We spent a fitful night in that apartment. It was comfortable, but some us had been exposed to things that lingered much longer than a battle wound. The dirty water that Kai and I had been swimming around in contained more than just enemies, as we found that it was becoming harder to see. “Blinding Sickness” said Kai. “It’s often spread by tainted water. If we can’t shake this, we could go blind.” Terik was also not feeling well, but his illness seemed different – and much more dangerous. When he was exposed to the spores from the slain hag, he must have inhaled some of them. Kai looked him over, and his prognosis wasn’t good. “Mummy Rot, I would say. It doesn’t always come from mummies. If we don’t get you some help, you will have a harder time breathing, getting progressively worse if not treated. It could kill you.” Fate seems to have turned against us, but there was little we could do about it now. We were still miles below the surface and a long way from home. All we could do was press on and finish what we came here for.
We slowly made our way back to the entrance, taking care to avoid the nasty water on the way. And once again, we expected a riddle from the Sphinx so we could explore the last of the tunnels. The riddle this time was thus:
Though I can run, I cannot walk.
I have a mouth but cannot talk.
I have a bed but never sleep.
I have head but never weep.
The answer this time was “River”, and we were allowed to pass. And just like before, the tunnel was filled up to our knees with stagnant water. We trudged on until suddenly our new-found friend, Nine, disappeared into the water. After a few seconds he reemerged. “I found a pit” said the Warforged matter-of-factly. “I found these. Someone has stopped breathing down there.” I am always amused by Nine’s inability to comprehend the nuances of the “fleshy ones”. Wotan took the gauntlets and checked them for magic. “They are slightly magical - some kind of enchantment to enhance your tactics in battle. Didn’t do that poor chap down there much good.” I dried off the Dual-Threat Gauntlets and donned them as we pressed on.
Further down the hallway, we came across a place that I still look back on with fear and horror, and I am sure that if he is capable, Nine would feel the same way. The walls of the tunnel were lined with copper plates bolted to the stone and spaced every two feet or so. We were nervous at the time, for good reason – everything in this place had been designed to kill us so far, why should this be any different. But we had no choice but to continue. And for twenty feet or so, we believed our fears had been misplaced – until Nine said “it is warm in here. Uncomfortable. This is not right.” And indeed others had started to feel it too. Anything made of metal was slowly heating up. And as we glanced in Nine’s direction, we fully understood the situation. The Warforged was steaming!
We immediately took off in a full sprint towards the far end of the hallway, still more than 120 feet away. We started stripping off as much armor as we could. Kai and Ayas stopped just long enough to put their gear onto their shields in the water, and began dragging it behind them. At this point Nine was visibly glowing, and the pain in his eyes was terrifying. It soon became so hot that the ropes they were using to drag their gear burned away. Terik reached the end of the hallway first, running headlong into a wide room – and he was not alone. Ghouls burst out of the shadows towards him, while the rest of us rushed to catch up. We made it, but most of us had none of our gear. Even Nine made it, jumping headlong into the water in the room causing the water around him to boil. The ghouls were not much of a threat by themselves, and even without our gear were able to dispatch them. But the stress of the last few minutes took its toll on everyone. We were all covered in burns, some major and some minor. Nine eventually cooled down, but it was clear that he was damaged. Some of his metal fitting had even cracked and warped in the heat. So we sat and rested for as long as we dared, sending Wotan – stripped of all metal – back for our gear.
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