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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 3453190" data-attributes="member: 143">Chapter 145INTO THE DARKNESSAfter a last quick search to verify that there were no enemies in the immediate vicinity, the Camarians once again tackled the cliff descent.  Shay and Baraka made their way back down to the overhang, followed by Varo.  Earlier, just prior to the troll attack, the cleric had used a stone shape spell to create a series of protruding steps that descended from the edge of the overhang down to its base.  From the bottom step, anyone could step out into the raging torrent that emerged from a wide opening in the base of the cliff. Shay went down that slippery path first, hammering several more spikes into the cliff, and securing another guide rope.  Baraka was already helping other members of the group down the cliff, as Shay handed the guide rope over to Varo.  “We will need to move quickly,” he told her.  He slipped on the second step, but the guide rope held in its moorings, and he recovered after a few awkward moments.  By the time he got to the bottom, his clothes were soaked with spray.  He reached up, and touched his divine focus with one hand, tossing a pinch of dust into the torrent with the other. The results of the spell were immediately obvious, as the water coming from the underground current rapidly lowered, until there was only a faint trickle pouring from the opening.  It was a trivial matter to step into the tunnel, although he still had to be careful not to slip on the slick surface.  Shay joined him a moment later, and set another spike in the river passage, extending the guide rope down from above.  She looked into the dark mouth of the tunnel that had been full of surging water just a few seconds ago. “Impressive,” she said. “Before the power of the gods, we men are insignificant creatures,” Varo said. She raised an eyebrow.  “I’ve heard those words spoken in sermons from priests of the Father.”Varo’s mouth twisted into what was not quite a smile.  “Indeed.”The scout turned to help those desending into the tunnel.  The fighters, clad in heavy armor, had the most difficulty, but Shay and Baraka had done well with the ropes, and while several people lost their footing as Varo had, they did not lose anyone to the river.  It took only about ten mintues for all of them to come together in the mouth of the river tunnel.  “How long will this last?” Talen asked Varo. “Almost two hours,” Varo said.  “But we still need to hasten.  The river will back up at the end of the spell’s range, and the pressure will make things difficult when we need to transition to the path that Shay mentioned.” “All right, let’s get moving.  Shay, Baraka, you’re on point.”They made their way down the tunnel.  They came to the end of Varo’s spell after a few hundred feet, and true to the cleric’s words, a wall of water awaited them there.  Varo cast a second control water spell, and once again the waters fell away to a mere trickle.  “I assume we just can’t do that until we get to the end,” Pella asked. “If you have clerical powers that you have not thus far revealed, please do so now,” Varo said.  “The spell is a powerful one,” Serah explained.  “Even a gifted cleric can only use it a few times per day, at most.”“We’re coming up on where the trail begins,” Shay said.  Shining the light of one of their everburning torches along the walls, she indicated where watermarks showed the usual level at which the river flowed.  The tunnel was higher now, almost fifteen feet from the ground to the ceiling.  The passage was nearly smooth except at the very top, any irregularities worn down by years of fast-flowing water. By the time that their light indicated the end of the Varo’s second spell up ahead, there was an actual trail high along the side of the passage, a natural ledge formed just above the high-water mark, with only about four, maybe five feet of clearance between that and the roof.  “There’s more headroom further on,” Shay explained.  “It’s a few miles to the great cavern, but the tunnel has six or seven feet of clearance for most of it.”“Good, I’ve had enough with crawling,” Dar said. “Aren’t we forgetting something?” Travius said, pointing at the wall of water that blocked the passage.  “How are we supposed to get through that?”“Once the spell is released, the water will quickly return to its usual level,” Varo said.  “That is why we should not dally; the longer we wait, the longer we will be... discomfited.”“Wait for what?” the legionary asked.  But Shay and Baraka were already moving up to the ledge, the ranger boosting the lithe scout up into position.  Shay was quick with her hammer and pitons, securing another rope from her bag of holding.  “All right, everyone up on the ledge,” Talen said.  Those without armor helped boost those with it, and it took a good fifteen minutes of pushing and jostling, but eventually, they all made it into position. “All that water’s going to wash us away,” Pella said, looking at the surge, held back by the invisible power of Varo’s magic.  “Just hold on, and it’ll be all right,” Shay said.  She and Baraka were hammering multiple pitons, all that they had left, and securing several heavy ropes to multiple anchors.  “I am not a very good swimmer, either,” Serah said, a hint of panic edging her voice as she stared at the wall of water.  “Remain calm, and the flood will pass,” Varo said, coming down the line, touching each of them, infusing them with the power of water breathing.  “By the power of Dagos, you will be able to breathe the water as if it were air.”“Wonderful, this again,” Dar said, but he didn’t flinch from the cleric’s touch, and he took the rope that Shay offered him, coiling it around his bracer.  His other hand was wrapped tightly around the hilt of Valor. “Secure everything not waterproof in one of the oilcloth wraps,” Talen said, as he doublechecked the fastenings of his own pack.  A lot of their delicate supplies were in Shay’s magical bag of holding, and the scout carefully wrapped that in a lined but otherwise mundane leather container before securing it tightly to her belt.  “Is everyone all right?” Shay asked.  She had taken a position in the front, where she could look back and verify that everyone was secure and connected by at least two of the safety ropes.  She had tested each of the pitons herself, and gave the one nearest her one last tug before she nodded at Talen.  The knight, in turn, looked to Varo, who had already turned to the edge of the ledge.  He stretched out his hand, closed his eyes, and made a subtle gesture. The flood began at the bottom, blasting forward in a violent white surge.  The noise was deafening in the tight confines of the tunnel.  It continued as the water level rose in the tunnel they had just traversed, as more water swept back into the tunnel. “Oh, damn!” Serah shrieked, as the top of the frozen wall gave way, and engulfed them all in a violent surge of bracingly cold water.</blockquote>

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