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"Alright... just one thing. If I say we need to get out of there, we go. No arguments."
"You're my guards! Obviously I wouldn't make a fuss. Now... Who's the lucky soul to go first?" He says, mirthlessly. You decide to go first, of course, and note that the ladder also feels unusual. There are some laddersmiths around that make them out of metal, sure, but it feels like a lot of effort for something that might be done easier with plain wood. So making it out of metal is fairly nutty as well. A little later, everybody is down, and you begin to walk down the tunnels. Just as you're about to take out a torch, however, you see light in the distance... flickering. It seems bright enough despite that, so you move along and look up at the source. Looks like... a simple glass circle, embedded into the stone ceiling, and covered up with some more steel grating.
"...Lightbulb." You say out loud. "So this is... made by alchemists?"
"Something like that, I suppose." Oldfield adds. "But it's no design I've seen from any alchemist, not to mention how bright it is! It's powered by that electricity I mentioned before."
"They must have one hell of a steam engine to manage that."
"I doubt it's what they use... Something would have to feed a steam engine, after all, so this must work on something else. It's not magic, still, but... Well, we'll see."
As you go deeper through the tunnel, you eventually see more light in the distance... and an end to the tunnel. It seems to open up into a huge chamber, though it's hard to tell on account of the light that's still shining through. As you walk... you also spot the creature that the professor was talking about.
"Last time, there were far more mushroom creatures here, though I suppose they must have retreated to the chamber up ahead. Now, take a look at this thing."
Sure enough, it's as the professor said... Big head, tiny body, and a weird little nozzle for a mouth. The mushrooms seem to actively grow around it, though something killed it a long while ago... Kneeling down, you note the bullet holes that were left in the thing's head... Must have carried quite some power, because it seems to have launched straight through the creature, leaving an equally large hole as entry and exit.
You haven't seen any flintlock do that one yet... Hmm.
"What is this thing?" You ask and Oldfield simply shrugs:
"I wouldn't know... I'm no biologist, but this doesn't seem like any creature I've ever seen."
Paracelsus carefully pushes you aside, and then notes:
"I, however, AM a biologist. Stand aside, I'm going to do an autopsy." She says, twirling a scalpel around and kneeling down. She carefully pushes the creature over a bit, revealing it's skin to be that same muddy texture throughout... Then she cuts it open.
"Hrmm... tougher than it looks. And... What?"
