As we left the nasty cistern behind, the terrain began to change dramatically. The flooded passageways transitioned into relatively clean hallways free of standing water. After trudging through grimy water all day, it was a welcome change. But clean does not always mean safe, as we soon found out.
We came across a section of the passageway that was like nothing we had seen so far. The square walls and ceiling became a round tube painted in a disorienting spiral of black and white. The tube was spinning rapidly, and the walls gleamed with what looked like oil. A few scorch marks on the tube made it clear that it had seen its share of fires through the years. The tube was only about 50 ft long, and at the far side we could see the faint outline of a door. Getting through the spinning tunnel was difficult; the slippery oil made it impossible to get a decent footing. As we got closer to the far end, we noticed that an arrow slit was installed in the door. Fearing that something on the opposite side would fire on us, we hastily finished the crossing to get back to firm ground - but there was no sign of life near the door or behind it; quite the opposite in fact.
Behind the unlocked door was a two room apartment. The front room contained a couch, a credenza, and a table with two chairs. It had been ransacked but there was still an oil can in the credenza. The room beyond it was lavishly decorated. Tapestries covered the walls. Thick rugs covered the floor. The ceiling was painted as a night sky with brilliant stars. On our left was an ornately carved wardrobe, containing woman's clothes and silk pajamas (which Wotan kept, for some reason). To our right was a large bed with silk sheets, atop of which lay a dead dragonborn soldier, still in his armor, hands clasped over his chest and two very old, gold coins placed upon his closed eyes. Ayas didn't know him, but did recognize the death rite - one coin for Bahamut, one coin for Tiamat. Ayas also made it clear to me that the coins were not to be taken, after seeing the look in my eyes. Between the bed and the wall were laying two bodies, intertwined. A man and a woman, both of whom had suffered grievous wounds.
Despite the comfortable appointments in the room, we did not linger. It was clear that there had recently been a fight here, and we didn’t want to make ourselves a target. And the bodies didn’t exactly support a calm demeanor. At the far end of the apartment we passed through a set of solid and heavy steel doors. The doors had been weighted to swing shut on their own, so we made sure that they wouldn’t lock behind us. Further down the passage we came across another, identical set of doors, and yet another later on. Curiously enough each set of doors had flanges on the far side, almost as if they were intended to keep water out of the apartments. And as we opened the last set of doors, it was clear that was exactly the case. Beyond the doors was a chamber the likes of which we had never seen before. We were standing on a ledge that jutted out into a huge underground lake, far below the surface. The water had an eerie red glow to it and bubbles were rising up from below, quickly jetting out of sight above you. The only thing keeping the water back was a transparent, elastic membrane, hot to the touch and seemingly very fragile. “The beast in boiling bubble” whispered Terik, quoting a passage from the poem we received before undertaking this adventure. On the far side of the ledge between massive pillars of rock was a large pile of coins, in the middle of which sat a stone platform holding the trident Wave. But what kind of adventure would this be if it were that easy?
Standing before the treasure was a huge black dragon, with acidic saliva dripping from his mouth full of razor sharp teeth and eyes glowing yellow. The beast was certainly intimidating, but for reasons unkown to us its wings were bound tightly, allowing them very little movement. But he was not complexly without flight; with a flap of his bound wings he quickly closed the distance to us. Kai and Terik jumped to action, charging the great wyrm as the rest of us followed them in. The beast was strong, and its acidic breath was incredibly dangerous. We did our best to stay mobile and not let it pin any of us down. And through incredible feats of skill, we knocked the dragon off of its feet a few times. While we continued the fight, Terik broke free and ran towards the treasure pile, determined to grab Wave and make a retreat. But the dragon positioned himself between us and the door, and we were forced to finish the fight with it. The battle was long, and our reserves were beginning to run low. But bit by bit the dragon weakened. We forced it down to the ground and made the killing blow.
We wanted to relish in this great victory, but the boiling water that surrounded us put us on edge. Stray attacks had come dangerously close to puncturing the seal, and tiny rivulets of boiling water could be seen leaking in. We quickly grabbed the gold and stuffed it into Ayas’ magical cloak – we were thousands of gold richer, but we knew we wouldn’t get to spend any of it if we were boiled alive. We fled down the passage, making sure the heavy steel doors shut behind us. But we were exhausted, and the apartment, once cleaned of dust and dead bodies, promised a comfortable place to rest. And so we slept and gathered our strength, still miles below the surface and nowhere near to being out of danger yet.
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