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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rolzup" data-source="post: 2897446" data-attributes="member: 10105">(Ooops!  Accidentally re-posted the previous installment!  Here's the correct one.)Chuul Be SorryNext place we found ourselves, it wasn't nearly so clean and tidy.  More like the sewers I know and love, it was.The sluice slanted down into the darkness, and between the Bloody Archer's eyes and Duchess' nose, Fancy'd left a clear trail.  We made our way down, the others slippin' and slidin' and tryin' not to fall on their arses.  Me, I was rock steady.  Always am, in the sewers.Ended up in a little chamber, maybe 15' square.  Old masonry, solid Eirisian stuff.  Say what you like about 'em, but the Erisians knew how to build a sewer, and bless 'em for that!  But there was a little stone platform risin' up from outta the filth, and a big metal door, still standin' open.And even I could see Fancy's footprints on the stone.We were expectin' a trap by now.  Seemed obvious, really.  So when we went through the door, we went all cautious and slow.  And we found ourselves in a big damned room, steppin' onto a walkway that crossed from one end to the other.  Stretch of maybe fifty feet, I think, and as narrow and slippery as a lawyer's sense a' ethics.Like that one, do you, Gerard?  Aye, well, I been savin' that for the proper occasion.But anyway, there's a pool of water right below the walkway, maybe a man's height below.  Nasty lookin' water, too -- all grey, and scummy.  Odd thing was, there was a wall across the roo, runnin' parallel to the walkway.  Made a' glass, or crystal, or some-like.  It was cracked, and broken, and older'n hell.  And there was a metal gate, too, the bars all bent outta shape, near the base of the wall.No, nothin' at all ominous about that, was there?The Pretty Man went across first.  Almost glidin', like.  He's smooth, that one.  Odd thing was, he had a knife held up to his face the whole time, almost like he was lookin' through it.  Must be some sorta Azikhanni thing...one of them rituals, like drinkin' tea, or killin's themselves.The Bloody Archer followed on behind him, lookin' from place to place, bow drawn and ready.  Nothin' happened, and maybe he got impatient, or somethin'.  But he picked up a rock, and set it to glowin' -- it's a minor magic, that, once I can do me own self -- and tossed it into the water.  And things proceeded on to get really damned nasty.This...thing came up out of the water.  Not the worst thing I ever seen in the sewers, but damn near.  Some lizard, some crab, all ugly.  And twice the size of a man, too.  Went right for the Archer, with Duchess and me standin' right by his side.And that's when Fancy stepped outta the shadows.  Threw a knife at the Pretty Man, and took him in the shoulder, but did that stop him?  Not a bit of it.  Damn near flew across the walkway, leapin' right over a puddle of oil Fancy'd left for him, and drew down on the bastard.And the Pretty Man missed him.  Tells you somethin' about Fancy, that.  Two a' them dueled for a while, slicin' back and forth, 'til Fancy stepped back into the shadows and through another Gate.Meanwhile, we had problems all our own.  That damned crawdad was a touch customer, and it surely didn't care for the Archer.  It had 'im in its mouth, and was gettin' ready to bite 'im in half, when the Pretty Man came runnin' back.  Jumped right onto the things back, he did, and looked damned impressive doin' it, too...until he slipped and fell in the water.Duchess brought the beast down, in the end.  Ripped its throat out, in point of fact.  She's not to be trifled with, my Duchess!  It wasn't until then that we noticed the words written on the glass wall, facin' the other direction.  Not easy, readin' 'em backwords, but I puzzled it out."Please don't feed the Chuul", is said.  It is to f----n' laugh, innit?The Pretty Man's monkey patched him and the Archer up, and we went through the next damned Gate...</blockquote>

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