Day 30 - Still

Rumbles peers through one of the archways while Oglala strolls through the other with total disregard for any possible consequence. Both of them find the same sort of room in size and style - well furnished bedrooms - however one looks like it's been ransacked. The beds look comfortable and each room has a bureau, one of which has a broken mirror and what looks like an altar with an unlit brazier atop it. There is also a cowering Quth-Maren in each room which Rumbles kills.

Norton and Oglala are searching the third room and they luck out finding a heavy trunk under the bed. Fearless Oglala opens it and finds some clothes, assorted small personal belongings and three small sacks hidden under the clothes. Close inspection show them to contain 335 gold pieces, 14 platinum + 680 silver pieces and the last one holding a wooden case which immediately makes Oglala suspicious – she calls me in to check for traps but it's clean – it reveals a beautifully crafted chess set (made from white and yellow gold) worth – 550gp.

Having looted all we can find to loot, we head off down the corridor. It right-angles and continues till it opens into a large empty space with a door at either end. No light shines under either of the doors – I go to the nearest and listen – nothing. I check for traps, seems clean. I pick the lock, open the door quietly and peer in. The room is a strange shaped with a desk against one wall. I pull out my mirror and check the rest of the room, behind the door. I glimpse a pair of large yellow eyes – hear a growl and suddenly the door is wrenched open by the paw of a displacer beast. I rather like displacer beasts, shame I don't have charm monster. I tumble past it and into the room, coming up to face some big guy in armour (Big for an elf at least). The room's a bedroom, lavishly furnished with fine leather couches and golden ceiling lamps – purple and gold tapestries decorate the walls and two finely carved armoires stand against the far wall. The beast turns on me and has a go, of course it misses. Oglala appears in the room and attacks the Drow in black armour. Rumbles barges in and does the same. Norton stayed in the corridor to warn us in the case of any surprise attacks. The Drow takes an abortive swing at Rumbles, which is better than trying to hit Oglala, still he misses. She retaliates with a flurry of blows and almost knocks him off his feet. The beast has another swipe at me and having wedged myself in a corner to distract it, manages to hit me. Damir joins the fray and attacks the creature from behind doing a deal of damage which is a bit of a bugger as I'd been trying to keep it unharmed. Meanwhile Rumbles and the Drow are locked in a struggle but as I glance over the Drow falls and Rumbles does his little victory dance (which is really quite scary). Having yelled at Damir for hurting it – the rest of the party are now busy trying to subdue the Displacer Beast. Oglala offers to subdue it and the party leave her to it, except for me, still stuck in my corner. The Displacer Beast flees with Oglala right behind it and me right behind her. The three of us tear out of the room past Damir and Norton, and away up the corridor.

Rumbles strips and searches the Drows body and finds the full plate mail which was sort of obvious, the dire flail he'd been using, a ring of protection +1, gauntlets of Ogre power and a non-magic cloak.

Meanwhile, Damir, rather foolhardily, opens the double doors at the other end of the room and steps in. As he does a Flame Strike sears down and hits both Norton and the Ranger. The room within is octagonal room with a 30' high ceiling, in the centre of the room stands a pillar approximately 15' tall and on the pillar is a throne made of bones with a gaunt Drow woman draped casually across it. Majestic dark tapestries decorate the walls where several long tables of dark wood stand. Another Flame Strike comes crashing down and Damir retreats, taking Norton with him. They head to the corridor to take cover and heal up with spells and potions. They then head up the corridor to join us.

While thusly occupied, the chase continues. I overtake the displacer beat at the far end of the corridor, step confidently into the room and close the door between us. I hear Oglala catch up and begin 'subduing' it and turn to find I am not alone. Just as I notice the undead vampire Drow guards, I hear Oglala whistle, sounds like she's knocked it unconscious. I'd go back and help but I'm a bit busy. Both of the nasties have a hack at me but only one hits – I shove the door behind me open and attack one of the guards. Oglala joins the fight and we can hear Rumbles coming up the corridor behind her... they don't have a chance. Rumbles hurdles the unconscious Displacer Beast and roars and he hurls himself into the battle. Already Oglala's knocked off one of them and between the three of us we manage to re-kill them – or whatever it is you do to undead.

Damir and Norton catch up and fill us in on their adventures in the other room and Oglala comes up with a cunning plan that involves me opening the door. Then we both race into the room, one heading left, the other right. Being enormously dexterous we both dive out of the way of the expected Flame Strike and keep moving. Rumbles is right behind us. Still moving, Oglala hurls a Javelin of Lightning at the creature on the Throne and hits her... but it goes right through. I think she's an illusion so I keep moving, trying to get behind the pillar. I hear the noise and feel the heat as another Flame Strike hits Rumbles just behind me. "She's an Illusion" yells Damir, voicing my thoughts just as Rumbles is about to leap onto the pillar. He skids to a halt... "Where is she?" he yells, "I wanna kill something." "I don’t know!" I reply without stopping. Norton casts a Dispel Magic and the pillar and throne obligingly dissipate, revealing a whirling barrier of blades.

Meanwhile I've headed round the back of the illusionary pillar to see what I can see with my Eyes of the Eagle... which seems to be nothing. Norton casts an Invisibility Purge which makes the creature within the barrier visible, he reveals a female Drow in elven chain. Oglala, tough little Half-Orc chickie that she is, walks straight through the barrier irrespective of damage... that should freak the Drow out! The Monk smiles through the blood, raises her fist and whacks her one, stunning her. Damir follows her example as does Rumbles, both walking through the barrier too – it must be getting a trifle crowded in there. Between the four of them they manage to off her. Striping the body they find Elven chain mail, a heavy mace, a Periapt of Wisdom +2, a hand-crossbow with 20 bolts, a Potion of Haste, an elegant bone scroll case which on closer inspection (like opening it) reveals a letter and 10 doses of potion (or poison). Elegant.

On one table stands an inlaid Masterwork weir-wood lyre (worth 1,400 gp), a small jewellery case (which I pocket unobserved). (NOTE TO SELF – later when I checked it I found a nice little haul, a Dragon-Bone comb (300gp), a gold hairbrush (150gp), a silver brooch bearing the House Morcain emblem and a silk pouch containing twelve agates (worth 800gp @). I then search the room for secret doors and locate one in the far wall. By now the Blade Barrier has gone and the rest of the rabble is loose. I send them to look at the two walls I searched poorly while I disable the trap and open the secret door. It reveals a white well appointed room with plastered walls and a tiled flagstone floor a stone sepulchre stands in the middle of the room – it is decorated with copper leaf and bound with copper bands. The lid is fashioned to portray a beautiful Drow woman.

"Well, we’ll have to open it," says Rumbles.

"I think we should leave it closed," I reply, "I've not yet disabled the trap on it."

"Hold on," said Damir. "Let's see of there's anything on that parchment." He opens the scroll case he got off the corpse and reads the parchment within – it seems to be a letter:

I stand fast and refuse to remove the trap. We bicker but I just ignore them and suggest we let Solom Ned'razaka deal with it... he's the one who wants them all dead. We rest for a while and argue again before heading off - Rumbles complains but comes with us anyway. I trap the door to the secret room and the double doors beyond as we leave.

With Damir in the lead, we go back to the door that led us into this area in the first place. In passing we note that the Displacer Beast has apparently regained consciousness and wandered off somewhere. We decide to use the door at the end opposite the one we went through previously. It seems to be some sort of holding area or gaol or some such. Sets of manacles are stapled into the wall, all are empty except one where a female Drow slumps chained – from here we can't tell whether she's alive or not (and who cares?!) There are also guards... the undead Vampire Drow sort. They approach Damir... wonder if they want to be friends... Ha! Damir hits them before they can hit him and it's on. Vaguely I notice Oglala racing out of the room in a different direction – I guess she's taking the back way round. She's fast enough to get round and into the fight without much delay and it should surprise the vampires. Rumbles shoves past and decapitates one of them, another has coalesced behind us and Norton casts a lightning bolt at it, he hits, casts again and hits once more. Between us we manage to destroy them and I head out the back room to set fire to the coffins – they burn nicely.

In the musty, dusty, fusty back corridors Oglala confronts another two Vampire guards and is overjoyed to have them entirely to herself... She's very easily pleased. They try to flank her but she's just too good and too fast. She destroys one, the other decides that discretion is the better part of valour and vanishes.

Oglala joins us and we have a look at the chained Drow woman – she has bite marks which make us suspect she's a snack rather than 'one of them'. She's semi-conscious and Norton approaches and speaks with her. He tries to comfort her – a weird sight really... a Dwarf consoling a Drow - but she shies away and he gives up. Oglala wants to unchain her and leave her out near the edge of the huge chasm so I pick the locks and let her. We move on, down the corridor Oglala was fighting in. These corridors and chambers appear to be deserted though they're not dusty and don't exactly look unused. We stop for a cup of tea and a think... Oglala really wants to go back to the room with the sepulchre and open it – I'm still not too keen on the opening part of her plan at least until after we rest and spell-up.

Back to The Inn of the Far Shore.