Adventurers
- Dulo Chaec (Magic User 2)
- Koko (Cleric 5)
- Mandras (Dwarf 2)
Warily heading down the passage in which the echoes of the distant horn still bounced around, the party poked around what appeared to be a rancid food store before heading towards a red glow at the end of the passage. It opened out into a large cavern with a deep chasm running through the middle of it, dropping a few hundred feet into a river of lava. The adventurers approached three jutting out rocks hewn into crude bridges, and found themselves confronted with a number of ratfolk.
Attempts to talk their way past the ratfolk failed, each response a variant of ‘Go away, get out of our home’. When the leader of the furry creatures stepped forward and demanded a hundred gold pieces as penalty for trespassing, the party loosed several arrows and attempted to cross the crevice. The leader was pincushioned but its subjects seemed only further enraged, and many more swarmed into the glow, hurling spears as they went.
Alarmed at the surge in numbers, the party hastily retreated back up the passageway, but found themselves walking into another swarm, this time of tiny heat-emitting insects which swamped the front ranks. With little other option, the party dashed through the white-hot cloud of bugs back to the entrance cavern and flung themselves into the slow-moving river, submerging themselves and washing away the insects which had attached themselves to flesh and clothing.
Once the swarm buzzed angrily away, the bedraggled adventureres dragged themselves a little way upstream, glad for the glowing lichen lighting the way, and huddled on a dry ledge looking for a new plan of action.