Selections from Bits of Darkness: Caverns

As you are walking along the passageway, you notice that the way ahead is impeded by a milky white stone that seems to have flowed out of a spot high up on the right hand wall. The flowing stone has blocked the route except for a 2 by 3 foot opening in the upper left corner of the passageway. The white billowed stone is quite hard, but in many areas it is still wet as the liquid that has been forming the stone over the millenia still seems to be seeping out of the upper right hand corner. The incline of the stone is about thirty degrees. [Characters can climb to the opening and then clamber down the other side of the flowstone and continue on their way, but can pass through the opening only one at a time and may have to take off armor or accoutrements before crawling through. This is an excellent place for an ambush or encounter while the group is split between the two sides.]

You are nearing the edge of a drop-off. As you approach it, you notice a rope tied around an outcropping of stone nearby. It is dirty, and badly frayed where it passes over the lip.  [If it is pulled up:] The rope is about 40’ long past the frayed spot. The end that was hanging loose is unraveling.

As you enter the next chamber, your light glimmers all across the walls. Some sort of tiny crystals are catching the light and reflecting it back. When you take a closer look, you see the sides of the chamber are covered with little groups of crystalline spikes. They look almost like brittle flowers, or frosty clusters of icy thorns. [They are extremely fragile; even brushing against them will crumble the more slender stems. It is easy to break groups off from the wall, but very difficult indeed to keep them whole, requiring a Dex roll at DC 20]

The air here is unusually chilled and the silence is oppressive. You realize that the entire party has come to a halt and you are not entirely sure why. The only sound is the creak of leather and clink of armor as your companions shift warily in their stances. The shadows that dance upon the walls at the fringes of the light are deep and foreboding but you see and hear nothing unusual.