Shortly before dusk, the company set out. Or, the Fiend's Claw, as nearly everyone was now referring to their group. Felix hadn't the foggiest who had come up with the name, or how it had spread so fast, but he had to fight the urge to roll his eyes every single time he heard it. Each group within the Claw was further identified as a Talon: the Dawnguard, the Risi, the Legion, his original team, and Felix himself. Pit was included with Felix, for obvious reasons.
If nothing else, I haven't heard nearly as much bickering from everyone, Felix mused. He'd take his victories where he could.
The Claw followed Felix and the Yttin shaman down into the deepest levels of the Warren, where the pressure from its ancient significance was a literal assault on their Aspects. The majority of the Talons had to be carted in their wagons, and those wagons had to be pulled by Harn or Vess or Felix himself as someone led the trembling avum by hand. The passages were barely wide enough for said wagons too, and they had to disassemble them several times to get through the narrower corridors in the depths. Eventually, Klzix brought them to a large door approximately thirty feet wide and twice that in height. It bore carvings of beautiful aquatic creatures swimming across its surface, with a complex insignia emblazoned in the very center. It looked like three waves chasing themselves in a circle, centered atop a spiraling shell.
Klzix ran his fingers across the door's surface, setting hidden sigils alight. Felix's Manasight tracked them as they activated and sent pulses of power through the stone's surprisingly complex interior. Mechanisms moved within, turned by magic but very much mechanical in nature, until the doors cracked open with a soft boom.
Their torches fluttered wildly as the air was sucked into the yawning darkness beyond.
Exploration is level 64!
"What're the odds that we fight a shiny new abomination tonight?" Evie asked. "Two silver says we get attacked."
"Two silver on it not happening," Atar said, sounding a bit tired.
"Five silver on more undead," Alister offered. His voice had an edge, an echo of their sparring matches. "I hope so at least."
The shaman shook his small, bandaged head. "No, beasts and monstrosities are kept from these tunnels by the wards."
"And the collapsed sections you spoke of?" Vess asked. "The wards would have failed there, yes?"
"That is true, but there are few fallen tunnels near us. To have wandered so far afield as to threaten your journey..." the shaman shrugged. "It is not impossible."
The lot of them pushed into the tunnel, which proved to resemble nothing so much as a modern highway. The floors were a pale stone, formed so seamlessly that Felix was certain they were Shaped, and the walls were made of an identical material interspersed every dozen feet with thick, dark metal arches. At Felix's approach, the arches glimmered, revealing a smattering of sigils inscribed along their lengths. Together they released a soft glow that approximated a dim sort of sunlight.
"Wow," he said.
The remainder of the Claw was brought from above. The most significant feature of the Latticeways was an incidental one: the moment any of them passed through the threshold, the pressure from the Leviathan's bones vanished completely. Arrivals were announced with gasps and groans of relief, until the entire Claw was once more whole. Wagons reassembled and teams re-hitched, Felix bid farewell to the shaman.
"I appreciate the help," he said.
"It costs me nothing to aid you, my Lord, and I owe you a debt of gratitude that cannot be repaid lightly." Klzix touched his chest gingerly, where once chitinous monster flesh had adorned him. "Until the Beast ends it all."
"Until then," Felix said with a nod.
Their journey continued, into the dark Latticeway tunnels at full speed. Thankfully, the glow of inscriptions provided a constant illumination that followed their company as the progressed deeper along the path. Ahead arches would ignite, while behind the last of the the arches would persist with their radiance for perhaps two minutes before fading to shadow. Though many of them could see quite well in the dark, the constant light was like traveling in a bright bubble through murky waters, obscuring observational Skills with the glare of weak sunlight. Felix kept to the front to address any unforeseen issues, while Evie and Vess hung in the back along with a rotating squad of Legionnaires.
Their injured were in the wagons, Darius among them. The wounds among them all were many, but every single one was on the mend. So many of their potions were used, though. Thankfully Felix and his team had made a lot before leaving...but they'd run out sooner rather than later if the battles kept being so costly.
Atar led them as before, sensing the flow of earth Mana in the sands above them, and parsing which tunnels they had to follow. The tunnels themselves forked quite often, heading in many disparate directions while also reconnecting in complex intersections. They were well named. Felix couldn't imagine the Continent ever needing so many roads though, and Atar seemed impressed as well.
"I cannot believe all of this was down here, below our feet," he murmured in wonder as more arches lit up around them. "Such perfect pathways...news like this would bring joy to the Council. Trade has always been the goal in Ahkestria, but the costs for overland travel could beggar a modest merchant. Factoring shipments through Manaship was even more expensive. If they had this Latticeway to make use of...trade could expand. Boom, even."
"Why do you think the Council does not already know?" Zara asked. She was once more on her ugly avum Grouse. The bird squawked, keeping up with Pit's loping strides.
"What do you mean?" Felix asked.
"Yes, just what are you insinuating?" Atar demanded.
"Only that you look before you leap, Atar," Zara said mildly. She nodded at the exquisite, if worn, workmanship of the tunnels. "Do you think these have remained completely unknown for Ages? Or is it more likely the Council knows and chooses not to utilize them?"
"I" Atar sat back on the lead wagon. "You may have a point," he grumbled.
"Why wouldn't they use them? Threat of monster attacks?" Felix asked. He flared his Perception again, as he'd been doing the past hour, but he sensed nothing ahead of them but rock and dust.
"Perhaps. Protection is an easy answer," Zara said. "And perhaps they do not want trade to be so easy with the outside world. The products of Ahkestria are renowned for their craftsmanship as much as their rarity. If the market were flooded with work, then..."
She let herself trail off, but Atar frowned and finished the thought. "Then prices would drop. An understandable tactic, I suppose. Hardly sinister."
"I never claimed to know their agenda, Atar," Zara said softly.
Price fixing, basically. Slimy, but no different than what people did back home, Felix thought, trying to remember his old economics lessons. The exact term evaded him. His Mind, however, whirled on ahead. Societies keeping knowledge a secret was par for the course on the Continent...but if they kept something as simple as trade routes classified, then what else were they hiding?
One way or another, Felix had a feeling he wouldn't like the answer.