by Baerand » Wed Nov 16, 2022 3:43 pm
An entry written in a simple, leather-bound journal:
"15 Maig 1482
We had a very close shave today. A moment of hesitation longer is all it would have taken.
Had I not been on the edge of paranoia already, I likely would have noticed the water rising too late. Fortunately for us, we are too aware of the dangers here to get comfortable.
The day we get comfortable here is the day we die.
As related in my last entry, we completed the street-level map of the city, but there was one area that we had yet to explore: the sewers.
We got the usual start and made our way to the end of 1 North. To date, this is the only entrance we’ve found into the sewers, although we allow there may be others we’ve yet to find. Removing the cover was easy enough and found that the rungs leading down were in respectable shape for being so old. We climbed down and stepped into a foul and brackish water which came up to our ankles.
At the base of the ladder, we found a sobering reminder of the inherent dangers of adventuring. A skeleton lay there sticking up out of the foul waters. Unlike the other corpses we’ve found, this one was completely bare of all tissues, and yet it seemed somehow less ancient than the others. An adventurer, most likely, who came here for the same reasons we did. We felt a sense of kinship with this lost explorer.
As any experienced adventurer will tell you, a skeleton can be a crucial--if tragic—warning of danger and if you can determine the cause of death, it can help you determine the nature of the threat. In our case, though, with the flesh gone and the skeleton essentially complete and undamaged, the cause of death was not apparent.
Still the warning was there, and it served to save our lives in the end.
I searched the remains as respectfully as I could, hoping to find a clue. A journal perhaps or a key or other artifact which may be of use, or something which might tell us who they were.
No such luck, the only worldly thing left to the skeleton wears the tattered clothing in which it lay. We said a quick prayer and moved on, alert to the unknown danger lurking within.
From the entrance, the sewer tunnel comes to a “T” branching east and west. We followed the west branch around a corner and up into an isolated chamber with a large rusty lever. With no idea of what it did we decided to leave it alone.
We returned to the “T” and took the eastern branch, which turns sharply right after a short way and ends at an open area with a grate in the floor. Despite our efforts we were not able to make it budge or make out anything beyond it. On the eastern side of the room is a sort of shelf which one can climb with little effort, although it doesn’t seem to lead anywhere. Disappointed, we climbed back down and thought about what to do next.
We returned to the room with the lever in it and considered pulling it. We still didn’t know what it did, although we speculated that perhaps it had something to do with the grate at the far end of the tunnel. Perhaps pulling the lever would cause the grate to open? Then again, pulling a strange lever in a dangerous place seemed like a good way to end up dead.
We pondered it for a little bit, trying to decide if we could live with not knowing what the lever did, and came to the conclusion that it was better to live without knowing than to not live at all.
Then we changed our minds and I pulled it.
Or at least, I tried to, but I couldn’t get it to budge. When Ibelith tried it, however, he had no problem pulling it down with a loud rusty shriek. He gave me a pointed look and I remarked that I must have loosened it for him.
He was not convinced. (Note to self: Lift some bloody weights once in a while!)
We could hear a rushing noise out in the corridor. I asked Ibelith to wait by the lever, in case it needed to be moved again, and I left to check on the grate. As I made my way towards the grate, however, I realized that the water level was rising. In a rush, I turned and waded back to the control room as fast as I could.
I told Ibelith we needed to leave right then, and he must’ve seen the look on my face because he asked for no explanation. We climbed out of the control room and began the desperate push towards the exit.
Every second slowed our progress as the water level rose, making our movements ever harder. At the end of the tunnel, we could see the light pouring in through the open manhole like a light from heaven.
We made it to the rungs with the water level up to our throats and clawed our way up. Ibelith pushed me up first and as I scrambled out of the hole, I turned back just in time to see him burst out of the water and clamber out like a kraken.
We took a minute to catch our breath and then, all things considered, decided to call it a day. We closed the cover and returned to camp.
I don’t think we’re done with the sewer though. I would expect the control room to be safe from the rising water, but how would the lever-puller then be able to leave? Would pulling the lever a second time release the water from the tunnel? It must but are we willing to test it when being wrong would mean certain death. And what is the purpose of that shelf by the grate?
We’ll pursue some other leads for a while to recover our nerve and then revisit it later."
[b]An entry written in a simple, leather-bound journal:[/b]
"15 Maig 1482
We had a very close shave today. A moment of hesitation longer is all it would have taken.
Had I not been on the edge of paranoia already, I likely would have noticed the water rising too late. Fortunately for us, we are too aware of the dangers here to get comfortable.
The day we get comfortable here is the day we die.
As related in my last entry, we completed the street-level map of the city, but there was one area that we had yet to explore: the sewers.
We got the usual start and made our way to the end of 1 North. To date, this is the only entrance we’ve found into the sewers, although we allow there may be others we’ve yet to find. Removing the cover was easy enough and found that the rungs leading down were in respectable shape for being so old. We climbed down and stepped into a foul and brackish water which came up to our ankles.
At the base of the ladder, we found a sobering reminder of the inherent dangers of adventuring. A skeleton lay there sticking up out of the foul waters. Unlike the other corpses we’ve found, this one was completely bare of all tissues, and yet it seemed somehow less ancient than the others. An adventurer, most likely, who came here for the same reasons we did. We felt a sense of kinship with this lost explorer.
As any experienced adventurer will tell you, a skeleton can be a crucial--if tragic—warning of danger and if you can determine the cause of death, it can help you determine the nature of the threat. In our case, though, with the flesh gone and the skeleton essentially complete and undamaged, the cause of death was not apparent.
Still the warning was there, and it served to save our lives in the end.
I searched the remains as respectfully as I could, hoping to find a clue. A journal perhaps or a key or other artifact which may be of use, or something which might tell us who they were.
No such luck, the only worldly thing left to the skeleton wears the tattered clothing in which it lay. We said a quick prayer and moved on, alert to the unknown danger lurking within.
From the entrance, the sewer tunnel comes to a “T” branching east and west. We followed the west branch around a corner and up into an isolated chamber with a large rusty lever. With no idea of what it did we decided to leave it alone.
We returned to the “T” and took the eastern branch, which turns sharply right after a short way and ends at an open area with a grate in the floor. Despite our efforts we were not able to make it budge or make out anything beyond it. On the eastern side of the room is a sort of shelf which one can climb with little effort, although it doesn’t seem to lead anywhere. Disappointed, we climbed back down and thought about what to do next.
We returned to the room with the lever in it and considered pulling it. We still didn’t know what it did, although we speculated that perhaps it had something to do with the grate at the far end of the tunnel. Perhaps pulling the lever would cause the grate to open? Then again, pulling a strange lever in a dangerous place seemed like a good way to end up dead.
We pondered it for a little bit, trying to decide if we could live with not knowing what the lever did, and came to the conclusion that it was better to live without knowing than to not live at all.
Then we changed our minds and I pulled it.
Or at least, I tried to, but I couldn’t get it to budge. When Ibelith tried it, however, he had no problem pulling it down with a loud rusty shriek. He gave me a pointed look and I remarked that I must have loosened it for him.
He was not convinced. (Note to self: Lift some bloody weights once in a while!)
We could hear a rushing noise out in the corridor. I asked Ibelith to wait by the lever, in case it needed to be moved again, and I left to check on the grate. As I made my way towards the grate, however, I realized that the water level was rising. In a rush, I turned and waded back to the control room as fast as I could.
I told Ibelith we needed to leave right then, and he must’ve seen the look on my face because he asked for no explanation. We climbed out of the control room and began the desperate push towards the exit.
Every second slowed our progress as the water level rose, making our movements ever harder. At the end of the tunnel, we could see the light pouring in through the open manhole like a light from heaven.
We made it to the rungs with the water level up to our throats and clawed our way up. Ibelith pushed me up first and as I scrambled out of the hole, I turned back just in time to see him burst out of the water and clamber out like a kraken.
We took a minute to catch our breath and then, all things considered, decided to call it a day. We closed the cover and returned to camp.
I don’t think we’re done with the sewer though. I would expect the control room to be safe from the rising water, but how would the lever-puller then be able to leave? Would pulling the lever a second time release the water from the tunnel? It must but are we willing to test it when being wrong would mean certain death. And what is the purpose of that shelf by the grate?
We’ll pursue some other leads for a while to recover our nerve and then revisit it later."