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The Westgate Campaign Chronicles - serial
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<blockquote data-quote="Carlo-One" data-source="post: 8058740" data-attributes="member: 7015827"><p>The three adventurers then headed toward the southwestern corner of the cavern and found a large pool fed by water flowing from a crack in the wall. Some oozes and animated mushrooms made it their home and the group decided they were more icky than of interest. Darrow had a quick look at the water and then trundled off after the others to the east, nearly colliding with a stealthy Shanni in the natural stone corridor.</p><p></p><p>Dermot, ahead of them, pointed out a small chamber with a ladder heading up to the ceiling, which Darrow declared had potential. Dermot wondered if it led to the frozen hatch on the surface; Shanni thought that would make it easier for the others to get down. Darrow agreed they should search the remainder of the level before trying the ladder, after Shanni pointed out they should make sure there was nothing left down there to attack them.</p><p></p><p>Further east, they found a long corridor with a series of doors lining the southern rock face. The first set of doors were open and led to a small, rough-hewn stone chamber. Darrow’s keen eyes observed that the door was warped and old, which Shanni said meant something had come in or out. The next two sets of doors were locked, but opened to Shanni’s nimble fingers. The only things inside the chambers behind them, however, were skeletons on the floor; the first possessed a single one and the second chamber had two of them. Shanni examined the pair of skeletons more closely and paled when she realized one of them had teeth marks scoring its bones – marks that matched the jaw of the other skeleton. She observed they must have starved while locked in, Dermot commenting that they were many years too late to help.</p><p></p><p>The next set of doors were not locked and led to a large chamber with a number of cots strewn about in a disorderly manner. Darrow said it looked like a barracks, but in response to a question from Shanni, did not think it was for dwarfs, unless they had a very sloppy sergeant. Dermot wondered who would build a place like that, which Darrow confessed he did not know, although he speculated some Underdark race might have done it.</p><p></p><p>The last chamber on the southern side was also open, but had several large rats in it. The three killed a few, but the rest scampered into a crevasse in the wall. Darrow declared they must be the source of the “rock-beast” food and speculated they grew big eating the mushrooms.</p><p></p><p>Having explored the entire level, Darrow, Dermot and Shanni quickly took stock of their findings, which Darrow enumerated: two locked rooms with skeletons in them; another room with two starved skeletons and crates, along with writing papers. The dwarf wondered if that meant slave traders, noting that whoever had the keys to the locked chambers must have died or taken off. Dermot and Shanni agreed that it would be best to go check out the ladder. (<em>I shudder to think of how those in the locked chambers met their fates - left abandoned by their cruel masters, whether by choice or some outside force. When I let minor annoyances creep into my mind about my own life's demands and constraints, remembering the tortured lives and deaths of these creatures will be enough to dispel such trivial concerns. --C</em>)</p><p></p><p>They arrived back in the small chamber and more closely examined the ladder. It looked sturdy enough, but Shanni still volunteered to go up first, since she weighed the least and was “sneaky” as Darrow said. After testing the first rung and finding it solid, she nimbly climbed up the ladder into the darkness. The petite rogue paused, having gone over twenty feet up, and called down a request for some light. Dermot lit a torch in response and she was able to further ascend, reaching a round hole in the ceiling. The ladder entered the hole, which became a shaft heading toward the surface, with metal rungs set into its wall.</p><p></p><p>With the encouragement of Dermot and Darrow, Shanni entered the shaft, although she had to turn down Dermot’s offer of the torch, since she could not climb and hold one at the same time. Exclaiming about the cold of the metal rungs on her hands, the rogue carefully made her way up the shaft, to a point where sunlight trickled down and she could see a grate above her, with layers of ice encasing it. Calling down to the others as she descended back to the cavern, she told Darrow that he might be able to make it up there without armor; the dwarf intended to try and force the grate.</p><p></p><p>Out of prudence Darrow first removed his armor, although Shanni as she reached the floor told him the shaft was wide enough. Without the extra weight, he easily scrambled up the ladder and into the shaft. Reaching the top and within arm’s length of the grate, the dwarf attempted to find enough purchase to press up on it. The angle gave him little leverage, however, and the grate failed to move after much grunting and straining from the dwarf. Darrow called down to inform them of his failure and said that they might be able to get at it from the other side, if they could find it; Dermot pointed out that it must be the same ice-covered grate they had discovered earlier.</p><p></p><p>Stubbornly, Darrow refused to give up and took it as a challenge to get the grate open. Shanni, concerned, called up to the dwarf to take care not to get knocked off. Loud cursing in dwarven was heard below, followed by a muffled thump and a trickle of rocks. More cursing followed as Darrow descended the ladder, clearly upset at being unable to achieve his goal.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Carlo-One, post: 8058740, member: 7015827"] The three adventurers then headed toward the southwestern corner of the cavern and found a large pool fed by water flowing from a crack in the wall. Some oozes and animated mushrooms made it their home and the group decided they were more icky than of interest. Darrow had a quick look at the water and then trundled off after the others to the east, nearly colliding with a stealthy Shanni in the natural stone corridor. Dermot, ahead of them, pointed out a small chamber with a ladder heading up to the ceiling, which Darrow declared had potential. Dermot wondered if it led to the frozen hatch on the surface; Shanni thought that would make it easier for the others to get down. Darrow agreed they should search the remainder of the level before trying the ladder, after Shanni pointed out they should make sure there was nothing left down there to attack them. Further east, they found a long corridor with a series of doors lining the southern rock face. The first set of doors were open and led to a small, rough-hewn stone chamber. Darrow’s keen eyes observed that the door was warped and old, which Shanni said meant something had come in or out. The next two sets of doors were locked, but opened to Shanni’s nimble fingers. The only things inside the chambers behind them, however, were skeletons on the floor; the first possessed a single one and the second chamber had two of them. Shanni examined the pair of skeletons more closely and paled when she realized one of them had teeth marks scoring its bones – marks that matched the jaw of the other skeleton. She observed they must have starved while locked in, Dermot commenting that they were many years too late to help. The next set of doors were not locked and led to a large chamber with a number of cots strewn about in a disorderly manner. Darrow said it looked like a barracks, but in response to a question from Shanni, did not think it was for dwarfs, unless they had a very sloppy sergeant. Dermot wondered who would build a place like that, which Darrow confessed he did not know, although he speculated some Underdark race might have done it. The last chamber on the southern side was also open, but had several large rats in it. The three killed a few, but the rest scampered into a crevasse in the wall. Darrow declared they must be the source of the “rock-beast” food and speculated they grew big eating the mushrooms. Having explored the entire level, Darrow, Dermot and Shanni quickly took stock of their findings, which Darrow enumerated: two locked rooms with skeletons in them; another room with two starved skeletons and crates, along with writing papers. The dwarf wondered if that meant slave traders, noting that whoever had the keys to the locked chambers must have died or taken off. Dermot and Shanni agreed that it would be best to go check out the ladder. ([I]I shudder to think of how those in the locked chambers met their fates - left abandoned by their cruel masters, whether by choice or some outside force. When I let minor annoyances creep into my mind about my own life's demands and constraints, remembering the tortured lives and deaths of these creatures will be enough to dispel such trivial concerns. --C[/I]) They arrived back in the small chamber and more closely examined the ladder. It looked sturdy enough, but Shanni still volunteered to go up first, since she weighed the least and was “sneaky” as Darrow said. After testing the first rung and finding it solid, she nimbly climbed up the ladder into the darkness. The petite rogue paused, having gone over twenty feet up, and called down a request for some light. Dermot lit a torch in response and she was able to further ascend, reaching a round hole in the ceiling. The ladder entered the hole, which became a shaft heading toward the surface, with metal rungs set into its wall. With the encouragement of Dermot and Darrow, Shanni entered the shaft, although she had to turn down Dermot’s offer of the torch, since she could not climb and hold one at the same time. Exclaiming about the cold of the metal rungs on her hands, the rogue carefully made her way up the shaft, to a point where sunlight trickled down and she could see a grate above her, with layers of ice encasing it. Calling down to the others as she descended back to the cavern, she told Darrow that he might be able to make it up there without armor; the dwarf intended to try and force the grate. Out of prudence Darrow first removed his armor, although Shanni as she reached the floor told him the shaft was wide enough. Without the extra weight, he easily scrambled up the ladder and into the shaft. Reaching the top and within arm’s length of the grate, the dwarf attempted to find enough purchase to press up on it. The angle gave him little leverage, however, and the grate failed to move after much grunting and straining from the dwarf. Darrow called down to inform them of his failure and said that they might be able to get at it from the other side, if they could find it; Dermot pointed out that it must be the same ice-covered grate they had discovered earlier. Stubbornly, Darrow refused to give up and took it as a challenge to get the grate open. Shanni, concerned, called up to the dwarf to take care not to get knocked off. Loud cursing in dwarven was heard below, followed by a muffled thump and a trickle of rocks. More cursing followed as Darrow descended the ladder, clearly upset at being unable to achieve his goal. [/QUOTE]
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