Continuing our delve from last time we suddenly ran into a bunch of unusual-looking people. That could have ended badly, considering that we were underground in hostile environment … if it weren’t for that fact that we are very open-minded guys n gals. So we chose to talk and lay open what we were here to do, and so they replied in kind and revealed that it was a similar situation for them: They were druids, had entered into these tunnels through a certain rabbit burrow, and they were also here to find the sameself shadow. Although not to fight it like we, but to learn from it and become wiser in the ways of the world.

They were all sorts of postmodern: eating regional and seasonal vegan food, wearing biologically degradable clothing, protecting trees and animals, and casually hating on humans … potentially supporting or at least tolerating/accepting harm and suffering of humans as long as the animals were happy. And they insisted of staying safely in the back while we should go forward and risk life and limb.

We happily agreed and went leftward, after the rolling boulder. There we found a dead body and a cobra, which we killed. That was fine with the druids, as they were not such big fans of snakes.

The dead body was an elf, burned completely down to the bone. There’s magic afoot!

Riddle me this

Darion checked the walls, but it was Heidel who found where the path led onward, into an interesting area, wet and partially flooded, with three huge statues of Nazgorians with various items: an obvious riddle. We also found the boulder, which had ended its journey here. Beyond these three rooms there was a fourth one with an even bigger statue and the (semi-)obvious answers to the riddle — and also, flying bat-eels. Or eel-bats.

They gave me, the player, quite a scare, as I had just encountered a very similar looking, and very deadly creature in another game. But my worry was misplaced, as the eel-bats were much, much less dangerous than that other creature.

We quickly turned them to mincemeat thanks to some good and well-timed teamwork, also without protest from the druids, who liked natural non-snakey animals, but not weird abominations. They even helped a bit when one of the creatures tried to bite their leader.

Treasure Hunters

Heidel found anther secret door and behind it we found even more druids — friends of our druids who had taken a slightly different path to get here. Together we checked all the little rooms here, with an understanding that they were interested in magic items only and didn’t care for gold or gems.

Of course there were some discussions about the magic items that we found, as the druids and druidesses felt pretty entitled to all magic. They seemed to believe that non-druids should stay well away and leave magic in all aspects to their wise druid masters. We discussed that we should show the magic items to our wizard, though, and the druids agreed as half the things we found were as obscure to them as they were to us.

Darion discovered a skeleton with a necklace. When he took it, the skeleton advanced, but in a non-threatening manner, simply clawing for the necklace. Darion haded it back and when the skeleton had it clasped back on it lay down again. Here our big strength — our tolerance that allowed us to work together well with the druids — turned against us, as we missed out on the necklace due to being such pushovers.

Farther north was a stairway down, hidden behind a force-field, looking slightly wicked.

Crimes against Nature

There was a way farther south but we kind of left that for later and went on east, where the boulder had come from earlier. Here we waded through the heavy stench of “wet dog” until we found a locked, closed and barred door that we didn’t quite get open.

We tried another way farther south, and there we found a door. Behind it we also found a trap, so the druids felt that this was a biiiit too dangerous for them and elected to stay behind in safety.

Carefully evading the trap we found a little hint for that (easy, in my mind) riddle (I would later discover the error of my ways), and a library full of cheap penny literature, which still may get us a couple of coins from the right connoisseurs. From the next room came some serious stench of animal. Upon entering, we were set upon by a gaggle of aggressive, maybe traumatized and half-starved, otters, who were caught in this room for quite some time … explaining the heady smell.

The creatures jumped us like little gremlins, and Heidel cracked one’s head. The rest of us attempted to play nice and just defend, and Apoqulis had the excellent idea of throwing them rations, which calmed them somewhat. Heidel quickly picked up on that vibe and also went full defense.

Still, as soon as the doorway was clear, the surviving otters dashed for it and sped out of their prison like little chittering speedboats. The druids noticed that and were overawed by the sweet little furballs .. enough so that they decided to come in and take a look.

Imagine their shock and horror when they discovered the one dead otter. It distressed them so much that they did not at all notice the cages full of other dead animals piled in this room. Instead, they cursed us for fools and monsters, irredeemable violators, and most of them went out into the open air to do a soothing burial ritual for their fallen furry brother.

Three she-druids stayed behind to nag and throw insults at us. Apoqulis took one for the team and absorbed their verbal abuse while the rest of us inspected the room of animal cruelty, where Heidel — always Heidel! — discovered another secret door, one that would ultimately lead to the lair of the master of this little hellscape.

Apoqulis calmed the druidesses down by appealing to their inner teacher: He told them that we would profit sooo much from their enormous wisdom, that we needed them to show us the way and make us, if not good, so at least a tiny bit better.

This noble quest convinced them and they came in to lead us with their enlightened minds.

Less enlightened was the elf that had lived here and incarcerated the animal farm. He seemed to be an elven magicker caught up in weird animal testing, but it was with near-certainty his mortal remains that we had discovered earlier.

However, this was a dead end. As were the other so-far unexplored rooms which we opened and looted. Once all our options were depleted we went back west to look at the unexplored last corridor.

There the huge bear woke up, but the druidesses soothed their big brother back to his power nap. Then Heidel ran into a spiked-log-trap. But behind that we found a dinner table with a little elevator coming up from below — a so-called “dumbwaiter” from a presumed kitchen one floor lower.

Heidel agrees to slowly be lowered down to take a look with his night-eyes, and discovers … a big fat ugly giant spider in a far corner of that room, knitting her webs. We pull him up and discuss our options — and then ask the druidesses to go down and talk to that thing.

The girls are not thrilled. Warm little furry kittens and otters are one thing — big fugly spiders another thing entirely. But our logic (child of nature, trapped animal, who cares how many pairs of eyes, we all live under the same night sky…) was impeccable, so their leader finally agreed.

We lowered her down and he whispered soothing words to the giant spider. Alas, to no great effect. The creature came forward with intent to kill! We quickly pulled the druidess back up and gave her some moments to calm down.

Now we were done and ready with this floor — all that remained was the stairway with an odd force -field shutting it off. We experimented a good deal with it to no avail, until Darion suggested solving the riddle maybe?

Blind chicken: meet corn

Generally I am very bad at riddles.
Very bad!
Helpless like a toddler in the face of high literature. But this one came to me quite naturally. Yet it turned out to my surprise that the other players did not see that solution as clearly as I. This is excellent news: It means that when we will next encounter a riddle I can’t understand, the others, seeing different perspectives than I, will perceive it as a cakewalk.

Anyway, Darion quickly solved the riddle and indeed, the force field went out.

Unopposed we stepped down to explore the second level, even darker and more mysterious than the first.

None of us doubted that this would be where we would discover —- the shadow.

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