Date: 7 August 2025
Chronicle Day: Day 131
Abercrombie’s recollection, frae the sea’s edge tae the cave’s maw.
After the Kuotoa fight, we were ejected from the ship.
We stood on the shore, facin’ the cliffs that held the cave.
We climbed. The cliff face was sheer, the ocean below churnin’.
The cave mouth lay some 200 feet from where we stood.
We joined our ropes, tied off, and prepared tae descend.
Then came the howls.
- First on the wind
- Then from a different direction
- A third—behind us
They were cuttin’ us off.
Kaz howled back.
From the scrub emerged Throsh, apologisin’ for the deception.
He had tae be sure it was us.
We lowered Rudy first.
Throsh free climbed wi’ his sticky limbs.
They heard scuttlin’—strange, unnatural.
Rudy entered, waitin’ in the hush.
Throsh signalled—it was safe.
I went next. Free climbed down.
The handholds grew sketchy, but I made it.
At the back o’ the cave’s entrance, we found embedded stalactites and seams in the rock—like an openin’.
Ryn ran his hand over the seams.
Wind came through—15 ft. apart.
He motioned tae Kaz.
They struck together, destroyin’ a 5-foot section.
Kaz choked on the dust.
Ryn stepped through, beckonin’ us forward.
Fifty feet in, the tunnel forked.
Two doors appeared—one on each side.
I listened at the left door, Rudy at the right.
We heard heavy breathin’—snorin’.
Ryn oiled my hinge.
We opened it silently.
Inside, a Kuotoa stirred—two wet feet hit the floor.
Moments later, the door shattered into splinters.
Kaz blocked the doorway, seekin’ tae destroy it.
The Kuotoa cast somethin’—I couldn’t move.
Rudy called on Illara tae bless us.
The other door opened.
I was attacked from behind by a wicked whip and fell.
I revived—badly injured, bloodied.
I turned and struck back.
Flying Death, my heavy crossbow, found its mark.
We now had sashimi and steamed fish.
Throsh theorised the flesh-mask folk may be behind the village’s fall.
He told the tale tae Rudy.
Ryn claimed a new weapon—a lightning bone whip, inlaid wi’ runes like those on Kaz’s axe.
The scuttlin’ returned, from the left fork.
Two hybrid wolf/crab creatures emerged.
We fought.
Ryn went down, but Rudy revived him.
Both abominations were destroyed.
We reached a chamber, 50 ft. across, wi’ lofty ceilin’s.
Cages were strewn about—a holdin’ cell?
A tunnel continued beyond.
Throsh investigated the cages—wolf fur, crab parts, and somethin’ else.
“The stone split. The fish stirred. And the cave gave up its secrets—one claw at a time.”
