CH 3: Descent into Darkness

[JadedDM]

"Gully dwarves!" Flint repeats. "Filthy pests kept me prisoner for three years!"

"Did they?" asks Tanis, startled.

"That's why I never told you where I was these last five years," the dwarf says, flushing with embarrassment. His face darkened. "But I swore I'd get revenge! I ought to kill every living gully dwarf I come across!"

"Hold on, Flint," Tanis says, putting a hand on the dwarf's shoulder. "Maybe we should follow. They might be able to help us."

"Gully dwarves!" Flint explodes. "You'd trust those filthy little--"

"No," Tanis says. "We cannot trust them, of course. But nearly every slave is willing to betray his master, and gully dwarves--like most dwarves--feel little loyalty to anyone except their own chieftains. As long as we don't ask them to do anything that might endanger their own dirty skins, we might be able to buy their aid."

"Well, I'll be an ogre's hind end!" Flint says in disgust.

[Jenara]

"Regardless if they took you prisoner or not Master Flint, we have no choice." Laurana sighs, "We need to get into this City, and they know the way. Still someone should keep an eye on them.. Just in case." She flashes Tanis a wink.

[Jerrard]

"Trust these creatures?" Sturm asks with a curious tone to his voice, "I fear Laurana is correct, we must follow them at least. Instead of stumbling in the dark and the unknown"

[Kafen]

Tas manages to not find much in the way of shiny things if he has to guess right. There is not much here worth keeping safe at this point. So, he follows along and watches the grumpy tall ones, his friends, with the smelly dwarves. It's the start to rather fun adventure. And, Flint is extra grumpy. So, he sneaks towards Tanis for some shelter while tagging along.

[Breila]

Goldmoon says nothing more, staying in the middle of the group close to Riverwind, she follows the gully dwawes, too.

[JadedDM]

"Go on. Go ask your new friends to help you," Flint shouts. "I'll not be with you! They'll help you, all right. Help you right up the dragon's snout!"

Tanis sighs. "I don't know, Flint. If you aren't going to help us, who will keep the gully dwarves in line. Guess Sturm'll have to do it."

"Sturm!" The dwarf whirls around. "A knight who won't stab an enemy in the back? You need someone who knows these foul creatures--"

"You're right, Flint," Tanis says gravely. "I guess you'll have to come with us."

"You bet," Flint grumbles. He heads out of the room, then turns to the others. "You coming?"

The double doors the gully dwarves went through reveal a small hallway and another set of double doors. These doors in turn lead to a circular room with a domed ceiling that caps at sixty feet high. Vines and mosses dangle from great cracks in the ceiling. Fungus covers the walls.

In the center of the room stands an empty pedestal, the top of which cannot be seen from the floor. On the west side of the room, just in front of the door, a circular staircase, its flagstones slick with green film, descends into darkness.

"We will need light to proceed," Riverwind says, looking down the stairs.

[Jenara]

"Oh." Laurana responds, "Master Rastlin, can you....?" She asks the mage, peeking down the stairs with her Elvensight. (What can she see? Just stairs?)

[JadedDM]

Because the stairs spiral, she cannot see too far down, even with her infravision. They seem to go some distance, however, and she cannot see the bottom.

[Talyn]

Raistlin gives Laurana a nod, glancing curiously at the gully dwarves for a moment. He approaches the stairs and holds his staff up. "Shirak!" he whispers and the staff emits a bright light.

He points it down the stairs, curious to see what lies down them.

[JadedDM]

All they can see are more stairs. They seem safe enough, however. In fact, this place seems a bit familiar to the mage. He recalls reading about it. It was called the Paths of the Dead. Legends say they led down to the Hall of the Ancestors, a series of crypts where the people of Xak Tsaroth buried their most beloved heroes and leaders.

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Raistlin makes an Ancient History check (1d20): 10, pass. Raistlin knows of the Paths of the Dead and the Hall of the Ancestors.

[Kafen]

Tas looks on and makes an expression of awe as he looks on. He tugs on Raistlin's robe. "Does warning go for..." He eyes the staff with interest. "That's great, I wish I could do that. I bet I could if I had a staff with a light on it."

[Talyn]

Raistlin gives the Kender a slight frown as he tugs on the robes. "You would have to be a mage to have a staff like this." he pauses as he takes in the details of the stairway.

"This is the path of the dead. The people of Xak Tsaroth would carry the bodies of the most beloved heroes and leaders through here to their final resting place." he pauses to consider that. "It might lead us a way deeper into the city proper."

[Kafen]

"I could be a mage." Tas says, more to himself than anything, in a low voice. He gestures and waves his fingers in an arcane fashion while pondering the arcane. After all, he was just a dragon he thinks to himself. He looks at the stairs with a smile on his face and quickly loses interest in the mage thing. "I bet they never misplaced things down there." He steps towards the stairs with a grin on his face.

[Breila]

Goldmoon approaches Raistlin. "Do you know some of the history of Xak Tsaroth? Could you tell me something about it next time we rest?" she asks him politely.

[Jenara]

Laurana takes Tanis's hand if he doesn't stop her and walks in the middle of the group down the stairs, watching the way forward she says nothing, her body shaking in fear. "The Paths of the Dead. What an ominous name." she comments giving a little laugh.

Sturm says nothing, holding his blade a grim look on his face.