Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Forgotten Lore (Updated M-W-F)
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 7602490" data-attributes="member: 143"><p>Chapter 291</p><p></p><p>They followed Bredan through the trapped corridor, Kalasien and Kavek duplicating the warrior’s steps. Either through the guidance of his vague feelings, or because the trap was unable to reset, they made it to the far end of the passage safely. Once there they found a staircase that led down.</p><p></p><p>“The air will likely only grow worse in quality as we descend,” Kalasien said.</p><p></p><p>“I don’t see any other options,” Bredan noted.</p><p></p><p>They made their way down carefully, alert to any additional traps. The steps were worn smooth, suggesting that at some point in the distant past this place had been populated and busy. Now it felt like some forgotten tomb. Bredan could not shake the connection to the slab door and thought back to the other sites he and his friends had explored back on Voralis. They had barely survived a few of those deadly places, and that was when they had all been together. Again he thought of his friends and hoped that they were still all right. Likely they thought him dead; it was only pure luck that the three of them had survived that rough descent.</p><p></p><p>Or had it been luck?</p><p></p><p>Distracted by his thoughts, Bredan didn’t realize that the stairs were coming to an end until Kavek made a comment. He held up his sword to illuminate the near edges of what looked like a large underground vault. The place had a low ceiling, about eight feet high, with pillars that buttressed it at frequent intervals. From the echoes that their footsteps returned the chamber went on for quite some distance.</p><p></p><p>“Stay together,” Bredan said as they started forward.</p><p></p><p>It looked as though at one point the walls and the pillars had been decorated, though the paint that remained was so faded and flaked that they could not make out any of the designs. Narrow channels extended across the floor, just an inch or so deep, but there were not enough clues to indicate their initial purpose. The air was sour, and Bredan tried not to think about the poisons that he might be taking into his lungs with each breath.</p><p></p><p>Kavek had shifted off slightly to the side, and as they progressed past the first pair of pillars he said, “Hey, over here.” Without waiting for a response, he hurried off in that direction. Biting back a curse Bredan hurried after him. The sailor had bent over something by the next pillar over.</p><p></p><p>“What is it?” Bredan asked.</p><p></p><p>Kavek straightened and held up his find. It was a mace, heavy and flanged, crafted out of a black metal that showed no sign of rust or decay. Bredan frowned as he ran a finger along one of the flanges.</p><p></p><p>“Odd, to find such a thing here,” Kalasien said with a look at the sailor.</p><p></p><p>“Well, better to have a weapon,” Kavek said. “I lost my spear in the cave-in, and you might need me to do more than just throw rocks if we run into anything down here.”</p><p></p><p>“Agreed,” Bredan said. “Keep it, let’s just hope it isn’t cursed.”</p><p></p><p>Kavek gave the weapon another look, but held onto it as they continued forward. They could see now that the vault was about thirty feet wide, the side walls just barely visible from the faint light coming from Bredan’s weapon, but it continued forward into darkness for as far as they could see. They’d gone maybe forty feet when Kalasien drew their attention to the wall to their right. “Something this way,” he said.</p><p></p><p>They followed him over to the wall, where Bredan’s light revealed a shallow alcove, maybe ten feet across and half that deep. Embedded in the wall there was a huge stone plug, a disk a good eight feet across that protruded out a few inches from the surrounding surface. In the center of the plug there was a small hole, just a few inches across.</p><p></p><p>“What is it, do you think?” Kavek asked.</p><p></p><p>“I’m not sure,” Bredan said. He approached carefully, his sword at the ready. He was about a foot from the opening when he paused. “There’s air moving here,” he said.</p><p></p><p>Kalasien came over and took a look. “Fresh air,” he said. “There must be a cavern or some other tunnel on the other side.”</p><p></p><p>Bredan held up his sword. It wouldn’t quite fit into the opening, but he used its light to take a closer look. “It goes for several feet, at least.”</p><p></p><p>“Is there a way to move the plug?” Kavek asked.</p><p></p><p>They all spent a few moments examining the stone disk and the surrounding wall, but found no mechanisms or secret panels. “Nothing,” Bredan said. “Let’s keep looking.”</p><p></p><p>They continued their search, only to find that the vault ended after another twenty feet or so. There was another one of the slab doors there, but they found no other obvious exits or notable features.</p><p></p><p>“We should rest before moving on,” Kalasien said. “We’re all injured, and there might be greater dangers ahead of us.”</p><p></p><p>“What about the poisonous air?” Bredan asked.</p><p></p><p>“The air is fresher near that vent,” Kalasien pointed out. “We should take advantage of it.”</p><p></p><p>“What do we have in the way of supplies?” Kavek asked.</p><p></p><p>They did a quick inventory of what they had in their packs. The results were not especially promising. They had all been carrying some of the tabaxi rations, but Kavek’s water flask had been crushed falling through the sinkhole, and the other two men only had a few pints left between them. “We’ll share what we have left,” Bredan said.</p><p></p><p>They went over to the perforated disk and sat down. They limited themselves to just a bite of food and a swallow of water each, but even that made a noticeable dent in their remaining cache.</p><p></p><p>“We’ll just take a few minutes,” Bredan said, leaning back against the edge of the alcove. He rested his sword in his lap, careful of the sharp edge. The others arranged themselves so they could watch all angles of the room. Once they had all stopped moving, they could hear just the faintest of sounds of rushing air coming from the hole in the plug.</p><p></p><p>Bredan closed his eyes. He intended to just allow himself a minute’s rest, but his exhausted and battered body caught up to him and dragged him over into sleep.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lazybones, post: 7602490, member: 143"] Chapter 291 They followed Bredan through the trapped corridor, Kalasien and Kavek duplicating the warrior’s steps. Either through the guidance of his vague feelings, or because the trap was unable to reset, they made it to the far end of the passage safely. Once there they found a staircase that led down. “The air will likely only grow worse in quality as we descend,” Kalasien said. “I don’t see any other options,” Bredan noted. They made their way down carefully, alert to any additional traps. The steps were worn smooth, suggesting that at some point in the distant past this place had been populated and busy. Now it felt like some forgotten tomb. Bredan could not shake the connection to the slab door and thought back to the other sites he and his friends had explored back on Voralis. They had barely survived a few of those deadly places, and that was when they had all been together. Again he thought of his friends and hoped that they were still all right. Likely they thought him dead; it was only pure luck that the three of them had survived that rough descent. Or had it been luck? Distracted by his thoughts, Bredan didn’t realize that the stairs were coming to an end until Kavek made a comment. He held up his sword to illuminate the near edges of what looked like a large underground vault. The place had a low ceiling, about eight feet high, with pillars that buttressed it at frequent intervals. From the echoes that their footsteps returned the chamber went on for quite some distance. “Stay together,” Bredan said as they started forward. It looked as though at one point the walls and the pillars had been decorated, though the paint that remained was so faded and flaked that they could not make out any of the designs. Narrow channels extended across the floor, just an inch or so deep, but there were not enough clues to indicate their initial purpose. The air was sour, and Bredan tried not to think about the poisons that he might be taking into his lungs with each breath. Kavek had shifted off slightly to the side, and as they progressed past the first pair of pillars he said, “Hey, over here.” Without waiting for a response, he hurried off in that direction. Biting back a curse Bredan hurried after him. The sailor had bent over something by the next pillar over. “What is it?” Bredan asked. Kavek straightened and held up his find. It was a mace, heavy and flanged, crafted out of a black metal that showed no sign of rust or decay. Bredan frowned as he ran a finger along one of the flanges. “Odd, to find such a thing here,” Kalasien said with a look at the sailor. “Well, better to have a weapon,” Kavek said. “I lost my spear in the cave-in, and you might need me to do more than just throw rocks if we run into anything down here.” “Agreed,” Bredan said. “Keep it, let’s just hope it isn’t cursed.” Kavek gave the weapon another look, but held onto it as they continued forward. They could see now that the vault was about thirty feet wide, the side walls just barely visible from the faint light coming from Bredan’s weapon, but it continued forward into darkness for as far as they could see. They’d gone maybe forty feet when Kalasien drew their attention to the wall to their right. “Something this way,” he said. They followed him over to the wall, where Bredan’s light revealed a shallow alcove, maybe ten feet across and half that deep. Embedded in the wall there was a huge stone plug, a disk a good eight feet across that protruded out a few inches from the surrounding surface. In the center of the plug there was a small hole, just a few inches across. “What is it, do you think?” Kavek asked. “I’m not sure,” Bredan said. He approached carefully, his sword at the ready. He was about a foot from the opening when he paused. “There’s air moving here,” he said. Kalasien came over and took a look. “Fresh air,” he said. “There must be a cavern or some other tunnel on the other side.” Bredan held up his sword. It wouldn’t quite fit into the opening, but he used its light to take a closer look. “It goes for several feet, at least.” “Is there a way to move the plug?” Kavek asked. They all spent a few moments examining the stone disk and the surrounding wall, but found no mechanisms or secret panels. “Nothing,” Bredan said. “Let’s keep looking.” They continued their search, only to find that the vault ended after another twenty feet or so. There was another one of the slab doors there, but they found no other obvious exits or notable features. “We should rest before moving on,” Kalasien said. “We’re all injured, and there might be greater dangers ahead of us.” “What about the poisonous air?” Bredan asked. “The air is fresher near that vent,” Kalasien pointed out. “We should take advantage of it.” “What do we have in the way of supplies?” Kavek asked. They did a quick inventory of what they had in their packs. The results were not especially promising. They had all been carrying some of the tabaxi rations, but Kavek’s water flask had been crushed falling through the sinkhole, and the other two men only had a few pints left between them. “We’ll share what we have left,” Bredan said. They went over to the perforated disk and sat down. They limited themselves to just a bite of food and a swallow of water each, but even that made a noticeable dent in their remaining cache. “We’ll just take a few minutes,” Bredan said, leaning back against the edge of the alcove. He rested his sword in his lap, careful of the sharp edge. The others arranged themselves so they could watch all angles of the room. Once they had all stopped moving, they could hear just the faintest of sounds of rushing air coming from the hole in the plug. Bredan closed his eyes. He intended to just allow himself a minute’s rest, but his exhausted and battered body caught up to him and dragged him over into sleep. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Forgotten Lore (Updated M-W-F)
Top