NoOneofConsequence
First Post
Part 5: Evil in Holly Canal (1)
Upon our return to the mind flayer laboratory we were divided as to what we should do next. With barely a wave, Orallec left us. Whatever he took from the mind flayer’s work table was what he had been searching for and with that, he felt no inclination to remain with us. The lizard folk holy man was eager to return to his people and tell them that the monster which had been terrorising them had been slain. Aria and Tellara offered to escort him, in case their were any more illithid thralls lurking in the sewers. Those of us who remained searched the laboratory with a mix of disgust and morbid fascination.
Mark found the vials which Orallec had ignored earlier, along with a wand fashioned from a length of bone. Magical examination lead us to conclude that the wand would cast minor healing magic, while the vials contained potions of necromantic magic. All the items were stashed in backpacks for closer inspection at a later and safer point in time.
Kakita was horrified by the strange, biological apparatuses scattered about the laboratory. He searched resolutely for any living thing which might have survived the mind flayer’s abuses. When it became clear that everything in the abominable space was dead or perverted beyond recovery he declared that he would destroy everything. Harmony concurred, and the two of them began to set fires using lantern oil. Soon the laboratory was blazing and we were forced to leave through the entry tunnel. The skill of the original builders of the sewers became apparent again, as the laboratory burned effectively and the smoke was taken away through some sort of ventilation. In spite of my misgivings, not only did we not choke, we didn’t even suffer a loss of visibility. Truly the sewers of Holly Canal are a marvel of engineering.
As we made our way up the tunnel away from the burning laboratory we began to here a hesitant voice calling from somewhere ahead of us. The sharper eared among us realised that it was the voice of Maglorix, Nataleod’s foreman, who had shown us the way to Scalytown. We wondered how it was that he was down here in the sewers. Of greater concern however was the fact that he was calling out an illithid name. He was searching for the mind flayer!
Suspicious of treachery, Kakita hatched a strange plan, and ran to attack Maglorix directly. Naturally, Maglorix turned to flee and was promptly clubbed unconscious by Mark, who had managed to slip past Maglorix in the shadows. The little figure could be seen kissing his sap in the smoky darkness while standing over Maglorix’s collapsed form. The fallen foreman was quickly tied up and then we woke him up with some water, thinking to interrogate him.
Once he had awoken, Maglorix seemed genuinely pleased to see us, though he was a little puzzled as to why we had tied him up. We explained that we did not realise who he was when we heard his voice calling and that there was a dangerous monster down here, called a mind flayer. We noted the smoke and explained that we had set fire to the creature’s lair. While listening to all of this Maglorix revealed no indications of duplicity or even awareness of the illithid’s existence. He seemed genuinely shocked by our story, and eager to flee the sewers with us. Yet we knew he had been calling out the illithid’s name – he had to have known that it was down here. The only possibilities were that he was an exceptional liar or else he was under the thrall of illithid. Rather than waste time arguing the possibilities to no good end, Kakita enacted the second part of his…unusual…plan.
He cut the bonds around Maglorix’s arms and legs and then, seizing him by the shoulders, began to jabber as though completely panicked. “You’ve got to get us out of here!” he cried. “There could be more of those damn things down here! We could be in danger, damn it!”
Watching the normally dour and taciturn warrior feign panic was fascinating, almost comic. For his part though, Maglorix seemed to believe that Kakita was indeed in terror for his life. He jumped up and quickly led us through the sewers to a ladder which led to the street. Mark virtually flew up the ladder, only to bang his head on the heavy steel grating at street level. Heaving with all his strength, using first both hands and then both feet, Mark could not budge the grating one whit. In complete impatience, Pax reached past him without even placing one foot to the ladder rungs, and flung the grating wide. Still gripping the iron bars with both hands and both feet, Mark was flung bodily through the opening and tumbled out onto the street. Quickly scanning about himself, he noted that the night trade was dying away and the quiet streets were hushed in anticipation of the dawn. A baker’s cart rattled some streets away, and there was some laughter from the direction of the canal, but otherwise all was quiet.
Upon our return to the mind flayer laboratory we were divided as to what we should do next. With barely a wave, Orallec left us. Whatever he took from the mind flayer’s work table was what he had been searching for and with that, he felt no inclination to remain with us. The lizard folk holy man was eager to return to his people and tell them that the monster which had been terrorising them had been slain. Aria and Tellara offered to escort him, in case their were any more illithid thralls lurking in the sewers. Those of us who remained searched the laboratory with a mix of disgust and morbid fascination.
Mark found the vials which Orallec had ignored earlier, along with a wand fashioned from a length of bone. Magical examination lead us to conclude that the wand would cast minor healing magic, while the vials contained potions of necromantic magic. All the items were stashed in backpacks for closer inspection at a later and safer point in time.
Kakita was horrified by the strange, biological apparatuses scattered about the laboratory. He searched resolutely for any living thing which might have survived the mind flayer’s abuses. When it became clear that everything in the abominable space was dead or perverted beyond recovery he declared that he would destroy everything. Harmony concurred, and the two of them began to set fires using lantern oil. Soon the laboratory was blazing and we were forced to leave through the entry tunnel. The skill of the original builders of the sewers became apparent again, as the laboratory burned effectively and the smoke was taken away through some sort of ventilation. In spite of my misgivings, not only did we not choke, we didn’t even suffer a loss of visibility. Truly the sewers of Holly Canal are a marvel of engineering.
As we made our way up the tunnel away from the burning laboratory we began to here a hesitant voice calling from somewhere ahead of us. The sharper eared among us realised that it was the voice of Maglorix, Nataleod’s foreman, who had shown us the way to Scalytown. We wondered how it was that he was down here in the sewers. Of greater concern however was the fact that he was calling out an illithid name. He was searching for the mind flayer!
Suspicious of treachery, Kakita hatched a strange plan, and ran to attack Maglorix directly. Naturally, Maglorix turned to flee and was promptly clubbed unconscious by Mark, who had managed to slip past Maglorix in the shadows. The little figure could be seen kissing his sap in the smoky darkness while standing over Maglorix’s collapsed form. The fallen foreman was quickly tied up and then we woke him up with some water, thinking to interrogate him.
Once he had awoken, Maglorix seemed genuinely pleased to see us, though he was a little puzzled as to why we had tied him up. We explained that we did not realise who he was when we heard his voice calling and that there was a dangerous monster down here, called a mind flayer. We noted the smoke and explained that we had set fire to the creature’s lair. While listening to all of this Maglorix revealed no indications of duplicity or even awareness of the illithid’s existence. He seemed genuinely shocked by our story, and eager to flee the sewers with us. Yet we knew he had been calling out the illithid’s name – he had to have known that it was down here. The only possibilities were that he was an exceptional liar or else he was under the thrall of illithid. Rather than waste time arguing the possibilities to no good end, Kakita enacted the second part of his…unusual…plan.
He cut the bonds around Maglorix’s arms and legs and then, seizing him by the shoulders, began to jabber as though completely panicked. “You’ve got to get us out of here!” he cried. “There could be more of those damn things down here! We could be in danger, damn it!”
Watching the normally dour and taciturn warrior feign panic was fascinating, almost comic. For his part though, Maglorix seemed to believe that Kakita was indeed in terror for his life. He jumped up and quickly led us through the sewers to a ladder which led to the street. Mark virtually flew up the ladder, only to bang his head on the heavy steel grating at street level. Heaving with all his strength, using first both hands and then both feet, Mark could not budge the grating one whit. In complete impatience, Pax reached past him without even placing one foot to the ladder rungs, and flung the grating wide. Still gripping the iron bars with both hands and both feet, Mark was flung bodily through the opening and tumbled out onto the street. Quickly scanning about himself, he noted that the night trade was dying away and the quiet streets were hushed in anticipation of the dawn. A baker’s cart rattled some streets away, and there was some laughter from the direction of the canal, but otherwise all was quiet.
