The party on the far side engaged the two fighters and quickly disposed of them to allow the rest to cross the pit more safely. Once across, they moved forward to the junction to find a main cross passage - to the right a door, whilst to the left it sloped away down into the gloom; ahead off-set to either side of their passage, were two more short corridors leading to closed doors.
The swordmage crept down to the right door and listening, heard low growls followed by a brief human 'shush'. The rest of the party grouped round the junction and after a short time the end door pulled open to allow attack dogs out. They ran past the swordmage, who slashed at those he could; some stopped to engage him whilst others moved towards the party. Within seconds fighters opened the other doors and moved forward to harry the party from the sides. A drawn out & fluid fight ensued and the party were hard set by a changing number of opponents, who used their knowledge of the area layout to some advantage. Dwindling numbers however, forced the assassins to retreat back into the as yet unseen rooms behind the doors and the party pursued them to prevent any alarm being raised.
Determining the doors led to a kennel and a bunkroom or barracks area, the party moved off down the gloomy corridor, still searching for the captive children. Coming to a small junction space, they had the choice of a sharply descending left-hand passage - from which they heard a continous rumbling noise and felt dampness in the air - and a shorter level passage to the right ending at a door. They choose the door first and moved carefully towards it, prepared to enter and engage more opponents.
The door meant the party entered in file and the found themselves in the side of a T shaped room, near the bottom. An opponent had used the door for cover to attack party members as they passed by, another had used a table for cover and quickly engaged, whilst a third moved down quickly from further up the room. Some of the party manoeuvred round the assassins and found others lurking in one side area, they released attack dogs and battled to move into the main room. They put up a stiff resistance but were unable to match the aggression shown by the party and were soon defeated. The party found two children locked in a cage in the opposite wing of the room; releasing them, the party decided to press on and instructed the children to remain safely in the room.
The party retraced their steps and then descended the other passage until they reached a chasm crossing their path; a fissure had split the rock and crossed the passageway leaving a rough cave, a waterfall to the right was the source of the earlier noise and dampness. A rough slat bridge had been strung over the chasm, which the party used to cross over. Using the rude steps hacked from the rock on the far side, they regained the original passage to be jumped by another pair of fighters - but by now the had their measure and dispatched them both in short order.
Moving on they came to another room and found more guards with three more children in a cage at the rear. Disposing of the guards, they released the children and told them to go back to the other room and stay with the other children. They moved on, down a longer winding corridor, until they came to a heavy closed door - the rogue slipped through and found a wide annexe behind witha heavy drape across the far end. Moving carefully forward he found a break in the drape and spied out the far side.
Monday, 6 December 2010
Shaking the Hands of Glory
Letting the rogue scout ahead, the party set to descend the revealed shaft, which led to a small chamber with a single corridor leading away. The rogue heard the murmur of conversation and dim wavering light from down it and creeping further forwards, he spied past a turn towards a further chamber containing two men relaxing in conversation.
The others in the group had now descended and with some stealth they approached the second room, before finally rushing forward. The party briefly surprised the occupants, although they quickly recovered and prepared weapons. A further man resting in a far corridor, moved to open a nearby door and a fourth appeared from a side chamber. A stiff fight, enjoined by a quartet of guard dogs released from a rear chamber, still saw the party victorious and they proceeded to search round the rooms for further clues.
The cluster of chambers appeared to be a long disused underground warehouse and excepting a recent crude infill in the outer corridor, nothing unusual showed. The cleric hammered at the corridor infill, whilst in a corner of the guarded chamber, the rogue found a false wall section covering a rough hewn tunnel leading away. Quickly ducking down the short narrow passage, he discovered a small chamber on the other side of the infill, from which a spiral stairwell led down.
He descended with the swordmage in support, to find a large room at the bottom, dimly lit. The rogue saw only two figures at the far end and decided to sneak in, whilst the swordmage went back up to bring the others down. The rogue gained the cover of the bench tables running down the centre of the hall, but towards the far end he knocked a chair and was accosted by the figure seated on the end dias.
Realising he'd been spotted, the rogue stood and made to engage the leader in conversation; he elicited little except a name - Argesh - and soon found himself being surrounded by more fighters. The rest of the party appeared from the stairwell, to see the rogue dodging for his life and they advanced to engage his opponents. After a protracted fight they defeated them and rested briefly before quickly exploring the area. Finding only what appeared to be a kitchen and connected food storage, they moved on into the chamber beyond.
A strange blank room met their eyes, only broken by a lone statue near the middle of the floor, which at the rear rose ten foot to where the room continued back at a higher level; the raer face was pierced by two stairwells leading up to the higher floor. The lower floor was flagged with large slabs, each marked with an engraved cross at the centre of which was a small hole. The rogue moved forward and despite his care, was caught by a spear shaft as it shot up from the hole in the floor.
Realising he was in a trapped room, he took a random path and managing to avoid any further traps he sprung, moved towards the stairwells at the rear of the room. Passing the statue, he was again surprised as a fireball shot from the carved mouth facing his side. Managing to roll through, he avoided the blast and reached the stairs at the rear. The others followed and also made the stairs, though the less dextrous suffered some injuries from the traps.
They moved to the upper floor and edged down the corridor beyond, the rogue again out front. More cautious now, he spotted pressure plates crossing the width of the corridor and jumped across them. Landing on the far side, he drove forward yet again, as the floor fell away beneath him to reveal a fifteen foot pit. Two more fighters appeared from a junction ahead and quickly closed on the rogue, but he managed to manoeuvre them to allow some more of the party to jump over the pit and assist the fight.
The others in the group had now descended and with some stealth they approached the second room, before finally rushing forward. The party briefly surprised the occupants, although they quickly recovered and prepared weapons. A further man resting in a far corridor, moved to open a nearby door and a fourth appeared from a side chamber. A stiff fight, enjoined by a quartet of guard dogs released from a rear chamber, still saw the party victorious and they proceeded to search round the rooms for further clues.
The cluster of chambers appeared to be a long disused underground warehouse and excepting a recent crude infill in the outer corridor, nothing unusual showed. The cleric hammered at the corridor infill, whilst in a corner of the guarded chamber, the rogue found a false wall section covering a rough hewn tunnel leading away. Quickly ducking down the short narrow passage, he discovered a small chamber on the other side of the infill, from which a spiral stairwell led down.
He descended with the swordmage in support, to find a large room at the bottom, dimly lit. The rogue saw only two figures at the far end and decided to sneak in, whilst the swordmage went back up to bring the others down. The rogue gained the cover of the bench tables running down the centre of the hall, but towards the far end he knocked a chair and was accosted by the figure seated on the end dias.
Realising he'd been spotted, the rogue stood and made to engage the leader in conversation; he elicited little except a name - Argesh - and soon found himself being surrounded by more fighters. The rest of the party appeared from the stairwell, to see the rogue dodging for his life and they advanced to engage his opponents. After a protracted fight they defeated them and rested briefly before quickly exploring the area. Finding only what appeared to be a kitchen and connected food storage, they moved on into the chamber beyond.
A strange blank room met their eyes, only broken by a lone statue near the middle of the floor, which at the rear rose ten foot to where the room continued back at a higher level; the raer face was pierced by two stairwells leading up to the higher floor. The lower floor was flagged with large slabs, each marked with an engraved cross at the centre of which was a small hole. The rogue moved forward and despite his care, was caught by a spear shaft as it shot up from the hole in the floor.
Realising he was in a trapped room, he took a random path and managing to avoid any further traps he sprung, moved towards the stairwells at the rear of the room. Passing the statue, he was again surprised as a fireball shot from the carved mouth facing his side. Managing to roll through, he avoided the blast and reached the stairs at the rear. The others followed and also made the stairs, though the less dextrous suffered some injuries from the traps.
They moved to the upper floor and edged down the corridor beyond, the rogue again out front. More cautious now, he spotted pressure plates crossing the width of the corridor and jumped across them. Landing on the far side, he drove forward yet again, as the floor fell away beneath him to reveal a fifteen foot pit. Two more fighters appeared from a junction ahead and quickly closed on the rogue, but he managed to manoeuvre them to allow some more of the party to jump over the pit and assist the fight.
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