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Jarek carefully opens the door with
Darius by his shoulder, silently waiting, and then moves inside,
partially concealing the glowing coin so as not to alert anybody
to his entrance. The room is already partially lit by two broad
candles in a table in the centre. They look like they've been
burning for some time and there is the remains of a light meal
near them on the table.
Opposite the doorway, some orc-sized leather armour and some
oversized studded leather gloves have been casually cast to
the floor.
There is another door in the room, which is ajar and as light
is allowed to creep into it, it reveals the source of the
snoring: a very large orc. Large because he's overweight rather
than a warrior's build. It looks like the leather armour in
the main room will be an unflattering outfit.
Jarek signals silently, miming punching a clenched fist into
an open hand and then raising a thumb; without doubt, a chance
to subdue whatever is in the room snoring is a go! He enters
quietly and quickly as Darius and Balin move in and Kin follows,
lagging a little and ready to deploy magic should it become
necessary.
As the majority of the party reach the door, Jarek is stood
near the orc holding something in his hand and blocking most
of the light from the coin from glaring into the room.
Darius and Balin move quickly and their strength and skill
make this a straightforward task: the orc awakens muttering
"it's not time to feed....OH!" but his cry is cut
short by a punch from Balin that almost sends him back to
unconsciousness. Darius forces him onto his stomach so that
he can pin his arms, one of which is flailing in the direction
of a lamp by the bed, and sets a solid knee to the small of
his back. Balin clamps the mouth
shut and Kin is able to hold his magic for now.
The orc looks terrified as Balin slowly releases his hand
from its mouth, the head hanging over the edge of the bed
so its throat can be constricted by pressure on the back of
the neck quite easily.
Jarek releases the glare from the coin and lights the lamp
then threatens the orc into co-operation – it agrees
with petrified nods. Calmyl, coldly, he asks his question:
“There was a prisoner taken recently,in possesion of
some gems. I want you to lead us to them.......”
Darius eases pressure on the orc’s neck slightly and
allows an answer:
"I know nowt about any prisoners....," it quickly
continues as Jarek's eyes narrow and he runs a finger across
a dagger with genuine menace, "but....but....if there
are any prisoners, they're upstairs. I'm not allowed up there
so I don't know what you'll find....really!
"W-w-well, a guard or two at the top of the stairs,
I'm sure, but I don't know any more than that.
"I'm just the dog keeper. I just look after the dog!"
he practically sobs.
The item Jarek was holding is a large-ish conch shell; it's
not especially noteworthy to look at but it is clear that
the orc's eyes keep darting to it involuntarily.
With the threat of Balin in full battle mode and a dagger
point from Jarek causing blood to trickle towards the fat
orc’s eyes, further information is readily forthcoming
regarding teh conch and the orc’s duties.
"I use it for the Ghull's dog. It calms him. It's a
big dog. Dangerous. I am honoured by my master to care for
him. The dog. Care for the dog. Gauntlets and armour to help
protect. Just protection. I'm no fighter. Really. Upstairs
is left out of my rooms, next door on the right - I don't
know how many warriors. I don't know. A lot lately but they're
travellin' through or something, I don't know. It's nothing
to do with me. The
Ghull's been very busy. I just look after his dog."
And in final tearful desperation, "Please don't kill
me!"
It is decided to leave the orc alive for now (although Jarek
almost reconsiders when Darius inadvertently uses the party’s
names in front of it) but it is bound with bed sheets and
gagged. Jarek muses as to whether the party have found the
dog and Balin picks up the oversized gauntlets (which are
heavily padded on the inside, so fit OK) then the party head
out and towards the stairs as described by the now bound orc.
After checking the door, Jarek picks up the lantern and indicates
that the door is safe and unlocked. Slowly, he opens it door
and then points at the inside of it to draw attention: there
are two deadbolts in the open position. The door would have
been extremely difficult to unlock without sheer brute force
had these been locked.
The obvious conclusion would be that either the locks aren't
used, are only used if something needs to be locked in, or
whoever opened the door needs to get back out this way and
is thus still down here.
There is also a room beyond the door. It's clean but stark;
there is a large stone bowl filled with water with a small
scrubbing brush to one side and a towel draped near it. In
the corner to your right as the party enter are a variety
of discarded items - bits of armour, a couple of swords, a
pike, etc. They're all in a poor state of repair and covered
in rust.
There are also stairs in the northwest corner, rising steeply
upwards some distance to a barely discernible wooden door.
The party head for the stairs, Balin pausing to search through
the items, holding up the party but discovering an item that
he passes up to Kin for examnation.
Jarek scowls and prepares to open the door. |
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Morin pads quietly ahead, shielding
the light from the Illuminatus a little, so as not to give away
his approach too much.
There is an untried door just after the one that brought
the party into the corridor and just beyond that, the corridor
turns west and ends quickly in large double doors.
Both have a large black, iron symbol on them, 2 feet by 2
feet that Jiriki recognises as the symbold of an old and evil
god of Dhurghumlund: the Unnamed, aka "The Beast of the
Left Path".
Suva is also a bit disconcerted by a being he has heard referred
to as “The Afterbirth of the Universe” but Morin
is otherwise engaged with the door for a while.
When he finally returns his full attention to the party,
he warns them to leave the door he has been checking as he
believes it to be false and trapped, and then moves towards
the large double doors to check them.
There are no traps on the doors or floor and just a smell
of incense leaking into the corridor from beyond them but
the doors are heavy and it will be difficult to open the m
with stealth.
Dalrylshana, her mood clearly improved since the party split,
urges the group onwards:
“Come on, Morin, we have to beat Jarek to the gem!
Let's push on and see what's beyond these doors."
Morin is cautious but Jiriki share’s the elf’s
enthusiasm and Suva agrees for more pragmatic reasons –
the party, after all, are not the only people searching for
this gem, so haste would seem a good plan.
Dalrylshana steps up to Jiriki's shoulder for moral support
and to provide a light source and the barbarian carefully
leans his weight into the doors, grasping the edges of the
large iron squares. Slowly, with a light creak, the doors
open into the new room and the party stands in the doorway
cautiously looking on.
Beyond them is a rectangular room. There is a weak but pronounced
smell of earthy incense in the air that wafts lightly into
the corridor. Opposite is another set of double doors, the
same, practically as the ones just opened, and in front of
and to either side of these are two columns from floor to
ceiling. They are carved in dark stone and the middle sections
have been
painstakingly sculpted to resemble humanoid forms, twisting
about each other and writhing in agony as their arms snake
upwards.
The place is still quiet, although there is a brief noise
just as the door was opened, like a large creature shuffling
and seemingly coming from behind the party.....nothing can
be seen.
Morin is extremely concerned about this and urges Dalrylshana
use the properties of teh Illuminatus for a better look at
the room. She raises it to let more light through into the
room and then suddenly issues a warning.
She drops to one knee and moves her hand to the floor in
front of Jiriki......where it disappears into the stone.
She looks up. "Illusory floor across the area in front
of the entire right door. Extends about 3 feet into the room
and covers a hole that goes down about 20. that was close...."
The party will need to take the ‘left-hand path’
through door.
Dalrylshana enters the room to take a further look around,
Illuminatus held aloft, even as Morin enters to begin to check
the second set of double doors.
Suddenly she gasps, quietly and then whispers, "It's
not just a pit - part of that wall over there is also illusion.
There's an open passage beyond it....."
Even as she whispers this, she realises that light from the
Illuminatus is flooding beyond the illusory wall.
A very low growl can suddenly be heard from somewhere along
the unseen corridor.
Morin’s concersn suddenly seem justified.
“Considering the surroundings, I'd reckon we are about
to be faced by some kind of hell-hound. Do we make a stand?"
Before anybody can form a quorum on Morin's question, the
sound of a large beast approaching from the direction of the
illusory wall can be heard. Dalrylshana looks shocked as the
only person who can see beyond the wall but Jiriki is already
preparing for battle.
Seconds later, Suva, Morin and Jiriki can see why she had
such a look on her face.
Bounding through the illusion wall into view and stopping
dead and, with a deep growl, taking in the room's inhabitants,
is a huge dog. It almost fills the corridor it came through
and is as broad as it is tall. The muscular shoulders hold
an oversized head whose vast jaw drools with saliva that hisses
as it drops to the stone floor. Flames lick around the pulsating
nostrils as the front legs tense, ready to pounce.
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