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Message: <blockquote data-quote="RatPunk" data-source="post: 348310" data-attributes="member: 1246">Chapter 3 - The Dwarven Ruins, Part 2Suddenly, something shot out of the shadows and grabbed Jeb by the throat, dragging him back towards the debris. The others turned at Jeb’s strangled cry just in time to see the choker drag him up towards what remained of the rafters. Once again, they ran to try and save the little gnome. Jackie drew his sling as Hugh tried to reach the beast with his sword.It took several minutes, but they finally succeeded in getting the creature to loosen its grip. Jeb fell to the floor where Rumblethorn and Brush pulled him to safety. He was unconscious, but alive. A moment later the choker was dead.The group took stock of the situation as Rumblethorn cast another healing spell on Jeb. It was enough to awaken him, but he was still quite weak. He needed to rest. They decided to quickly check out the remaining passage and then find some place to hole up for the night. They found the perfect place at the end of the passage.The hallway opened onto another small, square room. Piled in the room was trash. Lots and lots of trash. Apparently the orcs were using this room to dispose of all their garbage. With some rearranging, the group would be able to hide in the room with little chance of being detected. That is, if they could tolerate the smell.With everyone but Jeb taking a turn at the watch, they passed the night uneventfully. The bandits didn’t so much as even rattle the lift chain. As they prepared to set out again, Rumblethorn cast one more healing spell on Jeb for good measure. Then it was back to the lift room and down to the next floor.As the lift descended, the group began to hear voices. A group of orcs was talking somewhere below them, but they didn’t sound alarmed. Perhaps they remained unaware of the group’s presence in the dungeon. They would know soon enough.The lift cleared the shaft in the ceiling. There were only three orcs and they were standing in a hallway off to the side, not in the room. Hugh didn’t wait for the lift to reach the ground. He leapt off and charged the orcs, taking them completely by surprise. The others quickly followed and soon there were three orc corpses lying on the floor.They now faced another decision. There were two hallways exiting the room, one on their left and the one in front of them where the orcs had been. There was no shaft in the floor for the lift to continue down, so for all intents and purposes, this was the bottom of the complex. They could hear faint sounds coming from the left, so they went that way.Down a short hall and around a corner and they were faced with another door. The shouting that came from the other side was orcish, but didn’t sound angry like what they had heard from the storeroom the day before. In fact, it sounded almost jovial. Then Jeb heard the tell-tale rattle and clatter of dice being thrown. The occupants were gambling.Hugh kicked the door in. The orcs and hobgoblins inside leapt to their feet, scattering the coins on the floor as they scrambled for their weapons. The party pressed their advantage and forced their way into the room. The orcs fell quickly, but the two hobgoblins put up a tough fight. Eventually, they too were overcome. As the last one hit the ground, Jeb was already gathering up all the coins. The locked door in the back of the room was no trouble for Jeb, who opened it with ease. The small room inside was empty except for a cot, a makeshift desk and a locked chest. Jeb quickly found that the chest was not only locked, but trapped as well. He took his time, disarmed the trap and the chest was open in no time.The contents were worth the effort. A bag of coins, a spellbook, some scrolls, an enchanted short sword, and a backpack that held much more than looked possible. They loaded everything up and went back the way they’d come.Once in the lift room, they turned down the hall where they’d left the dead orcs. It continued on for a short distance, then turned to the right, where it ended in a large, intricately carved wooden door. Once again, they could hear noise coming from the other side. This time it was the ringing sound of metal hitting stone. Hugh opened the door.The room looked as if it had been a temple at one time or another. It was a long room, with a high ceiling supported by two rows of columns running down either side of the room. The far end of the room had apparently collapsed some time ago. There were two orcs digging at the rubble with picks. Standing beside the middle column on the left was a human male. He was studying the wall in front of him intently.The door creaked as Hugh opened it. The man turned and Hugh could see the holy symbol hanging around his neck. Wee Jas. Before the priest could make a move, Hugh was on him. The two orcs also turned at the noise. They lunged for their greataxes, which were leaning against the pillars. They never made it. Jeb and Jackie took them both down with quick shots from their crossbows. The priest was dead before the orcs hit the ground.They surveyed the room. On the wall near the entrance, carved in dwarven runes, were the words "The dwarven spirit is filled with secrets". There was a strange design on the floor as well. In one corner stood several small crates. Contained within were tapestries and religious items of Wee Jas. Hugh surmised that the dead priest had been planning on using them to consecrate the temple to the Goddess of Death.Hugh destroyed what religious items he could, but the tapestries were packed back into their crates. They decided to take everything of value back up to the storeroom. It took several trips, but eventually the entire complex was stripped of virtually everything that could be sold. But how to get it back to Travensburg?In the end, they decided to send Rumblethorn and Brush back to town. When he arrived, he found Ostler and Shuglin at the local tavern. Chao was nowhere to be seen. The two dwarves explained that, as soon as they had arrived back in Travensburg, Chao had decide that he didn’t want to travel with the group anymore. He had left town shortly thereafter. In turn, Rumblethorn told them what had happened in the dungeon. They were quite disappointed that they had missed out on all the fun. After another quick drink, they went to see Alexei. He was ecstatic to learn that the bandit threat appeared to be over. He gladly provided them with a wagon and horse and the trio soon departed for the cave.The wagon made for slow going through the forest, but eventually they arrived. It took several hours to load everything from the storeroom onto the wagon. By the time they were finished, it was getting dark, so they decided to stay the night. If their had been any doubts in their minds that any bandits were left, the uneventful night spent at the cave convinced them that they had, indeed, cleared it out.In the morning, they headed for Travensburg. Alexi and the townspeople greeted them like heroes, showering them with thanks and praise. Naturally, they ate it up. When talk turned to selling their newly gotten merchandise, Alexi quickly pointed out that no shop in the village would be able to buy everything they had acquired. They would have to travel to Dyvers for that.They decided to rest and recover for a couple of days, then head to Dyvers. Alexi again provided them with a wagon and horse and even a couple of his scouts to show them the most direct path through the forest. Before they left, he also gave them a letter of recommendation to be given to the High Priest of Pelor in Dyvers. He would make sure that the group found everything they needed.And so, with their treasure loaded and final farewells made, the group set off on the road to Dyvers.</blockquote>

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