CHAPTER 5.01 - RETURN TO THE CAVES

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Wulfram swims and treads carefully back to art gallery where he knows its would be dry and safe to rest. He moves to the upper floor (3^rd level) and finds a small room directly opposite the vault that still has a wooden door that can be closed.

He moves a broken wooden table and other debris against the door to shore it up, eats some rations and then rests for a few hours including sleep. He is not disturbed.

There are no signs of activity inside the building and Wulfram exits out one of the sides, climbing easily down the wall. He finds himself standing mostly in 3' deep water and wades carefully for a couple of blocks of ruined buildings. HIDE 17 MOVE SILENTLY 15.

At one point, as Wulfram traverses the interior of a ruined building to remain out of sight, he disturbs a group of three small blue lizards. They scatter, splashing through the water outside.

He waits and the splashing does not appear to draw attention. So he moves north for another block and reaches a small stone plaza in the middle of which there stands a large moss and vine covered sculpture, possibly a statue of a human or humanoid figure. PERCEPTION 27. He
hears and sees nothing. It is very still here. Wulfram investigates and searches for the name plate or something that describes the feature.

Wulfram finds a stone inscription that (INTELIIGENCE 20) reads "He came back home among the wise at the doom of men.” Beneath that in a
different - “Carpe Cerevisi (seize the beer!)" The statue itself stands 15' tall and can be climbed easily. Wulfram does so to uncover the features. It becomes very clear that this is the proud statue of a Nordic warrior, and (INT 10) unmistakably and perhaps a little shockingly, the face resembles Wulfram. He cleans up the remainder of the statue and discovers it does indeed look like himself, including the weapons he currently holds. But this statue is very old ... or at least it has been here for a very long time underground.

PERCEPTION 17.

Wulfram heads north towards an interconnecting plaza. REFLEX 25. He skillfully sidesteps a sinkhole in a deeper portion of water and reaches the Library. It is a large structure, some three levels tall and badly damaged. It is flooded. Snarls and splashing footsteps are approaching from the south, which is where Wulfram came from. There are no sounds near the library so Wulfram goes inside. ... SEARCH 24 ... moving through all three levels and eventually uncover a locked box with books ... family history and religious writings possibly.

Wulfram hears splashing sounds outside. There are snarls and the sounds of perhaps two creatures entering the library downstairs. Then there are scampering sounds coming up the stairs and a pit pattering of tiny feet flapping along the floorboards near the room he is hiding in ... he dowses his torch to stop its flickering light ... the sounds of tiny feet flap past the room he is in and stop momentarily. Then a cute little lizard face peeks in and stares at him. It then raises it head and makes a whistling hooting sound ... REFLEX 22 ... an electrical discharge from the small lizard shocks him and the creature scampers out of sight down the dark hallway. There are responses from below, snarling calls and heavier footsteps can be heard advancing up the stairs towards his location. Wulfram leaves his room and moves towards a more destroyed section ... MOVE SILENTLY 19 ... he reaches a room where the wall has collapsed and climbs out ... CLIMB 22 ... he climbs down easily on the Northern side, which is only two blocks away from the edge of the stairs that lead down to city. He is sure he could make it there. There are annoyed snarls and hunting commands from inside the Library behind him.

Wulfram moves towards the stairs. He reaches them. CLIMB 19, 14. He reaches the top easily and again finds himself on the ledge overlooking the city. There are several lizards below obviously searching for him in the darkness.