Dwalin trotted up the staircase, lingering behind the rest of the party. Stairs did not agree with him. His dwarven legs, being short and stocky, despised stairs with a passion. They say that dwarves are natural sprinters, but that they're wasted when it comes to long distances - no ever remembers to add stairs to that saying. Dwalin leaned upon the curved outer wall for a moment to catch his breath.

Click.

To his shock, the stone which his hand touched sank into the wall. He would have shouted, if it were not for the fact that his lungs were still empty; before he could inhale the oxygen for a single word, the steps beneath him suddenly opened, and he plummeted like a rock.

He at least had enough breath to say 'Ooof' when he hit the bottom, about twelve feet below. He collapsed onto his chest. The opening above him closed as soon as it had opened. No doubt it was an old mechanism made to prevent unsanctioned use of the passage above. Slowly, he climbed onto his feet.

Well, it could be worse, he thought.

He was in a square chamber with a hall on one side. He was grateful for being a dwarf, otherwise he would have found himself in pure blackness. There were some broken barrels in one corner of the room and a rotted table in the other. Perhaps this wasn't some kind of prison cell? Perhaps there was a way out? These thoughts occured to him. Another challenge to surmount.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:55, Wed 30 Sept 2015.

Well this is great... I look around the floor to make sure nothing fell out of my pack or belt. Hoping not to fall to far behind, I hastily move to the barrels and examine them. Maybe there is some sort of old supplies or even a trap door under them. Then I check near the table to see if there's anything that might suggest what this place could be. {  23:42, Today: Dwalin Grayhammer rolled 17 using 1d20.  Search Check to Examine room.} After checking the room I quietly and carefully make my way down the hall.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:47, Wed 30 Sept 2015.

The air was very still down here, and everything was coated with an old layer of dust; clearly this was not a part of the castle recently used.

Search {Dwalin} ~ Dwalin approached the broken barrels and dug through the splintered staves. It must have held food in the past, for the rotted wood was mixed with a dark-colored, and somewhat smelly, dirt. And in the dirt, Dwalin saw something of interest. He reached down and plucked it out, and then almost dropped it – for it was a dead rat. Dwalin grimaced at carcass and held the away from him. But instead of leaving it, he decided to keep it for awhile. Maybe it would prove useful?

Then, he went and searched the remains of the nearby table, and beneath its fallen surface, he found an odd-looking metal shaft; no more than a foot and a half long, it looked like some kind of bar, or an axle, or perhaps something else? He pocketed this too.

Satisfied with his search, he continued down the hall. It only continued a few feet however until it opened into a wide, elongated room, spanning to the right and left quite a ways; in contrast, the wall across from him was very near. And more satisfying yet, there was a way out! -a portcullis!

But his joy was short-lived, for he saw that the portcullis, closed and being made of metal bars, was without a handle of any kind. Next to it, there looked so be some kind of mechanism on the ground, but it had been smashed to pieces, for who knows what reason. Great, just great.


This message was last edited by the GM at 01:09, Thu 01 Oct 2015.

Hmmm maybe that mechanism can be fixed, I thought to myself? I examine the rubble of the mechanism. Perhaps this shaft went to it. Then I look through the bars of the portcullis to see what may be on the other side. Next I stand in hallway. I look right, then left, then right again. I think about what way to go for a moment, then I begin to go down the right hallway. For whatever reason I seem to always choose right.

Dwalin leaned over the smashed mechanism, which was a narrow slot in the stone ground surrounded by some bent and protruding metal. And to his glee, the metal-shaft did appear to belong to it, fitting in the slot itself. It still looked like it was missing some pieces though. Perhaps this was once a lever to open the portcullis?

Peering through the bars of the exit, the stone tunnel led straight to an upward stairs about twenty paces away. Convenient, Dwalin thought, for Up is the direction he wanted to go.

He then glanced toward the left room. There looked to be a lot of rubble that way, blanketed by a great deal of spiderwebs. Deciding he didn't want to get webs in his beard, at least not yet, he went toward the right room instead. Besides, there's the old saying, 'the righteous choose right'.

So Dwalin entered the right room, which was an elongated stone chamber, just as dingy as the one before. He began to suspect this was once some sort of storage area; if it was, it's existence had clearly been forgotten. On one end of the chamber – the end Dwalin assumed to be north – there were a number of small barrels about two feet in height, stacked in neat rows. And at the south end of the room, was– Dwalin suddenly felt a cold shiver!

At the south end of the room was the skeleton of a dwarf!

A bit shaken up by the skeleton I collect myself and get back to the task at hand; escaping. I walk over to the barrels and rummage through them for any other parts to the door mechanism. I'm betting that will be my way out judging by the stairs leading up. After searching the barrels I make my way to the skeleton. I guess it's possible he found something useful before he met his demise. After searching the remains I make my way to the left room. I look over my shoulder at the skeleton as I leave the room... if I don't get that door open... I try not to think about it and keep going.

Dwalin walked to the barrels - while deliberately averting his eyes from the dwarven skeleton - and rummaged through them. All the casks were tightly corked and contained some kind of liquid, or so Dwalin surmised from the swishing sound when he shook them. He popped open the cork on one and took a whiff. It was whisky! All of the barrels were a very well-aged whisky!

But he didn't see anything else; no parts that might help him escape anyway.

Leaving the whisky behind (while mentally pondering how he could steal them all out of here), he went over to the dwarven skeleton. The sight made him uncomfortable, but he knew he couldn't leave such a clue unexplored. He searched about the skeleton, whose bones were covered with dust and webs, and found two things: one was a Gear, and the other a torn piece of Paper with writing on it.

He pocketed them both.

Not losing time, Dwalin then left that chamber, and, walking past the portcullis, went to the chamber opposite. This chamber was the same shape as the one before, but some of the roof and wall had collapsed, scattering rubble all over the place; but more pressingly, there was something alive in here! Dwalin froze in his tracks.

At the south end of the room was a large mass of cobwebs; labyrinthine, white strands hung from ceiling to floor and wall to wall. And sitting on this mass of cobwebs was a spider the size of a cat. It was brown with large visible mandibles and covered in short black hairs. It hadn't noticed Dwalin yet, and Dwalin didn't want it to. However, he couldn't help but note the Chest in the cobwebs, almost completely hidden beneath the white strands...

I look at the spider for a moment sizing him up. Then I realize that even if he is more difficult than I feel comfortable fighting, I can't run the risk of being attacked while my back is turned and I'm trying to escape. I decide I must attack now while I have the jump on it. Its my best chance of defeating it. I draw my axe and begin to charge the beast. I raise my axe and swing as hard as I can at it.{  20:34, Today: Dwalin Grayhammer rolled 5 using 1d10+3.  Damage.
20:33, Today: Dwalin Grayhammer rolled 29 using 1d20+10.  Attack roll.}

Dwalin charged toward the spider with his axe raised. If a spider could feel surprise, this one probably did, not having likely seen a large creature since, well, that dead dwarf. It had barely uttered a chittering squeak when -splat- Dwalin brought down his axe on it, turning it into blue goo.

It was most certainly dead.

Dwalin wiped his the head of his axe on the ground, trying to get the spider guts off of it. (Now, he probably could've used the dead rat to distract the spider, but nooo- he does it the dwarven way!) He smiled to himself, thinking of his companions in the Castle above; for now he could brag to them he got first blood in this place. Having had a bit of fun, he returned his thoughts to the matter at hand, the matter of escaping.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:54, Tue 06 Oct 2015.

"Well that wasn't too bad." I mutter to myself. It feels good to get to use my axe. Now that the immediate danger is gone I'll take a look at that paper. I pulled the paper out and examine it. Afterwards I put it back in my pocket. I walk over to the chest, pushing back the cobwebs with my sheild and cutting them where they are too thick to easily break. I reach down to the chest to open it.

Dwalin finished wiping the blue, spider guts off his axe, and he returned it to his back. Feeling a little more at ease, he pulled out that torn piece of paper in his pocket and read what it had to say. It was scrawled in the Common tongue:



{Quest Received: Inform Bali of his Brother's Death on Comoset Isle}

The note and body looked 30 years old, which isn't much in dwarven years. Dwalin placed the note back in his pocket. He spared a moment of silence for his fallen comrade, and made a new determination that he would not share his fate. Except for maybe the not dying sober part. With that, he set his sights on the chest ahead of him. He used his shield to peel of the cobwebs and then flung it open; inside he found handful of things: a Bottle of Firerum, 8 Gold Pieces, 17 Silver Pieces, and most importantly, a Screw! It looked like he had everything he needed now to fix that Lever...
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:07, Wed 07 Oct 2015.

Perfect, now I can try and get out of this place. But first Im gonna grab some whiskey. I go back to the room with the skeleton and grab a barrel of whiskey and bring it back with me to the portcullis. I then take out all of the parts to the door mechanism and begin to work on it. Let's just hope the rest of the party is still nearby.

There was no way Dwalin was passing up free whisky. Besides, he was about to storm a castle and save the city - doing that sober sounded awful. Carrying a barrel to the portcullis, he set it down and began work on the Lever. It wasn't difficult since he had all the parts. He swiftly put the Lever together and twisted the bent metal back to where it needed to be. It was now for the moment of truth. He pulled the Lever...

With the clink of gears and pulleys unseen, the portcullis was raised. He was free!

The stone tunnel ahead looked rather dusty and filled with cobwebs - no giant spiders though, to Dwalin's relief. The dust didn't dissuade him, for freedom was on his mind. With a barrel of whisky in his arms and feeling accomplished, he headed into the stone tunnel; with any luck, it would lead out of this place, and he could find his companions again. They couldn't have gotten into that much trouble while he was away - could they?

Removal Quest successfully completed! Your character will rejoin the Main Group in the following update!