The Journal of Harren Smoulder Entry #8

 It's only been a few hours since we set out today but we all need a break. It's been a trying morning. My right leg was ripped to shreds by flying stone but Eric's magic has me fighting fit again. All these new voices we've met haven't been making it easy to rest though.

We went straight to the cave Diedre had pointed out. I can't tell if this is natural or carved out by man. The walls are so smooth and there's more than just cave in here. Just to the right inside of the entrance was a pool of fetid stagnant water and to the left a small cabin built against a wall. Trash floated on the surface of the water. In the middle of the filth was a crate half open showing several dusty bottles inside. We were all hesitant to take a dip to bring it to dry land, all of us except Zanvar that is. He calmly strode into and under the water. He simply walked over and pushed it back to the rest of us. With no body he doesn't even need to breathe, although it makes me wonder just what rules there are to his condition. He has no eyes or ears but he can see and hear. He has no mouth but he can speak. He must not be able to smell or else he wouldn't have been so eager to save the rest of us the trouble.

The bottles were once labeled but they had all peeled away. The only thing to do was try uncorking one. As soon as it was loosened the pink liquid inside burst out, nearly hitting me with the cork. It emptied itself from the bottle fizzing and crackling before falling to the ground and evaporating. Eric was disappointed that whatever was in there wasn't something meant to be drank. Just like I've developed a taste for exotic meats he seems to be a connoisseur of drink.   

The cabin had a small window and door in one side. Outside there were awful smelling barrels grouped near the corners. We removed some lids to find rotten limbs and heads separated from their bodies. I climbed through the window to check the inside first. I wasn't going to simply walk through the door of a place like this. It turned out the door was a perfectly safe option and I was just being paranoid. The cabin was set up to be a meager living space. A table and bench to sit at, a place for a cooking fire, even a few cloths set aside to sleep on. More barrels with body parts were next to the fire place. Zanvar didn't seem to mind as he investigated, making me think he truly must not be able to smell. He discovered a brick out of place and pulled on it, sliding the back of the fireplace to the side revealing a crawlspace behind.

There was barely enough room for the four of us to squeeze in. It was a hallway at best with a chest on either side. I joked about there being more bodies inside, but imagine my surprise when one of the chests spoke up saying that the other contained coins and was protected by a poisonous trap. We crowded around it as best we could. It continued trying to make pleasant conversation with us while we just stared. It didn't try to steer us wrong about the other chest. When I tried to open it I spotted a spring loaded launcher inside. It was a cinch to disarm and inside was a set of lock picks and a bag of coins that I didn't recognize. The chest said it was a mimic designed for disposal and that there was another mimic elsewhere named Kevin. It would eat anything and send it to someplace far far away, but it would retrieve something for us in exchange for hundreds of those odd coins. There weren't enough in the bag to satisfy it but it told us that the thing it would retrieve was a skeleton key capable of opening any lock. We've found more coins since then, so we'll make a trip back. We found Kevin with them too, a sheath with one big eye that will answer any question truthfully in exchange for a sword's blade.

Filing out we set about moving further into the cave down the only passage. It forked ninety degrees in opposite directions, another reason to think it was man made. We turned right and came to a wooden door underneath a mural of two opposite facing crescent moons and a full moon between them. On the floor were humongous plates that matched the moons. Few took a stab in the dark stepping on the left facing crescent moon revealing this door was protected by a magical trap. The full moon glowed before a bolt of energy flew into her. She fell back and spit blood onto he mistaken path. Eric chuckled and said it was a coin flip which was correct. He stepped onto the full moon plate and suffered the same attack Few had. I passed unhindered walking across the right facing moon and the door even swung open for me.   

The room was some sort of laboratory. Flasks of liquids lined shelves above a table covered with mysterious instruments centered around a metal box. Disorganized bookshelves were lined with hand written journals much like this one I've been filling with my exploits. We've been resting here, whiling away a short time looking over these notes. This was Viktor's humble home for a time. In his words it was a quiet place where he could work without interruption. His experiments had moved to focus more on a slimy substance he'd found in another cave. The bottles in the floating crate were filled with one of his failures. Leaning against a table leg was Kevin who seems to think he's better than the other mimic. The chest was never given a name and Kevin thinks that means Viktor liked him more. Inside the box on the table were more coins neatly stacked and counted. I wonder if Viktor had discovered a way to make gold out of this slime just like the alchemists I've read about.

A little worse for ware we retraced our steps and took the other path. It was blocked off by a metal bars and a locked gate. I must have the sense of a locksmith because those picks just feel right to me. The gate swung open like it had never been a blockage in the first place. Further along we were actually blocked by a long pit. I think I could hear water bellow but even so, a fall down there would leave us separated and battered. Eric was the only one to have difficulties crossing, perhaps his short legs made it almost impossible for him, but we caught him.

The passage slowly turned to the right to face the same direction we came. White webs and sacks were hanging from the walls and ceilings. Few was more than ready to ignite them and burn a clear path for us but we'd all been covered in webbing trying to get through already. To light them on fire would be to light ourselves on fire. It wasn't long before one of us made a misstep, me. While squashing a pile of webs underfoot I heard the tell tale click of a pressure plate. I told everyone to back away from me, hoping that I might disarm the trap before lifting my foot. Maybe I fidgeted too much or maybe it was a timer that counted down but the trap set off before anyone could make it to safety. An explosion burst from behind the wall to my right flinging rock and flame into the hallway. The webs caught like the trail of gunpowder I laid for the bandits turning the passage into a flash fire.   

We're all safe now but that was the most pain I've ever felt. Luckily the explosion had created a path allowing us to bypass the pit. I wouldn't have been able to make it back to the laboratory if not for that. I had to hobble along with Zanvar's help since I couldn't put any weight on the one leg. There will be plenty more to do before we reach the next layer of the abyss but I can almost hear the woodland animals of the second level already. It worries me though that Few is still with us. If she does become sick it will be imperative that the rest of us find the flower to cure her.   
 

The picture of the Mimic is from the Forgotten Realms wiki, a place I've found many of my pictures for this series. http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Mimic

Now I have to own a mistake. In past entries I've used art from a friend and only every referred to him as a friend. I've retroactively left comments on the previous entries giving a link but for anyone who'd been keeping up to date you wouldn't have seen them. So it's only right that I make sure everyone knows who drew our characters. https://twitter.com/Paper_DawN He does commissions every now and then, another reason why I should have linked him form the start. He's been understanding with me, there's no problem that can't be solved with this blurb. Take a look at what else he's done because it's a lot more than just D&D