Part the Thirty-Fifth:
In which: our heroes sink to new depths.
“Why…” says Thatch, straining to lift the heavy sewer grate, “would anyone… go into the sewers… to be alone?”
Dennis shrugs, “Makes more sense than going down there to meet people.”
With a last grunt of effort, the metal grille flips over onto the grass at the corner of the Academy quad.
“Hopefully,” says Reyu wryly, “we will soon find out.”
One by one, the party members make the short drop into the sewer tunnel. Lira goes last, caught by Thatch and landing with a light splash, shin deep in water. Well, liquid anyway.
It stinks in here, Boss. Euro opines, rather unnecessarily.
With all hands not bearing torches firmly clamped to noses, the party cautiously proceeds.
After following the sewer tunnel for several minutes, Thatch calls a halt. Their passage has been blocked by a pile of rubble. Loose bricks, sticks and mud have formed a jumble, almost blocking the tunnel, but with a space, just large enough for a small person to squeeze through at the top.
“Should we take it down?” he asks.
“No need,” Lira pipes up. “Reyu and I can fit through and let you know if there’s anything interesting on the other side. Plus, it won’t advertise we’ve been snooping around down here.”
Reyu and Lira quickly scramble through. Although there is nothing of immediate and obvious interest, they do make one observation that quickly induces the others to follow.
“It’s drier over here!”
As the rest of the party removes enough debris to make a Thatch-sized opening, Reyu scouts ahead. The main tunnel leads to a side tunnel, which eventually leads to a rectangular alcove, and in the middle of the far wall she finds… a door.
Everyone else soon gathers around to investigate.
Since a quick detect magic shows the door giving off a distinct aura of abjuration, the party decides not to just grab the knob and open it.
“Anyone got any ideas?” Dennis asks.
Five minutes later:
Anvil crouches in one of the far corners from the door with a freshly cast: resist elements: electricity active. Making a quick prayer to Kettenek that he’s guessed the energy type correctly, he hunkers down behind his shield. (He also makes a mental note to memorize augury more frequently in the future.)
Reyu carefully drops a small noose over the end of the doorknob then takes the other end of her rope back down the side passage where the others are already waiting behind Lira. With Reyu in place, Lira casts. A shimmering disk briefly flashes across the corridor, then fades to near-invisibility.
Lira swallows, dryly. Shield is a new spell for her. She hopes it works the way she thinks it does.
“Everyone ready?”
Quick nods accompanied by Anvil’s “Proceed,” and Lira casts again, this time mage hand. Concentrating hard, Lira points at the doorknob. Slowly, the knob begins to turn. There is an audible >click<, and the latch opens.
Nothing happens.
Reyu grabs her end of the rope and with a mighty tug, pulls the door open. Simultaneously, a sheet of crackling white energy shoots out from the doorknob in a plane that would have been about waist-height, had anyone been standing there.
The effect vanishes in a few seconds, and before Reyu has blinked the dazzle out of her eyes, Anvil is charging forward, through the door and into the room beyond.
It’s a fairly large room, roughly square, with old crates and trunks pilled up in each corner. There’s a sort of smear on the floor at the center, perhaps from a fire. But the most notable features of the chamber are the six corpses scattered on the ground.
Anvil strides right up to the one nearest the door and prods it with his boot, as though about to demand it explain its presence in the sewers of Dar Pykos. The corpse, unsurprisingly, does not answer.
The fact that it begins lurching to its feet, however, is rather more unexpected.
I am left wondering why Anvil didn't say something along the lines of "Kettenek's Justice demands that you return to your eternal slumber!" or the like.
