Post by Dead Greyhawk on Mar 19, 2008 8:39:27 GMT -5
Raven and the others work their way back down through the castle, checking the bodies of the dead for valuables. The giant weasels, sated from gorging themselves, hold a long conversation with Jasper, the topic of which Raven doesn't want to know. Raven runs into Pfiffwin in the stairwell as he exits the jackal-mens' room. Pfiffwin grins at the warriors and digs deep into his backpack. "Look! Geoffish gold!" proclaims Pfiffwin, pulling a heavy sack from within. "The jackal-men were rich!" The sack is quite heavy, with several hundred coins inside of it.
The Company gathers in the courtyard, near the corpse of the rakshasa. The others have collected an amount of gold and electrum each equal to what Pfiffwin has found, all of it minted in Geoff and likely taken from the victims of the bugbears' raids throughout the Oytwood. Adrienne and Dell have begun collecting the weapons, armor, and other items found in the tower into a pile, but the sheer volume of items pose challenges to any easy sorting or investigation of their properties. Dell and Pfiffwin confer while Raven relates to the rest the location and state of the captives. "The captives look pretty beaten up and a bit fragile," he continues. "We should probably put the captives into one of the barracks that didn't see any fighting, one that won't be covered in blood. Of course, I don't know that any place looks like that."
Otto wishes that the captives were in better shape or at least could provide information about what lies below the castle. "A map would have been ideal," he muses, "especially if they helped excavate the dungeon. We will lead them to some place safe once we have secured the dungeons. I will stay behind to look after them while the rest of us explore. Pfiffwin can volunteer to do this with me." Pfiffwin opens his mouth to speak and then pipes down again, grumbling.
"What's the rush? The lower levels aren't going anywhere," whines Antonus, remembering his experiences in the tunnels. "Almost everyone is wounded, some of us badly, and all of our casters have cast most of their magic. Who's healthy enough to lead the charge back into the catacombs?"
"I think that exploring the lower levels is a fairly urgent matter," begins Raven. "We should at least open the doors in the large octagonal room that had a lot of foot traffic and see what's inside them. Hopefully that will lead us to the living quarters of the clerics. They'll likely have papers and such things that can give us more information about what else is going on down here." Antonus scowls, opening his mouth to object, and Raven gets a crafty look on his face. "Remember, there are probably more slaves downstairs. If we don't go down there, their slavedrivers might kill them. We cannot allow that to happen, and I'm sure Hugh agrees," says Raven, casting one arm towards the priest of vengeance. Hugh ignites his broadsword as a response. Feeling momentum building behind him, Raven continues to press his train of thought. "Sleep is for the weak!" he declares. "Think of the mysteries we have not yet answered. Who was waiting for the demon? Hanuman? If it was someone else, then they won't wait around forever.
The barbarian that came at the iron horn's call will only stay with us for a bit longer. It would be a shame for him to disappear and not die in a fight."
"There's a living evil cleric down there to question, as well," opines Dell as he counts coin. "Also, an undead knight may or may not be walking slowly towards me. I'd rather not dawdle."
"We should collect that evil cleric we left bound and gagged inside the altar before he dies or escapes," agrees Antonus.
"Your undead friend is not walking, he's flying, with little winged booties," needles Raven. "Let's spend a few minutes to see if the captives have any actionable intelligence and then head downstairs to ensure our prisoner is still bound and unconscious. Then let's find the door that had a lot of foot traffic and see if it leads to the clerics' rooms."
When Raven finishes, Dell speaks up. "The tower has a vault in the top level, and the vault has two chests in it. One chest is in the trolls' lair, and eight chests are in the room where Winthrop boiled everyone," says Dell. "It's a lot to look at right now, especially if there's more fighting to do. Otto and Adrienne can spot the enchanted items if we want to, but beyond that, it's too much to sort." Dell looks around for a moment and then turns to Diego. "There was this folded piece of paper as well. I think it's the deed to the castle. You want it Diego?" Diego beams as he reaches for the folded paper with the broken red seal that Dell holds forth. Raven bats his hand away and frowns at Dell.
"So the plan is to talk to the freed captives, open the chests, check on the evil cleric, then further explore the octagonal room, and the two other teleporting doors?" asks Antonus. "I remind you that I have no more magicks memorized and only this robe to protect me. I saw what happened to Rhiannon and Grizella."
"The plan does not include opening the chests," corrects Dell. "Opening chests can be dangerous, so we will do that after we've rested and had the opportunity to study and pray again."
"Right, it's more limited than that. We'll quickly see if we can glean any information from the prisoners about what's downstairs. For example, if they know there's a dragon downstairs guarding a mithril mine, we'll stay up here and rest. I think they'll have little knowledge that will affect our tactical decisions, unfortunately," says Raven pensively, having seen the prisoners. "In that case, we'll go downstairs and grab the prisoner. If he's not there, we'll summon Hugh's onyx dog Fido to track him. If he is there, we'll move him upstairs. I don't think we should interrogate him just yet, since clerics of the Big T can be difficult to deal with in those situations." Everyone chuckles a moment at Raven's attempt at humor. "Once that's dealt with, we'll check the door that has a lot of traffic in and out of it in the octagonal room. We won't go through the teleportation doors or any other doors. If the oft used passageway isn't exciting, we'll assume the others aren't either and explore them after we rest," continues Raven. He turns and looks squarely at Antonus. "Is that straightforward enough for you?" he asks.
Antonus nods. "Sounds good to me," agrees Antonus. A puzzled look crosses his face though, and he continues to speak. "How and when should we alert Arden Prindive to our stunning success?"
"Once we've fully explored and secured the area we'll alert the elves. No point in having them come in while we're still looting," says Raven, his mercenary core coming to the fore. "Arden'll probably say 'Hey, that was my chest of gold I left here two years ago!' No one wants that."
"Good point," mutters Antonus. "Hopefully the elves can relieve us of these freed captives; otherwise we're going to have to hike them back through the forest to the Great Tree. Speaking of captives, how do we establish which ones are actually evil rakshashas? I think they are slain by being shot with a blessed crossbow bolt........Not that I'm advocating shooting the prisoners."
"Bastard," mutters Adrienne, not particularly quietly.
"We can do some quick questioning. We say, 'How long have you been here?' They say, '2 years, except for that one, who just came in here an hour ago and tied himself up.' It'll be no problem," says Raven hurriedly, not wishing conflict to erupt between the mage and seer.
Their plans settled, Adrienne turns her inner vision on the pile of objects and begins sorting them out of the pile. Otto begins memorizing the sorcery that allows for enchantments to be detected, and, after a half hour, he also takes time to sort them from the pile. Weapons, armor, and various bric-a-brac all show enchantments on them, but the Company opts to leave them behind rather than wield them without testing.
As a group, the Company hikes up to the top of the keep. The stairs down into the catacombs reach up to the top level, and the captives are still to be found there. Otto, Hugh, Pfiffwin, and Dell spend some time freeing the captives from their chains, breaking those chains that have locks too difficult for the thieves to open with their varied skills. Most of the captives are too shocked from their time being imprisoned to provide useful information. Several of the captives have recently arrived, but Adrienne senses no evil or ill in their form. After several minutes of fruitless questioning, the Company provides them with food and water and then resecures the door. Otto and Pfiffwin agree to watch over them and the keep, while Jasper goes to converse with the giant weasels, keeping them out of trouble and from harming the captives.
The Company hikes their way down the passageway back to the temple to the demon-worshipers. The priest bound and stashed under the destroyed sculpture is a valuable resource that might be able to answer questions. The hidden passage is reopened and the gore-filled temple entered.
The Company walks down to the now clean altar, all remnants of the horrifying torture and sacrifice of the sylvan creature removed by the fire of Trithereon, and looks in under the broken sculpture. A writhing, wriggling body, the priest, struggles against his bonds. Raven grabs hold of him and pulls him forth. "Check his bonds," he directs Dell. "I'll ask him questions." Raven drags the priest upright while Dell tightens those cords that have frayed or loosened under the priest's efforts. "I'm going to speak, and you are going to nod or shake your head in response," says Raven ominously, "or you're going to regret surviving the destruction of your temple."
Raven's tack seems to be ineffectual, as the man's dark eyes turn steely and a rhythmic grunting comes from behind his gag. The priest seems to be repeating the same word over and over again. As Raven starts barking questions at the priest, Dell reaches over and smashes the priest's head against the side of the dais. The man's head gives an awful crunching sound, and he sags into unconsciousness again. "Make sure he's going to survive that," Dell directs Perrin. Raven frowns at Dell but realizes, as Dell did, that the priest was trying to draw the attention of his awful god to the situation. "We'll need to come up with a better way of interrogating these guys," says Dell.
"Drag him behind us and go tell Otto to toss some corpses down the stairs from the keep," suggest Winthrop. "Bury him deep enough in them and he won't stir again." The others are aghast at the notion, but it has a horrible symmetry to it. In the end, removing the priest from his temple and burying him in the collapsed bodies of the bugbears dumped from far above is the best solution that can be made. Antonus retches horribly at the sounds of melons exploding as the bugbears plummet from the spiral stairs a hundred feet to the floor of the octagonal room. Even Adrienne, who has seen visions more horrifying than can be described, shudders at the gore.
A shaken Company continues their search, choosing what they believe was a well-traveled door, though searching for tracks in the explosions of brain, blood, and entrails resulting from the bugbears is now a futile exercise. The door resists their efforts and, with Otto above, proves difficult to break free of its apparent enchantment. The passage beyond travels forward for some distance before turning to the left. Raven and Al lead the way down the passageway and are very surprised when the floor beneath them suddenly tilts and upends them into a pit.
The fall into the pit is long, more than ten feet deep, but rather than smash into the ground or be impaled on spikes, they both tumble into water boiling water. The pain from being boiled alive is fierce and, worse, the water appears at least ten feet deep. Raven flails about in the water, struggling to pull forth Frostbrand.
The rest of the Company are shocked by the disappearance of Raven and Al. The floor suddenly tilts up and then down, consuming the two warriors! "Wedge it open!" commands Dell. "Diego, Hugh, grab this rope and then go run over the top again." Diego and Hugh follow Dell's direction, while Antonus prepares to jam his sturdy glowing staff into the opening. As before, the weight of Diego and Hugh are enough to cause the flooring to pivot. Winthrop, Adrienne, and Dell take up their weight while Antonus braces the false floor open.
From far below, at least forty feet beneath where the corridor is, a bright blue light fills the space. Raven holds onto the side of the pit, the tip of Frostbrand, flaming, jammed into the wall. "I lost Al in the water," he cries upward, seeing the surprised faces of the Company peering down from above. "The water's boiling and deep, over my head!"
Hugh stares down at the sight and lets go of the rope, plummeting headfirst into the water in a remarkable feat of bravery. In the flickering light that passes through the water, Hugh can see Al struggling with the weight of his armor and his natural lack of buoyancy. A good swimmer normally, the intense heat seems to be taking a great toll on Al and holding him down at the bottom of the pit. Hugh's ring, the biting fish, stirs on his hand, and Hugh cuts through the water like an eel. His golden armor protecting him from the heat of the boiling water, Hugh grabs hold of the dwarf and launches himself back for the surface.
Al lets loose with great geysering coughs, spewing water from his lungs as he and Hugh break the surface. Hugh treads water, holding the weakly struggling dwarf up above water. A rope slaps down into the water next to them, and Al grabs hold of it for dear life. Slowly, Al is dragged up out of the boiling water and then out of the pit. After a long delay, the rope comes back down, and Raven carefully wraps it around himself, getting pulled free of the water, flaming sword and all. After another long wait, the rope comes back down for Hugh, who has been unscathed by the whole experience.
Adrienne and Hugh both spend the last of their prayers restoring Al's health, the livid, red skin cooling and returning to normal under their benisons. "That was horrible," says Al, shuddering.
The Company uses several of the weapons from the bugbears to jam the lid of the pit closed, providing safe passage. Not deterred easily, the Company continues on over the covered pit. The passageway turns again and ends in a door. The door yields to Al's pounding, revealing a perfectly square room. The room itself is filthy and covered in debris and the remains of many different creatures. Gnawed bones fill most corners of the room, though the far corner of the room is significantly cleaner than the other three corners.
The Company carefully enters the room, with Hugh going to investigate the corner opposite the entryway. "Where's Hugh?" asks Winthrop, who notices that Hugh is suddenly gone! As everyone searches for Hugh, he reappears near the middle of the room, looking shocked and wielding a flaming broadsword.
"Another teleporting trap," he exclaims. "It placed me in another square room like the one we are in, but it was filled with bull-headed men, minotaurs!"
"Move back," says Raven, waving at the priest. "I'll figure this out." Raven draws his longbow and starts to methodically shoot arrows at the wall, trying to determine when or how the trap is activated. Hugh starts and paces as most of the arrows ricochet off the wall, with only a few disappearing. Hugh's patience is clearly waning. Finally, Hugh lunges forward.
"No, no, no," says Hugh, "you do it like this..." Hugh strides forward and disappears five feet from the wall. A bovine bellow is followed by the sound of clashing weapons. Hugh reappears at the point that he disappeared, backpedaling, Flametongue burning in hand. "Two of them have fled! Now only three are there to surround you when you appear!"
"Get back over here!" rants Raven, as he waves the rest of the Company into a defensive line. "We wait here for them to come through the teleporter and then we'll hit them while they are distracted." The Company stands, ready to fight, but nothing happens. Minutes pass with the Company at their maximum readiness, but nothing happens. Sweat beads on the Company's collective brow, and their nerves are drawn tight. "Alright," says Raven nervously, "let's fall back to the octagonal room. I don't like this one bit."
The Company gathers in the courtyard, near the corpse of the rakshasa. The others have collected an amount of gold and electrum each equal to what Pfiffwin has found, all of it minted in Geoff and likely taken from the victims of the bugbears' raids throughout the Oytwood. Adrienne and Dell have begun collecting the weapons, armor, and other items found in the tower into a pile, but the sheer volume of items pose challenges to any easy sorting or investigation of their properties. Dell and Pfiffwin confer while Raven relates to the rest the location and state of the captives. "The captives look pretty beaten up and a bit fragile," he continues. "We should probably put the captives into one of the barracks that didn't see any fighting, one that won't be covered in blood. Of course, I don't know that any place looks like that."
Otto wishes that the captives were in better shape or at least could provide information about what lies below the castle. "A map would have been ideal," he muses, "especially if they helped excavate the dungeon. We will lead them to some place safe once we have secured the dungeons. I will stay behind to look after them while the rest of us explore. Pfiffwin can volunteer to do this with me." Pfiffwin opens his mouth to speak and then pipes down again, grumbling.
"What's the rush? The lower levels aren't going anywhere," whines Antonus, remembering his experiences in the tunnels. "Almost everyone is wounded, some of us badly, and all of our casters have cast most of their magic. Who's healthy enough to lead the charge back into the catacombs?"
"I think that exploring the lower levels is a fairly urgent matter," begins Raven. "We should at least open the doors in the large octagonal room that had a lot of foot traffic and see what's inside them. Hopefully that will lead us to the living quarters of the clerics. They'll likely have papers and such things that can give us more information about what else is going on down here." Antonus scowls, opening his mouth to object, and Raven gets a crafty look on his face. "Remember, there are probably more slaves downstairs. If we don't go down there, their slavedrivers might kill them. We cannot allow that to happen, and I'm sure Hugh agrees," says Raven, casting one arm towards the priest of vengeance. Hugh ignites his broadsword as a response. Feeling momentum building behind him, Raven continues to press his train of thought. "Sleep is for the weak!" he declares. "Think of the mysteries we have not yet answered. Who was waiting for the demon? Hanuman? If it was someone else, then they won't wait around forever.
The barbarian that came at the iron horn's call will only stay with us for a bit longer. It would be a shame for him to disappear and not die in a fight."
"There's a living evil cleric down there to question, as well," opines Dell as he counts coin. "Also, an undead knight may or may not be walking slowly towards me. I'd rather not dawdle."
"We should collect that evil cleric we left bound and gagged inside the altar before he dies or escapes," agrees Antonus.
"Your undead friend is not walking, he's flying, with little winged booties," needles Raven. "Let's spend a few minutes to see if the captives have any actionable intelligence and then head downstairs to ensure our prisoner is still bound and unconscious. Then let's find the door that had a lot of foot traffic and see if it leads to the clerics' rooms."
When Raven finishes, Dell speaks up. "The tower has a vault in the top level, and the vault has two chests in it. One chest is in the trolls' lair, and eight chests are in the room where Winthrop boiled everyone," says Dell. "It's a lot to look at right now, especially if there's more fighting to do. Otto and Adrienne can spot the enchanted items if we want to, but beyond that, it's too much to sort." Dell looks around for a moment and then turns to Diego. "There was this folded piece of paper as well. I think it's the deed to the castle. You want it Diego?" Diego beams as he reaches for the folded paper with the broken red seal that Dell holds forth. Raven bats his hand away and frowns at Dell.
"So the plan is to talk to the freed captives, open the chests, check on the evil cleric, then further explore the octagonal room, and the two other teleporting doors?" asks Antonus. "I remind you that I have no more magicks memorized and only this robe to protect me. I saw what happened to Rhiannon and Grizella."
"The plan does not include opening the chests," corrects Dell. "Opening chests can be dangerous, so we will do that after we've rested and had the opportunity to study and pray again."
"Right, it's more limited than that. We'll quickly see if we can glean any information from the prisoners about what's downstairs. For example, if they know there's a dragon downstairs guarding a mithril mine, we'll stay up here and rest. I think they'll have little knowledge that will affect our tactical decisions, unfortunately," says Raven pensively, having seen the prisoners. "In that case, we'll go downstairs and grab the prisoner. If he's not there, we'll summon Hugh's onyx dog Fido to track him. If he is there, we'll move him upstairs. I don't think we should interrogate him just yet, since clerics of the Big T can be difficult to deal with in those situations." Everyone chuckles a moment at Raven's attempt at humor. "Once that's dealt with, we'll check the door that has a lot of traffic in and out of it in the octagonal room. We won't go through the teleportation doors or any other doors. If the oft used passageway isn't exciting, we'll assume the others aren't either and explore them after we rest," continues Raven. He turns and looks squarely at Antonus. "Is that straightforward enough for you?" he asks.
Antonus nods. "Sounds good to me," agrees Antonus. A puzzled look crosses his face though, and he continues to speak. "How and when should we alert Arden Prindive to our stunning success?"
"Once we've fully explored and secured the area we'll alert the elves. No point in having them come in while we're still looting," says Raven, his mercenary core coming to the fore. "Arden'll probably say 'Hey, that was my chest of gold I left here two years ago!' No one wants that."
"Good point," mutters Antonus. "Hopefully the elves can relieve us of these freed captives; otherwise we're going to have to hike them back through the forest to the Great Tree. Speaking of captives, how do we establish which ones are actually evil rakshashas? I think they are slain by being shot with a blessed crossbow bolt........Not that I'm advocating shooting the prisoners."
"Bastard," mutters Adrienne, not particularly quietly.
"We can do some quick questioning. We say, 'How long have you been here?' They say, '2 years, except for that one, who just came in here an hour ago and tied himself up.' It'll be no problem," says Raven hurriedly, not wishing conflict to erupt between the mage and seer.
Their plans settled, Adrienne turns her inner vision on the pile of objects and begins sorting them out of the pile. Otto begins memorizing the sorcery that allows for enchantments to be detected, and, after a half hour, he also takes time to sort them from the pile. Weapons, armor, and various bric-a-brac all show enchantments on them, but the Company opts to leave them behind rather than wield them without testing.
As a group, the Company hikes up to the top of the keep. The stairs down into the catacombs reach up to the top level, and the captives are still to be found there. Otto, Hugh, Pfiffwin, and Dell spend some time freeing the captives from their chains, breaking those chains that have locks too difficult for the thieves to open with their varied skills. Most of the captives are too shocked from their time being imprisoned to provide useful information. Several of the captives have recently arrived, but Adrienne senses no evil or ill in their form. After several minutes of fruitless questioning, the Company provides them with food and water and then resecures the door. Otto and Pfiffwin agree to watch over them and the keep, while Jasper goes to converse with the giant weasels, keeping them out of trouble and from harming the captives.
The Company hikes their way down the passageway back to the temple to the demon-worshipers. The priest bound and stashed under the destroyed sculpture is a valuable resource that might be able to answer questions. The hidden passage is reopened and the gore-filled temple entered.
The Company walks down to the now clean altar, all remnants of the horrifying torture and sacrifice of the sylvan creature removed by the fire of Trithereon, and looks in under the broken sculpture. A writhing, wriggling body, the priest, struggles against his bonds. Raven grabs hold of him and pulls him forth. "Check his bonds," he directs Dell. "I'll ask him questions." Raven drags the priest upright while Dell tightens those cords that have frayed or loosened under the priest's efforts. "I'm going to speak, and you are going to nod or shake your head in response," says Raven ominously, "or you're going to regret surviving the destruction of your temple."
Raven's tack seems to be ineffectual, as the man's dark eyes turn steely and a rhythmic grunting comes from behind his gag. The priest seems to be repeating the same word over and over again. As Raven starts barking questions at the priest, Dell reaches over and smashes the priest's head against the side of the dais. The man's head gives an awful crunching sound, and he sags into unconsciousness again. "Make sure he's going to survive that," Dell directs Perrin. Raven frowns at Dell but realizes, as Dell did, that the priest was trying to draw the attention of his awful god to the situation. "We'll need to come up with a better way of interrogating these guys," says Dell.
"Drag him behind us and go tell Otto to toss some corpses down the stairs from the keep," suggest Winthrop. "Bury him deep enough in them and he won't stir again." The others are aghast at the notion, but it has a horrible symmetry to it. In the end, removing the priest from his temple and burying him in the collapsed bodies of the bugbears dumped from far above is the best solution that can be made. Antonus retches horribly at the sounds of melons exploding as the bugbears plummet from the spiral stairs a hundred feet to the floor of the octagonal room. Even Adrienne, who has seen visions more horrifying than can be described, shudders at the gore.
A shaken Company continues their search, choosing what they believe was a well-traveled door, though searching for tracks in the explosions of brain, blood, and entrails resulting from the bugbears is now a futile exercise. The door resists their efforts and, with Otto above, proves difficult to break free of its apparent enchantment. The passage beyond travels forward for some distance before turning to the left. Raven and Al lead the way down the passageway and are very surprised when the floor beneath them suddenly tilts and upends them into a pit.
The fall into the pit is long, more than ten feet deep, but rather than smash into the ground or be impaled on spikes, they both tumble into water boiling water. The pain from being boiled alive is fierce and, worse, the water appears at least ten feet deep. Raven flails about in the water, struggling to pull forth Frostbrand.
The rest of the Company are shocked by the disappearance of Raven and Al. The floor suddenly tilts up and then down, consuming the two warriors! "Wedge it open!" commands Dell. "Diego, Hugh, grab this rope and then go run over the top again." Diego and Hugh follow Dell's direction, while Antonus prepares to jam his sturdy glowing staff into the opening. As before, the weight of Diego and Hugh are enough to cause the flooring to pivot. Winthrop, Adrienne, and Dell take up their weight while Antonus braces the false floor open.
From far below, at least forty feet beneath where the corridor is, a bright blue light fills the space. Raven holds onto the side of the pit, the tip of Frostbrand, flaming, jammed into the wall. "I lost Al in the water," he cries upward, seeing the surprised faces of the Company peering down from above. "The water's boiling and deep, over my head!"
Hugh stares down at the sight and lets go of the rope, plummeting headfirst into the water in a remarkable feat of bravery. In the flickering light that passes through the water, Hugh can see Al struggling with the weight of his armor and his natural lack of buoyancy. A good swimmer normally, the intense heat seems to be taking a great toll on Al and holding him down at the bottom of the pit. Hugh's ring, the biting fish, stirs on his hand, and Hugh cuts through the water like an eel. His golden armor protecting him from the heat of the boiling water, Hugh grabs hold of the dwarf and launches himself back for the surface.
Al lets loose with great geysering coughs, spewing water from his lungs as he and Hugh break the surface. Hugh treads water, holding the weakly struggling dwarf up above water. A rope slaps down into the water next to them, and Al grabs hold of it for dear life. Slowly, Al is dragged up out of the boiling water and then out of the pit. After a long delay, the rope comes back down, and Raven carefully wraps it around himself, getting pulled free of the water, flaming sword and all. After another long wait, the rope comes back down for Hugh, who has been unscathed by the whole experience.
Adrienne and Hugh both spend the last of their prayers restoring Al's health, the livid, red skin cooling and returning to normal under their benisons. "That was horrible," says Al, shuddering.
The Company uses several of the weapons from the bugbears to jam the lid of the pit closed, providing safe passage. Not deterred easily, the Company continues on over the covered pit. The passageway turns again and ends in a door. The door yields to Al's pounding, revealing a perfectly square room. The room itself is filthy and covered in debris and the remains of many different creatures. Gnawed bones fill most corners of the room, though the far corner of the room is significantly cleaner than the other three corners.
The Company carefully enters the room, with Hugh going to investigate the corner opposite the entryway. "Where's Hugh?" asks Winthrop, who notices that Hugh is suddenly gone! As everyone searches for Hugh, he reappears near the middle of the room, looking shocked and wielding a flaming broadsword.
"Another teleporting trap," he exclaims. "It placed me in another square room like the one we are in, but it was filled with bull-headed men, minotaurs!"
"Move back," says Raven, waving at the priest. "I'll figure this out." Raven draws his longbow and starts to methodically shoot arrows at the wall, trying to determine when or how the trap is activated. Hugh starts and paces as most of the arrows ricochet off the wall, with only a few disappearing. Hugh's patience is clearly waning. Finally, Hugh lunges forward.
"No, no, no," says Hugh, "you do it like this..." Hugh strides forward and disappears five feet from the wall. A bovine bellow is followed by the sound of clashing weapons. Hugh reappears at the point that he disappeared, backpedaling, Flametongue burning in hand. "Two of them have fled! Now only three are there to surround you when you appear!"
"Get back over here!" rants Raven, as he waves the rest of the Company into a defensive line. "We wait here for them to come through the teleporter and then we'll hit them while they are distracted." The Company stands, ready to fight, but nothing happens. Minutes pass with the Company at their maximum readiness, but nothing happens. Sweat beads on the Company's collective brow, and their nerves are drawn tight. "Alright," says Raven nervously, "let's fall back to the octagonal room. I don't like this one bit."
