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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 1075971" data-attributes="member: 143">Yes, for about five minutes (the duration of bless).  Mostly for "color" in this scene.   Well, Fario and Fellian together make up a whole elf... <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />  But actually, the character I was referring to will make his appearance in "Flood Season," and he's my creation, not from the module. * * * * * Chapter 25With the information provided by the skulk, they were able to find the secret door without too much difficulty.  It was located near the bottom of the twisting staircase that descended into Jzadirune from Ghelve’s shop, and led to a short, blank corridor hidden within the stone.  According to the skulk’s directions, the secret passage provided access to the lift that descended into the Malachite Fortress.  Whether it was guarded... well, the adventurers were too savvy to take anything for granted on that score. “I miss Smashy,” Mole said, as they moved into the corridor.  Arun was still in the lead, but the half-elves were close behind, followed by the gnome and Zenna, with Ruphos again bringing up the rear.  The cleric’s torch was still the only light, but the half-elves were gifted with the low-light vision of their elvish parents, an ability that Mole shared as well, and of course Arun and Zenna needed no light at all.  Fellian and Fario moved with a smooth grace, each seeming to complement the other, their short recurved bows ready with an arrow nocked, ready to be drawn and fired at a moment’s notice.  Arun could be heard to grumble every now and again as they followed him like twin shadows, but he did not offer any specific critique.  Zenna, for one, was glad to have them; although she hadn’t been willing to admit it to the others, she’d been worried that the four of them alone would end up quickly in over their heads within the Malachite Fortress.  Even the name seemed dark and foreboding, and the skulk’s description of the slaver and his minions had been accompanied by genuine anxiety.  “The automaton was a useful ally,” Ruphos said to Mole, “But we could not risk leaving it for the stalker, or any other hostile foe left in Jzadirune.”  With it already heavily damaged, it had only taken a pair of heavy blows from Arun’s hammer, and they’d left the machine strewn in pieces in the lair of the creepers and their still-at-large leader.  The secret corridor was not lengthy, only about twenty feet long, and while they could not make out any obvious exit, the skulk had told them that they would find another hidden door that opened onto the lift.  Even as Ruphos closed the secret door to the stairs behind them, Arun started in that direction, the others close behind. Arun went straight to the far wall and started feeling at the stone.  Fellian gestured for the others to remain back a short distance.  “Be wary, there might be a trap,” he said.  “Perhaps you should let Fario and I handle the search.”“Bah, I’ve worked with dozens of different kinds of secret doors; the dwarves damn near invented the things, you know.  Don’t be trying to tell a dwarf about stonework,” Arun said, moving along the length of the wall slowly, probing and prodding along the stone, carefully examining every detail in the stone surface of the wall.  With a wry look, Fario walked up to a place near the center of the wall where the dwarf had just looked, and reached up to touch a small protrusion about four feet above the floor.  “Perhaps you need some elvish eyes,” the half-elf said, venturing a slight grin that contrasted with the dwarf’s scowl.  A slab of stone about four feet across swung open in the wall beside the trigger, pivoting on its vertical axis, revealing a dark space beyond.   But the grin evaporated as a sudden grinding noise erupted beneath them, lasting only a split-second before the floor collapsed beneath their feet.  Arun fell like a stone, plummeting to the floor of the pit.  The fall was not severe, only about ten feet, but as he hit he splashed into a mire of a thick, black, clinging goo, the substance coating the floor to a depth of a few inches.  It was not enough to break his fall, but dangerous nonetheless, as became evident as the dwarf felt hot pain sizzle where the viscous substance touched his flesh.  Fario lunged out and grabbed hold of the bottom sill of the secret doorway, dropping his bow to fall into the muck below.  Even as he fell against the wall of the pit, he shot out his other hand to meet Fellian’s.  Their hands locked together and held their grasp even as Fellian swung forward and crashed against the wall beneath Fario, the former half-elf’s feet dangling just a few feet above the acidic sludge covering the floor of the pit. Even as she heard the click, Mole leapt backward, clearing the edge of the pit by inches.  She collided against Zenna, who with Ruphos had been beyond the edge of the pit, thanks to Fellian’s earlier warning for them to stay back.  “Are you all right?” Zenna yelled down to Arun, who was trying to stand up.  Mole put her crossbow down on the floor and slipped off her small pack, digging in it for her coil of rope.  “Argh, by Moradin’s blasted beard, this stuff burns!” the dwarf cried.  Still, he managed to stand and stagger to the edge of the pit under them, although there was no way for him to manage the sheer walls without help.  On the far side, under the secret door, Fario continued to hold on with one hand, supporting both his weight and the weight of his friend, his face twisted into a grimace with the weight of his effort.  “Hold on!” Ruphos said to them, standing behind Mole as she found and dug out the rope. Distracted as he was, he didn’t see the shadowy forms that came into view on the far side of the portal, or the glint of steel that shone in the light of his torch.</blockquote>

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