The Queen of Stone_ Thorn of Breland - Keith Baker [56]
The space below was just as foul as she’d expected. She set her hands and feet against opposite walls and crept slowly down the shaft. The walls were coated with filth and fungus. Though she found herself clutching outcroppings covered in ooze, the spell she’d performed earlier kept the sewage from clinging to her clothing or hair, and it restored anything she touched to its pristine—or filthy—condition. But the spell couldn’t do anything about vermin, and as she descended farther into the tunnels, the insects became larger and more numerous. Centipedes landed in her hair, beetles the size of an elf’s eye crawled all around her. She’d seen worse in the sewers of Sharn, but she was sure she’d be seeing this scene again in nightmares to come.
Every major intersection bore a few scratches on the wall, letters carved by the goblin miners who gouged the sewers out of the rock. These were the keys to navigating through the fortress. Thorn wanted to locate Sheshka’s quarters and evaluate the area. The medusa hadn’t been at the Crag at the same time as Kalakhesh, and Thorn had no idea where to find the medusa queen. But the notes mentioned the quarters of another warlord, and the events of the feast had given Thorn an idea. She just hoped that she didn’t find an ogre sitting on the exit.
Fortunately for Thorn, no one was in the privy when she arrived. The room was almost identical to the one she’d left behind … just a little larger, designed to accommodate ogres and trolls. The walls were rough stone, marred by a few faint inscriptions long faded with time. Thorn couldn’t make out any of the messages. Scandalous rumors? Insulting comments about a hated officer, or professions of unrequited love? The creatures of Droaam might be hideous and fearsome, but the fact that they left messages on the privy walls made her smile. Perhaps Sora Katra was right; perhaps they weren’t so different.
She removed the leather cord from her finger, breaking the climbing enchantment. After a moment’s hesitation, she pulled the clip from her nose; the scent of sewage was so strong that she nearly gagged. She quickly restored her fine clothing and drew Steel from her gauntlet. As she held the dagger against her wrist, the puffy sleeves of the gown helped hide him from view; if necessary, she could send him back into the glove with just a thought. She gestured toward the door and the hallway beyond.
No magical auras, Steel said. And no one watching through magical means. That’s all I can promise.
So, you’ve wandered away from the party, Thorn thought to herself. You’ve accidentally bypassed dozens of guards without being seen. And you’ve found your way into the latrine. Perfectly logical. Everyone needs to use the privy sometime.
She slipped around the doorway and into the hall beyond.
The corridor was taller and wider than the guest quarters a few levels up, so multiple ogres or bugbears could walk side by side. She froze as she heard footsteps pounding against the stone. A moment later a goblin sprinted past her, running as if his life depended on it. This being Droaam, perhaps it did. If he even saw Thorn, he gave no sign of interest.
A good start.
Most of the creatures of Droaam were comfortable in the darkness of the tunnels, but few could see very far in pitch blackness, and even then, they saw the world in shades of gray. Because she had an innocent excuse—the poor, drunken foreigner who’d wandered away from the party—Thorn chose passive stealth. The goblin had proved it—she didn’t look like a threat, and they ignored her.
She kept close to the wall and walked at a slow and steady pace, doing nothing to attract attention. Catching sight of a large figure at the edge of her vision, Thorn froze in place. A moment later, a troll strode into full view. Trolls were usually savage, brutal beasts, but this one was drawn right out of Sora Katra’s illusions. His rubbery hide was covered with armor; a halfling’s skull was set into his steel breastplate; and a crest of spikes ran down the center of his helmet.