Chapter 38 - A Journey in the Dark

General Summary

Thoroughly drained, the group climbs out of the shaft to rest in the woods in a tent specially summoned by Nit. The following morning they wake refreshed - apparently, the foul breath of the shaft's guardians has dissipated. Franz der Schwarzhoffen insists that now that they have found the staircase, they should proceed to investigate the complex, as they have come all this way, and there is little point in leaving with nothing. It will be a quick in-and-out. His words carry the day, and all the members of the company proceed back into the shaft and down the rope - except Carrot the Donkey, who cannot climb, and remains to watch the opening.
Once they make their way inside, they proceed past the tombs of the guardians, who have all been disarmed and decapitated to prevent them from rising again. The headless corpses remain still, and Franz descends the staircase invisibly to see what lies ahead. There is a sloping and descending passage that leads down into what appears to be an abandoned mine. Franz discovers some strange wheeled carts on wooden rails that lead further down into the complex. Inside the carts is some mined ore and a pickaxe. Not able to identify the ore and not wishing to proceed down by himself, Franz returns to the group and shows the ore sample to the others. Ingrid seems pretty sure it's silver, mixed with a baser metal - lead.  
Seeing where the rails lead is in order, so the whole group now proceeds to the mining tunnels Franz discovered. Inevitably, Erich wants to ride the cart, and gets in, getting a small push. The cart charges down the rail into the darkness, while the rest of his companions follow behind him. Erich's voice rings out in the darkness, saying that the cart has stopped, but that he is afraid to get out. His companions, traveling by lights summoned by Dietmar and Nit, reach a narrow bridge over a large subterranean body of water. Up ahead is Erich's cart. As his companions rush to aid him, a long prehensile tentacle reaches from the water beneath, and attempts to upend the cart. One of the appendages tries to wrap itself around the hapless Erich.   
Franz takes flight, while the rest of the group rushes to fight off the horror beneath as best they can. Franz begins blasting the bulbous-eyed thing in the water, and sees that one of the appendages it reaches out for his companions is a sticky tongue. The rest are tentacles, replete with suckers. Dmitrei Wolken fires his crossbow down into the darkness, and Ingrid prays for the thing to leave her and her companions alone. The group grabs onto a looped rope they have prepared, which ends up saving at least one life. At one point, Erich gets dragged off the bridge, enveloped by a tentacle, but his friends manage to pull him up before he is devoured by the horror's toothy maw. Only the cart is not so lucky.  
The thing sustains an unholy amount of punishment from all on the bridge, and eventually, makes the decision to retreat under the surface of the water. The companions gingerly cross the bridge, and soon find themselves in a series of sculpted halls. After descending several staircases, they now find themselves before a set of glowing doors protected by a pair of large statues of armed and armored dwarfs  wearing tiaras. Franz approaches the doors, and is nearly sliced in half by a pendulum scythe that suddenly falls upon him from the ceiling. Catching an opportunity to insert his key into the keyhole, Franz manages to stop the pendulum, and gets the doors to open. On the other side is a squadron of armed dwarfs pointing some sort of bizarre metal wands at the group. They commander demands to know who the travelers are, and what they are doing in Fellsmar uninvited. Franz quickly explains that they have come at Brimir's behest, and want to speak to king Schweigder. After perusing Brimir's letter, the dwarfs lead them inside Fellsmar's halls, to a welcome feast, where the meat juices drip down their chins, and the mead and ale flow freely.

Missions/Quests Completed

• Watcher in the Water defeated
• Admittance into Fellsmar is gained

Character(s) interacted with

• guardian dwarfs 

Report Date

13 Jul 2021