Creepy Cave
The next morning greets our friends with clear weather and sunshine. The morning mists still hang thickly over the swamp, but the rising sun promises a beautiful day without any more rain.
"Let's go back along the path and then along the foot of the cliff to the southeast. Just like yesterday. The ground is a bit drier there and we should make good progress," suggests Nikta. "Then we can't miss the cave. We should also look for traces of the skeletons. I don't think they've been walking through the water the whole time."
"Why not? After all, they don't have to breathe like we do, so it shouldn't even bother them if they walk under the water's surface," notes Lian.
"Yes, the skeletons don't. But the necromancer who created them has to breathe. And I don't think he swam or sailed alongside in a boat. Of course, it's possible that he simply sent them out to get the treasure back from the goblins. But he must have a hiding place or a safe place to retreat to somewhere. And we should find it."
The group returns to the edge of the swamp together and climbs the narrow path down the steep cliff. A short time later they turn southeast and follow the course of the cliff. The sun rises higher, dispelling the morning mist and the omnipresent hordes of mosquitoes start looking for food again. After a short walk, Nikta again discovers a clear trail of boot and footprints leading in the same direction. "It seems to me that the skeletons have the same goal as us. A cave would also be a good hiding place to create a crowd of skeletons and undead unnoticed and then go on a hunt. If that is the necromancer's intention," says Nikta.
"In any case, his intentions will not be of a good nature," Lian replies, "and with Iomedae's help, we will stop him and return his undead servants to the peace of the grave."
After another hour, Fushigi spies a cave entrance on the cliff, half hidden under dangling tendrils of wild vines and nettles. "Look, there's the cave. And the skeletons' tracks lead directly to the entrance. They didn't even bother to camouflage their tracks or take a detour to mislead pursuers."
The dark cave entrance lies before them. It is about three paces wide and so high that even Fushigi can walk upright without stubbing his horns. However, the floor is uneven, stones and large boulders lie in the way and it is damp. Water drips steadily from the ceiling and collects in small puddles on the craggy floor. From the outside you can only see a dozen feet in before the passage leads around the corner and disappears into the darkness.
"Should I send Ivar ahead and let him explore the cave before we venture in?" asks Sirca. She kneels down next to the dog and whispers softly in his ear. Then Ivar trots off, under the vines, and disappears into the darkness of the cave. Sirca seems to be in a trance and reports quietly to his friends. "Ivar has come into a larger chamber. To the right the floor slopes away and is under water. The water is calm, but dark and cold. Straight ahead leads deeper into the cave, but to do that Ivar would have to swim through the water and I don't want to do that. On the left hand side there is a narrow branch with dry ground. Let's try that out." The others listen intently while Ivar explores the cave and Sirca continues to report. "The passage is narrow and leads in an arc to the right. Now it widens into a large cave. There is something there. Ivar hears a quiet cracking and scraping and he also smells a pungent smell." Sirca holds his breath for a moment, "A huge spider - Ivar, come back! A huge spider is crouching in the middle of the cave. The walls are covered in shiny spider webs in many places. It is crouched in the middle and is bent over something it is eating, which is why it hasn't noticed Ivar. I'll call him back now." A moment later Ivar appears again at the exit of the cave and joins Sirca's side.
"Good friends. I think we have learned enough. Let's go in and explore the path straight ahead to the back of the cave. I don't want to meet a giant spider either,” says Nikta. “Fushigi, can you give me another torch?”
After the torch has been lit, Nikta steps forward and enters the cave. Sirca and Hanrin follow him, but as Sirca walks between the vines, she feels a burning pain and jumps back out of the cave entrance. On her face and arms where she touched the vines, a multitude of red pustules form, burning and itching terribly. She feels terrible. “Damn, that burns really badly. Those must be the nettles growing between the vines. Just be careful not to touch them. Oh, I could go mad, it itches so much.”
Lian holds up his large wooden shield and pushes the vines aside with his sword. Sirca, Fushigi and he slip through the narrow gap. The group continues into the cave. The walls move closer together, the ceiling gets lower, and water drips down everywhere. A musty smell hangs in the air. They ignore the small passage that branches off to the right and which, as they know, leads to the large hairy spider. After about 100 feet, most of the floor is under water. Only a narrow ledge on the right side leads past the pool. The water is a little murky, but apart from the falling drops, the surface is still and calm. Nevertheless, the friends hesitate to step into the water carelessly.
“Come on. Here on the right behind the ledge the path continues on the other side of the water. With a bold jump you should be able to get to the other side with dry feet,” says Nikta. One after the other, the adventurers jump over the pool of water to the other side without any of them falling in or stepping into the water. Nitka is the last to cross over to the other bank with an elegant jump. The cave leads deeper into the rock. At another point, the underground pool of water has to be crossed again before the passage widens into a large cave. Here, too, the right part of the cave is hidden under water, while the left rises slightly. In the flickering torchlight, the friends see several skeletons lying motionless on the floor. Liam carefully approaches the first one, ready to strike with his sword at any time should it move or get up. But the bones remain motionless on the stone floor. “Look, just lying there and there is no trace of necromancy or evil magic,” says Lian.
“What strange clothes they were wearing. Have you ever seen anything like that before?” asks Fushigi. “It looks kind of exotic.”
"Let's make sure they don't rise again and find their just rest," says Lian as he raises his sword high above his head and brings it down with a violent blow on the bones in front of him. These shatter under his blow and the corpse remains still. But the other two dead further back in the cave rise and slowly come towards the adventurers, their hands outstretched like claws. Nikta jumps forward, lets his chain of spikes circle and then crashes down on the head of a skeleton. It staggers to the side and then collapses completely on the ground. Sirca, who in the meantime had summoned a glowing fire beetle to better illuminate the scene, stays in the background. But the fire beetle pounces on the third undead, knocks it off balance and sets it, or rather the remains of its clothing, on fire. The flames flare up like a human torch before it too falls to the ground and lies motionless. To everyone's horror, three more corpses rise from the water on the left and attack. Hanrin, who had been waiting until now, hurls a ball of acid at the skeleton in front, which then collapses and sinks back into the water, and the two remaining undead are also neutralized by Nikta and Lian with targeted blows from their weapons before they can cause any serious damage.
"Well, I think we've found the first group of undead and are on the right track. But that was probably just a small taste, so be careful as we move on," says Hanrin as everyone takes a deep breath to recover from the shock. At the back of the cave, a narrow passage leads further upwards. Lian and Nikta go forward again, while Hanrin and Sirca are in the middle and Fushigi is watching their backs. The passage ends in another cave, with a pool of water to the right and a deep niche to the left. In the middle of the cave, in the light of the torch, the friends see another bone figure sitting on a large, red wooden chest. It wears a helmet on its skull, exotic-looking armor made of many wooden plates, and a short, slightly curved, shiny sword lies on its knees. It pays no attention to the group. Lian carefully peers into the water on the right, fearing that more undead could be hiding here. Nikta storms forward and pushes the undead backwards off the large box, causing him to fall and tumble backwards onto the ground. The skeleton warrior gets back up and Nikta uses the opportunity to rain two or three blows down on him with his spiked chain. Lian is there too, jumps forward and joins the fight. The undead warrior faces Nitka, stares straight at him as if he were challenging him to a duel and lets his slender sword fly forward. Nikta is able to dodge one or two blows and land another hit himself. The other three stay in the background, unsure whether and how they should intervene in the fight. Lian sends a quick prayer to Iomedae to help him fight this evil creature and indeed, the next blow of his sword comes down with such force that it shatters the shoulder, penetrates deep into the chest and the warrior falls to the ground in defeat the next moment. With one final thrust, Lian seals his fate and ensures that he will never rise from the dead again.
"By the gods, what a terrible creature," says Hanrin once the initial shock has worn off. "Did you see how it targeted Nikta? As if he had a personal grudge against you."
"Indeed, but I have never met him or anything like him before," replies Nikta. "I think he belonged to a special warrior caste when he was alive and somehow still remembered the customs of single combat. Still, I am glad that you were by my side, Lian, and that I did not have to face him alone."
"May Iomedae shine his light upon us."
Meanwhile, Fushigi tries to open the chest. It looks very valuable, red polished wood with filigree bands of green jade. However, it is very dirty, as if it had only recently been dragged through the swamp. "Damn, it's locked and I can't open it," curses Fushigi quietly.
"Try this key," replies Nikta and hands Fushigi a small bronze key that the skeleton warrior had worn around his neck on a string. The key fits and the chest opens. Inside, it is divided into many smaller compartments lined with velvet. It has obviously been partially plundered, as some of the compartments are empty. However, there are a few potions that Hanrin identifies as healing potions of various kinds, a magic ring, a magic staff, a masterfully crafted chainmail shirt with a matching sword and all kinds of coins, jewelry and gemstones.
Lian, who had meanwhile taken a closer look at the skeleton warrior's sword, suddenly calls out, "Look what I found. The handle of the sword is loose and inside there is a hollow space in which this letter was rolled up. The seal is still intact and has the initials A and K or R and K. What do you think, should we open it?"
"Let's go back along the path and then along the foot of the cliff to the southeast. Just like yesterday. The ground is a bit drier there and we should make good progress," suggests Nikta. "Then we can't miss the cave. We should also look for traces of the skeletons. I don't think they've been walking through the water the whole time."
"Why not? After all, they don't have to breathe like we do, so it shouldn't even bother them if they walk under the water's surface," notes Lian.
"Yes, the skeletons don't. But the necromancer who created them has to breathe. And I don't think he swam or sailed alongside in a boat. Of course, it's possible that he simply sent them out to get the treasure back from the goblins. But he must have a hiding place or a safe place to retreat to somewhere. And we should find it."
The group returns to the edge of the swamp together and climbs the narrow path down the steep cliff. A short time later they turn southeast and follow the course of the cliff. The sun rises higher, dispelling the morning mist and the omnipresent hordes of mosquitoes start looking for food again. After a short walk, Nikta again discovers a clear trail of boot and footprints leading in the same direction. "It seems to me that the skeletons have the same goal as us. A cave would also be a good hiding place to create a crowd of skeletons and undead unnoticed and then go on a hunt. If that is the necromancer's intention," says Nikta.
"In any case, his intentions will not be of a good nature," Lian replies, "and with Iomedae's help, we will stop him and return his undead servants to the peace of the grave."
After another hour, Fushigi spies a cave entrance on the cliff, half hidden under dangling tendrils of wild vines and nettles. "Look, there's the cave. And the skeletons' tracks lead directly to the entrance. They didn't even bother to camouflage their tracks or take a detour to mislead pursuers."
The dark cave entrance lies before them. It is about three paces wide and so high that even Fushigi can walk upright without stubbing his horns. However, the floor is uneven, stones and large boulders lie in the way and it is damp. Water drips steadily from the ceiling and collects in small puddles on the craggy floor. From the outside you can only see a dozen feet in before the passage leads around the corner and disappears into the darkness.
"Should I send Ivar ahead and let him explore the cave before we venture in?" asks Sirca. She kneels down next to the dog and whispers softly in his ear. Then Ivar trots off, under the vines, and disappears into the darkness of the cave. Sirca seems to be in a trance and reports quietly to his friends. "Ivar has come into a larger chamber. To the right the floor slopes away and is under water. The water is calm, but dark and cold. Straight ahead leads deeper into the cave, but to do that Ivar would have to swim through the water and I don't want to do that. On the left hand side there is a narrow branch with dry ground. Let's try that out." The others listen intently while Ivar explores the cave and Sirca continues to report. "The passage is narrow and leads in an arc to the right. Now it widens into a large cave. There is something there. Ivar hears a quiet cracking and scraping and he also smells a pungent smell." Sirca holds his breath for a moment, "A huge spider - Ivar, come back! A huge spider is crouching in the middle of the cave. The walls are covered in shiny spider webs in many places. It is crouched in the middle and is bent over something it is eating, which is why it hasn't noticed Ivar. I'll call him back now." A moment later Ivar appears again at the exit of the cave and joins Sirca's side.
"Good friends. I think we have learned enough. Let's go in and explore the path straight ahead to the back of the cave. I don't want to meet a giant spider either,” says Nikta. “Fushigi, can you give me another torch?”
After the torch has been lit, Nikta steps forward and enters the cave. Sirca and Hanrin follow him, but as Sirca walks between the vines, she feels a burning pain and jumps back out of the cave entrance. On her face and arms where she touched the vines, a multitude of red pustules form, burning and itching terribly. She feels terrible. “Damn, that burns really badly. Those must be the nettles growing between the vines. Just be careful not to touch them. Oh, I could go mad, it itches so much.”
Lian holds up his large wooden shield and pushes the vines aside with his sword. Sirca, Fushigi and he slip through the narrow gap. The group continues into the cave. The walls move closer together, the ceiling gets lower, and water drips down everywhere. A musty smell hangs in the air. They ignore the small passage that branches off to the right and which, as they know, leads to the large hairy spider. After about 100 feet, most of the floor is under water. Only a narrow ledge on the right side leads past the pool. The water is a little murky, but apart from the falling drops, the surface is still and calm. Nevertheless, the friends hesitate to step into the water carelessly.
“Come on. Here on the right behind the ledge the path continues on the other side of the water. With a bold jump you should be able to get to the other side with dry feet,” says Nikta. One after the other, the adventurers jump over the pool of water to the other side without any of them falling in or stepping into the water. Nitka is the last to cross over to the other bank with an elegant jump. The cave leads deeper into the rock. At another point, the underground pool of water has to be crossed again before the passage widens into a large cave. Here, too, the right part of the cave is hidden under water, while the left rises slightly. In the flickering torchlight, the friends see several skeletons lying motionless on the floor. Liam carefully approaches the first one, ready to strike with his sword at any time should it move or get up. But the bones remain motionless on the stone floor. “Look, just lying there and there is no trace of necromancy or evil magic,” says Lian.
“What strange clothes they were wearing. Have you ever seen anything like that before?” asks Fushigi. “It looks kind of exotic.”
"Let's make sure they don't rise again and find their just rest," says Lian as he raises his sword high above his head and brings it down with a violent blow on the bones in front of him. These shatter under his blow and the corpse remains still. But the other two dead further back in the cave rise and slowly come towards the adventurers, their hands outstretched like claws. Nikta jumps forward, lets his chain of spikes circle and then crashes down on the head of a skeleton. It staggers to the side and then collapses completely on the ground. Sirca, who in the meantime had summoned a glowing fire beetle to better illuminate the scene, stays in the background. But the fire beetle pounces on the third undead, knocks it off balance and sets it, or rather the remains of its clothing, on fire. The flames flare up like a human torch before it too falls to the ground and lies motionless. To everyone's horror, three more corpses rise from the water on the left and attack. Hanrin, who had been waiting until now, hurls a ball of acid at the skeleton in front, which then collapses and sinks back into the water, and the two remaining undead are also neutralized by Nikta and Lian with targeted blows from their weapons before they can cause any serious damage.
"Well, I think we've found the first group of undead and are on the right track. But that was probably just a small taste, so be careful as we move on," says Hanrin as everyone takes a deep breath to recover from the shock. At the back of the cave, a narrow passage leads further upwards. Lian and Nikta go forward again, while Hanrin and Sirca are in the middle and Fushigi is watching their backs. The passage ends in another cave, with a pool of water to the right and a deep niche to the left. In the middle of the cave, in the light of the torch, the friends see another bone figure sitting on a large, red wooden chest. It wears a helmet on its skull, exotic-looking armor made of many wooden plates, and a short, slightly curved, shiny sword lies on its knees. It pays no attention to the group. Lian carefully peers into the water on the right, fearing that more undead could be hiding here. Nikta storms forward and pushes the undead backwards off the large box, causing him to fall and tumble backwards onto the ground. The skeleton warrior gets back up and Nikta uses the opportunity to rain two or three blows down on him with his spiked chain. Lian is there too, jumps forward and joins the fight. The undead warrior faces Nitka, stares straight at him as if he were challenging him to a duel and lets his slender sword fly forward. Nikta is able to dodge one or two blows and land another hit himself. The other three stay in the background, unsure whether and how they should intervene in the fight. Lian sends a quick prayer to Iomedae to help him fight this evil creature and indeed, the next blow of his sword comes down with such force that it shatters the shoulder, penetrates deep into the chest and the warrior falls to the ground in defeat the next moment. With one final thrust, Lian seals his fate and ensures that he will never rise from the dead again.
"By the gods, what a terrible creature," says Hanrin once the initial shock has worn off. "Did you see how it targeted Nikta? As if he had a personal grudge against you."
"Indeed, but I have never met him or anything like him before," replies Nikta. "I think he belonged to a special warrior caste when he was alive and somehow still remembered the customs of single combat. Still, I am glad that you were by my side, Lian, and that I did not have to face him alone."
"May Iomedae shine his light upon us."
Meanwhile, Fushigi tries to open the chest. It looks very valuable, red polished wood with filigree bands of green jade. However, it is very dirty, as if it had only recently been dragged through the swamp. "Damn, it's locked and I can't open it," curses Fushigi quietly.
"Try this key," replies Nikta and hands Fushigi a small bronze key that the skeleton warrior had worn around his neck on a string. The key fits and the chest opens. Inside, it is divided into many smaller compartments lined with velvet. It has obviously been partially plundered, as some of the compartments are empty. However, there are a few potions that Hanrin identifies as healing potions of various kinds, a magic ring, a magic staff, a masterfully crafted chainmail shirt with a matching sword and all kinds of coins, jewelry and gemstones.
Lian, who had meanwhile taken a closer look at the skeleton warrior's sword, suddenly calls out, "Look what I found. The handle of the sword is loose and inside there is a hollow space in which this letter was rolled up. The seal is still intact and has the initials A and K or R and K. What do you think, should we open it?"
"Let me see," says Hanrin. "Hm, I think it's an R and a K. But I have no idea who the initials could stand for. Let's look to see if we can find any clues in the letter as to whom it was addressed to or who could have written it." Hanrin breaks the seal and unfolds the letter. Inside it is densely written with individual, block-like characters, which none of the group wants to decipher. So the author and recipient of the letter, as well as its contents, remain a mystery for now.
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