Nakaro and Tok
went into the alcove and opened the door to the other side. They
quickly came back. There is a large room on the other side, circular
with one other exit not directly opposite from our door. The room is
littered with some furniture, mostly broken, but they didn't look
around much. What made them depart in haste were two silver balls,
about the size of a large dog, which started rolling towards them. The
problem with meeting the unknown is that you don't know what to expect,
so I don't blame them for retreating.
We tried the other side, where we found another round room with another
exit. We soon remembered that the castle outside was triangular, so the
rooms were the apexes of the triangle. Of course, what is inside the
triangle we wouldn't find out for a bit. This room we were in also had
some scattered furniture, mostly stone, the wood having rotted away
over the ages. We did find a trap door in the floor.
And what a trap door it was too. It wasn't wood, it was part of the
solid stone floor, a good two feet thick. Let me tell you, it took the
whole party with a block and tackle to lift that monster. Once we did
though, we saw a narrow staircase leading down into another circular
room, with two silver balls moving around inside. Smaller than the ones
that Nakaro and Tok saw.
Acting on a hunch, Tok threw down a piece of meat. The two balls
immediately attacked the meat. At the the top of each one, a small
opening appeared, then an arm came out with a hammer and they pounded
that piece for a few minutes, thoroughly tenderizing it. Hmm, I guess
that's what happened to the tomato in that first corridor.
We shot a couple of arrows at the two, but soon gave up when the arrows
just stuck and they ignored them. Instead we tried the other door,
which naturally opened up into another corridor. Nakaro once again went
first and after a dozen yards he disappeared! Hmm. We threw some meat
there and it disappeared too. We threw it farther and it landed fine.
Some sort of teleport trap. Or a disintegrator, though that would
require much more power.
|
I volunteered
to jump over it and explore farther. I forgot about the
symmetry of the first corridor, because when I was a dozen yards from
the other door I teleported. Eventually everyone else joined Nakaro and
I in our room. Who knows where we were, it wasn't a room we had been in
before. Well, no use waiting here, let's keep exploring.
The next corridor also looked safe, and this time Tev went first and
after 15 yards he struck a Warding and went down. Hmm, that looked
tough, though it didn't kill the dog. The rabbit went to Tev's aid and
took a lot of damage. Tok, being the next largest, also stepped through
and fell unconsciou. Well, anything that tough is going to kill Nakaro,
Timroth and I, so we were kind of stuck. Krelga first aided the dog and
he woke up.
Now that they were on the other side they noticed a door, cunningly
inset into the stone, leading into the center of the triangle. Aha!
This must be an important door. Too bad the dog and rabbit couldn't
open it. Eventually the dog got tired and foolishly blinked across,
then blink right back. There is a small room on the other side of the
door, with three other exits. And in the middle of the room is a big
silver ball, about twice the size of Tev. And with a big hammer to
match. He did note that a heavy bar keeps our door closed.
What to do? We can't bust the door down. Tev could blink across and try
to lift the bar, but that silver ball won't give him the time. We still
don't know how tough they are. Meanwhile half the party can't get
through the warding because we'll die and Tok is unconscious, though
Tev can heal him tomorrow. That's a good idea, we'll wait until
tomorrow and once everyone is awake we can discuss this situation. |