Chapter 2: Birdsong in Hollow Valley

Every piece of wood here is damp, moldy, rotten. Wouldn't do for torches.

Mimi looks about in a panic, and doesn't see any obvious exits. Perhaps if you searched more thoroughly among the rubble, tangled roots, or the submerged floor, you might find something useful.

What do you do?

Music

Music

Orengi whimpers, shivering, and licks Mimi's hand. The fox curls up miserably in a corner and refuses to move. Mimi has to carry him -- a difficult proposition, as Mimi's leg is still hurting.

Searching the alcoves, Meng finds only scraps of rusted metal, a bit of carved bone, a small jade button. The back of one of the alcoves is split by a great crack where twisted roots burst through long ago. The roots and vines creak and groan, as if they are moving, seeking... something. But it's just your mind playing tricks. Perhaps there are other spots here where the architecture has given way, exposing earth that can be dug through? You don't know if this is the lowest level of the crypt either; if there are other levels, there may be other exits.

What do you do?

Kalam looks around as well. Then he grabs at the roots that are poking through the wall. Giving a sharp tug with one hand and keeping his blade out against the root, intending to cut it out if he has to.

When Meng stops sloshing about and peers closely at the water, he realizes it all flows ever so slowly towards one particular spot. Clearing away the mud, and slime, and the bed of rotting roots underneath he finds what looks like a square manhole cover. He and Wei heave it aside, and the water spills down the slippery stone stairwell that is revealed.

What do you do?

Iko, unlike everyone else here, you are in your element. You know that the crypt's most important occupant -- whether that occupant was someone to be protected or contained -- is bound to be somewhere below. The eight in the first chamber would have been the guards. The next chamber, with the alcoves, would have housed objects of power, or at least, importance, and most likely would have each belonged to the eight guardians. What lies below? Great wisdom, or great evil?

The group descends stone stairs slippery with scum and all but worn smooth by water trickling down it for centuries. Another waterlogged chamber. This time, you judge the flooding would come up to your necks if you descend into it. In the middle of the chamber, hovering above the water, is a ghost.

What do you do?