Seeing the goblin is under control, Psotheos sheathes his rapier. He checks the other door for traps and locks, disabling them if needed.
You walk through the swinging door and are met with the smells of baking sweets. In front of you is a glass display counter with all sorts of various breads and sweets in it. To either side are a few very confusing pieces of art, most of which you can't even identify what's in the painting.
Standing behind the counter is a plump man with a few missing teeth, stirring a bowl of batter. As you enter he smiles and says "Welcome to Pernicious Pastries! What can I do ya for?"
Surprised by having stumbled into a bakery, Bjorkus snorts.
”Uh, we’re lookin’ for the inner gate controls. I don’t imagine they’re here are they?”
”That smells good…”
"Well unless they're unlocked with fattening pastries I couldn't help you!" He looks at Bjorkus, then pauses as if thinking. "You look like you'd enjoy our velvet cupcakes, here, try one!" He takes out a deep red cupcake and offers it.
As you look around the room, you see a large wooden sign hung up on the wall you came in from. It reads
Orders to Daoog Mdak ek Ootmootoogee
1) Run a respectable business
2) Deliver 20 cakes a day to me.
3) Have fun!
4) Don't allow having fun to stop the cakes.
5) Don't kill anybody (unless they tip you).
6) Tell anybody that asks about our plans
And remember to smile!
~Twainel Diaporto
Glancing at the sign, Toramin sighs, "So, what are your evil plans? Do they involve spreading disease? Genocide, perhaps?"
He curls his lip in confusion. "Where you get evil from? Every time you make dinner plans with a girl are they evil too?" He calls back into the kitchen, and a servant comes out to take the batter from him. "As a matter of fact we're doing quite a bit of good here. Twainel wants to build a city for the poor, made entirely out of cake!" He laughs with a rasp and shakes his head. "Told him it wouldn't work but he won't listen to me. Told him he's mad, but he said he'd build that city if it killed him."
Bjorkus takes the offered cupcake and sniffs it.
Bjorkus shrugs and offers the treat to one of the goblins.
"So who's Twaine?"
"My boss, hands out the dough at the end of each week." He grins at his pun, looking around at each of you. "Don't converse with him much, he's had me down here for a few months. Apparently it's going to be a big city, this isn't the only kitchen working on it." He cocks his head at Bjorkus, then gets an Aha! face, and reaches down for a cinnamon bun. "Try that one, cinnamon glaze over it, less sweet than the velvet."
"That would depend on the girl."
Shaking his head, he turns to Bjorkus, "We are in the compound of the man who created an advanced form of zombie rot. He is obviously insane and evil. In this same compound we find a man making cakes not 400 yds from a room full of the infected poor and working class. Do you really want to eat that cupcake? This baker could be geased or a mass murderer too for all we know. The crazy man, whatever his name was, mentioned him."
"This makes no sense. What's in the cakes?"
He shakes his head, taking the cupcake back and taking a bite out of it. Between chews he speaks, spitting out crumbs. "I'm making sweets, mostly cakes, for a bit of money at the end of every week. Look, are you wanting to buy anything? I got a few more things you can try if the cinnamon bun ain't your fancy."
"This place is a house of horrors. This man is either ignorant of the terrible deeds being committed here or he is in cahoots with the wretches behind this entire mess. He also seems unwilling or unable to address the matters we have raised, but only speaks of these pastries. We don't have the time to spare to discover which is true. We need to continue to the gatehouse and stop this war and the utter destruction of the city and all who reside therein."
With that Toramin goes to the hopefully no dry river bed.
The man shrugs as you leave, returning to the kitchen.
You leave the room to find the river bed now relatively dry. You climb a good 20 feet down, walk across, and make your way back up. After a turn to the left, you see another river, this one at full strength.
"We could create a rope bridge between the ladders on the first bridge, and have our best climber reset the rivers and then climb across."
Bjorkus nods. ”That could work. Who’s good at climbin’?”
"Psotheos, if you removed your armor, would you be comfortable doing that?"
"We don't have time. I'll go back and hit the switches. You guys keep going. I'll find a way to catch up. I can levitate myself across."
"Are you sure? It won't take more than ten minutes to string the rope up, and the door to the control room is locked."
"Arjax. Can you tell me how to unlock it? Every minute we waste in this... place, is more lives that are lost." The frustration in his voice at this place is clear.
Lovely lolly! The kitchen was one pleasant surprise for Dalton. He eagerly accepts the man's invitation to try one of the sweets, caution merely a footnote in his head. As he bites into the sweet morsel, his desire to be out of this situation really came to fruition.
"Good sir, I must simply say that was a scrumptious delicacy! Now then - we're just passing through. However, if you're ever in the area of Barrowwheel's Bracelets - look me up. We could definitely arrange something!"
*******
One shouldn't swim shortly after eating. "Haven't we had enough of these obstacle courses? Truly now, the mastermind behind this plan must be a monkey or a ghost."
Back in the kitchen
The man smiles as Dalton enjoys the pastry. "I sure will! Here, something new I've cooked up...now where did I...aha!" He takes out a medium sized box and from within it takes out a small pouch of square shaped pastries. "Cinnamon crunchy shell, a few different jams for the filling. I hardly get my business out at all, I insist you take it as a sign of good faith!" He goes back to his things, a little skip in his step.
With the baker
Psotheos looks at the man as if he is deranged. He wouldn’t eat sweets from this man unless he was compelled.
———
discussing the next course of action
”I do not mind your plan Toramin, but since Lindale has a quicker plan, we should follow his. These are the two picks that opened that door...hold them like this and once they are in the keyhole, move them like this. You will feel the tumblers, and hear them too, as you unlock the lock. Any questions?”
As you guys are about to ding out the plan, Arjax starts listening to the sounds of the tunnel...the kitchen...the water...and suddenly he hears something. Another river, right around the next corner it sounds like.
Well that means, oh man. This plan would have just trapped you between two bodies of water! Well then how to get through...I mean all the workers here can't be tightrope walkers!
After locating the third riven you begin looking back, when Arjax puts a hand against the wall and falls right through it. He stands up and you all get the interesting sight of seeing half of Arjax, standing there in confusion.