"We didn't get a good look inside those last doors before we were interrupted," Tippi reminds him as she hands him the wrapped symbol. "Let's see what might be back there first."
Felos's tail droops at Jacinthe's words, but then perks back up at Tippi's reminder. "Yes, Jacinthe!" he admonishes very sternly, "We cannot leave any areas of these catacombs unexplored."
Going back to the last set of doors, you find an odd-shaped chamber with three bloated pillars holding up the roof. Rusted metal bars block the way into four cells (one in the east, two in the south, and on in the west). The cells are all completely empty, as is the rest of the room.
Back in the direction where you fought the zombie priest, the hall ends in a flooded chamber.
"Looks like we're going for a swim, kitty," Tippi consoles Felos, "or at least a wade. Back to the flooded corridor? I don't see a way out on this end."
You make your way back to the flooded passage and up to the edge of the water. Dozens of purple and red sea urchins glisten in shallow divots along the ground and lower walls here, their spines glittering with water. The water here is only a little over a foot or so deep, although there's no telling if it gets any deeper around the corner.
"Anyone here a good swimmer?" Did we see any supplies down here at all? I don't recall any being mentioned.
"Anyone here a good swimmer?" Did we see any supplies down here at all? I don't recall any being mentioned.
"MWWOORRRRRRRR!" Felos moans at Jacinthe's question.
He glares at the water, but looks defeated, and steps gingerly into it enough to wet the toes of his boots.
"I don't suppose anyone thought to bring a goodly amount of rope?"
"No... I have some thread only. I'll walk ahead - see if it is all wade-able." Festa steps into the water, making sure on each step that his foot is on solid ground before committing to it.
"Wait! Use my long spear to probe ahead of you in case it takes a sudden drop."
"Sudden...drop?"
"Didn't you just buy rope when we were seeking an introduction to our gracious hostess the artist?" Tippi reminds Jacinth. "You should be glad we're not in the Mwangi Expanse," she goes on to Felos. "They say there are carnivorous fish swarming in the rivers that will literally eat you alive before you can reach the shore."
"That's...just wrong. Fish should not exist that can eat people. These undead down here are unnatural, but that is just an abomination!"
Suddenly, a light dawns, and Felos sighs with relief. "Oh, I get it. You're just yanking my tail!" He laughs along with the "joke", muttering under his breath about carnivorous fish and chuckling.
Jacinth ties one end of the rope to Festa. "Just to be safe. He'll hold the other end along with whomever else wishes to help.
"Thank you Jacinth," Festa carefully wades deeper, first testing the ground with the long spear, then with his feet as he makes his way. "Is there such a thing as an undead fish?"
"How would you tell the difference?" Tippi wonders. "They're cold already."
Festa wades out into the water. It's cool, but not too cold. The ground is smooth stone beneath a thin layer of sand and silt and is rather slippery. However, it's easy enough for Festa to maintain his balance. He does need to be careful not to step on the spiny shells of the numerous sea urchins here, which slows him down a little.
As he rounds the corner, the ground starts to slope down and the water starts to get deeper. The passage curves round northwest and then turns to the west. Up ahead, Festa can just make out a split in the passage. Prodding carefully with the spear, he makes his way a little further forward and can see that one branch of the passage goes west, the other branch southwest.
By this point, he's out of sight of the others and it's difficult for Tippi to accurately control the movement of the dancing lights lighting his way. The water is also getting much deeper. It's about four feet deep at his current location and the ground is still sloping down.
"You swim, Shefton?" Tippi asks conversationally.
With Tippi's Dancing Lights available for the group, Jacinth can cast Light for Festa.
"It looks like there are two ways we could go, more west or more south-west. The water is about chest height here. Shall I try the closer path? That's the one that turns off south-west here," he calls back. Festa eyes the cavern wall.
"Southwest," Tippi calls back. "That's the leftmost way, yes?"
The butt end of the long spear
Also, since it seems safe enough to do so, Jacinth will wade out to AD29 to try and be in a better position to support Festa if necessary.
"Ya! Left-most." Festa cautiously prods his way forward, hoping to see the end of the waters just around the corner.
Festa stays near the walls and moves forward to the corner. He can see that the passage thins a bit just before turning to the right about 20 feet up. Moving along it, the water continues to get deeper for about the first 10 feet of the passage, but not deep enough to go over Festa's head. Then it starts to get shallower again. Around the corner, there is a small patch of dry land before the water starts again and the passage turns to the right again--well, not technically dry as it's damp, but it's free of water for a short distance.
Back with the others, not only is Festa now out of sight, but so is his light.
You missed where Jacinth is following after Festa. So far, I've only gone around the first corner, but the intention is to keep Festa within a full move or so. Also, Jacinth has darkvision so doesn't need a light source.
You missed where Jacinth is following after Festa. So far, I've only gone around the first corner, but the intention is to keep Festa within a full move or so. Also, Jacinth has darkvision so doesn't need a light source.
"Can you hear me? There's a bit of land space here, but then the water starts again. Maybe enough ground for half of us to stand on if we huddle. It looks like the passage will rejoin with the right-side of the fork." Mahjik pokes into the water ahead of him with the long spear, testing how the ground feels for the next 10 ft or so.
Felos follows near the back, his bow held high over his head to keep it out of the water. He's about to say something about dry land when Shefton's clumsy wading splashes water in Felos' face. The catfolk sputters and coughs and eyes Shefton like he's thinking losing his paladinhood might be worth a bit of payback.
Poking the ground ahead of him, Festa finds that the water is not very deep, although it does get gradually deeper again. Ten feet out, however, it's still not deep enough to cover his head. Moving out, he's able to confirm his suspicion that the passage rejoins the previous fork. At the second intersection, it widens out a little before continuing on to the west and into a wide chamber. It's here, as Festa moves on a little bit, that the water starts to get quite a bit deeper. It rises quickly to the top of his chest and poking a bit with the spear confirms that it will soon be above his head. Some swimming will be necessary to continue farther.
Behind, Shefton cowers from Felos's stare as the rest of you wade in to follow Festa. You catch up to Jacinth and move forward to the first intersection, where Jacinth catches sight of Festa further ahead.
Jacinth continues to try and maintain the distance between himself and Festa. One its known that swimming will be necessary, he'll close the gap to allow for more slack in the rope.
Because of the rope, closing the gap requires the rest of you to follow Festa's exact route rather than the shorter distance to him. You head down the south passage, past the bit of dry land and then back up north.
The water in the larger chamber sloshes up against the wall as Festa moves into it. After a short distance, he needs to start swimming . Perhaps surprisingly, there is a hint of a current in the water, though not a strong one and it's more under the water than on the surface.
Once he's made it a short distance into the chamber, he can see the far wall and in the southwest corner, gentle waves splash over dry ground. A corridor extends west from this small landing. He has to swim most of the way across the chamber to get a look down the corridor, but once he's done so, he sees that it is quite short and ends in a door.
Jacinth follows Festa with his eyes. He stays alert if there is a need to get his friend out of a situation while waiting for the ok to come over. "Sorry to tell you, Shefton, but the next part will require swimming. I think you should be the one to break the news to Felos."
"I don't want to elate you guys prematurely... but I see some dryish land again. This time with a door."
"I suppose the two of you could stay here," Tippi suggests to Shefton and Felos, "and go back to where we started. If we find the way out, we could go back and open up the door Vanthus shut. Of course, you'd be down here by yourselves ... with all the corpses that have a tendency to get up and move around again ... and the light won't last long... but if you really, really don't want to swim...."
Felos growls deep in his throat. "Nobody is staying, water or not. At some point, we will find something that evokes an unnatural and uncontrollable fear in you, and when we do, I will choose not to mock you for it."
Despite his brave words, Felos's knees shake as he waits his turn, and once he's in the water, he splashes more than swims. The water completely wets down his fur, making him look very pathetic, accentuated by his occasional pitiful, "Mrow!" as he struggles to keep hold of the rope, keep his bow out of the water, and not actually drown.
Festa continues on to the dry land, while the rest of you make your way out into the flooded chamber. Despite Felos's theatrics, it's fairly easy to swim across (especially with the rope to hold on to).
Festa has a few moments to examine the door before the others arrive and crowd onto the small bit of dry land. Like the other doors here, it's bloated with moisture and almost ready to burst out of its frame. When Festa attempts to open it, however, he finds it blocked. It's not locked, but it's definitely barred from the other side.
Festa tries to ignore the noise from the approaching party members, and instead focuses on trying to perceive what may be beyond the door.
He tentatively tries to push the door open, but quickly gives up. "Does someone have a knack with opening closed doors?"
"Hey Shefton... assuming we get out of here - do you suppose your good friends may be waiting for us at the exit?"
"I'm fairly certain the idea was that there is no exit, other than the one they blocked," Tippi says, dripping and shivering.
Felos will put his shoulder to the door, taking 20 for 22. He takes out any anger from being wet on the damp wood.
Festa can't hear anything beyond the door. His attempt to break the door open produces little in the way of results. Felos pushes his way in past the others and tries the door. Despite Festa's failure, the door gives fairly easily. The dampness of the cavern has left the wood in a fragile state. Felos only has to work at it a little before it gives way with a clatter of snapping wood.
As the door falls apart, it releases a horrible smell from within. The chamber beyond has the cloying stink of rotten meat rising from the bloated, seeping body slumped in the middle of the floor. The corspe's dark, almost black flesh bulges against its armour, ready to burst at the slightest touch. An intricate tattoo of a dragon clutching a flower is barely visible on his shoulder against the diseased flesh. Clutched in one hand is a crumpled scroll.
Festa stares a bit, then whispers, "Is there some god that uses a dragon and flower? Milani is a rose on bleeding ground - could be some sect I haven't heard of?"
Felos uses detect evil on the room.
Tippi is less concerned with the tattoo and more with the fact that there seems to be no egress from the room. "Damn it! We all got wet for nothing. Why would he lock himself in to die?"
"He could have been trapped down here, like us, and trying to find a way out or he could have been trying to get away from the walking dead. Who knows, this may be Penkus, the guy Vanthus told us about. In any case, we can't give up hope. Let's keep looking, maybe there is a way out. See what the scroll says."
"You say you don't know Penkus," Tippi turns to Shefton. "Do you know that tattoo? A dragon holding a flower? Is that familiar at all?" She evinces no desire to get closer to the bloated corpse, hoping someone else will retrieve the scroll while she's interrogating Shefton.