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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Whizbang Dustyboots" data-source="post: 3269070" data-attributes="member: 11760">Tosh, Emus and Hazel mount the northwest stairs. Tosh motions for Hazel to stay where she is."Emus, when we get to the excavation, stop and let me go ahead of you," he whispers urgently. "If it appears that I will go around a turn and you lose sight of me, move up quietly until you can see me again. Hazel, when you can no longer see Emus, move up to the excavation but no farther."Tosh and Emus begin moving again. With a hand gesture, Tosh indicates Emus' watch post. With a nervous sigh, the gnome slips into the tunnel, moving painfully slowly to remain as quiet as possible, carefully picking his way around the loose debris on the tunnel floor. Every dozen feet or so, he pauses, getting a good look at what's ahead of him.The tunnel is narrow, only about five feet wide, but not shaped for humanoids to walk through comfortably. Old and dry root tips poke out of the dirt sides. The tunnel veers in a westerly direction at first and then bends north. Standing at the turn, Tosh can see it turns again, northwest, almost immediately. The sound of whatever is in the den ahead is louder here, and the smell much more pungent. The creature beyond groans, low and loud, its breathing slow and steady. Tosh turns and waves to Emus, pointing to the floor at his position. Then he moves quietly up to the next turn.It's less than 10 feet after the turn northwest that the tunnel turns north. But from here, Tosh can see into the den. It's a larger room than the tunnel might indicate, probably a cave carved out by a long-gone trickle of water ages before whatever creature found its way into this cairn and clawed that particular wall. Irregularly shaped, it is approximately 25 feet wide for 25 feet, then gets five feet wider to the west and wider still around a steep corner to the east. The north wall is roughly angled toward the northeast.In the northeast corner of the room, amidst feathers and fur and thick musk, something sleeps in its nest. It appears to be a bear -- and not a small one -- but its face and paws are not visible, as it's curled up into a ball, possibly for the winter. But perhaps it's not a bear: A fringe of what look like feathers are visible along one edge of the sleeping form.In the northeast corner, with a sinking feeling in his stomach, Tosh recognizes the mauled and half-eaten form of three adventurers, two human, one dwarf. They are long dead, probably killed shortly after the first frost of the winter. But there is the unmistakable gleam of coin in a split leather sack near one corpse's feet, 30 or 40 feet away from where Tosh now stands.Tosh quietly turns and meets Emus and indicates that they should rejoin Hazel. They make their way back down to the center room where it appears that the rest of the group has finished up re-crating and stacking the mirrors next to the columns. He then recounts in best detail the scene he's taken in."Whatever that thing is, one thing is for certain: It's a man-eater. Therefore it's a menace to the locality. I'm sorry, Hazel, but you know I'm telling the truth. I'm not sure we'll get as lucky as with the last thing. It'll be a major risk, for sure. Me? I can go either way. I'd just as soon it not be here the next time I, er, we come back, though.""The beast dies," Emmerson says in a soft but forceful voice.</blockquote>

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