Friday, August 25th, 508 AF, continued
Everyone looks at one another, suddenly wary. Blarth reaches out and shoves against the door, making sure it's locked. When the half-orc nods, Geoffrey calls back "We haven't killed anyone here, we've only come in search of some children."
The hiss behind the door is long and thoughful.
"Ssssmellsssss likesss menssss, you do. Dangerousssss menssss-folk aresss. Liessss and trickssss they playsssss. Goblinsss killsssss, menfolkssss kill. Only Tamalruk alivessss. Tamalruk makesss all killersss pay."
"We aren't here to start a fight," Geoffrey repeats. "I'm sorry if humans have hurt you, but we aren't responsible."
"Ssss. Materssss not. Tamalruk ready. Hasssss his weaponssss ready for manssss and goblinsss the ssssame. The sssscalessss of my tribessss will be avenged. Comess if you wantsss to die. Tamalruk isssss ready."
There's the soft scrape of scaled feet on stone behind the door, and the voice goes silent.
"So much for diplomacy," Halgo says. Geoffrey scowls at him.
"Think you can break it open," the cleric asks Blarth, pointing to the door. Blarth just grins and gets a short run-up. When he hits the door, he rebounds with a heavy clang that fills the passageway with echoes.
"Maybe not easy," Blarth mutters. He takes several short charges at the doors, eventually wearing them down with some help from Geoffrey.
"Puny door," Blarth mutters as they burst it from its hinges. He shakes his head to clear the echoing clanging in his ears.
The room on the far side is empty, but there are passenges leading off from the centre of each wall. Yip is sent forward to scout, scampering quietly into the darkness for several seconds before returning.
"Left passage is dead end," he explains. "Forward passage is big room, filled with rocks. Right passage twisty-turny, like mines. Didn't explore far."
"Guess that means we go right," Geoffrey orders. Everyone nods, and Blarth leads the way into the tunnel. They spend several minutes wandering the twisting passages, following turn-offs and twisting corridors. Halgo and Yip both identify signs of ancient mine-work, and point out the relatively poor state of the various wall braces that remain. Eventually they see a blue glow at the end of the tunnel they turn into.
"Yip, scout," Goeffrey orders. The kobold is scamptering towards the light before the words have left the priests mouth.
"Big room, like temple," Yip reports when he returns. He crouches to sketch a crude map in the dust. "Big statue of dragon, holding bolw of fire. Side passages. Lizard man hiding behind statue."
"Did it see you," Geoffrey asks. Yip shakes his head.
"Not think so. Stayed low. Kept to shadows."
"Think it's this Tamalruk?" Halgo asks.
"Yep," Geoffrey asks.
"We bothering to negotiate this time?"
Geoffrey turns to Yip.
"He look like he's willing to negotiate?"
"Yip felt like ambush," the kobold shrugs, remembering his training.
"Then I don't think we'll negotiate," Geoffrey says.
Everyone readies their weapons and moves towards the light. There are some muffled clank from Blarth and Geoffrey's armor, but they seem to approach with something that almost could be considered stealth. When it becomes apparent that they can go no further without being spotted, Geoffrey screams "Now!" and they spring into action.
Yip is the first into the room, taking a wide circle around the statue to come in at the lizardlike foe from behind. So focused on his prey is he that the kobold fails to notice a tangle of bones laying in the corner of the room.
Everyone else reaches the room just in time to see the bones lurch to life, skeletal arms reaching forward to pluck Yip from the ground and plunge him into the sharp tangle of shards that make up the skeletal creatures body. Yip screams in pain, blood running over his scales, and everyone can hear a hiss of pleasure from the lizard-creature behind the statue.
"Tamalruk isss ready," the creature laughs, waving a bone-carved symbol in the air. "Vengence issss hisssss."
