SSD 4.08 - Social Grooming

And now we continue in the sewers.

“Sure, 'Les Miserables' can be melodramatic. And seeing the musical instead of reading the novel will save you some time and spare you the long part where Hugo goes on and on about the Parisian sewer system. But I would hate for the novel to lose that.”

— Garth Risk Hallberg

The gentle rise of the sewer continued and the density of the vines decreased again until we came to a large square room. The tunnel did not continue forward, though a walkway curved along the wall. The far end of the room was connected by the now familiar grates, though the center of the room had no grate. Waterfalls of filthy water descended from a dark vertical tunnel overhead into that empty square, kicking up a profusion of grime that coated the nearby grate with a thick crust.

Some of the water proceeded to the right and left, the water moving down a tunnel before the walkways and channel ended. The water cascaded into new waterfalls over the edges and descended down to crash into waters far below.

The sound of the waterfalls produced a constant rumbling roar, even as they churned the water and increased the putrid smell of the sewers.

Sheets of moss lay thickly upon the walls and sections of the grating. the extra moisture of the roiling water producing a perfect humid environment for it. The lush green of the moss, along with the few vines, glimmered with sparkling droplets of water.

It if wasn’t for the filthy spray of the waterfalls, combined with the smell, the scene would be beautiful. Countless insects shimmered with beaded water as they moved across the various surfaces.

We advanced carefully to the edge of one of the tunnels. A sturdy, but narrow, staircase descended along the wall, with a railing made of chains strung between steel posts set into the brick.

With no other way to go, we descended down the stairs, keeping a wary eye out for monsters. Below us the waters flowed away and out of sight. The stairs were slick with moisture and moss, but no monsters attacked us for now. Keeping our weapons out on the treacherous terrain made for slow going.

Eventually we reached the bottom of the stairs and emerged onto a large brick platform. A section had caved in and formed a small sinkhole a few feet deep. The bottom was filled with dark water. The ceiling here was low, only about eight feet tall, and covered with new denser type of moss along its entire surface. Occasional holes marred the ceiling, their irregular edges suggesting they were not part of the original construction.

The light was dimmer than we had gotten used to. The thick moss burying much of light on the ceiling in its verdant embrace, casting greenish light and shadows upon the wall. The water droplets in the moss gradually fell downward, distorting the light even further into rainbow patterns mixed with the other dappled shadows.

“Why couldn’t we get a view like this in a nicer place,” Inda said.

A burst of air flowed through the aura from one of the tunnels.

“Incoming, ceiling,” I shouted.

A few moments later we saw a familiar sight, except this time it was clinging to moss on the ceiling.

Monstrous Moss Groomer

Level 5

“Same monster as before,” I said.

With its feet firmly stuck to the moss on the ceiling, its mandibles dipped further down. Now they were at around head or neck height.

It charged us, the motion just as quick on the ceiling as it was on the ground.

Gurek swiped the flat of his sword at it, dazing it, though I felt it lock its feet in place around sections of moss. The moss swayed with the motion of the blow, partially dispersing the effect. The groomer turned abruptly, using its hold on the moss to swivel quickly.

It charged for me, but I rolled along the floor, automatically smoothing and softening the edges of the bricks as I rolled, the stone pushing me along and then back up.

The razor edge of Inda’s sabre gleamed with magic as grazed it while it turned again. For a moment the moss in its grip strained under the extra force she had imparted before the magic faded.

The groomer held the moss with only a single front leg as it kicked backward, its entire body pivoting around that point. Now behind Inda it charged at her back. She dropped downwards, her sabre reaching up even as her body twisted down.

Her sabre pierced into the groomer, and it chittered with rage. Its own forward motion cut the sabre back out through its chitin and thick liquid spluttered out of its wound.

It quickly climbed up and into one of the holes in the ceiling.

Much smaller monsters emerged from the holes in the ceiling, each looking like a miniature version of the one that just fled.

Juvenile Monstrous Moss Groomer

Level 2

“Level two,” I said.

Half a dozen of the little monsters clung to the ceiling. They wove their much smaller bodies into and out of the thick layer of moss.

The first one attacked by leaping through the air and aiming at Gurek.

He cut it out of the air without any trouble, catching the next one that jumped at him a moment later.

Seeing the pattern I punched a fist into the brick below, reforming the brick around my fist and wrist. Then as mini groomers launched through the air at me, Inda, and Firi, I punched the one aimed for me out of the air, splattering it against the surface of my makeshift armor.

Inda cut the one aimed for her without difficulty. The one aimed for Firi bounced off a golden shield in the air, only for Inda to cut it apart on the back stroke of her sabre.

Gurek had dealt with the last of them while I wasn’t paying attention.

The adult groomer reemerged, its mandibles click clacking together in agitation.

It resumed attacking, but none of its patterns changed.

“Okay Inda, finish it.”

A brief pulse of mana latter and the groomer smashed with terrific force against the floor, one of its legs detached and twitching where it was still attached to the ceiling.

Only a moment passed before the groomer dissolved away.

We waited for a tense moment, but nothing else emerged to attack us. I moved the bricks off my hand and it chunked in chunks against the floor.

“Okay, good job.”

We congregated for a moment, still keeping an eye on the environment, as we noted the tactics the groomers had displayed.

“This might actually be a challenge for a group of level five adventurers,” I said. “I would expect them all to survive, but an injury would be a definite possibility.”

“Yep,” Gurek said, “It was just as fast as on the ground, and much quicker about changing direction.”

“Did have an obvious weakness,” Inda said. “It didn’t want to detach from the ceiling. So ducking lower was actually good protection.”

“I think the juveniles were meant to help counter that strategy,” Firi said.

I nodded.

“Actually,” I said, “if we encounter a situation where we are facing both types simultaneously, ducking would be a bad way to approach the problem unless you stay mobile or keep your guard up so you can hit the small ones out the air.

The others nodded.

“Not much of a real challenge for us,” I said, “but I would be very unhappy if a level five and a few level two could actually cause us problems.”

Gurek snorted. “I certainly would be concerned about any team our level having that issue.”

The others laughed.

I would certainly hope adventurers would be at least competent by the time they got to our level.

We moved through the room carefully, checking for anything else before we moved along. The exit to the room was parallel to the stairs and back toward the water.

Moving through a tunnel we emerged into the section below the stairs. The waterfall fell into a pool of water in front of us. The pathway and water both followed the wall to the left.

We followed it, only pausing to deal with a few aggressive fish before the pathway turned a corner to the right. A short distance later the waterway formed another t-intersection and met with water coming from the opposite direction, and then continued moving together to the left.

“That was probably from the path and waterfall that we didn’t follow,” Inda said.

We just nodded and followed the water downstream.

The vines gradually grew into a thickerweb as we continued along. Vines descendedin periodic flows of greenfrom the ceiling, andwhite blossoms perfumedthe air.

The water was gradually becoming less murky, shading closer and closer to blue, and its smell was fading. Glimpses of other colors flashed through the water occasionally, hinting at other life dwelling within.

After additional walking and even more ambushes, the water finally became clear enough to see through.

The water here was deeper at least six feet, and the current had slowed down.

Jellyfish swam through the water, a foot wide and three feet long. Each had a brilliant orange cap with a striped orange and clear protrusion dividing it in half. Below that several feet of pale orange tentacles drifted lazily through the water, as the jellyfish swam slowly against the current.

False Dawn Jellyfish

Myriad fish of different sizes and colors swam through the water. None of the ones that I identified had been monstrous so far.

And below them, anchored to the bottom of the sewer, we stony cones that protruded large colorful fans into the water. The fans pulsed gently as they undulated with the current, the fans gently curling and retreating into the cone before they would reemerge once again.

The anemones came with different names for the many varied colors. A red and white striped one was called acandy-cane anemone for some reason, though its shape had no resemblance to a cane. Other names made more sense and were self-explanatory, with names like: blood-drop fan, peeping fire, and verdigris gauntlet.

The water eventually joined with two new channels that curved in from both sides. Each added more water, and the channel grew much broader to accommodate the extra flow, continuing to flow the direction we had been following it.

Here the brick gave way to a natural cavern. The flow of water entered and followed the natural curve of the stoneand out of sight.