Below the Undercroft (Solo)
Below the Undercroft, Delve 6 - by Denby Nov. 19
Dargo (dwarf thief 1) convinced Rockmound (dwarf cleric 1/fighter 1) and myself (Denby, human fighter 1) to venture below again. I still had an oath to uphold and the area below the undercroft had now claimed 6 people. I would like to say their loss was in defense of the village against the bandits, kobolds and hobgoblins or even a nefarious Necromancer, but the truth is, it was greed. After collecting a bounty for bringing in some bandits, clearly some were thinking they could further line their coin purses. According to Rockmound's stories, Thamos died as a result of reckless greed. So too Jebral. While the prestidigitator Dalieliquin, Olbert, the boy Oddy and Big Arno had all died to horrible creatures that lurk and slither in the shadows.
We attended the services of Thamos, Jebral, Olbert, Oddy, and Arno. Oddy's mother reminded me of the oath I made and, with so many deaths on my mind, I was eager to fulfill it. Without Gabriel we would need more support. We spent the day asking around the village, and even reached out to a few at the funeral services, looking for anyone willing to swing a sword or an axe. Perhaps if Gabriel's silver tongue wasn't convalescing he could have convinced someone.
So I suggested we wait until Gabriel was well. Rockmound also thought we should wait but Dargo whispered in his ear and changed his mind. We re-supplied, and included a couple lengths of rope in our gear. Rockmound and Dargo suggested we descend down the chute where the giant ants disappeared. Rockmound thought that, if it went to the level where the bandits were holed up, taking the chute might allow us to circumvent sentries. I was glad that the plan would take us in the opposite direction of the hobgoblins.
While we were getting outfitted, an elven maiden approached Rockmound and demurely asked if she could join our band. She was so tiny, little over 5 feet and thin as a sapling. Long lived or not, she had to be young for her people. I was shocked when Rockmound agreed and confronted them both. Her name was Lilliaquil (elf magic-user 1) and she was stern in her response, saying that Dalieliquin was a relative and that she planned to escort his body home. They had been seeking the coin with which to return home when Dal decided to take up the bandit bounty. And now that he is dead, it's up to her to find the coin. Their home was far abroad and it would be expensive. I hadn't even noticed that the dead elf wasn't included in the service and I gave her my condolences. She said that Dalieliquin's body had already been transported to the nearby parish to be prepared for travel, which cost almost all of her remaining wealth. She insisted that she would go with or without us. I sighed and conceded. Perhaps she could carry the lantern. Even that might be too much for her tiny frame. And that's when Barris showed up. A friend of Arno's, Barris always seemed down on his luck and was looking especially desperate when he offered to join our ranks; eager to collect a porter's wage.
Before I knew it, we were below ground again. When we hit the chamber at the foot of the stairs Dargo led us to the left... I was sure that the chute was to the right, down a long passage. Sure enough, we were passing into an area I had never seen before. Dargo said he must have been turned around and Rockmound indicated to a doorway that led to where Jebral, Dal, Olbert, and Oddy had died. I grabbed Dargo and pointedly asked him what he was up to. He sneered, "The lassie says she needs coin. 'n we ain't seen naen o'er on the chute side. But o'er this side, there been silver and even platinum. Mayhaps another room will fill the lassie's purse and get her hame wi' her kin." Greed. More greed. A gasp from the corner caused me to turn with my sword in hand. Lilliaquil threw down a large insect leg. Rockmound said it belonged to the giant beetle with the glowing eyes that they had killed. But the rest of the corpse was nowhere to be seen.
We left the beetle room and went down a corridor. There was a thick, earthy smell and, at the periphery of the lantern light I could see a giant, pale white mushroom. It seemed like, as soon as the light touched it, it started to... scream. The screeching sound was horrifying. And we knew we couldn't linger here. The unholy sound sent a chill down my spine and almost burst my ear drums. We hastily went back the way we had come and pulled up short when Rockmound spotted a couple of kobolds rounding the corner with weapons in hand. I was relieved to see the kobold's smile and lower their weapons. Rockmound said they were part of the group they had given silver to a few days ago. The kobold's beckoned us forward eagerly and both Rockmound and Dargo started to converse with them and chuckle. Rockmound tossed them silver yet again and they cheered.
They were roasting what appeared to be a giant beetle, missing one leg, over a pile of coals. There were a couple of doors in the room. Both Dargo and Rockmound were being treated like long lost litter-mates of the kobolds. They offered us food and drink and we spent far too long socializing with the creatures that were likely in league with the bandits and the necromancer.
One of the doors led to another long staircase down while the other led to a room where the kobolds slept. Rockmound distracted the kobolds and led them out of the room while Dargo searched it. Dargo turned, charcoal and map in hand and said "Nothing to note in here. Let's check the main room again." But Lilliaquil pointed to the corner Dargo was just searching and said "What about that? It looks like it could be a sliding door." Dargo went back and sure enough, after a few minutes they figured they could open it. The look on Dargo's face was priceless. If not for the danger all around I would have asked him to go into great, mind-numbing detail about this secret door too, like the one he found the other day. I would have pointe dout that HE didn't find this one. Instead I said we should get Rockmound to join us but a click followed by a slight draft from the secret passage made me freeze in my tracks. I expected to see Dargo recklessly opening the secret door and was surprised to see Dargo right behind me. Lilliaquil was gazing into the darkness, gasped again and then quickly slid the door shut. I asked her what was behind the door... She said there were giant centipedes. My skin crawled. And then she added that the room was filled with the walking dead. A skeleton with bleached bones reached for her... foot long centipedes snaked around the ribs and out of the skeleton's mouth. We all shuddered at the description. We had enough for the day and decided to return to the village.
When we left the room, the kobolds and Rockmound were in full revelry. When Rockmound spotted us, he gave us a big smile and motioned towards a kobold that looked like he was floating about 5 feet off the ground. At first I didn't understand, then one of the kobolds threw some beetle meet at the floating kobold and when it landed, it too was floating. The other kobolds started laughing and a couple more climbed up beside the floating kobold and danced a jig. They were standing on something invisible. Rockmound threw a pelt at the floating kobolds and the others joined in, throwing things at their friends and laughing. The object was about 5 feet high, by 5 feet wide and about 3 feet deep. The same dimensions as the huge chest in which Rockmound had left his former party's bodies.
It was too dangerous to stick around, so we decided to leave in order to formulate a new plan. Rockmound and Dargo said their farewells and we left. We were careful to avoid the passage that contained the screeching mushroom which, thankfully, had stopped screaming a long while ago.
On the way back to the village, Rockmound explained that the kobolds did indeed think we were part of the bandit crew, whom they weren't very fond of. They were happy to take our silver as they were being compensated by the bandit captain with copper. They didn't know what the invisible object was. They were told to guard this room and the corridors leading to it.
The last time that Rockmound found a chest of this size it contained electrum. Upon hearing that, Dargo slapped me on the shoulder and grinned at Lilliaquil. "You'll git yer kin hame afore ye' ken it." One word came to mind... greed.
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