Dungeon of the Fire Opal, part 4

[CRGreathouse]

Kytess steels herself, preparing for whatever is behind the door.

 

[HeavyG]

Ubaar waits for the others to mass behind the door.
He looks back, and holds up his hand with 3 fingers... then 2 fingers... one finger..... then he opens the door swiftly yet quietly, his greatsword at the ready.

The door opens and the adventurers jump in the room.

Nothing.

Nothing, that is, except for an inert, dead mushroom the size of a halfling and a trio of dead bodies on the ground. As the party enters and light fills the room, rats and insects scutter away from the bodies of the rotting undead.

Apart from the standard rocky debris underfoot, and an open trapdoor in the ground in the southwest corner, the room is empty.

There is also a corridor leading ahead for a bit (that probably passes under the stairs leading to the open air) that seems to end up in another room.

The air is stale and humid and smells bad.

Meanwhile...

In the main room, the two halflings are plunged in the dark, alone, as the group moves away. As they reach for their gear to make some light, the vial containing the waters of Eldath begin glowing with a soft, diffuse, yellow light.

Then, Taz spots something moving to her left and looks in the shadows to see what it is and the light intensifies to enable her to see a rat hiding there. The light then softens again.



Here's the old layout. Of course, the character positions are not valid but the walls are.
http://communities.msn.com/JFspicturestorage/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=37

 

[reapersaurus]

"You better keep that stick-of-light thing yourself Fist-Man, I need both hands free for weaponry..."

"Ubaar's seen some people shove the sunrod in their backpacks, and have it hang well above their heads.
It looked weird, but it lit up everything for their weak eyes to see."

Ubaar moves forward into the room with Murhid, and grasps his greatsword in one hand while looking down into the trapdoor.
If he sees nothing, he'll ask "You guys wanna check this door out quick-like?
I've got some rope ; if anyone'll hold it so I can climb back up.
Or we can all go down, and tie the rope to the trapdoor, if it'll hold my weight, it should hold all of ours."

 

[Murhid]

"Sure, I'll lend my self."
Murhid takes the rejected sunrod from before, lights it again, and then drops it down into the trap door.

OOC: So long as nothing of danger is seen down below continue here

--->
"Let us see that rope Ubaar, tie it to the trap door, yes. Unless you think you can hold one's weight?" Murhid smirks... a rare event.

Murhid then makes his way down into the trap door.

 

[Doppleganger]

Ivellios peers down through the opening in the floor, "Any signs of orcs down there?"

 

[HeavyG]

"Sure, I'll lend my self."
Murhid takes the rejected sunrod from before, lights it again, and then drops it down into the trap door.

The rod drops maybe 6 feet. Under the trap door is a set of short and crude stone steps leading down to the west.

Murhid then makes his way down into the trap door.

The stairs turn into a small west-bound corridor that go on for maybe 20 feet before rising again. The sunrod illuminates what looks like the inside of another trap door in the corridor's ceiling. Most likely, it leads to the floor of another room to the west.

Ivellios peers down through the opening in the floor, "Any signs of orcs down there?"

Meanwhile, in the entrance room.

Taz and Sollir are standing, alone, in the pale yellow light. Water drips slowly from the ceiling and a slow wind makes it way from the south corridor to the exit stairs.

As the halflings wait, the light from the vial is slowly turning whiter and is gaining gradually in intensity.

 

[CRGreathouse]

"There's no sense in waiting, let's find out what's down there."

Dropping her backpack, Kytess jumps down into the open trapdoor.

 

[Murhid]

"Yes tis clear down here, let us all come, someone tell the Halflings to hurry up"
Murhid then cautiously makes his way forward, checking for more trap ... things.

 

[Taz]

“This light is weird, first it seems, like it wanted to tell us about that hidden rat over there, with that yellow glow, now it turns white and shiny. I guess the yellowish color means, there are others nearby. What do you think, Sollir?”

“And why does it take the others so long to check that room? Maybe we should take a look after them.”

Taz will then move to the entrance of the room, urging Sollir to come along, and see what the others are doing in there. She'll be wary of her surroundings, the vial might try to tell something, besides that it is dark down here!

 

[Sollir Furryfoot]

"Hrm, I dunno but I hope nothing bad." Sollir continues to follow Taz's more experienced lead, keeping his shortbow ready incase anymore 'rats' come.

"As to the others, my guess is that Ubaar will be telling Ivellios those tricks about orcs and then breaking out into a fight by now." Sollir gives a sigh, and walks along.