Tragic Mishaps

Dawson was having a bad day. A bad week. A bad month, really. He'd been hired by the surrounding party of four adventurers to guide them through the Undercaverns beneath the Mountain of Joristal. They'd hired him a week's travel away, and at first he'd thought that it was luck. After all, he could charge them for an extra week without actually having to do anything but travel, it was great really!

Barely two days in he regretted everything. The party of four was an absolute mess. Ferina, the elf mage was a gorgeous woman. Which unfortunately for her meant that the group's human rogue was constantly flirting and trying to impress her. More than that, the other two human members were siblings, twins in fact. And they bickered, CONSTANTLY.

"Now now Desmond, just because the tunnel has a stream in it doesn't mean it's the same tunnel, it could just be a different stream!"

"With the exact same mushrooms and fungus?! How likely is that?!"

"Probably more likely than you'd think, right Dawson?"

He didn't reply. But he didn't need to.

"Oh come on, we simply have to be in the same tunnel as before! Look! I swear I recognize that stack of rocks!"

"Oh really?! Just like you recognized that bend in the tunnel and refused to take Dawson's advice that it wasn't the right way?!"

"I could have sworn it was the right way, alright!"

Dawson was ready to beat the two of them down to his height and teach them to shut the hell up. Luckily, none of the major creatures of the Undercaverns had apparently come nearby, since they would have certainly heard the constant bickering. He'd tried to get them to shut up, but he'd long decided that their arguing was mandated by the gods somehow...

Thus, he was immensely grateful when Dearn, the rogue appeared ahead of them, "Hey, I found an interesting cavern up ahead, its got this really pretty rock pool in it." He grinned roguishly at Ferina beside Dawson, "Of course, not nearly as beautiful as you!"

For the most glorious moment, the twins were in agreement.

"Shut up about her already!"

"Shut up about her already!"

Apparently the miracle of them agreeing on something, which they immediately began arguing about, was enough to tell Dearn to maybe hold it until later. Dawson leaned to glance past the man, looking down the tunnel. Not for the first time, he was thankful for the dwarven ability to see in the dark, even if the fish in the stream beside them didn't make it strictly necessary.

"Alright, we'll get there and then stop for the night. I can't take anymore of this damn tunnel and," He looked at the twins before speaking more quietly, "I think we all want a little distance from them..." Ferina nodded emphatically, seeming to not only mean the twins but Dearn as well. Dawson felt for the woman in a bad way, she seemed to be the only reasonable one in the whole group.

Unfortunately, one of the twins, Feristrel, was the group's Ranger. "What was that? Why would you want distance from us?" She looked straight at Dawson, demanding an answer. He opened his mouth to give one, before closing it and just walking further down the tunnel.

"That's what I thought!"

"Oh I'm sure she's sorry about being so rude!"

"Oh you little-"

Dawson simply tuned them out, not willing to let himself be distracted and murdered because of their arguing. Walking beside Ferina, he kept an eye out for whatever cavern Dearn had found. Which fortunately, was not that much farther down the tunnel. The man was probably not going that far ahead, since he also seemed to be lazy on top of smitten with Ferina... Dawson simply let out a soft sigh.

With some reluctance, he began making his way over to where the rogue stood beside the surprisingly large entrance to the cavern. Looking inside, even Dawson had to admit that it was a pretty cave. The stream they'd been walking beside for more than two days seemed to empty into and through this cavern, splashing into what looked like a rock pool below. The now distinctive and familiar Glowmouths in the water and mushrooms along the streamside were admittedly quite something in the cavern. There was even a rough, natural rock bridge leading across the stream. The chamber also seemed to be entirely enclosed, with them at the only entrance and exit. Perfect for a temporary campsite then...

Waiting for the smallest break in the argument, he finally interrupted the almost endless cascade of words, "Hey! We'll be making camp there," He pointed at a spot slightly down the stream, a little away from the rock pool, "Do not stray too far, even here you have to assume everything is dangerous, alright?"

He got an immediate nod from Ferina, followed quickly by Dearn following her example. The twins hesitated before reluctantly agreeing with him. Finally, he nodded in turn before regarding the slope downwards. The damn slope was incredibly steep, had loose stone, and somehow had stalagmites all over it! If he didn't know better, he'd say someone didn't want them in the cavern. But since that was ridiculous, he simply began plotting down the safest course. After a few minutes of tuning out the twins' bickering and the occasional attempt at conversation from Dearn, Dawson finally found a path he liked.

"Alright, step where I step, and be careful! This slope looks treacherous as all hells..." With that warning, he began to pick his way down. Roughly halfway, he turned back to check on the others. Somehow, none of them had fallen down and onto one of the ridiculously sharp looking stalagmites. Then again, he supposed, They have to have at least some level of competency surely... Otherwise they'd be dead.. right..?"

Nonetheless, the group slowly made it safely to the ground in only five minutes of careful foot placement and shimmying around stalagmites. Dawson let out a sigh of relief when Desmond's last foot hit the floor. He immediately regretted it when his twin made a snippy comment about being ahead of him, setting them off again. Before he let himself put at least a little distance in between himself and the two of them, he swept his gaze around the area. The biggest threats he could see were the Flyants and rats that seemed to always exist near to this damn stream...

"Alright, don't wander off, and remember we camp over there," He pointed again, "Don't get out of sight of at least one other person." With that warning given, he turned and began marching over to the campsite, hearing only a single set of footsteps behind him, following. No doubt it's Ferina, she's the only sane one, I swear... I'll put out a warning about this group with the other guides if we get back...

His guess was proven true when he reached what he guessed was as good a spot as any other and turned to glance at the one who followed him. He saw the expression of relief on her face when she let her pack down to the ground.

Dawson glanced over to double check what the other three were doing, rolling his eyes when he saw them all going to investigate the rock pool. Rolling his eyes again, he simply focused on looking around the surprisingly large cavern while setting up their camp.

“What do you make of all.. This?” Ferina asked slowly, her expression troubled slightly. He looked at her questioningly for a moment.

“Well, it does seem a little odd.. We haven’t really seen anything else quite like this so far.. But it doesn’t seem all that different really.”

She looked at the stream flowing past, with a troubled expression. “I don’t know.. I just feel something off about it.. Ever since we came inside..”

Dawson’s eyes narrowed, “What do you mean you feel something off?”

She shook her head slowly, “I don’t really know.. It just.. Feels like there's a lot more natural magic in here..”

Dawson narrowed his eyes at her for a moment, before deciding that too much was off to risk staying here after all. Better to camp in the tunnels above again than risk anything too different. The instant he thought this, he heard a scream for a split second, before a loud splash sounded.

His head whipped over to the rock pool, seeing Desmond and Dearn staring at the water in horror as ripples emanated outwards. Dawson could see thin, grayish tendrils rising out of the water towards Dearn’s legs, moving slowly and along the ground.

“Get away from it! NOW!” He yelled at full volume, snapping the two of them out of their stupor. He could hear the anger, fear, and grief running through Desmond's voice as he screamed at the water, screaming for his twin sister.

Dawson blocked it out of his mind, he couldn’t let it affect him, not while they were in danger. Too late to yell anything else, Dawson saw another set of tendrils reaching for Desmond. A moment before they would have connected, Dearn tackled the grief-stricken warrior out of the way.

Dawson and Ferina finally reached the other two at the run they’d been moving at since first hearing the scream. Looking down as he slowed to a halt beside them, he could see three thin puncture marks on Dearn’s back. It seemed when he’d knocked Desmond out of the tendrils' reach, he’d gotten hit. Luckily they didn’t seem deep.

Quickly he kneeled down, “Are you alright?! What happened?!”

Desmond was simply sobbing, staring towards the rock pool. Dearn looked back at him, his expression shaken, “We were just looking around.. I looked back in time to see tentacles dragging Feristrel beneath the water.. We were too far away.. I didn’t know what to do…”

Ferina stayed standing, keeping a watch around them, looking out at the rest of the cavern warily. Dawson rested a heavy hand on the rogue’s shoulder, “It’s alright, it’s alright, nothing you could have done.” He couldn’t help but add in his mind, Except not investigate the deep pool of unknown water…

Dawson quickly stood, helping Dearn lift Desmond up. “Let's just get our packs and get out of here. We have to assume this place is far more dangerous than we expected,”

He recognized the glassy look in Desmond’s eyes too well. With a slow, heavy gait, they slowly made their way back to where Dawson and Ferina had left their packs. When they got there, Ferina looked up with an expression of horror, “Feristrel was carrying the gems…”

Dearn's and his jaws both clenched at that. They’d found eleven elemental gems, nine of which were different elements. That was going to have been one of the most valuable things they would have found down in these depths, but they were gone now.

It seemed to snap Desmond out of his fugue, turning instead to stare incredulously at Ferina. A moment later, he shoved Dearn and Dawson off of him, walking to stand in front of her, furious. “Is that all she was to you?! Carrier of your precious fucking gems?!”

Ferina’s face fell and she quickly began backpedaling, “No! No, no no! That came out wrong! I just happened to realize it!” The warrior sneered at her quick backpedaling.

“Uh huh, sure! You always looked down on us! She didn’t matter to any of you! None of you cared, none of you DO care!” He yelled at them, tears streaming down his cheeks.

Dawson stepped forward slowly, “Calm down, calm down. We’re just holding in our grief because we’re not out of danger yet, that’s all,” he held his hands up entreatingly.

“Oh sure!! That’s exactly what I-”

He was interrupted by the sudden eruption of absolute darkness expanding around them, blocking even Dawson's and Ferina's darkvision. Before Dawson could even react to it, a sickening wet noise sounded from where Desmond had stood. Dawson threw himself to the ground as he recognized the darkness from a Lasher.

Damn it! We left ourselves perfectly open to one of their ambushes!

After his initial attempt at a dodge, Dawson yelled for the others to run towards his voice and the side of the sphere of darkness. He scrambled to his feet and tried to run as erratically as possible. Just as he emerged from the darkness, he saw one of the piercing tendrils stab through the space he'd just been in.

Looking at their surroundings for a short moment, he felt his heart sink as he saw he’d somehow run away from the exit from this horrible cavern. Dawson took the moment to unhook his mace and put a little distance between himself and the sphere of darkness. His heart leapt when he saw only Ferina staggering out of the sphere after him, a long slash on her arm.

He was just about to speak when he saw another nearby stalagmite erupt darkness and move one hop closer. Instead, he simply grabbed her arm and began dragging her with him at a run. She tried to protest, but he simply ignored it.

Their group had easily killed a couple Lashers before coming here. They’d killed Lashers that were on their own, and that hadn’t surprised them, while at full strength. They were down to two, the others almost certainly dead by now, wounded and demoralized, and against two Lashers. Their only hope was that the Lashers would fight each other and they could escape in the midst of their fight.

He glanced back to see the two creatures retracting in their spheres, hopping towards them again. Laying on the ground was Desmond, a hole punched straight through his exposed throat. Not far from him, was Dearn. Swarming around him, were a dozen Rock Skorpions. They’d already killed him, but kept stinging him anyways.

Dawson felt his stomach drop out beneath him, but kept dragging Ferina after him, away from the swarm of monsters behind them and deeper into the cave.

He was about to try curving around and back towards the exit around the swarm, when another sphere of darkness exploded in front of them. He couldn’t do anything but knock both himself and Ferina to the ground. Luckily, the three spiked tendrils slammed through the air above them, letting them scramble up and run the opposite way as they retracted to prepare for another strike.

By this point, Dawson let go of Ferinas arm, she’d recovered from the shock enough to be able to keep up on her own. His head whipped between the monsters slowly moving towards the two of them.

He felt his heart sink. “Oh gods…” He murmured, making Ferina stare at him. Looking back as they kept backing up further and further from the entrance. “You said it had more natural magic..” She blinked uncomprehendingly, “It’s a dungeon…” It was the only explanation he could think of for why all the creatures weren’t fighting and killing each other too.

Her face slowly fell, horror replacing the blank shock that had been on it before. The two of of them had heard about dungeons. Rare and powerful natural occurrences, things that gathered together powerful monsters and weaved traps and death. Their group wasn’t rated for a dungeon delving, not even close!

As they rounded the last outcropping, they saw a shocking smooth and perfect tunnel leading further down, out of the chamber. With mixed horror and resignation, they recognized it as the entrance to the next floor. They turned back, in time to see the monsters beginning to make it around the edges of the outcropping they were behind.

With no other choice, they simply ran down the tunnel. After a few meters, Dawson heard a horrible cracking sound. In a split second, he recognized it as breaking stone and threw himself forward as hard as he could.

His body thudded hard against the ground, tumbling a couple meters from the force with which he’d thrown himself forward. When he recovered enough to look back for Ferina, he saw only a dark pit, leading down.

He couldn’t bring himself to look down in it.

Dawson dragged himself over to the wall of the tunnel, looking back at the pit that was too wide to jump, he’d been lucky that his speed had gotten him part of the way across before it’d started giving way. And the other way, was a quickly darkening tunnel.

He huddled against the smooth stone, looking blindly down the dark tunnel. We’re not dungeon divers.. We weren’t prepared for this.. Gods, Gods why?!

A low, rumbling hiss echoed from the dark. His eyes widened, his heart beat faster, and his mace slowly raised up into the air. Slowly, stalking out of the dark, was a creature he recognized only from stories. A Rock-Lynx. He’d heard of these creatures ripping through entire C and B-Ranked parties of adventurers, let alone E-Ranked ones like theirs had been. Thought it did seem.. Smaller than the stories.

Dawson simply started chuckling to himself, tears flowing as he laughed. “Oh, fuck it. I’m dead anyways, aren’t I?” He just laughed again before pushing himself to his feet.

He saw the Rock-Lynx slowly begin stalking in a circle around him. He just laughed and charged. Swinging his mace as hard and fast as he could, he hoped to injure it enough to make it decide he wasn’t worth it.

His arm shook as it slammed into the stone below where the Lynx had been. A moment later, a ripping pain made its way down his arm as four wickedly sharp claws raked down his arm, flaying the muscle and skin.

He let out a howl of pain and slammed his other fist forward. To his surprise, it connected with a heavy thud. A small yelp escaped the Lynx before it jumped backwards. Dawson drew back his arm, now too weak to hold his mace.

With mad laughter, he launched himself at the Lynx.

- Feristrel Edwins

- Desmond Edwins

- Ferina Duskwinds

- Dearn Halfhand

- Dawson StoneEar

This five member adventuring party went missing on the 5th of Meristras. The group was E-Ranked.

Suggested Action : Post Warning to Last Known Vicinity, Post Reward for return of Guild Tokens, Post Bonus Reward for return of bodies or personal effects

Slowly, very, very slowly my awareness drifted back to me. Then, all of a sudden, I remembered seeing the Delvers. Panic soared through my mind, slamming my awareness fully back into place. I swept through my mana-vision, searching desperately for where they could be and... And...

Huh.

They were dead. I could see the gnawed on corpse of one sitting in the Kraken's den. One was being triumphantly digested by what I knew to be the half-foot, half-mouth of a Stonecloak Lasher. Another, not far away was being split up and devoured by a small group of Rock Skorpions. One was at the bottom of the pitfall, impaled on one of the sharpened stalagmites. And the Rock-Claw Lynx Kit had killed and claimed the last. And apparently, all the while, Kyr had stayed close to me, acting as a last line of defense.

Maybe I haven't given my creatures enough credit...