Chapter 16: The Maw

Part One
You are walking on a road of rocky terrain in a thick forest when suddenly, the ground under your feet begins to shake. Gaping cracks form in the earth and it gives way with no warning. You fall several feet down into a dark, wet expanse of underground. The ceiling has caved in, blocked by rocks and trees, so you cannot see the sky. The underground environment is one of near perfect darkness, and you feel the cavern walls shake and in the ever-shrinking distance hear an assortment of shrieks, growls, and the gnashing of teeth.

What do you do?

Part Two
Michael’s void crawler scurries up the side of the rock and dirt wall and bores a roughly four foot wide hole in the ceiling, around twenty feet above the ground. Using Jatin’s rope, the void crawler lets down an escape route to the surface, which Michael begins to climb. Nick uses his Leopard's Cloak to climb the side of the wall and exit through the hole created by the void crawler, his falcon flying in tow. Intelligence gathered by the Rose Lady’s plant communication and Wojak’s Call of the Wild offer Jatin limited information, but he is able to gather that there are many creatures larger than dogs nearby, and they are moving quickly.

Kate, Eleanor, Maolo, Jack, Mika, Syphon, and all of Jatin’s wolves explore various tunnels of the deep cave. Every group is soon confronted by hideous creatures, looking like giant borderline hairless rats with crushed skeletal heads and humanlike proportions, approximately five feet long.

Three ambush Kate and Eleanor, and Kate is able to kill two with her sword dancing techniques, but the third overwhelms her and she is dragged deep into the earth, bloodied, into a cave chamber the size of several cathedrals. Before the ambush, Kate manages to find a broken golden mask and a torn flag in the ruins. Eleanor disappears and escapes.

Jack and Mika find a string of three beautiful and sturdy stones with incomprehensible carvings on them, which Jack picks up and asks Ba'az about. As Ba’az begins to speak, three monsters burst through the walls all around them. As the source of light, Jack is immediately tackled by two, who tear into his flesh, and he manages to strike one with his new enchanted sword. Syphon weaves through Jack’s two assailants with elegant footwork and the speed of a snake, cutting them with dozens of strikes from his thin sword as his cloak moves on its own eerily and launches several miscellaneous weapons at all creatures present, the last of which is finished off by two headshots from Mika. They hear more approaching and run back through the tunnel.

Both groups of wolves kill their single assailants and tear them to shreds, then scout deeper down the tunnel, to the same chamber Kate was dragged to, then quickly run back to the main cave. However, Prophet was seized by a monster. The group of Maolo, Truth, and Vision kill their four ambushes and do the same.

All parties who entered the chamber view around fifteen of the monsters and in a deep pit in the center a creature the size of a battleship, slimy, pale, seemingly eyeless, and reptilian, resembling an enormous newt. It appears to be in deep sleep, although it’s mouth remains open and a few of the creatures tend carefully to it. Maolo, having returned, informs the party that the creature is an underwyrm, a primordial monster that lives for centuries, and that is appears weakened and asleep, only able to wake up if it receives a certain amount of energy from food. The groundlings are attempting to awaken it by feeding it their victims. By the looks of the underwyrm’s sleep, Maolo notes solemnly, it will need only one more large living creature before it awakens. As he is speaking, five of the creatures burst into the main cave.

What do you do?

Part One
Offers to stand guard with Jatin in exchange for being able to stand by his fire.

Part Two
Calen joins Jack and the Smoke Riders in the raid on the underwyrm's chamber and kills many groundlings in the tunnel and in the chamber, playing an integral role in the circle formation's defenses.

Part One
Jack asks Ba'az why they fell and where they are, to which Ba'az responds unhelpfully with little useful information. Jack and Mika explore the tunnels, accompanied by Syphon Flickerfoot, looking for exits and anything valuable.

Jack and Mika find a string of three beautiful and sturdy stones with incomprehensible carvings on them, which Jack picks up and asks Ba'az about. As Ba’az begins to speak, three monsters burst through the walls all around them. As the source of light, Jack is immediately tackled by two, who tear into his flesh, and he manages to strike one with his new enchanted sword. Syphon weaves through Jack’s two assailants with elegant footwork and the speed of a snake, cutting them with dozens of strikes from his thin sword as his cloak moves on its own eerily and launches several miscellaneous weapons at all creatures present, the last of which is finished off by two headshots from Mika. They hear more approaching and run back through the tunnel.

Part Two
Jacks asks Ba'az about underwyrm weaknesses and what the stones he found are while he takes two doses of the elixir of might. Ba'az explains the underwyrm is weak against salt and bright light, and has a vulnerable point under its throat. Ba'az explains to Jack that those stones are glyphs containing light magic spells stored, and can be activated by calling the name Issora. Jack takes a dose of the Elixir of Might and follows the Smoke Riders into the tunnel towards the underwyrm chamber. He and the other fighters form a circle around Mika and the horses in the underwyrm's chamber, taking a defensive stance against the incoming waves of groundlings. Jack nearly collapses from his previous wounds after several minutes of fighting and a wolf drags him into the center for Solomon to give him a health potion. He wearily gets up as the circle tightens.

After Sovereign deposits the salt bombs inside the underwyrm, a barely conscious Jack then rides Sovereign into the underwyrm’s mouth and deposits his three glyphs. As he exits, he cries “Issora”. Light so bright it emerges from the creature's pores and open mouth fills the chamber, almost giving the appearance it had an open ceiling. It’s skin actively sizzles as furious groundlings futilely rush Jack, who safely returns atop the Chaos Horse.

Jack collapses and Mika, after collecting some skin from the underwyrm's corpse, helps him onto the horse and they ride out to safely from Wojak's tunnel.

Part One
Jatin has Solomon make a fire and asks the Rose Lady and nearby animals for a read of the area. He sends his Smoke Riders and wolves to scout in groups, having Under-the-Valley and the Hanged Man stay with him to keep guard. Intelligence gathered by the Rose Lady’s plant communication and Wojak’s Call of the Wild offer Jatin limited information, but he is able to gather that there are many creatures larger than dogs nearby, and they are moving quickly. When Maolo Viper returns from scouting, he reports that there is a massive creature known as an underwyrm sleeping in the cave, and the groundlings are trying to awaken it by feeding it living creatures.

Part Two
Jatin asks Maolo about what parts of the underwyrm are valuable to sell, to which he answers essentially all of it, but especially the liver, blood and skin. Jack tells him what he learned about underwyrm weaknesses. At Jatin's behest, Solomon makes salt from the ground and mixes it with Syphon’s two bombs to make salt bombs. The slaughtered groundlings who invaded the main chamber have their hearts eaten by the wolves, their deaths dedicated to Wojack, whose power Jatin feels grow slightly. Jatin tells everyone’s horses to follow the main group through a tunnel and heads through a tunnel on his chaos horse with Solomon.

When the others arrive in the underwyrm's chamber, Jatin is already there, waiting for the rest of the party airborne with Solomon as Kate and Prophet are being dragged towards the underwyrm and he and Solomon are being eyed hungrily from below.

Jatin sends Sol on the Chaos Horse to the underwyrm pit to guard the mouth. Sovereign reaches the pit instantly, dispatching Sol who cries out and strikes her skyblades in front and behind her in rapid succession, lighting the chamber with electric waves that incinerate the several groundlings they make contact with. Kate then gets on Sovereign and is returned to safety. Jatin cries “Wojak! Wojak! Wojak!” and from the dragged Prophet comes forth a massive beast whose roar fills the spacious cavern. Wojak and Sol rampage through the cave, turning it into a bloodbath, killing dozens every minute, as Wojak’s age-old wounds begin to disappear and he emerges larger by a fifth of his original size. Jatin sits in the center of the circle meditating while the other fighters hold the line against a tidal wave onslaught of monstrous flesh.

Sovereign runs into the underwyrm’s mouth to drop two salt bombs and run out. A muffled explosion is heard as the massive creature midsection erupts with yellow blood. A barely conscious Jack then rides Sovereign into the underwyrm’s mouth and deposits his three glyphs. Sovereign returns Jack safely.

Wojak kills the underwyrm and devours its heart, emerging far more powerful than he was when he first met Jatin. He is now more than thirty feet long, and Jatin’s whole body tingles with the resonance of more power than he can handle. Wojak unleashes a deafening roar that seems to shake the entire cavern to the walls and every remaining groundling flees. Jatin extends a closed fist and Wojak bumps it with a massive paw nearly the size of Jatin’s body.

Jatin and Maolo loot the body for valuable parts with the assistance of Wojak and the wolves. At its genital area, Jatin also finds what looks like a small egg. The party returns to the main chamber through a new tunnel dug by Wojak, a few weakened by exhaustion and carried by their horses, and Wojak digs an incline out of the cave that allows the horses and wagons to leave as well. He then collapses into the form of what looks like a weasel with a monkey’s tail and settles on Jatin’s shoulder. A platform is fastened for Jatin’s monster loot to be dragged by his mercenaries’ horses.

Part One
Kate goes exploring in the tunnels looking for tunnel. Three groundlings ambush Kate and Eleanor, and Kate is able to kill two with her sword dancing techniques, but the third overwhelms her and she is dragged deep into the earth, bloodied, into a cave chamber the size of several cathedrals. Before the ambush, Kate manages to find a broken golden mask and a torn flag in the ruins. Eleanor disappears and escapes.

Part Two
Kate is saved from being eaten by the underwyrm by Jatin, who sends Sovereign to fetch her. She makes it out of the cave safely.

Part One
Michael borrows a rope from Jatin and commands his void crawler to climb the side of the wall and bore a hole in the ceiling. He begins climbing the rope out of the hole.

Part Two
Michael sees the groundlings emerge and begins to climb faster, exiting the hole and reaching aboveground safely.

Part One
Nick uses his Leopard's Cloak to climb the side of the wall and exit through the hole created by the void crawler, his falcon flying in tow.

Part Two
Nick trains his falcon and forages for food above ground.

Part One
Nicole looks for exits and finds one being constructed above her by Michael's void crawler.

Part Two
Nicole and Pippin leave the cave through the void crawler's exit.

Ending
Michael, Nicole, Pippin, Eleanor, Coco and Nick leave the cave through the void crawler's exit. Jacks asks Ba'az about underwyrm weaknesses and what the stones he found are while he takes two doses of the elixir of might. Ba'az explains the underwyrm is weak against salt and bright light, and has a vulnerable point under its throat. Ba'az explains to Jack that those stones are glyphs containing light magic spells stored, and can be activated by calling the name Issora. Jatin asks Maolo about what parts of the underwyrm are valuable to sell, to which he answers essentially all of it, but especially the liver, blood and skin. Meanwhile, Calen, Syphon, Under-the-Valley, the Hanged Man, Mika, and the wolves kill all of the groundlings in the main chamber. The wolves eat the hearts of all the dead groundlings so their deaths can be dedicated to Wojak. Jatin offers Sol a dose of the Elixir of Might, to which she replies “I do not need that false strength of yours.” Solomon makes salt from the ground and mixes it with Syphon’s two bombs to make salt bombs. Jatin tells everyone’s horses to follow the main group through a tunnel and heads through a tunnel on his chaos horse with Solomon. The others file through another tunnel, with Sol leading the way, followed by Jack, Syphon, the horses, wolves, and Mika, Maolo, Under-the-Valley, and Calen. Groundlings erupt from all sides of the tunnel. Under-the-Valley presses his palms against the walls and, with a faint yellow pulse, the dirt is blasted away a few feet, giving them more space to fight. Calen eviscerates the groundlings approaching from the back as Under-the-Valley blocks them from approaching the center with his barrier fist. In the front, Sol rapidly whirls her skyblades, nearly disintegrating any groundlings that approach her as sparks interminably light up the black tunnel. The tunnel begins to cave in with the movement of the groundlings, but the Hanged Man and Under-the-Valley smash away the rocks and dirt with chained ball and fists. When they finally emerge from the tunnel into the chamber, fourteen groundlings have been killed, their hearts all eaten by the wolves, with one horse casualty. Jatin is already there, waiting for the rest of the party airborne with Solomon as Kate and Prophet are being dragged towards the underwyrm and he and Solomon are being eyed hungrily from below. Upon entering the chamber, Under-the-Valley, Jack, Syphon, Calen, the Hanged Man, Maolo, Vision, Truth, Future, and Oracle all form a tight circle around Mika and the horses. Sol says “Father Rakshas, beast above the clouds, with your claw we hunt with pride and with your spark we guard the hearth. Grant me the strength to destroy the wicked.” Jatin sends Sol on the Chaos Horse to the underwyrm pit to guard the mouth. Sovereign reaches the pit instantly, dispatching Sol who cries out and strikes her skyblades in front and behind her in rapid succession, lighting the chamber with electric waves that incinerate the several groundlings they make contact with. Kate then gets on Sovereign and is returned to safety. Jatin cries “Wojak! Wojak! Wojak!” and from the dragged Prophet comes forth a massive beast whose roar fills the spacious cavern. Wojak and Sol rampage through the cave, turning it into a bloodbath, killing dozens every minute, as Wojak’s age-old wounds begin to disappear and he emerges larger by a fifth of his original size. Jatin sits in the center of the circle meditating while the other fighters hold the line against a tidal wave onslaught of monstrous flesh. Jack nearly collapses from his previous wounds after several minutes of fighting and a wolf drags him into the center for Solomon to give him a health potion. He wearily gets up as the circle tightens. Maolo is nearly killed after missing a strike on an incoming groundling but he is saved by a headshot from Mika. Sovereign runs into the underwyrm’s mouth to drop two salt bombs and run out. A muffled explosion is heard as the massive creature midsection erupts with yellow blood. A barely conscious Jack then rides Sovereign into the underwyrm’s mouth and deposits his three glyphs. As he exits, he cries “Issora”. Light so bright it emerges from the creature's pores and open mouth fills the chamber, almost giving the appearance it had an open ceiling. It’s skin actively sizzles as furious groundlings futilely rush Jack, who safely returns atop the Chaos Horse. Wojak dives beneath the pit and tears into the underwyrm’s throat. Its slow breathing ceases. It is dead. The groundlings are frenzied. Many flee, but as many grow more violent as they rush the circle. Sol dashes back to her compatriots, saving them from being overwhelmed by launching massive blades of electricity into the incoming crowd. A massive shape bursts from inside the underwyrm’s corpse and wojak emerges, having consumed its heart. He is now more than thirty feet long, and Jatin’s whole body tingles with the resonance of more power than he can handle. Wojak unleashes a deafening roar that seems to shake the entire cavern to the walls and every remaining groundling flees. Jatin extends a closed fist and Wojak bumps it with a massive paw nearly the size of Jatin’s body. Jack collapses as the health potion begins sapping his body for energy to heal his wounds. Jatin and Maolo loot the body for valuable parts with the assistance of Wojak and the wolves. At its genital area, Jatin also finds what looks like a small egg. The party returns to the main chamber through a new tunnel dug by Wojak, a few weakened by exhaustion and carried by their horses, and Wojak digs an incline out of the cave that allows the horses and wagons to leave as well. He then collapses into the form of what looks like a weasel with a monkey’s tail and settles on Jatin’s shoulder. A platform is fastened for Jatin’s monster loot to be dragged by his mercenaries’ horses.