DIDx8

Having concluded their business in Panebrenthen Crevice, the group decided to head back for the surface, as it was getting late. Zero gathered a few samples of the mushrooms found in the cavern before they head back to the crevice, using the vines along the walls to scale to the top of the hollow, squeezing their way through the crevice to re-enter the grotto. As they walked back, Scarf seemed to be irrationally suspicious of Toban, convinced that he was somehow a traitor, to which Toban replied by marveling at Scarf's mental prowess. But as the group reached the entrance the grotto near the end of fourth span just before midnight, fatigued after a long day, they were approached by a pair of Marshals. One of the pair ordered the group to halt, and explained that the city was now under Marshal Law as a result of the increasing number of Deepfolk attacks on Delvers in the grotto, and that none were permitted to enter the grotto until further notice. The group questioned this, asking how they could get permission to enter, but were told that as they were not city officials, they had no business entering; though they directed them to speak with the Commandant if it was urgent. Irked by this, the group proceeded to the Delver's Guild, hoping to encounter the night shift guild warden to ask about what they had learned from Captain Loni. Entering, they found the guild abandoned, likely due to the city being in lock down, and saw a Vesperkin woman behind the guild counter reading a book. As they approached, she seemed to respond to their queries with a flippant attitude, as they mentioned the three novices they had rescued from Panebrenthen Crevice having been attacked while on a contract, but not by Deepfolk. The woman seemed unphased and asked to see the contract, speaking with the novices for a bit. She didn't give any reassurances other than to tell the group to contact the Marshals if they wanted to report it. The group did briefly ask about Siran, but the woman mentioned that her shift didn't overlap with Siran's, so the two had never met, and she didn't really know much about her -- though she mentioned that she had heard that Siran had been dismissed from her position as warden due to "inappropriate conduct with a delver", but had no information with which to elaborate on that. Scarf seemed suspicious of the woman's uncaring attitude, and at one point she tried to sneak around the counter to check the woman's pockets out of curiosity, but as she turned to see her there and ask what she was up to, she made up an excuse about having dropped a coin and backed off. Scarf tried to communicate her suspicions to the rest of the group, suggesting that she thought the warden named Vada had killed Siran, but they seemed nonplussed. Retreating out of earshot, Zero decided to try to contact Siran using Sending, but was slightly concerned when they received no response.

Deciding to call it a night, the group meandered through the streets to the inn known as Deep Dive and found the innkeeper sleeping behind his desk. Zero, with all the tact of a goblin, called out to the innkeeper, startling him awake. After paying for rooms for the night, they took a much needed rest, and in the morning went to receive their complimentary breakfast. As they ate, they talked to the innkeeper about the Marshal Law declaration, which he said had occurred late third span the previous day, which means it had happened only a few hours after they left for Panebrenthen Crevice. They spoke of how unfair it was, and the innkeeper agreed, commenting on how it would impact his livelihood if Delvers had no reason to stay the night. They ask if he has any information about what happened, but he seems to not know anything useful. They briefly chat about him, and he comments that his father had wished he had become a blacksmith, but he found the prospect of hammering away at hot metal all day depressing, and dissociated for a moment before mentioning that he thinks if he could do it over again, he'd become a stonemason. The group finished their breakfast before heading out into the streets, where before long they passed a Human man and a Lynoxi man discussing the declaration. It seemed to mostly be banter, but one of them mentioned having a friend in the Marshals who had heavily implied that the Marshals were being mobilized to march on Rikhevlovir. Both of the men seemed to find this suspicious. While Rainer and Shein made their way to the guild, Scarf and Zero decided to check out the entrance to the grotto. Once they arrived, they found a large crowd gathered, protesting the closure of the grotto, with many yelling angrily at the small group of Marshals gathered outside. There seemed to be a pair of irritable looking men at mounted crossbows on perches overlooking the entrance, and Scarf could hear the unrest in the crowd. Figuring it was unlikely they could sneak past unnoticed, Scarf asked nearby Delvers in the crowd if they knew of an alternative route to enter the grotto. A dodgy man approached, offering information in a hushed voice, which perked Scarf's ears up. The man offered the information for a hefty cost of 50 darr, which Scarf decided to pay. The man took Scarf aside and Scarf handed over her map, which the man drew a circle on near the mountains north of Dolenna. He told her to follow the ridge line until she found a path leading up where she would hear howling wind until she found a cave entrance that would resemble a mouth, saying it was called 'The Maw'. She thanked the man for the information and head over to the guild with Zero to tell the others.

At the Delver's Guild, Rainer and Shein entered to see a low-energy scene of a number of Delvers sitting around looking bored and a Human man manning the guild counter. Approaching, they asked him about Siran, but he said he didn't know her, as he had only started a couple days ago, and just his luck -- the grotto was immediately closed. They asked if he at least knew where to find her, and he commented that he had heard that she lived on Luthachul Street, not far from the town hall in the northern half of the city in a residential area. As Scarf arrived with Zero, she showed the others the map, suggesting they check it out. However, Toban perked up upon hearing Scarf mention 'The Maw', and seemed nervous, commenting that the place was dangerous. However, the group suggested that they didn't really have a choice, so they decided to go there. However, they wanted to first pay a visit to Luthachul Street to see if they could locate Siran. Proceeding to the north of the town, they walked down Luthachul Street, which was very quiet. They didn't see any sign of Siran, but as they reached the end of the street near the base of the mountain, Scarf smelled something horrible. Following her nose, the smell seemed to be coming from behind a house near the city wall. The smell seemed to lead to a bush, and Scarf could see a foot poking out from it. Their hearts sinking, they pulled out the body hidden inside to find Siran, dead from an apparent neck wound from a knife, which Zero determined may have been coated in a paralytic poison to stop her breathing. After a moment deliberating about what to do, Zero made it known that he had the ability to contact her spirit so they could question her, and the group spent a moment choosing what to ask before Zero cast Speak with Dead. As Siran's body rose, with unnerving labored breathing, Zero asked who killed her, to which she replied that she didn't know the woman, but that it was a Vesperkin woman dressed like a cutthroat. Zero then asked what information Siran had discovered about the ambushes before being killed, and Siran's corpse wheezed out that she had staked out the Delver's Guild during the night shift and overheard Vada, the guild warden they had spoken to the previous night, speaking to a woman named Ethel, whom she had taken one of the false contracts from. Zero asked his next question, asking where Siran had stashed any information she had discovered in her investigation, but Siran said that she hadn't had time, and that on her way home from her stake out, as she reached the door of her home, she had been stabbed in the neck from behind, and turned to see her attacker. Zero asked if there was anyone in Dolenna who Siran trusted, and she seemed to ponder this for a moment before saying that she hadn't known many people too personally, but that she trusted Toban, eliciting an "aww" from him. Finally, Zero asked who Siran wanted them to notify of her death; and she mentioned a sister named Rita in Catarvoss. As Siran's body fell back, the group decided to leave it there, not wanting to risk being seen dragging it somewhere and possibly implicated in her murder, though they didn't like it. They decided to find their way to The Maw.

Proceeding north of Dolenna, following the base of the mountains, they walked for a good two hours before managing to find the path that the man had described to Scarf. They heard the characteristic howl of the wind from up the passage, and cautiously approached, finding the cave that had been described, which was adorned with stalactites and stalagmites that looked like fangs, doing nothing to make them feel better about this. Proceeding inside and around a curved passage, they came upon a large hole that went deep straight down several hundred feet; a hole that Toban called 'the throat', which was unnerving given the howl of the wind making a breathing sound. Zero decided to use their Steps of Night ability to fly down into the hole with Toban and Shein under their arms, reaching the bottom safely. Meanwhile, Rainer and Scarf used Zero's climbing equipment to begin to scale down the sheer wall leading to a narrow path down below. They lost their grip at least once each, being saved by their harnesses, but slamming into the wall. As they reached down below, they had to make a number of short leaps across small gaps to make their way down, but at one point Scarf noticed as she jumped that there was a crack in the next outcropping, and as their foot hit the rock, it gave way. Fortunately, Scarf was able to grab hold of the ledge before falling, and pulled herself up. As they came to a large gap that required a considerable jump, Scarf got a speedy head start and leapt a great distance, easily closing the 15 ft. distance; and as she flew over the gap, she noticed a ledge down below with a skeleton on it. As Rainer got a running start and leapt across the gap, Scarf began to climb her way down to the ledge with the skeleton. Checking the body, most of the equipment had degraded, as the body had been here a long time, but some kind of anklet on the skeleton's leg seemed extraordinarily intact, looking to be made of some kind of stylized metal which looked like gusts of wind. Scarf pocketed the item before she and Rainer continued down, where they eventually saw the ledges stop and give way to smaller handholds. They began to climb down, fortunately reaching the bottom with no further issue. As they rejoined Zero, Toban, and Shein, they looked around and found a passage leading further downward.

Proceeding down the path, they began to smell something sickeningly salty, like the ocean, but more potent. Emerging into a cave with what Shein could see was some kind of off-white rock, all they could see were a number of stalagmites, which Shein noticed crumbled to the touch, and a large lake. Scarf, wanting to try out her new dagger, put the Hydrophobic Dagger in their mouth, hoping that the air pocket it created around the blade would help them breathe underwater -- however, it didn't help at all, and Scarf noticed that she had difficulty staying underwater, as the high salt content was making her super buoyant. Zero decided to stick their head underwater to try to find an exit of some sort, and found one, but Shein pulled their head out of the water when they noticed Zero's head beginning to rapidly rust. They were concerned, wondering how it could be corroding metal so rapidly, and Zero tested with a crossbow arrowhead seeing similar results. Given the corrosive effect the water was having on Zero, Scarf decided to be the one to explore the passage underwater she she was the fastest. She dove into the water and pushed her way down to the underwater passage, finding several branching paths. The first turn she took led her to a dead end with a skeleton which oddly enough was wearing goggles. Scarf pocketed the goggles and resurfaced back in the cavern she came from and handed the goggles off to the group before diving back in. Meanwhile, having a suspicion of what the goggles were for, the group handed them to Rainer; and as he donned the goggles, the cavern came into focus as he gained the ability to see in the dark, having found Goggles of Night. Down in the water, Scarf continued to explore, finding a passage which led to another cavern where she surfaced and looked around. There didn't seem to be anywhere to climb up onto except for a passage leading upward that was covered in ice halfway up the chute, which was 20 ft. above the surface of the water. Scarf swam back to the group and told them about it, but mentioned one final path she wasn't sure where it led, as she wasn't able to make it all the way to the end before running out of air. As Scarf helped the others navigate to the other passage, Zero decided to explore the long passage, but after traveling it for some time, they realized it was far too long for the others to navigate it safely, so they traveled back to the cavern where Scarf and the others were, using their self-repair mechanism to clear the rust off of themselves. Meanwhile, Scarf climbed the sheer rock face to the chute with ice in it above, hoping to help the others up...