The room ahead is massive, stretching 40' wide and over 80' in length. Not fifteen feet into the room, however, the ground has split and rest of the room has dropped nearly 30' below your level. Similarly, the ceiling, 60' overhead, has also dropped, exposing the layers of rock that were once above this chamber. Vast amounts of steam and mist pour out of the cracked earth, partially obscuring your view of the greater portion of the room down below.
The constant hiss of the steam fills the chamber as wisps of mist float down the hallway and through the archway towards the rest of the group.
As the party reaches the sealed end of the corridor and begins making preparations to stage a defense, Garidan relaxes the tension on his bow, returning the arrow to its quiver before slinging the bow over his shoulder. He then move to the cart and begins to rearrange some of the contents for quicker access, while occassionally glancing at the passage into which Niyut has disappeared. His repacking completed, he returns to his position in the line and readies his bow once again, alternating nervous glances between the mouth of the passage and the corridor from which the party came.
While waiting, Garidan decides to make use of the time, and calm his nerves somewhat, by questining Grymdor about potential hazards to be found down here. "We didn't have much time for discussion before leaving Eastgate, Grymdor, so perhaps you can spare a few moments now to tell us of likely hazards on our path? While the cataclysm has surely rearranged things, some idea is better than none."
Grymdor keeps his eyes on the hallway while he whispers in response to Garidan. "I know very little of the catacombs as I've only ventured very close to the door. We could face any number of aberrations down here... likely Goblins as well, given their proximity... and who knows what else the Shaping has brought to our doorstep."
"What I do know from the stories of old is that we're currently going through an old, abandoned section of Eastgate known now as the 'Lost City'. Many of the great houses once had their halls in this part of Eastgate. Here, we will search for the Grand Stairs, which should be two or three more levels below us. They descend into the Great Hall of Krumheil... we will surely recognize that hall from the stories I've been told. The western most exit from that hall leads us to the ancient Abyssal Bridge..." he stops and listens carefully.
Shush!
Convinced he heard another sound back down the main hallway, Grymdor puts his right index finger to his lips and points toward the archway that Niyut explored.
About to chime-in but silenced by Grymdor, Gruskorb listened for the stimulus of the warning.
Not very adventurous, these dwarves. Their own city is not even a few hours' walk from their doorstep, yet they refuse to reclaim it. Even if their clan as a whole wouldn't, I'd be amazed if some delvers here or there hadn't pulled an in-and-out with the place.
His hands on his weapons, Gruskorb kept still.
Malthazir scowls back as he tries to quiet the horse. "This is not exactly my area of expertise." Still, he does what he can to get the horse quiet and moving.
After several stressful minutes of maintaining position, the only noise that anyone has heard, other than the sound of your animals shuffling their feet and the occasional bay, is the constant hiss of steam from the chamber that Niyut has entered. Similarly, no movement is seen in any direction.
Truk'tosh's grip tightens on his weapon when his sister leaves to scout ahead. He trusted his twin to care for herself but he couldn't deny worrying about her safety.
The tiny lizard perched on his thickly muscled arm scurries to the opposite shoulder, sharing its master's anxiety.
Niyut cautiously moves forward hugging the wall and on the look out for traps. This fissure did not comfort her.
Niyut quietly creeps forward into the room. The carved walls along the long walls display intricate stone reliefs of several dwarven lords. While the short ends have large replicas of the insignia above the archway. As Niyut places a hand against the wall behind her, she feels the small recess. A quick peak confirms a small opening and a iron lever within.
On the floor of the lower section, she can see the large wooden table tossed on its side and several broken chairs. She can make out three humanoid forms lying on the floor amongst the debris. There is no signs of life nor movement. She wipes the sweat from her forward and becomes aware of the warmth of this room from the steam pouring in.
Gruskorb stifled a chuckle at Malthazir's upset. No, I'm sure it isn't!
He regained his focus and whispered to his companions. "There's a symbol on that door of a hammer and anvil. Perhaps this is an armory?" Niyut was investigating, but the sounds of gold coins rang in his head if there was indeed dwarven craftsmanship for the taking within...
After minutes of tense waiting, fortunately in vain, Garidan relaxes the taut bowstring and replaces the arrow in the quiver with a nervous laugh. "Well, seems we got ready for nothing but nerves there. On the other hand, better to waste a little time and tension for naught than pass off a warning as nothing and get blindsided, I suppose," he adds thoughtfully. Still, he watches the corridor with a wary eye, just in case, while the others sort out the cart and the animals.
Niyut continues to creep forward.
From the ledge, Niyut can see another slight drop off in the far right corner of the room. In the center of the room, four chandeliers hang from iron chains each connected to an iron ring set into the ceiling. The first chandelier is on the upper section. The other three are on the lower section. The closest being just 5' beyond the ledge and extends down to 10' above you.
As Niyut steps close to the ledge, she peers at the humanoid shapes. Two are close together and look quite decayed. One wears metal armor and the other a robe. The third figure looks to have died more recently in that you can see some staining of blood upon the floor. You also note that it appears to be smaller than the other two bodies.
Niyut sighs internally, seeing no easy answers to how to move the cart forwards. She makes her way back to the party, perhaps they knew how to get around this problem.
Once Niyut returns and describes what she saw down the passage, Garidan groans in frustration. "Well this is going to be an issue. But we'll have to figure something out, because these two animals are just too useful for the journey ahead." Running his fingers through his head, Garidan stows his bow over his shoulder and ventures down the passage to inspect things for himself, in the hopes that he can possibly get a atart on a solution.
It doesn't take him long at all to come up with a few ideas, most centered on using that nearby chandelier, but he waits for the rest of the party to join him and look things over for themselves before getting started on anything. Instead of wasting time while waiting, he returns to the wagon, digs through his pack for a bit, and pulls out a coil of high-quality rope. Though wound as tightly as possible, the coil is still quite large, with a length that Garidan knows is easily enough to permit access to the split lower level. Returning to the ledge, he then spends several moments unwinding the coil, tying knots into its length every few feet. That done, he looks around for a suitable place nearby to anchor one end of the rope.
Listening intently as Niyut described the areas beyond, Gruskorb felt relieved. The shaping caused problems with the mountain moving; many people in the deep here likely died. Though he wasn't happy about the deaths, he was pleased there did not seem to be targeted hostility. Nobody lurking for us to deal with.
"No clue what could be down there without checking. It's not too horribly far, and we've got rope. I could give it a go, see what's what." The willingness to give his limber body a test was about as close as Gruskorb would get to bravery.
"This may be a task too larger for the six of us to perform. Grymdor, do you think your people would help us either clear the cave in or create some harness or contraption to lower the horses and cart twice? In the meantime, brother, Garidan, would you lower me via the chandelier? I would very much like to see who those bodies are down there."
Assuming they do so, she will go investigate.
Truk does as his sister asks.
Hearing Niyut's request, Garidan smiles and holds up the knotted length of rope he's been readying for just such a purpose. "Certainly, though I was intending to use this myself. But the chandelier should work just as well, I suppose." With that said, he helps Truk'tosh ready the chandelier on their level, bringing into Niyut's reach. Before sending it on, however, Garidan carefully ties off his knotted rope to the end of the chandelier's chain, extending the distance the chandelier can travel before running out of line. Garidan then assists Truk'tosh in lowering the chandelier on their part of the split--with Niyut carefully hanging from it--to the lower part of the room.
"Do recall," he says to Niyut, voice raised to carry over the hiss of the steam, "That the living are not our only threats. Those bodies may be a bit more active than they appear. Please be careful approaching them." With that in mind, Garidan once more readies his bow, fretfully watching Niyut move through the darkness beyond his ioun torch's light toward the bodies. Though worried about a prospective ambush, he still takes the time to marvel over his ability to see in the dark, even if it isn't very far.
Eyes fixed firmly on the lower level, he decides to try steadying his nerves with a little more conversation. Leaning toward Truk'tosh to be heard over the steam's noise, he asks, "Did you find your visit to Eastgate to be pleasant? I recall you spent quite a bit of time after the crypt out and about in it."
"I think getting a large group of the dwarves down here might prove difficult given their current situation with needing every able body to guard the gate from the undead and the breach from the goblins," Grymdor says. "But hooking up a harness to lower the cart and the animals should prove to be relatively easy. We could use your ropes to strap them to that chandelier," he continues while pointing at the closest chandelier to the ledge. "Then if we had two or three of us down below controlling the release of the chain, we should be able to lower it all the way to the floor. How much rope do we have?"
Garidan and Truk'tosh slowly lower Niyut to the lower level with the knotted rope. As she gets closer to the ground she can see the massive wooden table's top is still very much intact although several of its legs have broken. Debris from the smashed wooden chairs and a fair bit of rock litter the area. She stops ten feet from the two, closer bodies, immediately realizing that they have decayed tremendously. Only their skeletal remains are left. The armor worn by one of them, is very ornate with etchings of ivy vines in the shining metal. Several arrows still protrude from its back, giving a clear rationale of its former owner's cause of death.
The other corpse wears a black, fur-lined robe made of silk. The quality of this robe is unmistakable. The long, flowing golden hair is still tied in a fine braid. It's right arm is outstretched, and two rings still rest on its bony fingers.
Glancing at the body further north, Niyut sees the familiar leather armor of the goblin's she recently come to know up-close. This corpse is fresh.
Odd, I wonder why this hair has not decayed at the same rate?
Niyut shifts her perspective looking for trace energies from the world of spirits lingering in the world of flesh.
She moves closer to the two older bodies.
With Truk'tosh apparently deciding what, if anything, to reveal in response to Garidan's innocuous question, Garidan is able to keep focus on the Niyut below while still answering Grymdor's question. "I've got fifty feet of good silk line there," he says with a nod in the direction of the chandelier. "And there's another fifty feet of stout hemp in the cart there as well. However," and here, Garidan's voice is interrupted by a thoughtful hum before he continues. "We have some smith's tools, and three chandeliers whose chains are going unused. We could cut the final link at the chandelier and pull the loose chains from their channels in the wall. Could get a good fifty feet worth of dwarf-made links each time."
Garidan intently watches Niyut for a few moments before frowning. Looking back over his shoulder, to the passage behind, he asks with a slightly worried tone. "Is anyone bothering to keep an eye out behind us? I really don't want something hostile getting at our backs, especially if we're in the middle of something vital like lowering our animals. Didn't Niyut mention something about finding a possible gate mechanism? Maybe we should see if that does, in fact, close off the passage behind us."
Niyut focuses her vision on the two decayed bodies, calling forth Viosil's ability to see the ethereal aura's that identify magic. As Niyut feels the energy flow from her and into her eye, she turns her attention to the robed skeleton lying prone on the floor. A fine, mithril chain woven throughout the corpse's hair begins to glow with a faint, soft blue aura of illusion. Although the silken robe does not glow, from inside the robe a more vibrant, green aura of conjuration pulsates. As she gets closer to this skeleton, she can see the hint of metal lying within it chest cavity. A s she shifts her focus to the rings, she notes they remain pale and without a hint of an aura.
Turning her gaze to the armored skeleton lying supine in front of the other, Niyut can see no magical auras. However, studying the intricate details of the etchings in the armor reveals that the vines of the ivy hide the elegant strokes of elven script laying out several generations of names in a family tree. The armor was clearly masterwork when created but the dozen holes made by the arrows, along with the decaying leather straps, renders it useless until significant repairs are made. Niyut also notices the empty scabbard strapped to its waist.
"Garidan, there is a lever for door," calls out uncharacteristically raising her voice to be heard. "Also, Malthazir might want to come down here. These look to be nobles of his people. What they are doing dead here I cannot say."
Turning her attention back to the corpses, "Spirits of the elven dead, rest in peace. We honor your memory. Thank you for leaving behind things that we can use in these troubled times. With us your story shall live on."
After making an effort to placate any lingering spirits the oracle begins to strip the robed corpse of its effects. She does this gently and with respect. She begins with the mithril chain and whatever is emitting the conjuration aura from within the robe. Then she takes the rings and the robe. This robe looks warm. Fur and silk are luxuries now. After it has been cleaned and aired this might be very comfortable.
Finally after the ancient corpse has been denuded of its finery, she looks into the chest cavity to see what metal killed this elf.
Once this is done she respectfully lies the corpse out before doing the same to its armored friend. Though repairing this armor was far beyond her skill, the dwarves of Eastgate might be able to repair it on their return or perhaps they might be able to find his descendants.
After ceremoniously, albeit respectably, stripping the corpses, Niyut gently rolls the smaller corpse towards it side and exposes its chest. Wedged between two ribs is the last six-inches of an adamantine blade. Careful not to cut herself on the sharp edge or the jagged, broken edge, Niyut removes the blade and sets the corpse back.
Someone did not like these two. Adamantine does not easily break, and for it to break off in a body? There is a story here.
Niyut examines the enchantments in the order that she took them off the corpse. The chain was probably more wealth than existed in half her village. Its magic was full of deception. Truly a useful piece of magic that. But the robe was the true find. She couldn't imagine how nice the the silk would feel against her skin and it seems that there is truly a cunning piece of craft woven into its fabric.
Malthazir might want this as well. I will have to ask him if he objects to me taking this for myself.
She pauses for a moment speculating on the robe. She reaches into the pocket.
I wonder what this elf stored in this cunning pocket?
Malthazir scans all of the bodies for magic, particularly looking for any necromancy auras that might betray an undead. Then he stops at the body with the scabbard, raising his brows in surprise. "That belonged to the del'Agost Dianndor, a noble elven line." He reaches down and takes it from the body, looking at it then back at the body with a frown. He tries to read the elven script. As Niyut respectfully takes the items from the corpse, he gives a quick glance and gets back into his thoughts.
"Hmm, I'm not sure what the robe is. I'll take another look at it tomorrow. The mithril chain allows the wearer to disguise itself at will. And the rings are worth-well would have been worth 250gp."
"The pocket is much larger on the inside than it is on the outside. The weight of the thing is elsewhere. Do you mind if I claim this robe?"
Malthazir frowns, looking at the robe.
Be nice, she wants the robe.
I swear I am going to perform a lobotomy.
Please, you're too much of a narcissist.
Do you have anything meaningful to contribute?
Actually yes: She seemed very respectful to your kind and wants to claim the robe. Do you have a use for it?
Pocket dimensions are extremely useful, especially for a caster.
She's a caster.
She gets closer to fights, she has a higher chance of falling and being unable to retrieve items.
She's a healer you twit, she's the most likely to stay standing.
...
"Yes, I think it will serve you best."
Niyut gives Malthazi a tentative smile, "Thank you. Did you notice the blade fragment? Who ever stabbed this elf broke the blade off during the battle. I did not even know that adamantine could even break, let alone snap against bone."
Perhaps he is kinder than I gave him credit? Perhaps he remembers the scrolls I gave him off the sorcerer. Of all my companions, I trust and understand him the least. Yet we will be traveling together for the foreseeable future. I will have to learn to trust.
As Malthazir makes his way down the rope to join Niyut, Garidan trots back to the passage and, upon locating the lever in the wall, gives it a firm pull. He then watches as the passage is quite firmly sealed, hoping that a similar lever isn't present on the other side. Once the door is completely in place, he returns to the others. "Our backtrail should be taken care of now, so we can focus forward in here for any potential threats," he says before stepping to the wall to examine the chain that comes to an end over their heads with the first chandelier's frame. He also glances up at the chandelier itself from time to time, trying to get a look at the point where it joins the chain's far end.
Every so often, he casts a wary eye at the level below, still watchful for any threats to the two casters as they examine the bodies and the items that they have removed from them.
"It can be broken, but only by legendarily hard materials. Or other adamantine of course. Magic could also do it." Malthazir looks at it. "I doubt we can tell what it was, but maybe..."
Niyut cautiously slips her hand into the inside pocket of the robe and pulls out a small, ivory scroll case that is magically sealed with Draconic runes inscribed along the silver cap of the case. She also pulls out an elvish knife. While the knife is nicely fashioned, it is not magical.
Garidan's inspection of the chain leaves him visibly satisfied as he rejoins the others at the edge of the split. "Well, that chain is longer than I thought, well over double the length of my rope there," he says while pointing to the knotted silk line. "It'll take some work to get it loose without braining someone with falling links, but we can use that to do the lowering for the cart and the animals, while the rope is used to make comfortable harnesses for the latter."
Niyut reads the draconic runes, careful not to open the scroll case. She had heard stories of invisible runic wards.
"This was once carried by your people. Perhaps you will find meaning in it," Niyut says as she hands the scroll case to Malthazir.
She then rises to her feet and goes to examine the goblin body physically and mystically.
Malthazir holds the scroll case with a surprised look. "This was a secure way to send information, the message is destroyed by acid if force opened. However a well trained enough rogue can get it open safely. We should try to find out what's inside."
Malthazir just looks at the broken blade and shakes his head. Bah, weapons.
"Garidan, how do you propose we break the links of this chain to disassemble the chandelier?" Grymdor says stoically as he examines the wench.
Niyut approaches the goblin's body looking for any sign of magic, but finds none. Further down the hallway to the north, she sees another goblin corpse after another ten foot drop. Again, her detect magic reveals no magic coming from the corpse.
Looking at Grymdor for a moment, Garidan lifts his eyes to the chandeloer overhead with a considering expression. "If the chandelier can't be removed from the chain for maintenance purposes, then we unpack that metalworking kit in the cart. The tools are basic, but should include what we need to break a few links with a bit of sweat and effort."
As Niyut moves toward the end of the chamber below, Garidan returns his attention to the area around her. It looks as though she's examining a goblin, and that means more of the little terrors could be lurking in one of those openings off to either side. With all of the muscle currently out of reach, Niyut is certainly at risk, and Garidan is determined to ensure that nothing happens to her.
"However, before we get into lowering everything, I think we should take some time to thoroughly clear the path ahead. That's a goblin corpse she's looking over now," Garidan says with a nod of his head toward Niyut. "And I'm willing to bet it didn't come down here all on its own. Securing this area before moving on, though dangerous and an expenditure of time, would be the wisest course. It would keep our backtrail secure, make your return a safer one, and mean fewer threats for your folk back in Eastgate to deal with later."
Niyut looks at the goblin body, thinking that a more skillful healer might be able to discern its secrets. She walks back to the main drop and softly calls up to Garidan and Truk'tosh.
"I'm going to scout the unbroken side passage. It would not do to be ambushed. Whatever killed those goblins might still be around."
Initially envious of the wealth the others were pocketing, Malthazir's statement of heritage and the spirit's connection to it gave Gruskorb pause.
She probably wasn't lying to you; mothers don't often do that. How were you connected?
The motivations for the rogue's hesitation were practical. If these people were murdered, it was likely because of something regarding their lineage. Adamantine and mithril destroyed in the process? These were not victims of some common highwaymen or primitive goblins. The magic of volume stated to be present in the robe also spoke to power. Such sorcery isn't cheap - I'd have a dozen of those pockets if it were.
The scroll case though ... we should know whatever lies within.
The aegean turned to Malthazir. He identifies both item and person connected here, yet I feel no sentimental connection from him to either. "You say well-trained, and scroll cases aren't my specialty. I could give the case a go though." If anything failed him, it would be the unfamiliarity with scroll cases, not the agility of his fingers.
Lastly, he inspected the chandeliers with Garidan. "There is some heavy duty work here. If we're not sure we can cut the chains even with a metals kit, perhaps they would fare better than the blade and link shirt."
That observation got Gruskorb thinking...
Grymdor nods at Garidan. Taking the leather straps of the bridle, the young dwarf lashes the oxen to the chandelier wench. "Do you want us all down below securing the area or is anyone to stay with the cart?"
***********************
Niyut silently and stealthy approaches the three doors. Hearing nothing beyond the doors, she gently tries each latch. Both the west and south doors appear to be unlocked while the north door is secured.
The hobgoblin carefully takes the scroll case and observes it cautiously. The magical lock would be difficult for most people but the calmness in Gruskorb's mind provide by his uninvited guest and a few insights regarding these cases from Mathazir gives him the serenity needed for the precise movements of his tools.