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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 124406" data-attributes="member: 143">Book III, Part 30 Conscious of the minutes ticking away on Ruath’s spell, they moved quickly to relocate into the corridor beyond the secret door.  After checking to make sure that the corridor was clear, at least as far as he could tell, Benzan loaned his ring again to Cal, who moved to get the others.  The use of the ring was able to get Elly safely past the sharks and all of them were soon gathered in the space beyond the stone panel.  Elly started to take off the ring to return it to Benzan, but he raised a hand to forestall her.  “You hold onto it for a while,” he said.  “The chill in the water doesn’t bother me that much.”Still holding the spear, Benzan led the way again down the new passageway, which was about ten feet across.  Almost immediately after leaving the secret door behind the passageway turned sharply to the north.  After traveling a short distance, the light revealed a series of rough openings, just over a foot in diameter, along both sides of the corridor just above the water level.  Lok walked over to the nearest and bent low to look into it, rattling his axe into the opening to see if there was anything stirring within.  After he withdrew the weapon they listened, but only the faint sound of water dripping on stone answered them.  “That doesn’t mean they’re empty,” Cal cautioned them, as they started down the corridor again.  Ahead, a stone’s throw distant, they could just make out a door ahead, at the end of the passageway.  “Uh oh,” Benzan said, an instant before the rest of them heard the sound: a rustling that seemed to come from all of the openings at once, followed by a squeaking noise moments before a small horde of giant rats appeared and attacked.  Their attackers were no ordinary rodents; these creatures were easily three feet in length, bigger and heavier than Cal and Ruath, and they leapt into the water without reluctance, their muscular limbs carrying them swiftly toward the nearest of the companions.  But these intruders were no strangers to battle, and treading atop the surface of the water, they were able to bring their full strength to bear.  The only person at a disadvantage was Benzan, and as a trio of rats swam at him he suddenly darted beneath the surface of the water, pushing ahead with a strong kick-off that propelled him a goodly distance ahead of the pursuing creatures.  As he broached the water’s surface again he was already bringing up the spearhead to meet the first oncoming rat, and stabbed it deep in its chest with the shining bronze head.  The rat squirmed and squeaked in pain, but still thrashed ahead through the water as it tried to reach him.  “Tougher than you look,” Benzan commented, giving ground as the rats continued swimming toward him.  “Hey, a little help over here!” Benzan shouted to his companions.  The rats were having little luck against the rest of the group.  Lok strode right into the first cluster of swimming rats, his axe wreaking havoc among them.  Behind him, Dana, Delem, and Cal provided support with their crossbows, shooting the rats as they swam diligently toward them.  One reached Dana and tried to nip at her leg, but she nimbly darted aside.  Although agile swimmers, the rats found it difficult to keep up with foes that could walk upon the surface of the water as if it was a sound floor beneath.  Benzan, meanwhile, found himself pushed all the way back to the door, with three rats, including the injured one, still rushing toward him.  Suddenly, though, he rose up out of the water, levitating straight upward to rest up against the ceiling of the corridor while the rats could only squeak at him in frustration.  “Sorry, fellas,” he said, as he stabbed one with his sword.  Back on the far end, meanwhile, the companions had made short work of the other rats, Lok taking the highest tally by slaying five of the wretched creatures.  None of them had been hit.  Wary for more attackers from the small openings, they moved to join Benzan, who was just finishing off the last of his attackers from above with his sword.  “Everything under control here?” Cal asked.  “Yeah, no thanks to you guys,” Benzan said, still hovering against the ceiling, water dripping in runnels from his soaked clothes.  “Hey, you were the one who darted up ahead,” the gnome countered.  “If you’re ready, why don’t you come down from there, and we can move on?”“Hold on a moment,” Benzan said.  As his companions waited expectantly, he sheathed his sword, and then, with an expectant look on his face, slowly removed his hand from the hilt.  After a moment his expression eased, and a wide grin crossed his face.  “Okay…” Cal said.  “What’s the joke?”“I didn’t fall,” Benzan replied.  “The power of the sword works even when I’m not holding it.  Could be useful information, I’d say.”“True, but while you’re hovering there, Ruath’s spell is rapidly running out for the rest of us,” Cal said.  “We’d better get moving—if we don’t find any sign of the Well soon, then we’ll have to turn back and try again tomorrow.”In response Benzan’s face took on a brief look of concentration, and he sank back down into the water.  The door at the end of the corridor took a brief effort for them to force it open, finally revealing another square chamber beyond.  An identical stone door was the only exit, in the far wall.  With the room half-flooded, there were no clues as to what purpose the place might have once served.  Benzan led the way again, moving slowly through the water while his companions covered him from behind.  The tiefling had only reached the halfway point across the floor, however, when he stumbled on something submerged under the water, and they all heard an audible click that seemed to come from within the wall to their left.“Oh, I don’t like the sound of…”Benzan’s statement was cut off as a gout of burning flames erupted as a slick atop the surface of the water, spreading rapidly out from the western wall.  The companions retreated hastily as the flames filled the room with thick smoke, causing their eyes to tear up and their lungs to burn.  Benzan, caught on the edges of the flames, immediately darted underwater, coming up a short distance ahead near the far door.  “We’ve got to get out of here!” Cal yelled, prodding several of the others to retreat back through the partly open door back into the corridor.  “Benzan!” Elly shouted, although the sound was muffled slightly by the angry roar of the flames.  The slick of burning oil had spread through the center of the chamber, and the smoke had cut off their view of the tiefling.  “I’ll get him,” Lok said, and just like that he ran across the room, leaping over a narrow stretch of flames.  He emerged from the smoke to see the tiefling pushing on the stone door, which thus far seemed to be resisting his efforts.  “It’s stuck!” he said, as he saw Lok approach.  “No, wait, there it…”He was again cut off as the door suddenly pivoted wide open, revealing another corridor beyond. A corridor that was not flooded.  Or at least, hadn’t been up to that moment.  Benzan and Lok were driven roughly forward on the rush of water as it flowed into the dry corridor.  Benzan almost managed to regain his footing against the deluge, but then the force of the water hurled him hard against a grillwork of heavy bronze bars that formed a vertical barrier across the corridor about ten feet beyond the door.  The water continued to pour through the bars down the passage, where a natural stone staircase headed down to a still lower level a short distance beyond the portcullis.  All of Benzan’s efforts were focused on keeping his head up as the onrushing flow continued to batter him down.  He felt the grate shudder from another impact, and looked over to see Lok in similar difficulty, although the genasi’s strength and compact form made it easier for him to weather the crush of the water.  The surge continued for nearly a full minute, but then it finally began to ease up as all of the water that had been in the room and the passageway beyond flowed through the grille and down the stairs.  As Benzan straightened, his body bruised and battered by the beating he’d taken, he could see a dense pall of steam clouding the stairs and the passageway ahead, which indicated to him that wherever the water had gone, it was hot there.  “Is everyone okay?” Cal asked.  Benzan was surprised to see him just an arm length’s away, the gnome a sodden ball lying at the base of the grille.  The rest of the companions were scattered in the rest of the corridor and around the doorway of the room, more than one groaning at the rough treatment they’d suffered in the sudden rush of water.  At least the flames of the oil slick had been extinguished in the deluge, leaving one small blessing.  “What… what happened?” Elly asked, shaking her head where an ugly bruise was already forming across her temple.  Ruath and Varrus were jumbled together in the open doorway, and disentangled themselves slowly, shaken but not seriously hurt.“Dana, Delem?” Cal said, when he realized that the two weren’t in the corridor with them.  “We’re all right,” Dana’s voice came in reply from deeper in the room.  A few moments later she and the sorcerer appeared in the doorway, soaked but hale.  “Elly’s hurt,” Cal said, “And it looks like Benzan took a bit of a beating.”“I’m okay,” the tiefling said, his pride hurting more than anything else.  None of the others chastised him for opening the door, however, as they gathered their gear and their wits and the clerics tended to those who were injured.  Within a few minutes they were ready to head out again.  Although they were wet, tired, and somewhat battered, each of them felt a strange sense of anticipation, an almost tangible feeling that they were close to their final destination.  Working together, Lok and Benzan were able to lift the heavy bronze grate enough for them all to slip past.  There was another stone door in the side of the corridor, but wary of unleashing another flood of water, they bypassed that portal for now and headed down the stairs.  The continuing steam from below made it difficult to see, and the rough-hewn steps were slick with water, but they pressed on cautiously and soon emerged into a large cavern.  The thickly cloying currents of steam that ran up into the stairway from below made it impossible to discern any details about the cavern, but it was evident that the place was of considerable size.  They had nearly reached the floor of the cavern, cautiously watching their steps on the slick stone of the stair, before the cloud of steam cleared enough for them to examine the cavern more closely. The cavern was one huge open space, a bubble in the rock under the island.  Their light sources only brightened a small portion of its expanse, but what they could see was enough to give them all pause.  Most of the cavern floor was taken up by a harsh landscape of bubbling mud, pools of boiling water, and ledges and terraces formed by the gradual accumulation of minerals on the rough stone edges around the walls.  Tenuous pathways formed of mineral crusts created a maze of sorts through the central area of the room, connecting the different ledges and terraces around the edges.  Geysers of hot mud and steaming water shot high up into the air periodically, indicating that the elemental energies at work under the volcano were not entirely dormant, at least not in this place.  Occasionally they could make out flashes of ruddy light in the rear of the chamber as the movements of water and mud brought superheated liquid and air to the surface, followed moments later by an energetic burst of spray or another geyser.“Nice place,” Benzan quipped.  “Why do I have the feeling that we are going to find the Well of Worlds on the other side of… that?”“There’s still some more areas on the upper level that we haven’t fully explored,” Elly ventured.  “The water-walking spell has expired,” Ruath said.  “I can pray again for it tomorrow, but we might as well look around while we’re down here.”“Trust to luck?” Cal said to her, and the halfling cleric finally nodded, her lips twisting in only the faintest hint of a smile.  Even so, Cal was glad to see it.  “I can feel… something here, a source of power,” Dana said, her eyes growing slightly out of focus as if she was seeing something beyond the confines of the cavern.  “There are currents of energy here, can’t you feel them?”“I can feel that this place gives me the creeps,” Benzan said.  “Let’s find what we can and get out of here.”  The tiefling checked his bow and sword and moved out into the lead, heading for the base of the stairs below them.  The others followed close behind, ready for anything.  Or so they thought.</blockquote>

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