After what seems like more than an hour, you eventually reach the base of this dark shaft. Your feet hit solid ground with more force than you are expecting after the long and gentle descent, and the violent jolt of impact leaves you sprawled in the dust, stunned and gasping for breath: lose 2 ENDURANCE points.
Dragging yourself wearily to your feet, you inspect your new surroundings with a feeling of curiosity and apprehension. You have emerged in a deep mine tunnel that passes through ore-rich rock. The reek of iron, sulphur, and rust assails your nostrils: a pungent aroma but one that smells as sweet as spring in Sommerlund after the indescribable stench of the Hall of the Künae. You scan the tunnel in both directions and use your Kai senses to gather information. The faint sounds of hammering and scraping can be heard coming from somewhere above, and the symmetrical grooves which scar the tunnel walls tell you that this passage was excavated by some sort of gigantic burrowing machine. Feeling certain that you have entered a new realm of the Plane of Darkness, you are about to consult the Tome of Darkness when suddenly you hear a noise along the tunnel away to your right. Something huge is approaching at great speed.
( I do have Grand Hunt)
Your improved mastery enables you to detect the outline of a large creature approaching through the tunnel. Viewed from the front it has the appearance of a gigantic beetle, but one with hundreds of stubby legs that are moving in rapid waves like those of a millipede. You sense that it is a living creature and not a mechanical device, and that it is approaching at a terrific pace. Its width almost completely fills the tunnel and, unless you take immediate steps to avoid it, you could be knocked down and crushed as it passes through this section.
(Hide or go? Hide)
You scour the tunnel walls but detect no cracks nor crevices large enough to accommodate your body. Then you notice the supporting beams which criss-cross the tunnel ceiling. They protrude no more than a foot or two from the roof of the tunnel, but they could provide you with a way of escaping out of the path of the approaching juggernaut
(UI have KA and the rink needed)
You recite the words of the Brotherhood Spell Teleport and the moment you complete the recitation you feel your feet losing contact with the ground. You will yourself along the tunnel, away from the approaching creature, and as you glide around a gentle bend you see a junction less than a hundred yards ahead where another tunnel meets this one from the right. Displaced air is now rushing past you, whipping at your hair and cloak, and the rumbling noise has grown to an almost deafening crescendo. Swiftly you glide along the passageway, enter the adjoining tunnel, and ease yourself back to the ground (lose 1 ENDURANCE point).
A few moments later the gigantic beetle-creature thunders past in a cloud of dust, hauling a long line of ore wagons in its wake. Some of these heavy wagons are empty but the majority are piled high with grey metallic rock. This ore load is heavily veined with a mineral which radiates a yellow luminescence.
(I leap on the ore wagon)
You make a brave leap for the last wagon in the line and land among its cargo of glowing ore with a stunning jolt: lose 2 ENDURANCE points. This wagon is only partially filled and you are able to stay hidden as it trundles on its way. You soon pass a junction where another tunnel joins with this main passageway, and from here onwards you feel the temperature steadily rising. Although your Platinum Amulet protects you from the increasing heat, your senses warn you that you are in grave and ever-increasing danger. The ore in this wagon is highly radioactive and your Kai skills and amulet can afford you only limited protection from its deadly gamma rays.
Fearful of this deadly cargo, you haul yourself over the rear of the wagon and get ready to abandon your ride. Your pulse races in anticipation of the jump for the wagon is moving at high speed and the rocky tunnel floor is no more than a speeding blur just inches below your feet.
Pick a number from the Random Number Table. If you possess Grand Pathsmanship, add 1 to the number you have picked. If you possess Grand Huntmastery, add another 1.
(I get a 6 total)
As you are getting ready to leap from the rear of the wagon, you suddenly feel your stomach tighten and the skin on your face and hands becomes sore and inflamed. You sense that you are succumbing to the insidious effects of the radioactive ore and, rather than wait a moment longer, you make your jump before you are fully ready.
You hit the tunnel floor with bone-shuddering force, and even though you cover your head and roll expertly to lessen the shock of impact, you suffer painful injuries to your shoulders, knees, and elbows: lose 4 ENDURANCE points.