by Jeremy Dwyer
Nov’Talod slowed down the flow of time through him and jumped overboard, sinking into the water, and breathing slowly.
The ghost of Captain Tychon looked and waited for twenty (20) minutes, but did not see any sign that the man had come up.
“He was interesting, I’ll give him that. Hardly worth the trouble, though,” the ghost of Captain Tychon said as he walked over the boarding ramp and returned to the Obliteration.
“Now that all of our old bones have cracked, there won’t be any more matches until we find a new set. This is not good for our game…not at all,” the ghost of Captain Tychon said to his ghost crew.
The Obliteration then sailed west away from the Road of Kovoxotu land bridge, looking for another ship to attack.
~~~
Nov’Talod watched the ripples underwater as he held his breath for over an hour – the slowness of time given by the Ursegan Ocean waters he drank made this no effort at all. Essential, however, was not ingesting the Zovvin Ocean waters in which he was submerged, or his death by crixalethicis would be horrid and unstoppable – that required the utmost effort. Based on the ripples in the water, he knew that the ship had left and he allowed himself to come up for air. When he saw that it was far away, he swam over to the floating wreckage of his old ship and used it to climb up out of the water. This time, he allowed himself to fall, but slowed the flow of time so that he did not fall into the water as fast as he could walk across it. Then, he walked the surface of the Zovvin Ocean water and reached the shore of the Road of Kovoxotu.
Once he reached the coast and walked inland, the twilight caused him difficulty while navigating. After some time spent systematically wandering over the mountainous land, he unintentionally found his way into a deep cave, wandering further into a maze of passages.
The experience was new to him, and he thought that it might actually be beneficial to experience being lost, but free to roam. He knew the principles of navigating a maze and continued making left turns so as to traverse it without doubling back on his previous steps. He was in no hurry to return anywhere specific – not even to the Temple of Quiet Purity – so he focused on the opportunity of the moment rather than a desire to be somewhere else.
~~~
When the ship they hired for transport arrived on the eastern coast of the Road of Kovoxotu land bridge, Lady Onora and Romana and Portia walked down the boarding ramp and onto the shore under the twilight sky.
They were followed by the Chronicler Alonso, and Lady Ismene, Jaguar, Desmond, Celio and Anan. Following behind them – and concealed in the darkness – were two (2) Hidden Paladins.
Celio drank anew of the waters of the Lujladia Ocean and was energized. He then exerted the powers of light that the waters gave him and illuminated the way ahead as he walked to meet up with Romana, Portia and Lady Onora in the lead.
“As long as you know what you’re looking for, I can help find it,” Celio said.
“I know. Just search for a way underground, into the catacombs,” Portia said.
The group then made their way into the mountains and Celio used his powers of light to look ahead and even to bend light and look around corners. By these, he was able to find an entrance to a deep cave.
“Ahead, I see a cave that runs deep. It extends further than the others, and seems to slope downward,” Celio said.
“That may be it,” Portia said.
Celio then led the way toward the cave, illuminating the ground around them so that they could see the road ahead of them and walk safely to the mouth of the cave.
“Before we enter, drink up, and plan to stay together,” Anan said.
“It’s going to be a maze of passages, and traps,” Desmond said.
Each of them drank anew of the waters to which they were bound from their own vials: Lady Ismene drank anew of the waters of the Zovvin Ocean; Portia, Anan and Desmond drank anew of the waters of the Medathero Ocean; Romana drank anew of the waters of the Gradaken Ocean; Lady Onora drank anew of the waters of the Pirovalen Ocean; Jaguar drank anew of the waters of the Nabavodel Ocean and Celio drank anew of the waters of the Lujladia Ocean. The Chronicler Alonso drank anew of the waters of the Ursegan Ocean, so that he could slow the flow of time and see events around him, no matter how quickly they occurred.
Celio led the way into the cave by the light that he made, looking far ahead.
Lady Onora, having the power of music and sound, could hear clearly at a distance and sought out any sign of others moving about in the caverns ahead.
Lady Ismene, having the power of spirits, could sense their presence, and was disturbed by what she found.
“This is a place of despair. Many died down here – by the thousands, the tens of thousands – hiding their possessions from robbers and murderers,” Lady Ismene said.
“With so many dead, there may be curses placed anywhere,” Jaguar said.
“I’m certain that the danger is real, but do not rouse the spirits and make matters worse,” Lady Onora said.
“And watch that you don’t step on any traps,” Anan said.
~~~
Pandaros and Seleukos arrived by hired transport at the eastern coast of the Road of Kovoxotu land bridge.
As they stepped off the ship and onto the shore, Seleukos looked to Pandaros and asked: “Are you sure you’re ready for this? You don’t seem to have all your strength back.”
“I’ve recovered: as much as I’m going to, anyway. We can’t wait until someone else finds what we’re looking for,” Pandaros said.
“I know what we’re looking for, but where are we looking for it?” Seleukos asked.
“An entrance that leads underground, into the catacombs,” Pandaros said.
Seleukos drank anew of the waters of the Lujladia Ocean from his vial and was energized. He used his powers to generate light and looked out toward the mountains and around corners, searching for a passageway. “There’s a very deep cave ahead,” Seleukos said and began walking toward it. Pandaros followed him, and drank anew of the waters of the Zovvin Ocean from his own vial to be energized.
After traveling over the rocky terrain – with Seleukos lighting the way to let them see the path ahead of them and walk safely – he and Pandaros arrived at the mouth of a cave.
“This cave has a downward slope, and its passages extend for miles. It’s not the only cave, but it’s not apparently any worse of a choice,” Seleukos said.
“It may be our optimal choice given the information that we do have,” Pandaros said.
Seleukos led the way into the cave and its maze of passages, with Pandaros following closely.
~~~
“I never liked mazes as games, and I definitely don’t like walking through one for real,” Murtagh said.
“Out there’s a maze: in the darkness, nothing’s clear anymore. Somebody has to put an end to it, and we need to stop it from getting worse,” Netuno said.
“Don’t remind me, I know. I just can’t believe it has much room to get worse. It’s like dusk – almost as bad as night time,” Murtagh said.
“There are darker things than the night,” Dagr said.
“Something just went past my leg,” Giacomo said.
“Spiders live in caves,” Dagr said.
“It was big,” Giacomo said.
“Big spiders live in caves,” Dagr said.
“I can’t tell what it was. It was too fast,” Giacomo said.
Netuno bent the light around and looked to see what they might have encountered.
They could all see it now: over a dozen scorpions had gathered around Giacomo and begun crawling up his leg.
“Don’t move,” Netuno said.
“They’re large scorpions – I’ve seen them before. Their venom is weak, but there are a lot of them,” Quanda said.
“The bad luck begins. We have to get them off of him, and get out of here,” Murtagh said.
Netuno intensified the light that he was generating using the powers of the Lujladia wate
rs, so that he focused it enough to burn and began to incinerate the scorpions.
“Good. Now do it faster,” Murtagh said.
“I have to be careful. I’m trying not to burn him,” Netuno said, continuing to focus on the creatures.
“We don’t have time for this! Look!” Dagr said, pointing in a different direction.
“Look where?” Murtagh asked.
“You’re right. We need to leave!” Quanda said, seeing the dozens of spiders scampering into their area.
“A thousand spiders! That ship gave us its curse, after all!” Murtagh said.
Netuno saw them and knew that there was no chance of handling all the creatures. He stepped backwards to avoid the approaching spiders coming to him, but the scorpions were still on Giacomo.
“Wait! Don’t stop!” Giacomo said and started moving, but then he felt painful stings. The scorpions on his legs and shirt were disturbed by his movements and began stinging him repeatedly. The venom was powerful enough that he fell and became nauseous.
“Too late! Run!” Quanda said, and he started running away from the path that the spiders were traveling along.
Murtagh, Dagr and Netuno followed Quanda.
Giacomo fell unconscious soon thereafter, and the spiders covered him as well, biting and poisoning him, so that he never awoke.
After running down another passage, Netuno paused to catch his breath and said: “I’m not sure which way to go, but back there is not an option.”
“Wasn’t back there closer to the entrance?” Murtagh asked.
“Yes. I’m looking for another way. It just seems to go deeper, no matter how far I look,” Netuno said.
“Can we even find what we’re looking for?” Murtagh asked.
“Considering we never saw it, that might be difficult to do in a hurry,” Dagr said.
“Tell that to the spiders, and the scorpions,” Murtagh said.
“I’m sure I’ll know the onyx when I see it. But I don’t see it, yet,” Quanda said.
~~~
Nov’Talod wandered the passages of the cave, guided by a small amount of light that permeated it. He didn’t see any torches, but suspected that there may be some in some other chambers of the cave. That did suggest that other people were actively traversing the passages, and he also caught sight of spiders and scorpions moving about on the cave floor.
Not wishing to have a dangerous encounter with the creatures, he watched his footsteps and made sure to steer away from the paths of the creatures.
He soon came face to face with a pair of other men, one (1) of whom generated light.
“Fellow explorer,” one (1) of the men said to him – a man who carried a machete on his belt and wore a backpack, but who also seemed to have an injury which made his walk slow and unsteady.
“I came in search of a place for quiet meditation, to meander through the mysteries of life. This would be a fitting place, perhaps, if it were better lit, and less populated,” Nov’Talod said.
“Displeased to see us?” the man with the injury asked.
“Look at the floor. Avoid them,” Nov’Talod said.
The pair of men both looked at the floor and saw the scorpions and the spiders.
“Seleukos, burn them,” the injured man said.
Seleukos then focused his generated light on the arachnids and burned them.
“I am Pandaros,” the injured man said.
“I am just a traveler,” Nov’Talod said.
“Unfortunate place to travel,” Pandaros said.
“Yet, you are here. Is yours a life of boring pleasures, so that you are in search of misfortune?” Nov’Talod said.
“Curiosity drives us, and light leads us. Yet, you came without your own light, depending on that of others,” Pandaros said.
“I freely take chances to discover,” Nov’Talod said.
“Take a chance, then, to help us,” Pandaros said.
“Help you do what?” Nov’Talod asked.
“Find some of the abandoned wealth these caves hold,” Pandaros said.
“Perhaps I can help you, perhaps I even will,” Nov’Talod said.
Pandaros thought this other man to be so antisocial as to be expendable, which was not without its benefits.
“Lead the way,” Pandaros said toward Seleukos.
Seleukos continued bending light to look around corners until he found a chamber that had more than bare rock walls.
They soon entered a chamber that had large gears meshed together – the gears were over fifty (50) feet across and four (4) feet thick.
Nov’Talod immediately recognized what it was and said: “As sundials hold little value at the moment, a mechanical clock may yet be of use.”
Pandaros inspected the mechanism and though it to possibly be true, but he did not see the numerals or the hands of the clock.
“Clocks have numerals, yet where?” Pandaros asked.
Seleukos looked around corners to trace a path that led to the rest of the supposed clock, but found none. “I see no other indications – nothing visibly connects to this mechanism,” Seleukos said.
“Embedded in the cave walls, then. You can see around stone, not through it,” Nov’Talod said.
“The gears are not turning, so the clock – if it is one – may be unwound, if not in disrepair,” Pandaros said as he approached the gigantic gears.
Nov’Talod also examined the gears and reconsidered his earlier assumption. These gears, though like a clock, seemed to form a more complex mechanism.
~~~
“Something brushed past my leg,” Desmond said.
“Mine, as well,” Lady Ismene said.
Romana looked down at the cave floor – which was illuminated by the light that Celio generated – and saw that over a dozen scorpions and hundreds of spiders were moving about.
“Scorpions and spiders – enough to kill,” Anan said.
“Nothing to fear, unless they are hungry, or afraid,” Jaguar said.
“I’m going to assume that they’re both,” Desmond said.
“Don’t move,” Romana said. She started touching the creatures and was able to control them because of the Gradaken waters that flowed through her. She sent the animals away, so that not a single one (1) of them bit or stung.
Alonso was untouched by the creatures – being protected as he was by Ondothel, the Guardian Angel of the Chronicler’s Oath – and he quickly wrote notes about them into his book, along with the record of their travels. He even had a detailed map of the cave passages and the route they took to get here.
“Thank you, my dear,” Lady Ismene said as Romana finished dispelling the animals from her.
“Good to have you along,” Desmond said as Romana sent the spiders and scorpions away from him.
“I hear something – there are people in a nearby chamber of this cave,” Lady Onora said.
Celio bent the light to look around corners and said: “I see them. They’re in a room with large gears – like those of a mechanical clock.”
“Telling time isn’t our greatest concern,” Anan asked.
“Gears are used for machines besides clocks,” Desmond said.
“Can you hear what they are saying?” Romana asked.
~~~
Pandaros saw that there was a heavy metal pin through a pair of gears and he removed it, but the gears stood still. He looked at more of the gears and saw that they, too, had metal pins and he removed them as well. It was after five (5) such metal pins were removed that all the gears began turning.
Nov’Talod just watched out of curiosity, fascinated that the mechanism worked at all.
The gears started turning more quickly and Pandaros said: “This mechanism is poorly balanced for a clock – its gear rotations are accelerating. It likely has a different purpose.”
~~~
“I see something ahead in a different room. There are other people in this cave, and there are machines – with gears turning,” Netuno said, bending light to
look around corners and seeing a room with three (3) men and giant gears.
“I knew it! Just when we bad enough luck, more would come our way,” Murtagh said.
“I’d rather talk to people than deal with spiders and scorpions,” Quanda said.
“I’d rather get away from all of them. Those gears could be a killing machine. Besides, they might want these luminaries, too. They could be here to find them and make the sky even darker, if that’s possible,” Murtagh said.
“That ship changed you – you’re filled with fear now,” Netuno said.
“I’d be a fool if it didn’t,” Murtagh said.
“I can sneak ahead and find out what they’re doing here,” Dagr said.
The walls began rumbling around them, and they were startled.
“Or they can sneak up around us!” Murtagh said.
The walls began sliding and pivoting, more in some places than others, and the passages in the cavern were being rearranged, compelling Murtagh and his cohorts to walk quickly toward the room with the gears.
~~~
“The stones are moving around us. I can hear distant vibrations,” Lady Onora said. She was using the powers of the Pirovalen waters flowing through her to detect sound.
“I can’t, but I’ll trust you,” Anan said.
Alonso recorded what she said into his book, but he couldn’t hear it for himself, so he didn’t record the movement as a fact.
“This sounds like a trap,” Anan said.
The walls began sliding around them, rearranging the passages in the cavern.
“This is definitely a trap!” Desmond said.
“Now I see a room ahead, around some corners. The sliding walls revealed it. There are even more large gears in that room, and they’re turning quickly. And there are people in that room,” Celio said. He was using the powers of the Lujladia waters flowing through him to bend light and look around corners.
The wall movement was such that all of them – including the pair of Hidden Paladins concealed in the darkness – were forced to walk quickly and they soon found themselves in the room with the turning gears and the people.
Alonso recorded this as well while he kept pace with them.
~~~
“What have you done, Pandaros? This is a trap!” Seleukos asked.
