Session 48: A Worm of a Different Color
General Summary
After taking a moment to dress their wounds, the party Flew further down the cavern. They passed through a narrow point where they could hardly see ahead, and emerged into a slightly more open space. The river they had been following converged with one flowing from the other side, creating a mist of red water that filled the entire chamber.
It was through this cover that the Wind Warriors staged their second ambush, striking at the party with lightning before descending to batter them with their sonic longswords. The party reacted quickly, and managed to finish them both off. Their armor crumbled to dust, revealing no bodies inside, but they had grievously wounded the party.
The battle done, the party tried to look around. It seemed like the facing river had some narrow passage beyond it, leading horizontally onward. And then, of course, there was more pit to descend, following the water-flow. Having already descended a great distance—at least 300 feet—they decided they should still keep going, and plunged into the water.
Fly saved them from a tumble as bad as last time, but they still got bashed around a bit as the water propelled them against the stony cavern walls. Eventually, they found where it settled, flowing horizontally along a huge cavern. The cavern floor was strewn with corpses, which Lins and Sigvurd recognized as having the same sallow, jaundiced complexion as Moreto of the White City, and called to mind his story of how the Flycatcher had ambushed his people on their way up.
Nemara pointed out that these folks didn't seem to be using their campsite any more, and the party, who hadn't slept since before entering the tomb, readily agreed to a rest. They fortified a stone alcove as best they could, Nemara lit a campfire, and the party past a mercifully uninterrupted night.
The next morning, feeling a bit more themselves, they pondered what to do. Two ways forward were apparent. Down the tunnel carved by the river's erosion, which seemed to lead steadily downward for ever, or back the way they came.
They decided to press on, and followed the river until some banks appeared. Various phosphorescent mushrooms of bright hues grew on both sides, and Sigvurd stocked up on some for rations. Nemara scouted ahead and noticed something... odd about the dark ahead.
The party crept forward, and when they got a bit closer, saw a huge, lamprey-like mouth, twenty feet wide if it was an inch, with each cruel, pointed tooth as long as Lins was tall, bordered by chitinous, hard skin with a violet hue. Unfortunately, it seemed to have sensed them as well. It gnashed its teeth together, erupting the rest of itself out of the rock tunnel wall and lunging for them as they turned and began running as fast as their legs could carry them.
