Chapter 21: The Nashkel Mines
Careful not to spill any of the contents, Ajantis picked up the flask. Devils, indeed. They had come across numerous kobolds since they set foot in the mine, and this one had been pouring a sickly green substance on the ore veins when they found it. The kobold was now dead at their feet, and an acrid, unpleasant smell rose from the flask, which was still half full of the foul substance.
"Here is the stopper," Kivan said, holding a small object out to Ajantis. Ajantis thanked the elf and put the stopper in the flask. The range of their torches' light was limited, and only Kivan was still in full possesion of his visual faculties.
"Look at this," Ember said, prodding the ore vein with the kobold's short bow. A section high up on the wall was sturdy, but as soon as she tapped the area where the kobold had spilled the green liquid, the ore crumbled to dust.
Ajantis nodded grimly. "Mayor Ghastkill will be most interested in the contents of this flask."
"Evil 'round every corner," Minsc said in a low voice. "Careful not to step in any."
The giggles of even more kobolds could be heard from the tunnel that led to the lower level.
---
"How far do you think we have walked?" Imoen asked. "It feels like we've been here forever."
"We're probably only a few miles from Nashkel," Ember said. With a slight shudder, she noticed the body of a miner laying in a tunnel fork nearby; the dampness of the mine had not been kind to the body.
"Our progress would undoubtedly be much smoother if I were to wield one of the wands. (The wand of fire, preferably, but the wand of frost would be an improvement also.)" Edwin said. Ember rolled her eyes. Ever since the wizard had found out about the wand of fire they had found while hunting bandits in the coastal hills, he had not stopped asking for it. However, Ajantis did not trust him with it, and Kivan felt it was too soon to leave such an artifact in his hands, so all he had been granted was a flask of oil of fiery burning. Matters had not improved when Emerson, the mine's manager, had given them a wand of frost that had belonged to the now dead alchemist.
"Stop complaining, Eddie. You'd just use up the wand, clearing our way like that, and then what would you do when you really needed the wand?" Imoen said.
"There would be no such problem! You might perhaps commit such a foolish mistake, but I, the great Edwin Odesseiron, have superior knowledge of how, when, and where fire is best utilized!"
"Boo does not like kobolds. They look at him funny," Minsc said.
"So they do," Ember said.
"It is of little wonder; there is a sense of evil about them," Ajantis added.
"And there they are," Kivan said, pointing down a tunnel. Half a dozen of the creatures appeared to be guarding a small room. Edwin obliterated one of them with a magic missile, and Kivan had taken down another with a wellplaced arrow by the time Ember, Ajantis and Minsc fell upon the kobolds.
The small room was empty but for a few crates which held a healing potion, a gemstone and some coin. The tunnel to their right was more intriguing; a reddish glow emanated from it. Her sword drawn, Ember walked slowly down the glowing tunnel, being careful not to get out of sight of the others.
"Wow," Ember whispered. The tunnel ended abruptly, cut off by a slowly churning river of fire. Immense heat radiated from the river, and she could see flakes of black ash floating on the surface. There was no corresponding tunnel on the other side. I guess I'd stop expanding my mine if I hit a river like this, too, she thought.
Kivan came down the tunnel behind her. He spared only a moment to look at the lava, then he grabbed the rough edge of the wall where the tunnel they stood in met the river tunnel and leaned out just far enough to look up and down the lava flow. "There is a bridge not far from here," he said.
--
The tunnels on the far side of the lava river were old and disused, and looked more like natural caves than like mining tunnels. There was a musty smell in the air, and pools of water had formed in several places. There were still kobolds everywhere, of course, and they even encountered a ghoul in an otherwise abandoned tunnel. The kobolds seemed to avoid the ghoul's lair, and they chose to sit down and eat a brief meal there before continuing onwards.
"I hope we don't have to sleep in here," Imoen said.
"I would be happy to leave dwarven ways to dwarven folk," Kivan said.
"Boo does not like it here either. See how he burrows deep into Minsc's pockets?" Minsc held up a leather pouch that held the quivering hamster and let Imoen pet Boo.
Ember chewed a piece of meat thoughtfully and tried not to look at the remains of the ghoul. It'd take them hours to get back to the surface already, and there would probably be more to find before they could turn back. If only there weren't so many of those damned kobolds! She had killed so many of the creatures by now, her icy sword slicing through them as if they were butter, that their deaths didn't really register with her anymore. All she felt was the joy in removing yet another pest, and another, and another... With a sigh, Ember finished her meat.
The next area they passed through could no longer be mistaken for anything but natural caves. Water was dripping everywhere, and pale ooze coated the walls. A large cavern opened up on their right, and as light from their torches fell into it, something moved with a chittering sound.
"Spiders!" Imoen cried. Three spiders, every bit as large as the ones they'd seen exterminated in Beregost, were moving towards them.
"Back, you fools!" Edwin exclaimed. He pulled the oil of fiery burning from his beltpouch and flung the bottle at the spiders. It hit one of them between the eyes, and exploded in a fireball that enveloped all three of the spiders. Edwin grinned smugly as their sounds changed to hisses and gurgles and crackles, and when the fire dissipated, the burnt and disoriented creatures were cut down in no time.
"This is not natural," Kivan said. "Spiders like these would not willingly dwell so far underground."
"They must have been placed here to guard something," Ajantis said. They quickly searched the cave the spiders had been in, but found nothing; no caches of any sort, and no other tunnels were connected to the cave.
"If you think about it," Imoen said, "the shape of the cave means that nobody passing it can see what's inside until what's inside can see them. I think they were guarding the tunnel we were following."
"Excellent thinking, miss Imoen," Ajantis said.
Kivan peered down the tunnel, putting just enough space between himself and the others that the light from their torches would not disturb him. "There is a faint light in the far end. I shall scout ahead. Be quiet." He stripped off his chainmail and ankheg chestplate, and vanished down the tunnel without making a sound.
Kivan was not long gone; when he returned a few minutes later, he could tell them there was at least one more kobold patrol up ahead, near a small lava stream. "Some of the kobolds were carrying flammable arrows. We must be cautious," he told them as he reequipped his armor. They extinguished their torches and moved down the tunnel in single file, stepping carefully and holding on to each other. Kivan stopped them when he was barely within range of the closest kobold, drew his bow, and shot the creature. Its startled companions scrambled to run up the tunnel towards them; Kivan shot the first attacker while the rest of the party fanned out behind him. A large kobold paused behind the rest of the creatures and drew its bow.
"Look out!" Ember shouted, and pushed Imoen to the floor. A burning arrow flew through the space where Imoen's chest had been, narrowly missing the girls.
"Evil kobolds should not try to set little Imoen on fire!" Minsc bellowed. The giant ranger charged down the tunnel towards the kobolds, heading straight for the larger kobold. Two brutal swings of Minsc's sword cut the kobold down just as it was readying a second burning arrow. Minsc extinguished the arrow with his foot, and turned towards the rest of the kobolds.
Progress was smooth after that. The tunnel widened into a large cavern which contained nothing but a large pool of water in one corner. A narrow tunnel led out of the far end.
"Something's not right here," Imoen said. She took a few steps closer, peered at the floor, took a few steps to the side and studied it from another angle, then bent down and fiddled with a barely visible thread on the floor.
"Traps. Lots of them. Just wait there and I'll take care of them," Imoen told them. It wasn't the first time that day that the skills she'd practiced with Winthrop had come in handy; the bridge over the lava river had also been trapped, as a stumbling kobold had perfectly demonstrated by being burned to a cinder, and only Imoen had prevented them from setting off the other two traps on it.
Imoen slowly made her way across the floor, then stood up and stuck her tongue out at a handful of narrow gaps in the wall. "This way, she said, gesturing towards the tunnel. It was curved just enough that they couldn't see the far end, but the tunnel was not long, and they were soon in the largest open area they had found yet. After killing the kobold patrol that awaited them there, they noticed that the cavern, which was half filled by a lake, had a central pillar of rock with a smaller cave entrance in it. A clearly artificial path led to the opening, which had been carved with tools into a door-like shape. Light shone from within.
They entered the cave with weapons drawn. The cave split into three smaller caves immediately past the entrance. Two of the caves still appeared natural, but in the right hand one the stalactites had been cut from the ceiling, and the walls and floors had been smoothened and covered with richly decorated rugs and tapestries. A silk curtain, currently drawn open, hung at its opening, and beyond the curtain they could see a couple chest and a gilded chair. A half-orc dressed in chainmail and a purple tabard was dozing on the gilded chair, a large shield at his side and a morning star resting in his lap.
The half-orc woke with a start as the party entered. "What? Who?" he mumbled, then looked more closely at his visitors. "Tazok must have dispatched you," he cried, standing up from the chair, "and my traitorous kobolds let you pass, didn't they? I knew I could not trust them! Armed as such you have obviously been sent to kill me! By Cyric, not a measure of ore leaves this mine unspoiled and I am still to be executed?! I'll not lose my head over this!"
"Tazok?" Kivan asked quietly. "No, Tazok did not send us." The elf stepped forward, pulling his hammer from his belt. "Tell me what you know of him. Now."
"Tazok did not send thee? Then thou art dead!" The half-orc began casting a summoning spell, but Kivan lunged forward and grabbed him by his throat, interrupting the spell in mid-cast.
"You will tell me," Kivan growled.
"T-there, in my chest, are all my letters," the half-orc whimpered. "Take them, and leave me be!" Kivan released the half-orc from his grip and glanced towards the chest.
"Help, my minions, HEEELLLPPP!!" the half-orc cried, seizing his only opportunity. A swarm of yabbering kobolds appeared from the leftmost cave. Ember and Minsc immediately attacked the creatures, while Kivan swung his hammer at the half-orc. It struck with a crackle of electricity, but somehow the half-orc seemed unaffected by anything but the blow itself; the arcs of energy appeared to be absorbed into the ground around him. The half-orc retaliated with a swing of his own morning star, and rapidly cast a spell. The floor became alive with a tangle of slimy growths that snarled around everybody's feet. Kivan reeled from the blow he'd received. Unable to move his feet to regain his balance, he fell backwards. The half-orc laughed and raised his morning star.
One of Imoen's arrows pierced the half-orc's shoulder at the same time as three magic missiles struck his chest, and he dropped his shield. Ajantis, whose feet had come free from the growths long enough to move a bit, slashed viciously at the half-orc before extending a hand to Kivan, helping the ranger back on his feet. Behind Kivan and Ajantis, the last of the kobolds died, Minsc whooping with glee as a powerful swing of his sword cut the creature in two.
"I yield, I yield to thee! Accept my surrender?" the half-orc wheezed, his eyes filled with fear.
"Never," Kivan said, and struck hard enough to smash his foe's skull.
