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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 3457726" data-attributes="member: 143">Chapter 146THE GREAT CAVERN“Nothing’s ever easy,” Dar muttered, ducking to avoid a stone formation that jutted out over the trail.  The only answer he got was a sneeze from Serah, who continued to shiver despite the heat from the torch—a real torch, taken from Shay’s bag of holding—that she held almost in front of her face.  “We need to find someplace to rest soon, and have a real fire,” Allera said quietly to Talen, her short hair still slick against her face with damp.  “That water wasn’t quite freezing, but it wasn’t far from it, either.  I can treat someone who comes down with cold sickness, but it will be far better if we can avoid that.”“As soon as we’re away from the river,” the commander said.  His clothes were soaked too, and he looked as miserable as any of them, but there was also an iron determination shining in his eyes.  It had taken about ten minutes for the river’s initial surge to decline back down to its usual level, a time that felt much, much longer for those immersed in the flood.  Two of their pitons had come loose, but thanks to Shay’s backups, none of them had lost their grip.  They had not escaped completely unscathed; Travius lost his quiver, and the seal of Serah’s backpack had been less than perfect, leaving her extra clothes and other gear completely sodden.  As soon as they could move they could, pausing only once, at a slightly wider space along the river ledge.  There they stopped to wring out their clothes, while Shay prepared hot coffee for all of them using the portable charcoal stove stored in her magical sack.  They had all huddled around the stove, soaking up what heat they could, but Serah was not the only one who still shivered as they set out again. “It’s our best chance of catching the followers of Orcus off-guard,” Talen went on, almost to himself.  “They’d be watching the mausoleum, and I’d take a soaking over going back through the Well.”Allera nodded.  “We’ll make it through,” she said.  A tiny draconic sneeze from the empty air above Allera’s shoulder indicated that Snaggletooth was not happy about the situation either.   A light flickered from up ahead.  “That’s Shay’s signal,” Talen said.  “Let’s get moving.”They could see the end of the river tunnel ahead even before they saw the scout; Shay and Baraka had withdrawn to a nook in the side of the passage about fifty feet from the opening, where they were talking in low voices.  “I assume this is it?” Talen asked.  They couldn’t see anything except a black opening where the tunnel ended, but there was a sublte change in the air pressure and the background noises of the tunnel, and a vague sense that the area up ahead was much, much bigger than the river passage. Shay nodded.  “Unfortunately, we’re on the wrong side of the river; the goblin mines are clustered along the north face, here.”  She took her dagger and began sketching a crude map in the muddy ground. “Any bridges?” Pella asked. “No.  But we can probably find a place where we can rig up a crossing line; at most places the river’s only about fifty feet wide, and it’s not really that deep.  The source is up here,” she said, drawing a connecting line up to the wall of the cavern she’s sketched earlier.  “It flows into a lake a few hundred feet across here.  This branch,” she said, indicating the river flowing beside them, “is one of two that come off that lake; there’s another that goes over to the west, it dumps into a much, much bigger lake in the middle of the cavern, that one’s a half a mile long, at least.”“Gods, how big is this place?” Kalend asked.  “It’s huge, believe me,” Shay said.  “I walked a lot of it, and it goes on for a very long ways.”“We’ll want to start at the goblin mines,” Talen said.  “But first, we’d better get dried out, and warmed up.”“We’re going to get wet again crossing the river,” Shay pointed out.  “May as well get it over with.”Talen looked over at Allera, then at Serah.  The cleric shivered, but said, “I’m all right, commander.”“All right,” he said.  “You know the terrain, Shay; we’ll follow your lead.”“Don’t worry, priestess,” Dar said.  “Smashing a few gobos will warm you right up.”Rolling her eyes, Shay stood and led them out of the tunnel in the cavern. It was impossible to truly discern the size of the cavern, once they had left the confines of the river tunnel behind.  Their light sources formed bubbles of illumination around them that failed to reach the ceiling high above, or any but the nearest walls.  Ahead of them, a massive spire of stone rose up into the darkness, a column whose farthest extent they could not even determine.  The place was not silent; many subtle sounds filled the cavern, most of them distorted by echoes and distance until their source was a complete mystery.  Fungi grew in a number of places, but Shay warned them against messing with strange growths, a lesson that those who had already experienced Rappan Athuk knew all too well to heed. “Is that a light, to the south?” the sharp-eyed Kalend asked, once they had all left the tunnel. “There are a few forests of fungi in this place, and they include varieties that are phosphorescent,” Shay said. “Fosfa—what?” Bullo asked.“It means that they glow, idiot,” Travius said, elbowing his companion as he passed. “Quiet,” Talen said.“I wouldn’t worry too much about being loud, commander,” Dar said.  “It’s not like every creature within a mile can’t see our light sources, anyway.”“Actually, many creatures that live underground have poor vision,” Baraka said.  “In the darkness, sound and smell are far more useful senses.”“Either way, if they want trouble, they’ll find us.  That’s how it works, down here.”“Cheerful,” Pella said, scanning the darkness, a fresh string fitted to her bow. They followed Shay’s lead as the scout took them deeper into the canyon along the bank of the river.  The ground was soggy and slick with mud for several hundred feet beyond the tunnel mouth, but once they had reached the extent of the river’s backup the soil became rough and sandy.  They passed the footings of the huge column on their left, the river bending almost to the base of that steep ascent.  They trudged onward for several hundred feet more, before Shay called a stop.  The river ran through a smooth channel here, maybe four feet below the bank.  There was a cluster of boulders here, none of them larger than a man.  Shay gave one a push, and nodded to herself. “How are you planning on getting across?” Serah asked. “I’ll jump,” Shay said.“But that has to be fifty feet across!” the cleric exclaimed.  Shay only winked, and took out a coil of rope, uncoiling it as she handed one end to Baraka.  She tucked her everburning torch into a pouch, the illusory flame dying as she covered it. As the others watched, the scout took a running start toward the river.  At the edge of the bank, she leapt, surging high into the air, bolstered by the power of her magical boots. “She’s not going to make it,” Bullo said.  And in fact Shay plunged into the river a good twenty feet short of the far side, disappearing with barely a ripple in the water.  Baraka, holding onto the rope, continued to play out the length.    A few seconds later, the scout reappeared, springing from the water only about ten feet downstream from where she’d hit.  She found a suitable anchor for the rope after just a few moments, and as Baraka secured his end, she drew it taut. “End over end,” the ranger said.  “The current’s not that strong here; the river’s wider and slower than in the tunnel.  You’ll get a little wet, but just hang on, and keep moving, and you’ll be fine.”“I’ve had more gods-damned baths today than I’ve had all year,” Bullo complained.  “A fact for which our companions are considerably grateful, no doubt,” Travius interjected. Pella had already started across the rope, and made it to the far side without incident.  “Ah, see, not so bad,” Travius said.  “Are you going to let a girl show you up, legionary?”Bullo replied with something that made Allera flush.  But the legionary crossed without any trouble, followed by Travius, Kalend, Varo, and Allera. “You’re up, cleric,” Dar said.  “You can leave your pack, I’ll bring it.”  Serah nodded, removing her extra burdens and heading out into the river.  The river was only too deep to wade in the center, but the rope was set high enough to easily keep her chest, head, and arms out of the water.  She wasn’t as strong as the fighters, but neither was she weighed down by as much metal.  She grunted as she pulled herself forward, and let out a small smile of triumph as she felt hard stone under her feet again. Unfortunately, even as she stood something slammed into her legs, and she fell with a loud splash back into the deep channel of the river, the current quickly dragging her downstream.  She tried desperately to swim, but even as she flailed in the current, she was dragged under, leaving behind swirls of red blood that quickly vanished in the dark waters.</blockquote>

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