CHAPTER FOUR: LEARNING TO CRAWL

Maskyr's Eye, 16 Flamerule, DR 1361, the Year of Maidens

After eating a quick, cold meal of iron rations, the seven companions set out to explore their surroundings. There had been no sign of orcs during the night. Rather than going back up the spiral staircase, Aendar led them west, along the passageway.

They did not go very far before the hall opened into a large room. The room was square, perhaps a dozen paces on a side, and just as high as it was wide. The walls and floor were formed of well-cut stone, though it seemed the ceiling was of wooden timbers. On the far side was a closed door made of wood reinforced with iron. A dense, greyish mass of fibrous strands covered much of the ceiling and the corners of the room. As the adventurers entered, they heard ominous rustling noises from several directions at once. Black shapes with many legs rushed out of the webs to attack- bloated, hideous spiders, larger than any they had ever before seen.

Aendar charged forward, shouting "Helm defend us!" He cut one of the black vermin in two with a swipe of his longsword. With his shield, he bashed a second spider which had dropped down from the ceiling on a strand of spidersilk. Drannamon sped two black-feathered shafts into a spider moving along the main mass of webbing, pinning it to the ceiling where it hung, twitching. A sickly, greenish puss mixed with dark red blood oozed out to splatter on the floor below.

Andryl turned to her right, to face a pair of spiders which were advancing from the shadows. She impaled one on her spear, then struggled to free her weapon. This allowed the other to close in on her. It latched on to her leg, and began climbing upward. The spider sunk its fangs deep into Andryl's leg. She cried out, and fell to the ground. Aendar heard her cry out. The paladin whirled around, and kicked the spider from atop her. It was dazed, but not dead. He pursued it and with a thrust finished it. Aendar turned to look back at Andryl. The innkeeper's daughter lay on the ground, writhing and clutching at her wounded thigh.

Three spiders swarmed out of the main nest in one corner of the room, near the ceiling. They began spinning webs to entangle the adventurers. Two aimed their spinnerets straight at Bunker, and the dwarf suddenly found himself immobilized in a sticky mass of spidersilk.

Carine, standing behind the others, spotted another spider moving up against Aendar from behind. "Drannamon," she called out. "Over there, quickly! Shoot it!" The wizardess pointed out the threat, and the woodsman nocked an arrow and fired. His arrow struck with a "thud" which sent the spider sliding across the floor, dead.

A great, furry spider dropped down from the ceiling to land next to Jhenta. She turned to face it. She had never liked spiders, and this one had to be as big as a dog. The priestess swung her staff with both hands, but the vermin skittered out of the way. Shalea, standing next to her, saw that the spider was intent on Jhenta. Shalea took her knife in both hands- the same knife she'd taken from the orc earlier- and jabbed downward with all her might. The spider could not avoid her. She stabbed it right in the middle of its fat, disgusting body. The giant spider squealed, and splattered blood and sticky gore all over Shalea's arms. But the thing shriveled up and lay still. Jhenta wiped her brow, and gave Shalea a thankful smile.

But the battle was not yet over. Bunker was still enmeshed in a mass of sticky webs, and he desperately tried to free his axe. An ugly spider was eyeing the dwarf hungrily, and moved slowly towards him. Shalea pointed at it, and Jhenta realized Bunker was in mortal danger. "Let's get it, Jhenta," cried Shalea. She dashed across the room, and with her knife started slashing at the webs which held Bunker.

The young priestess hesitated. "I can't, Shalea," she wailed. "I can't even hit them, they are too fast for me!" Jhenta moved cautiously towards the spider, holding her staff defensively in front of her.

Bunker began to get nervous. He eyed the spider that was coming towards him and redoubled his efforts to break free. His frantic struggles accomplished little. "Better do something quick, lass," he yelled. "The thing's comin' closer, an' I think it's hungry!"

Shalea gritted her teeth. The spider was as close to her as it was to the dwarf, but it was evidently hungry and intent on its meal, and paid no attention to the girl. With her orc-knife, Shalea continued frantically slashing at the thick webs around Bunker's arms.

Bunker glared at Jhenta, desperately hoping she would do something- anything to prevent him from the poisonous bite of the giant spider. Finally, Jhenta mastered her fear, and poked the spider in the back with her staff. That got its attention, and it swiveled its multi-eyed head to face Shalea and Jhenta. It clacked its mandibles threateningly. At last, Shalea managed to cut enough of the webbing to allow Bunker the use of both his arms. His axe was still stuck, so he grabbed the nearest spider with both hands and pummeled it into mush.

Carine noticed that three spiders, at least, yet remained. They hung back in the densest part of the webbing, near the ceiling at the far end of the room. "Evocatium inferum ia," she chanted, rapidly moving her hands in a complex set of motions. With each gesture, her hands grew brighter, as if surrounded by an arcane fire. When the spell was complete, she waved her right hand towards the three remaining giant spiders. The mass of webs around them burst into sudden flame, engulfing the spiders with it. Three charred husks dropped lifeless to the floor. The flames consumed the nearest webs then died out. All was quiet except for Andryl's groaning.

Carine and Shalea rushed to their sister's side. "Jhenta," pleaded Carine, "She's been bitten. You've got to help her."

"Poisoned-" Andryl groaned.

"I'm sorry," Jhenta said. "I can heal her wound, but I know nothing about poisons."

Aendar nodded, and then looked to the woodsman. "What about you, Dran?"

Drannamon came forward to get a better look at Andryl's wound. He thought for a moment, then pulled a wooden flask from his pack. "Hold her down," he said. "Firmly." Aendar and Jhenta knelt, and held on to Andryl's wrists. The ranger pulled the stopper and poured some of the contents of the bottle into Andryl's wound. She cried out in agony as the potion went to work, counter-acting the venom in the spider's bite. But in less than two heartbeats, she regained her composure, and stopped struggling. Andryl gritted her teeth, and dug her nails into Aendar and Jhenta's arms, but she did not cry out again. "Heal the wound now," urged Drannamon. "Quickly, if you can. Quickly!"

Jhenta nodded, and placed a hand over Andryl's leg. The wound slowly began to close as the power of the goddess Chauntea flowed through her priestess. Soon it was over, and they released Andryl.

"This is my fault," Aendar said ruefully. "We walked right into their lair. We should have sent someone ahead to scout first. Then we could have avoided this room entirely, or at least come prepared." He looked into Andryl's eyes. "I am sorry, my lady," he said. "You fought bravely."

Andryl smiled weakly, and struggled to rise. The young lord helped her to her feet. The spider's poison had acted quickly, but already the effects began to dissipate. Bunker retrieved his axe from the web, and Shalea handed Andryl back her spear.

"It was a good thing we did come in here," said Carine, from the far side of the room. The others turned to look, to see what she meant. The wizardess was standing over a large trunk she had found, partially covered in webs. "I want to see what is in here."

"Stand aside," said the dwarf. Bunker raised his axe high overhead with both hands, preparing to break open the trunk.

"Bunker, wait!" exclaimed Shalea. "There might be a trap."

The dwarf froze, then slowly lowered his axe. "By the Anvil and Hammer," he swore, "Yer right, lass. What was I thinkin'?"

Aendar looked at Shalea. "There might be a trap," he admitted, "But what other choice do we have? I think we're all agreed, we want to know what is inside." Everyone nodded.

Shalea knelt down in front of the chest. Bunker stood next to her, and they all watched what she was about to do. First, she removed her backpack, and set it on the ground next to her. Then she took a small box from her belt pouch, and opened it to reveal a set of intricate tools.

Andryl gazed incredulously at her sister. "A locksmith's kit? Where in all the Realms did you get THAT?"

Shalea looked over her shoulder, and smiled mischievously at her sister. "Remember that elf who came into the inn last season? He gave them to me," she replied. Then, she turned and set to work, attempting to pick the lock. Shalea peered intently at the lock on the trunk for a moment, then went into her kit, selecting what she hoped was the proper tool. Trying hard to remember everything her mentor had taught her, she sat very still for a few long moments. She concentrated so hard her tongue stuck out just a little. At last, they heard a tiny "click" and Shalea jumped to her feet. She grinned from ear to ear.

"I had no idea she could do that," said Jhenta.

"I never would have guessed it," said Carine, laughing.

Andryl could only shake her head in amazement. Bunker laughed heartily, and clapped the girl on the shoulder. Drannamon gave her a reluctant smile, and Shalea beamed with pride. "Well," she said. "Aren't you going to open it?"

The chest was filled almost to the top with coins of all sorts- silver, gold, copper- even a few made of rare and valuable platinum. The seven adventurers all helped to scoop them out, and they transferred the wealth into pouches, sacks and backpacks. Being friends, they attempted to divide the spoils as evenly as possible, without stopping to actually count every coin. This treasure alone would allow them to live comfortably for the rest of their lives- if they survived to find a way out of Maskyr's dungeons. It was not long, however, before the adventurers began to feel anxious. Despite their successful find, most were eager to be gone from the room of the spiders, either forward or back. By unspoken consent, they decided to press onward.

"After all," said Shalea, "what good is all this wealth if we never get to spend it?"

"Is everyone ready?" asked Aendar. The others nodded. Carefully, he reached out, and pulled open the door.

Opening the door triggered an unseen mechanism hidden within the walls and ceiling of the room. Undaunted by centuries of neglect, the trap operated flawlessly. A great scythe, like a silent, heavy pendulum, began its fall from a hidden compartment in the ceiling. The remnants of sticky spiderweb did nothing to impair its travel, and the sharp blade descended in a great arc towards the adventurers. Bunker stood right in its path.

"Look out!" cried Shalea. The others turned to look. From the corner of his eye, Bunker saw the huge blade swinging silently down towards him from the ceiling. The dwarf leapt aside, and the trap missed him by a hair. "Swish." The momentum of its swing carried the scythe past the dwarf and up into a matching compartment on the opposite side, where it stopped and locked back into place.

Bunker just sat there for a moment, wide-eyed and relieved to have so narrowly escaped death. Never had he been so glad to be short.

***

The next room was similar in size to the first, except that it was round instead of square. The adventurers entered from the east, and immediately noticed passages leading off in three other directions as well- north, south and west. They took care to look for any sign of spiders- or any other inhabitants- but saw none. This chamber was dominated by a short pedestal in the exact center of the room, atop which rested a strange, translucent crystal. It was as large as a pumpkin.

Cautiously, the seven companions fanned out around the room. Aendar, Bunker and Andryl each went to one of the incoming passages, weapons ready, and peered into the gloom. Carine, Shalea and Jhenta went immediately to the central pedestal. Drannamon eyed the ceiling suspiciously. Areas of it were deep in shadow, and he feared another ambush. He kept an arrow nocked.

Suddenly, they heard a rush, like wings. "Just as I feared," Drannamon thought. From the dark areas of the ceiling, a number of black shapes swooped downward. "Beware," he shouted as he loosed an arrow into one of the attackers. "Look out above!"

The fighters all spun about, poised to attack. The spellcasters in the center, Carine and Jhenta, as well as Shalea, fled back to stand beside Drannamon.

The monsters were like nothing they had ever imagined. There were four of them, and each looked like nothing so much as a black cloak, or perhaps some sort of bat. But they were not bats. Each one had two long, rubbery tentacles with barbed tips. They reached out from beneath their wings as they glided down to attack the adventurers.

Bunker swung his axe with both hands over his head, trying to sever the wings from one of the creatures. The creature dodged, and he missed entirely. It landed atop him and coiled its tentacles about his waist. The monster tightened its grip, but it was not nearly strong enough to crush the sturdy dwarf. It completely engulfed the dwarf with its wings and snapped at him with hidden fangs. The dwarf's armor protected him from the teeth, but Bunker decided his axe was no longer useful. He dropped it, pulled a dagger from his belt and began slashing at the thing on top of him.

Aendar managed to raise his shield up overhead, just as one of the things landed on it with a thud. The creature was not heavy enough to knock the paladin from his feet, but it reached around the shield to clutch and grab at him. With his sword, Aendar severed one of the things tentacles, but the other found his neck. He was saved by the metal collar of his armor.

Andryl pierced one with her spear as it swooped, and it shrieked like a banshee. The thing whipped out its tentacles to claw at her face and neck, but was unable to dislodge itself from her spear. She held it at a distance and bashed it against the wall until it went limp.

Drannamon saw one of the creatures swoop down on Jhenta as she fled. He fired an arrow into it, wounding the thing, and causing it to miss her by a handspan. The thing landed on the floor, instead, where it flopped around clumsily, trying to raise itself. It finally went down under a hail of arrows and daggers.

"Is anyone wounded?" asked Aendar. No one was hurt.

"What WERE those things," Jhenta asked, panting.

Aendar and Drannamon both shrugged. Carine had never come across such a creature in any of her studies. They were surprised when Bunker answered. "Darkmantles." The others looked at him, somewhat surprised. "Denizens of the Underdark they are," he explained. "I 'aven't seen one in many winters. But then, I've spent more time in stables than in dungeons, lately."

Andryl gingerly prodded one of the slimy corpses with the tip of her spear. "Knowing what they are called doesn't make them any less disgusting."

"They're like octopuses with cloaks," Bunker added.

Shalea scratched her head. "What's an octopus?"

"And it's octopi," added Carine. She went over to the pedestal. "Now that that is over, let us turn our attention to this strange crystal."

Aendar thought for a moment. "Carine, we cannot just ignore these other passages," he said.

"Whatever you say, Aendar," replied the wizardess, rolling her eyes. Aendar glowered. He glanced at Drannamon and Andryl and Bunker, and tilted his head. The three silently agreed, and each went to guard one of the passageways.

Aendar, along with Carine, Jhenta and the ever-curious Shalea, gathered around the square pedestal with its mysterious crystal. The wizardess gazed eagerly at the strange artifact, but as yet she did not touch it. The crystal was large and translucent with over a dozen facets. It appeared as if there was something inside it- a metal ball or sphere the size of a fist. The crystal glowed very faintly of its own accord. "There is definitely some magic here," she thought, and began the working of a minor spell.

"What are you doing?" exclaimed Aendar.

Carine scowled at him from across the crystal. "Don't fret, knight," she said. "I know what I am doing. I am just detecting magic. My spell will not harm the crystal." Her suspicions were confirmed, for under the light of her spell, the crystal glowed even brighter. Carine nodded.

"Look," exclaimed Shalea. "There are some of those- what do you call them- letters here on the side." On the side of the pedestal which faced east, back the way they had come, Shalea pointed to some runes.

"On this side, too," said Jhenta, who stood on the south side of the pedestal. Aendar and Carine examined the pedestal more closely and found writings on their sides as well.

"Don't touch anything," said Aendar. "We don't yet know what it is."

Shalea drew back her hand. "I wasn't going to touch it," she insisted.

Carine gave her younger sister a condescending scowl. "Shalea, why don't you go stand over by Andryl." Shalea, used to being chastized by Carine, obeyed. She went sullenly over to where her other sister was standing. The wizard and the paladin turned their attention back to the crystal.

"Here on the east side," said Carine, "I see three runes." She looked more closely at the pedestal. It was often the custom of wizards in the Forgotten Realms to devise personal symbols, magerunes, to act as a sort of signature. By the decree of the gods, no two wizards could ever have the same mark. One of them, Carine recognized. "This one here," she exclaimed, "it looks like it could be either a crescent moon or a winking eye. That is the mark of Maskyr himself!" She examined the others more closely. "These other two, I do not recognize. One looks something like a spear and a bow, perhaps. The other might be a mountain. They mean nothing to me."

Aendar stepped aside as Carine went carefully to the next side of the pedestal.

"This side is different," she said. "These are not wizard-marks here at all, they are plain old runes. This is writing." The other two sides were similar.

"Writings," mused Aendar. He was curious. "Can you make out what they say?"

Carine frowned, deep in thought for a moment. "This one is in elvish," she replied. Silently, the wizardess read what was written there in the stone. She didn't quite know what to make of it.

//Two bodies have I, both joined in one.// //The less I am moved, the quicker I run.//

"The writing on the west side, I cannot make out," she continued. "But the writings there on the south side are almost certainly in dwarven."

"Dwarven?" asked Bunker. "Let me see what they say." He went over to the pedestal, and stood opposite Carine. "Aye lass," he said. "There's no doubt. That's the dwarf-tongue, at least on this side." He translated aloud.

//The part of the bird that is not in the sky// //That can swim in the ocean and ever stay dry//

"Bah," muttered the dwarf. "What mummery is this? Is this that fool wizard's idea of a joke?"

"No joke, Bunker," said Shalea. "It sounds like a riddle." Andryl elbowed her in the ribs to keep quiet.

"A riddle?" asked Jhenta. Shalea nodded to her, then shrugged her shoulders.

Bunker then went around the pedestal, peering at each side in turn. He could decipher none of the other writings, until he came to the three marks on the east side. "Well I'll be delved," he exclaimed. "That's old Maskyr's sign, all right. But this one here is the mark of Tuir, the Deep King." He pointed excitedly at the rune shaped like a mountain.

Carine looked at Bunker skeptically. "Are you sure? The Deep King was no mage. These look like wizard marks to me." All her life, she had known only Bunker the Groom, her father's stable-hand. She doubted he would be able to recognize any strange symbols.

Bunker muttered and shook his head. "Do ye think I am daft," he spluttered. "What dwarf doesn't know the sign of the Realm of Glimmering Swords?"

***