Time loses its meaning in the Underdeep.

The tunnels blur together. Stone, rust, darkness. After your encounter with the Rat Emperor, you were not killed. You were not freed either. Instead, you were placed somewhere in between.

A holding chamber. A cage. A pit. The Ratfolk call it many things.

You call it a prison.

You do not know how long you have been there. There is barely any light. Just the cold, hunger and silence...

Suddenly, you hear footsteps, softly echoing through the walls. A shadow approaches your cell. It can't be guards. You recognize them by now. No... Its... Something else.

The figure near the bars shift. Then her voice slips through the dark.

“Hmmm. So this is where they keep the interesting ones.”

She is perched just beyond the reach of the torchlight, balanced effortlessly on a pipe. Pale skin. Dark, layered clothing. Small rounded ears twitch as she studies you. Her long tail sways slowly behind her. Her eyes gleam faintly. She hops down soundlessly, crouching near the bars.

“You survived my father. That alone makes you worth a closer look. They won’t kill you, you know. Not yet. You’ll rot down here. Slowly. Until you wish they had killed you.”

She crosses her arms.

“I could change that.”

Your heart pounds. Before you can even answer she smiles.

“I want to see the surface. I’ve read about it. Listened to stories. Felt it through the tunnels when the rain hits the ground above.”

Her fingers curl around the bars. You can see something shimmer faintly... A key? ... THE key???

“But I cannot go alone. Promise to take me up there... And I will free you. Refuse… and I walk away. You’ll still be alive tomorrow.”

The surface... You shiver. The very place you fled before the Ratfolk caught you. Going back means facing the same danger you escaped. Then again... remaining here means dying slowly in a cage.