Module: Quest
for the Unknown
Rogahn the Fearless and
Zelligar the Unknown are legendary names.
Even you, a young fledgling raised far from the great cities of Garweeze
Wurld, know of their reputation – even though their tale begins years ago. The elders and the sages speak both names
with respect, even awe, in a distant admiration for the two legendary figures.
You have heard parts of the story before, but never
enough to know all of it, or even what is true and what is only legend or
speculation. But it is a great and
fascinating beginning in your own quest to learn more.
Rogahn the Fearless earned his name as a great
warrior, and his reputation spread far and wide across the land. Zelligar the Unknown, equally renowned,
earned his respected status and power as a foremost practitioner of the
mystical arts of magic and sorcery.
No one knows what occurrences or coincidence brought
these two men together, but tales tell of their meeting and forming a strong
bond of friendship, a union that would last for the ages. As this occurred, legend has it, the two men
virtually disappeared from the view of civilization. Stories occasionally surfaced about a rumored
hideaway being built deep in the wilderness, far from the nearest settlement,
away from traveled routes, and high upon a craggy hill – but no one seemed to
know any more than that, or where this supposed hideaway was really located, or
indeed if it was. No one knows for sure,
but some say their motive was to pursue the common goals of personal greed and
some kind of vague (or chaotic) evil. In
any case, they jointly led a hermit life with but a few occasional forays into
the outside world to add to their own reputations.
Many years passed, until one day a great gnome-titan
invasion came from the lands to the northwest, threatening to engulf the
The most exciting portions of the legend are the most
recent. Last year, Rogahn and Zelligar
apparently decided upon a joint foray into the lands of the hated Gnome
Protectorates. Taking most of their
henchmen and associates along with them in a great armed band, the two
personages, it seems, disappeared into the forbidding little-folk lands to the
northwest on a great adventure which come say may have been asked by the very
gawds themselves.
Word just reaching civilization tells of some great
battle in the gnome-titan lands where the legendary Rogahn and Zelligar may
have met their demise. This rumored
clash must have occurred some months ago, and there are few details – and no
substantiation of the story. The only
thing certain is that, if all this is true, Rogahn and Zelligar have left their
secret base virtually unguarded…if only one had the knowledge and wherewithal
to find their hideaway, he would have great things to explore!
Now, just recently, came the most promising bit of
information – a crude map purporting to show the way to the hideaway of the two
men, a place apparently called “Q.” One
of your acquaintances has this map, and if its
accurate, it could perhaps lead you to the mythic place that was their home and
sanctuary. Who knows what riches of
wealth and magic might be there for the taking?
Yes, the risk is great, especially since the pair may yet still be alive
and might even return any day, but the challenge cannot be ignored. Besides, others may get there first if you
tarry long. Gathering a few of your
fellows, you share the secret and embark on a Quest for the Unknown…
Characters:
Celesa - a beautiful Sylvan Elf Thief apprentice
in leather armor over fine leather
garments and armed with a longsword, a dagger
and a light crossbow. Has a riding horse
Jakob Verlinder - a butt ugly one-armed Human veteran
wearing studded leather armor
over common garments with a good cloth cloak. Armed with a
longsword, dagger, magic dagger +1 and spear.
Orlen Thargish
Taread
The door to the tavern opens and tall figure can be seen filling
the doorway. He steps into the common room, unceremoniously dropping some
saddle bags to the floor at his feet. The man's age is hard to figure out at
first. He has a large, craggy nose and small, dark, deep-set eyes. In fact, his
eyes are hard to see at all in the shadowy light of the tavern. He wears a
scraggly beard black beard and his shoulder length hair hangs around his face.
When he sees the adventurers, he smiles, revealing large white teeth. Instead
of helping his shiftless appearance, they make him look like a predatory
animal. Leaving his equipment by the door, he strides across the floor towards
the party. As he moves, his ringmail armor clinks loudly, as does the scabbard
of his longsword against his leg.
"You must be the ones
I heard about. The thwarters of the wickedness I've heard while traveling
through these parts. The name's Orlen. Orlen Thargish. I just got into town,
myself, but I heard several different conversations on the subject on my way
here. I also heard you went out with more people than you came back with. A shame, is what it is, but certainly a part of this life of yours...of
ours, actually."
Orlen pauses for a moment,
sizing up each member of the party quickly.
"Let me get to the
point. It appears you may vacancies in your band and I would like to help you
with that. Help you in two ways. For one, I would like to fill one of those
vacancies. For the second way, I'd like to keep there from being anymore
vacancies created. You see, I am a Priest of Shona and Shona allows me a
certain edge when it comes to this game of staying alive. Another
roll of the dice, if you will. I'd like to help you in your endeavors,
if you'll have me."
"Pequeno Muerte's the name tall one." Pequeno says
hopping down from his chair.
The black clad halfing
approaches. His tattered padded armor showing silk clothing
underneath. The shabby blue feather in his hat must have looked nice at
one point in time....
"It was a rough
outing last time out but Jakob and myself managed to complete the task. Some
people felt like resting..." he grins at Celesa.
"Allow me to get you a tall ale while we discuss it, but first, did you say
something about dice?"
Orlen smiles, looking very wolfish.
"Dice?
Yes I did."
The priest reaches into
his faded blue cloak, but when he pulls his hand back out, he's holding
nothing.
"Well, I had some
dice. Nice painted wooden pair. Must have lost 'em since the
last game. Ah, well...we should find some. Shona is, afterall, the gawd
of games and I wouldn't want to remiss in my prayers."
As he speaks, a thin line
of red drips down out of his left nostril. Almost absently, Orlen grabs a
wiping rag from the bar and stuffs a corner of the cloth up his nose.
Pequeno seems distracted by the rag, and the
mans nose...
He stands there silently
watching this unfold.....
Awkwardly staring.....
And
lest we not forget, you are given your reward of 200 gold pieces and need pay
for no drink, meat nor room during your recovery in Laert.
Orlen notices Pequeno staring at his makeshift handkerchief.
"Eh? Oh, I apologize.
I've been traveling so long that I keep acting like no one else is around. I've
got this nosebleed problem. I busted this nose up plenty as a boy. It's a big
target, if you know what I mean? So, I tap it...or even breathe to heavy
through it and...well you can see."
Orlen dabs his nose a bit
with the rag.
"See? All better.
Anyway, you were saying something about dicing. If I've found a gambling buddy
and a traveling companion in one, well...I think we'll get along just
fine."
Orlen suddenly gets a
better look at Celesa. His eyes become fixated and his grin becomes even more
mischievous.
"Well, hello. What is
your name?"
"Ahh I see. I guess thats
understandable." Pequeno says as the man explains.
"Gambling,
ahh yesss!" He continues but the man soon gets distracted by
Celesa.
Celesa who was deep in thought, looks up from
her wine. "Celesa, of Darkhaud. And you
are?"
Celesa's nose looks a
little red as she stifles a sneeze. "By the Gawds, can't people use
something other then silver?"
Celesa looks back at the
newcomer "I'm sorry that was rather rude of me, it has just been a very
trying few days. Please sit and join us. What was your name again, I didn't
catch it the first time."
Orlen trots back to the belongings he dumped on the floor and
throws them over his shoulder. He brings them back to the the party's table and
dumps them by his chair. Orlen sits, leaning back in his seat while stretching
his long legs in front of him.
"Orlen.
My name is Orlen. Not as nice a name as Celesa but, really, what name is?
Anyway, tell me about yourself..."
The priest notices he is
giving all his attention to the elf woman.
"...all of you, I
mean. Where are we headed next? That is, of course, if you allow me to
accompany you."
Pequeno downs his third ale in one large gulp.
He turns to the newcomer
as he hears the question.
"Huh? Oh, you talking to us?"
Orlen glances at the halfling.
"Of
course. I'm speaking to all of you. just trying
to get myself acquainted with you all. Find out where we're going, what we're
planning, what skills you all possess..."
Orlen trails off a bit,
his eyes falling on Jakob, then quickly looking away.
"Oh, I'm sorry, sir.
I didn't catch your name."
Pequeno waves a serving wench over.
You overhear him
requesting to have his 2 wineskins filled with water.
*Jakob Verlinder. A priest, eh? We could've
used you here recently."
"We could have?" Pequeno asks Jakob.
"I thought everything
went fine." he smirks at Celesa.
"You know, Celesa.
I've been thinking about it.... And I dont think you should get that armor of
yours fixed. It looks fine the way it is."
Celesa looks at Pequeno with a mock
glare. "Yes, I'm sure you all think it looks quite fine. However it
doesn't really do much good in this condition, that last fight was a little too
close for comfort if you ask me."
A man walks in, looking slightly bedraggled. He and his
mostly-brown travelling clothes are dirty from the road, but you can tell he is
a human. His head is completely bald, though he does have a goatee that is
blond in color. His blue eyes sweep the room and he immediately heads to the
bar. He appears to be unarmed, though there is a leather strap at his side that
could be a sling.
At the bar, he pulls out
several things that look like hand-sized cards of some sort. He flips through a
couple, and then holds one up to the bartender, followed by another one shortly
thereafter. The bartender frowns and points back towards Celesa.
The man smiles and holds
up another card to the bartender and then makes his way over to the party's
table. He gives a very beautiful smile and up close you can see he is better
than average looking.
He holds up a card that
depicts the following words:
"Hello! My name is Taread. I am deaf, hence the cards. Please to meet
you!"
He waits until anyone who
tries to read it appears done and then produces another card that reads:
"I am a finder of
lost articles, looking for work."
Pequeno leans in to Jakob...
"looks like he lost
his ears..."
Then when the man can see
Pequeno he points to Celesa.
"Speak with
her." he says slowly.
Taread shrugs and smiles since he was holding the cards up for
all of them to see. He does then direct his attention more intently on Celesa,
noting that she is very attractive but he'd been hurt by pretty girls before so
he did nothing but wait for her reply.
Orlen looks at the fellow newcomer.
"Ah...a finder of
lost articles, eh? I'm not quite sure what that means. Um, do you read lips?
Can...you...un...der...stand...me?"
Sorry,
one point of clarification: At least that’s what the bartender tells you the
cards say – you group of illiterates!
((This should be interesting since not a one of us can read. May
the Gawds help us))
"Taread...can...you...read...lips?
We...do...not...know...how...to...read...your...signs.
You...are...welcome...to...join...us."
Celesa makes sure to say
everything clearly and to make sure she is looking at Taread the whole time she
speaks and then pulls out an empty chair from the table and offers it to
Taread.
Taread makes a sigh, exaggerrating it slightly, to make sure you
see it. He points at his eyes, then points at Celesa's lips, then
shakes his head. Then he shrugs and frowns.
Orlen chuckles. Pulling the bloody rag from his nose,
he smiles at Celesa.
"So...he can't
understand us. We can't understand him. Yet he wants to travel with us. I knew
I was getting involved with the right company."
Orlen stands and heads
over to the bar.
"One ale,
please," he orders as he pushes a few copper across the bar. "Oh, if
you have a pair of dice under there, I would appreciate if we could loan 'em
for a while."
(This is hysterical. A deaf PC and the rest of us cant read.)
Pequeno orders another
round for the table.
"This should be interesting to say the least. We can't even
tell him who we are or where we are going."
Celesa pulls the map out
of her bag and rolls it out on the table for Taread to see. Celesa points to herself and the others, then uses her fingers to show
walking and points points to the Q on the map. Hoping that Taread understands
what she is trying to say.
As Celesa is doing this, Pequeno dismounts from his chair. As if
going to visit the privy.
After doing so, he gets in
behind the newcomer to test his so called deafness.
He stands behind him and
declares. "Reach for the sky! This is the watch!"
Taread leans over the map and watches Celesa closely. He frowns
again, but then kind of half nods. Eyeing the others, he makes some gestures
with his hands to see if anyone understands sign language.
There is no reaction to
Pequeno.
Celesa shrugs at the gestures and shakes her head. "Ok this
is going to be harder then I thought." She says to no one in particular.
He sighs again. But then he brightens slightly and smiles. He
reaches out, behind Celesa's ear and pulls out a copper piece, making the
mock-surprised face of having just done a magic trick. He shrugs slightly, as
if he knows it was dumb but was just trying to show he was good at something,
and sits down.
Pequeno downs his (1,2,3,4, 5th ale)
and stops momentarily to hang on to the table. By the look on his face the room
is anything but still at the moment.
"Perhaps I can get
thru to our impaired new friend here. In the universal
language of coin!"
He reaches into his purse
and produces a handful of gold coins (roughly 35) and plops them down on the
table.
A huge grin washes over
his face. His bloodshot eyes go wide just seeing them. He reaches clumsily
across the table to Celesa's map unrolled in front of her. He points at the Q
with a stubby finger while staring intently at the deaf man. As if waiting for
him to respond. Then he moves his hand back to the gold on the table in front
of him and points at it.
He waits a moment then
stretches his arms out wide as if to indicate how much gold they would find. As
he does he leans too far back on his stool and falls loudly to the floor
beneath.
Taread blinks in surprise and leans over the table to see better
and then nods, but you get the feeling he kind of understand what Celesa meant
earlier.
*Jakob's eyebrows suddenly raise up, and he
leans over to find something that denotes the town. as
soon as he's fairly certain that he's found what he's looking for, he motions
for Taread's attention. As soon as taread notices, Jakob throws his right arm
and the stump of his left open wide, to indicate everyone there. He then points
to the place where he's sure the town is. He follows this by indicating the
party by counting each member, and makes a motion imitating walking with his
index and middle finger. The "Walking" starts at
the town (?) and ends at the "Q".*
Orlen leans over to look at the presentation for Taread, as he has
yet to hear the details of the mission. He grins in Pequeno's direction.
"I like how the deaf
guy gets a better explanation about the mission than I do."
You
all notice Taread reaching for some coins as Pequeno falls.
Ahh,
I have now calculated the downtime spent under the care of the fine folks of
Laert: Pequeno required 6 days of bed rest, Jakob 8 and celesa 11 before all
wounds were healed.
It
is currently Gart’mar, Haar’kiev the 13th, 12082 (F.R.),
spring. By the way, you were recovering
through Grongerfest, so you missed that particular festival!
Celesa smiles at the magic trick and looks a little less
exasperated at the situation.
Celesa looks up in
surprise at Orlen "Oops, sorry I got a bit distracted trying to figure out
how this situation was going to work out. We're going to Q, the stronghold of
Zelegar and Rogan. They've been missing for a long time, but there is still
bound to be alot of good stuff in there for those willing to risk it all to get
it. Anyone interested in helping gets an equal cut of whatever is found."
Orlen smiles at Celesa.
"Thank you, Celesa. I
am very interested, if you'll have me. I'm sure I can make myself useful. When
did you plan on leaving?"
Taread pauses in his collection of the coins on the table to pay
attention to Jakob and the map. He frowns for a moment, and then he nods and
smiles in understanding. After a moment, making sure no one else wants to
"tell" him something, he will go back to picking up the coins off the
table.
Pequeno slowly gets back up. Holding his head in his hands.....
He obviously isnt feeling
well....
Celesa looking at the obviously
painfully drunk halfling "Most likely in the morning if that sounds
suitable to everyone."
"Well, my itenerary is wide open."
The halfling makes it back to his chair.
And looks as if he is
ready to rowlf.....
Orlen stands up.
"Tomorrow morning. Sounds good. I...need to go take care of something."
The scraggily young man
stands up and trudges out the door.
"I'll be back in a
few minutes."
Orlen heads out the door
of the inn.
Celesa slands up from the table, "Good night gentlemen, I
shall see you at first light, and we can get this little adventure
underway."
Celesa takes the map from the table and waves good night to Taread, and makes
the motion of sleeping. With that Celesa head up to her room and gets ready to
head out the next day.
Taread smiles and waves. He then shrugs in the halfing's
direction and moves to the barkeep to try and find out about a place to sleep
for the night. He mimes his two hands clapped together under the side of his
head and then tilts his head to the side to mimic sleeping. Then he looks
inquiringly at the barkeep.
Pequeno looks down at the table as if he forgot something.....
Eventually he hops off his
chair and heads to his room.
Orlen returns a bit later, some light scratches on his forehead.
He is grumbling as he walks in.
"Stupid pine
trees."
As he walks in, he looks
around for his companions.
"Well, looks like the
dice game is off. Shona doesn't get his tribute tonight, so it seems. Best be
to bed. Need to pray, too," he says to no one in particular.
Orlen grabs his saddle
bags and walks to the bar.
"A room, if you have
one. Also, some grain or some vegetables or whatever for my
goat out in the stable. Thanks."
We
can say that this little meeting took place before or on your last night of
rest. Seeing Taread and Orlen with the
heroes of Laert, the bartender gives them accommodations on the house, not that
he doesn’t mutter “Bloody heroes” under his breath.
So
you have a wonderful night’s rest and are full healed. Ready to head out?
Ayup.
Okay to go, I hope.
Let's do it.
Was Celesa ever able to find new armor and/or clothes?
Pequeno appears rested though his eyes are still a bit red. And
for once he rarely speaks.....
What
was Celesa looking for, specifically?
Anything better then the shredded clothing she currently has,
leather armor if she can afford it. If not new clothes would have to do.
Celesa
is able to but leather armor in Laert.
If nobody else wants to shop for anything you can proceed back to Farzy,
and from there into the foothills.
Let us back to Farzy then.
Indeed
I'm good to go.
The
Dungeon
1. Entrance
Due
to having more stuff piled on me at work, and in order that we might get going,
I’m going to “red-line” your travel to the location on the map. Please don’t assume travel back and forth
will always be this easy.
You
travel for several days after leaving Farzy, up into the foothills. The spot marked with a “Q” on your map seems
to be just up a treacherous pathway. The
narrow pathway leads steeply up to a craggy outcropping of weathered limestone
a couple hundred yards ahead. A
cave-like opening, somewhat obscured by vegetation, is barely noticeable at the
end of the path.
Celesa moves forward to the opening and begins checking for any
signs of recent activity and any danger in the cave opening.
Orlen watches Celesa examining the opening.
"So...this is the
place, eh? Doesn't look like much but looks can be deceiving."
Orlen positions his shield
and draws his sword, awaiting an "all clear" gesture from Celesa.
Pequeno draws his broadsword.
"Lets
be a little more careful this time. Eh. No one gets dead. How 'bout that? That a good plan?"
Taread doesn't seem to notice the others talking. He DOES,
however, move up with Celesa and performs his own examination of the area,
looking for traps and danger.
Celesa
and Taread find no signs of danger or recent activity. By sweeping aside some of the vines and
branches, they make the opening easily accessible to human-sized
explorers. It leads straight into the
rock formation, with a 10’ wide corridor leading the way to a large wooden
door. On the ground in front of the door
is a plain woven mat.
Taread will carefully move down the corridor, towards the door,
checking for danger and traps still. He doesn't want to be caught unawares. He
hopes one of the others will stay nearby to be able to hear anything that he
can't.
Nothing
bad happens to Taread (private message sent).
(Taread
notices that bits of wood have been chopped away from the edge of the door,
indicating that it has previously been forced.)
Orlen follows slowly, his sword drawn and his face possessing a
rare, serious expession.
"This tension is
killing me. I realize the wisdom in vigilant caution, but it doesn't make this
quiet before the storm any easier to stomach."
Suddenly, he stops and
starts jogging back down the rocky path.
"I...I need to to
something quickly before we go in. Wait for me, okay?" he tells the group
before running away until he is out of sight.
Taread taps his chin thoughfully and turns to Celesa and motions
to get her attention. He runs his hand near a couple of spots on the door and
then mimes swinging at the door with something in his hands. Then he put his
shoulder to the door and mimes pushing it at, making a face of straining at it.
He waits to see if she understands.
"looks like the excitement is
already getting to Orlen." Pequeno says opening his waterskin and taking a
big draw.
"Check under the mat,
maybe they hid a key there?!?" he jokes....
*Jakob steps back, readying his spear.*
Celesa checks the corridor and the door for traps and after she
finishes she nods to Taread that she understands what he means but hold up her
hand and shakes her head from side to side, and then points down the path at
Orlen, who is jogging away.
To appease Pequeno Celesa
looks under the mat and then she goes back to the entrance and sits down to
wait for Orlen to return.
"I haven't checked to
see if the door is locked yet as generally the only way to do that is to try
opening it. If it's unlocked opening it will be easy,
if not Taread suggested we try to force it open."
(Do I understand what Celesa just said, using Reading Lips I
suppse?)
(Correct. Your check failed in this case, however)
As
Celesa bends down she notices some writing on the mat, but of course, she can’t
read it. Under the mat is a brass key.
In a few minutes, Orlen returns with an extra spring in his
step.
"Um...okay. Where
were we? Onward and such, right?"
The young priest smiles
his wolfish grin and draws his sword.
Taread looks confused and annoyed. He is not sure if anyone
understood him, and they turned away and started talk amongst themselves. He
checks to see if the door is locked, and does glance down at the mat when Celesa
checks it.
"You can go ahead and wipe that smirk off your face."
Pequeno says to Celesa.
He laughs.
(to Taread: The door
is locked. The mat says “Welcome”.)
Taread finds the door knob doesn't open to his touch, but then
he pales a bit and steps back after looking at the mat. He looks VERY confused,
and a bit frightened.
"Whats his problem?" Celesa says looking at the now ghost
white Taread.
Celesa takes the key that
she found under the mat, and goes to the door and tries it in the keyhole.
They
key turns and the door swings open. All
is dark beyond as the light from outside cannot penetrate further in than the
door (no spooky reason, just the physics of light.)
Orlen grabs a coiled rope and a days worth of rations off his
goat. He then grabs a torch out of his backpack.
"Anyone have a flint
and steel. I can light this thing and we can be on our way."
The young cleric leads his
goat off the path a few feet and loosely ties him to whatever he can find.
Taread is hesitant but does try to light a torch and check the
area in the corridor for traps as he slowly moves forward. The slowness may be
due to him inspecting everything carefully, wariness or from trepidation, it's
hard to tell.
Pequeno adjusts his ebony colored hat. Straightens
the bright blue feather. admires his shiny
broadsword in the sunlight and takes up position behind Taread.
If the hall is wide enough Celesa would like to be up front with
Taread. If not She'll take up position behind Pequeno, and do her best to
search and listen as everyone moves in.
1a. Alcoves
The
10-foot-wide corridor beyonmd the entrance extends as far as you can see. Ten feet in, alcoves mark the left and right
side of the passage. As you peer down
this corridor, the wind whistles from the outside and dances past your
feet.
Pequeno adjusts his hat a bit and tightens the grip on his
sword.
Taread will check each alcove, not wanting to miss any secret
passages or anything, just to be sure, but he isn't going to spend a LOT of
time on each one. He is trying to keep things moving forward, for himself at
least.
Celesa checks everything on her side of the hall carefully, once
she feels it is safe she will motion the others forward.
Taread
finds nothing but Celesa discovers a secret door on her side (the right)
alcove. She believes it only works one
way, however, allowing access into the corridor you are now in, but not out of
it.
"Interesting." Pequeno whispers.
*After a few moments hesitation, Jakob musters his resolve and sets
foot into the corridor. He soon moves towards the others and then carefully
maneuvers around them, so as to take front guard. He puckers his lips, as if to
whistle, but then stops. He then begins to look around very nervously.*
Orlen steps into the corridor and sees the secret door.
"Interesting,
indeed. Lead the way. I prefer those with vigilant eyes and ears to go
first."
Proceeding
forward you see a secnd set of alcoves, and some stairs leading up beyond
them. As you approach, a booming voice
issues from the alcove on your right, though here appears to be no one there,
“WHO DARES ENTER THIS PLACE AND INTRUDE UPON THE SANCTUARY OF ITS
INHABITANTS?”
Pequeno tightens his grip on his steel and looks around quickly
for any sign of a trap. He especially looks at the floor under his feet.
Taread keeps searching the alcoves and hallway for traps as if
nothing happened.
Celesa tries to duck into a shadow and check the alcove from a
spot hidden to whom, or whatever might have spoke.
No
more than a moment later, another booming voice form the opposite alcove says,
“ONLY A GROUP OF FOOLHARDY EXPLORERS DOOMED TO CERTAIN DEATH!” Then both mouths shout in unison, “WOE TO ANY
WHO PASS THIS PLACE – THE WRATH OF ZELLIGAR AND ROGAHN WILL BE UPON THEM.”
You
know see two disembodied mouths appear, one in each alcove. They begin a loud and raucous laughter, which
fades in intensity as the twin mouths disappear from view.
Pequeno speaks.
"Its
a bluff. We're gonna ransack this place and become more wealthy than any of you
can possibly imagine!"
"Mouths, little floating mouths. Lets keep
going, we didn't come this far to be scared off by a pair of lips."
Taread, not having heard anything, has still kept slowly moving
forward checking for traps and danger.
A
Frightening Foyer
Past
the second set of alcoves and at the end of the corridor leading away from the
entrance are stairs leading upward.
At
the teop of the stairs is a large foyer from which the corridor continues
straight, right and left. In this foyer
is a grisly sight – the remains of a fierce hand-to-hand battle where no fewer
than five combatants died.
"They could have cleaned the place up a bit before they
left...." Pequeno cracks. Looking to see how the victims were killed.
Orlen examines the carnage.
"Hmm...seems like quite a fight went on. We should check the bodies
for anything interesting. Send the deaf guy, Celesa. He said he is good at
finding things. Well...he didn't say but we read. Well...we didn't actually
read it...but the unusually literate bartender told us so."
The
stench of the decaying bodies is strong and repulsive and the sight doubly
so. It is apparent that three of the
dead men were adventurers themselves.
This ill-fated trio obviously had their last battle at this spot. Their opponents, also slain here, appear to
be two Orc guards. The bodies arrayed
here, each in various states of decomposition, are as follows:
A
human fighter, slumped against a wall. His broken sword, sheared off about eight
inches above the pommel, tells the story of his demise. The body has been stripped of any armor and
his only apparent remaining possession is a belt pouch.
A
human magic-user, impaled against a wall, the killing sword, still thrust
through the body, is lodged in the wall, which has a large section of wood at
this point. The magic-user’s robe is now
bloodstained and ruined but it does have a pocket.
A
dwarven fighter, face down in the corridor just past the intersection. In his right hand he still clutches his war
hammer, and it appears that he crawled, wounded, to this point, since a trail
of dried blood leads back to the battle location. A sack turned inside out lies alongside the
body, now empty.
An Orc, who defended himself to the death. The body lies
sprawled across the floor, and a broken wooden shield rests nearby. The body has no armor on it. There is no weapon on the body or nearby, nor
are there any other items of value visible on the remains.
An Orc, another guard. This body,
with a bashed head from the blow of a war hammer, lies on the floor face
down. There is no armor or weapon
visible on the body except for a small sheathed dagger on the belt. The belt is very ornately decorated leather.
Pequeno helps himself to the belt.
Taread will go through the bodies, starting with the magic-user,
being careful though not to disturb too much.
*Jakob looks around nervously as he enters the former battle-ground.
After a momen, he steels his nerve then goes to search the dwarf, making note
whether he recognizes the body or not.*
As
you begin examining the bodies, the floating mouths reappear. “Hmm, nasty wound, eh? Think yer tough enough to hack this dungeon,
PUNK?”
“Why
don’t you just run home to yer Mommy?”
“Hope
you brought along enough bodybags!”
“You
brats should have stayed in the sandbox where you belong!”
One
of the mouths is obnoxious to just about everyone, but the other spends most of
its time spouting pick-up lines at Celesa.
Pequeno
takes the belt, which looks valuable, except for the bloodstains.
Taread
finds a purse in the suspended magic-user’s pocket, containing 2 gold pieces
and a pouch full of garlic buds.
Jakob
doesn’t recognize the dwarf, especially since his beard has been shaven
off. Other facial features are onbsured
by a badly dented helm.
The
only other items found are the sword stuck into the magic-user and, the hammer
in the dwarf’s hand.
Taread frowns at the sword a moment, then looks around to make
sure no one's been attacked while his back was turned. Seeing nothing amiss, he
tries to pull the sword free. Might come in handy.
Taread
pulls the sword free and the body crumples to the floor, exposing a
bloodstained carving of wooden letters.
The handle of the sword is loose and it seems of poor quality.
PM to Taread.
Taread frowns in thought, and stares at the wood carving, then
moves his mouth a bit. Finally, he sighs and shrugs. He turns to the others,
points at the sword and pantomimes being wobbly before setting the sword on the
ground.
*Jakob leaves the dwarf where he is. He bites his tongu, trying to
keep from yelling at the floating mouths. He focuses on the ways out of this
impromptu abattoir.*
Gurv looks at the mouths, smiling at the insults.
"Hmmm...bodybags....I knew I forgot something. Thanks, floating
mouths. You're very helpful. Also, do you take requests? I love a good
song."
Orlen
reflects for a moment on why his father’s nick-name for him suddenly came to
his mind.
The
obnoxious mouth (the one not flirting with Celesa) says, “Ooooh, a
Gawd-boy! I need a young priest and an
old priest! Hopefully, you’ll die last
so you can say a prayer over the others.”
There
are three paths out of this foyer, straight ahead, to the left, and to the
right.
Celesa will try to keep the one mouth occupied; she'll make sexy
pouty faces at it and complement it on lines she never heard before.
This
seems to work very well!
Taread will carefully check for traps on each of the hallway
openings and first few feet in. Then he will turn back to the group to see if
they point at which way they wish to go.
OOC: Does Taread see the
magic mouths in the air?
Taread
finds no traps and does see the mouths, if not somewhat blurrily.
Taread will stop and stare. He will give an incredulous look at
the rest of the party with an obvious question to his face, wondering what is
going on. He will blink several times and just stand there, waiting.
Pequeno does what he can to clean off his new belt and then stow
it in his backpack. Thankful the mouths arent bothering him....
Orlen's smile turns serious and he turns away from taunting the
mouths. He heads over to Jakob and whispers to him.
"They can see us.
Obviously not just messages set to go off when people approach. They also seem
to be pretty human or human-like. Flirty with pretty girls.
Sarcastic threats when insulted. That kinda thing. Must be some kind of scrying magic. Allows them to see and
speak from a distance. We should keep 'em talking. See what they give
away."
Orlen's face suddenly
shifts back to its grinning, taunting expression.
"So, my good fellows,
if you can stop slobbering at my companion for a moment, maybe you can
introduce yourselves. Know what to put on your tombstones and that kind of
thing."
The
flirty mouth is having nothing to do with anyone other than Celesa, and the
comments are becoming rude enough to turn a dwarf blue. The other one responds to Orlen, “Give
away? Ohhh, and don’t we sound all
sage-like about what we are and how we do it?
Very well, I will introduce myself.
I am the chronicler of thy doom.
Pleased to meet you. Even more
pleased to see you die.”
"Hey now, that just isnt nice. Especially coming from some petty
arcane parlor trick such as yourself!"
Pequeno interjects....
"I've seen better
magic than you at the local whorehouse!"
Celesa ignores the crude comments but keeps the mouth talking,
she makes extra emphasis on making sure to make big pouty lips and focus more
attention on her mouth then usual.
"What
about you big man, whats your name? Such nice
lips."
The
mouth stops talking for a moment, then says “Hey! That’s just wrong!” and disappears.
Orlen looks at the the mouth with a grin.
"Well, it is a
pleasure to meet you, Chronicler of Thy Doom. You had a cruel mother to saddle
you with such a name. May be why you're so cranky. Thank you for demonstrating
that you can hear so well as to pick up my voice at a whisper. We might have tried
to plan against you by speaking quietly but you've warned us not to. If you
want to reveal more of your nature by attacking my ego, please continue. My ego
will survive. Hopefully, the rest of me, as well."
The
mouth hesitates, “well…I, uh…..oh, pthpthpthpthpth” as it gives Orlen the
raspberry. Then it grins back at the
cleric. “There, that should be just long
enough. See you soon,” and it
disappears.
Taread just stares at them all in confusion, they seem to be
talking to the weird....floating...mouths....He shakes his head and waits for
them to finish and figure out which way to go.
"Well that was odd. Which way should we go?"
"Whichever way wont have us find
more of those. What a nuisance....." Pequeno says. Taking
a draw from his waterskin.
He ties up his backpack
and slings it back onto his back.
Taread makes a sighing motion and then finally turns and heads
down the middle passage when he sees they are no closer to a decision. He
begins checking for traps on the way.
Pequeno follows Taread.
You
make your way up the central passage and, almost directly after the battle
scene you have a door on either side, and the corridor continues straight.
*Jakob taps Taread's shoulder with the stub of his left arm to get
his attention. Holding a finger up, he turns to the others.*
"shall we check these
doors before proceeding the hall? I'd prefer not to leave an enemy between us
and the exit."
"Aye, we should both check them, two sets of eyes is better
then one after all."
Celesa sets to work checking the door to the right.
"Good idea" Pequeno says.
Drawing his sword he
approaches whichever door is closest to him.
Taking a few quick steps
towards it he kicks it open forcefully. (if it opens
away from him)
"What did you do that for?"
Celesa yells at Pequeno jumping back from the door.
"Are you trying to
let the entire complex know we are here?"
Celesa shakes her head,
looking rather furious and moves further away for the front of the group and
Pequeno.
"Ok if he's going to
do that, I'm not checking these doors. I don't want to be near them if they're
trapped and someone is too impatient to let us do our job."
(Assuming nothing sudden happens...)
"Relax sweetheart. I
just thought we needed a bit of action to wake everyone up."
Pequeno backs out of the way
and bows and motions with his hand for her to walk thru the door.
Orlen steps forward, trying to speak to Celesa and Peqenno at
the same time.
"Okay, okay. Everyone
calm down. I think the battle scene and the floating mouths
has everyone on edge. I understand your impatience, Pequeno, but this
kind of impulsiveness may have lead to your losses last adventure. We should go
slow and take advantage of the skilled trapspringers we have along with
us."
Taread looks at the person tapping him on the shoulder and
waits. He watches them discuss something and then the halfling moves to one of
the doors. Taread starts to walk over, understanding he should check the door
for traps. But the halfling kicks it in. Taread's eyes widen and he hurriedly
backs away back down the corridor from the crazy halfling.
Pequeno's grin turns to a frown as Orlen finishes.
"Or-len is it?"
he says. His eyes narrowing.
"What do you know of
our losses last time out?"
Before he can answer...
"Nothing I imagine
since you weren't there. And you don't look like you've got the brain for
clairvoyance, so we know you are talking out of your posterior. As you can
plainly see in front of you, I made it through our last outing. And I am
partially responsible for Celesa here being among the living."
He pauses for a moment... Taking another step or two forward.
"And if you want to
remain that way, Among the living that is. You will
stick to speaking about things you know about. Are we clear?"
Pequeno seems oddly
angry. He has been mostly friendly, if not a bit snide. But this side of him
you've not seen before.
Pequeno delivered a mighty kick to the righ hand
door and then turned to have the mentioned discussion. It wasn’t until after he truned back that he
realized the door had not budged.
*An angered look crosses Jakob's face. His spine straightens as he
begins to speak. As he speaks, he turns to each person spoken to.*
"Enough! We are in a
potential combat situation, and I will not! get
myself killed due to some first day boot camp antics. Celesa, please resume
examining that door for traps. Pequeno, quietly search that door and
attempt to open it normal-like. Orlen..."
*Points back down the way
the party came.*
"...watch down that
way. If you see anything coming, alert us immediately."
*turns to Taread, and
speaks slowly enough that he can understand what's being said.*
"Taread, watch their
backs."
*Indicates Celesa and
Pequeno.*
"If anything happens
to them, alert us. stamp feet, something."
*Turns to the group*
"I'll be on watch this
way. There's a place about these parts that it's rumored that the gawds
themselves take the lives of any intruders. If this is the place, I intend that
they have to work for it. Now, let's check those doors."
Orlen's usual expression also loses its typical jovial
expression as Pequeno speaks. Before he can say anything, however, Jakob lays
down the law emphatically. Orlen nods as Jakob speaks.
"Good plan. I'm on
it."
Orlen looks back at
Pequeno, his eyes flashing with an mischievous glint.
"We'll talk
later."
The priest heads back to
the post assigned to him.
"Indeed. The floating mouth may be more right than you
know."
Pequeno inspects the door.
It
is determined that the door on the right is locked, but the door on the left,
merely stuck. Neither door is found to
be trapped.
Which door is Pequeno near?
The locked one.
"Why don't we try the door that is stuck first, a locked
door after all usually works both ways. And if nothing else we will hear it
being unlocked before something or someone comes bounding through."
Celesa still seems to be
glaring a bit at Pequeno but she makes no comments on it, and continues about
checking and listening at the doors for possible signs of trouble.
"Lighten up Celesa, you could still be laying
in that field...."
Pequeno laughs.
Celesa doesn't even look at Pequeno after his little quip.
But in a voice dripping
with more then just a little sarcasm and sounding like she really wants it to
hurt.
"What,
like Urnid? But I'm sure his death had absolutely nothing to do with you, did
it?"
"Correct. He was weak. He gave in to urges he could not
control."
"Poor Urnid..."
Taread, oblivious to the fighting and insults behind him,
continues to watch the "back" of the party for trouble, whilst the
doors are checked and opened/kicked.
Orlen looks backwards towards the cave entrance, sword drawn and
his torch in the other. He can hear the muted comments between Celesa and
Pequeno, but he makes no attempt to hear what they're saying.
*Jakob shakes his head.*
"It's like adventuring
with a gorram chorus line."
*He signals for everyone
to come in close.*
"We're going to try
the unlocked door first. Good idea, by the way, there Celesa. I will take the
lead, with Pequeno, Celesa, Taread and Orlen bringing up the rear. The moment
we start entering, start spreading out through the room. No need to stay in a
small area; one spell'd take us all out."
"Sounds good to me." Pequeno says. Examining his blade....
2. Kitchen
The
door squeaks open and the smoky flame of the torch reveals a long room that was
obviously a food preparation area. Two
cooking ppits dominate the area. Each is
large enough to cook an animal as large as a deer. They share a two-foot wide chimney vent
overhead.
Long
tables line each wall, and there are scattered containers on them, some
upturned, with spilled contents moldering on the tabletop. There are spoiled pieces of food all around
and the smell in the room is very uninviting.
One chunk of moldy cheese is particularly noxious, as a fuzzy green
growth covers its entirety. On the wall
to the left is a chalkboard, while a caninet lines part of the wall to the
right. Hanging from
above are a variety of utensils and some other of these are scattered
about on the floor of the room.
Pequeno looks at the molding cheese.
"Urnid....." he
says quietly.
Celesa moves into the room and begins looking about for anything
of value or that appears dangerous.
When Pequeno sees Celesa near he speaks to her, pointing at the
moldy cheese.
"Split it with
ya?"
Celesa crinkles her nose in disgust, and continues on checking
the room for things of value, otherwise ignoring the halflings comment.
Pequeno approaches the cooking pits. Sword
ready. He'll sift through the ashes....
Celesa
sees nothing of value out in the open, but perhaps in a cabinet?
Pequeno
stirs up ash and charred remains of cooking fuel. His sword does not reach the
bottom as he stands, or even kneels.
Celesa makes her way to the cabinet and carefully checks for any
trip wires or anything else that may have been used to booby trap the cabinet,
once convinced it is safe to open she will slowly and carefully do so,
listening for anything moving or shifting inside as she does.
Celesa
finds a quart bottle filled with a brown- colored liquid. Opening and sniffing it she determines it to
be brandy.
Taread watches where he is from the
doorway, occasionally glancing out into the hallway both ways to make sure
nothing and noone is coming down the halls after them.
(Taread
notices something written on the chalkboard, but he can’t make it our from the
doorway)
Orlen stands by the doorway as well, listening out in the hall
because Taread cannot.
Pequeno sheathes his sword.
"I dont think we'll
find anything here. This place was just deserted...... Odd.... What was
supposed to have happened to the wizards that lived here?"
Taread walks into the room and taps Celesa on the shoulder. He
points towards the hallway, where he had been standing. Then he pointed at his
eyes with two fingers on one hand, then pointed with
those same two fingers at the hallway. He then pointed at himself, and did the
same fingers-to-eye maneuver and pointed at the chalkboard. He waited to see if
she understood.
*Meanwhile, Jakob carefully walks around the room, keeping a healthy
distance from the table. As he closes in on the chimney, he gets an idea. he sets aside his spear, draws his sword, and uses his sword
to prod up the chimney (as far as his sword will reach).*
Pequeno, seeing Taread's action:
"Someone coming? Tell
me boy! Did Timmy fall down a well?"
Jakob
doesn’t contact anything with his sword.
Celesa moves as quietly and quickly as possible to the doorway
and looks in both directions as far as she can.
Taread ignores Pequeno since he wasn't miming to him in the
first place. Once Celesa goes to his previous watchguard point, he will move
over to the chalkboard and examine the writing there.
(pm to Taread: The
words “Green Eggs and Ham” are written on the chalkboard in common.)
Pequeno, visibly miffed tha the was
ignored follows Celesa. When he gets close enough he whispers to her.
"Did he see
something?"
"How am I supposed to know? May have seen his shadow or
something or just wanted someone else on watch."
"Jeez you are touchy. I know I saved your bacon back there
from the sheep... Were they technically sheep?" Pequeno pauses. Stroking his chin.
Orlen looks down the corridor, curous to see what Taread saw
that he missed. He opens his mouth to respond to Pequeno's and Celesa's
conversation, but he holds his tongue. Orlen looks at the deaf man and gives
him an exaggerated shrug, then points down the corridor.
You
all notice something else, (which the GM forgot to mention). There are two more doors leading out of this
room, one opposite the door you came in, and one in the far right corner,
leading out of the right-hand wall.
"I don't see anything. I'm going to go check those other
doors."
Celesa shakes her head and gives a slight exasperated sigh and makes her way to
the far door and begins going over it for traps.
Pequeno redraws his steel and follows.
Taread looks at the chalkboard, and then gets an extremely
confused look on his face. He turns away from the chalkboard and stands there
for a moment, still looking confused. Then he shakes his head, as if to clear
it and shrugs at the world. He notices Celesa leaving his post and he throws up
his arms in exasperation and stomps back over there to resume watching the
party's back.
*Jakob, satisfied that there aren't any
spiders or such nesting in the chimney, moves to the door opposite from the one
the party entered through.*
"what do you think? try this one first?"
Celesa’s
check of the doors determines that neither are
trapped, but the one Jakob has chosen is locked.
"Hmmmmm. Someone doesnt want us to see whats behind that
one. Shall we?"
Orlen moves up, still checking backwards with his sword at the
ready.
"Let's go,
then."
Taread keeps watching the corridor outside, having not heard
anything going on in the room.
*Jakob cleans his sword of any soot, sheathes it and readies his
spear.*
"Let's go."
Celesa moves to the door and pulling a few small tools from her
belt sets to work on the lock.
"If it won’t open, have no fear. I'll kick it."
Pequeno jokes.
*Jakob looks at Pequeno. He speaks with a dry tone in his voice.*
"I have every
confidence in your ability...to alert whatever's on the other side of that door
to our presence."
Celesa
successfully picks the lock. Carefully
peering out she sees a corridor that extends as far as she can see to the left, and at an angle away from this room as far as she can
see to the right.
Celesa
quietly closes the door, reports her findings and then listens at and opens the
door next to the previously locked exit.
She reports that this one leads to a 10-foot-wide corridor to the right,
and a 20-foot-wide corridor straight ahead.
About 40 feet up, the corridor narrows to 10 feet. There is a door on the left-hand wall.
Orlen clears his throat and speaks up from the back of the
group.
"For lack of any
better plan, how about we move forwards and check that door to the left up
ahead?"
The priest glances at
Pequeno.
"Unless
any of you have a better idea, of course."
As
nobody does, you advance. Upon checking
the door Celesa discovers it to be locked.
Unfortunately she fails to pick said lock. You choices are to batter it down or continue
on.
"Ideas? Yeah...
Better? Probably not." Pequeno says.
"What do you suggest
Celesa?"
"Lets just keep pressing on, if
there are things in here, sooner or later they will know we are here. If we
keep moving we may be able to keep them from finding us, before we find
them."
Celesa moves over in front
of Taread, she points at him and holding up her picks she points at the picks
and then at the door. She waits to see if he understands her meaning.
Taread raises an eyebrow. He points at her and moves his mouth
like he is speaking, even moving one of his hands like a mouth. Then he pauses
and points at himself and then his eyes. He pulls out his own lockpicks to show
her, but then stares at her mouth, as if waiting for something.
Pequeno adjusts his hat. Straightening the
feather in it. He looks down and admires his shiny sword.
Orlen nods as Celesa speaks.
"Good point. We
should probably continue on, as you said. If the floating, talking mouths can
see us already, I doubt we'll catch 'em by surprise. But, as you said, why
attract undue attention"
Continuing on the corridor narrows to 10 feet wide for
another 30 feet. It comes to a point where you can go left or
choose 1 of 2 right-hand passages.
Celesa sends you back with the light so she can check each passage. The left hand corridor continues at an angle
and has 2 doors on either side. The
lower right-hand way continues 40 feet and then turns left. The upper choice continues 30 feet and turns
left.
Which
shall you take?
Pequeno looks to Celesa for her decision.
"So, how rich do you
think we'll be this time tomorrow?"
"Let’s got to the left, there's only one option that way,
plus doors are always good for hiding secrets."
Celesa pauses "It's
hard to say to gain wealth, usually there is some
amount of stuggle. So based on the little struggle we have encountered thus
far, not too wealthy. So let’s hope for a little strife at least."
"Look at you? Just asking for trouble! That’s cuz you know
ol Pequeno Muerte is here to save you!"
You
proceed to the left. The corridor
continues on past both doors across from one another, as far as your light
shows. Celesa determines neither door to
be trapped, but both to be locked.
"What say you all? Do we try a door? Or
the more obvious hall?"
"I say lets try the door. Locked door may equal treasure.
Of course it may equal certain doom. But I'm willing for you to take that
risk."
Pequeno smiles at Celesa
OOC: I'll just assume someone came over and tapped Taread on the
shoulder to let him know you were all leaving the room since no one bothered to
do so and I don't feel like having to make a new character. LOL!
Taread shrugged and
pointed at the locked door. Then he pointed at himself with one hand and Celesa
with the other, a questioning look on his face, as he waited for Celesa's
answer.
Orlen looks at the door.
I agree we should check
out the door. We don't want to leave any enemies at our backs as we go deeper
into this place."
He looks at Celesa.
"Would you like to
try to pick it? Or would you prefer to take Pequeno up on his kicking offer
from before? Maybe give Taread a shot?"
Orlen looks over at Taread
and points to the door. He then mimes, as best he can, the action of picking
the look.
Taread smiled and nodded and pulled out his lockpicks. Then he
looked to Celesa to see what sher said.
*as the party progressed through the corridors, Jakob had been
keeping his eyes and ears open, and a prayer repeating silently on his lips. He
seems to be alternating between agitation and fear.*
Neither Celesa nor Taread can open either locked door. Based on your previous decisions, I assume
you opt to not break them down and continue on.
The corridor
continues on and jogs sharply to the left.
Another couple of minutes and it turns to the right, with a nother door
at the turn. Celesa checks it and then
opens it, to see the door in the kitchen opposite the one you originally went
through. This was the first locked door
that Celesa opened, checked and then closed.
At this point you
are plunged into darkness as Oren’s torch burns out.
Taread screams his hands off!
As its dark, Pequeno cannot see Taread screaming.
So Pequeno doesnt respond.
Orlen drops the finished torch and calmly pulls his backpack off
his back. Fumbling through it, he looks for another torch.
"Sorry about that. It
burnt fast at the end, there. I'll have us up and seeing in no time at
all."
You
proceed on. The corridor continues
straight for about 2 minutes and then turns to the right. After a minute or so it turns to the
left. Another 2 and ½ minutes and it
turns to the left again. Another 2
minutes brings you to a door on the left-hand side. Your torch also shows that the corridor
continues for at least another 15 feet.
Celesa listens at and checks the door for traps and declares it
clear. The door is also not locked.
Do
you try the door (and if so, who?) or do you prceed down the corridor?
Pequeno looks to the group and puts his finger to his lips and
then points to himself then down the hallway.
Unless he receives
objection he straightens the feather on his hat and begins to continue down the
hallway.
(OOC: Pequeno will head
about 75' down the hallway unless he encounters something that requires
decision.
Unless
I’m mistaken, Pequeno has no light source, correct?
Correct.
I'm hoping that I can
allow my eyes to adjust to the dark and the light from the torch in the group
will illuminate enough to see a little bit
When it gets pitch black
I'll stop.
Until then I am moving
very slowly and listening. Trying to use my 6th sense too.
*Jakob looks at the door for a moment, then turns to the party.*
"Welp, nobody I've
ever heard of ever left their stuff in the hallways. I say we check this
room."
Pequeno
makes it 15 feet before encountering darkness.
He senses nothing ahead.
Orlen nods at Jakob's words.
"Makes sense to me.
Let's open it up and see what we see."
Pequeno heads back to the group.
As
nobody else is actually trying to open the door it would probably fall to the
strongest, and that’s Jakob. Jakob tries
to push the door open (15 rolled on open door check). The door doesn’t budge. You could keep at it but that would take time
and make noise.
Taread watches the group's
"back" as they attempt to open the door and such. He is standing with
his back to the wall, so he can keep watch but see if they get it open too.
"Seems pretty well stuck, mayhap we press on down the hall
and see where it leads?"
Orlen looks down the hall at the other options for exploration.
"Well, once we start
fighting, we'll make plenty of noise and attract the attention of anything for
a long ways. But, it makes sense not to invite that attention needlessly. Let's
keep exploring until we find an easier way. We can also come back and knock
this door down when we've got a better idea of what threats exist in this
complex. Shall we move on?"
You
continue past the door for a minute and the corridor turns sharply to the
left. Another minute and you come to
another door at a dead end. Celesa
checks it and determines it to be safe and unlocked. Jakob is able to easily push the door open. The door opens into a 10-foot space that
opens to the left. Moving in, you see the corridor goes forward 10 feet and
turns sharply to the right. 10 feet
ahead of you, and on the same wall as the door you
came through is another door.
"What is this place, a maze?"
"It would seem so.
I sure hope we can find
our way out..."
"Tactically, speaking, it's a smart move on the builder's part.
After all, an invading force would become disoriented, not to mention
constrained by the limited maneuverability of the corridors. The defenders,
already knowing the layout, would have the invaders at their mercy."
Yeah it may be smart tactically, but it's getting rather
annoying. I hardly know if I'm coming or going. Does anyone have any paper so
we can at least roughly sketch out areas we've been.
At this rate we'll be walking in circles for hours."
No paper here. Sorry.
Orlen, from his position towards the back, listens to the idea
of mapping.
"Doesn't Taread have
paper? If we can figure out how to tell him to, maybe we can get him to do
it."
Celesa moves over in front of Taread, and points at him then
makes pretend she is holding a pen, and begins making writing motions on an
imaginary piece of paper. A hopeful look on her face.
She waits a minute to see
if he understands anything she is doing.
Taread frowns and thinks for a moment but then nods. He pulls
out some paper and writes on it. Then he looks at her questioningly to see if
she can read it.
Celesa shakes her head. And points at Taread and then points to
the paper and pen and then to the halls and doors and makes a walking motion
with her fingers.
*Jakob watches to the front of the party. As they try to work out a
mapping position, he begins to frown. Why didn't I think of that before?
They'd of laughed me out of the service for missing something so obvious.*
*After
a few seconds, he begins to turn the spear, so as to use the weapon's blunt end
as a makeshift pole. He then begins to gently prod floor, walls and ceiling,
testing for any give.*
All
feels very solid.
Pequeno keeps quiet and waits.
Orlen peers down the corridor from which they came, watching and
listening for danger as the party figures out the map situation.
*Jakob begins to go down the direction that the party was headed,
prodding floor, walls and ceiling with the blunt end of his spear.*
Jakob
can go only 20 feet before finding himself in the dark.
Pequeno stays a good 20' back from Jakob.
Taread seems to understand finally, then
frowns at being relegated to a mapper. He sighes with no sound and rolls his
eyes, getting out a fresh piece and mapping out the way they'd come already.
With
all the turns, it’s impossible to map where you’ve been. You’re forced to start mapping from where you
are.
"Well it’s a start I suppose. Let’s keep going then."
"Indeed. I want that loot! We're gonna be so
rich!!!!!" Pequeno is quite excited.
The
double lines represent doors, the x is where you
are. Do you proceed or double back and
map where you have been?
Orlen looks backwards from where they came.
"I say we go back and
map the way out while we have time. If we need to hurry out of here later, I
don't want to be running into dead ends. All the mapping in the world doesn't
help you if you don't know how to escape. It won't take long. Then we proceed.
This work for you guys?"
Indeed.
"That does sound like the most logical of courses.
Hopefully we can remember all the turns we have taken."
Celesa turns and begins
heading back the way they came.
Taread, not understanding what was said, follows them the way
they came, beginning to map.
You
make your just past the back door to the kitchen area when Orlen’s light gives
out again. He has another and retrieves
and lights it.
*After a couple of minutes of prodding, Jakob stops the prodding. He
adjusts the spear for throwing, and takes the lead.*
Orlen looks at the map for a moment.
"I'm not all that
experienced in these matters, but I wonder if we should take the corridor that
goes west from this room. According to this map, it should run into the area we
were exploring near the stuck door. Save us some backtracking, maybe?"
Orlen looks to the others,
pointing to the passage he suggested on the map for Taread's benefit.
"That sounds like a wise idea. I'll check the way for traps
and you guys watch out for any nasties."
Celesa motions to Taread
and points in the direction the group is traveling, and then begins carefully
checking for danger as she walks down the hall.
Taread shrugs and nods and pays attention to mapping and
checking his surroundings for danger.
Pequeno seems a bit confused but says nothing.
*Jakob casts a wary eye at the alcove, the hairs on the back of his
neck standing on end. He carefully backs away from the opening, and starts
scrutinizing the area.*
"I have a very bad feeling
about this..."
Orlen eyes the alcove, as well.
"Should we check this
more closely before we check the door ahead. Maybe a secret passage?"
Celesa moves into the alcove and begins giving it a through
search.
"It's not going to
bite, I think. It's just a wall."
Celesa
finds nothing.
Orlen looks down the corridor, his sword at the ready. With a
wolfish grin, he turns to the rest of the party.
"Shall we try that
door ahead, then? I'll feel better once we have a section of this dwelling
mapped out. I could use a...break pretty soon, as well.
As he speaks, a crimson
line of red drips down his nose. Reaching into his belt, he retrieves a rag to
stem the flow.
"A break? A break from what?
All this wondering around, NOT getting rich wearing you
out?!?"
Pequeno slaps him on the
back, obviously joking. He takes a long pull on his waterskin and sheathes this
blade.
"I dunno. I expected
more I guess. This place is just weird...."
Taread looked at the others, waiting to see which way they were
going from here, not that he could understand what they were saying. He looked
over the map he had been making.
We’re
currently just waiting for someone to take an action…
Celesa moves forward toward the door, checking each place
carefully for trap as she goes.
At the door she listens
and check for traps, before checking to see if it is
locked.
Before
she evens steps a foot, Celesa discovers tha the floor in front of this door is
trapped. It looks like a pit trap and it
extends from the door, to 20 feet in front of it; all the way to the alcove!
Celesa attempts to disarm the trap, and will then ask Jakob to
carefully test it with the end of his spear.
After
a total of 10 minutes, Celesa realizes she has found the trap, but not the
mechanism that controls it. Orlen’s torch
is sputtering low again, by the way, indicating you have only minutes left
before it burns out.
Taread will watch this with interest, to see if she is
successful or not. If not, he will mime his helping try to disarm it himself
Celesa looks around for a way to jam the trap door, so it will
not swing open when weight is applied to it.