Curious Critters- A Tal'dorei Tale.

Catching a glimpse of the spherical chamber, Lokilia tries to make sense of the other membranes she can see. "Are those the ends of all the other tunnels?" she muses out loud. "Do you think the membrane was meant to keep things out of the chamber? Like us. Or was it to keep something inside here?"  She peers into the darkness, straining to see more. "What is even down there? If you want I could summon an animal to go down there and look through its eyes."  She shakes her head though as she says this. "How would we even get down there? Assuming we even wanted to."

She does take a look to see if maybe any of the other membranes that can be seen might be lower. She also makes a count of them, disappointed in herself for have not counted the number of tunnels in the other chamber.  But she tries to recall how many there were. (Perception if needed to look: 8; INT Check if needed to recall: 9)

Lokilia counts and thinks that roughly the number of tunnels matches but she's not 100% sure.

"Does one of you have a torch, by any chance? We could throw one down to see better." Werhann had a vague idea of what could be down there, but he hoped he was wrong. He hoped to see otherwise, but couldn't help fear these might be eggs down there, or some other type of cocoon. In either case, something out of which creatures will emerge. 

"It may not be necessary to go down there," Werhann answers Likilia, as best he can, "but if this was made by a burrowing creature, then surely there would be a tunnel at the bottom too, don't you think? One we just can't see now." Might as well be wishful thinking, because if he was right about what's down there but wrong about the presence of another tunnel, or if its entrance is somewhere else, then Werhann is at this point out of ideas. Unless the eggs - if those were truly eggs - were so few in number that they could be shot from here.

Progo leans in a bit to peer through the opening and sees... things... at the bottom area. Little building? Maybe squid faces sleep standing still? Progo wasn't sure what to make of it. "Air vents? But the membrane would prevent air. Certainly not a light source. A light source!" (Not sure if anyone has a light source going on, if so Progo would move to cover it) "The light will tell them we are here and which tunnel we are in. Progo is hesitant to drop a torch in for the same reason. Perhaps now is a good time to conclude the firearm is lost and that this investigation and threat elimination is beyond just the handful of us? Progo isn't a coward suggesting a retreat, but the likelihood of a successful conclusion without royal supplies and numbers looks slimmer and slimmer. Animal investigator coukd work but woukd still possibly inform any below that someone is about" Progo's first thought was to bring some wizard down here and collapse the place in a firey storm, just to play safe, but even that would crater a huge crater above.. (Does there any noticeable change since opening the membrane? Air rushing in or out or the membrane falling away?)

( No noticeable change.)

"Any creatures would have to be over 100ft long to reach from this tunnel to one at the bottom. Which would at least give us more of an idea what we are dealing with", Normont replies to Werhann as he surveys the scene below them. "If the tunnels were burrowed and not created through magical or extraordinary means", he clarifies.

"I like your thinking, Progo. Perhaps the membranes are simply meant to keep environmental conditions suitable for whatever is down here. So as not to mix the air from above with whatever air is down there", he suggests. "We won't know until we see more".

"I am not sure we have enough information to leave quite yet. Hold on, I think I can adjust my tool to provide light at a distance. Whatever took Werhann already knows we are snooping about anyway. This way we can see what is down there, but no-one will be able to pinpoint us", he suggests.

If the others agree, even just some of them, he will create four balls of light 120ft into the cavern. They are arranged in a square 120ft down, as if forming the cone effect of a torch (but without the beam). That would give an 80ft square of dim light 20ft deep that extends down from 110ft to 130ft.

He will then move them back and forth so they stick within range, a little like a searchlight with a limited range.

All-Purpose Tool: Dancing Lights 8 hours

(OOC: I do not believe we had any light when we travelled down the tunnel. Normont was providing any anyway)

Quote from Damian_May >>

It is impossible to see past or through the membrane, but Werhanns blow soon fixes that, his blade sunders the tough cartilage enabling them to see past it, the light you carry does not illuminate much of the massive space beyond, you seem to be somewhere near the top of a large almost spherical chamber, similar membranes can be seen dotting the smooth polished walls and ceiling of the chamber......

Far, far below ( at least 100') beyond the range of any light or dark vision can be made out the vaguest outlines of what might be structures....

 Dev is lost in memory. When his mother showed him for the first time how she was cooking the eggs the Hornds had received in barter for a number of finely made hooks and flies.

”Now look, Devvie,” her voice comes to him — this was before the fire, when she still had her sight. “See inside the egg? There’s a membrane under the shell that protects what’s inside. You have to break it, like this,” she demonstrates, gently moving the broken egg to Dev’s eye level.

Back in the present day, Dev’s eyes are on the membrane Werhann had cut through, behind which lay a huge spherical chamber… and the teenager tries to imagine the gargantuan scope of whatever an egg this enormous would hold… (DM — possible connection?) 

Connections to ovum to not appear to be entirely apparent....but cannot be discounted....

Normont holds his lights ready for the nod, or otherwise, from the others.

Lokilia give Normont a nod. She still remains ready to summon an animal of some sort should it be needed though.

Dev snaps out of it, sees Lokilia nod at Normont, looks questioningly at Normont, unsure what is going on, but promptly grasps the gnomes intentions and upon doing so, echoes Lokilia’s nod.

There are other options, but Werhann keeps silent. It's all just speculation either way, and not ones that contribute much anymore. If any of this could help anyone recall hearing of this monster, they'll surely have done it by now. At least, so Werhann believes.

"It's either we proceed, or we turn back," Werhann replies to both Progo and Normont. They knew his stance already, and frankly, he was getting impatient. As time passes, they only risk losing any advantage they may have had. "But we need to be more decisive. If it knows we're coming, then we're only giving it time to prepare."

Four lights blink into being far below, startling a flight of bats clinking to the wall and illuminating a strangely twisted oblong dome which projected up from the floor covered in projecting spines some 30' long.

On a number of these spines were naked cadavers pierced through the thorax, the cadavers were long limbed black-purple skinned creatures with hairless heads and tentacled faces.

Other than the bats there was no sign of movement below...

"Are those things some sort of form of whatever happened to the gnomes?" Lokilia asks. "Why are they even... there. And what is that oblong dome?"  It's all a bit gruesome and a touch strange to her. "Werhann is right, we should do something. But if that is to try to get down there, then how exactly do we do that?" With the lights now below, she tries to look for any more of the membrane passages or perhaps some other path that might lead down towards the bottom. Or closer at least. (Perception: 10)

"Hammer and tongs, I didn't expect to see that", Normont exclaims. "Those corpses do look like big versions of Phindis", he agrees. "So either there is a infighting between members of that species, or some other creature built that dome, one who hunts the squids".

"I would very much like a closer look", he says, and moves the search lights around also looking about for a way down.

"We could head back and get the ropes we used before, if there isn't a tunnel that would get us to the bottom", he suggests.

"Why naked? Well on the plus side, Progo would venture that they all didn't come here in the buff, dispite their current states. So if you find their apparel, you might find that which was pulled off of Wenham." Progo thinks perhaps they found the remains of the real Wenham, he will have to search the bodies for any dwarves if the group ventures down there. Perhaps if he notes any identifying detail about Wenham down there, Progo can ask around back in town and save the others from the imposter. Progo really doesn't want to go down, but if he must, he might as well make the trip worth it, and who knows what other gear would have been discarded down there.

"Why naked? Well on the plus side, Progo would venture that they all didn't come here in the buff, dispite their current states. So if you find their apparel, you might find that which was pulled off of Wenham." Progo thinks perhaps they found the remains of the real Wenham, he will have to search the bodies for any dwarves if the group ventures down there. Perhaps if he notes any identifying detail about Wenham down there, Progo can ask around back in town and save the others from the imposter. Progo really doesn't want to go down, but if he must, he might as well make the trip worth it, and who knows what other gear would have been discarded down there.

Dev blinks in terror, his breathing shallow and quick.

”What…,” he eerie voice floats forward to the others, tremulously, each word costing him, “what is that thing?” Pointing warily toward the oblong shape. “The thing that has the spikes? Is it alive? Or did… did someone put the dead things on the spikes?”

His feet are planted firmly and he makes no move forward.

"Maybe it grew the spikes as a form of self-defence? Or a hunting mechanism, like a trap. Extruding these spikes like spears to impale those..." Werhann trails off. In any case, it didn't seem important at the moment. "But this means Phindis wasn't the first either. The squid has done it several times already. But to what end? Are they discarded pets, as the guards thought? Or are they failed... creations." He doesn't expect to receive an answer to that, of course. He recalled the feelings of disappointment, as well as those of satisfaction, that he felt when the fingers touched him. Was it trying to create something, but failed time and again? Were Werhann's newfound powers a success, merely a step in the way, or an unintended sideproduct? And why?

Werhann waits as Normont scans the cave with his lights. If no new findings are made, it seems they've reached a dead end. How steep is the path down? Is it a vertical wall, or can it be carefully descended? If nothing else works and it seems like going back is the only available option, Werhann will suggest one last idea. "If nothing else, we can shoot it from here. See what happens. If it is too strong to be shot and the noise alerts nothing, then I don't think there's anything more we can do, other than return to Whitestone and alert the Hunt so they can send an expedition adequately prepared for this issue."

( The interior of the chambers walls are as smooth as eggshell, there is enough for bats to grip onto but nothing larger.)

(OOC: @DM - Are the walls curved such that we could slide down? Do any tunnels exit close enough to the floor to get down / back up, you mentioned some membranes were in the walls? How big is the chamber of in feet, can we tell once the searchlights have worked their way around? How far down to the nearest spike from where we are? Do we have enough rope to get down?)