Chapter Three: The Last Dream of Mirza Horgul

Leth's eyebrows furrow when he hears the sound. "Those bells... we heard them earlier, just before we found you. The sound is what led us to you, actually. What are they?"

Edit: Before all this goes down, Everil addresses Shamush's question. Sounds like a washbasin to him -- there are many odd devices and such put in the Ways by its more inventive denizens.

"The bells are how my people get my attention when I am abroad in the tunnels," Everil answers. To Felor, he says: "A brave offer, cleric. Perhaps we may make common cause after all..." He seems lost in thought for a moment. "A war council, then? Over mushroom tea and crisped beetle-babes? Yes, I think we can arrange that..."

The tunnel abruptly ends in what appears to be a cave-in, rocks and dirt piled to the ceiling. Everil opens another secret door, to the left of the pile, which leads to a shortcut that connects back to the main tunnel on the other side of the cave-in. The tunnel continues for another hundred yards or so, then lets out into a semicircular chamber about 30' wide at its north-south diameter. The party follows Everil into the chamber.

There is a heavy wooden door set in the west wall, and seated on the ground next to the door, knees up to its chin, is a snot-green creature with rubbery skin and long, wiry black hair. It has a long, pointed nose and sunken black eyes. A warpick carved from the leg bone of some gargantuan creature rests on the floor next to it. It turns its head as you enter, its hand twitching toward its weapon.

"It's only me," Everil says. He turns to the party. "One of my Royal Guard," he explains.

"Th' bell," the creature says.

"I know," Everil sighs. "Goblins. They needn't have kept ringing and ringing --"

"Nuh gobs," the creature says. "Th' girr. Gone."

Everil narrows his eyes. "What?"

"Th' girr gone," his Royal Guard repeats.

"What? WHAT!?" He starts breathing heavily, pacing. "HOW DID THIS HAPPEN!?"

"Dun no."

"And they rang the BELLS for this? The filth-sucking BELLS!? WHY WAS NO-ONE SENT TO FETCH ME AT ONCE!?"

Anybody want to step in here, or just see where this goes?

It's a bit hard to tell the way it's slouched down, but the creature could be as tall as 9'. And while you can't be 100% sure, it's entirely possible it was saying "the girl."

"I must find her. I must find her at once," Everil says, not entirely addressing Mordred's question. He places his hand on the wall, then jerks it away abruptly. "No. Not yet. Not yet." He walks to the door and throws it open, then runs through it.

Mordred follows Everil through the door...

...and finds himself on a terrace on the perimeter of an enormous natural cavern. Numerous tunnels lead out of it in every direction. In the center of the cavern is a pool about 300' across, and in the middle of the pool is a vaguely beehive-shaped structure, 150' wide, made out of some sort of mud or concrete. Two structures of similar material but more irregular shape are built along the west and north sides of the cavern, resembling massive termite mounds.

Everil ignores Mordred and bounds down to the lower level of the cavern, heading toward a rough wooden bridge over the pool that leads to a doorway in the beehive structure.

Everil stops at the bridge. "GHAMAN! GHAMAN YOU FAILURE, COME OUT HERE!"

Another troll emerges from the beehive. This one is missing his right arm at the elbow. Everil meets him halfway across the bridge. The troll starts to speak but Everil yanks the troll's head down by its nose, backhands him across the face, and shoves him into the water. "GHAMAN! YOU CANNOT HIDE FROM ME!" Everil roars, and hurries over the bridge and into the beehive.

Bring on the Perception/Insight rolls! Anybody gonna follow Everil into the beehive? The troll guarding the door sits up, but doesn't make any moves to stop any of you.

All of the tunnels leading out of this cavern -- Zangua estimates twenty immediately visible, not including the various entrances into the "termite mounds" -- make guessing where Zora might have gone a daunting prospect to say the least. He notices, as well, an alcove high up on the northeast part of the cavern where the large, cylindrical iron bell is located, and the little stream to the southwest that feeds the pool.

Mordred follows Everil over the bridge and into the beehive.

The entire ground floor is open, with pairs of thick columns at radiated intervals, and one massive central column, around which a ramp spirals up to the next floor. At its base is a tunnel that appears to lead to a basement level. There are several trolls inside, most of them resting indolently against the columns.

"GHAMAN!" Everil screams. A small humanoid creature, stooped from age, with a scaly, doglike face, hobbles down the central ramp.

"My king...I come...I come," he wheezes.

Everil stomps over to a nearby troll, grabs a drinking bowl out of its hands, and hurls it at Ghaman, who avoids it with a practiced flinch. "How did this happen!? Where has she gone!?" he loudly demands.

"The stream...she was very fast, my king...as soon as anyone realized what she was doing she was through the hole..."

Everil paces in a tight circle and lets out a moan of rage and despair. "The stream!? Why did you let her anywhere near it, you fool, you utter wreck of a fool!?"

"You told her she was free, my king...that she was safe in the sanctum...she wanted to take a walk outside the burrow...what was I to --"

"You know where she's gone, don't you? Of course. All the questions she asked me yesterday. How could I have been so blind. How could I have been so BLIND!?"

He runs back to the beehive entrance and stops at the door. He starts scratching the wall near the doorframe, in quick, repetitive motions.

Vad/szemely, you still around?

yay, just making sure you're still here

Everil doesn't seem to be taking questions right now. He keeps scratching, doubles over. His fingers are leaving streaks of blood on the hard adobe-like wall.

The only obvious hole here is the one at the base of the central column, but in context it seemed like Ghaman was referring to the source of the stream?