The 22nd day of Ready'Reat dawns cold and overcast. You eat alone in the dining hall.
Gwenned announces that he wishes to visit the herbalist over in the Citadel Union, and for wont of anything better to do, Stump, Relan, Lore and Darian accompany him.
The place is crowded this morning with shoppers inspecting the wares displayed at the many vendors stalls. It seems like every type of good from every corner of Oerth is on sale here. You move slowly through the crowds. As you reach the end of yet another in the endless rows of stalls, you hear what sounds like a child crying.
As you turn the corner you see a small red-haired boy, perhaps 9 or 10 years old, sitting with his back against the wall. His clothes are dusty and ragged. His face is tear streaked, with dark smudges covering his freckled cheeks. His hands are clutched around a small battered tin cup that contains a single copper coin. From his neck hangs a tattered sign with the word "Orphan" written on it.
Upon seeing you, he attempts to dry his eyes with the torn sleeve of his shirt. He smiles bravely and says,
"Copper for a new orphan?"
Lore turns to look at the boy. Without pity he says, "There are better ways to make money boy."
Relan turns to the group and says hastily, "Keep your eyes open. If this is a true orphan, I will with pleasure do what I can to help the boy. If it is a ploy of some kind, and I am inclined to think it is possible, as not many 10 year old orphans know how to write, I will be counting on you to watch my back."
Relan then turns to the boy, kneels on one knee and says, "Don't cry my child. I will help you." Relan reaches into the bag which holds his coins, "Tell me, how long ago did you...come to be alone? Do you have any friends your own age?"
Darian rolls his eyes, but watches Relan's back without comment.
Gwenned looks on in sympathy but keeps his ranger wariness about him.
"No, sir, I have no friends," the boy replies to Relan, lower lip aquiver. "Poor ol' dad has been lost in the dungeons below the castle for two days now. I can only assume the worst, sir."
Relan turns back to the party. "Go on to the herbalsist's without me. I will meet you back where were staying." He then turns back to the boy. "Come with me son. I wish to help. We shall talk on the way."
"But where are you takin' me, sir? Me dad always told me to be careful 'round strangers...may he rest in peace."
"And you are a good son to listen to your father. I am a cleric of the gracious St. Cuthburt." He shows him his holy symbol. "Do you know of his ways? I want to take you to a temple where the good men and women can watch after you for awhile. If we cannot get help there, I shall take you to Lord Akitrom himself, whom I know personally. He and his daughter, I'm sure, will take care of you until I return. I shall venture into the dungeons myself. If your father is still there, I will find him."
"No! I won't go to no church or to that Akitrom! They'll put me in an orphanage or a workhouse, they will!" he sobs. "I just want me dad back, sirs," he says, looking at you all. "Will you find him for me? He went down into the dungeon lookin' for treasure. He was just tryin' to earn a few coppers for the evenin' stew. -sob- His dream has always been for me to taste a bit o' potato before I'm a full grown man. Bless his soul.
"Please 'elp me. I know the way to the dungeon. I could show you."
As you stand there over the boy like a bunch of mute dummies for an extended period of time, he grows impatient.
"Look," he says in a voice remarkably like that of the DM's, "If you don't help me you won't have an adventure, alright?"
Then, he returns to his normal voice.
"Please 'elp me find me dear old dad, sirs. 'E's the only one I've got."
Lore, suprised by the frankness of the boy , says, "Okay...sure I'll help you in that case.....how can we help?"
Relan snaps out of his daydreaming. "Certainly, certainly! That is my only wish"
Gwenned turns around to face the boy, figuring that they probably don't have much in the way of good herbs.
"There, there, little one. Why don't you show us where your father went in and we'll see if we can't just find him. Don't lose hope just yet. He might be captured or trapped somewhere, or maybe in hiding. Will you show us please?"
Lore, Gwenned and Darian return to the others, as the orphan starts jumping about.
"Oh, yes, sirs! You're so kind to me, you are! Let's go right now, an' maybe me dad'll be 'ome for supper!"
And so you follow him through th crowds of the lower level of the Citadel Union, content at last that you are finally about to start the adventure proper.
The boy - whose name is Culum - leads you to a locked shop at last. Producing a key, he opens the door and you enter. The place is bare for the most part, but you do notice a fight of stairs at the back leading upwards to what must be a second storey. Culum ignores this, and instead goes to a trap door in the middle of the floor and pulls it open. Revealed is a tunnel, with a sturdy wooden staircase leading downwards.
"'E's down there, gennelmen, 'e is."
Lore shakes his head, muttering, "figures", and goes down the stairs.
Darian draws his sword and follows Lore down the stairs. "Be careful. No telling what is down there."
Relan gives the boy a silver piece, and then follows Lore down the stairs.
"Ohhhh, thankye, sir!" he exclaims, looking at the coin in wonder.
Gwenned strings his bow, then pulls out the ornate long sword in his right hand, and his left hand rests on his short sword, still in the sheath. He goes down.
Down the stairs you all go. Attached to the wall on either side of them is a hand rail.
At the bottom of the stairs, built into the wall, is a small wooden guard house with barred windows, and an elbow high shelf with a tiny slot just above it. On the front of the guardhouse is a sign. It reads -
Adults - 3cp
Children under 12 - Free
The guardhouse is empty.
A natural passage runs west from this point for 20' or so, after which it opens up into a chamber. The ceiling is about 8' above you.
Lore takes his lantern from is sack and lights it. He pauses a moment to think, saying, "It doesn't pay to take chances", and then places 3 cp into the slot before continuing down the passage.
Relan, thankful someone remembered to bring a light source, looks at Lore with a bit of surprise when he puts his coins into the slot...thinks about it for a second, then deposits his 3 cp.
Darian reaches into his money pouch and pulls out 2 cp. "Hey, anyone got an extra copper piece? I only have two."
Lore looks back at Darian. Frown on his face, he tosses Darian a copper piece.
Darian catches the copper piece and dumps the three coins into the slot. He catches up to Lore and hands him a silver piece. "Thank you for the loan, friend."
With a small grin on his face, Lore nods. He then turns to continue down the passageway looking carefully for traps, doors, etc.
You come to a cave, roughly 60' X 40' (oriented east - west, passage running northwest from northwest corner, passage running west directly across from you, door in south west corner, passage running southeast immediately to your left). This is a large chamber, with grey, stone fitted walls and a finely polished limestone floor. A few reddish-brown stalactites and stalagmites protrude from the ceiling and floor, attesting to the fact that this is a natural chamber. In the centre of the room are four pinewood tables, each surrounded by five stools. Against the northern wall stands an elbow high counter. Two beer taps are built into the counter, and a small stone fireplace is recessed into the wall behind it. A sign above the counter reads -
Ale, pixie mug: 10cp
Peasant mug: 1sp
Jumbo mug: 2sp
Monsterburger: 1sp
Full tour: free
An arrow painted on the floor at the entrance to the southeastern passage has image of a sea serpent emblazoned on it. A similar arrow pointing up the northwest passage has a bear on it. The passage through which you have just entered is marked "exit". The passage to the west has plaque beside it which reads -
"This way to tremendous monster of gigantic proportions."
The door is unmarked.
"Shall we try for the full tour, first? Then, maybe we can come back and get a bite to eat or something to drink."
"Someone is mapping this, I hope. As to what this plaque says, well, I imagine all the passages lead to monsters of gigantic proportions. It could be a joke. Shall we take it?"
Gwenned readies himself.
Lore nods. "I have a pretty good memory for these types of things". Looking around at the various signs, markings, and passageways, he says "So, your ready for giant monsters already huh? How 'bout checking out that "unmarked" door first?"
Lore walks over to the door. "Are any of you good at checking for traps?" Lore examines the door for traps himself.
"I don't know anything about traps, but I'm all for trying the door," says Darian.
Lore finds no traps, so you open the door.
It reveals a short corridor (20', after which it ends at a "T" intersection).
You move forward, and look in both directions from the intersection. Each passage only runs for 10', ending in a pair of doors. Emblazoned upon the door to the right is a silhouette of a male barbarian warrior holding a battle axe. Upon the other door is the silhouette of a well proportioned woman wearing a long, flowing gown.
Examining both doors, Lore grins and points to the left door saying .."I don't know about you guys, but I say we check out the one with the babe on it first."
Lore will move to the left door and open it.
Gwenned will stay to the rear of the party, ready for battle. "Don't take me for a coward, but I'm very good at not being surprised, and it might be better for me to protect our rear; but I'll come forward at a moment's notice. Carry on, Lore. But watch out, pictures can be deceiving."
Opening the left door, you see a small bathroom. The accomodations are primative but clean. A mirror, washbowl, and towel sit on a shelf attached to one of the blue-tiled walls. The toilet itself is simply a round opening in the floor that disappears into darkness. A hanging fern grows from a pot suspended from the ceiling. It does not look very healthy.
Moving in, you poke around the place for a bit but find nothing of interest, so you move on to the second door.
This reveals a second, identical rest room, sans hanging plant. However, there is a strange sound coming from the toilet, almost like a rumbling.
Darian looks at Lore and smiles. "Well, you're our thieving expert. You probably should check it out." Darian then takes two steps back from Lore and keeps his drawn sword ready."
Lore, however, has other ideas.
Looking a bit disappointed he goes back into the main room/cave. "Well that was useful....Where to now...the bear..the monster..or the Sea Serpent?"
Relan steps back a few steps. "I would suggest moving away. If it IS a foul creature", he smiles slightly as he says it, "let it come into the hall. I don't think I want to be too close if that thing blows."
However, it is the ranger who first sees the source of the noise...and not from the men's room, either. Out of the hole in the floor of the ladies room comes snaking a reptillian head with a mouth full of teeth, attached to a very long, serpentine neck.
He stands transfixed, as the creature lashes out at him.
"Ooooo..." says Culum, who has been tagging along behind you, "A giant one-headed hydra! Bless me, it's taken up residence in the septic tank!"
The toothy mouth chomps on Gwenned's shoulder, but is unable to penetrate the chain links.
Then, from the men's room, a second such head shoots out of the toilet.
"Make that a giant two-headed hydra, gennelmen!" says Culum, correcting himself.
Lore looks back to see the monsters converging on his friends and waits to see what they do.
Waiting for later to curse himself for freezing up, Gwenned pulls his short sword and strikes.
The monster again bends a tooth on the ranger's chain mail, as the ranger fans with his blade.
"Back, foul serpent!" Relan says, and attacks whichever head is closest to him.
Crunch! as the cleric's mace bops the hydra's head for 7 hit points of damage.
Darian backs out into the hallway to allow more people access to the hydra head. He then lashes out with his sword at the creature, Stump beside him.
The elf misses badly, but that's not so terrible because the hydra does too. Stump, on the other hand, does nick the hydra for 2 hit points.
Gwenned has another try, and again fans. This time, though, the hydra does chomp him for 5 hit points...as the ranger fans again.
"Ohhhh, nice breeze," says Culum by way of encouragement.
Relan also misses.
Against the other head, everyone misses.
Gwenned, growing ever more angry with himself, finally connects and sends the head flying. The serpentine neck slumps, but a new head begins to slowly grow from the bleeding stump!
Darius misses yet again, but this head gets him for 2 hit points of damage. Stump connects again, again nicking it for 2 hit points of damage.
Lore will continue to wait to see if his friends need assistance.
"Lore, use fire to cauterize the stump! It's the only way to prevent a new head from growing." cries Darian, glancing over his shoulder.
"Alright! Those who aren't fighting, LIGHT SOME TORCHES AND BURN THE STUMPS OF THOSE SEVERED HEADS! That includes YOU, Culum!" bellows Gwenned, as he moves over to help Darian and Stump.
Culum jumps.
"Ohh, yes sir!"
Relan moves over to Gwenned to cast a cure lt. wounds spell upon him. "You took a pretty good shot from that beast."
Gwenned is not ready to be cured yet, while there is still another head to deal with, though.
Lore turns to Darian, "I only have one spell to cast for the day, and unfortunately it is a sleeping spell....if you really need help I can use that, but we've really got nothing to gain here...besides you guys are doing great!"
"No, you don't understand! Use the flame from your lantern to light a cloth wrapped stick and burn the stump. It will prevent a new head from growing."
The light comes on for Lore. He tears a piece of cloth from his robe, wraps it around a 10' pole and lights it on fire with his lamp. Culum also tears a strip from Lore's robe and lights it. They then go towards the headless monster and cauterize the stump.
Darian, between trying to reason with Lore, manages to chop at the last head for 3 hit points of damage. It droops but still functions. Stump misses, but then Gwenned jumps in with his dagger and puts the blade into the monster's eye.
It drops...then immediately starts to regenerate, but you move quickly and torch it before it gets a chance to recover.
Both necks lie still...charred at the ends.
"That was fun, gennelmen! Proper warriors you are!"
Stump will go over to the beer taps and sets two sp on the counter. He puts his mouth under it as he pulls the lever, hoping for some beer to relieve his thirst.
The beer is not bad.
Behind the counter and under it are a number of cabinet doors, closed. beside the fireplace is a wooden crate, filled with coal.
Afterwards he will look down the NW, west, and SE passages.
To the northwest, the passage runs for about 10', then angles off to the north-northeast.
The west passage runs for 40' and then beyond the range of Lore's lantern. Posted along the walls are a series of signs...
"500 feet to terrible monster of gigantic proportions!"
"400 feet to terrible monster of gigantic proportions!"
"300 feet to terrible monster of gigantic proportions!"
"200 feet to terrible monster of gigantic proportions!"
To the southeast, the passage rins for about 30' and then turns east.
Lore decides that he would rather tackle a bear then a serpent or a monster. He says to the others, "Why don't we tackle the bear passageway next?", and then starts to walk towards it.
"The Bear it is," says Gwenned, taking his place at the rear of the party. "Thanks for the healing Relan."
You head up the north passage.
Past the bend, it runs north-northeast for about 40', before forking. One branch of the passage continues to run north-northeast, while the other turns northwest.
You look both ways.
To the northeast, there is another branch after 10': one branch runs northeast, while the other branches northwest.
Up the northwest branch of the intersection where you are now, it runs for 10' then turns west.
Lore says, "Why don't we take the less involved way first?"
Lore starts to walk up the NW passage.
"That sounds like a wise choice." Relan follows behind Lore.
After about 10' the northwest passage turns approximately west, and runs for about 10' in that direction. After that it goes northwest again, and then opens out after 10' more into a rectangulish-shaped chamber (10' northeast, 20' northwest, 20' west, 20' southwest (10' wide passage running northwest out of first 10' section), 30' southeast, then close it up as best you can...).
This bizarre chamber looks as if it has been tilted on its side. Stalagmites and stalactites are growing horizontally from the walls! In the centre of the chamber is a pit covered by an iron grate. From within the pit comes a glow of light: varying from light green in hue to bright blue.
Gwenned comes forward. "I do not like the looks of this. Let me first check entrance here for tracks, while someone else checks for traps. These horizontal stalgmites give me a bad feeling."
The ranger kneels down and regards the floor from close range. Rising, he says that there are tracks here, but that they are old, and that he is unable to identify the creatures.
Lore checks for traps.
He finds none.
Stump takes a copper piece and tosses it through the grate into the pit.
There is a clatter as the coin bounces off of the metal grate and down through it, but nothing else.
"Hmm... Maybe weight on the grate will trigger something?" Darian pulls a dagger out of his belt sheath and tosses it so that it will land flat on the grate.
Nothing happens.
"Imagine this room if it were oriented correctly.", Relan says , making gestures with his hands. "This would no longer be a grate over a pit, it would be a GATE closing up a CELL. I feel whatever is behind it is there for a reason, and we should be quite careful."
Lore and Relan move into the room to look into the pit.
As they move into the room there is a
FWOOSH!
as three of the stalactites / stalagmites suddenly launch themselves from their locations on the walls, straight for the cleric and the magic user, on pillars of blue flames shooting from their bases!
"Oooooooooo, not..." Culum pauses dramatically, "...horizontal jet-propelled piercers!"
Indeed they are.
One bounces off of the cleric for 2 hit points of damage and crashes to the floor, while two more just miss Lore.
The pair of you are over by the grill, while the others are still back in the doorway.
Lore wipes his brow...."Damn, that was close! Be careful if you chose to follow." Lore inches closer to the grating to peer inside.
Inside the grate is a 10' deep pit, lined with stones. Moving slowly about in the pit are a number of giant mushrooms. Their colours vary from light green to blue. It looks if someone - or something - has sliced into them, here and there, for oozing out through the wounds is a glowing sap...the source of the light that you noticed earlier.
Relan backs away from the grate and peers toward the other stalactites.
"Um... Considering that there are more of those piercer things, shouldn't you get out of the room? Then we can use missles and spells to kill them without endangering you two."
Gwenned enters the room, sword and dagger in hand, and flattens himself against the wall with the door on it, so as to avoid the piercers if possible. He will try to work himself toward the corner where it meets one of the stalagtite walls and get a closer look.
Darian rubs the tip of his nose in thought. "I suppose you are right. However, no one else should enter the room or they will retrigger the trap. The one thing that concerns me was that I got the impression that these piercer things are alive. Therefore, the trap is not a trigger in the sense you mean. Rather, you triggered their response and any movement might attract their further attention."
Lore frowns. "You might be right, but right now I'm not sure what else to do....I do agree though about not letting anyone else enter the room...at least until we know what's going on."
Stump asks the spell casters if they have something that will blanket the room, like fireball for instance.
Lore turns to Stump...."Sorry the only thing I have ready to cast is a sleep spell."
"You flatter us, Stump. A fireball is a fairly powerful spell and we are only beginning to learn the ways of magic. I have a magic missle spell memorized. Maybe a sleep spell might work on these jet-propelled piercers, but Lore and Relan would most likely be in the area of the spells effects."
"Does anyone have a spear or a long pole weapon? Maybe we could kill these piercers without getting too close to them."
As Darian finishes speaking, though, five more of the piercers launch themselves at Lore, Relan and Gwenned. They actually seem to be able to aim themselves at their targets, after a fashion.
Two of the creatures strike Lore, for 4 hit points of damage in total. A third misses him and bounces along the floor. The other two miss Relan and Gwenned respectively.
The previous three that launced themselves are now inching their ways across the chamber floor, back to the walls, in typical piercer fashion.
Realizing that one more hit like that could kill him, Lore gets up and runs as fast as he can out of the room, trying to avoid any other missiles that might come shooting down upon him.
"Relan, Gwenned, kill those that are on the ground. And don't let the others reattach themselves to the wall. It's likely they'll be able to shoot at us again if they can get high enough."
Darian moves into the room to assist Lore in getting out. He'll keep his shield between Lore and as many piercers as he can.
Nevertheless, he cannot protect Lore from all sides, and one more jet propelled piercer fires at Lore, while an additional three launch at Darian. Lore takes a piercer in the buttocks for 2 hit points of damage, while Darian somehow manages to dodge all three that were coming his way. Then, they are safe back in the hallway.
Relan will attack any that are nearby. If none are close enough to get to with 1 or 2 steps, he will also head out of the room. "All my spells are for healing, which after healing Lore, I will be out. That is if I don't catch another stalactite myself. I'd be out forever."
Relan smashes one of the pierces as it creeps across the floor, and just jumps aside as another airborne missile whizzes past him.
Wasting no time, Gwenned strikes with long sword and dagger at the piercers around him.
"If any of you outside the room have missile weapons, use them on the ones not close to any of us. Everyone else out of the room. Use those missile weapons if you can. Stump, this one's up to you and me."
Gwenned continues hacking, and another one dies, but as he does so three more launch at him with a roar. Two miss, but one bounces off of him for 1 hit point of damage.
Still smarting from that last wound, Lore collapses once he is out of the room. With labored breath, Lore lifts his head and says, "I think I can still manage to cast a sleep spell if you feel we need to."
"Hold on to it, for now." Darian strings his bow and begins to carefully choose piercer targets on the walls away from his companions. He tries a few shots to see what effect they have.
The elf shoots a pair of arrows, but both miss.
Stump, instead of retreating, jumps in and attacks a piercer with his longsword. It dies readily, but another launches and misses him.
Relan makes for the entrance as fast as his big feet can take him. A jet propelled piercer comes after him, whistles between his legs, and goes careening off up the passage past the others. Once outside he casts cure light wounds on Lore, healing him for 4 hit points. "This is my last for today, so nobody else get hit, understand?" Relan says with a slight smile on his face.
Gwenned continues to attack. Another piercer succumbs, but three more launch at him. One penetrates his armour for 4 hit points of damage.
Only seven more remain attached to the walls. The rest are inching their ways across the floor, or are dead.
Darian will continue to fire arrows at the piercers along the walls.
This time an arrow hits a jet-propelled piercer, for 1 hit point of damage.
Lore, feeling much better, stands up. "Thank you Relan....I'm in your debt."
Lore will stand ready to cast his sleep spell if need be.
"Keep firing at the ones on the walls! I'm OK for now, and by the Gods, these pests aren't going to live much longer!"
Gwenned strikes the one that just hit him, then moves on to the others. Another dies, but three more launch themselves at him with a roar. One hits him for a hit point of damage.
Stump will attack another piercer. It dies, but the last four piercers take off with a fwoosh and converge on him. Only one hits, though, and only for 1 hit point of damage.
Relan hangs back with Lore, ready to re-enter the room if all piercers have attacked and are on the ground.
All of them have launched themselves, and now it is an easy job to kill them, as they creep across the floor. You do not forget to get the one that flew after Relan, up the passage, either.
"Good Job guys", says Lore with a hint of a smile upon his face, "Now that that's over with. What do you make out of this?" Lore moves close to the grate a points into it, careful not to get too close.
The pit with the mushrooms in it is as previously described. The mushrooms move slowly about inside, but do not seem to pose any sort of threat.
You see no sign of anything else of interest down there.
"I would assume", Relan says, certainty absent in his voice, "that someone has cut into those mushrooms for the sole purpose of shedding the light. The various colors cerntanly lured us into the trap. I say we move on and leave these luminescent shrooms here as a possible beacon in the event we get lost."
Stump will carefully walk over the grate, trying not to slip into it, to the NW exit from the room.
GWenned will follow the party, taking his rearguard position.
Lore will careful skirt around the grate and move on down the hallway.
You look northwest.
The passage curves almost immediately around to the north-northeast. It runs like that for about 20', before coming to another intersection. Here, a 12' wide passage runs east-southeast for about 30'...at which point it enters a chamber. Another passage runs northwest for about 10'...then ends at a "T" intersection with a passage heading northeast - west-southwest.
"I would like to suggest SE to the chamber first", Relan states. "The NW seems more involved. We want to look everywhere."
Lore says softly, "I think we should see what's in that chamber...we need to very very careful though." Lore will proceed as quietly as he can towards the chamber, looking for traps, doors...etc.
You move down to the chamber. It is rather odd-shaped, approximately 45' east-west and 40' north-south. There is a passage exiting to the east almost directly across from you, and another going southeast about 10' below that. There is a door to the north. Painted on it are the words 'employees only'.
On the outer edges of this cavern, numerous stalagmites and stalactites cover the ceiling and floor, obscuring the room's perimeter in dark shadows. In marked contrast, the centre of the chamber has been cleared of all natural rock formations. Pock marks and stumps are all that remain of the stalagmites and stalactites which once stood here.
Looking around the room, Lore says, "Look at how someone has cleared out the stalagmites and stalactites. I bet that they had the same problem with them as we did. Whatever has caused the problems down here...the living rock formations seem to be a result of it."
Gwenned moves up, puts away his sword and dagger, and pulls out his bow, the knocks a (non-magical) arrow. "Just to make certain there are no more piercers here....." He aims carefully at a likely stalagtite and fires.
The arrow bounces off of the rock formation with no effect.
He slings his bow, and take out his weapons once again.
"Remember. since our healing is depleted, we should retreat if confronted with any serious danger. And those of you with oil flasks, please get them ready." Gwenned will light a torch and hold it in his left hand.
"Good idea" Relan says to Gwenned. "I was about to suggest testing those stalactites with a missle."
Stump will pull out a couple of oil flasks and be ready.
You move into the chamber. Nothing attacks you this time. In fact, but for two things, this place is boring.
The first is the previously mentioned door.
The second is a two-foot diameter black sphere, floating all but hidden in the shadows against the west wall of the chamber. It does not seem hostile...it just floats there...about 3' off the floor.
You look down the other two passages.
To the southeast, you see that this passage runs for 20' or so, then meets another passage. You recognise this to be the second forked intersection that you noted before you went into the jet-piercer chamber.
To the east (actually east-southeast), this second passage turns to the dead east after about 10'.
Relan steps up. "I suggest we head through the east passage. I have a feeling it would not be wise to go near that sphere. Keep an eye on it."
"Yes, let's leave the sphere alone and head down the east passage, the second one, that is." Long sword in one hand, torch in the other, Gwenned waits for the others.
The others follow. Stump pauses to take a closer look at the sphere, but sees nothing additional, and so comes too.
As previously described, this second passage runs east-southeast for about 10', then turns east. Less than 10' after this is another passage running approximately southwest. Looking down there, you see that it is the right hand branch of the second forked passage that you noted earlier, before heading for the jet-piercer chamber. Ahead, though, past this southwest passage, the eastbound passage runs for an additional 20', before forking in three directions: to the southeast, the northeast, and the northwest. In addition, about 10' before you reach this intersection, another passage runs off to the south.
Relan suggests the south passage.
"South passage sounds good." says the ranger.
You head south. After 20' it turns east, and ends. After searching for secret stuff, you return to the eastbound passage, and make for the intersection.
Looking up each of the three passages...
To the southeast you see it runs for 20' before turning south. In the 5' - 15' section is a passage running east.
To the northeast, this passage runs for just over 20', then opens out into a chamber to the east. From this direction you hear th sound of flowing water.
To the northwest, the last passage runs for about 30', before angling northeast.
It is noontime.
Stump would like to go check out the flowing water.
"Yeah, I'd like to check that out myself", says Lore.
"The fountain room would be fine with me." agrees the ranger.
"Agreed" says the cleric.
You head northeast, and come to a large cave, roughly rectangular-shaped (about 10' north, then about 40' east-northeast, ~75' south-southeast, ~40' west, then north to join up with your passage; passage in west wall running west, about 20' south of you).
An iron gate lies propped against the wall to your left. Brownish-red stalagmites and stalactites, light grey columns, and numerous patches of grey flowstone compete for space within this chamber. A tiny stream of clear water winds its way through the chamber, occasionally widening into a small pool.
You head in and poke around, but there appears to be nothing of interest in here...then Gwenned notices that one of the stalagmites in the southeast corner has an eye. A solitary eye...which is following your movements around the chamber.
Keeping his distance, Lore tries to examine the eye further.
Beneath the eye is a large mouth, closed.
"Well, one thing to remember people is that I have a sleep spell ready to use if need be. I suggested we backtrack out of here a little ways and follow another root. I'm not very interested in fighting a one-eyed stalagmite."
Stump suggests we go back and check out the passage to the northwest, so you do, returning to the many-wayed intersection.
As previously described, this passage runs north-northwest for about 30', then turns northeast. It runs in this direction for only 10', then opens up into a chamber.
You look in.
This is an odd-shaped chamber, roughly 50' X 40', oriented north-south. The only other apparent exit from here is a door in the middle of the west wall, about 10' to the left of where you now stand. The words -
"Employees Only"
- are printed on it.
Against the northern wall, separated from the rest of the chamber by a dry moat stands an iron-barred cage. A plaque at the bottom of the cage reads -
"Extreme Danger - Do Not Feed Meat"
The cage is empty except for a few bones littered about its floor.
You seach the entire chamber but find nothing of interest or value. Gwenned recognises the bones to be those of a bear.
"Well so much for the bear. Lets check out that door before we go. Maybe we can find out some information about what is going on here." Lore moves over to the door, and pauses before opening it.
"Yes, the door." Relan follows Lore.
Gwenned stands ready for action, checking behind to make sure nothing is sneaking up.
Darian clutches his sword and shield a little tighter. "Okay, I'm ready, as if that matters."
Hearing and detecting nothing, Lore opens it.
He opens it on the first attempt. Ahead is a 30' square room (10' north, 10' south, 30' west; door in middle of south wall, door in west wall north corner). This crowded room, smelling of salted meats, is lit by a glowing crystal ball attached to the ceiling high above. A small wooden table sits in the centre of the room, surrounded by several chairs. In one corner stands an oak desk; the brass plaque upon it reads -
"Zando - Office Manager"
Stacked against the far wall are several dozen crates and barrels labeled "Meat".
Two creatures are struggling to tip over one of the barrels. They creatures are about 3' tall with bodies like those of men, but with the heads of bulls.
Culum takes one look at them and screams out in terror.
"Oh no, not minitaurs!"
The minitaurs look over at you and growl, but do not advance.
"Minitaurs? Geez, this place is just full of bad puns!"
Lore or whoever stands ready to cast his one spell..."Quick, do you guys want me to put these creatures to sleep, or do you want to fight them? I think that it is important for us to check out that desk."
"Put them to sleep, if you can Lore."
Lore says, "You all need to stand behind me."
Lore moves within casting waves his hand in guestures that make him almost look like he is dancing.
Gwenned drops the torch in his left hand and pulls out his dagger. "If your Sleep spell does not work, better to close the door and beat a retreat, unless someone has something else they can do. Without healing, this could be the end of some of us."
But the spell does work and the monsters collapse, snoring loudly.
Some of you watch the minitaurs while others search.
This place is a combination storeroom / office / lounge. Stacked upon the desk are a number of papers which seem to deal with employee salaries, release forms, tax forms, etc. None of it appears to be of interest.
A poster above the desk shows a number of cartoonish figures laughing hysterically and rolling about on the floor. The caption beneath the figures reads, "You want it when?"
Taking a quick look into a few of the boxes, you see that they contain low quality meats and grains.
Looking a bit upset, Lore says, "There's nothing important here. I think we should get out of here before those things wake up." Lore turns away from the desk and heads for the door that he came in from.
Gwenned agrees.
"Let's leave quickly, then, and close the door behind. Though it is not a good act to kill helpless creatures, I fear that when they wake up they willo come looking for us."
Relan follows Lore out the door.
Before the party heads to the door, Stump reminds them that if we just leave the minitaurs sleeping, the alarm will surely be sounded.
Stump says "Let's get rid of these minitaurs before we are found out. If you are against killing them, then at least lets gag and tie them up and hide them."
Lore stops and turns to Stump saying, "You will have a very good advantage, but I must warn you that the monsters will awaken once they are struck. I am useless in most combat situations right now, so I shall be waiting outside the door. You must do what you feel is right." Lore then continues on to the door.
Stump ties and gags them quickly. They come around just as he finishes.
Lore grins at Stump..."Good job. Now are we going to kill them or just leave them here to be killed by something else?"
Gwenned walks over, weapons out. "Much as I detest this, it must be done, gentlemen." He will strike an aimed blow for the throat of the first Minotaur, trying to kill him quickly and mercifully.
Stump replies 'Well I don't want to stand here and debate the merits of our situation until something else walks in on us." With that, he will take his long sword and stab one of the minitaurs.
The minitaurs die quickly.
There are two unopened doors leading from this room.
Lore nods. "well, now that the monsters have been dispatched we can check out the rest of this room in peace."
You search thoroughly, but find nothing of interest or value.
Lore walks over to the other doors, checks them for traps and listens to see if he can hear anything behind them.
Gwenned follows Lore to the next door and waits.
Lore hears nothing behind either door...and finds no traps.
Goaded on by the others, Lore opens the west door.
Beyond is a 20' long passage running west, ending at another door.
The process is repeated, and you open this next door to look into a cavern (~30' X 20', oriented northeast/southwest by northwest/southeast; passage running south to your left).
The left (northwest) half of the cavern is blocked off by iron bars. An iron door in the centre of them is shut. On the far side of the bars is a pool of water. Stalactites and stalagmites droop down from the ceiling and rise out of the water, occasionally meeting to form glistening white columns. Swimming in the shallow pool are several sharks.
Stump looks down the hallway to the south. This passage runs south for about 20', at which point it forks: one passage heads west-southwest while the other heads southeast.
Lore looks at the rest of the group, "What do you think, should we explore this room further or move on? I'm afraid of those damn stalactites and stalagmites, but there might be something in here worth look in at...like that metal door."
"Shall we test a few to see if they are alive?" Relan begins to search the gound for suitable stones to use in his sling.
The metal door is in the middle of the cave, and leads into the shark pen. You can look through the bars around it to see what lies beyond.
"I say let's leave the metal door for now and check out the south passageway." Gwenned will move down there if the others agree.
Lore follows Gwenned down the passage...As does Relan.
"Wait for me" yells Stump.
You leave the sharks be and turn south.
Reaching the "Y" intersection, you look to the right. That passage runs for about 10' to the west-southwest, then turns south-southwest.
You look left.
This branch runs southeast for maybe 15', then there is another intersection...and you recognise it. A passage runs east-southeast - and terminates at the stalagmite / stalactite chamber with the floating sphere in it. Another passage runs south-southwest, and eventually will take you to the room where you battled the jet-piercers.
At the current intersection, you turn right, only to find that this passage runs for only an additional 20' or so after turning south-southwest, before coming to a dead end.
Relan goes to the dead end and checks for secret doors. "If we can't find a door, where shall we go back to?" he says, not knowing his player has stored his map onto an unlabeled floppy which he can now not locate.
You find no secret doors.
Lore says, "I think we should backtrack and head south at that intersection aways back." If Relan finds no hidden doorway, Lore will start to walk back down the passageway.
"Sound good to me," says Gwenned.
You return to the minitaur room and open that south door.
Beyond is a 20' long passage running south, ending at another door.
You move down this passage and open this door...to find yourself looking back into the room with the floating sphere in it.
"Let's go down to room #3 and try the door to the north and west." Gwenned will head there if the others agree.
"Wasn't there a passgage south close to the room with the one-eyed stalagmite?" Relan says. "Perhapes we should check there."
You head there instead.
This passage runs south for 30' in total and ends at a door. It is of solid iron and is locked.
"Lore, can you pick the lock?" asks Darian.
Lore attempts to pick the lock on the door...and succeeds!
Beyond is a cave, roughly reshaped in a rectangular shape, about 20' X 30' (10' east, 10' west, 20' south).
The place appears to be empty and boring, except for the east wall, which seems to have a greyish shimmer to it...twinkling almost as if it were sprinkled with silver dust.
Lore carefully makes his way to the east wall in order to get a closer look at what is "twinkling". Gwenned does the same.
The wall appears to be just as previously described: an ordinary rock wall that shimmers and glows slightly. Touching it, you find it to be solid...it feels like ordinary stone.
Meanwhile, Stump examines the rest of the room. He finds absolutely nothing of interest.
Lore shrugs, "Well...I don't know what to make of this. Does anyone else have any ideas as to what this wall is about?"
Stump comes over to the wall.
He looks and says "It looks like a wall."
He listens and says "It sounds like a wall."
He sniffs and says "It smells like a wall."
He feels and says "It feels like a wall."
He then looks at the rest of the party members and says "What are you looking at me for. Do you expect me to lick it?"
"Hmm. Very curious" Relan says stupified. "Let's check it for secert doors. Bring that light source up here."
Darian waits by the door with his sword drawn, just in case.
A thorough search finds no secret doors.
It is late afternoon.
"Best to leave it for now and move on. Mark it on the map and we'll come back to it. I don't have the map in front of me. Have we searched this entire northern section of this level or no?"
Examining Stumps' map, you conclude that you have indeed completed your search of this area.
You return to the cave chamber with the snack bar. From here run two unexplored passages: one to the west and a second to the southeast.
Lore mutters, "Aw hell...let's go see what this monster is all about". Lore starts to walk towards the west door.
"Right behind you, Lore!" Relan says eagarly.
You head west...down the passage past the signs.
After 80' the passage opens up into a chamber, roughly circular, about 70' in diameter. Another passage runs north from the northern extremity of the cave.
Dominating the centre of the chamber is a 30' diameter, conical shaped, steel barred cage surrounded by a small moat. The door to the cage lies bent and twisted near the far wall, as if tossed there by whatever was once held within. On the floor of the cage lies the leg bone of some great beast, shattered at one end. The air in here feels thick and smells of animal fur.
A small bronze plaque on the side of the cage reads -
"Gigantic Monster of Incredible Proportions"
Another sign to the north points up that passage -
"Herbivore Exhibit This Way"
"I feel it would be unwise to assume that the bone once belonged to the 'gigantic monster.' It is quite possible that is the remains of the herbavore exhibit, and we should procede with caution."
Relan peers down the passage leading to the herbavore exhibit.
"Herbivores sound better than carnivores right now. Let's go see what the exhibit has for us, shall we?"
"Considering that the carnivore probably went after the herbivore, do you really think it is wise to follow it? Especially in our condition?"
Stump reminds the party that we should get back to basecamp and rest for the night. We are depleted right now.
"Good point Stump. Maybe we should head back now and come back when we are better prepared? What do you all think?"
"Actually, it's not nightfall quite yet, but late afternoon." Says Gwenned. "Yes, we are depleted, but not terribly wounded. I do have the Healing skill if such is called for. I know it isn't the wisest thing to do, but I'm for pushing on just a little while longer. If we encounter something that puts us in jeopardy, then it's up to me to hold it off as long as I can. While the rest of you beat it, I'll defend myself as best I can, and then follow you. I'm not trying to be brave, it's just that I think that I have the best chance of keeping some monster tied up. I can take a couple of good licks before I'm in trouble. So what do you say? Shall we continue up the "Herbivore exhibit"? If several of you are against it, I'll turn back as well."
Lore frowns in thought, "I'm sorry Gwenned, but I must object. I think it is too dangerous for use to continue right now. Whatever is down that passageway can wait 'til tomorrow. We've done a good deal of exploring today. Let's go back to an inn and enjoy the night for awhile." Lore waits to see how the others feel about this.
Seeming torn, Relan replies, "Well, I guess the rest can wait for tomorrow."
"Very well, let's return to the inn." Gwenned turns around and heads for the stairs up.
So, after some discussion you decide to resume your exploration of this dungeon tomorrow, and return to the Herzog's tower for the night.
Again this evening you dine with Akitrom and his lovely daughter. The other group of adventurers are there as well, and they are in a merry mood.
"Yowza!" exclaims Nesselrode the badger. "We found a way into the dungeons through this old shop! We entered this cave with what looked like a snack bar and searched the place, and what do you know! We found a secret drawer full of money behind the lunch counter! Excellent!"
"Then," continues Brabu the centaur, "We came to a cave with a little baby roper in it...looked like a stalagmite with an eye. We killed it, and in its gut we found a pile of platinum coins and gems!"
"Ohhh, my heroes!" exclaims Risotta, clapping her dainty little hands.
"Yessiree, a profitable day!" concludes LeDurt. He turns to face you. "And, uh, how did you paupers make out..?"