Chapter 4: The Nasty Pits

The three of you (and Maude) are now at the bottom of the shaft.

As Berry noted earlier, a broken pickaxe amid shifted rubble is evidence the work crew tried to dig through the debris to access the sewer tunnels to the east, but then for some reason decided to abandon that in favor of the natural tunnel to the south exposed by the collapse. In a bit of a hurry too, if the abandoned shoe lying a few feet into the earthen passage is any indication. The narrow, earthen tunnel curves gently southwest. It smells of mold and rotting wood.

What do you do?

"Do you want me to heal that, Tilma?" Laurent asked, sincere concern and a considerable dose of guilt in his voice.

Once the three had settled in the lower area, Laurent made ready to head down the only open passageway available to the party. Before setting off, the wizard-priest intoned his chant and granted a degree of fortune to Timbers. "If you're the one leading the path, this prayer might help you achieve what you want."

"Thank you old friend, I'll scout ahead."

Berry pulls his mask back up, just in case, and starts to creep down the tunnel ahead of the others, crossbow loaded and ready.

"Thanks, but no need. With a good night's sleep it will heal itself." she replies to Laurent's proposition.
Tilma readies her crossbow and covers her small sized friend. "Be careful. But just in case I'm right behind you."

Deeper into the tunnel you go, southwest across uneven ground. Here and there, you come across strange, malformed creatures—a six-legged lizard here, a three-eyed frog munching on a purple beetle there. You are reminded of the two-headed crocodile that bit Tilma. Something is mutating the creatures down here!

At length, you come to a branching. South and slightly upward, mushrooms dot the rocky ground, silhouetted against a soft, amber glow further on. Several sets of clawed footprints head due West into the other branch, which slopes gently downward. You can just make out a faint turquoise glow and a distant splish-splashing.

Conspicuously absent are the work crew's footprints. Which way did they go?

What do you do?

"Watery critters to the west, fungal florescence to the south..." the young man stated without suggesting a response. "I have no power to discern which path is more fruitful, or less dangerous. What do you think?"

"Til, These prints, are these claw marks anything you recognise?"

Berry is no expert, but he tries to identify the claw marks or at least get an idea of the size of the things.

The tracks apppear to have been made by a half-dozen two-legged creatures with partially-webbed feet. Judging by the length of their stride Berry reckons they're about the height of a man, 5 or 6 feet.

Which way do you go?

"If we follow the tracks, we are at a greater risk of getting into a fight. If we assume that all five Seals were designed to be equally protected, we know that there should be a dweomer of avoidance, or antipathy, shrouding each portal. In principle sentient beings should avoid the places where the enchanted orbs are to be found. Without knowing more about the makers of these tracks, I'd assume they have a degree of sentience that would plunge them under the effect of the charm of avoidance. If we assume that to be the case, then wherever the sentient creatures are, the orbs should not be..."

He paused to scratch his head, "Of course, there are many assumptions in what I've said. Could be whatever creatures made these tracks have already found, and perhaps defiled, the seal... no charm of avoidance then. Perhaps it's just the coward in me not willing to get into another scuffle...", he added, shrugging.

Films takes a closer look at the marks on the floor but doesn't see anything more than Berry. "Sorry Berry, but
I don't know what these creatures are. My best guess would be Sahuagin. But I have no way to be sure." She gets up and looks at Laurent, "Yo are no coward, pal. You are down here with us crazy people. No coward would do that. However there is also an opposite possibility to the one you evoked. These creatures could be here to protect the orbs. The other orbs had cockatrices after all. Who knows, perhaps they were there before Bartoz started to use them as body disposals. Perhaps who ever created seals made arrangements for them to be guarded? It was Astaroth who made them, right?" the last question did not require an answer.

The ground shudders—another tremor! The canaries squawk in their cages as a shower of dirt falls ominously from the tunnel roof. Maude hovers uncertainly left then right, waiting for you to decide which tunnel branch to follow

"Let's head south. I agree with Laurent, not sure I want to run into whatever made those tracks."

"Ok, ok. You win, you win. Let's go where you decided. After all it's two against one. If we don't find the orbs, not my fault." she just shrugs and waves for Berry to continue leading the way.

As the tremors shook the passage, Laurent looked at the vaulted ceiling with obvious fear. He swallowed hard thinking of the millions of tonnes of rock and earth that were poised to crush them instantly if any number of uncontrollable factors played against the trio. They'd be three more carcasses marinating in the miasma of mutation-inducing sludge. Or crushed like so many ants under the soles of indifferent passersby.

With such dreadful thoughts in mind, he moved south after Berry. Tilma had made some good points, perhaps his advice had not been wise. 'We'll see soon enough', he thought.

You follow the southern tunnel branch. Rocky ground gives way to spongy earth rife with fungal growths. Some fuzzy patches of mold glow dimly, softly illuminating the tunnel. Other mushrooms grow round and squat, while others stand tall as men, gnarled and silent like ancient sentinels to this secret place.

As you move, soft whispers brush against the edges of your minds. It's not unlike Maude's rudimentary telepathic communication, but this is something more intelligent. There's no clear message though, just a presence. You know you're being watched.

The twisting tunnel widens and turns west, and is soon joined by a swiftly flowing underground stream of stinky water. You eventually emerge into a cavern lit by glowing fungi. The stream flows onto a rock shelf and over the edge into a pool about forty feet below. As you emerge from the tunnel and onto the shelf, the mind-whispers assail you with more urgency.

"Intruders. Surface dwellers."

"Unwelcome! Stop them!"

"Subdue them, put them with the other one."

"Let them be. Perhaps they will leave."

Look as hard as you might, you see no creatures that might be speaking to you or to each other. What do you do?

"Umm... Guys? Do you hear those weird voices in your heads as well? Or is it me who's going crazy. I'm starting to think that those mushrooms are intelligent." she looks at the murky, stinking water. It has been some time since Maude last went into water, if she remembers right. "Maude, go wet yourself a little. Just be careful. Who knows what foul things are in there." she pats the fisher a little to encourage it.

"No, not the water!"
"Accursed men-fish lurk there!"
"Yes! Let the gogglers take them!"

Tilma spots some movement to her right. Come to think of it, some of those mushrooms do look like very much like people! But then all is still and quiet again save for the gurgling splashing of the stream.

"On the other hand, Maude stay away from the water. Guys be wary of the water people." she then raises her voice and shouts out in the room, "Hey! You! Who are you!? We're here to find some orbs. Do you know where they are? One is green, the other purple."