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Message: <blockquote data-quote="arwink" data-source="post: 1134723" data-attributes="member: 2292">The interior of the cottage is sparsely furnished, and apart from the cooling stew over the coals there is little sign of habitation.  A pair of battered wooden chairs are set alongside a rickety table, but the piles of musty blankets on the small travelers cot have been covered with think layer of dust and leaves.  There is, however, a small trap door with an iron ring-pull set into the floor and the adventurers waste no time in opening it.  The air that rises is pungent, a mix of rotting flesh and vegetable odors that leaves everyone holding their breath for a few moments.“Blarth first,” Geoffrey orders.  “Scout it, and call if you need help.”Blarth nods and starts down the rickety wooden ladder.  The boards creak ominously as his armored form settles on each rung, but holds out long enough for him to reach the muddy floor of the cellar.  He peers about with his darkvision, making note of the sacks full of rotting food that line the walls.  On the far wall there’s a crude tunnel, obviously carved with little attention to the complexities of mining, and Blarth can hear the soft dripping of water from somewhere beyond the range of his darkvision.  Blarth draws Luckringer, willing the copper blades radiance to dim to the barest glimmers, and starts towards the tunnel.He’s not gone further than a few feet when the darkness settles down upon him, a black blob of emptiness that manages to block darkvision as effectively as a blindfold.  Blarth can feel Luckringer flaring into light in response to his sudden flash of panic, but even that does little to cut through the blackness.  Blarth snarls, his voice rising to call a warning to his comrades above, but a pair of slimy tentacles dangle out of the darkness and warp themselves around his throat.  Blarth lets out a choked gasp before he’s pulled of his feet, feet waving wildly in need of purchase as his body is lifted towards the roof.  The half-orc lashes out wildly as the tentacles tighten, choking of his air.  His sword swings wide, no use in such close quarters, but he hears a whispered grunt as he connects with his flailing shield.  He swings again, praying to Drakkar that he can find the creature again in the darkness, and is rewarded with a satisfying slap and a short fall to the ground.  He lands on the balls of his feet, rocking slightly to take the momentum of the fall, shield already moving to deflect the swinging tentacles he feels whistling past his face. Praying quietly to Drakkar, the half-orc stares up into the emptiness and stabs.  He grunts as he feels the blade hit, and the darkness dissipates just in time for Blarth to see a black-skinned octopus sliding along the length of his sword to collapse against his face.Geoffrey and Halgo scramble down the ladder just as Blarth fights his way free from dead tentacles and octopus flesh.“Um, Blarth need help?” Blarth offers weakly, kicking the creatures remains into the corner of the room.“You were supposed to call,” Geoffrey reminds him.  Blarth shrugs, shows the cleric the bruises around his throat by way of explanation.“It’s called a darkmantle,” Halgo tells them as Geoffrey heals Blarth.  “Ugly looking things, and dangerous enough if you aren’t careful.  They use darkness to confuse prey, then try and choke them to death from a vantage point on the ceiling.”“Blarth noticed,” Blarth mutters.“Are there more?”Halgo scans the ceiling, looking for likely hiding places.  “Not that I can tell,” he says.  “But they’re quiet creatures, and far better at hiding in the shadows than we are.  If there’s another one up there and it doesn’t want to be found, we’re not likely to see it.”“Blarth kill it,” Blarth says with a shrug.  “Darkmantle puny.  Blarth not-puny.  Easy fight.”“You know,” Geoffrey deadpans to Halgo, “I think it’s been a whole three or four days since I heard him say that.”Halgo offers a small smile.“In any case,” Geoffrey says, considering the dark passage leading into the earth, “I think it’s best we stick together from here on in.  Without Yip, we can’t really manage a quiet approach, and we want to avoid anymore sudden ambushes.”“What about traps?” Halgo asks.“Blarth can take point,” Geoffrey orders.  “He’s the least puny of us all, which should help against poisons or gas.  And his armor should take the brunt of most conventional deterrents.”“Blarth not want to go first,” Blarth offers hopefully.“Tough.”They proceed down the passageway, light provided by Blarth’s blade and a quick orison from Geoffrey.  The passage twists and turns along its length, and Halgo sniffs at the poor quality of the mining used to dig the passage.  “I’ve seen goblins do better work,” he explains, pointing out some poorly braced sections of wall.  He considers the wall for a second, then looks at Blarth.  “I’d be very careful when using that whistle of yours.  These tunnels may not be stable enough to cope with that much destruction.”The passage eventually spills into a small chamber, with branching tunnels leading off from the far wall.  The chamber itself is bathed in a blue light, cast from a crude representation of an eye that glares up from the dirt floor.  Blarth stops on the edge of the sigil, eyeing it warily.“Glyph,” Halgo and Geoffrey say at the same time.“Glyph not good?” Blarth asks.“Depends on how attached you are to living,” Halgo explains.  “They could have any sort of spell stored in there, and it’s probably going to hurt whoever steps on it fairly badly.”“Blarth not afraid,” Blarth boasts, and both his companions take a few instinctive steps backwards.  Despite his bravado, there is a moment of hesitation as Blarth looks over the glyph.  Bracing himself, the half-orc places his heavy boot on the surface of the glowing eye.</blockquote>

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