Retiring to his chambers, Ulgrin set about maintaining his gear.

Since receiving these heirloom items he had ensured an almost religious endeavor in keeping them oiled and shining. Despite the fact that he’d never even worn the armor set for more than thirty minutes he kept it clean and spotless.

This set of brigandine was fashioned from rows of hexagonal bronze plates sewn together over a layer of chain. Excellent straightforward cutting defense and a decent piercing. The armor included a pair of metal gauntlets and boots as well as two expertly emblazoned pauldrons sporting the image of a charging ram. He would have preferred iron or steel for its inherent defense against magic, but that was a twin-edged blade.

Casters tended not to wear sets of steel because iron was a natural repellant of aether. Good for containing or guiding the stuff, but not as good for channeling external magic. Didn’t do much to stop a person’s internal use, which made it popular for warriors. Bronze, though, was almost as good in terms of hardness and tensile strength. He recognized this alloy as a type of bismuth-bronze for superior durability.

Definitely useful in a fight. Not as proactive as a full set of harness, but this should keep me alive, he thought with a nod as he ran a rag along the helmet’s surface. Just a basic sallet helm with plenty room for a beard to fit.

As for his traveling clothes they were a simple set of tunic, trousers, half cloak, and boots. He preferred dark greens and liked the typical geometric lines used in local fashion. Well respectable, and necessary if he wanted to look professional. It wouldn’t do for him to negotiate for workers while wearing farmhand’s clothing.

Lastly he examined the hammer for what must have been the thousandth time. Simply a work of art.

Normally around three feet in length, the hammer was useful in one hand or two. It possessed a circular striking face and a curved ‘beak’ at the back like that of a crow. At its pommel was a wicked looking spike. With a minor imbuement of power it would stretch until eight feet in length and allow one to keep enemies at bay.

Many nights had been spent shifting the weapon back and forth so far. It was hypnotic to watch the enchantment work its, heh, magic.

Still, Ulgrin would need to make it second-nature. Forgetting about that in combat would be embarrassing.

Rolling the armor back up and into its sack he tucked it away into his room’s trunk before getting up. Only a few hours into this trip and he was rather bored.

The environment was quiet, only the sound of rushing water and muffled conversation filling the ship. Occasionally one would hear a distant splash as cavern bats submerged themselves to hunt fish and amphibians. This stretch of the river was just another tunnel among thousands.

He returned to the mess hall and found several sailors playing a game of dice.

Not particularly much of a gambler but rather bored, Ulgrin tossed a few coppers into the pot and joined them. Luck, it seemed, was not on his side that day. The first few rounds went poorly for him. “Damn dice. Why do I keep rolling spears? If this ship wasn’t so shaky I would assume these cursed things were rigged.”

Beady eyes of a molefolk glinted in the lantern-light. “Yes, yes. Hard to weigh a die when it’s going to go the opposite way down here. We’ve met many travelers who thought their tricks would work on us. The waters once again provide.”

Ulgrin chalked it up to his good fate taking its just dues. Still, at least Savogad’s Siege was more of a strategic game. It involved picking ‘army’ by choosing different types of units and having them roll against the enemies. Units would succeed if their correct ‘face’ showed up. Stronger units had less faces on the die but you received more dice. It was a conundrum.

A Spear unit had a fifty percent chance of coming up spears but you only got one roll. Mages, meanwhile, had only a one in twelve chance but had six dice you could throw per unit. Having a balanced unit composition was important because you both took turns deciding which unit fought what.

He had gone for an army of elites, but luck had not gone his way this day.

Poorer by a few silvers, Ulgrin paused when he felt the ship suddenly lurch to a halt. One could feel it fighting the currents as the magical engine kicked in on reverse. “Did we just stop?”

“Seems so,” the molefolk replied with a worried look on her face. They were a smaller race, and tended to hunch up even smaller when feeling threatened. “We might have come across a tunnel collapse. That’ll mean turning around and taking another path.”

“That’s bad?”

“Very much so. We’ve charted alternate paths, but there’s no guarantee the backup will be open to us.” She gave a nod before reaching onto the table and putting away her figurines. “Alright boys, playtime’s over. We need to be ready for work if they call on us.” Her fellow sailors nodded and put away their mugs and plates.

Ulgrin hummed to himself and gave a glance to the lights. Yellow as of now. He’d been told that a crewman would come and pour a bit of reactant into them to turn them red in the case of a tight squeeze.

Reaching into his satchel and withdrawing the network of tunnels, he did some basic calculations. They’d been traveling at a steady pace for a few hours now, making only two turns. If he was right they would be… Yes, here. My map is probably less detailed than theirs, but it at least shows the more prominent rivers.

Walking out and onto the deck, he cast his gaze over the cavernous channel. Vaguely shaped like a cylinder, the river snaked slightly to the left and right. He’d read that great cracks had formed in the wake of the Shattering, resulting in water filling and widening those holes in the depths.

This section was expansive, and his natural low-light vision still could barely see the edges. Shadows cast over the mossy walls of the cavern filled him with some sense of fear. Was that dark splotch a foe hiding?

Having sped fully into reverse, the Whirligig was already making its way slowly back down the tunnel.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Fighting against the currents would take no small amount of mana. Even with the entire crew available to give up their supply would it be enough? How many branches could they go down before running out?

Having to weigh anchor down here until everyone recovered didn’t seem like a safe idea. They would be sitting swine.

Walking to the edge of the boat, Ulgrin peered over the chest-high barrier and down into the depths. Cloudy dark water stared back at him. Is now a good time to mention to people here that I don’t know how to swim? He shuddered.

He knew these routes were safe for the most part, but you always heard tales. People going missing. Deaths. Entire ships being taken by the black. It was as dangerous as normal ocean travel, but something about the waters down here made it seem more personal. More life threatening were something to go wrong.

At least he wasn’t sea-sick. That was a plus. Sailors had plenty of horror stories.

Eventually he watched as the Whirligig pulled completely out of this tunnel and into a branching intersection. The waterwheel shut off and the vessel smoothly was pulled forwards and into the dark tunnel. Cramper here, but still with enough room to be atop the surface deck.

Patches of luminescent fungus and moss gave this cavern an eerie appearance. He could see tiny shadows darting from one patch to the next. Bats and proto-wyverns fought for dominance over this territory.

Here the boat had to swerve around rising columns of stone. It was worrying watching the massive shadows approach in the dark. One wrong maneuver and they would break their ship upon the rocks. As afraid as he was, his internal adventurer could only become more and more excited at the prospect of discovering something down here.

Or something discovering him. That was more worrying.

Another hour passed before a groan came from the crewman at the bow. “Dead end! I repeat, dead end! Wait… A new tunnel off to the side!”

Murmurs ran through the crew and Ulgrin watched as the Captain scowled.

He knelt down to a small shelf where pipes stuck out of the floor. Removing the cap of one he called into it. “Helmsman put us at half speed. Set us to stop. Don’t weigh anchor yet, I need to think.”

An echoey voice returned, “Aye, cap’n! Ship coming to a halt!”

The boat jerked and slowed before eventually meeting an equilibrium with the water’s currents. Ulgrin worriedly grasped the hammer at his side as he scanned the environment. Just barely visible in the distance was an avalanche of stone and boulders. Completely blocking the way forward for them.

Behind it by fifty feet and to the right a wide crack had formed in the wall, just barely wide enough for their vessel.

“Runecrafter.” Seeks said, addressing him. “You possess a large mana capacity, yes? We’ve donated an eighth of the crew’s reserves getting back here. How much could you contribute with channeling? It would take five hours of travel to get back to a new path that leads where we must go.”

Ulgrin pondered that for a moment. Some calculations. The average person possessed five thaums of energy. “Maybe a quarter if I pushed myself. I’d be exhausted afterwards and suffering from minor aetheric sickness. I’d need at least a day of rest before doing it again if that happened.” This crew had thirty, plus another half dozen passengers. He was reasonably certain he could channel almost a hundred. It’d hurt like a grakmule had kicked him all over, but he could do it.

A thaum was the basic draconic word for the amount of energy required to fully lift a large stone for at least thirty seconds. Scholars debated on what the exact measurements of said stone would be, but it was generally around twenty pounds. It came from the word ‘thaumaturgy’ which meant creating magic.

Captain Seeks grit his sharp fangs. “That will just barely get us back to the tunnel. We wouldn’t be able to navigate at all for at least another hour.”

“Is it a dangerous path?” Ulgrin asked.

“Rough terrain. Maneuvering would be required to get past.” He turned his eyes back to the new tunnel. “Or we could scout this new passage. See if it breaks into a route we have mapped. Or if it has a cavern we can dock at. Predators don’t take too kindly to ships dropping anchor in the middle of the water. They don’t like going around us.”

Ulgrin nodded. “And if you dock at the side they don’t have to go out of their way. That makes sense.”

“Can you do wards?” Seeks asked.

“Basic ones. I can carve out a large circle with a few minutes effort. Shouldn’t take too much mana either to power it.”

The badger’s eyes traveled down to his hip. “What about fighting?”

“I’ve got militia training, like any other Dunvi.” He replied, patting the weapon. Young adults were required to do a stint of training to defend the mountainhome. They were taught how to wield spears, hammers, and axes. Line-fighting was what he was most used to, but he did spar with his brother and sister every so often.

Not that he won much. Being unable to use magic in spars often left him the loser. That and his brother and sister were much better than him.

Ulgrin gave it a thought. “That and I can cast a novice-tier offensive spell. Elemental bolt. I’ve worked out the details, mostly.” He hoped his nervousness didn’t come through on that last part. “Other than that, several basic spells beyond cantrip level. Moving earth, conjuring flame, arcane shielding. That sort of stuff.”

Seeks pondered that for a moment. “Then if we encounter anything you should get your armor.” The large badger tapped his ears. “I could hear the clanking.”

“Right!” Ulgrin replied, quickly turning to make a jog towards his quarters.

Ensuring nothing was out of place, he quickly donned his gambeson and brigandine. The chain shirt hung comfortingly across his shoulders like a friendly embrace. While he didn’t feel safe, he felt safer.

Returning to the upper deck, he found the ship slowly treading forwards and into the gaping jaws of some shadowy monster. Teeth larger than he was filled its maw and dripping saliva echoed through the river.

Or so it felt. His imagination was running wild down here.

He saw that the crew members had armed themselves with javelins and harpoons. An eclectic mix of sabers, axes, and maces followed suit. Watching the Captain, he saw the badger was now standing at his full and impressive height. In the man’s arms was a large arbalest that only the strongest could reload.

Judging by the rippling muscle beneath that fur, Ulgrin was certain he could wield it.

Their journey continued on in apprehensive silence. This patch was empty of any life; just ragged walls of stone. Time hadn’t had the chance to flood this river and turn it smooth.

Luckily the flooding season was far, far away. Midwinter had passed.

The crew watched and waited.

As the young dwarf had finally gotten used to the tense situation, Captain Seeks suddenly loudly whispered into the speaking tube. “Ship to a halt! Immediately!” He raised his voice for the others. “Don’t move a muscle, the whole lot of you. Silence on deck!”

To the front of the ship a dark shadow had appeared. It glided through the water and came to a halt just thirty feet away from the Whirligig. Everyone froze and kept their mouths shut, not eager to be the one who risked their lives. Slowly, Ulgrin watched as the shadow emerged from the water.

A long, sinewy neck of blubber rose forth. The head of a massive creature ascended and water cascaded down its back. Rows of jagged and misshapen teeth filled a mouth that could easily swallow a person whole in just one gulp. The creature was easily twenty feet in length. A glimpse of its body revealed four flippers and a fat body. Blubbery hide dark as night.

Each crew member froze. Ulgrin vaguely remembered reading about this creature; a plesiosaurus.

It swam towards the ship, almost curiously staring at them. The creature’s long neck allowed it to twist and turn at every angle, staring them all down. Beads of sweat ran down Ulgrin’s beard as he watched in turn. Nobody was willing to make a move.

The beast exhaled, gouts of water spraying from its two nostrils. Black eyes watched them.

Then it swam around the vessel, ignoring them and continuing on its way. The moment it had disappeared into the dark waters everyone let out a collective gasp of relief. Ulgrin slumped over and rested against a crate, exhausted despite not doing anything.

Far too close for comfort. And they still hadn’t reached the end of wherever this tunnel was taking them.

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A glimpse of what lurks where no man should tread. And this one isn't even that threatening. Fun dinosaur fact: the largest type of plesiosaur is capable of growing up to 11.86 meters in length! Aristonectes, followed closely by Albertonectes and Thalassomedon. Ulgrin is four feet and four inches making the largest roughly 9.5 times his height.

Lexicon of Words and Terms Used:

Magical resistance - Certain materials have different properties when it comes to their relationship to magic. Iron and dense materials like lead are naturally resistant. They can easily redirect or stop, but cannot fully absorb the energy. This is not a one hundred percent rate of protection. On the opposite end of the spectrum, noble metals like silver and gold are capable of containing magic very well. Gemstones are also good at this. Organic materials are also fairly efficient, but mainly for their cheapness.

Savogad's Siege - A type of board game developed by the elven wizard, Savogad.

Proto-wyverns and proto-drakes - Draconic species that are more akin to humans being related to monkeys. A classification similar to the word 'dinosaur' it houses many species of smaller varieties.

Thaumaturgy and Thaums - The draconic words for 'To Create Magic' and 'Magical Unit'.