In reply to Narrator (msg # 732):

"I heard rumours the witch who cleaned out these chambers used living fireballs. If so, these must have been unsuccessful attempts to stop her. Interesting...would you ogres mind if I take these?"

In reply to Aoife (msg # 733):

"Take! Is only troll-scratch. <cough> <cough>"

In reply to Ogre boss (msg # 734):

Aoife promptly pockets the paper.

"Thank you."

Ardenas shakes his head.

"Sometimes I wonder about the Guild."

In reply to Ardenas Barehand (msg # 736):

Borug shrugs. "Wonder what? Manseeknee work for guild."

"Yes, what do you mean, Ardenas?". He paced around the room, thinking. " I wonder what else is down here...."

In reply to Mancini (msg # 738):

Borug shrugs "Down in pit? Not sure. Fergush said keep closed."

In reply to Ogre (msg # 739):

"Probably smart. I have heard rumours of a city of trolls down there."

"If that rumor is correct, it's most likely best to keep that pit closed, and seal it shut if possible.  Wouldn't want anyone sneaking back up undetected."

"Perhaps we should check the condition of the door out, and then alert the Guild so as to provide the proper locks and wards."

In reply to Mancini (msg # 742):

"If we are finished here, lets do that on our way back..."

Yeah ledz go.

"Seems sensible to me."

In reply to Ardenas Barehand (msg # 745):

The door when you check it is an openwirk bronze gate with a fairly simple looking lock. As the ogres came in this way and found it unlocked, it is fairly likely that the trolls have a key...

"Hmmm.  I can lock this, or Oly can, but if the trolls have a key, there's nothing to keep them out but the ogres -- and another battle down here wouldn't be desirable.  Even jamming the lock shut might not help; the trolls seem to be artificers, and might well be able to dismantle the lock if they can't unlock it.

"An elementalist, or a gang of masonry workers, could back up the grate with a wall.  At least that would give considerable warning if something or someone tries to come this way."

In reply to Ardenas Barehand (msg # 747):

"Why can't we just ask the trolls not to re-enter, or to negotiate with DuClair about ownership? Really, if it comes down to who wins a fight then we have bigger problems than a door..."

In reply to Aoife (msg # 748):

The gate looks like it could be fortified with a little sheathing and a deadbolt or too, perhaps a job for an artificer or smith.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 749):

"Lets go back. We can notify DuClair of the gate and the possibility the trolls can open it, but that is his problem, not ours. It is beyond the scope of our mission. Job done, pay time, I say!"

"It seems as though the trolls lived down here for some time -- maybe many years.  They may even have considered this place their property -- they decorated the walls and doors and set up a workshop, at the least.

"If someone ran a tribe of humans out of their home, they'd be prone to try to come back and drive the intruders away.  Do we know if any of the trolls who lived here escaped?

"As you say, though, it's DuClair's problem, and possibly Mancini's."

In reply to Ardenas Barehand (msg # 751):

You head back around to the central room with all of the doors and the openwork grate set in the floor. Much of this area has been unexplored by you, even though it was previously looted.

There are guards above by the upper trap door.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 752):

Assuming guards are friendly, Aoife will continue back to the guild.

Ardenas pauses to shine his helmet light down through the grate, curious to see what's below.

In reply to Ardenas Barehand (msg # 754):

A deep pit is below the grate. About twenty feet down there is a walkway around the pit annd openings on the sides, below that, it is out of range of your lamp.

"Hmm.  Walkway ledge and side passages twenty feet down, and then down further -- but you'd need a winch and platform, like the one Mythos built, to make it practical to get down there and back up on any regular basis.

"I'm pretty sure trolls can't fly, but nothing says they can't build ladders.  They'd make enough noise getting past the grate to alert the ogres, though."

In reply to Ardenas Barehand (msg # 756):

Aoife signals the guards, and they unlock the grating above and lower the ladder.