Rhun said:
While the others deal with the children and securing the prisoners, Gadeann moves into the room to the west. The Shoanti wrinkles his ugly nose at the smell of the rancid fish as he moves to investigate the desk and the cabinet, making a wide circuit around the disgusting fish trough.
The stench in the room is enough to make Gadeann's eyes water, but he presses in anyway, keeping well clear of the slippery flooring in front of the trough. The duskblade examines the furnishings in the room, finding that the desk is empty and the cabinet is locked.
Voadam said:
Orman's face breaks out into a broad elated grin as he sheathes his sword "Indeed it is Di!" He races down the stairs to his niece and sweeps the little girl up, swinging her around in a whirling hug with a big smile on his face. "I have been searching for you night and day since he stole you away." He looks her over for signs of wounds or abuse but keeps his ebullient smile as he feasts on the sight of her alive and safe in his arms "It will be all right now. I am here to set things aright."
The young girl, overwhelmed by the emotional events of her recent ordeals, can only bury her face in Orman's shoulder and cry. To the swahbuckler's eye, she looks relatively unharmed, although thinner and certainly dirtier. The rough calluses on Di's hands indicate that she has seen hard labor.
While Edlin gathers up the spoils of the victory won, Coldan proceeds to secure the two unconscious enemies with lengths of rough hempen rope recovered from the fishery floor. In between pulling tight knots, the knight applies his fists to the faces on the men, battering them into the further recesses of unconsciousness. His fists rise and fall methodically, and the sound of the beating reverberates through the open space with sickening 'thwacks'. Finally, satisfied that neither man will pose a further threat anytime soon, Coldan rises and turns from the bloody work.
Girri, meanwhile, sets her attention on trying to find a route of passage to the area below the fishery. In the light of the sunrod, she peers down into the open bay, and sees that a narrow space exists under the fishery, with about four feet of room between the floor of the building above and the languid, foamy river water below. Wooden pilings support the building, and moss and cobwebs hang thick from ropes and rusted chains between them. A wooden walkway floats on the river surface, winding along the inner wall of pilings that supports the building’s frame above. There is no obvious means of descent, but Girri notes that several of the nearby ropes are tied to buckets, while others have simple loops tied in their ends.
