Trouble from Below

Day 13- The Green Guard needed a new hideout, now that their base had been infiltrated. We suggested the aqueduct, where we cleared out that gang the first day we came to Fastigium. Marius was greatly appreciative and set about moving their operation. We came by today to see how things were going. The new headquarters was very spacious and now well lit, looking much nicer than it ever had under gang control. Marius even told us about a hidden sewer passage that lead them to every corner of the city, nearly undetectable. The problem was, some sickness ails the men who venture too far down. Some don’t even return. Marius begged we took no offense, as this place was perfect for their needs. But he did politely insist that we help with this mystery. I reasoned with him for a little while, explaining that in my career as a mercenary, such endeavors hardly come without some beefy pay or at least assistance from a group as large as the Green Guard. He agreed to give the most they could afford to lose as payment and instructed a small squad of guards to accompany us. From the look of them, I judged they were all too silly and wet behind the ears. They would likely die, but their loot was good as any other dead body we found down there. 

We proceeded down the thin staircase, the stench of the sewers already permeating our nostrils. A great sluiceway divided the path into two narrow walkways on either side of the tunnel, with a bridge and torches lined up every 30 feet or so. I attempted to sense some kind of magical presence and discovered a faint trace coming from deeper inside. I lead the way through the twists and turns, luckily most of us could see in this lowlight and followed easily. I started to sense a twinge of poisonous magic and sure enough found the air to grow thicker and taste sour. Nahjeel paused a moment to inhale some of the poisonous air and exhaled the concentration into a vial. We both examined it, only to find that it was obviously of a dangerous nature. No hope of figuring out an antivenom unless we took it to an alchemy lab. We trudged on, more careful now that we knew of the poison and some magical origin deeper in the sewers. We came upon a wider chamber and I decided to send out my crab, Henry, to investigate. He can be very sneaky when he wants to be. Maybe he could find something or at least make a little grab at whatever this thing is. I could definitely sense the presence of two dragons further ahead. Strangely, the presence of my Arcane Mark upon Henry’s shell disappeared from my senses. That’s not good. Sneaking a peak around the corner of the tunnel, I could make them out as Tatzlwyrms: small in comparison to most dragons, but still very strong and agile creatures with poisonous breath. Their long, scaly, snake-like bodies rustled against the rough stone floor. We all snuck forward, hoping to catch them by surprise and finish this with as little hassle as possible. Arliim slipped and almost fell into the sluiceway, catching the edge and letting his feet slap against the surface of the water. The Tatzlwyrms were aware now and headed in our direction. Zedaythe reflexively conjured bone armor around herself and held her ground. Nahjeel attempted to Bungle the closest one, but the wyrm was fast. It swayed to the side and the vishkanya’s magic fizzled against the ceiling. I summoned a great Aqueous Orb, aiming it at the other wyrm. It completely missed, the Tatzlwyrm dodging out of the way easily and shattering my hopes of rolling it into a wall or even into the sludge below. Arliim crawled out of the water, and got to his feet. The wyrm turned its attention to him and pounced, wrapping itself around him as it landed. The small battalion of Green Guards attempted to attack both the wyrm around Arliim and the one further out. Both were futile, the gas the huge lizards spewed caused them to reel and pass out. Sumi charged in, forming into a treant as she went and pounding a mighty fist into the skull of the one holding Arliim. It fell dead, a few sharp fangs scattered across the floor. The other wyrm leaped towards Zedaythe, but she expertly cleared out of the way, the fangs bare inches away from her skeletal armor. She attempted a Command spell, but the quick devil dodged to the side. Arliim shot an arrow while it was distracted and hit it painfully in the neck. Nahjeel tried to persuade it to calm down in his native tongue. It seemed to understand his words, but was in too much of a frenzy to stop itself. I decided it was time to end this. Pouring my power into my scimitar, I stabbed into the beast, magical air freezing it from the inside out. Parts of it shattered, and lo and behold Henry crawled out of its stomach! I felt overjoyed to discover my little friend was still alive. The others were going about searching through the dragons’ horde of gold and magical collections. Nahjeel found an egg, presumably laid by the Tatzlwyrm couple. It spoke to him, asking what was going on and where his mother was. It wanted to hatch, wanted to see what was happening. Nahjeel tried to reason with it, tell it to stay inside the egg. It insisted and the egg began to crack, releasing puffs of poisonous gas. Its tiny head sprouted out, looking around dazedly. It cried out, and Arliim managed to soothe it down with soft mutterings, almost like a lullaby. He motioned for Nahjeel to take over from there. The vishkanya slowly extended his arm out to the baby tatzlwyrm, letting it sniff his hand. It became curious, then recoiled, then came back. It caressed its head against Nahjeel’s scaly skin and felt comforted. Nahjeel exhaled with relief and startled the wyrmling again. But it came back to the familiar feeling of scales, slithering up his arm and resting its head comfortably on his shoulder. Nahjeel made a new friend. The rest of us went about searching through the dragons’ horde. Plenty of gold pieces, even a few platinums. A pearl of power, which I snatched up in a heartbeat. Sumi found an adamantine dagger that she felt resonated with her ki. Whatever, it’s yours. Freak. Arliim and I each slung a dead wyrm onto our backs and hauled them towards the entrance of the sewers.