IC XIII

[Atlictoatl]

Tev Meren

Tev crouches near the bubbling pool of water. Does it give off heat?

[thirdkingdom]

Tev Meren

Tev crouches near the bubbling pool of water. Does it give off heat?

The pool does give off an enormous amount of heat, almost to the point of boiling.

[Wyzard]

Severi goes to peer down the dark tunnel.

[Atlictoatl]

Tev Meren, Fighter

"Well, this matches the bathhouse imagery above. We have similar places in Darokin. My guess is that if we repaired the pipes, we'd have a working facility above."

'What do you have there, Severi?"

[thirdkingdom]

Severi goes to peer down the dark tunnel.

The tunnel continues off into the darkness, beyond Severi's elf-sight. It appears to be a naturally occurring tunnel. Hot, humid air can be felt wafting from the tunnel.

[Wyzard]

"It's more than sixty feet long. Natural tunnel, probably goes to another hot spring by the feel of the air. We might as well check it out."

[Koren n'Rhys]

Quint Kacie
"I'd guess that the builders of this place (and that contraption) were making use of a natural spring they found here. Tapping into it as a power source maybe? I've heard that the gnomes use similar things to power their creations with steam - that might be what this once was. In any case, it appears to be long abandoned. Shall we explore that tunnel next?"

Rather than maintain his concentration on his meager arcane light, Quint pulls the lantern from his pack and lights for everyone's benefit.

I have just two flasks of oil for now - so, 8 hrs total.

[Alethan]

Rhys should have a lantern and not a torch, per this post...

viewtopic.php?p=117775#p117775

[Atlictoatl]

Tev Meren

"It's a bathhouse," Tev repeats to Quint, confident in his assessment. He joins Severi. "Do you want Thurgan in the front rank with you, or me?"

[Wyzard]

"Let Thurgan take the front. I'll stand behind him, prepared with sorcerous somnolence."

[MonsterMash]

Thurgan, dwarf

"Let me lead on then". Thurgan says, with sword and shield readied.

[Atlictoatl]

Tev Meren, Fighter

Tev takes the third position, with the light-bearers walking behind him.

[Alethan]

Rhys the Traveler

Though he is used to sharing lead position to locate traps, Rhys quietly takes position behind the young fighter for the time being.

"Watch out for traps!"is offered as the only bit of advise to those if front of him.

No need to have more than one light source if it is a lantern and the two people with light sources are standing next to each other...

[thirdkingdom]

The tunnel runs for perhaps two hundred feet before it splits into a rough "Y". The left-hand passage heads off in a general north-easterly direction, the right-hand continues more or less straight. Thurgan's dwarven awareness tells him that while the main corridor has been slowly descending, the right-hand passage seems to continue to do so, perhaps even more abruptly, whilst the left-hand passage appears to level off. In addition, the hot, humid air seems to largely be coming from the right-hand passage.

[Wyzard]

"We're going to end up under one of the other buildings soon, if we're not careful." Severi indicates a preference for the right-hand path, which continues to descend.

[Koren n'Rhys]

Quint Kacie
At Rhys' comment, Quint responds "I can carry the light. You're probably more useful with your hands free, and I don't mind."

He follows along, letting Severi take them deeper if he prefers that.

[thirdkingdom]

Anyone else want to weigh in?

[Atlictoatl]

Tev Meren

Tev assents to Severi's preference. Examining the walls, does it look like they were dug towards the room they were just in, or away from the room they were just in? He'll ask Thurgan's expertise, if the answer's beyond his own ability to assess.

[thirdkingdom]

Thurgan notes that the tunnel seems to have been carved out of limestone. Not by the action of man, but rather by time and water. Here and there are signs of worked stone, but these are old, as evidenced by layers of accumulated mold and calcium. The dwarf notes what appears to be shells, trapped in the walls of the tunnel. Perhaps at some point in the distant past this whole valley was submerged under an inland ocean? No, that would be absurd. It is more likely that these caves were once inhabited by a race of sentient clam-folk, who were entombed by some fell sorcery.

[thirdkingdom]

I'm closing this thread. The new thread can be found here: viewtopic.php?f=70&t=3143