II. b. Back to the Wilds

Elmisday, 5803 Suncrest 33

You are on a journey for riches unknown, facing the uncertainty of what may lay beyond the strange cavern you found beyond doors that hadn't been open in hundreds, maybe thousands of years. Well on your way through the Kingswod, you stopped to take a mid-day break. In doing so, you learned that you had been being stalked by a pack of wolves.

A massive dire wolf appeared for only a second before lunging at Max, at nearly half his size, landing squarely on his chest. The force of the gigantic beast pushed Max backwards, sending him reeling over the log he had claimed for your rest. Oblivion took Max as Boran rushed in to protect his downed comrade and arrows began to pierce the wolf. It was a hard won battle by the time the last arrow took the last wolf down, and Max had missed the whole thing!

Tort used his spellcraft to create holes for the wolf bodies and Ash filled them in. In a fit of frustration, you did everything you could think of to wake Max - primarily throwing water on him, slapping him repeatedly. However, it was the pebble to the testicles that finally brought Max back around, though he had a walloping headache and what was explained as a nasty bee sting that happened during the battle, which most certainly included a swarm of bees.

Continuing on your journey, you reach the first campsite just as the sun is setting. With a thorough investigation of the area, Tort determined that someone else had stayed there just 4 days ago. It was during his investigation that Tort noticed for the first time how odd the slab of stone was, given it's seemingly squared corners and rectaginal shape. After clearing away the stones and wood and soot of the campfire, you wiped away the many layers of dirt and found that this rock was split in two.

With fervered guesto, you finished clearing away the dirt and debris from the stone to reveal a familiar looking door. Sadly, the door's passkey had been worn away by the dozens, possibly hundreds of years of use as a campsite. Boran recognized the door was missing three of it's focusing stones, which he conveniently had taken from the teleportation circle.

Once more facing the oppressive dark and the unknown, you followed the winding stairs downwards. For miles and miles you continue downwards, until reaching tunnels of smooth stone that finally leveled out. At the end of the tunnel, you found yourself faced with twenty-foot high walls of the same smooth stone covered in moss and lichen, mushrooms dotting the path here or there. The cavern feels ominous, eerie, as you enter, like you're being watched, though the only light here comes from random crystal formations that glow beautifully bright. However, that utter randomness does leave you in long stretches of pure dark.

The sound of skittering told you something was close by and as you rounded a corner, a giant centipede launched itself at you, having been startled by the first humanoids to visit here in hundreds if not thousands of years. Though two more centipedes attached, you made short work of them. It was that overconfidence that lead Boran to trigger a dart trap. As you cautiously continued forward, you found it wasn't enough as another trap triggered, sending metal spikes up your feet.

You are well into this labyrinth now, deep in the earth, miles from anyone who could hear you or anyone who knows where you are. Now what will you do?