Friday, February 21, 2014

The King

With no apparent outlet, they back tracked.
It didn't take long before a few loose pieces of gravel and a scrape on the floor led to a secret door. It was small. Nemon would have to strip off his armor before he could squeeze through, but it was their only choice short of facing the Manticore. A meeting they would not likely survive.
Miss Adventure went first. The other side of the door turned out to be a small altar carved into the wall. It was probably a bowl for purified water at one time. But the small temple room was now a foul smelling bedchamber off a larger room. She could hear raised voices coming from the other side of a tattered blanket that separated the two spaces.
She crept up to the door and looked through one of the many holes in the blanket.
A half a dozen goblins filled the roughly square room. They were shouting. One goblin guarded the only door out of the chamber. He peered nervously through a metal grill in the door.
The rest were poking two dead lizardmen on the floor. These must have been the wayward lizards that had led the party here, caught while sneaking about.
Above them all sat a massive yellow skinned goblin in an oversized chair. He was twice the size of the rest, almost man sized. He wore ill kept armor and a massive gold chain around his neck. Upon his head rested a crude iron crown.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Dead End

Every step was taken with care. Every stone making up the floor could be a potential trigger. A trigger ready to drop an avalanche of rocks from above, or storm of poison darts from hidden crevices.
They approached single file with Gruffydd in the lead. He toed each stone before putting his weight on it. The others behind were careful only to step where he stepped.
After what seemed like an enormous amount of time they reached the door unscathed. Miss Adventure hurried to the front to put an ear to the door and check the lock. The lock wasn't trapped, and she put stuck her tongue in and out rapidly, miming a snake, to show she heard lizardmen on the other side.
She ducked just in time to have Nemon smash the door in.
He crashed inside, crushing one lizardman under the door. The rest hissed and charged the door.
One fell to a crossbow bolt from Mellion, another to Gruffydd's hammer.
It was a cramped, chaotic melee in the dark room. No one escaped without some sort of cut or scrape. When it was over, eight lizardmen littered the filthy floor.
In a corner, Miss Adventure found a chest and too large bags. The bags were full of jewels, the chest stuffed with coins.
"This is great", said Nemon, "but we still have to find a way out of here."
After a quick a search for hidden doors by Miss Adventure and Gruffydd, the dwarf spoke. "Hmmm, no doors, but there are fewer lizards here than we faced in the passage. We didn't pass any on the way here, so they had to go somewhere."
Gear was gathered. Wounds were bound and the last crumbs of rations eaten.
And somewhere in the dark, the manticore roared.....

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

The Door

There was a loud CRACK as Gruffydd's great hammer struck home. The skull helmet of the Lizardman shattered and the great scaled creature dropped like a puppet with its string cut, lifeless to the ground.
Several of the lizardmen, now leaderless, sprinted down a dark hallway. The rest were trapped and fought like demons against the party.
Nemon skewered a few on his blade while the rest died from elven arrows.
There was no sound now except the heavy breathing of the group, and the constant drip of moisture on the stone walls.
Gruffydd searched the lizardman leader. Under his bone breastplate was an enormous ruby necklace. It was of ancient design. The gold necklace that held the ruby was woven like a great rope, and the ruby itself positioned to look like a great eye.
The party was exhausted. It was time to leave the Well of Souls once again, but how? The way back was blocked by the enraged Manticore. The only way left was down the passage the Lizardmen had taken.
They were down to their last few torches, whose light revealed a passage made from interlocked river stones. The sides were slick with moss, while the floor had been worn with use.
After a hard right turn, which the Dwarf Gruffydd guessed was north, they found a door at the end of a long hallway.
Miss Adventure whispered, "I don't know about the rest of you, but I smell a trap".