Mon 08-23-1993 To the immediate north of Edgekeep, lie the farmlands which generally serve to feed the populace of the city during times when the populous is hungry. Off to the west of the farmlands is the great western swamp which stretches for days towards the north, and off to the east of the farmlands is the eastern forest which stretches for infinity to the north and east. To the north of the farmlands the ground rises quickly to meet the great plains of the north. The plains of the north form a giant plateau which is bordered by the swamp on the west and the forest on the east, though both borders move off in a diagonal direction, making the plateau larger as one travels north. The northern route has a road that heads directly north through these plains, and several days from Edgekeep the road crosses another. It is the road traveling west which interests us on this day, for this is the road Phaedrus, Flamwick, Holloner Arrowood, Simmean Rogue, Fryst Mosswood, and Meadowlark Silverdale travel upon. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "So, as I was saying," continues the hafling, "When it comes to bugs and other small animals, I don't mind them at all. Just spiders is what I mind." The man the hafling speaks to is a lean, tall man, wearing a variety of multicolored clothing. His face is long, and he sports a mustache and a goatee. And curiously enough, one of his nostrils is pierced by a gold nose ring. Absentmindedly flicking the feather in his purple velvet hat, he says, "Look, Fryst, you may very well be correct in assuming that there are spiders which can most definently create problems in ones life, however, I may be correct in correcting your generalization in that all spiders are not like that. Why, just the other day I had lunch with a spider." "What?" states a very beautiful red haired human woman who had been walking with them. At this point her hands are on her hips as she says, "Explain to me how you had an afternoon lunch with a spider. Did you eat it?" Holloner twirls his mustache and says, "Oh no! Eat the spider? Dear me... This spider stood five feet tall and if I had any inclination of aggression towards her, well, then I certainly wouldn't be standing here speaking with you about it." The halfling looks back and forth between Meadowlark and Holloner. He says, "It doesn't matter if you ate him for lunch or not! What I'm saying is they are nasty little bugs and I shall see them squashed if I can." At this he shuts his mouth and hurries forward in the group to speak with the apparent leader, a person in a brown cloak. "Phaedrus," Fryst says, "Am I correct in assuming that spiders are nasty creatures?" Phaedrus, his face hidden by the brown hood of the cloak, seems thoughtful a moment and then says, <> Fryst stops a moment and Flamwick nearly runs into him. "Sorry, Flamwick." says Fryst. Flamwick says, "No problem." As Fryst catches up to Phaedrus there is a terrible screech as Fryst jumps off the road like path they were on and lands in some dry drass off to the side. A moment later a shape hurls itself through the air and lands on the spot that Fryst had been standing on while on the path. The creature, indeed, was an ape of sorts, but with eyes that held more than the love of bananas. The ape jumps up and down and wipes his feet off in the dusty dirt of the trail. He then helps Fryst from the grass. "Why thank you, Simean." Simmean nods and motions for Fryst to watch where he was going. Fryst then says to Holloner, "There! You see? A spider in the trail and it tried to attack me. The only one here who lifted a finger in my defense was Simmean." He starts walking, leaving everyone standing around looking at each other, and says, "Not that I couldn't have killed it, I mean, I can kill an orc with one stone from my sling, and just the other day..." His voice begins to trail off as he gains distance, and a heartbeat later the rest of the group quickly catches up with him. They travel for most of the day, and soon it is only a few hours until dusk. The group stops at a place where small pine trees are growing and the ground is dry and dusty with grayish brown dust coating everyone's traveling shoes. The air is warm and the resin from the pine trees creates quite an amiable atmosphere. There are quite a few outcroppings of old pine needle covered basalt, and towards the west the trail seems to start heading sharply downward. Phaedrus says, "We will stay here. The Rift is not far and we should have a good rest before we enter it in the morning." Flamwick meanders towards Phaedrus and says, "So, tell me again. Why are we going into the Rift? I distinctly remember the Gatekeeper mentioning something about people not returning and brain sucking cave demons. Somehow I'm here so I must have decided it was a good idea, however...." Phaedrus smiles, his quick eyes darting from each of the adventurers. <> he says, <> Flamwick says, "Assumming we get back to Edgekeep, I think..." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The next morning the group is somber as they prepare. Phaedrus says, <> Meadowlark Silverdale says, ">If< all goes well? You told me the chances of something bad happening were zero. I think maybe I'll stay here and, um, guard the equipment." Phaedrus shrugs. Holloner says, "It might be best if I were here to protect the lady as she was protecting the equipment. I would be of no use inside the Rift, and might possibly get in all your ways." Again, Phaedrus shrugs. "Good idea." Flamwick says. "There might be orcs around here and we wouldn't want to lose any of our supplies to them. If you catch one," he says as he walks a bit closer to Holloner, "Prepare dinner for us so we can eat it if we escape the hellish hole in the ground you are leaving us to fend for ourselves in." Before Flamwick can go on, Simmean Rogue grabs his arm and yanks him down the trail after Phaedrus and Fryst. "And one more thing!" Flamwick yells. "It's not as if URRRK!" You notice Simmean now pulling Flamwick by the neck. Holloner and Meadowlark exchange glances as the group moves off down the trail. Holloner says, "Do you think he mentioned orcs to put a scare into us or to let us know what our eventuality might be?" Meadowlark says, "I hate him. All he does is eat clams and kill birds. I'm going to look around a little bit and see what I can find." Holloner assents and finds a seat upon an outcropping of basalt and begins reading a red leather bound book. A few moments later Meadowlark returns with an excited look in her eyes, and says while pointing back in the direction she had come, "I can see this Rift they are speaking of from just a ways away, on that rocky outcropping over there." She points to the north. Holloner says, "Is it worth becoming uncomfortable to see it?" She looks at him sternly and hurries towards the rocks. He groans as he gets to his feet and follows her. The Rift is a great valley cut into the floor of the plateau. From their vantage, Meadowlark and Holloner could see the western edge of the rift off in the distance, but the eastern edge, nearest them, they could not see due to trees and other objects in the way. The immense size of the Rift was astounding as from their vantage they could not see where it started either to the north or the south. A great black scar in the earth, and it seems that from where they stood, there was a possibility that the eastern edge began right at their feet, for the ground and the trail that the others had taken, seemed to drop away as quickly as a waterfall. One thing stuck out about the Rift, the fact that it was dark. A terrible tear in the earth, a wound opened to let the evils of the night upon Tyrinth. "I hope they will be OK," says Meadowlark. Holloner finally closes his mouth and says, "I'm sure they will be. They have Phaedrus there." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- <> Phaedrus yells. Fryst Mosswood hangs by his feet from a rope tied around a tree, as does Flamwick and Phaedrus. Flamwick says, "Phaedrus, what about magic? You have quite a bit of that tucked away, right? A nice bucket of it stuck in your cloak or something?" Phaedrus sighs. <> At that moment Fryst falls to the ground with a soft thud. "Ouch!" he cries. "Simmean, you could have warned me first!" Simmean Rogue had also been on the end of a rope, but his ape form easily climbed up the rope, which he then cut as he did Fryst's. Next Flamwick hits the ground rolling and quickly hops to his feet, then falls down quickly as his ankles are still pinned by the rope. "Urk." Flamwick says. Phaedrus sighs again and his shape seems to shift a bit as a small bird flies from the rope and turns into Phaedrus again as it lands on the ground. Fryst and Flamwick look at Phaedrus in a questioning sort of way. <> Phaedrus says, <> "That's what I'd like to talk to you about." Flamwick says. "Meadowlark and Holloner are about thirty minutes up the trail. These traps are awfully close to the camp. I mean, what if I never have the chance to share the wonderful aroma of steamed clams with her?" Fryst says, "I don't think she wants any steamed clams." Phaedrus says, <> Simean shrugs, Flamwick groans, and Fryst says, "Felt like a giant spider web to me, it did." They carefully move down the trail into the darkness of the rift, avoiding several traps along the way. As they descend, the trees grow smaller and smaller, and soon they are but twisted black wood that perhaps once sported life, and the rocks begin to change form from old porous basalt to newer more solid basalt. From a gray to a black, and the dust on the trail also turns to a darker color. The air cools several degrees and soon the sun is lost and the shadows grow like a terrible presense. Not much time passes before the trail starts weaving down a steep cliff side, with rock on both sides of the trail more than twice the heighth of a man. After fifteen minutes of slow careful walking, Phaedrus puts his hand up for silence. All griping, groaning, whining, and grunting ceases immediately. No matter these adventures complaints and wants, they are seasoned and as the risk is higher, so are their senses. Phaedrus quietly says, <> Fryst, Flammwick, and Simmean crouch over the trail and look over a two foot rock rise next to the trail into the gloom of the rift. Below them, several hundred feet, the bottom of the rift is shown as black as coal. Curiously enough, spots of light dot the bottom of the rift and soon it is evident that there were people or creatures of some sort camped down below. "Lot of stuff down there." Flamwick says. "Yes, there certainly is." says a low, dark, but ominously loud voice behind them. Around the group, several dozen very small yellow skinned rift dwellers had climbed up and menacingly positioned themselves. They all held hollow tubes, some of them up to the mouths of the holders. The one who spoke stood on the trail just above. They were all humanoid in appearance, but this speaker stood twice as tall as the rest. "The entire race of dwellers awaits the gathering of the jewell moths. Soon there will be thousands of dwellers upon the canyon floor, and a few hours after that, the moths will alight upon the chosen dwellers who will then be sacrificed and their body stuffed with the internal organs of the moth that picked them." Phaedrus says, <> The man says, "Ah, the moths, they are so beautiful. Unfortunately, upon some occasions, the best prospects do not alight upon anyone, and they fly away, fluttering their little wings with oh so much energy." Was there a small tear falling down this man's face? Maybe, maybe not. "But, there is a way to alleviate this!" he roars. Lifting his spear and shrunken head-on-a-stick, while throwing his head back and laughing (showing off some of the most decaying crooked teeth in the rift, if not all of Tyrinth), he says, "Sacrifices from the outside world! You will be the chosen ones. And the moths like outsiders. Maybe you smell good." Flamwick mutters, "Not me. I smell like the backside of a horse right now, and I'll tell you why-" "SILENCE!" the man with the spear says. "-at some later time." Flamwick finishes. He then glares at Phaedrus. <> This seems to pick the cheery thoughts of the adventurers right out of the puddle and into the mud as the leader of the pygmy rift dwellers has the group tied to sticks and brought down to the valley floor. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "So now how long have they been gone?" askes a worried Meadowlark Silverdale. Holloner makes a show of placing his book down and straightening a few of his scarves as he stands up, looks at the sun, and finally says, "Nearly an hour since they have left our presence, m'lady Meadowlark." He pauses for a moment. "The skills of those who have descended are surely enough to carry them through any evil that may befall them, correct?" Meadowlark says, "Maybe..." Holloner continues. "Correct. So, if we stand around fretting we won't do them any good when they return, right? Right." He takes out a small book from one of his many volumnous pockets. "Here is a book. Go over there," he says while handing it to her, "Sit down on the rock, and read it. It will pass the time." Meadowlark reluctantly does so. "So NOW how long have they been gone?" she asks after a few minutes. Holloner looks at the sky with a tormented face and says, "What have I done? Was it that episode in Seran-Atun? Is that it? I'll give them back, then! Just let me finish my book!" Meadowlark says impatiently, "Holloner! How long now?" He says, without getting up, "Five minutes from when you last asked me." Meadowlark says, "Well, I'm not going to wait around here for them to come back, I'm going down there too." At this Holloner jumps up. "What? Phaedrus said to stay here!" Meadowlark says, "No he didn't. Flamwick did, and I hate him." "Oh, that's right." Holloner mutters. The next moment, Meadowlark Silverdale dissapears around the corner of the trail as it drops off into the darkness of the rift, and very much reluctantly behind her, follows Holloner. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- In the gloom of the valley floor, Phaedrus, Flamwick, Fryst, and Simmean Rogue are carried, tied to sticks, towards what looks like a ceremonial area. Large stone slabs suspended by other stone slabs litter the area, red and blue lanterns shaped like giant moths hang from rocky outcroppings, a stone building with hundreds of torches on it squats with little yellow people running all around on various errands, and amidst all this a giant black sculpture of a moth. Giant in that it must stand several hundred feet tall. All along this sculpture are chairs and flat places where even at this time little yellow people were climbing up and taking places. The tall man says, "You shall not be upon the holy moth of Mingund, you shall be placed upon the altar stones." He points towards the flattened rocks. "Your honor will be great in death!" At this point Flamwick has a strange look on his face and he stares at Phaedrus. He seems to mouth the words, "I'm going to kill you." and then proceeds to struggle with his bindings. One of the small yellow people runs up and clubs him on the head with a chunk of basalt lashed to a piece of black wood. "Ouch!" he says. "Defiance will not be tolerated." the tall man says. He then speaks loudly in a language not understood by even one of the adventures, and the little yellow people swarm upon the group, untie them, and then lash them down onto the slabs. The people quickly leave the sacred area, obviously ill at ease being within its confines. "Here you shall await the fluttering of the holy moths, outsiders." the man says as he leaves with many little yellow dwellers in attendance. After a few moments Fryst says, "So you have a plan, right?" Phaedrus turns his head and says, <> Flamwick smiles. "And you can't get us out of this mess, right? Well, I suppose our deaths are not TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY your fault. Each of us is at least a small bit responsible for following this MADMAN into the rift." By this time, Simmean (with his ape-like strength) had freed himself and made a few noises to get the others attention. "Look! He's free!" says Fryst. <> Phaedrus says. <> Simmean smiles and pokes his head in the, "Good thinking" symbol. He quickly does as planned, and then climbs back up on his own slab before any of the dwellers know any better. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ On the side of the rift, quickly stumbling down the dusty trail, Meadolark and Holloner stop for a moment to catch their breaths. "Why look," says Meadowlark, "What interesting birds." High above them, fluttering in the gloomy air of the valley, several hundred creatures fly in the air in what looks to be random loops, swirls, and directions. Holloner says, "M'lady, I'm afraid those aren't birds. What bird flies in such confusion?" Meadowlark studies them a moment more and finally says, "They look like butterflies flying." And a few moments later her suspicion was confirmed as the creatures began flying down past where the two watched. "Look at the size of their teeth..." mutters holloner. "I didn't think butterflies had teeth." The butterflies had sharp, foot long teeth of cracked white bone, and a gray wingspan about six feet wide. Their eyes glistened even from this distance of the torches and fires below, and behind the glint one could se the simple mindedness of an insect. A very large insect. "These aren't butterflies," Meadowlark answers, "These are moths. Giant moths. Giant toothy moths with giant teeth." Holloner replies, "I didn't think that moths had teeth..." The two tear themselves from the fasciniating and yet somehow horrifying sight of the moths and continue down the trail to come across the place where the other group was ambushed. "Look here," says Holloner, "The tracks here suddenly grow populated and further down there is no sign of our friends." Meadowlark bites her lower lip slightly and says, "They are in trouble, I know it. We have to hurry." Holloner grabs her shoulder and says, "Whoah. Wait. Excuse me? Those four can't seem to handle themselves here. If this is the case, how do you expect US to handle ourselves here?" Meadowlark says, "Simple. We'll be careful." She starts off down the trail, with Holloner following and muttering at the same time about how he never should have docked at Edgekeep in the first place if all he were going to do was get eaten by nasty carnivorous moths with large teeth. After scuffling down another few hundred feet of path Meadowlark and Holloner reach the valley floor. To the south it seemed deserted, but to the north there was light from hundreds of torches and lanterns. "That way." Meadowlark says. "It seems much safer to the south..." Holloner says as he follows her hurried footsteps. As they walk they hear, <> Meadolark says to Holloner, "We have to hurry. They are by that statue." From where they were the statue of the moth stood like a mountain covered with little yellow people. In the air sounds of fluttering and beating of wings could be heard, and were loud enough to drown out all others. On the statue little yellow people screamed in agony as moths alighted upon their bodies and began eviscerating them with the giant teeth. As soon as a little yellow person had been cleaned of all internal organs, the moth would make to fly away, but never get the chance as a second little yellow person would then kill the moth, disembowell it, and stuff the moth viscera into the hollowed out body of his companion. All around the statue this was happening, and upon the ground under the statue giant heaps of intestines and other organs were being created as bloody tissue fell from the wounds of the yellow people from hundreds of feet. Off to the side, Phaedrus and company had decided it was time to go and they hopped off the slabs, much to the angry dismay of the tall man who had been watching for the first sign of the special moths. "Kill them! Kill them!" he cried as he saw their attempt to escape. Behind the tall man, Holloner and Meadowlark crept silently, until Holloner could strike at the man with a handy rock. With a head split like an old cantaloupe the man fell, slightly twitching as his nerves released the last of their electricity. As Holloner and Meadowlark ran past the body, past the horrified little yellow people, two giant moths alighted upon the body of the man and began the process of messily tearing out his internal organs with their large serrated teeth. Soon Meadowlark and Holloner reached Phaedrus and the others, and they all fled towards the squat stone building. <> Meadowlark says, "Why don't you just zap whatever we need and we can get out of here?" Phaedrus replies, <> Flamwick says, "Well, let's get it over with, then." At that point Fryst says rather quickly, "What do we do if all the little yellow people suddenly decide to come after us?" Phaedrus replies, <> Flamwick growls. "Druid, I'm getting a little dissapointed with my choice of activities for this month. The reason Fryst mentioned organized resistance in the first place is because THAT'S WHAT THEY ARE DOING RIGHT NOW." Phaedrus stops running and turns around. Fryst says, "Yeah, sorry I didn't say anything about it before." Behind them, all along the valley floor, the little yellow people had lined up and were silent. They slowly walked towards the small squat rocky hut that Phaedrus and company were standing in front of. They all held blowguns, and they were chanting and very low and hair raising chant. Flamwick says, "Ok, no time for talking, and I'm not leaving without my share of jewels." He runs into the building, with the others following a moment later. The inside of the building shown with torches and firelight reflecting and glistening on thousands upon thousands of precious stones and gems. Amethyst crystals, garnets, polished agates and other chalcendonies, small diamonds, rubies, and emeralds- any gem imaginable displayed it's brilliance in the chamber of the squat rock building. Flamwick glances at these gems, but heads straight towards the back of the room where a small dark doorway awaits. Phaedrus and the others follow. Behind them, the sound of a thousand angry small yellow people makes its way into the compound. In the darkened antechamber, Flamwick holds up a stone that glows with a brilliant light, and he immediately screeches and puts it away as the room explodes into bright flashing fire as the gems explode with reflections of that piercing light. As the others come into the chamber, Flamwick unleashes the light, but just a bit. There is a collective, "Ahhh...." as the light reflects off hundreds of the finest jewels ever to be seen. Phaedrus says, <> Fryst, Simmean, Flamwick, Holloner, Meadowlark, and Pheadrus all begin filling up small leather sacks. Meadowlark says, "Just how are we going to escape?" Flamwick says, "I have thought of that. Just fill up the bags and then follow me." He has a gleam in his eye that seems to trouble Fryst as he says to Phaedrus, "Does he really have a way out, or is he just saying that?" Phaedrus smiles. <> Holloner mutters, "They are all insane..." However, none stop until their bags are full. "Follow me!" Flamwick yells. He runs from the antechamber, down the jeweled steps, into the larger chamber of stones, and then out the door only to meet an angry horde of hundreds of small yellow people just outside. They chant slowly and methodically. Flamwick smiles and turns towards the others as they run out of the building. "Look! Many little people! Phaedrus, they want to kill us! You have the ropes?" Phaedrus nods and tosses a rope to Flamwick who immediately takes a loop and tosses it at the dangling legs of a swooping moth. The rope catches and yanks him off his feet and the angry horde of little yellow people close in. The others do the same, amidst the whistling of little blowgun darts, and very soon the moths carry them high over the valley floor, once again in the sunlight. The yells of anger from the horde below fade away as the moths flit about, unknowing and uncaring of their passengers. Eventually the flock of moths fly near the campsite and the adventurers let go the ropes and drop to the dusty earth near their equipment, and set off towards Edgekeep, which they make in about two days. The jewels are indeed wonderful and valuable as each of the adventures finds as much gold as they need when they sell the stones to jewelers.