Chapter 1: The Knaves Visit the Spudfields

As Watters ponders lighting another series of candles, Endrei makes his way to the ominous-looking trunk resting against the wall. The man doesn't have his own light source, and his body throws massive, long shadows in front of him as he approaches the chest and its iron clasp. Shifting his stance allows more of Audree's light to fall on the clasp, and a flick of the giant's fingers opens it with a brief clatter. When nothing beyond that sound happens, the man kneels and places his hands on the edges of the lid. It complains as it opens, creaking loudly until Endrei rests the lid against the wall.

Inside, the plundering knave finds several items of interest. On top, two moldering but surprisingly intact hooded robes are folded. The garments share the color and intricate patterns of the flea-ridden rug that Watters had set fire to in the other room, and beneath them lie ten of the same purple candles that have now been seen in multiple locations. On a silver tray with gold inlays -- clearly valuable -- rest three other items: a small cloth bag with loose items inside that rattle slightly, a large and weathered-looking leather-bound book, and two unmarked green glass vials holding a water-like fluid.

The book opens with some complaint, its spine stiff and its pages dry and brittle. Clomm recognizes right away it appears to be some sort of religious text, full of troubling symbology, cramped writing, and filled with highly detailed, painstakingly crafted illustrations. The pages are difficult to look away from, drawing the reader in, filling his eyes and mind with dark and mystical knowledge.

Close by, still hovering over the trunk as Watters holds her torch aloft for them all to see, Endrei jostles the cloth bag and examines its contents, which proves to be -- bones. Finger and toe bones... human, if the man had to guess. Cleaned of any soft tissue remains, they clattered lightly when rattled together.

Back in the main area of the room, several candles sputter and flicker with green flames that eventually settle -- Audree's handiwork.

Page after page, Clomm turns, his fingers trembling as he seeks that which he knows must be present in this book... a powerful sorcery, a magical spell that he can command. When he finds it at last, his mind is befuddled slightly -- he cannot tell what the intent of the enchantment is. He can read the words, he can make the gestures, but the former cook has no idea what energies will be loosed.

As Watters picks up the green vials, she can see that they are indeed sealed with glass stoppers and a long-ago applied drizzle of wax. She holds one of them delicately, leaving the second on the tray, and a twist of her fingers breaks the seal and allows her to remove the stopper.

"Wait!" Elius hisses -- but it is too late. The instant that the liquid inside is exposed to the air, that same instant when Audree is lifting the vial to her nose to sniff at it, the stuff begins vaporizing, turning almost instantly to a gas that rushes from the bottle violently!

The fumes are awful, like nothing any of the adventures have ever experienced, and as eyes begin stinging and watering, as lungs burn and skin blisters, each of them fight to not be overcome by the gas...

Clomm chokes and sputters as he gets a good, strong whiff of the poisonous gas, feeling his throat constrict as Watters extends her arm and waves the bottled of rapidly evaporating fluid around in the air. Across the room, Elius Wax is coughing and wheezing as well...

Endrei's curiosity turns to dismay as he watches strange gas tumble from the vial that Audree has opened. The smell hits his nose, and his face contorts. The giant lurches to his feet, then shuffles away from the alcove, trying to get clear of whatever this vapor might be.

Unfortunately, it's crowded now in the alcove, Endrei is not a small man, and his eyes are swimming from the gas. Unable to pick his way through the others, he staggers into the nearby wall with his shoulder.

As Endrei, Clomm and Elius all begin choking and gasping desperately, it suddenly dawns on Audree that she's avoiding the ill effects by holding her breath... and that the liquid in the unstoppered bottle is still vaporizing, and is beginning to fill more and more of the underground passage!