“Guess not.” Edwin shrugged, and placed the rebreather in his pocket once more. He looked around. Most of the surface team had already made their way up the ladder. Ghurst had drawn his revolver, possibly because he had sensed some sort of danger that went unnoticed to the others, but it was more likely an act of caution. And Marriane and Ricard were off doing something at the back of the group. Edwin considered speaking with them. He still wanted to ask about Ricard and whatever magic was behind his abilities, and Marianne seemed like someone worth making friends with, but he was uncertain of speaking with them right now. They were on a time limit in the sewers, and he wasn't sure as to how the wolf would react.

“I'm going to look up ahead.” He stated, opting to engage in a bit of exploration. “Flare.” With a whisper, an orb of light formed, orbiting above Edwin's head and illuminating the dark. He would walk till he reached a fork in the path of the sewers. Along the way he would examine the walls and floors, noting any oddities he found either mentally or on a notepad he carried with him. He would watch the waters as well, looking for any objects that might be floating about, or movement that might warn them.

Once he had reached a forking path, assuming he didn't hurt himself or come under attack before then, he would return to the group to report his findings. From there they would presumably discuss anything of importance, and determine their new route.

With this plan in mind, Edwin went onward into the dark.

Udo Koro Kai – Cistern

As some group members moved off, Udo Koro Kai instinctively moved to follow them. When facing the unknown, safety lay in numbers. However, he allotted a moment for Edwin's question before rushing off through the shallow water and into the yawning dark aperture. “Not I. For future reference, Motus is my specialty. Observe: Idou.” For the purpose of demonstration, Kai muttered the incantation of a spell, and in an instant darted a few feet forward, his form blurry. Acknowledging the lack of necessity of further discussion with Edwin, Kai turned not back to confirm the mage's notice, but forged ahead, after the fleeting, vague shapes of Riad and Aron.

Unlike conventional sewers, this system lay separate from waste disposal. Lavatory plumbing operated in another sphere of pipes, much smaller and less elaborate than these, for to handle the fetid byproducts of the human digestive system large, walkable canals and tunnels constituted a waste in and of themselves. These algae-strewn depths were more comparable to the ocean itself, certainly not free of contaminant but with salt water rather than repulsive slime, and a pervading fishy, low-tide odor rather than the noxious, senses-affronting stench of ordinary city sewers. Mixing sewage with the water that regularly flowed out into the city was, after all, a plan ripe for disease and disaster. Still, they were hardly livable, and as Kai caught up to Riad and Aron, he learned from their words that both well-acquainted with such conditions. “This place,” he remarked evenly, “must have a certain charm to it I do not understand. If you are well familiar with it, Mr. Aurum, and you know little about what is going on, it is reasonable to expect that the area more directly related to the problem is hidden from view. And Riad...” Kai gave the illusioneer a sharp look. “I suspect it would sound as telling as it would anywhere else.”

He looked back at Marianne and Ricard, a trace of concern flashing in his eyes, but after taking notice of Mr. Ghurst he decided an action of leadership was in order. “Ah, you are wise, Mr. Ghurst. In here, light is of utmost importance.” He removed a tiny pocket-lantern from a pouch on his belt and flicked a mechanism to activate it. An electric beam of light, condensed by a built-in mirror, shone through the darkness. It provided a narrower, but longer, field of vision than Ghurst's lantern. When Edwin, now caught up as well, spoke up, Kai reached out with a placating hand to caution him but found the mage summoning his own magical light and forging right ahead. After a quick check to make sure that the quiet Ms. Abal had accompanied them, Kai embarked into the gloom after Edwin. Almost immediately, the tunnel by which the party had entered widened, resolving itself into a deeper middle canal and two bare concrete sidewalks of lesser width on either side. Stepping onto one of those walks, Kai moved along slowly enough to signify that the others should follow him.

Along Edwin's path

Beneath the glow of his flare, Edwin encountered little out of the ordinary on his brief trip. The concrete floor, permanently moist, was littered with various debris tossed up by the waters in higher tides. Mud, crushed bits of shell, shreds of seaplant, and all manner of minute crustaceans whether living or dead lay underfoot. His illumination revealed niter clinging to the walls amidst the loose stony bricks, but no mosses—only a hundred feet or so from the sewer entrance seemed to be more than enough to deprive all plant life of essential sunlight, even lichens with their fungal symbiosis. It didn't take long for Edwin to suddenly happen upon a four-way junction in the tunnel. Each direction seemed about as inhospitably dingy as the next, but Aron would know that a small colony of sewer-folk lay some distance to the left, a tunnel which slanted upward. Edwin, meanwhile, was more likely to notice a vast, pale shape lying about a foot beneath the water's surface smack dab in the center of the four-way junction. While it didn't appear to be moving, its vague definition beneath the dirty water suggested it to be about as large as a cow.

Mancer - Silt Street

Spurred on by Eresa's affirmation, Mancer bowed his head slightly in polite respect. While not at all foreign to the idea of people being nice to curry trust from him, he could not help but like the golem for her sense of consideration, a very human sense that ironically arose from precious few humans. He did not suspect her of hollow gestures, and ably preceded her up the latter to the slummy Silt Street on his jackal legs.

Not eager to make a show of his deformity, despite just showing how well he'd acclimated to it over time, Mancer secured his snowy cloak's comforting drape about his bony frame before continuing. He looked upon the dwarfs with a slight incredulity, for most of the dwarfs he'd seen in urban centers including Ebb dallied not in such reprehensible habitats as this. On second thought, it wasn't unreasonable to assume that, just as with all societies, that of dwarfs fostered its fair share of rejects. Mancer removed his gaze from the locals and pointed them toward his destination. He found himself walking beside the warlike late arrival, the man who Kai had identified as Dane Joshin. Mancer felt better knowing that his group included a warrior such as he. Together with Levi, and perhaps Eresa if close combat proved to be her forte, he'd be making sure that any enemies couldn't get through to the more fragile members of the party, such as himself. Already the other members of the group felt closer to him, if only because of their fellowship. Passing Kadoodle, Mancer accepted a cookie, softly thanking the goblin for his gift.

Happenstance dictated that Mancer, perhaps galvanized by Eresa's approval, entered the headquarters Depth Plumbers first. After pushing open an unanswered door whose hinged squealed in protest, he crossed the threshold to find a rather large interior. Immediately after the frontmost room, a hallway that ran side-to-side offered a choice. Standing within now, Mancer could see that on one side the hallway opened up into a large room, brightly lit with cheap industrial glare, with bare gray concrete walls and floor. In the other direction lay a yellowish chamber, more homely, likely living quarters. Mancer took a step in the latter way and was disgusted as his foot sank into a thick whitish slime lying upon the ground. “Yeck.” Luckily, it slid off when he lifted his foot. On closer inspection the stuff seemed to blanket the floor on the direction he held, and the closer he got to the living quarters, the more the various items seemed to be in disarray—tools, papers, clothes.

Edwin paused when he noticed whatever it was that lay in the water. Something about it felt off. It was larger than any of the other objects he'd seen so far. Too large to even be some poor soul swept up in the currents, and the exact shape was indecipherable. So then what could it be? Some sort of sea creature unfortunate enough to end up in the sewers? Cargo from a ship? I suppose it could even be a monster. Here's as good a place as any for one to show up. If that was the case it would probably be best to find out before they tried doing anything else with it.

The plan was to meet back up with the group, but Edwin decided it would be best to make sure it wasn't going to kill them now rather than later. To do so, he retrieved one of the loose bricks. If it was just a large object that somehow made it into the sewers, as unlikely as that may be, it would at worst be a bit damaged. In the event it was a sea creature it didn't look to be a live one, and a monster would probably be angry regardless of what he did. So under the assumption that it would be no worse than the alternatives, Edwin stood back from the water's edge, and lobbed the stone at the shape and into the water.

After Edwin left, Kep peered at the group that had descended into the sewers and did his best to assess a few of the individuals. Kai looked vaguely familiar, perhaps someone that he had known prior to his condition. He definitely recognized the pirate who frequented the sewers. Kep was always very cautious with Aron; half of his most prized possessions were made of precious metals that he was sure the man would like to get his hands on.

Kep was surprised to see the wolf, a rare site in Ebb. He remembered that they lived in the same areas as the Snow Elves and how he seemed protective the only elf in the party. Kep guessed that the snow elf was nobility or simply lucky to have that companion. Kep almost completely ignored, Abal and Ash, they were just unfamiliar humans, however he did inspect Ash long enough to guess that he had a quasi-rogue fighting style. Finally, he looked at the two parili, which he immediately took great interest in. He had heard the comment about screaming from Riad (it was what had lured him over here in the first place), so, despite being a parili, any chance of Kep trusting Riad was stamped out. Finally, he looked at Mr. Ghurst, and after a brief inspection, was taken aback. Kep had several papers and books written by or crediting Mr. Ghurst that he treasured along with the artifacts and possessions he kept at his dwelling. There was a group of individuals that actively searched for the cure, but Rhastulah was perhaps the most prominent member. Imagine the wealth of knowledge the man possessed! Perhaps their combined findings would move them closer to curing this horrific disease!

However, Kep quickly realized that he wasn't certain this was Mr. Ghurst. The chance of this being a different deer parili were slim, but not impossible. He decided to follow the group and confirm that this really was the Rhastulah Ghurst before he jumped to conclusions. He silently crept after the investigative team as they went deeper and deeper into the sewer. Kep decided that if it seemed like the Ash, the man taking up the rear, was onto Kep, he would just pretend to be casually moving through the sewers and happened to be taking the same route as them, after all, there were several places where people resided within the sewers.

Eresa did not bother herself with acknowledging Malte and Kadoodle's prattling or the offer of cookies. Really. Did she look like she could enjoy one of the baked treats? No, golems don't eat. It was insulting to even ask and she felt the strong urge to backhand the fetid little creature. She resisted of course, but couldn't help the feeling of being saddled with the panicky goblin.

Following closely behind Mancer, she reached down and dipped a finger into the white slime. It was much like a slug's trail but far more viscous. As the excess dripped off her finger it lengthened, becoming more like a blade than a digit. The others followed suit.

"Indeed, it appears Mr. Ghurst guessed correctly. Split up and look for anyone or anything out of the ordinary."

---

Taking Kai's cue, Ghurst tailed the detective, unable to shake the uneasy feeling of being watched. He shook off the feeling. It would not bode well to be jumpy here. Instead he blamed the feeling on the the eyes of all the others around. Riad's comments on screaming weren't helping. But that's all it was, a feeling.

Holstering his rollvolver for the moment, Ghurst once again drew forth a bit of charcoal. He didn't trust the passages down here. It could too easily become a maze on them if they strayed too far from the path. Tracing a black arrow that would be invisible in the gloom without light, he hurried to catch up, arriving just in time to see Edwin lob the stone.

Kadoodle put the remaining few cookies away, smiling politely at those who had taken them. He couldn't believe that he had almost directly offered her a cookie! He had almost forgotten that golems couldn't eat, and to many it was an insult to tempt them with sweets.

Kadoodle then did as Eresa instructed, splitting off from the group and looking for any people that seemed suspicious, or even information about the submarine...

The sudden noise of the splash shattered the eerie silence that permeated the dank junction, and beneath the smooth, salty surface of the water the pale shape moved. For a few seconds, all that could be seen in Edwin's flare was the undulation of long, conical appendages, but soon after the creature made itself known. With a guttural gurgle the thing pulled itself out of the canal onto the very concrete walkway upon which Edwin stood, and revealed itself to be a corpse-white, mockingly squidlike mass covered in tentacles with no visible head. Propping itself up with some of its limbs, the wretched vermin reared back, revealed a long, grooved slit lined with teeth on its underside, a gruesome parody of some freakish starfish. Though the creature could be observed to be lethargic in motion, it needed no excess of speed to release a noxious, purplish cloud from that awful mouth to waft Edwin's way. For now, the creature ignored Mr. Ghurst, whether out of not being able to attack him or not being able to sense him.



As the warped wizard Mancer reluctantly probed a slimy jacket for any items perhaps of use, Dane Joshin advanced to the rear of the living quarters, unfazed by the albino muck he ground into the carpet beneath his boots. He approached a mass of the stuff clinging to the wall just above a chair, and as he closed the distance the warrior became increasingly aware of an odd fluctuation on the gray goo's surface. Fascinated, he stood still, watching the slime on the wall twist and shape itself into the vague outline of a dwarf. Not fully realizing what was happening, Dane suspected nothing as one of the dwarf's arms began to solidify. Finally becoming aware of the profundity of faint squelching noises, Mancer glanced the warrior's way and froze. “Uh, sir? I don't know if that's safe...!”

With a particularly thick springing noise, the slime dwarf lurched off of its chair. Dane's lips began to move, attempting to summon his Unyielding Aegis, but the amorphous being proved faster. It jammed its hand into the warrior's face, stretching the limb farther than a proper dwarf ever could, as befitted its unstable structure. Dane cried out as the fingers pierced his eyes and stumbled back, blind and bleeding. Mancer stood immobile still, full of terror, but the sight of the very floor starting to move galvanized him into action. From the slime covering the ground, all around the foyer and living quarters of the Depth Plumbers HQ, sprang a squad of gelatinous dwarfs with empty white eyes, crying out in a senseless, garbled tongue as they attacked anyone they could see.

Mancer leaped against the wall and yelped, “Cold Snap!” The slime dwarf assailing him suddenly halted, enveloped in a shell of obstructing ice. Mancer wasn't done, however, and the lack of humanity shared by these beings permitted him to be brutal. “Heartseekers!” A trio of ethereal, hot pink daggers materialized in the air, and zipped forward to embed themselves in the frozen creature's head. The iced slime shattered, scattering the pieces over the floor, but there were more where they came from. “Agh!”

Poison, or just bad breath? Edwin raised a hand to cover his mouth and nose as the cloud floated towards him, and distanced himself from the creature, backing into the sewer wall. He shouted a muffled warning to Kai and raised his hand, channeling mana into a spell. Whether it was another of his waking dreams, or a tangible part of the world, this tentacled abomination was going to die. Edwin shouted the incantation “Thermal,” a ring of fire forming about a foot from his hand “Lance!” and from it shot a great lance of fire that dug into and burnt away at the creature's form. Pulling his hand away from the flames, Edwin fell back to a position by Ghurst, doing his best to avoid the smoke and leaving the spell to do it's work.

Marianne caught up to Mr. Ghurst's side, slowing down once she was with Kai and the antlered Parili. Remember him having asked something about explosives, she decided to make it known her own powers with the Potentia Affinity. "Ah, Mr. Ghurst? You had asked about explosives earlier? I apologize for a such a late response. I may not be gifted with the Ignis affinity, but my own Potentia spells can pierce and melt even stone and metal. If that helps the situation any."

Ricard remained close behind the three uncomfortable with how close Marianne was to the others, not daring to come close himself. His ear perked, catching some noise from behind them. Stopping for a moment, the great wolf turned behind him sensing something tailing them. His enhanced night vision only served him so far, as he was unable to discern anything in the darkness only seeing vague shapes. Of course, his vision could be fooling him as he realized he was on edge and paranoid. His snout only picked up the foul odors of the tunnel and he didn't dare take a deeper whiff for fear of becoming sick.

"Dearest Princess, I fear I may be overly suspicious but I cannot shake the feeling that we may have a pursuer."
Turning forward just in time, he saw Edwin and a terrifying creature rise from the murky waters.
Marianne was distracted by Ricard's words and turned to question him.
"Is that so, Ricard? Maybe you and I should drop behind and-"
Ricard's snarls cut her words off, his hackles rose and he growled, "Lady Marianne, ahead of us!"
Whirling, Marianne saw the tentacled creature exhale rise from the murk and breathe a noxious cloud of some unknown toxin. Seeing Edwin attack the creature with an Ignis spell, burning it, her own 'switch' flipped and her hand shot up into the air.
Ricard saw her raise her hand and immediately protested, but his words came too late. "Dearest Princess, d-!.."
Marianne's voice boomed and echoed throughout the tunnels as she channeled her mana into her right hand. "Lightning Javelin!" With a loud crack of the air, a massive spear of electrical energy and light formed in her hand. Arcs of lightning crackled, snapped, and popped in her immediate vicinity though they mostly traced her body. Filling the tunnel with its bright light, the spear resonated, giving off an audible electrical hum. Quick to action, she reared her hand back. With a powerful throw, she shot the spear forward at the creature in the water. As the spear flew, it hissed and evaporated the humidity in the air until it slammed into the body of the tentacled creature and exploded in a cascade of wild electrical arcs and sparks. Its power amplified by the fact that the creature was wet and still immersed in water if only partially.

Panting, strands of Marianne's hair floated wildly from the residual electrical charge that flowed from her body. If Edwin's attack didn't end the creature's life, Marianne's spell should have put it in a critical state if not finish it altogether. Getting into a combat stance, she kept her eyes on the creature as she barked a command to Ricard, "Ricard! Be ready to take it down should it not fall!"
Ricard snarled and got ready to pounce. "Aye, my lady!" Ricard's forehead rune glowed as he growled out two spells simultaneously , "Frost Coat! Grim Fang!" Slowly, his fur coat began to encase itself in spikes of ice. His fangs coating themselves in a thick layer of sharp ice also.

"Now, let's see..." Aron said, reaching into a little alcove in the brickwork.

His hand groped the inside of the bricks for a little while before emerging with his prize: A slightly twisted but clean handful of iron scrap. He stuffed it into his mouth and his teeth chewed away, crunching it down. Aron sat down to enjoy his small meal. He was rather vexed by his teeth and his digestive system, unfortunately. If Aron wasn't born with such a glaring defect, he might've been one of the richest people in Ebb by now. Unfortunately for him, he had to eat his only source of income. There wasn't much he could do as a homeless guy, after all. Aron 'acquired' and sold scrap metal as a day job. Back when he had his little gang, he started stealing money from other gangs. Unfortunately for his gang and his income, the crew had gone down in a whirlpool.

After that, he signed up for the expedition and found himself back down the sewer. Kind of like travelling around a desert for a week and finding that you'd been walking in circles for a week.

"Well, nothing for it." Aron grunted, standing up.

The was actually less like walking in circles and more like walking in one big circle and finding that someone left a sack of gold back at the start, assuming things went well and he actually got paid.

Aron got up and looked around, only to see that the group had gone on without him.

"Oi, wait a tick!" He said, hurrying to catch up.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of a struggle and rushed out, pushing aside the stragglers.

"Ay!" He said, stopping in the doorway of the room. "What in the-"

His eyes telescoped into the blob creature, narrowing in recognition. The blob creature that he'd seen a few times before. Their behaviour was inconsistent at best. Sometimes they would let the sewer residents by and other times, they would attack them. It was a hated addition to the already crowded sewers, who's inhabitants relied on routine.

Aron drew his gun and loaded a exactly 3 bullets. A well-placed shot would kill the smaller ones, but sometimes there were some who could survive it. The worst experience he'd had with one was when he'd shot a big one 5 times and it just ran away. He always regretted wasting those five bullets.

He mentally noted the expense of the bullets, taking it away from the potential reward. However, the elf of their party created a spear of lightning before he could shoot and threw it at the creature, hitting it with a blast of electricity. Aron shielded his eyes as it exploded, creating a brilliant flash of light.

"Nice shot lass, but you best be careful." Aron said, wincing.

Judging by its size, it wasn't likely that it lived, but he was careful anyway. They could be surprisingly tenacious. Despite the creature's surprising survivability, Aron was more worried about the other denizens of the sewers. Certain species had certain territories but some just reacted to things, and the snow elf's magic spells could potentially alert said creatures.

"There're things you really don't want to wake up down here." Aron said, training his gun on the blob-creature's silhouette.

---

Ash was aware that a small presence was tailing them, and he put it in the back of his head. It was following them, certainly, but acting rashly would not do. It was likely that it was a sewer denizen, twisted as it was. There may have been a few reasons for it to tail them, including curiosity. It may have had more malicious intentions, but he couldn't know that without it acting. Hence, he ignored it for now, but drew his knife and prepared for the worst.

As the crew walked down the sewer, he was on guard. Their resident sewer dweller Aron walked with unreserved energy, seeming to show that there was no threat. However, unexpected events could occur at any time. With the things in Ebb like they were, Ash wasn't sure Aron knew all of what was going on. With the aformentioned deformed creature following the crew, who knew what else lay in the sewer?

His misgivings was proven when the group arrived at a junction. Two of their group, Edwin and Mr Ghurst, headed down one end where a splash was heard, followed by another splash, a strange flopping sound and a strange airy sound, like heavy breathing. Ash took a small look as Marianne blasted the monstrosity with a lightning javelin.

Potentia. Cast spell. Relatively low mana cost. Ash noted.

It was more out of habit than anything, but he always found it handy to know the techniques of his allies. He could picture how the battle could go and react accordingly, usually. And also, it made them easier to deal with if need be. However, now wasn't the time to deal with people. Even if there was only one monstrosity visible, the sounds of combat would probably draw some unwanted attention.

While Aron dashed into the room, Ash stood back and kept vigil. The fork in the road went two ways, and it was likely that there were other sewer dwellers down the other end, and there was no guarantee that they would leave the group be.

Malte looked in to the room, holding his high stack of cookies that he garbed from kadoodle. the robed dude was investigating some one currently, so malte walked over to check on the tools. suddenly he heard capy yelling things that sound like attacks. malte quickly turned his head and had to check twice, as a bunch of slimy dwarves where attacking capy. guess they are currently the enemy. so malte pointed his finger at them and yeled "BANG!" a stream of fire flew towards them. "bang! bangbangbang!"

Udo Koro Kai – Cistern

The torrent of offensive spells proved more than enough to dispatch the wretched sewer creature. Its flesh sizzled and melted beneath the combined might of Potentia and Ignis, and with a final gurgle it ruptured like a salted slug. The remains slid back into the water, and without a source the poisonous cloud dissipated to harmless levels. Kai watched soberly, speculating a relationship between this colorless monster and the amorphous being that nearly drowned him. His thoughts soon strayed beyond the short encounter, however, as his attuned senses picked up new sounds from one wing of the junction, the one that sloped uphill. “There is...some sort of commotion that way,” he murmured, closing his eyes to focus his hearing. “Dim shouts...human shouts, and faint echoes of magic. There are denizens of the sewers that form their own micro-communities, yes?” he asked, addressing Aron, the resident cistern expert. “Perhaps they might be able to give us guidance. But it sounds as if they are in trouble. Idou!” In a flash, Kai stood at the head of the group, poised to sprint toward the source of the noise. It is as much of a lead as we can get. “Watch your footing and keep an eye on the water as you move. Let us make haste!“



Whether assailed by bronze blade, ice magic, fire magic, or bucklers, the slimy dwarfs did not last. After they crumbled beneath the team's panic induced-attack, they fortunately exhibited no tendency to reform, and merely lost all cohesion until the carpet was soggy with mundane water. Though brief, the brawl had been furious, and what the slime beings lacked in survivability they made up for in brutality. When still alive, they could stretch their limbs and harden their fingers into stabbing points, a trait they used with gusto on the weakest fighter in the building: Helvetica. Before the combat was over, the mage had been pierced a half dozen times, and now she lay bloody on the ground. Neither she nor Joshin were dead, but clearly their physical wounds -not to mention potential psychological damage- would effectively keep them from continuing in the quest. Only the germina's kitten had escaped unscathed, though sodden and badly frightened.

Mancer, though not seriously injured, was as majorly shaken as the cat, if not more. He shivered as he watched the last vanquished slime dwarf dissolve completely, and stepped with light, nervous feet as he left the living quarters, picking up the mewling mite on the way. The team reconvened in the hallway. Eresa, Levi, and Malte didn't seem permanently worse for where, although the afflicted mage had no notion of where Kadoodle might be. Dane had regained his feet, though the necessity of someone guiding him made it clear he had lost his sight. Helvetica had yet to be helped up, but Mancer didn't think he could support her weight. “Figures that the healer gets incapacitated,” he complained, trying to make light of the situation, for he couldn't begin to explain it.

There was a slurping noise, far more vast than those squelches emitted by the slime dwarfs, toward the hallway's other end. The room there, large, gray, and well-lit, looked to be the plumbing control center. If any individuals were to enter it, they'd find a chaotic tangle of pipes, valves, and basins, and a murky liquid beginning to pour en masse from one of the more expensive-looking linkages. No people, gelatinous or otherwise, occupied the chamber.

Edwin removed his hand from his face. “Well... that wasn't quite what I was expecting. I figured that it would be some sort of threat, but I honestly didn't see the whole alien squid thing coming." He said, approaching the burnt mass of tentacles that now floated in place of the creature. Retrieving his notepad he jotted down notes about the creature, such as Vulnerable to fire and Poison breath? along with sketching it as he could best remember it. Which probably wasn't very well since he had only observed it a few seconds before attempting to turn it into an appetizer.

Kai mentioned a commotion, and something about people being in danger as Edwin made his sketch. It seemed he wouldn't get to examine the creature any further. At least not right now. "I would've liked another moment to check the remains for magic, maybe take a sample for later study, but I do suppose that whatever's going on ahead takes precedence."

"Everyone here?" he asked, making a quick scan of the group. As far as he could tell they were, with the possible exception of Riad. "It looks like it, although I don't see the Parili," he looked down the tunnel from which they came "Not Mr. Ghurst of course. The scaly one with the unsettling disposition." Edwin took out his communicator. "It may be a good idea to retrieve him. Though it would be a shame if any were to be harmed for our dawdling."