<br/><br/>Following the trail of the Gnolls is treacherous, as the rocks are slick and slippery with water from an unknown source. The tunnels twist higher into the spire, and your instincts tell you that it is heading back towards the surface. Eventually, you see the flickering lights of torches that indicate the humanoid's camp. One side of the cave is exposed to the open air, and ever present wind positively screams past it. There are about two dozen gnolls in a variety of camps and tents, none of them near the open rock face, but that is no what dominates your field of vision.<br/><br/>That is reserved for the gigantic, 30 foot tall hyena that is stalking though the camp.<br/><br/>Some of the gnoll combatants are hauling the corpses of their slain allies towards the creature, who looks at them with a savage, bestial hunger. The looks is fleeting though, and somehow you see the mind at work behind those as it switches back on. The hyena takes the corpses in its mouth, but instead of consuming them, it shakes them, and places them them back to the ground, restored to life. It then howls once again, and this close, it is like all of the winds of the plane. The Gnolls all fold over in supplication to the Hyena as it subtlety alters form, becoming bulkier.<br/><br/>This thing fills all of you with a gnawing dread, although it is not outright fear. This threat is greater than you, and cannot be overcome by violence for its capacity for violence is far greater than yours.<br/><br/>Before your sensations overwhelm you, though, your hear another sound, distinctly like that of a waterfall. The Gnolls hear it too and rush into a panic. Some of them grab ropes and toss them over the Hyena to try and restrain it, especially over its muzzle. The creature seems almost placid as this happens, until water starts to pour into the cavern through the open side of the cave.<br/><br/>The water is not clear, but black and foul smelling. As much as the Hyena inspires dread in you, this water reminds you of pure evil. Just as the eye in the darkness said it would, the water flows through the middle of the cave, equidistance from all of the cavern walls, except for the spray of its passing. The Hyena's head snaps up as it flows about it, throwing its rope laden followers this way and that. It drinks deep, deeply, deeper from the foul waters, swallowing what seems to be an impossible amount of water before collapsing into a stupor on the cavern floor.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">OCC</div><div class="spoiler_body">Sorry, busy week! Ended up crashing for 12 hours last night! Two heads up. One, there was no wrong choice between which route to take, and two, yes I do have some combat encounters planned soon. This just isn't really one of them. </div></div>