Tunnel Rat

The story was fairly simple because most of the remaining dwarfs had a limited vocabulary. The exception was Boomboom. He was in better shape than most with a mechanical hand and right arm, and a left arm that ended in a configuration that switched between wrench, saw, and drill. One eye was mechanical and gleamed with a blueish light. The other just gleamed with mischief and destruction.

Milo assumed his nickname came from habit of halving a half dozen charges of blasting explosives strapped to his belt. He also liked to juggle them, which made everyone nervous, and the maniac junior engineer laugh. "Ha! No worries. Pins all in. No Boom-Boom. Oops? Where’s that pin? BOOM! Ha! Made you run. BOOM!"

After a bit of this he'd become almost sane for a moment, and Milo got some of the story from him.

"Snake came. Broke down door with many booms! Defenses proved insufficient for snake killing. Disappointing lack of Boom! Snake rampage! Tearing out machinery, making nest. Bad Snake! Hit the main power coupler. No power, seniors fall like trees, make like logs. We stacked in a room, plugged them in. Engineer pissed. MUCH BOOM IN VOICE! Fun. Hide from Bad Snake. Need Snake trap."

Milo got a quick escort to where the senior engineers were laying in a room. Only a few were moving. As Boomboom had said, the Engineer was quite upset.

"Ah, Engineer Milo. Good of you to show up. Did you get lost down in the dark? " After an explanation from Milo, including his theories about the origins of the snake and pudding, the Engineer settled down and updated him on what had happened.

The day after Milo had gone down and effectively disappeared, the decision was made to bring the drill back up. After three more days and no word from Milo, plans were made to seal the shaft. There was some talk about trying to burn out the Ever-Pudding, but if Milo was actually alive down there, that was sure to kill him. Instead, a small side tunnel was dug. It intersected the main bore about a hundred feet down and had its own access hatch. A very simple engineering rune guarded it, easy for anyone to do on the fly, and easily noticeable. The hope was that Milo would be able to use it to get back up after they plugged the bore.

"What a puzzle. And all of us unable to help. Up to you Milo. Let’s make it official. Your project for advancement to Senior Engineer is killing the snake. The Ever-Pudding can wait. We need that damned corrupted copper elemental gone so we can affect repairs. Consider everything but the main power core and broadcaster as spare parts and go do the job."

He paused and looked at Milo carefully. "And to be clear, the brotherhood talked it over, and we don't care that you're a rat-kin in disguise. Some were quite happy, means we didn't officially add a human."

Milo was shocked. "You knew?"

The Engineer chuckled. "Suspected a bit. It's a darn fine glamour, but my eyes are special too. We knew something was up. Hell, boy, you prospect in the deeps solo? We knew you were something special. But you just got an upgrade of some powerful magic, and that's tougher to hide. Anyway, like I said, this isn't a problem. We only care about your work. So go kill the damned snake. Tell the boys to take you to the testing room. We were working on your snake trap when the power went down, might be some things you can use."

That made Milo happy, but the first thing he needed was to get a look at the Salasha herself, and where her lair was. Boomboom had offered to show him. They moved through tight access corridors, staying away from the larger tunnels. It was easy to see where the snake had been. Machinery was crushed and destroyed, doors broken down, and power was out in many areas.

At last, Boomboom opened an access hatch in the floor, and put a mechanical finger on his lips. "Shhh! Snek!" Milo peered through the hatch, and saw the queen snake four stories below him. What had been a large room had been enlarged by the removal of floors and walls around it. In the center, within a bed of copper wires and gears, shattered machinery, and raw copper ore was Salasha. She looked immense.

Queen Mother Salasha, Rat-Slayer, nemesis of Bone.

Level: ?? Monstrous Aberrant Elemental

Health: ?????

In the center of the coiled snake, on a pillar of copper, sat a pulsing egg. It was roughly a foot tall, and Milo felt a growl start to come involuntarily from his chest. That was an Eel. He knew it!

He shut the hatch and turned to Boomboom. "We're going to need a bigger Snake Trap."

The dwarf nodded enthusiastically. "BoomBOOMBoom!!"