The Madness of the Dark

All dried up, we started our journey deeper into the underdark. Grum and Nysqwen were leading the way, my old friend seeming quite happy and confident this deep under the earth and following clues none of us really could identify. Darriel had instructed us to head steadily straight on but that turned out to be far easier said then done. Quickly, I and most of my friends had completely lost our sense of direction, the tunnels were winding, interlacing and seemed to build a labyrinth of consistently grey stone walls. Once we were out of earshot of the pattering water, not a single sound was to be heard apart from our own rustling and occasional hushed conversations. Darkness and silence not only obscured our navigational capabilities but also rapidly annihilated every sense of time. With all of us being capable to peer into the shadows at least to some extent, we abstained from lighting a torch to not draw even more unwanted attention. With unmarred purpose, Grum was guiding us straight down into the mountain.
The scenery of jagged rock, occasional patches of fungi from which Kyla had to physically drag Teynos away and scattered boulders did not change for what must have been many hours before suddenly the path widened. It gave way to an enormous cave. The ceiling was hidden in darkness beyond our visible range. The walls were lined with what looked like veins of a green-blueish glowing ore or crystal and two more tunnels left the cavern to our left, another one to our right. In front of us the cave turned into a pitch black, stony beach at which small waves gently licked over glistening dark stone. Along the waterfront stood a collection of humongous mushrooms, each standing taller than myself and Nysqwen combined. We had come across these surgewood mushrooms in our research in Neverwinter, they could reach up to 10 paces in height and were vital to many civilisations in the underdark as they were the only source of wood-like material for structures, furniture or weapons.
Grum took a brief time looking about for any hints or tracks of recent humanoid activity but could not find any. Eventually, he knocked on one of the mushrooms, causing a shower of palm-sized, edible spores to slowly drift towards the ground. We collected them to fill up our rations after Teynos bit into one and satisfied announced that they had a slight nutty taste. We decided we had come far enough this day and set our camp along one of the walls of the cave, far away from the unknown depths of the lake. Kyla spent the evening carving a little figurine from a piece of mushroom Whilst we were preparing a soup from the collected spores.
 
The night in our tiny hut went by quiet with me having the last watch. Without a sun to declare the arrival of a new day it was hard to judge if I was cutting short my friends’ sleep when I wanted to wake them but that could not be helped. Right before I could reach out to Teynos who was closest to me though, a soft and measured voice cut through my troubled thoughts. The androgynous tone was calm and questioning yet the words, whilst reminiscent of dwarvish or common not in the slightest understandable. A chill ran down my spine. The last time this happened we were faced with a rat out of hell although there I at least unfortunately was able to comprehend the language. Quickly now I woke the others, telling them what just had transpired. Kyla reached out, placing her hand on my shoulder and asked if she was allowed to try something. I bade her to proceed and she grasped her raven amulet, casting a spell. Nothing happened. She asked if I could repeat what I had heard initially and following her request I imitated as best as I could the sounds that still haunted my thoughts. I never was the best at imitating voices, I preferred to be more subtle in general, but nonetheless the words themselves seemed close enough to what I had heard. And strangely, this time I was able to understand them! “Greetings to thee, Upperworldler! What business do you have in my realm?” Not at all unsettling. I shared this insight with the others and Nysqwen stated that it must be undercommon, as it sounded so close to the languages familiar to us. Still, none of us had any idea as to who this voice might belong to or if we had to worry about being continuously watched. Still, there were not many options for us other than pressing on.
Kyla went over to one of the veins that indeed tuned out to be more crystalline than metallic. The majority of the material appeared to be clear, glass-like while inside was a substance that looked more organic and emitted the fluorescent blueish light. She kneeled down in front of the wall to meditate. Once finished, she said that the glowing substance seemed to shimmer in a magical hue and also that the entire air in this area seemed to be filled by some minor magical essence. That essence seemed to grow stronger above the water surface, making us want to leave the space even quicker. Yet before we left, Kyla broke a splinter of the crystal from the wall for later use and tucked it into her pouch.
We tried the diverging paths for a brief while and quickly determined the tunnel that would lead us deeper, following Darriel’s instructions. To confirm our suspicion, Kyla rummaged in her bag and found her Augury spell scroll. I gave her the ivory dice we had found with the hags which she cast to determine if that tunnel indeed would lead us to our target. All dice fell in front of the chosen tunnel, a good omen as Kyla stated. Not only that but all of them showed six dark eyes. Another shiver, this time accompanied by cold sweat overcame me. 6-6-6 – certain things would never stop haunting me.
 
The tunnel soon took a steep bend downwards making further travel perilous. To secure one another we bound a rope between all of us and stepped on the treacherous path. It went to fast to recall who slipped first but merely two paces down the slope I felt a harsh tug at my hip and all of us went from a slow careful pace into a brisk, rough slide down the steep tunnel. Slick from trickling water, we gained a lot of speed which only led to more bruises and cuts from stone rushing past us. The giant spiral led deeper and deeper, until again the tunnel seemed to widen. Teynos and I managed to find a pit of purchase in cracks at the wall and jammed our hands and feet in as hard as half-orcish and tieflingly possible. We gritted our teeth and held on with all our strength as our arms seemed to be pulled from our shoulders from the immense force of a dragonborn, a dwarf and a half-elf in full armour tugged at us. We barely managed to hold on and prevent all of us from falling into a bottomless pit of blackness that opened beyond a slim stone lip at the outside of the tunnel. The others climbed up the taut rope and we all took a pause in silence to breathe heavily. The earth was split by a long fissure, the other side of which was about ten feet away from us. The lip we stood on seemed to continue further along the crack but was only a few inches wide. A light breeze drifted up from the depths and past us into the tunnel we had emerged from.
After a bit of contemplation, Grum shifted into the form of a gigantic spider to crawl along the ceiling of the fissure and leave about a surprisingly strong strand of spider silk that he fastened in regular intervals to the stone with a sticky ichor. For further stability, Nysqwen and Teynos used their glaive and staff respectively as stakes to balance us against the opposite wall. Slowly and carefully, we traversed the crack in single file, making sure with each footfall that the ground would not just give way underneath our soles. Our arms and toes were burning when we eventually made it through to the other end and could find solid purchase under our feet once more. Exhausted we sat there for a while, our backs against the cool stone and gathered our strength before continuing to press on.
 
During our mostly silent march, Kyla matched my pace after a while, and we walked side by side. Eventually, she broke the quiet, stating that she was convinced that no one needed to be ashamed or afraid for what might have happened in the past or for what they might not have had control over as it was bestowed upon them by birth. She was convinced that after this life was done only our deeds would matter, not our regrets or heritage. The raven queen would have a role to play in mind for all of us, hence her sending Kyla our way. And this fate was one of redemption and good intent. I replied how she could be so sure of her goddess intentions and what she thought of her life already being thought out by someone else before she even could take a first step. We entered a debate about fate and free will, far deeper than most I have had since leaving Anataea and my other friends for this adventure. She posed questions that begged for an answer I would not know and similarly seemed to find thought-provoking impulses in what I had to say about freedom. It was not long and in the perhaps most obscure circumstances we had found ourselves in yet. But I could feel a new dimension to the appreciation we had for each other’s company that took root in this discourse. Soon we fell silent again but now no longer on the verge od despair due to the deafening silence but exploring fresh thoughts and perspectives.
 
Despite the silence all around and us being as careful as possible not to disturb that condition, we only heard the clicking and rumbling too late as suddenly a seven feet tall insectoid creature erupted from the wall next to us, swinging its large, mole-like claws. We had heard of these creatures called umber hulks, but it was too quick for us to avert our eyes in time and we all could feel the hypnotic tug of its gaze. Grum and Teynos failed to resist the effect and became limp, standing where they were merely staring at the creature. Nysqwen, Kyla and I did our best to halt it in its tracks, Nysqwen cutting deep gashes in its exoskeleton and Kyla and myself resorting to our magical abilities. Just in time could I irritate the beast enough that its mandibles missed Nysqwen’s head, but a second hulk emerged from the wall behind me to aid its comrade. Grum and Teynos finally managed to shake off the dazing effect and joined us in our fight, Grum transforming into a giant elk and charging at the newly emerged creature and Teynos staff and fists battered on the exterior of the other, searching for any weak points in the natural armour, all the while keeping our eyes off our actual targets to not get affected by their stares yet again. Nysqwen kept cutting towards the first foe yet it shrugged off the dealt damage with alarming ease. I muttered a phrase in the condemned language towards the creature in my back and satisfied found a slit with my rapier whilst it ran away in fear of which hell I had unleashed on its mind. Kyla sprinted behind the first attacker to place her hand on its back and dark necrotic energy extended from her into its form, for the first time briefly giving its pause in its relentless onslaught. In retaliation it lashed out at her and Nysqwen, drawing deep, dark gashes across their torsos and have them wincing in pain. Grum and Teynos yet again were ensnared by the hulks’ eyes which caused Teynos to stop mid-movement and Grum to dash away, down the tunnel from whence we had come. Worried for my friend who was clutching the cut above her Raven Queen medallion, I turned my attention towards the weakened first attacker, hoping he would find my jokes as funny as a more gullible audience and thankfully it collapsed where it stood and wriggled on the ground uttering some strange clicking noises that I chose to categorise as insectoid laughter. Then searing pain knocked me from my feet and darkness overcame me before I hit the ground.
“Look at that, you did all you could to help them and see what it brought you. Biting the dust yet again.” “And they speak of fate and determination, seeking to enslave the will that longs for freedom and peace. What are these so-called friends really worth?” “The sweet pain of dying. For a greater cause? That does not exist. Only your own survival matters. Care only for yourself and you won’t find disappointment.” “Use that pain. Make the world suffer, just as they stomped on you.” A hundred voices yet all the same, all swirling around me in this moment of darkness no eyes could pierce through. Were they opening a curtain or closing one? Impossible to tell. What if they were right? What was the purpose in life after all? What was it that this half-elf had said? That half-elf… Kyla. Something shifted in my mind like a heavy boulder falling to reveal a flattened blossom. These voices could not be right. There must be something else. Anataea… what had she told me all these years ago? Find your true story in silence. I took all my mental strength to block out the barrage of infernal words hammering against my mind. Fresh, cold air filled bludgeoned lungs as a foreign strength breathed life into my body. I opened eye lids as heavy as the lid of a stone coffin just in time to see familiar eyes look down at me and a white hand drawn from my chest. Kyla nodded satisfied and stood up. The noise of the still raging battle returned as I was praying to Mystra that the lack of light had obscured my features enough to not raise old questions in my friend as I hastily hid my appearance under the familiar mask and stood up. In that moment, I saw Teynos land a devastating punch against the area where the throat would be for humanoids of the last standing umber hulk, sending it to the ground with a heavy thud where it laid unmoving.
We took a bit of time for a brief rest as I was not the only one who had received devastating blows. Grum carved of some of the umber hulk’s meat from inside their chitinous shells for later curious testing. Then we continued our march for a good while before finding a spot to rest for the night. Kyla took out the mineral she had taken from the large cave and stated that it was still glowing with unchanged intensity. It might be one of the rare materials that tapped into the weave of magic and could tangle with its potential and she decided to try and work it into her fungal raven carving. With Nysqwen’s help she splintered it into smaller pieces and went back to work on her carving.
 
The next “morning” came without any incidents, and we continued our march. Even though physically we had recovered from the tribulations of the previous day, mentally there hardly was any rest to be found. My dreams had been marred by bickering and deceiving voices and the lack of light, fresh air or sounds slowly were leading to erratic thoughts. At least our steady foot falls were something to audibly cling to, all that remained of orientation.
Some time later we found the entrance to another cavern. Getting closer however revealed that it was utterly covered in piles of bones, varying in size from small rodents to humanoids and potentially even larger creatures. Four natural pillars seemed to carry the high ceiling which in its centre was broken by a large hole that seemed to extend into a smooth shaft. Kyla warned us that she could sense the presence of undead creatures oozing from this place scattered throughout the white piles. There were three other tunnels exiting the cave but either way we would need to cross this cave to proceed. And as Darriel had instructed us to continue on a straight path down, we likely needed to traverse the entirety of the chamber. Grum used some of the bone dust to blow into our faces and shadows seemed to edge closer to obscure us from peering eyes. Thus cloaked, we began our crossing. We had barely made it half way hugging the right-side wall when some of the piles began to clatter and shift. Large bovine skulls lifted from the ground attached to rotting spines and bony limbs. The skeleton closest to us measured a good seven feet, humanoid except for the horned bull skull. I had heard stories about minotaurs but never seen one, let alone an undead one. I raised the wand of magic missiles to unload onto the foe before us and tried to get as much distance between myself and the five eerie skeletons that were blocking our path. Teynos, visibly relieved that there were things to punch again, charged another one and struck it with heavy blows. Kyla advanced, shouting that we should bring all of them as close to her as possible. Whether Grum understood what she had in mind or not, he turned into a giant snake and wound his massive form around the minotaur just in front of Nysqwen. Now the silent beasts began charging at us. They had barely gotten within 30 feet of us when a blinding yellow light emerged from Kyla, bathing us in a long-lost feeling of safety and causing three of the approaching monsters to turn around and flee on the spot. The remaining two stood their ground and fought fiercely yet where luckily quickly overcome by the five of us. Kyla urged us onwards as the spell she had deterred the others with would soon fade and they might return to seek revenge. Following hers and Grum’s lead we quickly traversed the rest of the cavern, pausing only briefly to wonder at the perfect circle that the hole in the ceiling was. Whatever it’s origin, it definitely did not appear to be natural. But we were not keen to find out what might have left such a large hole and a cavern filled with skeletons in its wake.
During our continued journey, the silence, darkness and consistency of our surroundings began to take a heavy toll on all our moods. Especially Nysqwen seemed rather shaken as she quietly hummed a sea shanty. Kyla asked for stories from her time on the seas and telling about the wild storms she had conquered, beasts she had vanquished and wonders she had seen seemed to take not only her but all our minds off the desperation that was looming in our minds’ dark corners. Eventually we decided to take another rest and find some sleep.
 
The following day was much of the same. I had never encountered any period that long with that little sound. My mind was feeling numb from the lack of acoustic stimulation, causing me time and time again to start humming pieces of songs, as if to remind myself what music even sounded like. Where are you, Mystra, in this vastness of stillness?
From time to time we passed sections of the wall where small glows tones gave off minute bits of light which only reinforced the darkness that filled the void between them. It felt like eternity before we allowed ourselves to make halt again and bed down for the night. We had found a small alcove where I set up our little homestead and finally that familiar melody was weaving around us again, lulling me to sleep almost immediately. Only heartbeats later, or so it felt like, was I shaken awake by Kyla who had had first watch, with a finger pressed to my lips. All of us jumped to our feet as the peaceful melody of our hut was pierced by distant screams and groans of unimaginable pain. Lower and higher pitches, some wailing some ending abruptly. A cacophony of sounds where there should have been only silence, strangely misplaced and yet befitting the horrible world we had found ourselves in. These voices did not have a direction to them and were still audible when we tried to cover our ears with just the same intensity. Why did these voices sound so familiar? Unintelligible muttering joined the madness making it all the more oppressive. Was that Vellith? A scream never uttered. Now haunting, longing and cursing all at once. I was unable to move. Unable even to close my eyes. I just sat there. It must have been hours before the screaming suddenly just vanished. Dead silence like a cold embrace took hold again. I collapsed where I sat and heard a heavy thud as Nysqwen suffered the same fate. Our other friends told us that they were unable to release us from the grasp that the barrage had clasped us in and wearily tried to get the rest needed to recover for the next part of the march. We now just had breakfast and my hands still are shaking from the night. The shadows suddenly seem to be moving, crawling with a mind of their own and wanting to suffocate what hope we might still carry within ourselves. Teynos and Kyla seem not as shaken but I can see in the shadows under Grum’s eyes and the nervous twitch in Nysqwen’s tail that they feel the same. The madness of the dark is beginning to take hold.