District 1 and District 2 lay at different elevations, separated by a vertical rock face over ten meters high.
The three quickly reached the top. Renato unfastened his safety harness and packed away the Climbing Gear.
Deep in the darkness, sparks of psionics flickered constantly in the air, faintly illuminating the outline of the Mind Flayer nest.
It was a saclike structure made of flesh and blood, almost filling the center of old Rolling Stone City.
A black chitinous shell covered the nest's outer layer. Several enormous tentacles extended from it, some driven deep into the surrounding ruined buildings, others connected to cavities in the rock overhead.
With something that enormous falling from the rock overhead, it was no wonder Rolling Stone City had been torn apart and its center reduced to rubble.
Renato stopped studying the distant nest and turned his attention back to their surroundings.
District 1 was not large, roughly twice the size of the Jade District. But none of the three had scouted this area beforehand. They could only refer to the old maps and take things one step at a time.
"Why is the ground in District 1 raised so high?" Balin unfastened his rope, grumbling with a disgruntled expression. "Those Duergar gave us nothing but bad intelligence..."
The old Dwarf took a Magic Scroll from inside his clothes and pushed it into Renato's hand.
"This is a Feather Fall scroll. One is enough to get all three of us down at once, but keep another on you, just in case."
"Where's mine?" Flori came over with his iron crossbow on his shoulder, sounding displeased. "What am I supposed to do if you lose your nerve and run off first?"
"Run?" Balin bristled his beard and sneered. "Even if you Duergar piss yourselves in terror,