Journal Entry 12

On the Trail of the Townspeople

The festivities were dying down and it had been a long day. We stood up from the table to bunk down for the night when the door opened to reveal Krova. He entered the inn where we exchanged tales and information learned from our latest exploits. Krova was unfortunately not able to dig up any good information from his sources but was pleased with what we'd unearthed thus far. I was somewhat relieved with Krova's return but then secretly hoped his size and presence wouldn't provoke an incident with the locals. We'd been lucky so far and I hoped that luck will continue. I also wish that Zar'za would rejoin us sometime soon as this seems to be her sort of place.

We trundled off to our rooms. During the middle of the night, I awoke to muffled voices. Krova was entertaining visitors or some such thing. There was a fair amount of confusion from both parts from what I could tell. There were mentions of tombs and resting places and duty not fulfilled. I began to wonder if I should check on this exchange when the voices stopped, only to be replaced by some mumblings that sounded like prayers. Hearing nothing but the ambient noise of the town and the prayers, I went back to sleep deciding that whatever happened could wait until the morning.

Breakfast was made available to us upon our awakening. I made mention of the conversation I overheard to Krova. He shared the tale how the spirit of Sir Keegan in his sword had apperated and was quite confused about where he was. Krova tried to talk with the spirit to let him know we were still on a mission. More importantly though, the Sir Keegan said if he was not at rest, his son was still alive. This was most disturbing news of course as the first encounter with Kalarel nearly snuffed out our lives. I am secretly hoping that there will be no more bad news as we're already pushing our luck here. As there were more pressing engagements at hand ,this matter would need to wait.

Setting Out To The Chamber of Eyes

Bennik joined us mid-way through our breakfast and seemed in fair spirits. I can only guess it is his skill at story-telling and merriment that allows him to remain on this side of the dirt below our feet and not six feet under it. A halfling without any combat skill would seem destined nothing but misery in these dwellings. Somehow he's managed to make a life for himself here, at least for the time being. We finished our meals, gathered our gear and set out for the Chamber of Eyes. With some luck and skill, we'd come across the captured souls before they are ferried too much farther. We left the Halfmoon Inn. Bennik led us across the Seven Pillared Hall to the Dragon Entrance. I was rather surprised to see that the level of activity never seems to change here. Just as many creatures were scurrying about as there were yesterday evening when we first arrived. Refocusing my mind at the journey ahead, I trudged along with my companions.

The sheer number of openings and tunnels were staggering. A cartographer would be here until the end of his days attempting to map out every possible path. As I attempted to take everything in, Bennik piped up stating that there were icons etched in the underground stone. We were seeking out the Chamber of Eyes and sure enough there was a small pictograph of eyes in the stone. Looking back I could see one with seven pillars. Simple and effective. Bennik further pointed out that there are unmarked paths which are absolutely and without question to be avoided should we wish to be seen again. I took that statement to be the holy truth and shuddered as my imagination pictured the horrors that could be dwelling down here.

Bennik led us faithfully up to a set of doors that were atop a set of stairs. Unsettling imagery carved around the portal cast forth an effective message of "Go away". Bennik turned to us to remind us of the icons to follow back to the Halfmoon Inn. He began to head back to town when I inquired how he was going to get the story. He informed us that he'd take careful note of our story upon our return and trusted us not to get the facts mixed up. Before any further objection could be voiced, Bennik was gone. The group turned in unison to again face the doors. Shade went to the front of the group to have a look at the entry. A careful examination of the doors showed no traps or locks of any sort. Who'd need such things given the location and imagery here? Remembering why we were here, we swung open a door and entered the greeting area.

The place was a complete disaster. Rubble was strewn everywhere and the stink of the denizens permeated everything. No one seemed to take note of our entry as no welcoming party appeared. A quick survey of the room showed us a door off to the right and a balcony on the opposite side of the room. Muttered discussion was put forth on the next course of action. I didn't want to get caught flat-footed should the inhabitants decide to check on the front door. I retrieved my grappling hook from my bag and set it up on the edge of the balcony with the assistance of my mage hand. I then ascended up to the balcony. More rubble occupied the balcony but so did a small door. I quietly informed the group of this. Shade came up the rope and ascertained the opportunity the door offered. It seemed to be free of traps and did offer a better opportunity for entrance than the double doors on the main floor. Lodi joined us. With the three of us up at once, the balcony began to shift under our combined weight. We then looked at Krova and decided we'd have a problem getting him up here with the balcony intact.

Before tackling that logistical problem, Shade and Lodi wanted to see if the door would be worth our trouble. Shade quietly slipped through the door. Lodi followed behind. I stuck my head in to see what was happening. Elder Pitnik came up the rope at this point. I hoped the rouge and ranger's stealth would be up to the task so we'd not need Pitnik's healing assistance straight away. Lodi motioned for me to come into the entry. I peeked around and saw a large slumbering beast on a bed and two goblins trying to keep themselves entertained. They acted like a couple of kids with their banter. The beast on the bed woke up with a snort and bellowed in his crude tongue for the smaller creatures to shut up. The beast told them to keep an eye out for trouble while he tried to catch up on sleep.

As the creature settled in, I decided to see if I could provoke a fight. I cast a whisper into the sleeping creatures ear in my best goblin tongue. "Let's kill him." The beast awoke again with much more animation than before. He flew to his feet and cursed out the frightened creatures. As they pissed themselves in fear, insisting that they had made no mention of killing him in his sleep, the large beast kicked them both out the door and demanded the other two come into the room. The two new goblins slinked into the room. They were given their instructions, a smack on the head and then the beast settled down to sleep once more. This situation could work to our advantage.

Shade crept across the darkened hallway passing the small opening to the room. Lodi took up position with Elder Pitnick behind Lodi. Somehow the goblins became aware of our presence in the hallway. Their ears perked up and they crept towards our position. One of them said it was perhaps a rat. Elder Pitnik turned to me and made a motion of a rat to me. I squeaked in an attempt to affirm their suspicion. Unfortunately, it appears goblins like to eat rats and rapidly came up the stairs all the closer to us. Lodi knocked an arrow and took aim. Just as the goblin reached the top of the stairs to where we were, Lodi loosed the arrow. It found its mark but didn't put down the creature. Shade followed up with his arrows to fell the first creature, leaving the other to shout out a warning to the others. Damn.

The beast awoke and quickly grabbed a club. More noise came from the hall. Krova, upon hearing the commotion quickly grabbed the rope and began his climb. He reached the top of the balcony when all support gave way. I had been on the edge of the balcony and started to fall to the ground. I reached out and grasped the edge. Krova landed in a heap below a pile of rocks. I glanced up to see that the large beast, slumbering no more, had closed with our ranged support. The look on Shade's face said it all as I could see him in an instant recollecting the recent times he'd been forced to go toe to toe with our adversaries. Lodi scrambled down the hall firing off his arrows as he repositioned himself. Pitnik took position behind Lodi. I found myself in a bad situation as the majority of my spells do not work properly without some space between me and the adversary. Fortunately, I could call on my thunderwave spell which had a sort enough casting time that any enemy creatures in melee range would not get an opportunity to attack during my incantation. The spell went off although the damage was minimized as I ducked to keep my head amidst all the action. It did create a hole, however and I quickly moved through it to take a spot behind the others.

We brought to bear all our attacks at anything poking its head around the corner. One of the goblins met his end quickly in such an attack. The large beast shouted a defiant cry upon his death and shared his plan for all the pain he was going to bring down upon us. This only intensified our efforts to end this threat as quickly as possible. Krova somehow joined the battle from the other side of the room. This decidedly turned the tide of battle and victory was ours in short order. Just as soon as we were sure there were no more coming, we took stock of the room. There was very little in treasure or information here. We'd have to look further inside for answers.

Chief Krand

We explored further into the area and decided the small passage we had just fought in was the most promising way further into the chamber. We came across a door at the end of the passage. Shade took a listen at the door and heard nothing. He then gestured to the bottom of the door as he noted a shadow moving across the room. Krova exchanged places with Shade. He then blew open the door with a strong shoulder. A hammer flew past his head as this ugly ashen-faced dwarf showed himself. We quickly entered to establish some advantage in the room. There was a second such dwarf who was positioned against the other door. He joined the battle across the room while calling for help from Krand down another hallway. I remembered that was the name of the leader of the Blood Reavers. We were close to finding the townspeople. My thoughts quickly returned to the battle as I hoped we'd cut these two down before having to face whatever was about to join us.

The two dark dwarves engaged Krova. A nasty surprise came about when their beards prickled up and fired darts at Krova. Most were deflected off of his armor and tough hide. A few found purchase in his flesh. I noticed a dark ooze on the darts and knew that couldn't be good. Krova winced a bit and then threw one of the dwarves into the roaring fire in the room. The dwarf smiled as the flames licked at him. I decided my fire based spells would be of little use here and began concentrating on the other spells within my command. Unfortunately I was not the only spell caster anymore. A goblin mage stepped out of the hallway and began casting forth magics. A familiar green magical whip flew out at Shade and drug him across the room. This couldn't be allowed to happen. Just as I set up for a thunderwave spell, the door behind the spellcaster flew open. An archer was setting up for a shot as I loosed the spell. The enemy spellcaster flew into the hallway and the archer tumbled head over teakettle down the stairs he'd just climbed. Smirking a bit at this good fortune, I then grimaced upon seeing the largest hobgoblin ever darken the doorway along with his pet dire wolf.

Krova put an end to one of the dwarves and sped across the room to answer this new threat. A fierce struggle erupted as Krova exchanged blows with Krand and the dire wolf. I continued to let loose with my thunderwave spells that put an end to the spell caster and sent the archer down the stairs a second time. Lodi and Shade were issuing punishment from the far side of the room and Pitnik kept Krova from succumbing to his wounds. We managed to kill the second dwarf and dispatched Krand and his pet. The archer finally made it up the stairs again and knew enough to side-step my spell. He grinned as he drew back his arrow only to discover Lodi had beaten him to the punch. His grin faded quickly as blood spilled from his mouth and he slumped to the floor.

We examined the room and discovered a parchment. It was a receipt for a group of slaves dated two days ago. We were too late to rescue the slaves here. The presence of the dark dwarves led us to our worst suspicions that the townspeople were now in the deeper confines where the dark dwarves lived. Our high from the victory won faded rapidly with this realization. After gathering up what treasure we could find, we dragged ourselves back to the Seven Pillared Hall to regroup. Not much was said on the journey back to the Halfmoon Inn and nothing needed to be said. The thought of those people in the hands of those evil dwarves fueled a fire within me, strengthening my resolve to set them free and put an end to these foul designs.