The Maztica Campaign: Waste Management

"Now I know what they mean when they say 'Forbidden Wastes'!"

(What Has Gone Before...)

Early the next day found João Afonso Villalobos, Ranger and Esparelda Ragosa, cranky Gnome Fighter/Thief, opening a storm drain access grate with a key given to them by Voil Guldi, merchant and member of the committee on public work for the local Jeweler's Association. The faint reek of stagnant water grew stronger as they descended the sweaty stone stairs, accompanied by the vague odor of urine.

"Someone likes to pee down their drains..." said João Afonso.

"Eww!" said Esparelda, "Filthy humans..."

They both paused on the stairs. Below, they could see a stone-flagged chamber, about 30' wide, with a 10' wide channel, running down the centre. The channel was brimming to over-flowing with frothy, brownish water.

"There's got to be a better way to get some gold." muttered the Gnome, as she prepared to light the lantern Guldi had provided. She fidgeted with her flint and steel, awkwardly holding her sword beneath her arm.

"Maybe put your sword down?" remarked João Afonso, helpfully.

"I'm not putting anything down..." said Esperelda crankily. "All we need is for my sword to get dropped in that pool o'shite..." She jerked her elbow toward the effluvium below them. 

"Anyway, the wick's alight" she said, as the sputtering flame caught and grew brighter.

"That's your sleeve..." remarked João Afonso, again helpfully.

"Fornication!" yelled Esperelda, batting at her flaming sleeve with a leather-clad hand, simultaneously dropping the lantern, which João Afonso deftly caught.

(DM's Note: Esperelda's player, Megan, had rolled a 1 on her Dex check, while João Afonso's player, Derek, had rolled a 20 on his. The suggestion to put down the sword, and the rejection, was genuine. The impulse to protect the lantern, the loss of which to be taken from their wages, would grow in importance as the game progressed. Players are funny.)


Descending the stone stairs, both characters were able to step over the dreadful grey-water and alight with a wet slap upon the walkway, which ran on either side of the channel. Both assessed their situation. The channel sluggishly flowed to a "T" intersection, then diverted both left and right, before each arm passed around an elbow curve and then underneath a large metal gate on either side.

"We have ourselves a pair of floaters..." said João Afonso, indicating with his spear three brown, foot-and-a-half long torpedo shapes in the water.

"They're moving against the tide.." Esperelda said, "and coming straight for us!"

Three "waterbugs" attacked, trying to latch hold of soft leather while attempting to burrow into the tasty pink meat beneath. João Afonso stabbed the first one as it clambered out of the water, looking aghast as the skewered insect hissed at him from the end of his spear.

Esperalda hacked at another with her sword, missed with a clang and another curse. "That's gonna leave a ding..." The beetle bit her ankle, partially penetrating the thick leather boot. "Ow!" she howled. "So is that!"

The Beetle Battle

João Afonso had meanwhile driven his spear down into the water at the edge of the walkway, trying to dislodge the dying "waterbug". The spear lodged in a crack, left his hands with a wrench, and stuck shaft up, a foot or two out of the water. A third "waterbug" bit at him, but gained no purchase. João Afonso unlimbered his halberd from his back, and cut the thing in half.

Esperalda had been busying herself by cutting the legs off her own personal insect opponent, and as it ran about in a semi-circle, she stabbed it behind the head. It died with a hiss.

(DM's note: Basically, three Fire-beetles from MM1. I made them a bit small, with fewer hit points. I wanted a small challenge, but nothing too dangerous. The PC's also harvested the glowing glands, to sell, and made themselves vomit whilst doing so. Gad, they're desperate for money...)

A short while later...

Esparelda is surveying the steel doors on the left-hand channel.  "These can't be picked from this side. There's no lock to pick."

"Maybe there's a lever..." remarked João Afonso, helpfully tapping with his recovered spear.

Esparelda began to tap with her sword-pommel along the wall by the base of the entry steps. "If I were a Civic Engineer, I would put my lever behind a secret door, as close to the entryway as possible..." she stopped. "Nothing" she said. "Maybe the other side."

João Afonso reached past her shoulder and pressed a stone that looked out of place, helpfully. A section of wall about 3' across swung inward, a darkened recess beckoned.

"Presto!" he said.

Post Game Observations
Nothing particularly earth-shattering happened during this encounter. Just before the beetle attack, I made some "bubbling" noises, which caught the PCs attention and had them tense up a bit. Most players are a bit pessimistic, so it usually pays to let them sweat for a moment, fearing the worst, while the unknown approaches...

To be continued...