Book 2 Chapter 7

Summary
After taking their much needed rest, the party is now ready to traverse the mines behind the giant stone doors. After they unlock the doors, they find a set of what seems like a never ending staircase in front of them. Before they head down the stairs, Dorian offers his shield to Korvin, daring him to use it as a sled; Korvin had no other choice but to accept the dare. After Korvin takes off down the stairs, the party keeps up with him the best they can. When the party meets back up with Korvin, they find a strange looking female humanoid standing across the room, clutching a strange purple rock in her hand. The party looks at her with confusion when she suddenly asks the party, "Would you like some of this pastry? It is really good." This puzzled the party because what she calls a pastry looks more like moss that seems to be growing on the floor and walls of the ancient Dwarven mine. The party counters her question with one of their own: "Who are you and what are you doing down here?" She answers their question by saying, "My name is Chiela. I am a Deva, and this is Tavar," - lifting her hand holding a strange purple rock - "and I do not remember much from before." The party can tell she has been down here a very long time; as they are discussing their next action, Chiela offers to show the group her home and, seeing as they do not know much about this area and Chiela seems to, they agree to go with her. Once at her home, the party can see that it looks like a simple storage room, but the walls, floor, and ceiling have all been covered in lines that have been crudely scratched in; the party can now see just how long she has been here. After the group has a discussion, they know they have to finish clearing out these caves, contrary to Chiela's pleads, and they head off to rid the cave of its creatures with Chiela and Tavar reluctantly following. The party thoroughly explores the caves and comes across residuum in its purest form and immediately know they have struck it rich. The problem is that if the residuum is not handled correctly, or if it is handled for too long, it will cause mutations. After fighting through some beasts that have been corrupted by the residuum, the party experiences it first hand after they defeat a hydra. Solragar, trying to get on the hydras back to finish it, slipped and fell into its contaminated water. After the party killed the hydra, Solragar climbed out of the water and the party was shocked to see that his once muscular arms had been replaces with tentacles. In shock, Solragar insists that party continue exploring and to worry about him later. Not much later, the party finds a room full of golems that have been corrupted by the residuum and after a long battle with them, three out of the six party members were changed to abominations. Only Dorian, Iginaac, and Chiela were left untouched by the corruption. Scabbard's legs have been replaced by a mermaid's tail, Korvin's once hairless body was now covered in hair, and Solragar's arms were still tentacles. Dorian, realizing he has a lot of work ahead of him, turns to Iginaac and says "Well... Let's get started..."