The Wilds - Splish Splash!

After a brief fight with the bugs, which resulted in a few minor wounds to party members, and one bug escaping down a hole, the rear-guard noticed some hefty splashing noises coming from the big hall to the north that they'd just vacated. Rather than face whatever it was, they decided to avoid it....


With the brief bug-fight over, the party regroups and shifts to face whatever is moving out in the big hallway. Durego and Dagmarten cast cures on Durego and Raúguey respectively [2 and 6 HP cured]. Raúguey takes a moment to jam some loose rock and half-rotted planks into the hole the insect crawled down, then begins to search the room. Durego allows Maro to search the other room after pointing out the golden glitter he noticed. Mordikarr stands by the third door, seemingly lost in thought (though he is actually trying to sense any insect-things nearby — to no avail).

Locky and Rawon move as quietly as possible out of the water and up the stairs, uncomfortably aware of the sloshing sounds coming from beyond the northern doors. It's a tight fit, but with some people in the rooms, the group manages to get all members out of the water and off the stairs. "Quiet everyone," whispers Rawon, and everyone pauses to listen (except Raúguey, who is busy searching).

The splashing noise continues for some time, and Rawon can see faint ripples in the water at the bottom of the stair, caused, no doubt, by the slight motion of the door as waves strike it. Nothing comes through the door however, and after a few nervous minutes, the noises fade, though whether the source moved away or simply stopped moving, it's impossible to tell. "Let's get moving," whispers Locky. "We should get out of these bug rooms in case they come back. I'd hate to have to fight them and whatever that thing was at once!"

There's general agreement, and as the party reforms Raúguey and Maro whisper that they found some minor valuables in the two rooms they searched. "Leftovers," whispers Raúguey. Before moving on, the pair moves into the third room and searches it quickly, picking up another handful of coins.

Pressing on, the party checks out the double-doors to the east, which open into a 20x20 room filled with old shelves and torn and scattered burlap. "Must have been grain storage," whispers Ohwatoo, gesturing at the heaps of ripped and rotted cloth. There's no sign of anything valuable here, so after a quick look-see, the party moves to the west door, door-frame actually, the door is long gone. Beyond is a 5x10 room with a narrow well at the end.

Mordikarr peers over the short brick wall that surrounds the shaft and says, "Water here. Too dark to see much, even with magic light." No one is willing to take a swim, so they group continues south to the last door, which is iron. Ingvild listens but hears nothing. He steps back out of the way to allow Raúguey to pull it open. It swings wide with a loud SQUEEEEE! of rusted metal, revealing another big east-west corridor beyond. The passage extends about 15 feet east and 30 feet west, with several doors around the walls. A double-row of pillars marches down the passage, casting dark shadows across the disturbed dust of the floor. "Let's move into the hall and close this door. It should keep down the noise and keep the bugs behind us," whispers Rawon.

The others agree and everyone moves into the second big hall. Ohwatoo studies his hastily sketched map. "If I'm right, and I usually am being one of the smarted people in the world, that east door should be very close to the other stairway to the surface. We should check and see. It'll give us a way out. that doesn't involved bugs or big sloshing things."

"If this is it, I can see why it didn't give when I tested it from the other side," says Ingvild, gesturing at the warped wooden bar holding the door shut. He checks for traps, then carefully removes the bar, which moves easily.

Raúguey steps forward and gives the door a shove. It swings open, the lower edge grinding over grit, dirt, and mud. "Yep, stairs! Be right back." He trots up the first flight, and peers around the corner. "This is where we looked before," he calls back over his shoulder, before coming back down.

"At least we have a safer way out," says Durego. "Where next?" Everyone looks around. There are five doors leading out of the hall, two south, one west, and one in a small alcove to the north.

"Uhh, splunge!" says Maro.

OOC: The searchers found the following back in the bug rooms:

•     47 SP
•     21 GP
•     A dagger with a silvered blade.
•     Two small flasks that prove to contain lamp oil.

Durego still has 3 HP damage, Ingvild, 2 HP.

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