Dwarven Vault 4

Nolin raises one fiery eyebrow as another coin golem rises up in front of him. "Right. No more flame strikes. Good idea." Blood trickles down the side of his face where the first golem struck him seconds before. "And ouch."

The ghoulish king lets out a keening noise, the primal sound of desire thwarted. "Stand aside!" he orders Galthia, who has stepped between the undead dwarf and the paralyzed Glibstone. "I am King here, and I command it!" Galthia ignores him, dodging his clumsy blows and protecting Glibstone with his own body. It's clear that in life, King Horox was far more adept using an axe or a hammer than attacking bare-handed, and Galthia estimates that he is a better fighter with bare hands. Or, in the King's case, claws.

From twenty feet away, Nolin quickly glances over. "Your Majesty," says Nolin in a reasonable and persuasive tone as he tries to maneuver on the slippery coins, "you've had a good reign. You've been a good king. Now it's time for you to relinquish your title to your son, and take your well-earned rest - in heaven!"

The King turns to snarl at him, once-handsome dwarven features distorted by bestial hunger, and Galthia seizes the opportunity to attack. Both fists and a knee lash out, denting metal and smashing bone. The monk's second strike hits the ghoul solidly, and King Horox folds forward, foul fluids spewing out of his mouth as something important inside of him breaks. The githzerai shatters the King's downwards-moving chin with a powerful uppercut, and the ghoul's grizzled head snaps backwards, catapulting the blood-encrusted crown into the air as the body collapses bonelessly onto the carpet of shimmering coins. Like a snake, Galthia's hand snaps the falling crown out of thin air before it can hit the floor.

"I'll just keep this for later."

Nolin is having less luck with the two massive coin golems. They have twice the reach of Nolin, and he's hit twice as he tries to back away. The tiny imprint of dead dwarven kings adorn his face where the arms smacked him, and he spits loose coins out of his mouth as he narrows his gaze at the constructs. "Hey, not in the face!" Still somewhat optimistic, Nolin heals himself and fires off a sonic spell, but the spell doesn't seem to have any effect. "Galthia, I'm not sure I can really hurt these things."

"Then get out of there! We've got most of a minute until anyone else gets here, and I'd rather that neither of us get killed in the mean time. I can probably avoid them, but if you get knocked unconscious or killed we're going to have a lot more of these things to worry about."

At this, Nolin swallows nervously, spitting out one last coin. "Right."

Then both guardians tumble forward in a cascade of loose coins, reforming and slamming arms like lead bars into Nolin's body. The bard is knocked backwards and badly hurt. If it weren't for the healing spell he'd cast seconds before, he'd no longer be standing. "Whoof." Nolin backs away, retreating from the combat and vaulting on to the raised platform on the right hand side of the room, sliding between gold and platinum pieces of dwarvish art. Galthia has already retreated in a jingling of bells, with Glibstone's paralyzed body slung over his shoulder. The golems lumber after them, silent other than for the clinking of coins.

What follows next is a desperate game of cat and mouse, with the two Defenders racing back and forth across the large room with the golems in pursuit. Nolin uses the spell mislead to create an illusory double, buying both heroes time to maneuver. He also creates the illusion of the rest of the Defenders arriving, hoping that the creatures will be fooled. The distraction is only partially effective, though, as the golems seem to be able to sense anyone who is actually standing on coins. One of the golems catches the invisible Nolin in a breath weapon spray of sharpened coins, shearing away flesh and creating wounds that continue to bleed. The constructs also seem to absorb loose coins as they pass over piles of money, quickly healing the small amount of damage that Nolin and Galthia are able to inflict.

As Galthia acts as a fast-moving lure, Nolin makes his way to where Glibstone has been placed. The bard crouches over Glibstone's rigid body and casts detect thoughts. "Damn it, Glibstone, how do we destroy these things?" he asks. "There must be some easy way." Glibstone's eyes dart back and forth, and Nolin forces himself to relax, concentrating on the panicking dwarf. Within a handful of seconds, Nolin is able to pierce Glibstone's racing thoughts and pull the answer out of his head. Offer unto the defenders what is already theirs, thinks Glibstone desperately. That's what the lore says! Offer unto the defenders what is already theirs! I don't know what it means!

"Well, what is that supposed to...?" says Nolin, not expecting an answer from the paralyzed dwarf. Then the solution hits him. "Right!" He hops off the platform and scoops up a double handful of loose coins. "Hey! You!" Then he flings the coins at one of the golems that is chasing the nimble Galthia. The coins scatter into it, and for every coin that hits, five fall out of the coin golem's body. "That's it!" yells Nolin to Galthia. "Throw money at it!" Briefly, he's reminded of his old companion Alix Loial, but he shakes the memory away.

Just then, Velendo, Mara and Tao enter. The newly arrived Defenders are surprised to see illusions of themselves fighting two huge money monsters, and both Galthia and Nolin shout "No area effect spells" in concert before anyone can act rashly. "Throw money at them!" adds Nolin. "It hurts them!"

Tao casts a spell which the creatures ignore, even as Mara strides forward. The paladin is rocked by a club-like blow, but she's grinning fiercely as her holy shield protects her from a second impact. Mara swings Lightbinder with a powerful arm, and she smashes a gap in the mass of mobile coins.

Velendo is already flying thanks to Agar, so he swoops over the head of the other golem and digs out his money pouch. "Here you are," he offers sarcastically, and drops a handful of gems onto the head of the mobile, shifting mass of money beneath him.

Nothing happens.

"Nolin!" he yells as the creature takes a swipe at him with one long arm. "I thought you said money hurts them!"

"Use coins!" Nolin yells in explanation. Velendo rolls his eyes at the mistake.

Galthia and Mara continue to attack the other golem. Her blows spray coins in every direction, and Galthia's punches clear fist-shaped holes in its dense metal body. Finally Mara swings her mace one last time and the entire monster dissolves, coins falling and rolling all around her feet. Across the room, a second cascade of thrown coins from Nolin shears off half of the creature's arm. . With everyone else helping by tossing loose treasure at the creature, it soon succumbs without further trouble. Several people are hurt, but Mara is smiling like a school girl at her success. Everyone stands there for a just moment, panting, ankle deep in dwarven coins. Nolin sighs.

"So much for never getting enough treasure."