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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Old One" data-source="post: 221244" data-attributes="member: 83">Session 16 - Part TwoGreetings All!  Sorry it has been so long, but I had to try my hand at winning the $120,000 prize <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />!  When we last left our heroes, they had tracked the enemy wizard to a hideout in the sewers while attempting to rescue Drusilla.  Unfortunately, a cleverly disguised levered floor trap sent them sliding down a sharply angled stone passage in a tangle of bodies and limbs.  That is where we pick up the action…Of Bones and MarrowLew finally rolled off Quintus’s back.  The sorcerer, eyes and mouth filled with muck, managed to roll to his side, gasping for air.  Lew’s lantern tumbled along beside them for a few grains, then shattered – spreading a trail of burning oil down the slime-covered tube they traveled.  Rowan, still holding onto Rosë’s inert form, tried desperately to arrest his descent…to no avail.Gradually, the incline lessened and the quartet slid to a halt.  Lew, arm and shoulder burning from the strain of holding onto Sextus’s floating form, sighed as he released the bard to float two paces off the ground.  Rowan stood slowly, testing his body.  “Nothing broken.” He said to no one in particular.Quintus succeeded in clear one eye and glanced about in the darkness.  ‘No,’ he thought, ‘it isn’t exactly dark.’Patches of phosphorescent moss emitted a faint greenish-white glow, like that of a dying firefly.  Within a dozen turns of the minute glass, their eyes adjusted enough to take stock of their surrounding.  They stood on one side of an immense underground cavern.  A stone’s throw from the mouth of the slide that had deposited them lay the sandy shore of a lake.  Underwater moss growth gave the lake an eerie sheen.  Sheer cliffs soared above them, disappearing at the apex of their sight, some 50 paces distant.  Flickering lights beckoned across the water and Rowan thought he could see the outline of a squat structure.  Hidden rivulets and waterfalls sent the sound of running water echoing through the vast chamber.Lew made a half-hearted attempt to climb back up the slide tube, but quickly gave up.  Quintus reached out with his mind, searching.  His thoughts touched Severus and he felt the bird grow agitated at his master’s discomfort.  ‘Good, we are still within a third of a league!’Quintus did his best to imprint the image of the cavern in his familiar’s mind.  ‘Seek us!’  He felt the osprey shake out his wings and take to the air.  Turning to the others, he said, “Well…what do we do…?”His question trailed off as a deep thrumming sound, like the distant roar of a great waterfall, filled the cavern.  It lasted for several grains, stopped and then repeated twice.  Lew felt the sound penetrate his body through and through and it left him with a vague sense of unease.  From the looks of the others, the priest was sure they felt the same.  He spoke, “We must find shelter so I can rest and petition Osirian for aid and miracles.”A short discussion ensued and they decided to move left along the shoreline and find a place to camp before the magic holding Sextus aloft and Rowan’s enhanced strength faded.  Rowan’s first step was rewarded with a loud, dry snap.  Looking down, the ranger saw that his foot was in the center of a partially buried and now broken rib cage.  The hair rose on the back of his neck as he noticed numerous other bones – femurs, clavicles and skulls – protruding from the sand.A quick search revealed dozens of skeletal remains, torn clothing and rotted gear.  Disturbingly, many of the bodies bore red sashes or headbands.  More disturbingly, many of the bones looked gnawed and many of the larger ones were split lengthwise; the marrow gone.  Rowan had seen the remains of deer that bears had ravaged with similar results.  “Something with a taste for men lives here,” he said slowly, “I hope it has eaten recently!”The others nodded in silent agreement and they set off moving carefully through tumbled rocks and sand.  The going was difficult, due to the faint light, their caution and their burdens.  They noted that large, milky white fish with enormous eyes flitted through the shallows of the lake.  They also noted that several rocks had large quantities of skeletons from said fish strewn atop them.  At odd intervals, the deep thrumming sound echoed across the cavern, causing the party to jump each time.They saw several crevices in the cliffside, but hasty examination showed fish skeletons and large amounts of animal droppings outside each one.  They pressed on until they found an area of raised rock with a small depression on one end about a quarter of the way around the lake.“I think this is about as good as we are going to find,” Rowan said wearily.  “At least it is somewhat defensible.The magic holding Sextus aloft ended and the younger Scipio floated gently down onto the rocks.  “You have no argument from me,” Quintus replied with a wry smile.Lew’s nod made it unanimous and they settled in to make a semblance of a camp.  After eating and drinking sparingly, they decided on watch orders and Rowan stood first.  Quintus and Lew were asleep within thirty grains.  The enchantment strengthening the ranger’s limbs faded and a wave of weariness washed over Rowan.  Ten turns of the minute glass later, three pitches of soft snoring wafted from the raised rock.Somewhere, in the dark recesses of the cavern, a guttural hooting sound echoed.  Another answered and the first pair was joined by a third.  Soon, a low chorus of hoots floated through the damp air of the cavern.To Be Continued…Next: Return from the Dead~ Old One</blockquote>

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