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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 1385586" data-attributes="member: 143">Heh you guys know me too well.* * * * * Chapter 109“Zenna!”The tiefling shot up, her breath frozen in her lungs like the water she’d drunk in on being knocked from the canoe...She looked around, disoriented.  She was on the outcropping, her blanket gathered in a pile around her legs, Dannel crouched over her, a look of concern on his face. It was just a dream.  A dream.  Relief flooded her, and she began to shake. “You were having a nightmare,” Dannel said, softly.  He took her into his arms, and while Zenna hated showing him this weakness, she was inwardly grateful for his reassuring presence. “We... we were in the boat, heading back across the lake,” she said into his shoulder, wishing that her voice was more even than it was.  “They swam up from below, they overturned the canoe, we all... we all...”“Shhh,” he said, caressing her hair.  “It was just a dream.”She drew back enough to clearly meet his eyes.  “A warning.  They’ll be waiting for us, Dannel.”The elf nodded.  “I know.  But what else can we do?  There’s no other way; the lake fills the entire floor of the cavern, and the walls to either side are sheer cliffs.”“There has to be another way,” Zenna said. Her dream had faded enough for her to recover an awareness of her surroundings.  Mole and Hodge were still asleep, and Arun was still perched at the edge of the outcropping.  “How long has it been?” she asked the elf, unable to gauge the passing of time her in the depths beneath the world above.“Six or seven hours, I think,” he replied.  Zenna rose, adjusting her clothes and settling her cloak more comfortably about her shoulders.  She still felt a chill, but whether it was due to the cold air of these tunnels, or the aftereffects of her dream, she couldn’t be certain.  “You need some rest as well, Arun,” she said, kneeling beside him on the cold stone. The dwarf did not immediately reply, and Zenna realized that his eyes were closed, his mouth moving slightly in silent words.  She realized that he was probably praying to his god, in a way that she never truly did, to her more enigmatic patron.  She moved to get up and back away, to leave the paladin his privacy, but he turned and looked at her.  “You do not have to go.”“I don’t wish to intrude upon your prayers.”“You are not intruding.  You are troubled; I heard your distress earlier.”“It was just a dream.  Dark dreams, for a dark place.”“Yes,” Arun said.  “Dark, true... but the Underdark can also be a place of beauty, of wonders hidden forever from the light of the world above.  My people, the dwarves of the Rift, spend much time in these depths; many among my folk never visit the surface, or only very rarely.”“But there are so many terrible things that dwell down here.  The drow, mind flayers, duergar, aberrations, grimlocks, others...”“Is that truly different from the world above?  Some of the dangers above wear nicer faces, but there is just as much evil there as there is here.”Zenna nodded, acknowledging the justice of the remark.  “You are worried about our return to Bhal-Hamatugn,” Arun finally stated.  Zenna nodded.  “I feel it as well.”“They will be waiting for us,” she said.  “There’s something more going on here, something beyond which we came here for.  I’ve felt it ever since we spoke to that insane boatman.  I fear that we may be walking into a trap.”“Then we shall have to do something that they do not expect,” the dwarf said.  He nodded to himself, as if coming to a decision.  “And I shall have to accept the legacy of my heritage.”“What do you mean?”But Arun refused to elaborate, asking that she leave him to conclude his prayers.  The others were already stirring, so Zenna turned back to help prepare the “morning” meal and strike their camp for travel.  For the most part, that involved tucking items back into Mole’s magical backpack for storage; the carrying capacity of the magical haversack was truly impressive.  We’ll be in trouble if we manage to lose that, she thought.  Gods, you’re cheerful this morning, she added to herself, ruefully.  The companions prepared to depart.  Arun joined them as they were readying to leave, accepting his rations without comment and eating quickly before taking up his hammer and shield.  Using Mole’s rope once again, they lowered the canoe to the tunnel floor before descending themselves.  In a matter of minutes, they were on their way again. Back to Bhal-Hamatugn.</blockquote>

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