoned beasts dissolved into nothingness which made me quite sad as they were the only company that I had.

I found a wand and zapped myself with it (not the best idea, I know) and the wand shook and shook until I was completely transparent! Because of how much the wand shook before producing an effect, however, I decided to leave it on the ground. The last thing that I want is to speed up my enemies or slow myself down. I found another shortly afterwards and this time, I was engulfed in a fiery explosion! It didn't hurt much, but it didn't feel good either. This wand felt a great deal more reliable than the last one did, so I decided to keep this one.

I drank a strange potion and couldn't remember what happened afterwards. I think that I felt really angry at something, but I wasn't quite sure.

I found the younger brother of Sigmund. His name was Edmund and he rushed at me with his flail. I hit him a few times with my wand of fireballs and then stabbed him right in the ribs with my cutlass. He was dead within seconds.

There was an ogre, so I tangled him up in a throwing net and cut his head clean off. In the process, I tore my net to the point where it couldn't be used again, so I threw it away.

Dungeon 7:

I found a potion which made me feel lighter and made me feel like I was being altered. That was a very strange potion indeed!

I found the entrance to some kind of tomb, so I decided to do some grave robbing!

An ossuary:

Oh god, these mummies may be quite slow, but they sure are strong! With no place to fight them one at a time, I have to take them all on at once! I just hope that I can survive.

I had to use my potion of heal wounds, but the treasure hoard sure was worth it! I got a bunch of unlabled potions, some scrolls, and countless gold coins. The only drawback to coming in here was that kiling all of those mummies made all of my equipment stick to me.

Back to dungeon 7:

I found an altar to Vehumet, but I have not studied well in the ways of magic, so I decided to leave him alone.

Dungeon 8:

I have slain yet another orc priest, which makes me wonder how many followers this "Beogh" has. I have also felt even more strength coursing throughout my body.

I have found a store. Who in the world would run a shop in a place like this is beyond me, but I decided to visit the place. There was nothing that interested me, so I bid the owner a peaceful goodbye and resumed my travels.

I have just picked up a truly amazing wand! It made all of my movements faster as though I had just drank the potion which does the same thing! This will save on some space in my inventory I am certain.

I just learned of my true strength: I can slay even a bear and a yak. Afterwards, I found a staircase leading downwards into a place called "The Lair of Beasts". How I knew the name of that place, I am not certain. Still, though, I plunged into the depths of the lair.

Lair 1:

The second I descended, I heard a distant snort, indicating that there was an entrance to a labyrinth on that level, so I used a scroll of magic mapping to find the precise location of this place. When I arrived at the entrance, I saw a warning about starvation, which I shouldn't need to worry too much about being a spriggan and all.

A labyrinth:

I wandered around for a few hours until I eventually saw the Minotaur sleeping in a narrow corridor. I contemplated how I was going to kill him and decided to throw one of my remaining nets at him.

Heh, stupid spriggan thinking he can come into MY maze taking MY treasure? Boy, did he have another thing coming. I did not have time to arm myself, but it didn't matter because I easily overpowered him. The look of surprise on his face as I ripped off his little arms will always remain in my mind. The best part about this is that now I have a diary to write in.