Olivia's Basement
A set of narrow stone steps lead down to this rectangular pocket in the side of a canal-tunnel. The stone is smooth, having the familiar fused look of the tunnels to the north. This one runs roughly east to west, though, and the water level is too low to carry actual traffic now. Across from this surface access pocket is an alcove bearing a tunnel-marker statue: a horned Creen (or a very skinny dragon). The place is spotlessly clean, except for a ramshackle attempt at a display shelf, made of old planks and mismatched bricks. It almost appears to be some sort of shrine, covered in old trinkets and drawings.

Outfitted for exploration (and defense), the Kadies meet up with Olivia and venture back into her new-found 'basement' – an ancient tunnel like the one they found beneath the castle. The tunnel runs roughly east and west from here, and the lamps they carry don't illuminate very far down the tunnel throats.

"We should build better lanterns," Gunther comments as he peers down the tunnels. "Maybe ones with fake extending arms so we can see further. That way no hordes can sneak up on us."

"That's silly," Zahnrad tells the younger Kadie.

"Inflatable boats," Gunther counters.

"Shut up," Zahn says.

"Hordes don't sneak, Gunther," Amy points out. Then she amends her statement, adding, "Well, except for our horde."

Olivia adjusts her huge, puffy backpack against one shoulder, ignoring the bickering and concentrating instead on the water in the canals. "I guess we're going to have to wade our way along, then?" she asks the others, noticing the water's low level.

"Hmm. Giant rubber boots," Zahnrad muses after Olivia's comment. Gunther just hops into the canal water and makes a small splash.

"Which way do we go first?" Amelia asks. "I expect flooding to the east, unless there's another elevator shaft."

"Now, with the proper equipment, we could tunnel north," Zahnrad offers as he peers at the wall. "Anyway, up to Olivia. It's her basement and pet trolls."

Olivia glares at Zahn and says somewhat crossly, "I appreciate the fact that you're leaving the decision up to me, but the tolls are not pets! Sheesh." Then she nods at Amelia's suggestion and says, "All right, let's try going west."

"Well, I certainly hope they're not lovers. You're already dating that goblin, Djivan," Zahnrad quips with a grin. "West it is."

Amelia eyes Gunther, and says, "If you promise not to run ahead, I'll let you take point, Gunther."

"Drat," Gunther grumbles. "But, oh, okay, I promise I won't run ahead," he says, then smiles innocently.

Pointedly ignoring Zahn, Olivia suggests to Amy, "Maybe you'd better walk right behind Gunther if he's going to take point!"

"I will," Amelia whispers to Olivia. "It's just better this way, since whenever Gunther gets scared he hides behind my tail."

"Oh pfft, you know I'm joking," Zahnrad remarks to Olivia as he enters the canal now. He peers down the dark passage.

Gunther is already heading down the west tunnel … walking. Well, he did say he wouldn't run ahead…

Behind Zahn's back, Olivia mutters, "Yeah, right… " before falling into step as the last member of the party.

In the lantern-light, it becomes clear that the tunnel has shifted over the years, as cracks in the walls and uneven footing reveal. The water level at least stays mostly within the boundaries of the canal, and every so often another statue of the Creen-dragon appears. But for a good twenty minutes or more, nothing like a side passage or surface access has shown up.

"This is boring," Gunther complains. "Where are the brain eating monsters?"

"Maybe an inflatable boat wouldn't have been a bad idea afterall," Amy mutters.

"Careful what you wish for," Zahnrad remarks as he pauses now and then to examine fractures in the walls and look for any signs of recent movement through the passage.

Olivia calls up to Gunther, "Well, if I see any monsters back here, I'll be sure to lead them to you first, so you won't be bored anymore!"

"Yay!" goes Gunther.

The very worst signs of shifting are small piles of debris where the roof or walls have started to crumble. After clearing one such pile, something shows up at the edge of the lantern light: a small landing, with some debris in it.

"Landing, ho!" Gunther declares and heads towards it.

"Be careful! The stability of the walls and ceiling is questionable," Zahn calls out.

"Wait for us, Gunther!" Amy says as she scrambles after the boy.

Olivia wades over to help Gunther examine and clear the landing. "This is the first landmark other than the Creen statues we've seen, so I guess we'd better have a look."

"They're all crazy. Good thing I'm around to keep order," Zahnrad mutters as he follows the others towards the landing.

The landing is smaller than the one beneath Olivia's room, and instead of stairs it has a ladder made of inverted rungs cut into the wall, which go up into a dark shaft. Amidst the dirt and and crumbled stone are the remains of a small charred wooden box.

"Uh, is this under some old graveyard?" Gunther observes as he prods at the charred box a bit and tries to get a better look at it.

The remains are probably from a rather small box, as opposed to something coffin-sized.

Olivia takes her own lantern and tries to look around a little more. "I'm not sure… " she murmurs, searching for anything else that might suggest what the room had been used for.

"I don't know of any graveyards out this way," Amy notes. "We should be past the Milk Run and the gypsy camp by now."

"Well, it doesn't look like a coffin," Gunther observes. Zahnrad, meanwhile, is trying to climb up the stone wall using the hand-holds to see where it goes.

There aren't any symbols or words etched anywhere, or any other signs of when the shaft was last used or for what.

From somewhere above in the shaft, Zahnrad calls down, "There's a hatch up here. Ceramic by the sound of it. And a lever! Want me to try to open it?"

"Watch it be a garbage chute," Gunther comments to Amelia and Olivia.

"Umm… I guess so," Amelia calls up, then looks to the others. "It should lead to the surface, right?"

"I guess so. I don't think we descended any," Gunther comments.

"As long as you do it carefully!" Olivia adds, grinning at Gunther's comment. She then kneels down beside the wooden box and gingerly tries see what might have been inside.

Zahnrad then carefully works at the lever, testing how easily it may move. He has no desire to break it, after all.

The lever is tight, and it isn't clear which direction it's meant to turn in either. A bit of muscle (or lubrication) will definitely be required.

Going by the 'right is tight, left is loose' philosophy, Zahnrad braces himself in the shaft using his legs, then tries to get the lever to move.

There's a groaning sound that echoes down the shaft, and then the lever moves free – nearly unbalancing Zahn. It turns almost 120 degrees before stopping, and the hatch shifts slightly.

"Well, people will know we're here," Zahnrad mutters as he shakes his head. He takes a moment to secure his grip (hurray for prehensile toes!), then attempts to push the hatch upward.

"Stealthy he is not," Gunther comments and joins Olivia in examining that charred box. "Find anything in it?" he asks her.

Dirt and leaves trickle down as the hatch is opened, letting in a shaft of daylight (filtered through overcast, of course).

"Oh look, outside!" Zahnrad calls down the shaft. Pushing the hatch further open, the Kadie tries to climb higher to see where they actually are.

"Not yet," the Skeek says, trying to lift what is left of the box's lid.

There isn't much to see in the box. The inside hadn't been burned yet like the outside had. But the box is still empty, except for a few loose threads from what might have been a blanket or clothing.

The hatch is built into the top of a boulder, apparently, and shaped to blend in with the rough stone. Zahn looks out at the woods beyond the town, just west of the Chalk territory.

"Hmm. Not a whole lot in here," Olivia remarks to Gunther, idly picking off a few of the threads and examining them.

In the lantern light, the threads appear to be frayed. Maybe they came from yarn instead of linen, and were just shed.

"What's up there, Zahn?" Amy calls up.

"We're west of the Chalk territory," Zahnrad calls down, "The hatch was hidden in a boulder. Not much here other than woods."

Olivia puts the threads back into the box and stands up. "Well, do we look around out there or continue on down the canal?" she asks the others.

"I'd like to get a look at where this thing lets out," Amy notes. "It'll let us map it better."

"Come on up, then," Zahnrad calls down. The Kadie then climbs the remainder of the way out of the shaft and hops down to the earth.

Amelia clambers up and out next.

Gunther climbs up after Amelia. "Hurry up," he notes to Olivia before he vanishes upward.

"All right, all right," Olivia grouses as she starts climbing up the 'ladder' after the younger Kadie. "Don't get yer underpants in a twist."

Once up top, Olivia immediately recognizes the area, since it's where she used to play as a child. She can even see the tree where her father built her a treehouse.

Olivia breathes in and out slowly as she takes a look around, feeling all sorts of memories wash over her. She doesn't say anything for a long while.

"Doesn't seem to be a place of any importance," Zahnrad comments from where he's leaning on the boulder. "Maybe that's just an air vent."

"Could be," Amy agrees. "I wonder what they made the walls out of though? The ground here isn't stone like in the deep tunnels."

"Probably some sort of mortar," Zahnrad offers.

Olivia slowly separates from the rest of the group and walks over to the tree where her treehouse had been. She feels around the bark until she comes to the place where the first 'step' had been nailed in, made of a thick block of wood. A small piece of that same block is even still there, plus the nail.

"Spot something?" Gunther calls out after Olivia, then heads over towards her. "Some sort of secret passage entrance? An old sign?" he asks.

"More importantly, do you know where we are?" Amy asks. "I thought the tunnel would follow the road to Trollhaven for some reason… but that's just there because it's the edge of the swamp."

"No," the Skeek says quietly. "Just the old tree where my father built me a treehouse once. We're pretty close to my parents' house now, I think."

Gunther blinks. "Odd place for a tunnel," he observes. The young Kadie then strikes his fist into his palm, saying, "Ahah! I have it."

"What?" Amy asks, turning to Gunther.

"Olivia's mother is really a troll. That explains the rumors of insanity," Gunther claims.

"She doesn't look anything like a troll," Amy says, crossing her arms. Then she asks Olivia, "Does she? I've never seen her. And your Aunt is pretty monstery at times… "

Olivia's mouth quirks into the ghost of a smile. "Nice theory, but I'm not quite sure you're right."

"Though, if her mother was a troll, that would make Olivia a half-troll," Gunther muses.

"And Isolde and Natasha already disproved that I'm any part of a troll, so I think we can disregard that notion," Olivia points out.

"Well, if you trust what either of they say," Gunther mutters.

"So, does that mean the box down there came from Olivia's home?" Zahn asks, "And if so, what was it?"

"Trolls aren't supposed to steal things," Amelia points out. "Just… you know… bodies and stuff."

"That box couldn't hold a body. Not unless it was like, you know, a baby or something," Zahnrad comments and looks skyward.

"Maybe it was just something on one of the zombies," Amy notes. "Didn't they attack you and Djivan near here, Olivia?"

Olivia rubs the sides of her head for a few seconds. "I didn't recognize the box and I don't know what those threads inside the box came from," she says. "And yes, the zombies did attack us on our ways to my parents' house, so I suppose it's possible that the box belonged to one of them. But what on earth would a zombie be carrying a half-burned box around for?"

"Could have been something it was carrying for Valicross," Amy guesses, shrugging. "Could just be an old box. No telling how long it's been down there."

"Do zombies need a reason? They're zombies. They walk around and rot," Gunther claims.

"Well, I'll keep a few of the threads when we go back into the tunnel and see if I can find the cloth it came from," Olivia says. "Meanwhile, should we continue going west?"

"Sounds good to me," Zahn offers and starts back up the rock, then into the shaft heading down. Gunther isn't far behind him…

Amelia checks the outside of the hatch before heading down herself, commenting, "There's no way to open it from the outside that I can see."

Olivia waits for Amy to head down next, since she seems to want to stick close to the younger Kadie boy. Then she climbs back down into the tunnel, too.

"I can fix that later," Zahnrad offers below. He's soon back into the underground tunnel and hops to the floor. Gunther follows him in a few seconds and then immediately heads towards the western tunnel…

Once more, it's back to trudging along. The tunnel is less damaged the further they go, and a few more access hatches are passed by, although none with any clutter at their bases. They all open up into the woods, and are all camouflaged as rocks or tree stumps. After an hour of this, Amy says, "We'd better check our lamp fuel and make sure we have enough to get back, otherwise we should look for the main road at the next hatch."

Olivia nods her agreement with this and looks at the oil level in her own lamp.

"Right," Zahn and Gunther say in unison, then go to examine their lanterns.

"Well, we're down to about two thirds. These lamps were designed to last over a night of around six hours. The wick uses little oil and is shielded from wind," Zahnrad offers. "Storm lanterns, we call them."

"So, we can go one more hour before we would need to turn back and reach where we started. Or, we have to find an exit and walk back above ground," Gunther adds.

"Well then, I guess we go on for another hour," Olivia says.

"Okay. We should check then to see where the road is in case we need to head back aboveground," Amy says.

There are two more hatches encountered by the end of the next hour, and this time the road can be seen through the trees to the south. Which is handy, since the water level in the canal has been rising the further they go.

"It doesn't look like these tunnels have been used in a long time," Zahnrad comments when they reach the next hatch. "I'm not sure we're ever going to find anything useful down here… "

"I'd guess we were over half-way to Trollhaven now too," Amy says. "Unless there's something big under that town too, I don't see much point in going further today."

"Maybe there was more to the east," Zahnrad offers with a small shrug.

"When do I get to bash monsters?" Gunther complains.

Olivia grins and shakes her head. "Not today, apparently!"

"So, should we head back along the road?" Amy asks.

"Sure. I'm tired of having wet feet," Zahnrad notes.

"And maybe we can beat up highwaymen!" Gunther chirps.

Olivia nods emphatically and says, "I second that! Well, the being tired of having wet feet part… "

"Or catch a ride," Amy says hopefully. "Did you want to stop and visit your folks on the way, Olivia?"

Olivia looks at Amelia with a horrified expression on her face for a moment before it smooths over. "No, I don't think that would be wise," is all she says, then heads for the 'ladder' going up to the surface.

"Do you remember where you met that little troll though?" Amy asks as she follows. "Was it near that rock?"

"I could distract your mother," Gunther offers as he follows after Olivia. Zahnrad just shrugs and follows along.

"That's okay, Gunther, I think it's better if you just stay away from her," Olivia tells him, then thinks about Amelia's question for a minute. "I'm not quite sure where I met the troll, all I remember is that it was out in these wood somewhere. Sorry I can't be more helpful."

"You are very hard to help," Gunther complains.

"Well, at least we know how it got out there now," Amelia says.

"Do you want to find that troll again?" Zahn asks as he exits the tunnel and back into the wilderness. There he shakes his feet out, trying to dislodge the water.

Olivia nods to Amy and puts a comforting hand on Gunther's shoulder. "I just don't want her to try and hurt you during one of her screaming fits, that's all," she says. "Heh. I guess the screaming sort of runs in the family… "

"I haven't heard you scream at anyone," Amy tells the Skeek. "Not even at Djivan. Anyway, think we can use this tunnel for anything?"

"Could be useful for town defense and escape routes," Gunther suggests to Amelia.

Olivia turns her attention to Zahn now. "I know it sounds strange, but maybe I do," she says softly. "To see if it remembers me, if nothing else."

"That shrine under your room was pretty freaky," Amy whispers to Olivia. "Sure you want to find that troll again?"

Olivia just shrugs. "With all the strange troll-related incidents that have been happening lately, I may not have a choice."

"I still want to know where they come from," Zahnrad notes.

Once they reach the road, the going is easier – at least as far as damp feet are concerned.

"Come from in what sense?" Amy asks.

While Zahnrad walks normally down the road, Gunther darts from tree to tree to 'hide'. "Everything comes from somewhere. I want to know where they come from," Zahnrad repeats.

"I mean, where they come from as far as location, or where do they come from as far as, like, where do babies come from?" Amy clarifies.

"Both," Zahnrad quips.

"If I ever walk in my sleep again and actually get through that wall in Amy's special date place, we may find part of that out!" Olivia quips – although she's only half-joking.

"Walking in Amelia's special date place again? Maybe that Eeee has been sinking her evil ways into you after all. I mean, lusting after Amelia and going to her favorite places," Gunther quips … then takes off into a dead run down the road!