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Message: <blockquote data-quote="arwink" data-source="post: 741821" data-attributes="member: 2292">Friday, August 25th, 508 AF, continued The next chamber appears to be the remains of the mines of bunkhouse.  Rotting wooden timbers and mattressesses attest to the beds that filled the room, although the swarms of small beetles that scatter from the groups light hider such diagnoses for quite some time.  As soon as they are sure the beetles pose no danger, Geoffrey orders everyone to spread out and search the area.  Twenty minutes of poking through the room turns up little of value, but they do find several carcasses amid the pile that appear to have been stripped of bone and flesh.  More intriguing, however, is the large mural that covers one wall. The mural is large enough that they can't see it all at once with the sunrod's light, having to move from one end to another to fully realise what the painting is of.  Such examination shows that the mural is done in three panels, two showing a large dragon with coppery scales hovering over human miners and blacksmiths like some benign deity and the third showing awe-struck worshippers offering tribute to the bowl at the foot of their "God.".  Geoffrey is particularly affronted by the representation, spending several seconds muttering about false gods."What do you think it means?" Halgo from the darkness.  The dwarf has wondered out of the range of the sunrod to get a better view of the whole mural with his darkvision.  The color is drained, but he's hoping for some clue when he sees the mural in its entirity."I don't know," Geoffrey says."Not just picture?" Yip asks.  "Maybe dragon like picture?""No," Halgo says.  "There's something about the picture, something we should be seeing but can't.""Maybe dragon really a god?" Yip says.  He flinches visibly when Geoffrey glares at him."No," Halgo says, stepping back into the light.  "There's something odd here.  Look at the coloring of the wyrm.  Copper dragons are supposed to be honorable, not slavers and certainly not prone to delusions of godhood.  And the talk of mind control in that diary, the lack of chains on the worshippers arms and legs.  There's something about this dragon that isn't right."Blarth, bored with the picture in a matter of moments, pipes in."Does it matter?  Blarth thought dragon was dead?" "Theoretically," Halgo says.  "Theoretically dead.  Nobodies been up here for a long time, and there's definately something strange going on in town.  I'm not assuming the dragon's truly gone until I see proof that it's so."THe dwarf scratches his chin, running his fingers through the well-kept goatee he sports."And even if it is dead, it doesn't hurt to find out everything we can.  There might be another one of those things out there.  It's rare that such powers manifest in just one creature."Halgo goes back to studying the portrait with Geoffrey's help.  Yip takes guard by the door, using his darkvision and keen senses to keep watch on the corridor.  Blarth picks at the wreckage for a while, then gets bored and starts playing with the screaming elf head he stuffed into his sack.  He tosses it from hand to hand for a few minutes, then takes the sock he'd stuffed into its mouth to see if it's still making noise.It is.  The heads scream echoes through the quiet chamber with a sudden intensity, causing everyone to jump."Blarth, shut that thing up," Geoffrey hisses angrily.  Blarth shakes his head, suddenly realising he's heard a faint echoe of Goeffrey's statement in his blocked ear."What you say?" Blarth asks."I said shut that thing up." Geoffrey repeats.  Blarth listens carefully for the echoe, but it's gone.  With a sigh he stuffs a sock back into the elf heads mouth.  He can't shake the feeling that something strange has happened.  He sits on the remains of a bed and tries to work out what.  While he's puzzling it out, he doesn't notice the others finishing their examination of the mural."Blarth, come on.  We're moving," Halgo calls.  Again Blarth hears the words echo in his bad ear."Say that again," He demands.  "Say exactly the same.""Blarth, come on.  We're moving." Halgo repeats.  His expression is confused.  "Why?""Blarth hear twice, like sound bouncing back off rocks.""An echo?  Why, there's nothing like that in here.  The rock formation is wrong.""Blarth not know.  One of Blarth's ears go funny, feel dead.  Now he start hearing things twice when someone say Blarth's name."Halgo looks suddenly interested, jogging over to examine the half-orcs new earing."I wonder," Halgo muses, examing the earing in detail.  "hmm.  Go to the other side of the room for a second and let me know what you hear."Blarth shrugs and runs to the other side of the room.  He sees Halgo put his hand over his mouth for a few seconds, then the dwarf calls out."Did you hear anything?" "Did you say something to Blarth?""Hold on, I'll try again."Halgo puts his hands over his mouth again, but this time Blarth hears a quiet whisper in his bad ear "Blarth, walk here and stop when you can no longer hea..."Blarth stops instantly."Why you stop talking to Blarth?" he asks.  Halgo doesn't answer, just runs back with a huge grin on his face."Looks like you've got a magic earing," he tells Blarth.  "I think it's triggered by someone saying your name, but it appears you can hear what they say for a few seconds after whateversets it off.  About five, judging by when you stopped just then."Blarth thinks about this for a few seconds."Hmm.  This mean Blarth hear things people don't want him to know they say?""I'd say so," Halgo says.  "I'm not sure of the range, but it'd have to be pretty good to stay out of ordinary healing range."Blarth thinks about this for a few seconds.  "Blarth think this a good thing," he says.  With a wide grin, he pats Halgo on the back.  "Maybe dwarf not all puny after all."</blockquote>

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