Shackled City put through a blender (updated 7-23)

[xnosipjpqmhd]

Send in the Clowns

Later when the heroes returned to the Laughing Horse Inn to inquire about the clothes that were to be laundered, Drand furrowed his brow. "I'm sorry, good sirs," he said. "No one's left any deliveries for you."

The three exchanged worried glances. Oberyn searched the stoop outside, but no packages or clothes were waiting for them. "Just wait 'til I find that priest," swore Oberyn.

When they arrived at the temple, they noticed Jenya ministering to the hunched form of Ruphus, a trickle of blood running down his bruised face.

"What happened?" asked Tateland.

Ruphus looked up. "I was acc-ccosted in an alleyway by m-members of the Guild of J-Jesters," he stammered.

Everyone looked at everyone else. Oberyn broke the silence with a laugh. "You were mugged by clowns?"

Jack tried hard to supress a chuckle.

"The Guild of Jesters is merely a front for the local thieves' guild, the Last Laugh," explained Jenya. "They are nothing more than ruffians and ne'er-do-wells who paint their faces half-black and half-white, scaring citizens into giving up their hard-earned coin. Their guildmaster calls himself the Harlequin."

"What did they take from you?" asked Tateland to Ruphus.

"They beat me up, and a woman told me to keep my nose out of business that doesn't concern me."

Jenya broke in. "I assume she meant the investigations into the disappearances at the orphanage. A few people had disappeared in the prior weeks, but this is the first time that children have been targeted. I had sent Ruphus there yesterday to find out how and why. He said there seemed to be no evidence of break-in. "

"Where do these thieves hide?" demanded Oberyn, gripping the green hilt of his still-sheathed longsword.

"No one knows, or at least no one is telling. The keep's garrison knows nothing more than what I've told you. If they did, no doubt Terseon Kellerang would have broken the ring by now."

"I heard a rumour that these disappearances might be the work of a cult dedicated to the Prince of Demons," said Tateland.

"I have heard of no demonic cults active in these parts," said Jenya, "but that doesn't mean it's not true. When Sarcem returns from Griffondale, you can ask him if he has sensed any such evil."

"If the Guild of Jesters doesn't want us looking into the disappearances at the orphanage," said Oberyn with a mischievous sneer, "then that's exactly what we should do."

[sblock=GM Commentary]Finally we reach the true beginning of the AP, more or less... [/sblock]

 

[xnosipjpqmhd]

Lock Up Your Daughters

"The orphanage rests on the corner of Lantern Street and Lava Avenue," said Ruphus, pointing Jack, Oberyn, and Tateland in the right direction. "It is a charcoal-coloured, two-storey building."

As the heroes approached, they examined the building's exterior. The windows on both storeys were tightly shuttered to keep out the rain. Lanterns hung from either side of the oaken front door, which sported a green copper knocker shaped like a smiling gargoyle, its nostrils pierced by a copper ring. Tateland knocked.

The door opened a crack, and the wizened face of an elderly hobbit woman peered out. “Who’s out there, and what are you doing here at this hour?”

"We are here about the missing children," said Tateland.

The woman sighed, and unlatched the door, ushering the trio inside out of the rain nevertheless. “You can come in and look all you want. I don't know what one more set of inspectors is going to uncover. Too many bakers muddle the pie." Then she seemed to recover her manners. "Pardon me, I am headmistress Gretchyn Tashykk."

"What do you mean 'another set?'" asked Oberyn. "Are you referring to the priest Ruphus?"

"He and others. First there were the half-elves, then--"

"Half-elves?"

"Yes, a pair of them," confirmed Gretchyn. "Fario and Fellian, if I remember their names rightly. They came by soon after the disappearances were reported, asking a lot of questions about this and that. Then there were members of the garrison, and then Ruphus, and now you."

"Who did the half-elves say they worked for?"

"They didn't, but they asked a lot of questions, like whether any of the children had connexions to someone named Elethor Ashstaff. I don't know who that is for the life of me."

"What did they look like? How were they dressed?"

"Like travellers, I suppose. They each had a sword, a bow, and a grey cloak. One of them was pale and had short blonde hair. The other was more tanned and had long dark hair. He favoured bright green clothing, if I remember right.

"In any case, four children were taken, two boys and two girls. None of the other residents or staff heard or saw anything. The orphanage has barred windows and excellent locks protecting its doors. The children are locked into their rooms at night to prevent any mischief. So you see, the circumstances surrounding this crime are exceptional, to say the least.”

"May we search your establishment?" asked Tateland.

The heroes spent the remaining hours of the evening searching every nook and cranny in the building, but nothing unusual presented itself. The trio failed to uncover any secret doors, broken locks, or other ways that someone could easily enter the building undetected.

"We should stay the night," suggests Jack. "Perhaps the predator will strike again."

"Aye," agreed Oberyn. "We can split up: one in the entryway and another in each of the sleeping rooms."

At first, Gretchyn resisted the suggestion, relenting only when they modify their plan to sleep only in the entry hall.

With little in the way of preparation, the heroes hunker down for the night in the entry hall, with Jack, then Oberyn, then Tateland maintaining a lookout.

 

[xnosipjpqmhd]

Motherless Children Have a Hard Time

Godsday, Harvester 4.

Tateland awoke suddenly at the sound of the front door closing. Gretchyn approached, apologising for awakening him. "As you know, it is Godsday. The children must be escorted to the temple for services."

The priest woke the others. They compared notes with Gretchyn and found that no one had experienced anything unusual during the night. All of the children still in the building were accounted for.

Oberyn watched while the orphanage staff led the children out the door and off to the temple. He seemed lost in thought, then emerged from his reverie. "Either magic has been used, the locks have been picked, or the abductor was already inside when the doors where shut for the night," opined Oberyn.

"Magic it may be," said Gretchyn, "but I cannot imagine that one of the staff was involved."

"Madam, we must consider every possibility," said Tateland. "Who are the staff?"

"There are five who help me, but Jaromir and Willow don't have quarters here, and they come only occasionally. The other three are Neva the nurse, Temar the cook, and young Patch the janitor."

"We will need to search their quarters, beginning with yours," demanded Oberyn brusquely.

Gretchyn was taken aback. "You think I would do this? Your inquiry has gone far enough." She stamped her small foot.

Oberyn was insistant. "If you are hiding nothing, then you needn't fear a search of your things."

"You, sir, are overstepping your bounds. Please leave."

Oberyn ignored her and instead turned to Tateland. "Go to the temple and fetch the priestess," he commanded.

"You are all done here," said Gretchyn, then she stepped out onto Latern Street to summon the nearest patrol of soldiers. "Guards!"

Tateland seemed torn. "Jenya will not come. She must attend to Godsday duties."

"Fetch her!" yelled Oberyn.

Tateland relented and headed off to the temple just as Gretchyn returned with two soldiers.

"You fellows need to leave," said one. "Let's not have any trouble."

Oberyn held his hands to the ceiling. "Does no one care about the missing children?" he cried, flabbergasted. "If another one is abducted, it will be on your heads!"

"We all care about the children," said Gretchyn firmly, "but who are you to claim a moral right to do as you please in their name?"

"Brother Tateland represents the Order of St. Cuthbert, your major benefactor" answered Oberyn, "For my part, I am a Tercival, a family that has made large donations to the orphanage."

"Alek Tercival has made donations," clarified the halfling headmistress. "I've not seen you before."

The guards were just about to intervene, when the orphanage staff returned, children in tow. Jenya and Tateland accompanied them.

"Brother Tateland told me there was a disagreement about the way the inquiry is proceeding," said the priestess. She listened patiently while Gretchyn and Oberyn each explained their position.

"I understand and agree with both of you," said Jenya. "I believe the staff should have a say, and with your leave, headmistress, I will address them."

When the children had received their mid-morning meal and been led off to other activities, the staff assembled outside the hallway to their quarters.

Jenya looked each of them in the eye. "Rest assured the Order of St. Cuthbert will find those responsible for taking the children three nights ago, along with all who aided in the act."

Patch shifted uncomfortably.

"Now we ask your help," continued Jenya. "If anyone is unwilling to have their personal belongings searched by the honest priests of the Order, they may speak so now."

No one spoke. Gretchyn opened her mouth as if to speak, but she decided against setting a bad example.

"Very well," said the priestess. "We will begin with Headmistress Tashykk's room." She nodded to Ruphus, who led Jack and Oberyn into Gretchyn's room. The headmistress stood at the door, watching them rummage through her things.

Jenya turned to Tateland. "I must go now, but please return to the temple as soon as you are done. I have one last resource at my disposal that may prove helpful."

Tateland nodded.

When Jenya left, Patch took Tateland aside. "I didn't hurt no one," he mumbled. "I was just s'pose to watch one of them boys, that's all. I swear I didn't know nothing about them being taken. Please don't tell no one."

"Someone asked you to watch one of the boys?"

"yeah, it was an easy 50 eagles. I just had to watch Terrem and make sure nothing happened to him. How could I know he'd go missing?"

"Who asked you to do this?"

"Little bloke name of Revis," said Patch. "Revis Twindaggers. Said the Guild of Jesters had an interest in the lad, and he was none too pleased when I told him Terrem was gone."

"What kind of interest does the Guild have in an orphan?"

"He didn't say exactly, 'cept it had something to do with his dead parents. That's all, and I weren't about to ask for more."

"Where did you meet him?"

"Cross the way at the the Tipped Tankard." Patch began to plead once more. "Please don't tell Headmistress! I don't have no place else to go!"

Tateland thought for a moment. "I cannot make any promises, but I will see what I can do."

***

Oberyn's eyes narrowed when Tateland relayed Patch's confession. He announced to Gretchyn and Jenya, "We will search the half-orc's room now."

Patch was instantly crestfallen as he followed Jack, Oberyn, Tateland, and Ruphus into his tiny room at the orphanage.

In short order, Tateland upturned a boot, and out spilled a black cloth sack ringing with coin. The tiny profile of a jester's head was stitched into it in white thread.

Oberyn emptied the gold coins onto Patch's cot. "What do we have here?" His tone was accusatory. "You are in league with the Last Laugh, are you not?"

Patch began to quake. Everyone was staring at him.

"Tell us where the children have been taken!" yelled Oberyn.

"I don't know nothing about it," said Patch.

"You are just as guilty as if you had taken them yourself!" Oberyn drew his sword.

Patch backed into a corner and lowered a shaking hand to his belt to withdraw a dagger. "I never done no wrong!" he cried.

The confrontation ended suddenly when Patch made a break for the door, and Oberyn tripped him. Patch fell with a thump, and the group quickly apprehended him, but they could get no more answers from him than what he had already said to Tateland.

When Gretchyn saw the coins and heard of Patch's deeds, she was saddened and agreed to summon the soldiers to once more to take him away.

The search of the remainder of the staff quarters was perfunctory.

***

"Patch was told to watch a boy named Terrem," recalled Tateland.

"That would be Terrem Kharatys," said Gretchyn, "one of the four children taken three nights ago."

"What can you tell us about him and the others?"

"Terrem is a dour and temperamental lad. His parents died shortly after his birth.

"The other boy who disappeared as a young dwur of about 12 years, Deakon Stormshield. He was bright and full of energy. We took him in when he was six after his parents failed to return from a journey to the mountains.

"The two girls, Evenlyn and Lucinda, were about Terrem's age: eight or nine. Evelyn seemed quiet and sullen most of the time. She came here after her father and mother succumbed to filth fever a few years back. Lucinda by contrast was gregarious but superstitious. She was given up at age four by her poverty-striken mother."

***

That evening, Jack, Oberyn, and Tateland returned to the Temple of St. Cuthbert to meet with Jenya. She led them into a private meeting chamber.

"I have decided to use the Star of Justice," she said, "but its clue has proven cryptic."

Oberyn and Jack looked quizzically at each other. "What is the Star of Justice?"

"The Star of Justice is a relic from the days of old, granting to the high priest of our temple insight into a vexing problem. While High Priest Delasharn is away, I took it upon myself as acting high priestess to use it's power to divine the location of the children abducted from the orphanage. I wrote down the response." She passed a fresh piece of parchment across to the heroes. On it were written the words:

The locks are key to finding them
Look beyond the curtain, below the cauldron
But beware the doors with teeth
Descend into the malachite 'hold
Where precious life is bought with gold
Half a dwarf binds them, but not for long

After briefly puzzling over the meaning of the riddle, the heroes decided to return to the orphanage for one last look at the building's locks.

Gretchyn met them once again at the door, having just sent the children to their beds for the night. "As I said before, the orphanage is blessed with the finest of locks. When this place was founded, the Order of St. Cuthbert spared no expense."

"What is this symbol etched below the keyhole?" asked Jack.

Gretchyn looked. "That is the maker's mark of Keygan Ghelve. His shop is on Lava Avenue."

 

[xnosipjpqmhd]

The Locks Are Key To Finding Them

It was dark when Oberyn knocked on the door outside Keygan Ghelve's modest lock shop, a two-story building of black stone dominated by a barred bay window displaying all manner of locks, fasteners, and containers.

"Shop's closed, friend," said a gruff voice from inside. "Come back after sunrise."

"We have important business to discuss," called Oberyn, "about the recent disappearances."

"I don't know anything about it," came the answer.

"We need your help regardless," said Oberyn.

After a brief period of silence, the heroes heard the sounds of various locks and chains being unfastened on the other side of the door. What greeted them on the other side had the features a dwarf, but his long legs made him the same height as Jack, Oberyn, and Tateland.

"Half a dwarf?" whispered Tateland to the others.

The smell of logs on the hearth and fresh pipe smoke wafted out to meet the heroes. They entered a cozy room with a burgundy carpet, two padded chairs, and a handsomely engraved mahogany counter. On the opposite wall were dozens--perhaps hundreds--of keys of all shapes and sizes hanging from tiny hooks.

Keygan walked slowly around to the other side of a tall counter, glancing furtively at the red curtain hanging behind it. "Please be brief," he said, sweat dripping from his brow. "I am very tired and must get some rest." His eyes shifted among the visitors.

"You made the locks for the orphanage," said Oberyn, "where the latest disappearances occurred?"

"Yes," admitted Keygan, "but that's not unusual. I've made locks for half the buildings in the keep."

"Do you know how these locks might be bypassed?" inquired Oberyn.

"I know no one who could pick them," said Keygan, in an offended voice, "if that's what you mean. Though, I suppose, anyone with access to a bit of magic could do it." Despite Keygan's tone of protest, the dwarf seemed to be signaling something to Oberyn with his eyes, motioning to the curtain behind him.

Oberyn sensed the meaning in the dwarf's odd gestures. He nodded and continued to ask hard questions of the locksmith, while simultaneously drawing his sabre as quietly as he could. Tateland limbered up his mace.

Keygan shot back with more objections and complaints, while using a concealed hand to clue in the heroes to something beyond--and above--the curtain.

Jack strode to the fireplace and transferred flame to his bullseye lantern. Then Jack, Oberyn, and Tateland approached the curtain while Keygan stepped out of the way for them, all the while denying any knowledge of the disappearances and complaining loudly about the lateness of the hour.

Jack parted the curtain. The room beyond was quite dark, though they could see that three chests stood in the centre of the room, a few tables and shelves lined the far wall, and a staircase rose along the left wall. The heroes crept in as quietly as they could manage in their metal gear. Jack kept his lantern covered, and Oberyn motioned to the staircase.

As they crossed the room, something thudded to the floor behind them.

"What the--" Tateland, bringing up the rear, spun around to see the outline of a figure rising up behind him in the darkness. He struck at it with his mace, landing a glancing blow to its shoulder.

Oberyn made his way around Tateland, picking his steps carefully among the chests on the floor. He poked toward the dark figure with his sabre.

Jack took a step or two onto the staircase and briefly considered leaping headlong onto their shadowy adversary, but he thought better of it, and instead opened the shutter of his lantern. The beam of light jumped around the room as he tried to focus on the struggle, giving the struggle an eerie, otherworldly feel. Once Jack managed to orient the light at the figure fighting with Oberyn and Tateland, he was taken aback by what he saw. The being was bald, grey-skinned, completely bare of clothing, hair, pigment, and gender.

The thing recoiled slightly from the light, and lashed out at Tateland with its rapier, scratching the priest's arm.

In retaliation, Tateland returned a solid blow, caving in the figure's androgenous face. It crumpled to the floor, oozing grey liquid.

"Oh, what have I done!" cried Keygan nervously as he peered through the red curtain. "They'll kill me for sure now."

"What is this creature?" demanded Oberyn.

"I know not what they are called," said Keygan, wringing his hands with worry, "but there are many of them, and others, too, shorter and with hooved feet. They took Starbrow a few weeks ago, and said that if I didn't make keys for them, both he and I would perish!"

Jack approached the dying grey-skinned figure with his lantern, as Tateland spoke a few words to heal his own wound.

"Where do they come from?" asked Oberyn.

Keygan pointed to a section of wall beneath the stairs. "They emerge at night from a secret entrance to the haunted halls of Jzadirune, sometimes with others--shorter ones with hooved feet. It is to that lost place they return with their captives, and it is where, I fear, they hold Starbrow."

"Who is Starbrow?"

"He is a rat and my companion," said Keygan, "He is very intelligent."

"How do you know they haven't already killed him?"

"Starbrow and I share a connexion. I can sense his fear and hunger, and they use him to taunt me."

Oberyn looked to the others. "Let's move this body in case others come."

Keygan led the heroes to his workroom in the back of the shop, as they dragged the bleeding creature by its feet. Meanwhile, Jack examined the rapier that had been wielded by the being.

Tateland pulled Jenya's note and showed it to Keygan. "We have pledged to find and recover the missing folk, and we have received this clue."

Keygan took the note and read it carefully, noting with interest the phrases "doors with teeth" and "malachite hold."

"What does it mean?" asked the priest.

"This may refer to the Malachite Stronghold. Before Cauldron Keep was occupied by men, it was a dwarven fortress. The Malachite Stronghold was the terminus of an underground highway, as well as a bulwark against attack from the denizens of the underdark.

"Above this lay Jzadirune, the workshop of the dwarven wizard-engineers of old. There they produced many wonders of magic and machine, until a sorcerous disease called the Vanishing began to infect their creations. In the end, they were forced to abandon the place.

"Zenith Splintershield and his clan reasserted their claim on the Malachite Stronghold over a decade ago, but he has since left on a quest, and those dark halls remain unknown to me."

"What about this part?" asked Tateland, pointing to the last line of the riddle. "Are you half a dwarf?"

"Bite your tongue, young 'un," scoffed Keygan. "I've no trace of human in my ancestry, thank you very much." Then he bent, unbuckled some hidden straps, and a now shorter Keygan showed the heroes the two stilts he had been wearing. "I prefer to see customers at eye level."

While the priest and locksmith had been talking, Oberyn had been formulating a plan. "The enemy will learn soon enough that they have been discovered. We must go down to Jzadirune without delay." He turned to Keygan. "You know the place better than we. You must lead us."

"I was only a small boy when last I trod those halls," said Keygan. "I remember hardly nothing, but I will go with you, if I can help undo this evil."

Tateland shook his head. "No, first we should let Jenya know about this."

"Very well," agreed Oberyn. "It would be best if we were fully rested anyway. Notify the priestess while we take turns watching the secret door to see if Keygan receives any more visitors in the night."

"It will only help for a while, but I can place a magical alarm on the portal," offered Keygan.

"I will return very soon," said Tateland.

 

[xnosipjpqmhd]

Insane Clown Posse

While on his way to the Temple of the Order of St. Cuthbert, Tateland was assaulted by painted-faced ruffians.

"I guess you didn't learn your lesson," said one of them, tapping a club into his palm.

Tateland unhooked his mace, but soon a gang of four had gathered around him and began beating him to a pulp. Suddenly one of the attackers cried out in pain and fell to the ground, a knife stuck in his back. Then a second knife flew out of the darkness, striking another of the attackers.

Bruised and battered, Tateland tried to get away from the thugs, but he tripped over the fallen one and fell to the ground.

The remaining three ruffians backed off. "We ought to finish you off, priest," said the wounded one, "and if you keep being nosy, we will!" They split up and ran off into the rainy night, laughing insanely.

Tateland picked himself up.

From out of the darkness emerged the mysterious knife thrower. "Are you alright?"

"I will be when I make it to the temple."

"Come on, I'll help you."

"Thank you," said Tateland. "But I can manage."

"Then maybe I should take this street thug to the temple for you."

The two men finished their journey to the temple and carried the now lifeless body inside, where Tateland informed Jenya of the latest assault, and also of the mysterious grey-skinned creature in Ghelve's Locks, and what Keygan had subsequently told him about the rash of kidnappings. Simon listened intently. Jenya healed Tateland, then provided him with a healing potion.

"And you, Simon," she turned to Tateland's saviour. "The Order wishes to thank you for your good deed." She handed him a healing potion as well.

"You two know each other?" asked Tateland. Now that he could see the man in the light of the continual flames within the temple, a look of recognition crossed his face.

Simon nodded. "I drove one of the teams in the caravan you accompanied," nodded the man, introducing himself as Simon Filigree. "I support the faith in my own way. Perhaps I can help you find the missing children."

***

At that moment, Jack, Keygan, and Oberyn were gathered around the dead body in the back room of Ghelve's Locks, when two more grey-skinned figures appeared. One of them yelled words at Keygan and slashed with it's rapier, but the dwarf jumped out of the way.

Jack and Oberyn drew their swords and moved to attack, while Keygan backed up and cast a spell, creating a shimmering vest of force to protect himself.

In moments the souls of the two invaders joined their departed comrade, if those beings have an afterlife.

***

Later, when Simon and Tateland arrived, everyone compared notes on the two encounters that night.

Tateland offered his healing potion to Jack. "You'll need this before I," he said.

Simon introduced himself to the others. If Oberyn recognized him from the caravan, he didn't acknowledge it.

They piled the dead bodies in front of the secret door, then made their preparations for spending the night.

[sblock=GM Commentary]Simon joined in the second session of the campaign, but I had worked him in as an NPC in the first session (one of the caravan drivers).[/sblock]

 

[xnosipjpqmhd]

Beware The Doors With Teeth

Waterday, Harvester 5.

In the morning, Simon was sent out for food, returning with enough trail rations to last the five of them for four days.

Keygan produced an ancient map that he claimed was a map of Jzadirune left to him by his father. Simon poured over it, and he puzzled over the parchment Tateland had given to the locksmith on which was written the strange riddle Jenya received.

The heroes unblocked the secret door and peered into the darkness. Jack lit his bullseye lantern and took the lead. Oberyn, Tateland, and Keygan--bearing another lantern--were in the middle of the procession, while Simon followed behind.

A stone staircase, its steps shrouded with cobwebs and dust, descended twenty feet to a small dark landing. The walls were of fitted stone, and there was an empty iron torch sconce. To the right the stairs descended again to a second landing, turned right again, and continued down to a larger room.

Standing on the second landing, Jack heard strange sounds emanating from the chamber below. "Do you hear that?" he asked the others. "Chirping birds, rustling leaves, and even the faint sound of laughter."

Slowly they descended to a 40-foot-square room from which a slight breeze could be felt, entering perhaps from an open passage in the far wall directly across the room from the stairs. Mounted to the walls around the room were twelve tarnished copper masks, each two feet in height, depicting a smiling dwarf's visage. The soft giggling, rustling, and chirping seemed to pour from the very walls.

Into the left wall were set two large circular portals of wood, framed with a ring of mortared granite stones. The far portal seemed to be closed and bore a strange glyph upon it, while the nearer door appeared to half-open, revealing an iron rim of gear-like teeth.

"Beware the doors with teeth," mumbled Simon, remembering the words of the riddle.

"Look," said Oberyn. "I see a dim light beyond the crescent-shaped opening of this door." He approached the door cautiously and peered within. The glowing tip of a foot-long iron rod shed enough light to cast lurid shadows on the walls of the room. A dozen small cots and chests lined the walls. Cobwebs blanketed many of the cots and chests, and tiny spiders scurried about. A rough hewn tunnel, circular and about 5 feet in diameter, breached the far wall, and another one just like it had been burrowed into the left-hand wall as well. Stony rubble covered the floor near each tunnel.

First Oberyn tested the door, trying to push it farther open. It budged only slightly, then came to rest where it was again. He stepped into the room, followed by Jack.

"A sunrod," said Oberyn, picking up the wand-like device.

As Jack reached the centre of the room, two of the naked grey-skinned creatures seemed to appear from nowhere on either side of him, though it was clear they had been skulking there the whole time. Their blades flashed, spilling Jack's blood on the floor.

Oberyn and Jack leapt to riposte, but the two creatures fled immediately, each streaking down a separate tunnel.

"They are trying to divide us!" called Oberyn.

The heroes decided not to pursue the fleeing creatures. Instead they retreat to the larger room, and Tateland called upon the name of St. Cuthbert to close Jack's wounds.

"What is this rune?" asked Oberyn, shining the light of the sunrod on the closed gear door.

Keygan examined it. "That is the letter J, probably for Jzadirune."

"Might this small, square aperture in the stone beside the door be a keyhole?"

The locksmith examined it briefly. "It is likely, though I know not what manner of mundane or magical key is required."

"Perhaps I can open it," said Simon, pulling some slender metal tools from his pouch. After a moment of working with the tools in the keyhole, the door rolled open, and from a hidden jet sprayed a brackish green gas. Simon rolled out of the cloud, clawing at his face, hands, and other bits of skin exposed to the vile substance.

Oberyn, too, took a step back to avoid the cloud, and when he did, a gruff voice behind him spoke: "Welcome to Jzadirune! Behold the wonder! But beware, ye who seek to plunder; traps abound and guardians peer beyond every portal, behind every gear."

Oberyn spun around, ready to lop off someone's head, but the voice seemed to come from the unmoving tarnished copper mask on the wall.

Simon uncorked the tiny flask given him by the priestess of St. Cuthbert the night before and drank its contents. Immediately the boils and lesions on his skin diminished.

Jack carefully made his way around the quickly dispersing green cloud and shone his lantern into the room beyond the newly opened door. More than a dozen cots and small chests were in the dark room, all covered in cobwebs and dust.

Jack and Oberyn moved into the room to investigate.

Oberyn opened a chest and ransacked its contents, finding a moth-eaten wool blanket, some worthless personal effects, and an off-white tabard emblazoned with a curious symbol: a brown gear shape with a yellow, eight-pointed star in its hollow centre.

Jack opened other chests. They all held similar contents.

Keygan examined one of the tabards with interest, then folded it carefully and placed it into his small backpack.

The heroes regrouped and decided not to fall for the shadowy creatures' shrewd tactics. Instead they wandered down the wide corridor that led out of the original large room. This dusty hallway was carved with frescoes depicting dour dwarves clad in chain shirts and helms, brandishing all manner of weapons. In a few feet, the passage turned both left and right, and as Jack shone his lantern beam in each direction, the group saw that both sides of the halls were lined with more round doors, perhaps a dozen all told.

"Well, which way?" asked Oberyn, grumpily.

Simon held up Keygan's map in the light of the dwarf's lantern. "The passageway to the left should open into another chamber."

As the heroes approached, Oberyn could see that the corridor plainly ended in a stone wall, not a chamber as Simon had predicted. "That map is unreliable," he commented.

No sooner had be spoken these words than the floor beneath him opened up, and he fell 20 feet into a spiked pit. Jack caught himself at the last moment, diving backwards to avoid the same fate.

Tateland and Jack peered grimly into the pit. Luckily the sunrod still burned, and they could see the outlines of two bodies at the bottom of the pit. One of these groaned in pain and pulled itself to its feet.

Oberyn picked up the fallen sunrod and looked around the floor of the pit. The corpse of a grey-skinned being was impaled on several spikes, its rapier and crossbow lying nearby. He collected the crossbow and bolts, then climbed out of the pit on a rope tossed down to him by Simon.

Oberyn spoke words of healing and closed Oberyn's wounds, while Jack and Simon inched around the now open pit.

When he reached it, Jack began to search the stone wall at the end of the hallway for a secret doorway. Immediately he jerked back his hand. "The wall!" he exclaimed. "It's not really there." He tested it again, passing his hand right into the stone as if it were composed of air.

Next Jack summoned his courage and stepped completely through the wall into a chamber thirty feet long and wide, completely bare of furnishings and exits. What drew his attention immediately, however, was the faintly glowing outline of a map on the far wall. It seemed to be an exact copy of the hand-drawn version that Keygan had handed to Simon.

Jack called for the others, and soon everyone stood staring at the map.

"The two smaller tunnels down which the greyskins fled," mused Simon, "are not shown on the map. Perhaps, like us, those beings don't have keys to these doors, so they dug tunnels to avoid them."

"Then we will follow them," stated Oberyn, "though just because they are newer tunnels doesn't mean they aren't trapped as well."

The group back-tracked to the room in which Jack was attacked by the grey-skins. They selected the far tunnel to explore. This passage seemed to branch off in several directions. Jack led the way and exited from the cramped tunnel into a majestic hall, fully thirty feet high, forty wide, and perhaps a hundred or more long. Eight black marble pillars were carved to resemble dwarven artisans and warriors standing on each others' shoulders, bracing the vaulted roof with their collective strength. The walls were adorned with faded murals depicting dwarves in reverie--playing instruments, dancing, wrestling, drinking ale, and so forth.

What was most amazing were the four bright lights that flickered and danced like animated torchlight, drifting aimlessly about the hall from end to end, changing altitude and direction on a whim.

Closed gear doors and open passageways adorned both the left and right walls, but the group's attention was drawn to the far end of the hall, where it widened to form a chamber around a large circular pool, into which water spilled from the cheshire grin of an enormous dwarven face carved in the stone of the wall.

Oberyn led the way toward the pool, but before he had crossed even half of the distance, a crossbow bolt struck him in the chest and another whizzed past him. He shouted in pain and ducked for cover behind the closest column. Everyone else scattered for cover as well.

"They are shooting from the farthest pillars on either side," called Oberyn to his comrades as he yanked the bitter bolt from his flesh.

They waited, but no further attack came.

Oberyn gritted his teeth, spun out from behind his column and advanced to the next one in line.

At this, the two cloaked figures that had been holding positions behind the last pillars fled across the room to another tunnel hewn into the rock.

Oberyn charged forward, intent on pursuing at their heels, then thought better of it, and waited for the others to catch up. He relinquished the lead to Jack, who used his bullseye lantern to examine each section of the twisting tunnel.

Around the third bend, Jack could see that the tunnel clearly ended up ahead.

"Let me investigate," said Simon, moving cautiously forward. He had taken only a few steps when a crossbow bolt ricocheted off the rough-hewn floor of the tunnel beside him. The tell-tale sound of reloading told him it wasn't a mechanical trap but an ambush. He retreated.

"They are shooting from a hole in the ceiling," said Simon.

The heroes began to form a plan. One they all had their marching orders, Jack proceeded down the tunnel with Oberyn behind him.

The crossbow fired again, missing its mark a second time.

At the end of the tunnel, Jack turned and allowed Oberyn, sword drawn, to climb atop him. In the harsh shadows of the room, Oberyn saw a figure directly in front of him reloading its crossbow. Oberyn hacked at it, but was surprised by the other grey-skin, who stabbed at Oberyn from behind. Oberyn tumbled to his right, away from the attack and onto the floor of the small room in which the two grey-skins were making their final stand.

In moments, Simon approached and boosted Jack up into the room as well. The battle was brief, and the grey-skins were slain. Soon the whole group climbed up into the room to have a look. Tateland healed Oberyn's wounds once more.

Patches of green mold grew on the walls and clung to the ceiling. Lying in a heap in the corner were the gutted, putrified remains of an eight-foot-long green worm with multiple legs and eight slimy tentacles sprouting from its bulbous head. Next to it was a pile of entrails pulled from the creature, and on the other side of the room was heap of armour and shields.

"Why did they disembowl this thing?" said Jack, examining the entrails of the giant worm-like thing.

 

[xnosipjpqmhd]

All The World's A Stage

The heroes wandered back through the tunnel and into the massive hall lit by the dancing lights.

"Hold," said Tateland. "I see more light down this corridor." He pointed the way, and the group proceeded to another large pillared room.

Though not quite as impressive in size as the last, the chamber was well-appointed, with tattered red curtains dangling from iron rods mounted to the walls and pillars. Four rows of ornately carved stone benches stood in middle of the room, while partially set into the left wall was a raised wooden stage, decrepit with age, which could be reached via two short staircases. Black curtains behind the stage were parted to reveal a wall covered in chipping paint that once showed an elaborate woodland mural. All of this was lit by four lanterns hanging from hooks at each of the four pillars that supported the vaulted 20-foot ceiling.

The corridor through which they entered the room continued on the other side of the room.

"What manner of lanterns are these?" said Tateland, examining the room's primary light sources. "They appear to burn with neither wick nor fuel."

"Handy," said Oberyn, for by this time the sunrod had expired. "I will take one."

Jack, Simon, and Tateland each took one of the magic lanterns as well.

Fearing another ambush, Oberyn searched behind the red curtains in the back of the room.

Jack moved to do the same with the black curtains on the stage, but as he walked across the creaking planks, a trapdoor opened, and a black tentacle snaked out and latched onto his throat! He struck at it with his blade and managed to free himself, hurrying back down the steps.

"What was that thing?" asked Simon.

"I'm not sure I want to know," said Jack, shaken from the experience.

During his search of the rear of the room, Oberyn discovered another rough-hewn tunnel in the right-hand wall. "Here," he called to the others. "More light this way."

After Simon scouted the main corridor and found only the closed gear door he expected to find, the group reassembled near the circular passageway Oberyn had found.

"By taking the magic lanterns, we will leave this room darkened," said Keygan.

Tateland nodded as if he knew what Keygan meant. "The beast 'neath the stage might be kept their only by dint of the light."

Jack set down his magic lantern in front of the stage. "Then I will leave this one, just in case."

"If it is light the demon abhors," said Jack, "let it have its fill of it." He grabbed up Jack's magic lantern and tossed it into the open trapdoor in the stage. A hollow clank was the only answer.

The party of explorers parted the red curtain and passed into the round tunnel, which immediately turned left and right. Oberyn lead the way toward the flickering light coming from the right-hand passage.

The room into which it led was littered with dust, debris, dead rats, and broken bits of furniture. A torch burned in a sconce next to another closed gear door.

"This torch is real enough," said Oberyn. "Someone or something was here. Search the place, and take your time."

It wasn't long before Simon and Oberyn noticed a section of the far wall that wasn't flush with the other stones. Simon found a concealed knob and depressed it, and the secret door opened. Oberyn held up his lantern and stepped through.

The room was lined with bulky wooden trunks, their lids thrown open and their contents disgorged onto the floor: ornate masks, gaudy robes, once-fancy costumes, mock weapons made of now-rotting wood, and similar stage props. A few moth-eaten costumes dangled from coat racks, mannequins, and wall hooks between some heavier props, including a wooden folding screen painted with stars, a stuffed wolf, and a wooden sun carved with a grinning face. A gear door on the opposite wall was the only exit.

Something covered in fur leapt from the shadows, its face that of a wolf! Oberyn reacted quickly, cutting it down with a stroke of his long sword. He steadied his lantern over the fallen form.

"This is no wolf-creature," he said, tearing away the being's mask with the point of his sword. "It is another of the greyskins, masquerading as an animal."

"Look at its skin," said Tateland. "The light of my lantern almost shines right through it."

"We should search this room thoroughly," said Oberyn, and that's just what they did for the next hour, though they failed to find anything that seemed important.

 

[xnosipjpqmhd]

King Nothing

"There is still the left-hand tunnel," said Simon.

The heroes backtracked and proceeded down the left-hand tunnel, though no light was visible ahead this time.

At another fork in the tunnel, Oberyn decided to stay to the right, and he emerged into a small, rubble-strewn chamber. Most of the detritus was heaped next to another tunnel that exited the room on the left, while the only other exit was a closed gear door. From the wall next to the door protruded an iron lever in the down position.

Oberyn couldn't resist himself. He pulled the lever up. Nothing happened. He shrugged and led the group through the next tunnel, which exited into a ten-foot by thrity-foot hallway capped by closed gear doors at either end. "Dead end."

"Let us go back and try the left fork of the tunnel," suggested Simon, holding the map in the light of his lantern. "I think it will lead us to this area," he said, pointing.

The group emerged from the tunnels on the lowest level of a large room split into three levels by marble staircases. The middle level was merely a landing from which the higher level could be reached, but the wall of the landing was adorned with a laughing dwarven face carved in bas-relief. On the highest level, the heroes could see two pillars sculpted to resemble petrified trees, and between them a graven throne upon which rested an elderly dwarf wearing a silver crown. His soft snoring echoed throughout the room.

"Here you go, dwarf," said Oberyn to Keygan. "It's one of your folk."

Keygan took in the surroundings uneasily and was too timid to advance by himself, so Oberyn climbed cautiously to the landing.

Then the stone face on the wall became animated! "If you wish an audience with the king," it intoned, "place your finest coin in my mouth." The face stopped moving, the echoes of the speech died away, and the king went on snoring.

Oberyn produced a gold coin from his pouch and flicked it into the gaping mouth on the wall. He heard it plink against the stone a couple times, but nothing else seemed to happen.

Simon, Oberyn, and Keygan climbed to the top level of the room and approached the throne. As they did so, the king stirred ever so slightly, and the heroes heard him whisper, "Betrayed we are by our own magic. One by one we fade away. Jzadirune's lost! Oh, how tragic! We curse the vanishing day."

Simon reached out a tentative hand to awaken the dwarven king from his slumber, but his hand passed right through the image to touch the stone chair behind.

"He's just an illusion," said Keygan in wonder.

"But this finely-carved throne is not," said Simon, and he began searching it.

Oberyn moved to the back wall of the room, which was carved with frescoes depicting a complex array of gears. He ran his hands along the stone, comparing it with that of the other walls. "This wall seems different, as if it was constructed later or done hastily."

"What is this?" said Simon as he opened a hidden compartment in the throne's armrest. Within glittered a bed of gold coins and two bars of silver, each the length of a human hand andcut with various notches and holes. Runes were ingraved on their ends.

"Might these be keys?" Simon examined the silver bars while Jack moved in to count the coins.

Keygan looked on with great interest. "Aye, keys of Jzadirune."

Two gear doors led away from this upper level, and one of them bore a rune that matched one of the keys.

"Good fellows," said Simon, "I believe we can begin unlocking some doors." The others gathered round as Simon inserted the key into the lock of one of the gear doors.

“74 . . . 75 . . . 76.” Jack finished stacking the gold coins on the edge of the throne. When he heard the grating of the opening gear door and saw everyone leaving him, he quickly shoved the stacks into his sack and caught up.

Beyond the door was a very long octagonal gallery, thirty feet wide and lined with twenty web-shrouded pedestals. The walls showed signs of hanging once bore tapestries and other fixtures, but nothing now remained on display in the room.

Simon didn't have a key for the gear door on the opposite wall, so the heroes descended two flights of stairs and walked down a hallway to return to the hall with the dancing lights. The gear door on the other side of that hall bore the same rune as one of Simon's keys.

The gear door opened with a rattle, and Oberyn led the way into the small room beyond, which was stacked with long-disused crates and casks. A ladder led up to a loft area, containing a cabinet and a heavy wooden trunk. A lengthy search turned up various supplies, but nothing that seemed to be of great value.

 

[xnosipjpqmhd]

Cum On Feel The Noize

"Surely these keys can open some of the doors in the long hall near the entrance," said Simon.

"Very well," agreed Oberyn, remembering the hall in which he discovered the spiked pit, "but you lead."

Simon shrugged and led the way back through the dancing lights, the cramped tunnel, the half-open gear door, the chamber of masks, and finally to the hall of doors. He carefully led the way up and down, comparing each door's symbol with those on the keys he held. At the far end of the right-hand hall was a match.

"This is the only one that bears the same sigil," said Simon, inserting the key into the slot next to the door. The door rolled aside, revealing a small room, empty save for four decrepit cots, four empty wooden chests, and a wooden dresser. Everything was draped in cobwebs.

Oberyn spent several minutes searching the contents of the room closely but failed to find anything of interest. "Well, what now?" said Oberyn, clearly exasperated with the empty, maze-like halls of Jzadirune.

Simon studied Keygan's map. "All of the rooms we have explored thus far have been within the southwestern quarter of the complex. Perhaps we should return to the room where we found the sunrod, and proceed through the greyskins' eastern tunnel, which we haven't yet explored."

The heroes tramped back through the chamber of masks to the room beyond the half-open gear door.

"I will lead this time," said Jack. He pushed to the front of the group, holding his bullseye lantern in one hand and his rapier in the other.

The round, debris-strewn tunnel led due east for what seemed like several minutes of walking. Finally, there was a dogleg, and the tunnel divided to the left and right.

Jack shone his light down both tunnels but saw nothing to draw him in either direction. "Which way?"

"Try left," suggested Simon.

Jack turned and dutifully advanced down the tunnel, wary for any sign of danger. When he approached a bend in the tunnel, he heard some words shouted ahead of him, though he couldn't make out their meaning. He stopped and listened closer, which was a mistake, because at that moment, the tunnel reverberated with a low, booming sound so fierce it stunned the line of heroes as it passed through them and echoed down the hall.

Several members of the group began shouting questions and directions, but few could hear their own words let alone those of the others. Their hearing returned soon enough, but now their words were muffled by the whirring of machinery ahead.

Jack walked forward, heedless of the fear that gnawed at him. When he got to the bend in the tunnel, he saw that a room lay before him, dark and empty. The whirring sound was very close.

He was struck! For a split second he saw the spinning metal object reflected in the light of his lantern as it tore into his chest, splattering his blood on the walls all around him. Then it disappeared again. The experience was so unusual he very nearly panicked, but with courage he steadied himself and ordered the line of adventurers to retreat.

Whatever had struck him didn't seem to advance into the tunnel; the heroes heard the clank of metal in the room ahead.

Tateland traded places in line so that he was next to Jack, and he called on the might of St. Cuthbert once more to close Jack's wound.

"Okay, not left," admitted Simon.

Oberyn took the lead as the heroes performed an about-face and explored the tunnel leading south. One branch of the tunnel led into a large open expanse of forest. At first the explorers wondered if they had exited from the underground city. They could plainly see four great trees sprouting from a grassy expanse, their leafy crowns fanning out 20 feet overhead to form a roof of branches through which rays of sunlight filtered. A gentle zephyr caused the leaves to rustle, and the sound of birds chirping was clearly evident.

However clever the illusion, it failed to hide the darkened dungeon corridors beyond two archways in the brambles and thickets that formed the makeshift walls of the chamber, and the greenery failed to hide the gear door on the opposite side of the room. Oberyn reached down to feel the grass and felt only the set stone floor of Jzadirune, dead and cold despite its verdant appearance.

 

[xnosipjpqmhd]

Jeepers Creepers

Oberyn led the group through an archway in the brambles to the left. Now they stood in another long stone chamber with a vaulted ceiling, dark except for the light cast by the heroes' lanterns. Perhaps once a dining hall, it was now filled only with the wreckage of what once must have been fine furniture. Two web-shrouded iron chandeliers hung haphazardly from the ceiling, while a third, its chain severed, lay amid the debris on the floor. Two gear doors were set into the left and right walls, and an archway opened to a hallway at the far end of the room.

"One of our keys matches this door," said Simon. He inserted the key, and the door opened.

The room was thirty feet square and might once have been a kitchen. Two blackened stone hearths filled the far corners of the room, while stone shelves, barren and dusty, covered the wall between them. In the middle of the room were two stout wooden tables covered in old webs, while against the wall to the right rested a dilapidated wooden cabinet on the verge of collapsing under its own weight.

Into the left wall was cut another round tunnel, and near the opening were the shriveled husks of three enormous spiders.

The heroes entered the room, unsurprised at its run-down appearance. Oberyn used the point of his blade to search through the dust and webbing on the tables. Simon shone the light of his undying lantern on the blank section of wall to his left.

Jack opened the creaking doors of the cabinet, and the whole thing tumbled forward onto him. He cried out in pain as shelving and clay dishware battered against him and shattered into a million pieces on the ground.

It was at this point that two figures no taller than Keygan emerged from the fireplaces with steel blades drawn, their faces shrouded with black cloaks. Hissing, they swung their long knives, missing Oberyn but cutting into the already-wounded Jack.

With two quick strokes, Oberyn neatly removed both their heads, and the threat was ended. As each creature fell to the floor, its body erupted in crimson flames.

“What are these things?” asked Tateland, watching the bodies burn. They were the size and shape of dwarves, though thinner, paler, and with furry hooved legs. “They appear half-devilish.”

Oberyn looked suddenly at Tateland, then looked away again.

Jack slumped against the table, beaten and bleeding. He pulled the potion Tateland had given him that morning and gulped it down.