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Ulster retrieves Dekker from the stairs and brings him back down to the others. "So are we going to go up and check it out, or head back the way we came?" he asks.

"I would like to know what's in here" Babushka acknowledges. "If just to make sure nothing like these strange not-dead-not-alive creatures are lurking here."

"Fair enough," Ulster says. He ties off Dekker at the bottom of the stairs, and the party proceeds to climb up again, this time making sure to skip over the thirteenth step.

They pass by several cells once they reach the top. Each contains a pair of bloody manacles, and most are empty save for the occasional slumped skeleton of a dwarf. As they approach the cell at the very end, they hear the voice again. This time, it sounds agitated, not sad.

"Who's there? Who's coming?" she asks. "P-Please don't hurt me!"

When they reach the cell, they do not find the princess. Unless the princess is a dwarf.

And semi-transparent.

The young frawl's spirit appears emaciated and filthy, as she stares out at the party with weak blue eyes. Stepping forward fearfully, she says, "You...are not dwarven. Does that mean you are here to free me? Please," she pleads, clasping her hands together, "I have been in here for so long. I fear they have forgotten me. I just wish to go home, that is all!"

"No we are not dwarven, the dwarves that lived here have long since past." Jerrard says kindly, keeping his distance watching the spirit for a moment. "Let us see what we can do, how long have you been here?" He asks as he looks at the door, hoping Locky will appear.

"Far, far too long," the frawl spirit says sadly. "It is our own fault, I know. I have had plenty of time to think on our sins. We never should have aligned ourselves with Sargonax the Bender. But we were seduced by his promises of power and wealth. In the end, He did not deliver. Our people were slaughtered or enslaved by the Thiewer." She looks away, the grief apparent on her ghostly face.

"Hello." Locky waves, then realises no-one can see her, she watches the Dwarf closely, she seemed scared and lonely, she understood that one sometimes.

"I'm Locky and I know you can't see me, its actually a long story that started in the Last Pony Inn." She stops, a thought crossing her mind. Was this Dwarf Evil? She didnt agree with Evil as a general rule, but it might be interesting.

(Locky casts detect evil)

Locky senses no evil from within the cell or from the spirit. However, there is a very, very faint evil within the very walls of this structure itself. Likely leftover from the years of torture and violence that have existed within these walls, but it could also be indicative of a dark presence still somewhere deep within the mine.

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Locky casts Detect Evil.

"Locky Lightfoot." Placing her hand through the bars she giggles, and sets to work checking the way it is held.

Open Locks: 1d100=96 FAIL!!

Locky spends three minutes on the lock, but it is has been rusted shut and the tumbler inside won't budge, no matter what.

Thuskar, who can't see Locky anyway and probably doesn't realize she's working on the lock, tries to bend the bars of the cell open, but to no avail.

It appears that if they are going to open this cell, they'll need to find another way.

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Thuskar makes a Bend Bars check (1d100): 55, fail. Well, worth a shot.

(OOC: By the way, that Detect Evil spell will last over half an hour. When it wears off, I'll let you know, but until then, Locky can concentrate for a minute at any point and try and detect evil again.)

"How are we to free you?" Imani asks curiously. "Is there a key or something nearby?"

"There may well be," the spirit replies. "Assuming it has not fallen to rust or been lost to the ages."

"This is strange" Babushka says to the spirit. "I thought spirits like you could pass solid walls, let alone pass between bars like these?" she gestures to the gate.

"But I am curious. What exactly did the bender promise you? And what did he do in the end? And how did you get imprisoned?"

She tilts her head to one side, confused "Spirit? I don't know what you mean," she says. "As for Sargonax, he convinced us to turn away from Reorx and worship him instead. When we were banished from Thorbardin for it, he told us he could help us avenge ourselves against our own people. He led us here, to this mountain, to mine it for silver, so that it could be sold for profit and used to fund our war. A war against our former home."

She shakes her head. "It all seems very foolish now in hindsight. He nearly worked us to death in these mines. We had no choice but to start buying slaves from the local bandits, just to keep up with production. But we dug too deep, and found the Theiwar. The Theiwar followed Temax, the False Metal, the consort and rival of Sargonax. Temax decided she wanted the mine for Her own reasons. The Theiwar attacked, and many of my people were killed horribly. We retreated toward the entrance and tried to escape, but failed. The Theiwar are magic-users, you see--the only dwarves who dabble in the dark arts. We never had a chance.

"Those of us who survived were locked up here, and put to work as slaves in the mines. How ironic. I suppose we deserved nothing less, really, for what we did. But one day, they put me in here after a long day's work in the mines, and never returned for me. I don't know what happened, but I have been waiting here ever since."

"I see" Babushka says, thoughtfully. "Say, can you give me your hand?"
She extends her hand to the spirit, just outside the bars. If the spirit takes it, she'll pretend to slip a little and stumble, so that the hand of a "solid" being would bang against the bar. "Sorry, did I hurt you?"

The frawl quickly retracts her hand and cradles it, as if it was in pain. "It's fine, I'm fine," she says, acting exactly as a living, solid person who had hurt herself would. It's quite clear the spirit is either unaware that she's dead, or firmly in denial about it.