Lizard Group
"Let me get a full breath this time, and don't squeeze too hard!"
Kal translates Korrik's telling-off to his handler, who simply snorts.
"I will hold you as tightly as you require."
Once the halflings are ready to go, they are allowed time to catch a deep breath, and then both are grabbed tightly around their torsos and the rough, scaly hands clamp over your faces again as you are each pulled under the water and down into the darkness...
Shortly after, the remaining two lizardfolk each gesture to Kal and Artho, and they are similarly grabbed and pulled under.
Korrik & Merric:
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The halflings are underwater for what feels like less than a minute before they emerge into a small, stone air chamber, the walls of which have been smeared with some kind of luminescent... stuff. You are given a good minute or two to recover your breath (which you don't need), before one of the handlers says something to the other, and then turns to show you a counts down from four on its fingers. At the end, you are each grabbed, pulled underwater as before, carried a short distance and brought to another air pocket, long before it's necessary, and you are again given more than enough time to "recover".
Kal & Artho:
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The handlers hold tight to Kal's face and chest, as he calmly allows himself to be carried beneath the surface. The lizardfolk kicks down and forwards with surprising speed, into the twists and turns of the dark tunnels beneath the pool. The pressure increases painfully behind Kal's face and in his ears, and he is dizzily hauled left, down, right, right again and up... until he loses track. Despite all this, he is able to maintain a deep sense of calm even as the journey continues on and on, until with a rush, he breaks the surface and can breathe normally again.
Artho surfaces a moment later inhaling with a loud gasp, as he coughs and chokes in the new, small, chamber.
The pair are pulled into shallow water and brought to the rocky edge of the pool, where they can stand and climb out of the water to the end of a small tunnel. A strange, luminous glow covers the walls here, which smells of old, musty vegetation. A pair of clawed hands reach for Artho, and pull him out to the side where he doubles over and vomits.
Kal understand the guards questioning the handlers. Everyone just seems confused.
"I thought the fragile ones were taken the other way?"
"They were! This one was fine last time."
"Do you think it's all right?
"Huh. Maybe it got too cold."
"Do they do that? It didn't eat anything we offered. Maybe it's scared."
"It's very soft. Why wouldn't it be?"
"Well, leave it alone then. We need to wait for the others anyway.
"How long?"
"Long enough."
After what feels like a VERY long time, the halflings complete their tedious journey and are eventually brought into a slightly larger, glowing chamber where they see four lizardfolk and Kal. Artho is sitting by himself to one side looking rather miserable.
"Good. This way."
Finally, the four are led through a series of small, low, natural rocky tunnels. The ground underfoot is wet and slick with mud, but the air is mercifully cool at least as you slip and slide your way through some of the rougher areas. Your four lizardfolk handlers are quick to catch anyone who slips too badly, but don't seem to have the same issues with their clawed feet. Every so often you can see other tunnels opening out in different directions, some of which could fit a horse and cart, others of which are little more than a few inches in diameter. The majority are dark and unlit, but some seem to be smeared with the same glowing stuff that paints the corridor you're currently in.
After a little while longer, you start to notice scraps of dried grass underfoot, as a little further on, you arrive in a larger, open cave. Stalagmites and stalactites have been painted with the glowing stuff, and the pungent, stale smell of lizard fills the air. Two new, large lizardfolk approach as you, followed by the lizardfolk you saved in the swamp, as enter the room and the four handlers nods their heads in greeting.
Kal's handler says to him:
"These are our elders. Speak well."
The four handlers disperse through the room. Two return the way they came, and the other two wander to a nearby nest of dried grass and begin to dry the water off their scales.
One of the two new lizardfolk addresses Kal.
"You saved this one's life with magic, yes? You must do it again."
((Kal translates as usual, and you are all welcome to do / say whatever you would like at this point. Also, if there's anything you would like to have done or paid attention to during the tunnel travels just let me know))
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Druid Group
As the lizardfolk reaches out, its arms close around Gwen's form, but in a near-supernatural display of agility, she JUST manages to twist free of its grasp, repaying the attempt with a swift stab of her dagger. The creature bellows in anger as the blade sinks deep into its ribs.
((Any movement for Gwen, or are you staying engaged with this guy for now?))
Mehriv is up ((You now know at least one lizardfolk is hammering on the cabin door, if there's anything you want to try that doesn't need line-of sight?))
Turn Order
Varsk
Syli
Lizardfolk Group 1 [shed]
Valemgadro
Lizardfolk Group 2 [east]
Vaceran
Gwen
Mehriv <----
Lizardfolk Group 3 [east]