The path turns soggy
"This is it, I remember that stench from last time." Grom clicks his fingers and stares into the dark passageway. The two of you have been walking in circles for the past hour with Grom getting ever more frustrated. "It's got to be this one, we've tried ever other path. To the heart!"
Lacking Grom's conviction but without a better plan you follow him into the dark. After a few twists and turns the ground under your feet grows soggy and a foul stench seeps from every surface. Walking with arms outstretched you follow a wall and listen out for Grom's mutterings.
"Mushrooms," Grom proclaims from around a corner and as you make the turn you find him illuminated by a soft blue light eminating from a cluster of mushrooms growing at the base of a rotten wall. "My brother Griff told me about these. They grow all through the sewers. He brought some home once but they tasted funny so we ended up tossing them in the beer vat. This is a good sign though, means we're getting close."
You struggle to see the connection between glowing fungus and a golden temple but you're learning to trust your guide.
"Griff and Grarl work in the sewers," Grom says while he testing a plank with a boot. Murky water now swirls around your feet and you follow his lead in staying out of it. "They've got some stories between them that would turn you green. The things they find lurking just beneath our feet. And I'm not just talking about the goblins laying in wait for some unsespecting soul that just wants to use the latrine, no, they've seen caves that glitter and maggots the size of dogs. Not for me that line of work. I like the sun too much to spend it stumbling around in the dark."
You're about to point out the irony when something large slithers across your damp boot.
"This shouldn't be here," Grom says as he comes to a stop. Before him is a fast flowing channel of water a few yards across. "I reckon we can jump that."
You ask him where the water goes but Grom gives another of his shrugs.
"The sea most likely but with Dragsmund it could go anywhere. Dwarves from The Blue Mountains built the sewers and they're all a bit odd. Fall in that and you're just as likely to pop up in the emperor's bathtub as the bay. Best stay out of it."
Grom backs up and readys himself for the jump but at the last moment you spot a rope looped around a post, the other end is tied to a beam that just out over the stream.
"Let me go first," Grom says taking the rope and giving it a tug. "I can't swim so best I fall in first."
Before you can stop him the stout dwarf gives a wordless cry and swings across the gap. His feet skim the water but he reaches the otherside.
"Easy," Grom says as he throws the rope to you. "You might want to lift your legs a bit. You're a little longer than I am."
Gripping the rope high you take a deep breath and then launch yourself across the stream.
Roll a dice to see what happens. 1d2
roll a 1
roll a 2
roll a 1
You hang on for dear life as you swing across the room, remembering at the last moment to raise your legs. Strong hands grab you and pull you to safety.
"Well done," Grom says takeing the rope from you and looping the end over a post. "I promised you it would be exciting. We must be getting closer by now."
Heart of darkness
roll a 2
You hang on for dear life as you swing across the room but your legs drag in the water and the powerful current gets a hold of you. Grom takes a few steps into the water but your hands slip from the rope and you're swept into the tunnel.
"Close your mouth!" Grom shouts from the shore as you vanish from sight. Water rushes around you and you dip under the water. "We don't do refunds!"
Carried away to distant shores
Parent Plot
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