Forum Games

RATS awoke within the cold and barren tunnel. After a quick meal, we packed up our gear and continued to follow the tunnel, wherever it might lead - hoping that this time we might actually be able to catch it if we moved quickly enough.

Trying to keep as fast a pace as possible, we soon came to a turn in the tunnel, and then another turn, and then an intersection in which two equally round and equally straight tunnels crossed each other. If we wanted to find the creature, we would need to figure out which direction it was in presently.

Acedia began a careful inspection of the passages, trying to determine which one had been most recently traversed. It was difficult with little around but scattered rocks and ice, but we eventually were able to discern that the creature had taken a left turn most recently - and so we did the same.

We walked down these peculiar tunnels for hours, when suddenly we spotted something. A number of slender black tendrils, looking like a soot-covered mop, scurried across an upcoming intersection in the cavern. Running after it as fast as we could, we realized that this intersection had near hundreds of passages of varying size heading in every direction. How could we determine which direction the strange creature went in?

Fortunately, Raptor was able to spot the tiny footprints of the creature, leading us through one of the smaller tunnels near the ceiling.

We spent the rest of the day following the tunnel that the creature had gone in, and only got a glimpse of it once more. Deep down, we knew we were getting close to our destination, but we could not face whatever might be ahead unrested. We found a concealed nook in the cavern, set up our camp, ate our meal, logged our activities, and slept.

Sanko awoke suddenly to the site of a small glowing mouse sitting atop Mitsumame's head. Shaking the creature off, we all stared at it in curiosity. It was covered in tiny bioluminescent baubles and, as we looked up, we could see several more similar creatures running around in the distance, their lights bobbing up and down in the passages of the cave.

After a few minutes of watching in confusion, we ate, packed our things, and followed the little glowing mice - wherever they might lead us.

As we progressed, we noticed a bright light coming from the cavern ahead. Following it, slightly worried about what it might be, we eventually came to a breathtaking sight. The passage opened up into a massive underground ecosystem where everything was bioluminescent. Little animals scurried around, glowing. Plants grew along the walls and up towards the ceiling, glowing. Glowing insects buzzed around glowing flowers and glowing bats slept atop the glowing ceiling. We wondered what the cause of this might be, and noticed a thin, clear dust drifting throughout the air of the room. Yet, we had no trouble breathing and did not seem to be experiencing any harmful effects.

As we continued through the bioluminescent caverns, picking up a number of samples along the way, we wondered how there could be so much life in what we had expected to be such a barren and lifeless cave.

It was then that Akechi Mitsuhide stopped and told the group to stay quiet. As we listened, we could hear the sounds of what seemed to be a very large creature moving through the vines.

But we were no cowards. We moved towards the sounds, hoping to get a glimpse of whatever they might be. It was then that we realized we need to look up. And as we did so, we found ourselves face to face with a massive, glowing spider.

As the spider dropped from the ceiling towards us, our team readied for the inevitable combat.

Akechi Mitsuhide, pushing the rest of us out of the way, scurried around the legs of the beast, distracting and disorienting it. Just moments later, he flew up and around the spider, digging his teeth and claws into the creature's neck. Clawing at its back in desperation, the spider tried to scrape the attacker off onto the nearby wall, without success. It was then that Akechi Mitsuhide took his opportunity to deliver the final blow, eliminating his opponent.

Our enemy defeated, we continued on into a smaller side passageway.

After a few hours of following the small and winding tunnels, we eventually came to a massive, peculiarly straight tunnel with rough, ice-coated sides. It measured perhaps 100 meters in width and an equal number in height. We followed this tunnel for another few hours, collecting various samples from the walls, before setting our camp, eating our meal, logging our activities, and going to sleep.

Wanderlust awoke within the cold and barren tunnel. After a quick meal, we packed up our gear and continued to follow the tunnel, wherever it might lead - hoping that this time we might actually be able to catch it if we moved quickly enough.

Trying to keep as fast a pace as possible, we soon came to a turn in the tunnel, and then another turn, and then an intersection in which two equally round and equally straight tunnels crossed each other. If we wanted to find the creature, we would need to figure out which direction it was in presently.

Caeronwy began a careful inspection of the passages, trying to determine which one had been most recently traversed. It was difficult with little around but scattered rocks and ice, but we eventually were able to discern that the creature had taken a left turn most recently - and so we did the same.

We walked down these peculiar tunnels for hours, when suddenly we spotted something. A number of slender black tendrils, looking like a soot-covered mop, scurried across an upcoming intersection in the cavern. Running after it as fast as we could, we realized that this intersection had near hundreds of passages of varying size heading in every direction. How could we determine which direction the strange creature went in?

Fortunately, Caeronwy was able to spot the tiny footprints of the creature, leading us through one of the smaller tunnels near the ceiling.

We spent the rest of the day following the tunnel that the creature had gone in, and only got a glimpse of it once more. Deep down, we knew we were getting close to our destination, but we could not face whatever might be ahead unrested. We found a concealed nook in the cavern, set up our camp, ate our meal, logged our activities, and slept.

There was no dawn, and we couldn't be sure of what time it was - or even what day it was - but nevertheless we awoke feeling quite rested. Taking the time to eat a meal and pack up our items, we soon found ourselves up and ready for another day of exploration.

It was not long into the day's walk that our path began to spiral upwards. Although we had not yet seen any creatures, we had heard the frequent shuffling of tiny footsteps echoing through the halls. We knew we were not alone, and we were not afraid, although we soon would be.

It was later in the day when we came to a large, circular hole in the wall. Seeing the movement inside, we approached cautiously, turning our lanterns down as dim as they could go. We found ourselves looking down into the most massive room we had yet seen. At the center of this large and round chamber, was a writhing mass of tentacles and eyeballs and teeth. Nearing 200 meters tall, and equally wide, it was easily the largest living creature we had ever laid our eyes upon. Around it, thousands of tiny version of this similar creature were all feeding a constant flow of various plants and animals to the 'mother.' There were stacks of grasses and plants arranged in nests, where all of these strange and horrible creatures wiggled about.

In that moment, the exact same thing was going through all of our heads 'Great dragon gods what kind of horror is that?!'

Of course, we did not have too long to take in this situation, as it was soon after that the 'mother' had spotted us, reaching one of its tentacles up through the hole, which was conveniently situated about halfway to the ceiling of the massive room. We knew we had to act, and quickly.

We backed away from the hole as Mitsumame climbed into a nook in the passageway, beckoning for his teammates to follow. There we stayed, quietly waiting and watching as the beast's tendril blindly felt around the passageway.

Quietly creeping from our hiding place to get another look at the creature, we... 'hey! Is that a nocturne egg?! Is that thing eating dragon babies like popcorn?!' This was bad. Very bad. We needed to hatch quite the plan if we were to take out a horror like this.

We knew that there had to be a way for us to fight this thing that didn't simply involve conventional combat. Because, let's face it, we were not going to be able to take down anything that big. Not with only the three of us. As we watched this thing function, we looked around the room, hoping to get a few ideas.

Akechi Mitsuhide, having spent a good few minutes deep in thought, eventually pointed to the ceiling of the cavern: 'Do you see all those cracks up there? There's even a hole just above the creature's head. Perhaps we could collapse the ceiling down onto it. I'm not sure how we could do it, but if we can find a way up there we might be able to get a better look.'

We began to thoroughly search the area to see if we could find a passage that would lead us upwards, above the creature.

Although we looked for hours, we couldn't see any good ways of getting up there. Eventually, we had no choice but to give up. This was probably the safer option anyway.

Having decided that the best course of action would be to survive the journey and come back with back-up (a lot of back-up), we began to seek out safer areas to explore. For the rest of the day, we wandered downwards, collecting samples, eventually finding a nice, quiet place to make our camp (and forget what we had just seen). There, we ate, logged our activities, and slept.

There was no dawn, and we couldn't be sure of what time it was - or even what day it was - but nevertheless we awoke feeling quite rested. Taking the time to eat a meal and pack up our items, we soon found ourselves up and ready for another day of exploration.

It was not long into the day's walk that our path began to spiral upwards. Although we had not yet seen any creatures, we had heard the frequent shuffling of tiny footsteps echoing through the halls. We knew we were not alone, and we were not afraid, although we soon would be.

It was later in the day when we came to a large, circular hole in the wall. Seeing the movement inside, we approached cautiously, turning our lanterns down as dim as they could go. We found ourselves looking down into the most massive room we had yet seen. At the center of this large and round chamber, was a writhing mass of tentacles and eyeballs and teeth. Nearing 200 meters tall, and equally wide, it was easily the largest living creature we had ever laid our eyes upon. Around it, thousands of tiny version of this similar creature were all feeding a constant flow of various plants and animals to the 'mother.' There were stacks of grasses and plants arranged in nests, where all of these strange and horrible creatures wiggled about.

In that moment, the exact same thing was going through all of our heads 'Great dragon gods what kind of horror is that?!'

Of course, we did not have too long to take in this situation, as it was soon after that the 'mother' had spotted us, reaching one of its tentacles up through the hole, which was conveniently situated about halfway to the ceiling of the massive room. We knew we had to act, and quickly.

We backed away from the hole as Staccato climbed into a nook in the passageway, beckoning for his teammates to follow. Unfortunately, this was not as well hidden as we hoped. The tendril of the beast wrapped around us and began to pull us out of our hiding spot.

Just before the creature was able to pull us into its nest, Nimbogenitus managed to wiggle free from the grasp of the tendril, slashing and biting at it until it was severed, freeing the rest of the team.

We hid around the corner for quite some time before quietly creeping from our hiding place to get another look at the creature, we... 'hey! Is that a nocturne egg?! Is that thing eating dragon babies like popcorn?!' This was bad. Very bad. We needed to hatch quite the plan if we were to take out a horror like this.

We knew that there had to be a way for us to fight this thing that didn't simply involve conventional combat. Because, let's face it, we were not going to be able to take down anything that big. Not with only the three of us. As we watched this thing function, we looked around the room, hoping to get a few ideas.

Nimbogenitus, having spent a good few minutes deep in thought, eventually pointed to the ceiling of the cavern: 'Do you see all those cracks up there? There's even a hole just above the creature's head. Perhaps we could collapse the ceiling down onto it. I'm not sure how we could do it, but if we can find a way up there we might be able to get a better look.'

We began to thoroughly search the area to see if we could find a passage that would lead us upwards, above the creature.

Fortunately, Polynya's map would do just the trick. We began to go back, through all the tunnels we had passed, until finally we began to move upwards.

When we had nearly reached the top, we found a secluded place that we thought might be safe enough for a bit of rest, we made our camp, logged our activities, ate our meal, and slept (in shifts, for safety).