Dungeon of Doors

The party moves through the tunnel with a somewhat uncomfortable silence. Drist is soaked, water dripping from his clothes as he walks near the front of the group. Miss Hawthorne is giving him quite the glare as she walks. His most recent dive into the water resulted in him learning that strange belt he got lets him swim as easily as a fish. He moves with unnatural grace underwater, and I can imagine next time he fights an aquatic monster he'll come out on top without my help.

My steps slow as the way forward is barred. I can't see any way to progress, and Drist doesn't even try to approach the blocked passage.

"What now?" Leah asks aloud.

"We use this, I'd guess."

Drist grabs the wheel of a strange mechanism. There's a big metal pipe connected to the wheel, and as he turns it the sound of water flowing grows louder. The canal of water in the center of the passage starts to recede. Realization dawns on us as we watch the water level lower.

Whoever was here controlled the water level with this method.

With the water level lowered we can now see the bottom of the canal. At its center there are vertical shafts in several places, one such pit near the valve Drist just turned.

"We'll have to jump."

Drist doesn't wait for anyone to agree or disagree. The already soaked man leaps down, diving into the water below with a resounding splash. Miss Hawthorne stops me from following with a gentle hand. She's got a rather frustrated look on her face as she dives down next.

I can hear her berating her teacher as they both climb out of the water. Not sure I want to be the next to go if it means getting between those two. Luckily Leah is raring to go. She steps up and after checking to make sure no one is in the way she takes the plunge.

"Do I have to?" Henry whines.

It's clear the doesn't want to get covered in the filthy water. I can't blame him, as it is disgusting, but we have to move forward if we want to get to the end of this level of the dungeon.

"Afraid so. We can't leave you behind Henry, it wouldn't be safe."

"Ugh... Okay, fine."

Henry steps up to the edge of the canal with a conflicted look on his face. He clenches his fists at his sides, glancing down and then at me. We wait like this for an uncomfortably long time, and he finally takes a step back.

"I can't do it!"

Without saying anything I approach. He's looking shamefully at his feet, and I put a comforting hand on his shoulder. He looks up at me upon feeling the physical contact.

"It's alright, Henry."

"Really? Can I just wait here?"

"Afraid not."

My hand pushes Henry's back hard enough he stumbles forward. Henry lets out a frightened shriek as he plummets down into the shaft, landing in the water with a particularly loud splash. The boy is sputtering and flailing when he resurfaces. Leah and Drist pull him out of the water, Drist barely containing snickers at the boy who now resembles a wet dog.

Once the way is clear I take the plunge. The sensation of water going up my nose and into my ears as I dive down isn't pleasant, but I tough it out. The others help pull me out of the water and onto the ledge. Unfortunately the walkways beside the canal in this tunnel aren't dry, but rather under a shallow layer of water.

"You pushed me!" Henry accuses.

"That I did, but if I hadn't you would never have jumped."

Henry goes quiet at that. The boy is clearly put off by what happened, but he would not have moved if it wasn't for me. Perhaps I should apologize to him later. For now we need to focus on getting through this filthy network of tunnels.

The group continues forward with somewhat muted enthusiasm. Having to dive into the water has gotten everyone soaked and dirty, and the water we have to walk through is making the matter worse. We're certainly at risk of getting some kind of disease now.

"Another dead end."

Sure enough, Miss Hawthorne is right. The passage has been barred by more metal bars, preventing us from continuing. Before we can start looking for a solution Drist is quick to point out there's a vertical shaft above us. There's also a valve near the blocked passage much like the one from before.

"So we'll have to swim up?" I postulate.

"Looks like it. Going to be quite the swim, is everyone here ready for that?"

Henry takes a few deep breaths before he nods. Leah looks confident. Drist doesn't need to say anything, considering the new belt and his skill. Miss Hawthorne turns to me and motions for me to turn the valve.

I oblige, my hands finding purchase on the rusted wheel. Twisting it takes a bit of effort. The metal scrapes and groans under the pressure of my pull. The sound of flowing water signals the start of the flooding process.

"Everyone swim toward that shaft!"

With that final warning we're sent into the deep end. Water rises rapidly from my ankles to my thighs. The older folks in the group let the young ones--Henry and Leah--go first, placing them in the center of the group. Since I turned the valve I'm on the outermost edge of the crowd.

Water is up to my chest now. Rising fast, hitting my neck and forcing me to tread water. We're all floating upwards as we work our limbs to stay afloat. The limited space means some of us have to hold our breath while others swim up the shaft where the air is.

I let my head dip beneath the water. Blinking away the silt and muck gives me a view of the flailing limbs of my comrades and the bubbles being cast throughout the water. I take a glance down, and my heart nearly stops.

There's a severed head floating in the water, the face twisted in an expression of agony. Large gashes and viscera paint a bloody picture of how this man met his end. I don't want to stick around to find out what killed this man, so I kick my feet and swim upwards.

Heaving, I gulp air in greedily as I surface. The others look at me with a mixture of worry and confusion as I throw myself onto the dry walkway. Miss Hawthorne is the first to speak. She places a hand on my shoulder, looking me up and down for any wounds.

"What's got you looking so spooked, Billy? Was there another monster?"

I shake my head before tilting it slightly.

"Not sure if there was a monster, I didn't see one."

"Then why are you acting like you've seen a ghost?"

Swallowing my own saliva, I calm myself with a few deep breaths. It isn't my first time seeing a corpse. This was just more unexpected than anything.

"There was a corpse. Human. All I saw was the head."

The group goes eerily quiet at that. For once Drist is not the least bit amused. His lips form a grim expressionless line. Henry and Leah both look more nervous than before, like the lethality of this dungeon is something they hadn't really processed fully. Even with the near miss at the water fall they hadn't actually seen anyone die. Now? Now death feels closer than ever.

"Let's keep moving. It's best not to dwell on this further."

We quietly agree with Miss Hawthorne. While all of us are wondering what happened to that poor sod, it would be unwise to swim back down there blindly.

It doesn't take very long for us to reach the end of the passage. It ends by connecting us to a vertical shaft, a fairly narrow one with less sunlight pouring in through the top. Water cascades down before falling through a grated metal floor. Sitting near the center is an open treasure chest. The implication is that someone got here before us. Those other delvers, no doubt.

"We were too slow."

"Yes, and I have a feeling they aren't just locals, but proper adventurers."

I have to agree with Drist on that. None of the village folk could have done what we've had to thus far, and while the unknown group did suffer at least one casualty they did claim the reward. The chest is completely empty, no coins nor items to speak of.

"There's a passage here."

Drist is gesturing to a section of the wall that's crumbled apart. It's half hidden by the water flowing down from above, and it looks like something an animal might burrow. The strange thing is it feels like the right way to go.

"This should lead us back to the start, right?"

While most of us agree, Henry looks downright baffled. He points to the opening in the wall before expressing his confusion.

"What are you all talking about? That's some suspicious crack in the wall! Why would it lead back? Am I missing something?"

The rest of us simply shrug. It is more my instincts telling me what this passage is for than anything, and apparently Henry lacks the sense to see it. Logically Henry has a point. Unfortunately, there's more to delving than logic.

"We're going through the tunnel, Henry."

"Ugh... Okay, fine. You're the boss."

No further discussion is made. We're all tired, soaked, and ready to be out of this filthy sewer level. One by one we file into the hole in the wall with the expectation we'll soon be out of the dungeon and someplace near a warm fire, drying off.

~

The wildkin are quickly adapting to their new home. I was worried at first, seeing the two wildkin overwhelmed by the large space and the incident with one falling off the massive faux tree. Thankfully they weren't so put off as to want to live elsewhere, and now the whole of the population is moving in.

While I was busy with the wildkin I've gained a lot of mana. Adventurers in Aquartis have been busy, with one of them perishing--I assume to a glugmaw--and both treasure chests being emptied. The exit tunnel is a success. Adventurers are making their way out of it right now.

I'd like to start working on Kagami Sea, but there is something that needs my attention. Some people are poking around the ruins of Woodrin's entrance.

They don't seem to be anyone official. Three teenage boys, one particularly tall and one particularly short. They're digging around in the rubble as if searching for something. They can't possibly be trying to unearth the dungeon entrance, can they? It was destroyed in the explosion-

Wait. I never truly checked the aftermath, only cleaning the antechamber up and writing off the entrance to the surface defunct. My gaze has yet to penetrate the rubble in search of the door.

Looking closer, I find something astonishing beneath the overturned earth. The stone frame of the door is intact. There are scratches and cracks in it, but the stone frame housing the portal connecting the surface to Woodrin's antechamber is functional.

The boys are talking now, and I listen.

"Come on, Teddy, there's no way the dungeon survived!"

Teddy, the smallest of the boys, continues to pull chunks of rock away from the dirt. It's rather pitiful to watch. The biggest of the boys walks over and helps lift away some of the larger pieces of rubble.

"I have to see it for myself, Andy."

"See what, Teddy? It's gone!"

Shaking his head, Teddy continues to paw at the dirt with his hands. The large boy helps him with his much larger hands while Andy watches with a disgruntled frown.

"We haven't seen the door, you know? Just dirt and bits of the ground."

I suppose it couldn't hurt to throw the boy a bit of good fortune. Using some of the ample mana reserves I've gathered, I chisel away at the ground. The action is subtle. Not ripping away enough soil or rock to make it obvious anything is happening. The amount of mana used is costly, but it will be worthwhile if adventurers return to Woodrin.

"Wait, is that-"

"Ha! I told you there would be something!"

They've managed to dig up a corner of the door with my help. The issue is the door is lying flat on the ground, so they can't do much except dig at it more. The boys argue for a few moments before Andy relents, offering his support.

"Let's get some more folks to help dig it up. Tools, too."

"I knew you'd come around! Let's go, there's no time to waste!"