[IC] Chapter 2-5: You're whirling 'round...

[DM Surranó]

Location: Koriolis' Lair
Present: All PCs including Lugar as DMPC

The party approaches the dragon's lair walking on the water's surface. In spite of Toot's concerns his grip on Boo proves sufficient to keep him from being washed away.
Behind the waterfall, the floor rises gradually and reaches the water level about five feet from what Shanna designated as a magical aura.

Within five feet, the cave entrance widens to a hall about forty feet in diameter, ten feet high at the walls, and about twenty feet high in the middle. The hall is obviously artificial, its walls draw a perfect circle (as much as naked eyes can tell). They are finely worked and the slightly domed ceiling also looks like a polished slice from a huge sphere. The floor, however, looks to be natural rock, with a thin layer of soil that hosts hundreds if not thousands of mushrooms about the size of Toot. They don't grow in patches; rather, they grow along lines that roughly resemble ring fragments and radial lines connecting such fragments. The outermost ring of mushrooms runs right along the wall, leaving maybe one foot space between mineral and live tissue. The five foot diameter middle of the circle is worn smooth. (OOC - illustration arrives later)

At the first glance of the scarce magical light the party dares to bring into this place of unknown magic it seems that the walls are decorated by murals all around. The details are too complicated to encompass the mural as a whole but from the nearest parts it looks like a series of merciless hunting scenes. Merri and Lugar notice that--

while the scene is rather merciless it's nothing like groups of noble people hunting for a sport. More like what a hungry predator would do. No large-scale slaughter or gleeful massacre, at least on this part of the hall.

The rumbling of the waterfall suppresses footsteps and regular speech so that stealth seems to be unnecessary luxury here. Giant and Shanna--

can hear some faint noise, like pebbles running down a rock wall, and something hard (stone or metal) screeching against stone, somewhere distant, but maybe just behind one of the walls. The noise is too faint and occasional to discern its direction, not to mention the rumbling of the waterfall.

The mushrooms look archaic and they have a piercing acidic smell. Torin observes that--

these mushrooms must be the ones that dwell in the upper reaches of the legendary Underdark, home of many sinister folks mountain dwarves have faced several times throughout history.

Toot thinks that--

the mushrooms are not toxic but hardly palatable, even for the rather accommodating jermlaine taste.

Boo sniffs the air and grunts--

"Smells like skunk piss.", indicating the mushrooms.