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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 2745995" data-attributes="member: 143">Don't worry, as an author I appreciate the feedback, and even though I may never sell anything I write, I still try to improve my craft. * * * * * Chapter 499Once they were prepared, they essayed the door.  Beyond lay a wide passage familiar to Arun; on their first visit they’d battled a strange stone spike and a vicious ogre here.  The iron cages that had dangled from the ceiling that last time—used by the former occupants to hold fire beetles for illumination—had been torn down and lay in battered heaps amidst scattered crushed stone debris along the walls.  An ugly odor hung thick in the place, but nothing stirred to challenge them as they moved forward into the Malachite Fortress. “What a foul stench,” Beorna said.  “I thought these grimlocks relied on their sense of smell; how can they distinguish anything over this?”“On our last visit it was worse,” Arun said.  “The ogre we fought here lived in utter filth, in a chamber beyond that door up ahead.”  They gave that room a wide berth, Hodge looking in briefly to confirm that the room was empty.  They made their way to the far wall.  Once there had been a secret door there, but it too had been torn free of its moorings, leaving an irregular gap into the next chamber beyond. “It’s like they are compelled to destroy just for the sake of it,” Beorna commented. “Do not expect logic from such as these,” Umbar said.  “They are vermin, fit only to be tread upon by a heavy boot.”The others exchanged a look, but did not offer comment.  It was clear from the vehemence in the cleric’s voice that there was a considerable hatred behind those words. “I do not sense Taint,” Arun said.  “Let us proceed.”  He stepped through the open doorway into the next room, the others following close behind. This chamber was still mostly intact.  The four xorn-shaped braziers in the corner were empty and dark.  The statue in the center, of an armored dwarf facing to the huge double doors to their right, was missing its head, but otherwise appeared much as Arun remembered.  There was another set of doors to their left, and Arun led them in that direction.  The paladin paused before the heavy stone portals.  Coming here had triggered memories he’d thought were well and left behind.  It had only been a little over a year since that trip, not long after his initial arrival here in Cauldron.  He’d been angrier then, much wilder in his words and deeds, trying to recover something of what had been lost in his exile from his homeland.  He glanced at Umbar, who was looking at the dwarven statue, examining it with a critical eye.  It was strange, really, Arun thought; the arrival of the cleric, a none-too-subtle reminder of his past… shouldn’t it have bothered him more?  The cleric had threatened his honor, his faith, and his new-found standing within this, his adopted home.  Now was not the time for introspection, but still, it was a thought he could not fully banish as he turned toward the doors.  As he turned his gaze briefly met Beorna’s, and she nodded, ready.  Maybe that was part of the answer, he thought, as he reached for the handle. “Beyond these doors lies a corridor that leads to the main hall of the fortress,” he told the others.  “If our foes are down here, then we’ll likely find them there.”“Well, what are we waitin’ fer?” Hodge muttered. “Smite evil,” Umbar said to Arun, in the dwarvish dialect of the Rift.  Arun nodded, appreciating the meaning in the gesture. “Smite evil,” he returned, pushing the door open. The corridor was as Arun had said, running ahead for a short distance before turning right at a diagonal and continuing for at least another fifty or sixty feet before fading at the edge of the dwarves’ darkvision.  Arun already knew what lay at the end, another set of double doors that led to the bazaar, the great hall where they’d confronted Kazmojen and his evil allies.  About halfway down the length of the passage smaller side corridors branched off of the main route, and several doors could be seen, opening onto small rooms that they’d only cursorily searched on their last visit.  They’d come here after the conclusion of their battle with the half-troll and his minions, and had been more interested in making their way back above to the clean air of Cauldron at the time. “What a mess,” Beorna said. The length of the corridor was strewn with debris.  It looked like the grimlocks had drawn out all the furnishings from the surrounding rooms, smashed them into ruins, and then strewn the wreckage casually down the length of the hallway.  The passageway was about twenty feet wide, leaving plenty of space for them to make their way through, but the assorted trash left plenty of cover for anything that might be lurking in wait.  Arun paused, sensing for Taint.  He felt a vague sense of unease, but nothing else within the range of his ability. “This smells like a trap,” Hodge said, putting the paladin’s feelings to words. “There’s another way around,” Arun noted.  “There’s another secret door in the statue room, which leads to a block of cells and a bridge across a chasm that opens onto the main hall from the west.”“They will likely have warded every approach,” Umbar said, but he did not challenge them as Arun drew back and closed the doors, turning to the wall opposite the one through which they’d entered.  The secret door there had not been destroyed, and after a few moments Arun was able to locate the hidden portal.  But it refused to budge at his push, even when Beorna added her strength to his efforts. “There may be something bolstering it from behind,” she suggested.  “A bar, or maybe even a collapse in the space beyond.”“What about those doors?” Umbar said, indicating the huge portals in the northwest wall. “That was the entry to the Underdark,” Arun said.  “The access point was originally closed by another adventuring band after our visit… but it may be open again.”“If they ‘ave retreated into the Underdark, then catchin’ them will be tough,” Hodge said.  “Agreed,” Umbar said. Arun nodded.  “The passage, then,” he said, turning back to the double doors to the south. They headed into the debris-choked corridor, with Arun in the lead, Beorna a step behind, then Umbar, with Hodge bringing up the rear.  They hadn’t gone more than twenty feet when Arun lifted a gauntleted hand, calling a stop. “Taint!” he warned, pointing at the double doors they could now see at the far end of the passageway.  As if in response, they caught sight of a flicker of movement, as something shifted behind one of the piles of ruined furnishings. “They be a bit more cautious, this time,” Hodge noted.  “Perhaps they can be persuaded to venture forth,” Umbar said.  Lifting his hammer in invocation to Moradin, he called upon the power of his god.  A grid of blue light, the pure energy of absolute Law, erupted around a point centered upon the doors.  Order’s wrath drew angry cries from the grimlocks hiding behind the debris, three of whom came into view, snarling at the dwarves.  One pushed open the doors and darted into the space beyond, while the other two remained behind cover, close by two levers that jutted from the passage walls near its end. “They seek to lure us in,” Arun began, but his words fell upon deaf ears in at least one case, as Umbar lifted his hammer and charged forward, a dwarvish battle cry shaking off the walls.  Arun felt a strange feeling of déjà vu… hadn’t he always been the one to lead the assault?  When had caution stilled the power of righteous anger that had always guided his sword?Hodge was watching him; apparently his cohort had no qualms about leaving the glory of the charge to others.  Umbar had reached the intersection in the middle of the corridor, Beorna a few steps behind.  Arun drew his sword, its glow filling the passage with its brightness, and he started after them. He had barely managed two steps before he saw the grimlocks leap up, and reach for the levers. Damn! he thought, a moment before the floor collapsed from under him, and he was falling, staring down at the forest of jagged spikes rushing up to meet him from below.</blockquote>

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