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Scribe - Wade Durant
As recorded on the Tamar of an Ariane Druas known only as Hunter:
As the most interesting tales are usually found among those who are
considered eccentric or unusual, I made my way through the cavern city of
Durne, to a small yet lively establishment on the outskirts of the
settlement. This tavern was called the Cracked Shell Tavern, in reference
to the broken scrap of Subterranoid exoskeleton that hung above the heating
braziers. That is the name that is used by the owner and the patrons, most
others in Durne refer to it as Crazy Emo's. The majority of the patronage
consists of portions of Durne society that they would call ruffians or
rabble-rousers, but by the standards of most other civilized peoples, they
are still quite tame and unexcitable.
The proprietor of the tavern is a one legged gnomekin by the name of Emo
Adobo, a retired tunnel runner, protector, and cavern cartographer.
Evenings around the dim braziers filled with glowing fungus and heating
crystals typically consists of young, off duty protectors imbibing potent
mushroom ale as well as tales spun by retired, elderly veterans of the
tunnels under Talislanta. Quite often, usually after many "caps" full of
the strongest Gnomekin mushroom ale, Emo will hobble out from behind the
bar on his one good leg and his crystalline, iron tipped false leg, and
inform the patrons that the lot of them have moss growing behind the ears
and know nothing about adventure. He then proceeds to spin the most
fantastic tales, most well beyond even the childlike imagination of the
other gnomekin.
Here I spend my nights hoping for grand stories from Emo, in the hopes that
his wild tales will uncover a bit of truth regarding the many secrets of
the Land Below. Why I am drawn to that uncharted realm I have yet to
realize, but it is becoming an unquenchable obsession. It seemed obvious
that the best place to quench my thirst for this knowledge would be Durne.
Gnomekin should possess more of its hidden lore than any other people still
residing on Talislanta. Most say Ebo's tales are a result of either the
traumatic shock of loosing his leg in a battle or of his exposure to the
toxic wastes in the underground highway below Urag. Nevertheless, I have an
undeniable sense that Ebo Adobo's "crazy" stories contain more truth than
his brethren give him credit for. Thus I listen to endless stories, and
endure inexhaustible boasting from inebriated, diminutive men until now my
patience pays off and Ebo is about to stun the patrons with the following
grand tale:
"There were six of us on a mapping excursion that day, myself and Udo
Udlana, both experienced protectors; Onu Ogoni, one of the fastest tunnel
runners ever to ever crawl through the depths; Iber and Uni Edwa, a brother
and sister team of cartographers; and Apu Purda, our crystalmancer and
resident killjoy. Back then, the tunnels under Urag was virtually unknown,
especially the deeper caverns, 'cause them damn Darklings and their
overstuffed masters had already polluted most of 'em. Someone had the
bright idea that certain crystals would be more powerful if grown in the
toxic sludge found down there, so it was our job to map out the deepest
caverns we could find, with bonuses for all if we found a waste dump as
well. Apu provided crystals that was supposed to protect us from any
poisonin' from the stuff, but we never had to actually test 'em out. Bet
Apu would wish we'd had that chance, rather than what happened 'stead, if
he was still alive.
"Was following a right good downslope with just a bit o' water runnin',
just under the Darklands, when it opened up to huge crevasse, wider across
that a half dozen durges lined up snout to tail. Could hardly see the other
side. Ran long and deep, too, couldn't see the bottom or the top, looked
like every runner's nightmare, but every climber's dream. Could see a
fissure on the other side, about six stalks down from our ledge. Iber was
the best climber, and started settin's pins and headin' down the wall,
hoping to find another cavity on our side to continue on, or to get a
better angle on throwin' a grapnel across and getting' it to catch. He
found another ledge, so followed him down, we did.
Got a rope across and headed over first, when the rope went slack an' was
smacked against the far rock wall, just about witless. Apu was clinging to
the end of the rope below me, don't know how or why, but turned out better
to be on that side than the other. Looked back and most of the ledge was
gone and the chasm echoed with the sound of falling rocks and screaming
Gnomekin. There was something else too. High pitched screamin' like you
never heard, went right through the heart! Apu lit up the cavern, and could
see scrape marks startin' above the ledge, then continuin' down into the
dark, where the others' shouts had stopped, like they'd hit bottom. Scrapes
above the ledge! Remember thinkin', whatever was there, we came down right
past 'em! They waited for us, then took us out, like they was actually
thinkin', plottin' creatures. Yea, you got it right, boy, Subterranoids.
More likely drones, by the size of the marks on the wall.
"After a bit o' quiet, could hear moanin' from the bottom of the crevasse,
and more screechin' too. They wasn't dead, and we couldn't just leave 'em,
so Ebo pulled out a crystal an' started chanting to Terra, an' below us, a
ladder started forming out of the rock in the cliff face. Wasn't quick,
mind you, but better'n nothin'. Got down a few hundred feet, and could see
the bottom, littered with rubble, and swarmin' with the armored backs a
hundred Subterranoid drones. Quite a sight from above, almost looked like
stalactites, but movin'. Apu flared up his light again, hopin' to scare 'em
back to their dark holes, but they grabbed the others an' took 'em with
'em, the evil brutes.
"Couldn't just let 'em get away with our comrades, so we descended, slowly,
to the bottom, but by then, the place was deserted. Luckily, drones aren't
the best at hidin' their tracks. There must have been a dozen exits, but
not hard to tell where the others was dragged. Must have followed that
tunnel for days, down deeper than any gnomekin ever been. Could feel when
we passed from this land into the Land Below. Was an eerie tingle in the
air, made the mane want to stand up on end. And there was a smell too, like
sniffin' hot steel, with a bit o' honey poured on it.
"Knew we were in their land now, not ours, so figured it would be safer to
sneak in, rather than charge in demanding our comrades back. Apu fired up
another one of his crystals, makin' us blend into the rock. We snuck right
past dozens of those stupid, lumberin' drones. Just wandered the passages,
they did, not much rhyme nor reason to 'em. Walked right by us without a
second look. Even saw a few little drones, probably babies. Ain't nobody
ever seen a baby drone before, no baby subterranoids, either. We was about
to learn that there aren't any such thing as a baby subterranoid.
"Could feel a breeze comin' from ahead carryin' the stench of somethin'
supernatural stronger than ever, or so Apu said. We found a small vent tube
that opened into the ceiling of a large cavern, where we could look down
into the room, hopin' to spot Onu and the others. What we saw then I hope
no other folk ever has to see. The cavern was crawlin' with both drones and
subterranoids, and that's not all. There was a huge pool o' somethin'
bubblin' and steamin' in the middle of the room, and a huge ebontine
crystal half-submerged in the stuff.
"Floatin' above the crystal, chained to the floor by shackles of metal like
the stuff the 'noids use for weapons and shields, was a creature that
turned my stomach to look at it. It was a huge shimmerin' scaly serpent,
with a score of tentacles writhin' off of its body. It had one huge eye
that was always lookin' right through you, no matter where you were, and a
nasty lookin' stinger on the tip of its tail, bigger than me. Apu said the
name of the thing, but I can't remember what he said, too busy tryin not to
run the other way. What's that, Ariane? Yea, that's the name he said, Erx.
But he said too big to be real. Good thing it was chained up, I tell you.
But that's not the worst of it.
"At one end of the cavern, drones was carryin' bodies into the room, layin'
'em out in rows on the floor. Gnomekin bodies! There must have been fifty
layin' there, all long dead, covered in dirt. Don't you get it, ya idiots,
the subterranoids were stealin' our dead! We bury them deep in the earth to
give them back to Terra, but the 'noids and their stinking drones are
stealin' them! I wanted to dive into the room an' cut 'em all to bits, but
what happened next froze me to the floor where I lay.
"Somethin' else came into the room, somethin' big and ugly. Looked like a
subterranoid, but had more arms and a tail, and was different colors, with
weird writing all over its shell. Before I could get a good look, it
started castin' a spell or somethin' and the crystal started glowin' and
the cavern shook with thunder. The 'noids' shields and swords started
glowin' and then waves of power flowed from 'em into the big snake thing,
and down into the crystal. The pool started boilin' and the stink had me
and Apu both gaggin'. Apu started to panic, 'cause his crystals all went
dead, like the thing was sucking out their magic. I smacked him to shut him
up 'cause nobody was payin' no attention to us up there anyway, didn't need
him givin' us away.
"One by one, the drones each picked up a gnomekin body and waded into the
boilin' pool, 'til all you could see was the back humps of 'em pokin' out
the surface. After a few minutes, the spell stopped, the energy quit
flowin' and the pool stopped boilin'. Actually, it looked like it
evaporated or drained or somethin', 'cause when the steam cleared we could
see everythin' in the pool clearly, only they wasn't no drones anymore!
They was subterranoids! The stinkin' things are using our poor dead kin,
stealin' their souls and minds from Terra and usin' them to become
subterranoids! Somehow they was all transformed, no longer the hulking,
stupid drones, but now thinkin', calculatin', evil 'noids!
"Suddenly Apu's magic came back to his crystals, but unfortunately, they
all started glowin' real bright. All the subterranoids looked up at us -
just about lost it right there, knew we was dead. Both got up an' started
runnin', but the 'noid king must have done somethin', 'cause there was a
blast behind us and the vent floor blew out below us. Leapt for a ledge,
rather than fall into the writhing mass of monsters below an' barely caught
hold. Apu wasn't so lucky. Watched from the ledge as they ripped him limb
from limb below. They must have known he had magic powers, 'cause they was
too busy rummagin' through his bags and what was left of his clothes to pay
me much attention. Climbed up to the vent again and never looked back.
"Must have run for days. Ran out of glow moss and had to go by feel, hear,
and smell for three days before I found more. No big problem, trained for
that for years, most of you have too, right? Or are they givin' you all
glow crystals now? Anyway, got a bit lost during that time, ended up in
Urag, but that's another story. Finally made it back to Durne a whole cycle
later, and went straight to the King. Pleaded with him to stop buryin' our
dead, that we was responsible for keepin' the subterranoids around, but he
wouldn't listen. They all said was crazy. Think he sent a group back there
to crash the tunels, don't know if they succeeded. Don't know if the King
is still worried about it, or if he forgot about it completely.
"Tell you one thing, when the end comes, any you bury this one, come back
from the dead to haunt you! Cremate this body or leave it on the surface to
feed the stryx, but don't ya dare bury it!
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