Chronicles of Gan: Chapter 1

 (written by Phil, player of Gan ad-Din, concerning the semi-recent expedition under-Cothon, and earning Gan 100 xp per level)

The Chronicles of Gan

Bearer of All Things!

Chapter 1 – Into the Underbelly

Presently, my benefactor, Bartholomew Pettibone, of the House Pettibone, remains busy and focused on learning a certain ancient language, and the machinations of our recent finding. As he continues his studies, there has been little else for me to do. Noting my restlessness, he suggested that I might return with Sesel to Cothon, help procure supplies, and take some time for much needed relaxation. After gathering the items that Bartholomew had requested, I made the decision to take some time on my own to join new friends in a, hopefully, lucrative venture.

We decided to enter and explore the seedy, grimy underbelly of the main city – Sesel gained us our entrance, then set us loose.

Old, wise Grandmother (Zelma) carried our lantern. I and my new companions, Nazm (and his hireling, Salah – a beggar from the streets above), and Lars Fangripper (with his hireling, Abu – another beggar from our fair streets of Cothon) made our way west from what once must have been a central market place, but now lay buried deep under the streets of Cothon. A labyrinth of dank, musty catacombs, shrouded in darkness, radiated in many directions from that central hub.

It smelled bad as we continued deeper into these ancient catacombs. The aroma of death was faint, but pervasive, and clouded the still air throughout. The Underbelly is an odd place. It is a maze of greater and lesser worked thoroughfares and corridors, leading to 'nodes' and 'districts'. Smaller, more natural appearing tunnels branch off at random, leading to who knows what. Interestingly, there are 'residents' to be found down here, randomly dispersed, attempting to eke out a meager living in this dangerous community. Everything is hidden in shadows, and all is wet and muddy, with scum-encrusted puddles everywhere. It is the storm season, after all, and water was leaching and dripping down from the city above. It is unnerving quiet down here.

At intervals there are old structures in various states of decay; sometimes these block the passages, sometimes they are set apart. They appear to be mostly basement, or sub-basement chambers, long forgotten and lost to the main city above. Perhaps it is possible to attain passage between the city above, and some of these lost basement chambers. My benefactor may be interested in this information – he seems to be interested in, shall we say, covert avenues and subterfuge.

We soon stumbled upon a larger chamber with numerous dead bodies in various states of decomposition within. Some with arrows in them. It appeared that a fight must have occurred here. We investigated closer.

Many of the bodies had similar markings upon them – a pair of crossed scimitars – perhaps indicating they were of a certain brotherhood or organization. I will report this to my benefactor, and to Sesel as well, it might be of interest to them. For the most part, we found only a jumbled mess of dead, decaying bodies, generally in two groups (enemies?). However, from a separate pile of bodies, deeper inside this chamber, a nest of 6-legged creatures (five of them at least) – beaked and with three eyes – watched us warily. They did not approach us, and we wisely decided to retreat and leave them to their meal of decayed corpses.

On we traveled, through passages old and ruined. The musty, dank smell overwhelmed us throughout. The faint sounds of what might be a party (carousing) came drifting to our ears – perhaps people ahead? Not far down the avenue we traveled, a rudimentary blockage came into the view in the light of our lantern light. It appeared to be a palisade wall, crudely and hastily erected. Ages of smoke stained the ceiling here, and along with the sounds of carousing came a faint glow that could be seen flickering from beyond the blockage.

After hooding our lantern and allowing our eyes to adjust to the dim light, we approached the crude wall and initiated a parlay with the ones beyond. The rag-tag group of fellows who we chatted with seemed less than friendly – and especially untrustworthy. In fact, after introducing ourselves, they attempted to belittle and dismiss us by making disparaging comments about our appearance. How rude. The only item of note to be gleaned was that they awaited the return of their leader, Ferat, who had left them here many days previous. They were unwilling to invite us to their fire and to share food, wine, and stories. Cowards, perhaps. We soon ended our parlay – they were not entirely welcoming nor hostile – and we retreated back up the tunnels to explore further.

In a side tunnel we encountered two very large crustacean-creatures. As we surveyed their lair we spotted odd clumps of what appeared to be melted metals, accompanied by some oozy glop. I pitched a copper coin into the ooze, and it was slowly devoured. Not good – as I was basically wearing a full set of metallic armor! We immediately surmised that some material must be present here, or used by the creatures, to melt metals. I noted slight movement in one of the pools and, quite reflexively, let loose a bolt of energy from my staff, enveloping one creature and blasting off a large chunk of its carapace! The battle was on!

Both creatures emerged from their rest, and each spewed a vile metal-dissolving liquid – at me – but missed! I, knowing that these things must surely melt metal, and me wearing plate armor, quickly retreated and took up a more defensive position. As a group we fell back into the tunnel, hoping to force them to come at us singly. They came forward, undeterred. Lars was attacked, giant claws snicking and snapping in rapid succession! Before our eyes he was ripped to shreds, falling limp to the ground, his blood and gore littering the passage floor! Using an oil-flask bomb, Nazm loosed an attack upon the foul thing – and I enveloped it in yet another energy bolt. The first beast was defeated! Abu and Wise Grandmother pulled Lars away from the melee, and administered a healing balm from his pack.

Lars was returned to health, thanks to the quick application of the potion by Abu. As we continued to retreat, the second beast pressed on. Nazm tossed a net and entangled the thing, slowing its advance, and briefly thwarting its attacks. I doused it with a bolt of cold energy, and again a large chunk of carapace was washed away! Lars, having been returned to vigor, and infuriated, rushed to the creature and began slashing, smashing, and hacking with his sword. His attacks, though feeble (due to his recent drubbing), did succeed in chopping off pieces of the beast! It spit again, and a glob of its wasting goop fell upon me – directly to the chest – causing certain weakening damage to my armor! Salah knocked a chip off of the thing with a tossed stone. The creature was visibly wavering, and it seemed that the battle might end in our favor.

Suddenly, and completely out of character, Wise Grandmother ran forward shrieking insanely! She began wildly smacking the creature with her gnarled, twisted cane. It was astonishing and comical to watch – the shriveled old, toothless hag, no taller than my waist, her arms the appearance of old dried twigs, was flailing wildly at the creature. Her gnarled cane clicked and clacked off the beast in a rapid tattoo, but with no effect whatsoever.

The massive crab turned its attention to Wise Grandmother, and she was quickly sliced and diced by the beast's enormous claws. Certainly she could not survive such abuse! Without doubt, we feared she must perish from this onslaught, but NO! Old Wise Grandmother, wobbly and absolutely delirious, maintained her composure and continued to rap against the shell of the giant crab rapidly (but ineffectually). I let loose another blast from my staff, timing it to hit at the same time Wise Grandmother hit it – success! And the creature exploded! I congratulated Wise Grandmother on her most excellent and wondrous skills in dispatching the foul beast! We composed ourselves, then searched for treasure! Several loose gems were found in the pool – one especially beautiful ruby – ah, my beloved Istrid would swoon at the sight of it! We also collected flasks of the creatures' metal eating spittle; Ravna, the alchemist, might find this a useful liquid to exploit.

As we departed this place of crabs, another of their ilk appeared and attacked. Using the inert body of one of the defeated beasts, the passage was blocked by Lars, and we retreated, post-haste!

Battered and bruised, we immediately returned to the relatively fresh air of Cothon, above. I provided Wise Grandmother with a pouch of 50 gold coins, and thanked her profusely for her assistance. I instructed her to go home, and to rest. From there I sought out the Kantor and purchased two flasks of healing liquor, and then sought out and asked my old friend Musa, the Hook (also a beggar from the streets of Cothon), if he would like to join us on an adventure. He readily accepted!

Nazm dismissed Salah, and also hired someone anew. Amusingly, he first approached Old Zelma; she had already changed her attire, and with her new-found wealth was carousing in a more upper-class establishment. Her attire and bearing had changed so much in that short time that Nazm didn't recognize her! However, she politely, and wisely declined his offer. Nazm ended up hiring a free Renyu, by name of al Rabb. I like Renyu, they are intelligent and wise. Lars also dismissed his bondsman, and hired a grim, dour-looking fellow named Stark (I am not entirely convinced that Stark is trustworthy).

After resting, and with renewed provisions and fresh companions, we returned to the Underbelly and began exploring to the north.

We came upon a massive structure – part of the tunnel, but not – that seemed made of old, ancient stone, yet appearing recent in construction. Perhaps un-aged, somehow. There was an obvious, open entrance into it, and so, we decided to investigate. Rabb went forth to test the airs with his Renyu senses. Nothing seemed odd, and we approached the opening, where passages disappeared into darkness to the left and to the right. Written crudely on the wall at the entrance was a singular word – DEATH. Curious. A warning? It appeared to be written in blood; a large amount of blood. Curiouser. Inside we could see that thick streaks of blood lay smeared down the hall, in either direction, as if mutilated bodies had been dragged away. Too curiouser, by far! We departed, to seek more benign adventures.

Further down the passage we were following we began to feel odd and tingly all over – cold and chilling. Darkness began to press in upon us, literally. Our lantern seemed to become weaker and gave off only a wan light. We could distantly see a faint glow ahead of us, perhaps some torch-lit cells, but could not tell. We halted and shuttered our lantern, allowing Rabb and myself to use our enhanced senses to see what might lie ahead.

Immediately, Lars and Musa were grasped from out of the dark by freezing cold hands! Musa quickly and fully unshuttered our lamp, and the shadowy hands retreated into the darkness. We hastily departed back the way we had come, escaping an evil that certainly lay further within. However, in that brief moment of absolute darkness, I had observed that at the end of that passage lay a series of cells (appearing as jail cells) – some with crumpled, decayed bodies inside. I believe it was wise not to tamper further. Musa, having heard tales of ghosts and haunted shades, refused to return.

At length we arrived at an actual, active tavern, complete with signpost outside – a cat, sitting, licking a raised paw. Inside were patrons, seeming to be enjoying the fare and entertainment, and a very odd looking barkeep; his eyes were red – too red. He also had other features that seemed out of place, and abnormal for a human – but that I cannot rightly recall enough to describe.

We entered, guardedly, and were warmly greeted by this red-eyed fellow. We inquired about, and were told that this was the 'Lonely Cat' – the best tavern in all of Underbelly! He boasted of a local brew, and we accepted his hospitality. While Nazm and Lars made small-talk with the odd barkeep, and as we were being served, I took in our surroundings and noted that the patrons, clustered in small groups and all heavily armed, seemed almost oblivious to us – not even taking notice of each other. And then I realized that there actually was no entertainment. No bard, no dancers, no minstrel – and it seemed oddly quiet, subdued, for a tavern. But the local beer was good – refreshing even. After two pints, and feeling curiously emboldened, we thanked the fine fellow and departed. I must report, that he was not over-boastful concerning his beer. I even purchased a quantity to carry with me for later; it was invigorating and relaxing. However, I fear that three tankards may have laid me low, into a deep, restful slumber – an easy mark for thugs and ne'er-do-wells. Anyway, we made a pleasant departure, thankful for his hospitality, and followed his directions and tip to what might be an interesting place for further exploration.

Not far away, another break in the quarried wall revealed an ancient basement room beyond. Of course, we investigated. The breach had definitely been made from without to within. It appeared the wall had been fired at from the outside – with an intense energy – char marks on the outside were readily visible. But not on the inside. And most of the rubble lay within the room. Inside, and as we searched through the mess, Musa stumbled upon a mechanism that opened a concealed door to an even deeper sub-basement room below. The stench of death and decay that wafted up was intense and overwhelming. In our lantern light we saw a couple of corpses and various items of furniture – all in various states of decay. Using a rope provided and secured by Nazm, I climbed down to investigate. While scouting the room, I called for Lars to join me. I asked if he might use his hunter/tracker skills to determine what might have been the cause of these peoples' death. Within the room there appeared to be little of value, and Lars believed that the people had simply perished naturally (perhaps from starvation and lack of water). However, while searching, we did uncover the remains of a rotted chest that contained a king's ransom! Among other items, we found a diamond the size of a fist – ah, Istrid my love, that one diamond would shine and sparkle and illuminate your features like a goddess!

However, as Lars and I marveled at this magnificent stone, rats began emerging (in overwhelming numbers) from various small tunnels bored into the walls. Yes, rats. Many, many rats. Too many rats! In our haste to search the room for valuables, we missed the obvious signs of rat hordes! Lars mashed one, but then realizing it was a lost cause, began climbing our rope to safety. While giving voice and alarm to our compatriots above, I splashed flaming oil upon the advancing front of gnashing fur! Lars, though nipped and bitten in several locations, continued his escape up the rope. I tossed more oil on the flames, setting several more rats afire, and giving Lars time to retreat unhindered. The rats swarmed me, but the armor I wore was virtually impenetrable to their teeth and claws. After brushing many dozens from my body, I was able to climb to safety after Lars. Finding all calm above, we collected our wits and our baubles, and decided to leave. We headed directly back to Cothon, exhausted and shaken to our core – but with stories grand and glorious, and wealth of great store!