Woki lurks at the edge of the well before chanting to the spirits to bring their illumination to the matter. Spinning soft motes of light spring up around the halfling's head as Woki directs them to slowly float down the well and show what can be seen.
<<The young one was brought here by one of the pale women. Something was thrown into the water of this watering spot and now moves below. Might be the young one.>>
Woki's light descends into the well, glittering from the damp stones. A darker stain glistens with the crimson sheen of blood. A scrap of cloth is snagged on the sharp edge of another stone.
The halfling thinks he can see a ragged leather sandal floating in the shallow pool at the bottom of the well. The sound of stones clattering in some subterranean chamber nearby echoes up the shaft, but of the girl he sees nothing.
Raun lumbers over as Woki draws their attention towards the well. She leans over her miniature companion, sniffing deeply as she spies the splash of blood. Turning to the nearest villager she asks "Where does well bring water from?"
Gorkhan concentrates the colour of his form shifting to match his surroundings as he makes his way cautiously down the well.
"Water comes from an underground spring in the caverns below the town," the old dwarf says in response to Raun's question. "Been pretty reliable for the most part, but we've had trouble the last few months with the pool at the bottom of the well drying up."
"The guard captain, Bardoz - he's the one over there with his left arm hacked off - had been taking men down there about once a moon's cycle to clear the channel or something. Wasn't a single trip where everyone made it back. Bardoz said the caverns are unstable, and someone always took a fall down a sinkhole or had a rock fall on 'em. Never brought back a body ... I'd started to wonder whether he wasn't getting rid of rivals somehow."
Gorkhan's skin fades to the pale gold of the sandstone blocks lining the well as he descends into the shaft. The walls give way about 30 feet down, opening up into a vast, echoing chamber. Enough light filters down the well shaft for Gorkhan to make out the shallow pool of water another 20 feet below. The Seeker, bonded with the remnants of the bard's psicrystal, can sense walls about 40 foot to the north and east. But even her telepathic sight is unable to determine how far the chamber extends to the west and south.
Gorkhan hears something - or somethings - moving around in the darkness, although the echoing chamber makes it impossible to be sure of the direction.
<<I'm not overly keen on going down there.>> Daina had never been one for the underground.
Grit in cat form paces around the mouth of the well glancing down into the darkness from time to time. Finally he shifts into a Giant Lizard himself and scampers after the Psychic Warrior. <<Prepare a rope and follow. >> he sends.
Woki looks to Däina and Raun to see if either of them have a rope before muttering another prayer to the spirits asking for their winds to carry the halfling. Woki flashes a pointed-tooth mouth smile at the two before floating down the well surrounded by the four bobbing motes of light that follow the halfling down into chamber below. Woki keeps out of the water, floating somewhat closer to the ceiling, just in case it is too deep, and motions for the lights to space out around the halfling.
As the others begin their descent, Raun peers sceptically at the well. Letting out a sigh she lowers her pack to pull out the length of rope and find something to secure it to. With that done she tosses the other end down the well and begins to lower herself. Despite her bulk she seems to fit down without incident, splashing down into the water below to peer around.
So +2 to AC (22, 17 FF, 15 Tch), to hit stays the same, -1 to damage
Daina waits for everybody else to go down, following last.
Nnn'tkklik'l, upon discovering the others are going down the well, heads directly to the well and climbs down using the rope.
<<Do not like well, but answers probably down here>>
Leaving Grit's tigone to keep watch on the villagers above, the group follows Gorkhan into the well. The shaft is relatively wide - the "bucket" the villagers used to draw water was wide and shallow like a shield - so Raun and Grit in lizard form are able to make the descent at full size, with a little squeezing.
The water in the pool below is cool as you splash down into the foot-deep basin, which is slick with algae. Your light reflects dizzyingly off the walls as ripples race away from your landing. Cavern walls rise to the north and east, glittering with mica. The chamber extends to the south and west but is split by a tall column of darker basalt rising from floor to ceiling.
To the south, a low damn traps the water in the pool, a slim trickle carrying the life-sustaining liquid from a spring concealed in the darkness. As the sound of splashing water fades, a hush falls over the cavern.
You hear a short burst of unintelligible speech echoing from the south or southwest as you land, followed by whispered syllables that sound like the words of one of Daina's spells.
<<Somebody is casting arcane magic to the south or southwest.>>
Raun blinks, shading her eyes against the reflected light. As her feet threaten to slip out from under her she makes her way to the dry ground to the west. When Daina speaks across the link Raun frowns, pulling out her hammer. Her normally imposing presence softens as she begins to move slowly forward, circling the pillar to the west.
As the group touches down at the bottom, the kreen notes his clothes having been soaked by the water. A concern he was wholly unprepared for, he takes the robe off, wrings it out, and ties it with cord to his harness. He looks about for drier footing, disliking the unfamiliar feel of such an amount of water on him at once.
Hearing the casting himself Grit pads towards the sound, but tries to do so non-threateningly. <<Someone tell that person casting that we do not want to hurt them.>>
Guessing that their presence is already known, Daina shouts out. "We mean you no harm, please do not fight us! We're only here to help!"
The spell being cast was invisibility sphere, and you felt the sick, hungry tug of defiling.
<<No, it's a defiler! He just cast invisibility spherr!>>
Woki strains to hear what Däina points out about sounds coming from the south or southwest but all the halfling hears is rippling water and the sounds of their own breathing. Directing the four lights in the direction that Däina pointed out, Woki slowly sweeps the illumination around that corner of the chamber.
The kreen stays put, waiting for the signs of enemy movement.
Däina and Nnn'tkklik'l wait by the shore of the shallow pool as Raun and Grit move slowly around the basalt pillar, ears straining for the sound of movement or a response. For a long moment, the only sound is the ripple of water in the pool. Then a high-pitched, tittering voice echoes from the south.
"Such large ones these are, Quag. Strong. Plump. Juicy," the voice says before another answers, the sounds bouncing off the walls of the chamber uncannily.
"Stop thinking with your stomachs, Skarr," the second voice says. "Think of what we could do with these. Send them into the light to bash and catch more, never be hungry again, even if Krav births a hundred young."
"Hmm, maybe," answers the first voice. "Maybe keep the two-legged one, if it's not too stupid. But the lizard would only scare the surface ones. We should eat it here, let the dirt-eaters make clothes from its skin."
"Yes, perhaps," the second voice says. "Have to catch it first, taste it before we decide. Maybe ask the big one if it minds. Maybe have the big one do it."
The voice echo from south of Raun and Grit, where the chamber narrows around the basalt column. The sound is difficult to track but the voices seem to be coming from a point beyond the edge of the enchanted light the half-giant carries.
That's all the 'kreen needs to hear, putting up a psionic buffer on all but Raun in case these voices strike from darkness.
Daina casts detect magic, scanning around. Hopefully whatever is talking has some sort of magic or magic item on them.
Gorkhan heads towards the voices, keeping to the dark ceiling by one of the walls, the colours of his form continuing to shift making him nearly impossible to discern.
Grit moves to the wall and climbs up on it as he advances.
Woki floats over closer to Raun and Grit as the voices echo throughout the chamber. The halfling sweeps the dancing lights about dark, trying to bring the origin of the voices into view, "Hunt the tall ones and be hunted." Woki quickly zips down to touch Raun on the shoulder as a prayer to the spirits fills the air with a refreshing breeze.
Raun's lips pull back, exposing her teeth in a snarl as the voices speak up, loud and clear, and just as clearly talking about them. She begins to mutter under her breath as she abandons stealth, advancing with her hammer ready, head swinging to pick out the source of the voices.
You hear the sound of skittering claws to the south and east as you advance - whatever creatures the voices belong to are retreating, as Raun's light illuminates a series of ruined walls on the arrow side of the narrow passage.
Crude and in an advanced state of disrepair, the structures don't appear to be particularly ancient, just poorly made of rough stone blocks slathered with a crumbling plaster. The more intact sections are painted with swirling symbols in faded reds and browns. Thick spider webs hang sway in the breeze, connecting the ruins and the natural walls nearby.
"Oh, look Skarr, the big one is getting angry. Don't think she likes our plan. Maybe we'll have to eat her after all," one of the voices says, its owner clearly having moved to the east, beyond Raun's light.
"Yes, very angry, and warded now thanks to the small furry one. That one looks a bit nasty, if you ask me, Quag. Maybe leave it for the dirt-eaters - they're not picky," the second voice says, the shrill sound echoing from the east like the other one. "Pity we can't make the big one squash it for us."
"Yes, yes, not right now. But maybe later - wardings don't last forever, you know. Keep her alive, try again when the nasty fur-ball's spell is expired," the first one says. "Keep her alive and have lots of fun."
<<The runes mean "Devouring Earth".>>
Daina turns her detect magic to the southeast, trying again to locate them.
Raun's pace begins to speed as the voices continue their little chat with each other. Her hammer swings knocking aside the flimsy walls should they get in her way. Rune's deciphering of the walls means nothing as her temper swiftly rises.
Gorkhan cautiously moves along the wall, keeping to the shadows, the colours of his form akin to the wall he moved along.
Grit casts Longstrider and moves 40'. <<It is possible that this passage will circle back around. Those in the back be wary. >>
Woki follows close behind Raun, keeping behind her shoulder as the halfling flies through the air. Woki's head tilts left and right, trying to pinpoint the origin of the voices but finds it hard as the very tall-one starts to smash her hammer into stone.
The 'kreen follows those charging ahead, but without the enhanced speed, he ends up 20-40 feet behind them.