LXXXII. The Eyot

Behind obscuring brush, a hewn stone tunnel led inward and downward into the eyot, bending first right, then left before darkness obscured it. The sloping floor appeared to be somewhat slippery, and the adventurers had to exert considerable effort to keep their balance as they proceeded. Adam led the way, followed by Troy, Zzyggy, Fiora and Graves.

About thirty feet inward, Troy, Zzyggy and Graves suddenly felt as if their courage and combat abilities were under attack from some unknown source. "What was that?" whispered Zzyggy timidly. "Nothing," said Adam. "Shake it off."

The tunnel veered right after about sixty feet, then bent back to the left and entered a relatively straight section. On the left, the adventurers spotted a simple wooden door. Troy watched down the tunnel for possible attackers, and the rest of the party readied themselves to open the door.

Adam pressed his ear to the door. He heard nothing. "Clear," he whispered, then turned the knob. It was stuck. One kick from the barbarian and the door flew open. Adam led the way in, followed by Zzyggy and the others.

The gnome shone his lantern into the room. The room was a storage room, stocked with various buckets, shovels, crowbars, and other useful implements.

Suddenly Adam cried out. Down from the ceiling, a sickly greenish blob dripped onto the barbarian’s arm. "Green slime!" Zzyggy recognized the foul creature and knew how to handle it: with fire. He cast flaming sphere on Adam and the slime. The barbarian’s arm was singed, but the slime was burned off and destroyed. "I hope this place isn’t full of slimes," said Adam. "I hate slimes!"

The adventurers left the storage room and turned left to continue down the tunnel. Only Adam heard the faint scratching sound. Instantly he flew into a rage.

Just as three monstrous scorpions attacked!

The furious barbarian focused his full power against the nearest vermin, shattering its carapace. Weakly it struck at Fiora, drawing blood from a minor wound. The other two scorpions scuttled toward Troy and Zzyggy. Troy swung at one of the advancing arachnids, but missed.

Graves loosed an arrow at the scorpion Adam had previously wounded. The arrow pricked deep. Fiora struck back at the creature as well, and one final blow from Adam’s sword dispatched it.

Another scorpion attacked Fiora, then tried to seize her in its claws, but she escaped the grapple.

Zzyggy blasted it with magic missiles, and Fiora finished it off. Finally, Graves and Adam slew the remaining vermin. Troy cut off the scorpions’ stingers, managing not to poison himself in the process. "Never know when you’ll need one of these things," he explained.

Fiora and Graves decided to ransack the storage room and guard the tunnel entrance, while the rest of the party proceeded into the tunnel. The tunnel had begun to spiral sharply downward to the left, and Adam, Troy and Zzggy all found it difficult going.

Just past the storage room door, the adventurers noticed cracks in the floor, ceiling, and walls of the tunnel. As they walked over the cracks in the floor, a gust of wind blew at them. Entrained in the wind was some kind of noxious dust. "A trap!" cried Troy. He sped down the tunnel as fas as he could, followede by Adam and Zzyggy, all of them coughing due to the dust.

After a minute, the adventurers reached clear air. "What was that, some kind of poison?" inquired Adam. He looked at Zzyggy, who was still coughing. "You certainly look worse for wear," the barbarian observed. "I do?" gasped the gnome. He thought for a moment. "Must’ve been ungol dust," he concluded. "Only poison I’ve heard of has that effect. Not good."

Behind the three adventurers, Fiora and Graves appeared. "Seems you need guarding more than the tunnel entrance," said Fiora. "Ha, ha," responded Zzyggy.

The tunnel continued to spiral downward and to the left. After another fifty or sixty feet, Zzyggy noticed a small opening in the right wall. It was about four feet high led down and away.

"This is about my size!" said Zzyggy. He took out a rope from his pack and tied it around his waist. "Pull me out if I yank on this," he told Troy. Then he bent over and entered the opening, holding his lamp before him.

The passage was more like crawlspace. After about thirty feet, it widened into a chamber about fifteen by twenty feet. Zzyggy peered into the chamber . . . .

And immediately yanked hard on the rope! Instantly Troy pulled the foolhardy gnome back into the relative safety of the main tunnel.

"Cockatrices," the gnome gasped to the rest of the party. "Two of them!" Fortunately, the creatures had not pursued him. "Let’s keep moving," Adam urged. Zzyggy heartily agreed, and also readied magic missile.

Continuing down the steep, slippery tunnel, none of the adventurers heard anything amiss.

Until, emerging from cracks in the tunnel wall, an ochre jelly slammed into Graves, burning the fighter with its acidic slime!

"Let’s get out of here!" cried Adam. He saw Zzyggy preparing a spell and held up while the gnome cast scorching ray at jelly. The ray struck home, burning the jelly for serious damage.

Graves backed away from the jelly. Fiora took a step toward the oozy monster, then pulled out a torch and lit it. The jelly flowed toward Zzyggy and Fiora. A pseudopod slammed at Fiora, but missed. Troy rushed at the ooze and struck at it with his magical mace, but almost fumbled the weapon. He tossed a torch to Adam.

The barbarian held back, guarding against possible reinforcements from below. Magic missiles from Zzyggy blasted the ooze. Fiora battered the creature with her torch.

The damaged ooze flowed at Troy. A pseudopod slammed the fighter, then grabbed hold of him! Troy tried to break the slimy grapple, but failed, sustaining acid burns in the process. "Need some help here!" the fighter exclaimed. Quickly, Adam struck the ooze, using only the flat of his sword.

A flaming sphere from Zzyggy struck the jelly, but had no effect! "What the . . . ?" exclaimed the gnome. Fiora’s flaming attack was more successful. Then Graves drew his bow and loosed an arrow at the jelly. "No, Graves! Don’t shoot!" Adam tried to warn him, but too late. The arrow pierced the ochre jelly

And the ooze split into two jellies, each half the size of the original!

One of the jellies still grappled Troy, and continued battering the fighter and burning him with acid. But now, the fighter exerted his maximum effort against the diminished ooze. And freed himself!

Troy quickly stepped back as Adam flew into a rage and launched himself at the first ooze, battering the slimy creature. Magic missiles from Zzyggy finished the first ooze off.

Fiora beat the second ooze with her torch, inflicting more damage. The ooze in turn slammed at Zzyggy, seriously wounding the gnome but failing to grapple him. "Duck, Zzyggy!" cried Troy. The fighter jumped over the gnome and shield bashed the jelly. "Adam! Finish it off!" Troy urged the raging barbarian. And Adam did just that. Under the barbarian’s onslaught, the second jelly collapsed in a pile of slime.

The injured adventurers quaffed healing potions before continuing down the spiraling tunnel. They spotted another side branch to their left, but this time ignored it. The tunnel was still sufficiently steep and slippery that the party’s speed was reduced.

Suddenly, Adam and Fiora fell through the tunnel floor and into a deep pit trap!

Troy sped to the edge of the pit and looked down into it. "Lucky for you spiders don’t know about pit traps!" the fighter noted. His companions’ falls had been broken by several large, and apparently abandoned, spider webs. "Here, grab this," said the fighter, as he threw a rope down into the pit. Adam and Fiora were able to climb out using the rope.

"That was close!" said Adam. "Maybe one of us should learn something about traps," added Fiora. "This place seems to be full of them."

Continuing down the tunnel, now straightened but still descending, the party came to a wooden door on the right. "Any guesses what’s in here?" said Adam. He listened at the door, but again heard nothing. None of the others saw or heard anything either. So Adam forced the door open. Inside the room, the adventurers found various crates, barrels and tools. Troy took a crowbar and a hammer. "Might come in handy," he said.

At last, the party noticed that the tunnel had begun to level off. Ahead of them stood a locked wooden door. Without hesitation, Adam tried to break down the door. He succeeded on the second attempt.

The tunnel opened into a cross-corridor with hewn stone walls and an even floor. Quickly, the adventurers emerged into the corridor.

And Adam, Zzyggy and Troy set off another trap! Heavy stone blocks fell from the ceiling!