Subterranean
Blues
5/15/10,121 - Kest-I-Monds Tower
Waking late after the night's unpleasant events Kilite remains nauseous & Molin, whilst healed, is sore, very sore. Whilst the four tuck into the food stuffs no longer required by Kest-I-Mond or his retainers, they agree it would be a bit more healthy if all the corpses were removed from the tower & burnt, Molin, not yet up to such work sets to counting coin & the like, not wanting to burn the bodies within the courtyard, they are dragged onto the sulphur stained sands outside.
Over the next day or so strength is regained & many hours are spent in study of the various texts, scrolls & non-magical items collected,
By the morning of the seventh day of Soldar Molin concedes he has sufficiently recovered to accompany the others back into the cellar.
Having spent several hours practising with the newly acquired mirror of farseeing Tharla has finally figured out how it works, focusing on no particular reflection & remembering a location/place she has been to, she is able to see that place in real time, in others words she can look anywhere she has been before. Whilst the image is without sound, she quickly picks up how to move the perspective view & change the field of view.
Using her newfound toy Tharla watches as Molin & Illyra enter the cellar, pass through the arch & continue down & along the rough-hewn passage below. As they continue beyond where Tharla had herself walked early that morning her view slowly fades until only her own reflection remains.
As the two edge forward the passageway continues down & curls back on itself. The gagging odour of the night before is now far less potent, however its tang remains & seams to permeate the very rocks themselves. After about a hundred & twenty yards they come across a yellow encrusted iron gate set back into the passageway wall, beyond the gate a small natural cavern opens out with hole in the floor & ceiling, through both which a chain passes vertically. It dawns on the two that this is probably the well in the courtyard above. Shouting back up the passageway the chain is soon moving as Kilite rattles it from above.
Continuing along, the main passage opens out to the left & right, the walls a mixture of natural & worked rock. Central to the passage however is a pit with a low level stone wall around it, peering over the edge the stench is overbearing causing both to retch. The source of the sulphurous smell the night before is now clear, the tower, or at least the courtyard, stands over one of the many fuma holes that litter the Southern steppes. As they stop to discuss the matter the pit belches forth yet another cloud of gas forcing the two to temporarily retreat or suffocate.
Once the air had again cleared the passage to the left quickly tapers to an impenetrable fissure, turning right the worked passage is blocked by a robust iron grillage/gate. Fortunately one of the keys taken from around Kest-I-Mond's neck provides a way through, continuing down the meandering/sloping passage into the earth's bowls.
In the flickering torch light the corridor widens & the rush of water can be heard, ahead a deep chasm cuts across the floor over which a rope bridge sways. Illyra guesses the rushing water is some forty feet below & fifteen feet across. Watched by Molin, Illyra slowly edges across the precarious ropes, the torch held by Molin sheds little if any light beyond the far side of the chasm, however shadows & the echo's of their passage suggest a largish room with some sort of statue.
Heart in her mouth Illyra places one foot off the swaying bridge onto a smoothed floor, immediately both are dazzled as light blazes from flaring braziers placed around the chamber, the yellow light from the braziers flickers throwing dancing shadows across the high vaulted roof & polished walls however what shocks Illyra most, is the huge skeletal figure sat astride a throne, sword across its knees, in the middle of the rectangular room. Between Illyra & the seated figure is a low black plinth on top of which appears to be a silver platter.
Looking beyond the occupied throne there is steps leading onto a low dais with a pillared arch carved into the rock, within the depicted arch the rock is black & highly polished but shot through with veins of silver.
To the left, approximately a third of the way along the wall, a passage leads of to the left.
Recovering her composure Illyra steps away from the rope bridge, as she does so Molin shouts a warning & is horrified to see the skeleton, fully twelve feet tall rises & demand,
"You who disturb my sleep, pay homage & enter or see the wrath of Kest-I-Mond"
Crossing the bridge, Molin joins Illyra & together, seeing no further movement from the guardian, they warily circle the throne &, touching nothing, peer down the passage to the left. In the dancing light a second iron grillage is visible however they do not approach & after a few exchanged words they quickly return to the tower above to consult with the others.