Admiral's Story

Admiral’s eyes widen as he realizes what he’s holding. He excitedly slashes and stabs at the air with the shortsword, pretending to parry the attacks of an imaginary enemy with it, before remembering what he’s supposed to be doing and recovering his composure. As he leads his companions down the tunnel on the left, he recalls what Taresh said about the ‘vital importance’ of ‘a still mind’ and frowns. His mind is never quite still, always bouncing from one idea to the next… His train of thought is interrupted by something shiny, glimmering in the muck covering the floor of the tunnel ahead. By the time he realizes it’s just an old copper piece and loses interest in it, he has completely forgotten what he was worrying about.

As you promptly forget what you were mulling over a moment ago in your mind, Taresh suddenly coughs. He keeps it quiet and subdued but it is a cough none the less. He appears sturdy to you overall, but obviously is still fighting off a sickness of some sort.

You walk not very long down the tunnel when you spot a large amount of ruble ahead. It looks as if something--possibly the Nightmare--broke through the tunnel wall to the right.

Taresh begins to cough again. This time he cannot subdue its onset and slumps as his body convulses in a heaving fit.

The fit passes and Taresh straitens his body.

"Forgive me," he says. "I can feel that my mind is becoming clear again. But my body has yet to fully recover from the torture the Ring put me through. We should press on."

Admiral stops and patiently waits for the coughing fit to subside, keeping alert to make sure nothing tries to sneak up on them while the monk is indisposed. At Taresh’s word, he nods and presses on, trusting the monk to know his own limits as they continue to follow the Nightmare’s path of destruction.

A few more steps ahead and you come to a great deal of ruble strewn across the tunnel and a rather uncarefully ripped open hole in the tunnel's right wall. When you peer down it, the hole looks about the size of the Nightmare beast and winds off into the distance.

Admiral can feel his fur standing on end as he peers into the hole left by the Nightmare. He flexes his claws, adjusting his grip on his swords, and charges in. "This way!"

Teresh immediately falls in behind you. But, hesitantly peering down the hole, Skeev lingers. He lets out a groan before joining.

The Nightmare-made tunnel twists a bit as you traverse it and it's hardly more stable than its ruble filled opening. After about 15 minutes of carefully navigating the tunnel you see signs of the hound. It looks like at this point the hound may have come to his senses and tried to fend off the creature dragging him. There's signs of a struggle as even more debris lines the passage in this place. Also strewn about are the human's helmet, his torn belt, and pouches, along with a dagger and bent armor fragments that look like they were ripped off his body, which are now useless metal.

Noticing Skeev’s hesitation, Admiral falls into step with the goblin as they carefully navigate the tunnel and says, "Ideally, we’ll find the key without ever encountering the monster but, if it does come to a fight, I actually have a very important job for you, Skeev. You’re the smallest and the quickest of us so I’m counting on you to find and retrieve the key, while Taresh and I keep the monster distracted. Can I trust you to handle that?"

He stops to pluck the scrap of torn belt off the floor of the tunnel. "Now, unless I’m mistaken, the key in question was previously attached to this belt…" He looks around to make sure the key isn’t lying on the ground somewhere amid the rubble and debris.

Sveev ponders your request. His former apprehension turns into proud enthusiasm "Yeah, I'm fastest. It's gotta be me. Count on me Captain."

You search the rubble for signs of the key but there's nothing more beyond what you found beside a few blood stains on and near the armor fragments.

Admiral grins. "We’ll make a decent pirate of you yet," he tells Skeev, as he continues leading his companions further down the tunnel in search of the key.

You and your party continue on for about another 10 minutes down the tunnel that was dug out by the Nightmare when you start to see a odd luminescence ahead. A few more minutes of moving forward reveals that the Nightmare's tunnel opens to a large natural underground cave that appears to be filled with pillars of glowing celestite jutting from the walls and floor of the cave.

Admiral’s eyes glitter with greed as he steps out into the cavern. He stops to examine one of the larger crystals, transfixed by the ethereal glow that illuminates them from within. He isn’t sure how much such crystals would be worth, but they sure are pretty…

He shakes his head. This is no time to get distracted. They’re already running out of time before the slavers realize something’s wrong and raise the alarm and he can feel the curse he placed on the hound dwindling with each passing second. He sniffs the air, hoping to catch the scent of rotting bodies so that he might follow it back to the Nightmare’s lair.

You peer carefully into the crystal cave. Strait back there’s a path through the crystals wide enough for the Nightmare, with broken shards alone the way to show for its movement there. But your careful search for scent reveals the smell of decay and flesh rot wafting from the right inside the celestite covered cave.

Skeev and Taresh stand next to each other by your side at the cave entrance watching you test the air and wait for your instruction. For a moment Skeev’s eyelids look heavy but Taresh puts his hand on the goblin and Skeev snaps to attention. "Let’s be careful and keep our mind focused." Taresh says.

You begin to realize you hear a faint hum, almost like a voice singing a single, steady, perfect pitch. It is rather soothing.

Admiral’s fur bristles with apprehension. Between the strange hum and the smell of death, there’s something not quite right about this place.

"Wait here," he tells Taresh and Skeev as he carefully ventures a little ways into the cavern to investigate the smell.

Taresh seems a little nervous about the idea of you going in alone, but he nods and reiterates to you what he just told Skeev, "Okay. Stay focused and be careful. You don't have to go too far without us captain."

You step further into the cavern. When you do, you see, as before, the pathway the Nightmare must've made through the crystals to the back of the cavern. The path leads to another Nightmare-style dug out tunnel.

To the right, the cave opens up a bit. There's more space between celestite pillars as the cave goes on into the darkness. You confirm that the smell of decay comes from that direction. The smell is such a harsh contrast to the constant soothing sound. It's louder now that you are deeper in the cave. You think it comes from the glowing crystals themselves, but it's hard to tell for sure.

The sound is constant and soothing...so soothing...it's the peaceful wind between the rocky cliffs that you notice as you step off the dinghy. Your arms are tired from rowing even though the Whisper is just off shore and you hadn't rowed very long. As you look back, you think It looks far away now. The ship is an ominous black silhouette against the huge red moon looming behind it.

On the beach sharp rocks jut out of the sand all around; they emit a pale blue glow. Ezber falls into step beside you. There are a few others of the crew lingering in shadows on the beach. Ezber puts his hand on you and leans down toward your young frame. "Ideally, we’ll find the treasure without a fight in that cave. But if it comes to it I have a very important job for you, Admiral. You’re the smallest and the quickest of us so I’m counting on you to find and retrieve the key, while I carry the chest with the others. Can I trust you to handle that?" the captain asks you.

The howling wind persists steadily. Each time it gusts, the rocks glow brighter. You want to take a glowing rock in with you and begin to reach for one. Ezber draws Reaver and, brandishing it in your direction, says, "Don't take the rocks, they can't keep you safe in there. Just find the gold; lay down and rest in its cool blanket. The key rests in the gold. Just lay down. We'll do everything else."

You stand at the mouth of the cave, waves crashing behind you, rocks glow brighter. You just want to wander into the cavern to rest on a blanket of gold. Your arms are so tired. You start to move toward the cave.