13. Garbage Disposal

When the PCs first walk in front of the corridor’s entrance, the text below should be read before they walk down the stairs. Peaking into the opening, you see a set of stairs, carved directly into the rock, that descend into darkness. A terrible stench emanates from the corridor. The smell reminds you of carrion and putrefaction. A strong humidity also blends with the smell, amplifying it, and the walls are covered with damp. If the PCs walk down the stairs and penetrate into the room, continue with the following description. At the end of the stairs, you find yourselves in a fairly large area, half of which is flooded. You soon realize where the stench is coming from; the area is covered with bones, decaying organic matter, and mold. The murky water is so dirty it has turned brown and all sorts of unidentifiable bits of detritus float on its surface. The smell is unbearable and you struggle to breathe. This area is used by the Black Paws to dispose of their trash. Most of it is carcasses, bodies of their victims, and food waste, but really the barklings will just throw anything in here. Bringing trash down here is quite dangerous and a few barklings were already killed and eaten by the Tentacle Worm that lairs down here. They have tried chasing it out, but have not been able to do so yet. For now, they have simply decided to feed the worm to appease it while they find a safe way to drive it out. The water slowly seeps in from a few thin orifices in the southern wall, slowly filling both this room and room 14. The flooded area is 3.5 feet deep. When the PCs first walk in, the tentacle worm will be hiding in area 14. It will take 1d4 minutes for the worm to reach room 13 if it feels vibrations in coming from there. Attacking from under the water, the worm has a 1-3 chance on a d6 of surprising the PCs, 1-4 chance if the PCs are being attacked while in the water. Tentacle Worm: AC 13, HD 3*, #At 6 tentacles, Dam paralysis, Mv 40', Sv F3, ML 9, XP 175 If the PCs search the flooded portion of the room, they will notice a small opening on the eastern side. The hole is an approximately 3 foot square opening at the bottom of the pool. There is almost no current, but the person who finds the opening gets the sense that it leads somewhere as it in fact goes to room 14.