They walked down into the cavern. Lando immediately pulled a torch from his pack and struck it.
“Huh, it’s funny, I’m the only person here that can’t see in the dark,” he noticed, looking around at this tenuous group.
“Well, you and me,” the halfling said, walking up next to Lando at a light trot.
“Gnomes can see in the dark,” Lando said.
“He’s a halfling,” Fae pointed out from behind them.
“Well, so can halflings,” Lando reasoned.
“No, no, they can’t,” the halfling informed him, but Lando walked deeper into the cave.
“So, what brings you to Inway?” he asked the tall half-elf leading the way, “I’m here passing through on my way back home.”
“Home?” Byrd asked, squinting into the darkness and trying to see past Lando’s torchlight, “Where’s home?”
“Radiia,” Lando said, “I’m part of the Salaxis house.”
“Hm, I think I’ve heard of them,” Byrd replied thoughtfully, slowing as they came to an archway. Up to this point, the cavern was natural, stony ground held together by dirt and grass, but this arch was carved, chiseled, and ancient. Lando couldn’t even guess at how old it was, but it was obvious that it was far older than the town that stood over it.
“Oh, wow,” the drow girl said, “This is really pretty.”
“Sure, I guess,” Fae said. Lando wasn’t sure about her. She was contentious, that was for sure. Their encounter with the fishmonger was evidence enough of that. “It’s super pretty right until something jumps out and tries to kill us.”
“I’m more than prepared for that,” the elf woman said behind Lando. She seemed cautious, which probably wasn’t a bad idea. That thing that Byrd had killed looked like it was pretty nasty, and if there was more than one, Byrd wouldn’t be enough to hold them off.
“I don’t think we’ve met,” Lando said, turning and extending a hand, “Lando Salaxis, of the Radiia Salaxises.”
“I’m Nyx Stone, of the Stoneland Analemmas,” the drow girl piped up, waving enthusiastically at Lando, “I’m here on an adventure!”
“We’re all here on an adventure, lass,” the halfling said, shaking his head and hopping over a fallen piece of masonwork, “Except for me. WIllem Godsblood,” he said, reaching up and grabbing Lando’s outstretched hand.
“You’re not here on an adventure?” the elf woman asked, raising an eyebrow, “Then what are you doing?”
“I’m here to find out what killed all these people and blew a hole in my town,” Willem replied, cracking his miniature knuckles.
“Fun,” Byrd said from the front, then slowed his pace. “See these?” He pointed out the walls of this hidden cavern. It wasn’t just any sort of cave. It was a crypt.
Tall pillars sprouted from the ground and held the ceiling up, lining the walls and framing the room. And sitting between these pillars, vertical against the wall, were coffins. They were stone, carved, and uniform, just as old as the room itself. One of them lay face-up, tossed into the center of the room by whatever blew through here in its hurry to leave. The stone face of the coffin was split open, the sides lying on the ground next to the stone tomb. Inside, the smell of death emanated.
“I guess that’s where that thing came from,” Fae observed.
“Yeah, and there’s more of these coffins,” Lando said, his face turning down into a frown.
“So? You think there’s more dead things in the coffins?” Byrd asked, turning to Lando.
“Of course there’s dead things in the coffins, that’s where dead things go,” Nyx said. All heads turned to look at this girl.
“Honey, you said you’re from the Stonelands?” the elf woman asked with a concerned look on her face, “And your name is Stone?”
“Yep, I’m a bastard!” Nyx announced, her grey face beaming with pride, “That’s why my dad’s name is Analemma and mine is Stone. He said that I could be an Analemma if I went on an adventure and brought him back something nice.” Lando didn’t miss the skeptical eyebrow raise that Willem offered to Fae behind Nyx’s back.
“Well, we’ll help you find something nice,” the elf woman said, putting a tender hand on Nyx’s shoulder.
“We’ve got a bleedin’ heart here, have we?” Willem asked, sauntering over to the coffin and taking a quick look inside.
“My father always taught me to be kind to those less fortunate than ourselves,” the elf explained, “I think a young half-drow bastard girl counts.”
“Who’s your father, then?” Willem asked, looking around the room and counting the coffins.
“I am Aereon Valanakiir of Highs, daughter of Amareon Valanakiir,” Aereon replied, holding her head up in a semi-regal pose.
“Fancy,” Byrd said, “I’ve heard of Highs, north of Radiia. The eastern part of the Stonelands, right?”
“Enough of this meet and greet,” Lando said, “You think there’s more of the skeleton things in these tombs?”
“If there are, we should take them out one at a time,” Byrd reasoned, “We’ll open each coffin and kill whatever comes out.”
“I’ve got a prybar,” Lando offered, “Let’s do this.” Aereon slid her greataxe from her back and held it in both hands as Lando moved to open the first coffin.
“Ready?” Lando asked. Aereon hefted her greataxe and nodded. Lando jammed his prybar into the lid and threw the coffin open. Aereon immediately swung her axe down and cleaved open an empty skull.
“Well, that was rather anticlimactic,” Willem quipped. The next two coffins didn’t have anything in them, either. The fourth one, however, the one thrown into the center of the room, shuddered as Lando jammed his crowbar into the lid.
“That one sounds more alive,” Fae said, “Or, you know, the equivalent.”
“Okay, are you ready for real this time?” Lando asked. Aereon lifted her axe one last time and nodded. Lando threw his weight behind the bar and the coffin shifted. An arm clawed its way through the crack, then writhed in pain as Aereon’s greataxe cleaved it from the body it belonged to.
“Nice,” Byrd said through the side of his mouth, “But you missed the important part.” He stepped over to Lando and held out a hand. “Give me the bar.” Lando complied and Byrd stepped into place. He gave Aereon a look and pushed against the bar. Lando was the taller of the two, but Byrd had a significant strength advantage over the human. The coffin flipped entirely, revealing the dead thing beneath it. It hissed at Byrd once before Aereon’s axe came down and split it in two.
“Well done,” Fae said, “It didn’t have a chance.”
“So, was that it?” Nyx asked, “That was a short adventure.” As they stood in the crypt, Lando felt the breeze blow past his neck. It was nice to have a bit of windflow in this stuffy cavern…
“We’re in a cave,” Lando said out loud.
“Aye, we’re in a cave, ye just noticed?” Willem asked with a smirk.
“We’re in a cave, and there’s a breeze,” Lando said, walking through it as he talked, “That doesn’t make sense, unless… there’s something else.”
“Something else?” Aereon asked, wiping her axe clean. Lando’s eyes flashed with a hunger for adventure.
“We need to go deeper.”
Vid Writes 