Emerald Spire 42.0 - Plunging to the Basement

Kormon quickly decided that he had only one real option. As Marin distracted the Magelord with questions about their life choices, such as what they were waiting for and why they weren't trying to affect the changes they wanted to see in the world, Kormon began to shuffle ever so slowly towards the hole in the floor. This time, as he subtly pushed the pickaxe near the edge, he was not contested. Not wanting to squander his chance, he immediately jumped over himself. As Kormon hurtled down through the darkness, the Magelord's voice echoed through the crystal that surrounded him, informing the plummeting warrior that it was nearly five miles to the bottom of the shaft and that the area was currently flooded. Though Kormon was protected by his ring of Feather Fall, he hadn't accounted for swimming. Regardless, he had his pick and the ancient wizard didn't seem to be retaliating, so he was pleased.
Back in the Magelord's room, Marin was eager to follow after Kormon. Sasien off-handedly explained that the flooding was rather recent and should probably be investigated, which prompted Marin to jump on the opportunity, offering to go and check in addition to volunteering Amara's skills as a wizard when Sasien mentioned that there was likely an unstable portal that sprung up that would need to be closed. Sasien accepted the offer and, with nothing more than some hand gestures, broke off pieces of the crystal around them and crafted them all small facemasks that would allow them to breathe underwater, including one for Kormon. The Magelord made it clear that they understood that the adventurers' goal was obviously to destroy the spire, so they gave the group three hours to close the portal and return with a report: plenty of time to investigate, but certainly not enough time to significantly damage the spire with Kormon's tiny pick. To that end, they refused to return any of the transport keys until they delivered their results; it wouldn't do to have them teleporting away. Satisfied with the arrangement, the casters banished their familiars and left the large centipede in the throne room as Amara cast Fly on Marin. With Marin controlling their descent and Ismail holding a light before them, the three plunged after Kormon.
As Kormon was falling much more slowly than the others, they crossed paths in the tunnel. Kormon heard their approach and dodged out of the way in time to avoid a collision, and also managed to grab onto Marin as well. The three others dragged Kormon along at their speed, and the group hurtled into the darkness.
When Ismail caught sight of the water rapidly rising up to meet them, Kormon let go and Marin used his power of flight to cut the speed of the rest of the group. At the last moment, Amara and Ismail let go, dropping into the water. Marin, still holding latent misgivings after his recent near-drowning, began to run around the edge of the shaft and along the water so that he could delay entering the water until Amara confirmed that the masks worked. Kormon, not wanting to waste one of his hands holding the piece of crystal to his mouth, took a cord from his bag and lashed the mask to his face before he hit the water. When all four adventurers were in the icy, salty water, they dove.
After diving even deeper, they eventually found the end of the shaft. Looking around with the aid of Ismail's light, they could see that they were in a natural, unfinished cavern, unlike the rest of the dungeons they had explored around the spire. There was no floor or smooth walls, only jagged rocks that lined the small tunnel they seemed to be in. Ismail happened to catch something: a thin vein of inlaid spire crystal was set into the wall. Deciding that was as good a sign as any, the group swam in the direction it led. 
Category:Emerald Spire