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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 7371593" data-attributes="member: 143">Chapter 135“Bloody hell!” Kosk cursed.  There was a faint shuffle as their eyes adjusted to the unexpected darkness, but no enemies appeared, no traps launched fresh death at them.  Bredan brought his sword up in a ready position, but he was careful not to move; without darkvision, he was as dangerous to his friends as to any unseen threat.“It’s okay,” Glori said.  She lifted her bow, and as she set an arrow the magical filament that had replaced its string began to glow.  “There’s nothing here.”Quellan re-invoked light, this time settling the magic upon his shield.  The spell worked normally, revealing that the fountain had ceased its arcane deluge and the wall behind it was once again blank and featureless.“What just happened?” Kosk asked.“You broke it somehow,” Glori said.“That’s ridiculous,” the dwarf said, but he examined the end of his staff with a critical eye.  The black scarring from the fight with the fire elemental had gone, the wood restored to its normal texture, but there was no other indicator of whether it had been imbued with magical potency like their other items.“Was that exit there before?” Xeeta asked.They all turned to see a narrow opening to the right of the original entrance.  The companions shared a look.  They hadn’t been looking that way when they’d come in, but it seemed unlikely that they would have all missed something so obvious.  But none of them were confident enough in that to speak their opinion out loud.“Well, it’s the only way left, so unless you want to go crawling around in that crevice, let’s check it out,” Kosk said.Glori turned to Bredan.  “Is there anything else you need to do here?”He shook his head.  “I don’t know.  I don’t think so.  I have to be honest, I don’t understand any of this.”“Well, something did happen,” Quellan said.  He ran his fingertips over the sigil now emblazoned on his shield.  The light appeared to be shining out of the pages of the book.  “We may not know what it means until later.”“If ever,” Xeeta pointed out.Kosk had made his way over to the second exit.  “Are we leaving or not?” he asked.“From now on, the phrase ‘patient as a monk’ will have a new meaning for me,” Glori said.The exit was narrow at first, so narrow that both Quellan and Bredan had to slip sideways through the entry.  Fortunately, it was high enough that both men could negotiate it without scraping their heads on the stone.  After about ten sliding steps it widened enough that they could all manage without difficulty, but shortly thereafter they came to a new challenge: a steep, twisting shaft that ascended back toward the surface.  The shaft wasn’t quite vertical, and its irregular sides offered plenty of foot and handholds, but they still ascended slowly and carefully.  Not surprisingly Kosk reached the top well ahead of the rest of them, but he waited with poorly-disguised impatience before continuing ahead.The shaft ended at a broad stone shelf just wide enough for all of them to fit.  There was a narrow opening at the back, a tight triangle between two overlapping slabs of stone.  The space beyond seemed to be a cave or other natural feature, lacking any of the telltales of human construction that they’d encountered elsewhere in the complex.Kosk went to check the opening while Quellan helped Xeeta up to the ledge.  The tiefling had again brought up the rear, and she paused for one last look down the treacherous ascent before moving to join the others.“Fresh air,” the dwarf reported, before ducking to crawl though the opening into the cave.  Glori followed easily enough, but Quellan had to push Bredan’s feet before he could slide through.  Once he was clear the half-orc examined the gap dubiously.“Maybe you should go first,” he said to Xeeta.“If you get stuck, you might need me to push,” the tiefling replied.Quellan took off his pack and shield and pushed them through first.  Then he scrunched himself as low to the ground as he could get before he started through.  Bredan grabbed his hands and pulled, while Xeeta added her own strength from behind.  For a moment it looked like the cleric might get wedged in, but then his hips scraped through and it was just a question of being dragged the last few feet before he was clear.After that effort, Xeeta’s passage through the opening was almost anticlimactic.  The cave was large enough to fit them all comfortably, though there were places where the ceiling dipped low enough that the taller men would have to exercise care.  The cave extended beyond the radius of Quellan’s light and curved slightly to the right so they couldn’t quite make out what lay ahead.  Kosk started that way to take a look as Xeeta stood and started brushing off her coat and leggings.“Well now, that wasn’t so…”She was cut off as a rumble started directly behind them.  Before any of them could react the stone slabs that stood poised over the entrance to the shaft shifted and suddenly collapsed.  A plume of dust shot out as the opening was sealed, much of it spraying onto the tiefling.  Xeeta reached out with her rod and tapped the stone that would have crushed her utterly if she’d still been in the gap when it had collapsed.* * *Author’s Note: looking at the glowing rune wall gave each of the characters the benefits of a long rest, along with one additional benefit that will be revealed shortly. The items dipped into the arcane font gained the properties of a +1 weapon/shield. Xeeta’s rod gained the power of a +1 Wand of the War Mage, with the extra bonus of an instant attunement.Next week: KUROK v. HEROES</blockquote>

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