[1] The Lower Road

When Laaesh gets back to the group's lodgings, he adds his information to the other options. Verin is not interested at all in talking to the Silver Flame, which leaves you with two removal jobs (the dragon/warforged, and the troglodyte), and the rescue mission, although whether the rescuee is inanimate or not is somewhat up for interpretation.

Helping the kobolds out won't lead to payment, at least not directly, but the other two jobs do leave you with questions.

With vetoes on the church and the dragon, that leaves S'sylin and Cualli to weigh in on the remaining two options - the troglodyte removal or the rescue/recovery.

With the rescue still on the table for later, then, it's decided that - at least while Professor Alacandra is still resting, the closer of the options, the one more in friendly territory so to speak, is the more prudent, and so you set off into the ancient tunnels once more. The kobolds tell you that they've managed to chase the troglodyte a few times, but they either lose him in the many twists and turns of the tunnels, or they fall prey to traps that have been set. This tells you two things: Firstly, the troglodyte in question isn't stupid, and secondly, he's probably not alone. So, with the kobolds' help, you track the troglodyte through the tunnels, until you finally lose the trail at the end of a tunnel where it runs into a much older tunnel that runs straight left and right. Here, brackish water pours down from somewhere above; you're either underneath a stream or part of the more modern water-delivery system Stormreach has put in place.

The bricks that pave the tunnel are underneath at least a foot of sludge here, but in some parts the sludge has built up enough over the years that the higher parts have mostly solidified, giving you - at least mostly - a safe place to walk. The walls are made up os much larger bricks, no doubt the work of the original inhabitants of the city.

There's not much to see, or find here. The water has washed away all trace of the troglodyte. The right branch of the tunnel is almost immediately gated off, and locked. The left-hand path is clear, almost invitingly so. But you're in the troglodyte's home territory now, so it would behoove you to be on your guard no matter which way you go.

Verin strikes out in front, moving carefully through the tunnels, on the lookout for potential dangers. The tunnels weave back and forth through stone, and along the way there are small alcoves, barred off long ago, and you can still see the remnants of old crates and barrels behind the rusted iron.

As you navigate the third sharp turn in the tunnels, Verin halts. Something about this section of tunnel isn't right. There's two insets along each side of the tunnel, just like every other section you've passed through. But the wear on the barrels and other detritus here isn't quite the same. It's something you know you should be able to put your finger on, but it's just not quite coming... There's a series of old pipes running vertically here too. They're the same pipes as the rest of them that jut out from the stone every now and again, but they don't run horizontally with the tunnel. They're transfer pipes maybe? But transferring what? In two sets of the pipes, one close to you and one on the other side of the alcoves, are two valves. The one nearer to you is pretty corroded, but the one further away looks a little betgter, though it's also rusted and worn...

Laaesh realizes at the last second that the stuff on the barrels is not growing, but corroding. It is the result of years of intermittent exposure to acid over many years. He manages to leap back in time, but his cry of alarm isn't quick enough for Verin.

As she examines the insets, she feels a subtle movement beneath her feet. One of the stones moves and she realizes too late that this is a trap. Acid bursts forth from a hole in the wall, spraying her all over.

As you recover from the sudden incident, you realize that you don't know how many other stones may be similarly trapped.