The Ninth Adventure

[mushgnome]

Any druidic knowledge that might help us to calm this shrieking shroom?

(1d6=4) The dice say no. Noh is unfamiliar with this species. According to Noh's druidic knowledge of fungal lore, mushrooms are the quiet type and shouldn't be capable of vocalization!

[kipper]

Dame Simonetta lets the boulder roll back as soon as Robur has returned. She looks cautiously to the north and east exits. "Well, if it was supposed to summon something, they have likely heard it now." She is also concerned that if we cut the fishing line coming out of the cave, perhaps the lack of screaming will summon something instead.

[rredmond]

These cacophonic shrooms have alerted more than what they intended I would bet, Noh says as he tries to cover Carc's auricular feathers.

[acodispo]

"Cover me!"

Willie goes to look in the cupboard for anything interesting. If he finds anything, he'll take it, and then suggest they all retreat to the previous cavern (though he'll go along with the majority if another decision is made).

[mushgnome]

Willie has always considered himself an "adventurous eater." He enjoys sauerkraut, anchovy paste, sriracha, strong cheeses, hot dogs, and even the occasional lutefisk. But none of that prepares him for what he finds in the cupboard.

There is an ancient Frislandian dish called hákarl. Willie has always secretly been curious to take a vaction to Frisland and try it. They make hákarl by burying a shark in the ground, then digging it up months later, once it's turned to mush.

Hákarl would be the bland palette-cleanser to wash the taste out of his mouth, if he dared eat the strange food on display in this cabinet. The depth and breadth of fermentation is off the charts. Imagine casu marzu married natto, they had a litter of ugly babies, and you lined up the whole family for a portrait. Willie throws up a little in his mouth.

Some of the food, Willie's not even sure whether it's animal, vegetable, or mineral. The majority of the food seems to be aquatic in origin: various fish, eels, frogs, snails, crabs, turtles, crawfish, worms, etc. of the pale/blind/cave persuasion. The dominant method of preservation is to wrap the food in a kelp-like water vegetable. The slime from the kelp kickstarts the pickling/fermenting process. There seems to be no limit to what the mystery caveman considers "edible," with some of the food in quite an advanced state of liquification.

Also the crudely-made utensils aren't quite "right." The cups and bowls are the wrong shape and size for a hobbet's hand. They're made from clay, but not by a skilled potter. And instead of having separate spoons and forks, like a civilized hobbet, this barbarian eats with a single utensil, combining the worst qualities of fork and spoon. Willie can only describe this pathetic franken-utensil as a "foon."

None of the cupboard's contents have any value at all, unless maybe Willie wanted to track down a niche buyer for the exotic foodstuffs. (But he is worried it would stink up his backpack.)

A final comment is that none of this food appears to be cooked. Willie finds no trace of a cook stove, pots, pans, or even a tea kettle to boil water. Likewise he finds no torches, lanterns, oil, or tinderbox.

[kipper]

No tea kettle?!? Dame Simonetta can only shake her head at evidence of such depravity.

She votes to take the northern passage (not back the way we came).

[Bastet1002]

"And no mead, scones, cheese or marmalade?" says Robur raising an eyebrow incredulously. And then shrugs in resignation and agreement with Dame's plan.

[coffee]

"Well, obviously," Wilbur reasons aloud, "his kettle must be so valuable that he takes it with him whenever he goes out."

[mushgnome]

The party moves around the corner to the north (whoops, I forgot to make a '6' on the map, but it's area #6). This area is a guard-room with arrow slits on the north wall. There is a wooden stool near one of the arrow slits, and a crossbow left leaning against the wall. It's a big, heavy crossbow (more of an arbalest) that is longer than a hobbet is tall. It is accompanied by a quiver of unusual bolts that are tipped with fork-like tines. Even a human would struggle to use such a large crossbow and it would not be a practical weapon for hobbets (unless maybe you mounted it on a battle-wagon and used it as a siege weapon).

If any of you are brave enough to stand on the stool and look through the arrow slit, you find yourself looking down into the large cavern below. You feel a chill run down your spine thinking how the party would have blundered into the sniper's crosshairs, if you had gone west instead of south at the ramp intersection.

There's nothing else here besides the crossbow, bolts, and stool. Again, no torches or lanterns. It would appear our dungeon level three mystery caveman 1) can see in the dark, 2) is fiendishly strong, 3) has a taste for rotting fish, 4) tortures shriekers, 5) is a dead-eye crack shot, and 6) heard or saw the party coming, and is one step ahead of you!

[mgtremaine]

Kiplyn, who would have followed all long once the party started north, would make a suggestion. "Maybe we should take the crossbow and hide it or destroy it, because I hate the idea of getting shot with that."