image [https://i.imgur.com/7RYvWSb.jpg]

I froze after opening the door. A few yards away, another gnoll body lay, face down, covered with burns. The stench gagged us until we acclimated.

This time, Mineral Communion revealed what Detect Magic confirmed. In the middle of the connecting passage lay a magically active metallic tile. I told Fabulosa and Charitybelle where the camouflaged trap rested, and they surrounded it with glow stones. Magnetize showed a high electrical field emanating from it. Since I’d taken the power Inscribe Rune, I recognized it as one, even if I couldn’t decipher it.

Fabulosa rifled through the gnoll’s belongings and determined it had nothing of value. “Two of its bags are empty. It’s carrying no arms or food, and these bags have rags and junk. It’s like somebody already made off with its gear.”

After a quick survey with Mineral Communion, I considered using my robe’s ability to reset the daily cooldown but decided against it. It served as our dungeon decoder, but using my robe on a non-combat utility seemed like a waste.

I copied the rune with confidence that Charitybelle and I could figure out how it worked later. We needed to press on to discover what secrets this dungeon held.

Aside from the trap, this secret antechamber’s functionality puzzled me. It looked unlike any I’d ever seen before. A table-sized device with levers and buttons stood next to a pair of circular holes in the floor. Each spanned three feet and fitted into the floor with a thick copper lip. I approached one shaft and looked down. Even with the brilliance of Presence, the bottom wasn’t visible.

Charitybelle connected the dots. “Those wells go through the columns we saw downstairs.” She pulled out two glow stones, dropped one into each hole, and counted the seconds. The first took almost a couple of seconds to reach the bottom, but the second took slightly longer.

“The first one opens to the hallway where we saw the chimera.” Charitybelle then pointed to the other tube. “And I bet that goes down to the room beneath the grate, the curvy white room made by lobster people.”

“They looked more like lobster fish.” My comment didn’t further the conversation.

Charitybelle waved her hand. “Whatever. Judging by the fall’s distance, I bet it dropped to the same level as the dead gnoll.”

“We’re not entirely sure it’s dead. But I see what you mean.”

Charitybelle gestured to the mechanical device beside the two tubes. “So, if this tube opens up beneath the corridor, and the deeper one goes to the seashell room—that only leaves us this thing. What does it do?”

We spotted an accordion-folded leather tube adjoining the device. Since its width matched the mysterious holes in the floor, it became evident it connected—although toward what end, I couldn’t say.

Fabulosa circled to the far side of the device. “This piece looks like a bellows of some kind.” She picked up another leather piece and attached it to the machine. It cracked and crumbled to pieces as she lifted it. “Wow, this thing is really old—whatever it is.”

With less than a half-hour left on Mineral Communion, I scanned through the spell’s visions of the device while describing to my companions what I saw. “Without sounds, it’s hard to know. I bet the lizard-people used it for ventilation or heat.”

We experimented with the various levers and parts, but nearly everything we touched had rusted or broken apart from age.

Charitybelle’s engineering senses blossomed to full alertness. The alien contraption wholly captured her attention. Fabulosa showed indifference to geeky things like this and watched with detached interest. We pointed out how some parts must have worked.

Charitybelle pointed to a round piece. “What do you think this does?”

I searched its crevices for miniature runes.

We resembled monkeys examining a watch. Although we stood no chance of getting this crumbling vestige to operate, we lost ourselves in the joy of discovery.

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Fabulosa watched us fiddle with the mechanism. “Y’all should step back and look at yourselves.”

Charitybelle and I exchanged puzzled glances.

Fabulosa raised her arms. “I mean, look at us. We’re like gladiators who’ve left the arena. We came here to eliminate one another but are too busy exploring and twiddling with things to fight. It’s funny how things go wayside once we spot a shiny new object.”

Charitybelle flashed a guilty grin. “Fab’s right. We can get back to this later. It’s a shame this sucker is too heavy to pick up. We could put it in our inventory and take it with us. Maybe the dwarves could repair it or tell us its purpose. Don’t scuba divers use compressors to pump down air to them? Maybe the seashell room used to be flooded, but I don’t see how the lizard people would use these big tubes to breathe. I can’t wait to tell Greenie about this—I bet he’ll have ideas.”

I pointed to the deeper shaft. “Let’s toss a line down and see what’s below. Let me go first—my stone-visions are burning out, and I can Slipstream into the tube if there’s danger.”

No one objected. We tied one end of the rope to the machine. The dilapidated device proved too heavy to lift, so we used it as an anchor.

I descended the line without a problem. The narrow confines of the well didn’t hinder my progress, and the metal felt so thick it never shook or vibrated as I lowered. I heard nothing except myself brushing against the tube. Detect Magic showed no hazards below. At the end of the shaft, I dropped into a strange room.

Many things commanded my attention, but none of them appeared life-threatening. I first eyed a black statue of a lizardfolk holding a shield and spear. Like the creatures in my visions, it stood seven feet tall on two feet. It rested on a round plinth covered with symbols. A window on the room’s opposite side overlooked the curvy seashell chamber we’d seen through the heavy grate.

Nothing jumped out at me. I shouted up the tube that I had reached the bottom, and it looked okay for my friends to come down.

I became mindful not to touch anything. If we needed to flee up the tube, a retreat wouldn’t be quick.

The room’s elements fit together like a puzzle. The first piece clicked when I saw another trashcan lid filled with holes, similar to what we’d seen in the small storeroom off the star chamber. Next to the tube, I could see it made for an endpiece, giving me a new theory for its purpose—a long-dead pipe organ. If so, the lizardfolk shaped the holes to play a chord of notes.

The lizardfolk statue held a pair of curiosities. Its flat tower shield looked wrong because no one used flat shields—curves strengthened shapes, wrapped around their defenders, and offered better control.

Four spikes poked from the shield’s surface, which wasn’t remarkable except that they sprouted around its edges. This made no sense. Shield bashers wanted the spikes in the center, where they could put force and control behind them. Spikes around the edge created major liabilities—if caught on an opponent’s armor, it would twist out of the wielder’s grasp.

The spear tip narrowed to a cone, like a dull pencil, not barbed or flat like a normal spearhead. Perhaps these represented ceremonial weapons.

The lizardfolk statue rested on a flat, cylindrical platform. The figure and its base radiated magic, but the platform intrigued me more. A flat ring of nickel covered in symbols surrounded its outside edge. It took all my willpower not to touch the thing as it hovered over another metal band covered in glyphs. Magnetize confirmed what I expected—the ring hovered over the base from magnetic repulsion, not magic. The inner child wanted to spin it to see what happened, but I resisted the impulse.

In truth, previewing these toys tickled me to no end. It made parsing Mineral Communion’s images easier when no one else walked around. Overlapping objects and motion confused me, and I had only minutes left before the spell extinguished.

A short hallway led to a crystal window looking into the dungeon’s prize—the opalescent organic chamber created by the lobster-fish creatures.

When we first saw the opalescent room from above, through the grate, we guessed the protrusion on the floor might be a dinner table or an altar. From this closer vantage, I could see a long lid covering it. It looked like a sarcophagus. Detect Magic revealed that the surrounding area glowed with magic.

I scanned through Mineral Communion images to a sequence of a miniaturized gnoll floating gently to the floor. It probably used Featherfall. After it landed, the gnoll grew to its full height and reached for the coffin. Its fur turned white and fell to the floor. By the time it hit the ground, it had become almost unrecognizable. Somehow, the aura around the coffin aged the gnoll in the blink of an eye.

The crypt’s sweeping curves on the other side of the window contrasted with the temple’s architecture. Although the lizardfolk built the temple, they didn’t create this tomb, explaining their reverence. The ward worm served as a world boss until I cheesed it with explosives.

I turned toward the statue and watched Mineral Communion scenes of the lizardfolk spinning the dial to a specific setting, making a mental note of its position. The statue came alive and surrendered its weapons.

Charitybelle emerged last from the hanging tube. She looked confused about her climb down for some reason.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

Charitybelle shook her head. “It wasn’t easy to climb with my shield out. I had to tilt it sideways to fit it past the rope.”

“Why didn’t you just put it away before you started down?”

“I worried that someone might drop something on top of us. If I fell on Fab, we’d both crash down to the bottom.”

“I’m glad you made it down.” I didn’t think Fabulosa would lose her grip, but it seemed a sensible precaution. They guarded my flank when I descended. At least one more gnoll roamed the mountain. “From what I can tell, we’re the only ones down here. Let me show you around.”