Re: Chapter 3 - The Search for Oswald
You step inside the doorway and find yourself in a narrow hallway built by stacking crates along both sides and over the top to form a low ceiling. The passage quickly turns to the left. As you turn the corner, you find a lit candle on the floor. It is otherwise quite dark. The crates are not all flush, leaving gaps in places that look like they could be effective improvised murder holes. Staring into some of the gaps you can see eyes reflecting in the candle light at a distance.
You follow the winding path deeper into the warehouse. It is very difficult to maintain a sense of direction with all of the twists and turns. Eventually, you reach what appears to be a makeshift elevator. A large crate stands on its side at the end of the passage. Looking up you can see it is at the bottom of a shaft lined with crates above you. A child's voice calls from above, "Get in." The crate is large enough to accommodate the entire party. You can see ropes lashed to the "ceiling" of the crate to allow it to be hoisted up.
You all squeeze into the crate and it begins to slowly rise in jerks. It is hard to gauge how high you go up based on the irregularly sized crates you pass, but you are pretty sure you have risen at least a story when the crate stops at an opening. You exit the crate and proceed down another winding corridor. This time, however, there is not a ceiling. Looking up, you can see the path is lined with children staring down at you. All of the children appear to armed with some sort of weapon, many with short bows or crossbows.
The children take no action against you as you weave your way through the crates. You finally come to a large "clearing" where you find a small gang of larger children waiting for you. One of them, a boy you guess is maybe 14 years old, is sitting in a gaudy chair with the others standing in front and to the side of him. The child in the seat is dressed in a motley assortment of cast-off clothes, is fairly dirty, and only appears to be armed with a long stiletto. The other children standing in front of him are also quite dirty and wearing a hodge-podge of miscellaneous and mismatching garments. They are all armed with nasty-looking melee weapons -- cleavers, small morning stars, short swords, and the like.
All of the children in the clearing stare at you with hard, merciless eyes.
The boy in the chair says, "We don't see Gambinis down here very often. I'm Henry. Why do you want to speak with me?" His tone is pleasant, but the vibe in the room is very wary and tense.