"I'm impressed you've even heard of orchids down here."
"Mmmm. Orchid's heart? That's a kind of flower isn't it. Copper's name? Anyone know much of the currencies down here? A letter departs? That would be mail or send or something like that wouldn't it?"
"Clever guessing games aren't my song suit., even if I did know the answer. But unfortunately, I don't."
"Dunno, whatever it is, seems more playful than harmful."
With a fading tinkling laugh the creature speaks "Wrong, wrong..."
Moving forward to try and catch sight of it you see a hollow further ahead that appears to be a small pile of golden coins.
Padrym waves the rest to hold.
"No way that's not a trap."
Hilde chuckles. "Sensitive, isn't it? Or should I say scent-sitive? Perhaps cent-sitive would be more to its liking."
Stali tilts his head and then a sparkle seems to light his eyes, "Torag's beard! I think Hilde has it. Should have known the one with the gift for words would puzzle it out."
Padrym proves theory with a low toss of a pebble into the pile of gold... to hear the wet liquid smack of a mudhole.
Hilde gives a small smile.
Not South or West nor East
Blades of grass and rising trees
Where the darkness does not last."
Upon Hilde's shoulder the rest of you see a tiny winged creature with smooth skin and bulbous eyes fade into view. It is a creature of the fey, and those of you knowledgeable of such creatures identify it as a pooka - a trickster for certain, but lacking much of the malicious bent that plagues other fey.
It replies in tinkling voice to Hilde's whispered words "Tassius Fooled-the-Fire is here, and here is his place. Much he knows, more he has forgotten than you will learn... but what price, what price to pay..."
"Tassius Fooled-the-Fire, honest advice...for hire?"
"Well met Tassius Fooled-the-Fire. You have a gift. Perhaps one day you will share the tale of your name...and perhaps some of the things you have nearly forgotten. The past of this place is of interest to our people."
Agna doesn't like the idea of the fey tagging along with them, but she was getting tired of walking around with no idea where they were heading. Perhaps a guide would be worth the trouble, even from a fey.
Padrym grunts at the new addition.
"Well then, let's see what price Tassius wants for his company."
A stipend of a few coins in gold a day would seem fair
Tutting with it's tongue "Oh but Tassius cannot tell
That would be an answer free
This one smart one" gesturing towards Hilde
"She will know
Otherwise Tassius may need to go."
"She's the smart one all right Tassius. I'm just the moral compass. Looks like you better keep on your toes Hilde. He's going to keep you guessing."
"Hmmm...shall we say, five gold pieces a day, and a share of any sweets we find?"
The pooka nods at the terms and raises an eyebrow before sniffing "Fair it is, but must have first choice of tasties
By the smell you met already big and slimy... do your beards have questions for now? or only for later?"
Hilde nods. "First choice it is. I had a question--these humans, some of them have, they say, become ill and wandered off." She repeats the information the humans gave the party. "Do you know the nature of the cause, and what might be done about it?"
ETA: "I have forgotten my manners, and I beg your pardon. Here is the money for today." She counts out five gold pieces and offers them to the pooka.
"If he is helpful, I will pay for his services tomorrow," Agna muttered, as she stood back and tried to evaluate what the pooka was actually bringing to the group.
The pooka narrows it's eyes at the humans then shrugs "Here madness walks and wears friendly faces
It stalks these halls, it haunts these spaces
When friend is foe and death’s always near
You’ll know it’s amongst you
You’ll know it’s near..."
"But taller and less hairy have no ill
The walking madness does not have them... yet..."
"Mmmm. Think even I understand that one. Think he knows anything about Dammerhall?"
"If hairy wants to know, then hairy must ask...
But if hairy did ask, then pooka must tell...
And pooka does not know, of Dammerhall.
The earth's scar, boiling sea, stonemaker, wizard's death... these I know - but not of Dammerhall."
Stonemaker? That sounds interesting. What have you heard about that pooka?"
"These words are making my head spin. I'm glad you can make some sense out of it!"
"Mine too Nar. Every riddle that makes sense leaves me baffled about two more."
"Not here not here, but
There’s a grumpy old beast
Who lives all alone
Where it grasps, there is fire.
Where it looks, there is stone."
"That doesn't sound good. Not looking forward to that meeting. Let's continue on."
The pooka disappears from view as you set off, though you hear it's faint laughter on occasion and the shadows seem to dance just beyond your vision on occasion. The humans manage to stumble with you, getting more accustomed to the manner of travel... and yet at the same further disturbed by your new friend and a sense of foreboding.
You round yet another winding grey stone passage, expecting nothing but more of the same ahead, but are surprised instead to see something entirely different. Ahead there is light. Not a bright light, but a faint misty twilight spreading through rising steam and fog. And further ahead than that you see what can only be the Earth’s Wound. As far as you can see a great rift stretches out before you. If you had not seen the fungal jungle in the Upper Azathyr, then this would easily be the largest cavern you had ever seen. Its ceiling rises more than three hundred feet. The farthest walls of this massive rift are too far away to see.
Nearby are great lakes of hot boiling mud. The mud is not uniform in color, but instead is mixed with some unknown contaminants that have caused it to be stained with every color of the rainbow. It is a scalding mad riot of color and vapor and it stretches out for miles. Every few minutes somewhere, the mud erupts. Great geysers of steaming water push into the air. It seems a dangerous place but here and there are gaps, stone walkways that seem to avoid the worst of nature’s fury. Perhaps this place is traversable after all.
And beyond the hot mud pools to the north is what can only be described as an underground jungle. This is populated not by fungus but by greenery and trees. Faint light filters through the great opening in the top of the rift and casts the whole place in partial daylight. No doubt it is this light that allows the greenery to flourish and thrive.
And yet, though the trees seem familiar, there is also something profoundly unfamiliar about this forest. For every splash of green you can see, there are also sparks of bright cerulean, vivid vermillion and electric yellow. From this distance it is hard to make out anything too
specific about the distant jungle, but even from here you can discern it is an alien place no doubt full of strange wonders and unimaginable dangers.
Still, you’ll never discover the truth sitting on this ledge. There is a natural stairway that winds down the cliff face to the floor of the rift. The stairway itself is broad and not all steep, slowing descending twenty feet to the plain beyond. It seems a new phase of your underground expedition has begun.
"Good news. Our companions will be able to see again. Bad news. This looks very treacherous. But, we're here to explore. I'm ready to march on and see what this cavern and the jungle beyond hold for us. I could pray to Torag for protection against these geysers, but I would only be able to offer protection for a limited time."
"Well, we are down here for a purpose. If that purpose lies beyond this rainbow forest, then so be it. Look alive humans, you might not need Darkvision for a little while."
"Tassius, what do you know of this place, and the jungle beyond?"
Softly laughing "Hairy wants where the Earth’s never rests?
Hairy wants ghosts and orchids, fire and death?
Then follow me close for we’ll be there soon.
Tassius knows the way to the Wound!
Boil and burn, toil and trouble
In the land of fire, watch out for the bubble!
Earth's scar and stonemaker and more beside
I’ve seen the place where fire is alive
I’ve seen the cave where a wizard died."
Padrym shakes his head.
"Still can't make sense of the damn pooka, hope you get it Agna. We should start looking for a defensible position as we go, no sense camping in the open."
"Padrym, that thing might as well be speaking a Druidic cant, for as much as I can tell. Maybe if we tell him we want to go to through here in the quickest way possible, he can get us there. Unless someone else comprehends him better than I."
Quickest and safest. I'm glad Hilde has a way with words...and puzzles. Must say the wizard's cave is intriguing. Can't seem to stay out of trouble."
"Living fire suggests an elemental, but dead wizards are distressingly common. I'm sure that this will make much more sense after we actually encounter all of those things...it's the way of riddles and prophecies."
"Let's strike out north. At least the humans can see here."
"The jungle seems reasonable. The wizard's cave caught my attention, but we cannot guarantee the safety of these humans if that wizard isn't dead enough or something worse took his place."