The slamming door stirred dust from the floor and dislodged dirt from the ceiling. There was no sound from the other side of the door where the scorpion was. Sarid could not see anything in the blackness of the hall. She was suddenly aware of her own rhythmic heavy breathing. Slow down she thought. She strained to hear. Nothing was moving.
"ACHOO"
Sarid swung out with her mace, thankful that no one had been close enough for her to contact.
"ACHOO" came the second sneeze and then a sniffle.
"This dust is messing with me." Farit said with another sniffle.
Sarid started to giggle and then Farit laughed followed by a snicker from Rishk somewhere farther down the hallway. Sarid shook her head; more to herself, as she knew none of the others could have seen her. She pulled her symbol of Tymora from her robe and held it to her mouth. She whispered a prayer for light and slowly the tunnel was bathed in a soft glow. The range of the light was about the same as if she held a torch and she could not see Rishk. She shrugged and looked to the people in the hallway with her. Farit was pressing the bridge of his nose between his finger and thumb. He leaned his head to the side of his body and exhaled quickly from his nose blowing snot out onto the ground. He shook his head and sniffled again. He suddenly felt as if he was being watched and slowly turned to Sarid.
"Sorry. It will pass. It always happens when I start doing research with old tomes and scrolls. With a nose this big it is bound to not like dust." He laughed at himself and sniffled again. This time he pulled a rag from inside his shirt and rubbed his nose with it.
Sarid looked down at Akara. She knelt next to him and placed her hand on his head. She could not sense any illness or injury. He must have just passed out.
Sarid walked past him to the closed door. She held the talisman up and looked over the door. There was no seam between the door and the frame anymore. She touched the edge between the two and ran her finger down. It will not open again by normal means, Sarid thought. She looked again at the dwarven rune scratched into the center of the door. It was time to get out of here.
Sarid walked over to Akara, still passed out on the floor. She pulled her water skin and poured water over his head and face. Akara spit and sputtered and sat up with his left hand. His right hand moved back over his scalp and wiped the water from his face.
"So, you are trying to kill me," he growled.
Sarid scrunched her face into a quizzical look.
"What are you talking about?" Farit said peering around Sarid to look at Akara. "She saved your life. You were poisoned and she healed you."
Akara never quit staring at Sarid. Water dripped from his hair.
"And now she aims to drown me."
Sarid shrugged, "Only if Tymora deems us lucky enough." Sarid turned and moved past Farit down the hall to see if she could find Rishk.
Farit chuckled at Akara who was still leaning up on one arm glaring after Sarid. He looked at Farit.
"It is not funny. I told you both we did not need her."
"You having the ability to say that would show the opposite is true," Farit remarked.
The tunnel began to become dark as Sarid walked further down the hallway and her talisman's light no longer reached them. Akara rolled to his hip and got into a kneeling position. He took a torch from his pack and set it on the ground. He pulled the flint and began striking it over the torch. One of the sparks landed on the oil soaked torch and it flared slightly. Akara blew on the spark and it glowed bright red. The torch puffed and exploded into light. He handed the torch to Farit, who held it high spreading light among them again. Akara packed the flint away and checked the rest of his gear. Standing up with all of his packs in place, he pulled his sword from the scabbard at his hip. He snatched the torch from Farit with his left hand and began to walk down the hall.
Sarid walked down the hall to an intersection that went both left and right. She held the talisman up and light shone a little ways in both directions showing nothing but a standard hallway.
"RISHK," Sarid yelled down the hallway to the left. She cupped her hand to her mouth and took a breath to yell again.
"Don't" came a whisper to Sarid's side.
Sarid threw her elbow out at the sound reflexively but no one was there. Rishk came out of the left hallway with his hands up.
"I do not know if we are alone down here. There is no reason to bring unwanted attention to us by yelling," he said quietly.
"What have you been doing?" Sarid asked twisting her face to look at him suspiciously.
"Scouting the way," he answered. "While everyone was catching their breath I thought it important to make sure nothing was coming at us. Were you in danger? Is there a problem?" Rishk asked accusingly.
Sarid leaned in close and looked back down the hall seeing a torch coming closer. "You have your own agenda, Rishk. I think it would be smart if you and I discuss any of your not so legit plans," she paused for a second thinking of the right words "and I will keep Tymora smiling on us all."
With that she glanced left at the approaching torch, stepped back and gave him a small bow as Akara and Farit walked up.
"So how do we get out of here?" Akara irritatingly asked looking at Rishk.
"I went ahead and scouted both ways. To the right, the hallway goes to a turn about 70 feet down. I couldn't see how far it goes from there so I came back and checked the other way. I should have tried that way first as there is a large room only 25 feet to the left. I did not have a chance to search it as I wanted to make sure you all were with me." Rishk gave Sarid a glance at the last part and mimicked her bow.
Sarid simply looked up at the heavens and shook her head.
"Blind hallways are not going to get us out. I think rooms will have exits. I believe the best choice is to the left." Farit announced to the group.
"We have no way to know how far this complex goes. The exit could be a league from here or in that room. If we have to move some distance through, we should be prepared to move slowly and check rooms as we go." Rishk said.
"I have no intention on spending the night, wherever here is, with all of YOU." Akara said spiting out the last word and turning to Sarid.
"I understand your concern," Rishk commented back. He leaned toward the group as if sharing a secret but spoke in an exaggerated whisper, "She is a troublesome handful but her luck has all of us breathing, so I will vote to keep her around." Rishk winked to Sarid.
"Bleh. I feel as if my supper will come up. Let's go check this first room." Akara said shouldering past Rishk and Sarid and turning left down the short hallway. The others turned and followed Akara into the room.
The room was a simple square about 25 feet by 25 feet, with a door centered on the north wall and the door they were walking through on the east wall. Akara walked into the center of the room and turned to the group.
"No way out from here. Next room." Akara said as he walked through the other open doorway.
Rishk however took time to look over the room. Old broken boxes and tattered sacks littered the room. It was obvious that this room had been ransacked long ago, but Rishk still walked the room nudging the remnants with his boot. Sarid had stopped in the doorway behind Akara and watched Rishk. Farit had absented mindedly bumped into Sarid not noticing she stopped in the doorway.
"What… I am sorry," he said. She touched his shoulder and turned and walked after Akara. Farit looked back at Rishk. He was poking at some trash with his short sword. Farit wondered what Rishk was looking for when Akara yelled for everyone to hurry up.
"Yelling. Why is everyone yelling? I hope there is a Stone Golem wandering the hall just listening out for yelling to squash someone." Rishk lamented aloud.
Farit laughed and turned after Sarid. Another 20 or so feet and they caught up to Akara standing at another intersection that lead left and right.
"Which way do you want to try?" Akara asked.
"I think we should make methodical movements with only left turns. Moving back and forth could lead to overlapping rooms and hallways." Farit advised.
"Decision made then." Akara said, as he turned right to walk down the hallway.
"Rishk, we are going right," Farit called back not getting an acknowledgement.
The three of them were moving down the hall when suddenly Rishk came up and grabbed Farit by the upper arm.
"Wait, we are not the only ones down here," he said.
"What do you mean? I haven't seen anything..." Akara blurted holding the torch high trying to shed light further down the hall. He was trying to will his eyes to see further into the darkness.
Rishk interrupted him, "Look, those crates and sacks were not broken years ago. The stores of equipment, food, and things were taken within the last couple of months. There were claw marks and teeth marks all over. I think we should be cautious."
"I for one think my steel will take care of any rats with claws and teeth." Akara said making a mocking voice of the last few words.
"What is your problem? Do you desire death so badly? I can give you what you need." Rishk said softly.
With a speed and grace Sarid would have thought only possible from an elf, Rishk had moved past Farit and Sarid and was against Akara with two short swords crossed against Akara's neck. Akara's eyes bulged.
"Calm yourself, Rishk." Farit said quietly. Farit took a couple steps forward, his hand outstretched to touch Rishk.
"Don't" Rishk blurted and pressed the swords together cutting two small lines in Akara's neck.
Akara snarled his lip. He was considering his outstretched sword and the torch in his left hand. The problem was his eyes belayed his thoughts as they moved to each.
"I will leave you with your throat cut before you try anything. You will work with this team or this team will work without you. Whichever you choose, pledge it now before I decide for you."
Akara slowly lowered his sword and stepped back off of Rishk's blades.
"I am working with you. This team is showing again and again how it does not want to work with me." Akara said. "I want to get out of here and finish this arrangement." He flexed his neck feeling the rivulet of blood down each of the cuts Rishk left.
Rishk moved forward of the group and disappeared into the shadows ahead.
Sarid stretched her hand out to Akara to heal his neck. Akara turned abruptly with a noise and slowly walked in the direction Rishk had gone.
Farit laid his hand on her shoulder. "Continue to do your Lady's work. We all appreciate it even if it is not said."
Sarid nodded her head and the two walked together shoulder to shoulder after Akara.
Akara stopped as the light from his torch began to show the obstruction in the hallway ahead. Sarid came to stand next to Akara adding the light of her talisman.
Ahead in the corridor were boxes and wood stacked from floor to ceiling. To the right of the stack was a small area barely large enough for a human to pass. As they watched Rishk came slowly from around the stack into the light.
"The stacks go on for a ways. It has barely enough space for us to make a single file. I think we should work the stacks slowly together watching for ambush. We should move with me in the lead, followed by Akara, Sarid, and Farit."
Sarid looked at Rishk and motioned for him to come to her. He walked up to her and she leaned in close to whisper in his ear.
"Is that wise to have Akara at your back after what just happened?" she whispered and then turned to look at Akara who was examining the crates and boxes.
"That is why you are behind him. You will keep him honest." Rishk whispered back in her ear, lingering a bit longer with his lip to ear than he should have. Sarid shoved him with her shoulder giving Rishk a look.
Rishk smiled at her and moved to the stack. "Keep tight. I will be checking for traps as we move so understand it will be slow but you need to be watchful for threats."
The first couple of stacks moved back and forth left to right. It was a zigzag movement that would keep a group tied up and easily occupied. Rishk was taking his time on the first three obstructions but found nothing. After what felt like hours but had been no more than half an hour, he was finally rewarded with a firetrap. It was a trap that anyone could have found though as it had already been triggered and the forth stack had been brought to a crumbling burnt ruin. The stack beyond it had been toppled and the way was littered and blocked by broken boxes.
Rishk leaned over the burnt boxes and motioned Akara forward to examine the clutter. There were several crossbow bolts dropped among the refuse. Rishk picked up two of them and turned them in the light of Akara's torch. They had old blood dried on the points. He held it up and showed Akara.
"Do we continue on?" Sarid asked looking around Akara.
"Do we have a choice?" Farit asked behind her.
Rishk looked over the broken boxes ahead. "Bring the light forward."
Sarid stepped up and held her symbol of Tymora high. A foot was sticking out of the fallen stack. It was a reptilian foot with claws. Sarid looked at Rishk. Slowly checking each footstep, Rishk moved forward to the claw. He picked up boards and scrap until gently and quietly he cleared the creature beneath.
"Kobolds" Farit said. "Very dangerous in numbers."
Sarid had moved past Rishk and her light shown now on two doors opposite of each other and the hallway continuing on into the darkness. It also showed three more dead kobolds and blood enough in the hall for more than that.
"Rishk you should see this as well." Sarid said back to Rishk her eyes not leaving the dead kobolds.
Rishk stood surveying the scene before him. Akara moved to Rishk's left, torch low and showing the ground. Sarid held her talisman high, standing just behind and to Rishk's left. Farit had moved around to Rishk's right and started to move forward through the dead kobolds.
"Several traps in this area have been triggered." He looked around and pointed around the hallway at each one. "There, that is a firetrap that was set off. A crossbow trap and a trap of falling stone from the ceiling." Rishk said pointing to the rocks among the wooden trash.
"These kobolds were felled from swords, not traps." Farit said looking up to Rishk from the bodies. "Dead a day" he paused looking over the injuries and the bodies "no more than two" he continued.
Akara moved to stand over Farit, sword forward ready for a fight. Sarid leaned down to check the bodies of the kobolds with Farit.
"This one died of magic," she said to Farit. "Look at the burns on its chest and neck." Sarid nodded in agreement.
Behind them Rishk moved through one of the dead creatures clothing and pouches.
"What are you doing?" Sarid asked.
"You never can tell what item you may find that will save your life," he said without glancing up. Not finding anything interesting he moved to the next.
The light shifted as Akara moved to stand between the two doors. He peered into both rooms from the hallway, first the right and then the left.
"We were definitely not the only ones down here. Right or left Rishk you are going to be busy looking for things to save our lives." Akara said waving the torch between the two rooms.
Rishk ignored the comment and stepped to the third kobold as Sarid and Farit stood and moved to look into the room to the right.
It was a long rectangular room. Sarid guessed it would have to be 30 feet to the wall ahead of the door. It went further into the darkness beyond what her talisman would light. The room stunk with death, though, and her light showed three more dead kobolds within the light's reach. Braziers lined the wall and a large fire pit could just be seen at the edge of the light.
"Akara, can you light these torches?" Sarid asked.
Akara walked in and lit the brazier on the wall next to the door and then walked and lit the one on the opposite wall. As the room became brighter, he walked over and put the torch to the fire pit. A couple pieces of the leftover wood caught easily enough and the fire moved slowly along the pit. Akara sheathed his sword and dragged a dead kobold off of the pit. A total of six kobolds lay dead in the room.
The room was twice as long as it was wide. The far side of the room had been piled with bedding and frames into a round nest. A closed door was on that side of the room. Artifacts, clothing, and armor pieces lay along side the bedding. The fire pit had bones of rats and small animals next to it.
"This was their lair." Farit said moving further into the room. "Look there among the bedding, two eggs."
The light from the pit now covered the room comfortably. She stepped past the three dead kobolds close to the door. Each of them had meager red clothing with bits of armor sown in. Dried blood clung to slashes, hacked limbs, and the two arrows one had standing up from its chest. The nearest weapons to the three were wooden spears and a cudgel. The three furthest in the room, to include the one Akara pulled out of the pit, were dressed with more complete clothing. The kobolds in the back were burnt and marked with remnants of magic. Each of them had an arrow protruding from it. Sarid moved to stand over the nest and saw two off-white eggs. She examined the nest and saw bed rails and frames broken among the shredded bedding. She looked up at the closed door just left of the nest.
"I think this was a bunkhouse before the kobolds took it over. It looks like they broke up the beds and made it their own room. The stacks and traps outside are how they caught people and then they rushed them from here." Farit said now standing alongside her. Sarid turned and saw Rishk had entered the room and was searching the dead kobolds. It made her shudder.
"Sarid, this one is still alive," Akara yelled.
Rishk stood up and left the room. Sarid ran to the door leading back into the hallway. She could see the flickering torch in the room across the hall. When Sarid entered the room she was struck by the smell of more than rotting corpse. The smell of a latrine washed over her as well. Akara had lit the braziers on the wall as he came in to check it. This room was half the size of the room opposite but it held dead as well. One robed kobold with a hole in its chest still clutching a short staff lay just inside the room. Beyond that were four men; two in chainmail, one in leathers, and a robed human leaning against the far wall. Akara squatted over the robed man.
Akara held the torch close to the man and pointed, "He let out a noise" he said looking up.
Sarid started to move across the room. She looked at each man as she passed him. The two closest to the door were the man in leathers and one in chainmail. The one in leathers showed no external injuries but he had dried blood coming from his nose and mouth. His mouth was stuck open in a noiseless scream and his eyes dull. His hand was frozen still clutching a longbow.
"Poison of some type. Probably magical," she said.
She began to look over the first man in chainmail. His injuries were easy to explain he had a broken spear shaft stuck up into his neck. It had been an upward jab from below the chin that went straight into his brain. The broken end appeared to be cleaved. A long sword lay on the ground nearby and must have belonged to the other man. Most probably the other swordsman was trying to deflect or break the jab of the spear but was too late and caught the shaft after it pierced his ally. She continued to look him over and observed a crossbow bolt still stuck in his upper thigh and another hole, she assumed was from a bolt he must have removed, in his gut. He had two small dents, each with a burn the size of her fist, on his chest armor. Sarid could not immediately identify these. She pointed at the burns looking at Farit.
Farit, who had been standing beside her, said quietly "Not sure."
The other man in chainmail was injured with a spear hole in his right shoulder. The chainmail kept it from going all the way through but enough of the spear had entered to have torn the joint and would have rendered the arm next to useless. There was another glancing cut at his hip. He had fought longer than the other man in chainmail as he had cuts, dings, and what she thought could be six of the small burns over his armor and body.
She moved to the man Akara was next to. She moved her hands over the man. She touched him lightly at his head and chest. She could sense the barest of life in him. He had been poisoned like the man in leathers, as he had dried blood from his nose and mouth. His left arm was wrapped in strips of cloth ripped from his robe. It was soaked in old blood and smelt sickly. The man had obviously not moved in a while and was sitting in his own excrement as well.
"I will do what I can to heal him but he is suffering from poison, blood loss, and dehydration. I cannot tell how bad the arm is without opening the bandages. Removing them will only cause the blood to start flowing."
"I am not sure we should waste your healing. Perhaps we should just prepare him for the next life," Rishk said in the shadows of the doorway.
Everyone turned to look at Rishk.
"Tymora finds this man lucky enough to hold on to life till I got here. I will certainly not forsake her by not trying." She said giving Rishk a cold look. Rishk stepped back into the hallway and walked into the opposite room.
"I wouldn't have expected him to say that" Akara mentioned aloud more to himself than anyone else.
Farit and Sarid looked at each other knowing they thought the same.
Sarid held her holy symbol and began the prayer of healing. She felt Tymora's power and could feel the energy move into the man. She continued to pray and push the healing energy she called from Tymora. It left her suddenly in a rush, she felt spent, and sat back.
The man moaned. His voice cracked.
"Where…" his eyes fluttered open and then closed.
"I am not sure how to answer that as I am not sure where this is exactly," Farit answered standing behind Sarid. "But we are in a room, where I assume you fought a tribe of Kobolds."
"I…" his voice trailed off "… thirsty," his eyes barely opened.
Sarid pulled her water skin and uncorked the cap. She held it to the man's mouth allowing it to dribble slowly out. He moved his mouth to the water hungrily and she pulled it back.
"You must drink slowly or you will make things worse than they are." Sarid said to him softly.
He nodded slightly and reached up with his right hand, took the water skin, and sipped at it. Sarid reached into her pouch and pulled the bread and cheese she had leftover from supper. She pinched a piece of both and pressed them together. She then showed the stranger and he opened his mouth. She put the morsel in his mouth and he began to chew. He made a gagging noise as he tried to swallow. He choked at the attempt again. Sarid took his hand in hers and the brought water skin to his mouth. He sipped again and managed the piece down with the a little more effort.
A crash came from the hallway. Akara and Farit, who were silently watching over Sarid's progress, ran to the door. Akara grabbed Farit and held him back as Farit was about to charge into the hallway. Akara pulled Farit to the side and peered slowly out the door down the hall towards the noise, his sword held point up and out in front of him.
"One of the stacks are on fire," he said back inside.
Farit looked to Sarid, who had come to a standing position in front of the fallen stranger. Her right hand holding her mace across her chest and her left holding her holy symbol of Tymora.
"A kobold that escaped the fight?" Farit asked Sarid.
"Or reinforcements coming home…" Akara trailed off looking back in the hall. "Come on Farit, let's check it out."
Akara stepped out and Farit followed. They passed the original dead kobolds they found when entering the area. Akara stabbed his sword into the face of one and the belly of another. Farit had been walking in front of Akara and stopped now, looking back at him with a question on his face.
"Just in case one is only playing a little dead," Akara said with a smile and a shrug as he slashed the other two across the throat.
They continued to move through the broken stacks and now could see the fire was at the base of the second stack they had passed when they came up the hallway. The second stack had partially fallen towards the first stack, leaving the third stack still standing between them and the fire. They moved slowly forward, looking and listening for other movement. The crackle of the fire was the only thing they could hear. As they moved past the broken boxes and cleared the third stack, Farit heard a click and twang of a wire. A crossbow bolt shot out from within the stack of boxes still standing and struck him in his butt.
Farit screamed and fell forward pain launching up his spine. Akara turned and kneeled down over him. It was not hard to see the bolt in the light from the fire.
"Hold on I will pull it out." Akara said grabbing the bolt in his left hand. This sent another scream out of Farit. "Stop screaming. It isn't as bad as you are making it."
A pop came from the still standing stack. Akara looked up and barely had time to curse as it creaked and came tumbling down on them. Akara arched his body over Farit as the boxes, crates and wood crashed into his back.
"What is happening?" Sarid yelled down the hall. She could not see the men as the hall was filled with dust and smoke from the crash. She heard coughing and then Farit cry out again. She ran down the hall to the voice.
Sarid saw the fire spreading across the heaps. The dust was thick and smoke rolled from the fire. She reflexively coughed at the tickle in her throat. She started grabbing and throwing boxes from the mound where she thought Farit and Akara would be. The mound fell and slid on itself, with it came another shriek from Farit. She gingerly moved the next couple pieces of wood from the pile trying not to make it worse. Farit sneezed and yelped again.
"I told you to stop screaming" a muffled Akara said.
As she pulled another palate from the stack and set it to the side she could see Akara's back. He was on all fours on top of Farit. She moved another piece of wood that was across Akara's head and he moved up to a kneeling position. Both of Akara's hands reached back to grab his back and he stretched with a groan. She then looked down and saw the crossbow bolt in Farit's butt.
"What happened?" Rishk said from beside her, picking up a piece of wood that was lying across the back of Farit's head.
"Ambush?" Sarid asked looking past the fire.
"No!" Akara barked. " It was a trap you missed." He said looking up at Rishk.
"I checked what we moved through. No one asked me to search ALL of this clutter. And who would have thought you would backtrack through it. Did you set the boxes on fire?" Rishk said as he patted Farit on the back.
"Sure, I asked Farit to burn it and bury us," Akara said indignantly.
"Please stop bickering and just get the arrow out of my backside" Farit begged.
Sarid helped Akara up and then moved him to the side. She got down on her knees next to Farit and looked at the crossbow bolt. It was buried in the meaty part of his butt through his robes. She could see a mark of blood around the shaft but it was not gushing.
"The bolt is sealing the wound. I have a prayer ready but this first part is going to hurt. Tell me when you are ready" Sarid said.
"Ok. Ok. Just give me a…"
Sarid snatched the bolt from his backside. She grabbed Rishk's hand as he was the closest to her and pulled him down to her.
"Since you are standing around, put pressure here." She placed Rishk's hand on the bleeding. Rishk started to pull his hand away as she let go. Sarid slapped the top of his hand.
"Hold it" Sarid said as Rishk gave her a displeasing look.
Sarid smiled to herself and held her symbol of Tymora out. She looked at the Goddess' smiling face and felt a warm rush. Lucky am I that follows Lady Luck she thought. Sarid fell into the prayer and felt the energy move through her. She stood up and dusted off her knees with her hands and started to move back down the hallway. She looked down at Rishk.
"You going to hold his rump all day or can we get back to looking for a way out?"
Rishk rolled his eyes and slapped Farit on the fresh mended injury.
"Get up, Farit. All better now apparently." Rishk stood and held his hand out which Farit took. Rishk helped pull him to a standing position. Farit massaged the spot where the crossbow bolt had been. He wiped his nose with his rag.
"What about the noise we heard and what started the fire?" Akara asked.
"Probably a bad trap in the bunch. Who knows how many they made or had in the stacks trying to ambush people?" Rishk said to Akara.
Akara shook his head and walked back after Sarid.
"That hurt." Farit said to Rishk as they were walking back to the rooms.
"It was a crossbow bolt to the soft of your ass." Rishk said laughing.
"No, the slap."
Rishk laughed harder.
They started to split ways with Farit moving to the room on the left while Rishk moved to the room on the right, just as Sarid came back into the hallway.
"He died. His injuries were more than I could stabilize and heal. I don't have the skills to bring him back." Sarid said.
She was not upset, Rishk thought, but contemplative.
Akara had moved up behind her and put his arm on her shoulder in solidarity. He looked around her to the others.
"What is left to do in that room, Rishk?" Akara asked.
"I threw the silver pieces and gold piece I found in a pile against the wall. I found a sling that I think could be magical. The material looks brand new and is not kobold made. The kobold that had it also had a pouch with three smooth stones in it. I pulled one of the stones out to inspect it and it is marked with a symbol I am not familiar with."
"I will look at them for you" Farit interrupted Rishk excitedly.
Rishk nodded to him, "I think it means fire. I put it in the sling and tossed it in the corner and it made a spark." Farit was leaning forward and rubbing his hands together. "If that gets you moving, I know the pouch is touched by magic because when I went to pull another stone it had three in it again. The door behind the nest is an indoor privy. I opened it just enough to realize they have not been flushing the waste down the chute and shut it back." Rishk said wrinkling his nose and shaking his head.
"Water is scarce here. This is not a thriving facility. Where did you leave the sling and stones? It would explain some of the injuries Sarid and I saw." Farit was looking past Rishk.
"What is this place?" Akara asked. Everyone turned to Farit. He did not answer. Farit was preoccupied in his mind working through the mounds of books and research that he had done over the years to help him understand and identify the magical bauble waiting in the next room.
"What? I am sorry, while I appreciate the confidence in my knowledge of all things, sadly I do not have enough information. This was a room to hold several sleeping people," Farit pointed to the room in front of Rishk. "This room was likely a storage room for the people who stayed across from it." Farit pointed to the room Sarid was standing in. "It is where all the boxes and crates probably came from. Until I get more, I cannot guess"
"You want me to start searching your room." Rishk asked Sarid.
Sarid shrugged, "You might as well. I cannot do anymore good." She stepped out of the way and looked back into the big room he had been in earlier. She looked to the right of the doorway and saw the few coins, sling, and pouch set in a pile on the floor. Two of the dead kobolds had been dragged and lined up side by side against the wall next to the nest. The fire in the center of the room was crackling strong and smoke billowed up.
"Why are we not choking on all the smoke from these fires?" she asked to anyone.
"Ventilation," Farit answered. "Any place under ground has to have ways for air to get in and out to be able to breathe. This area is close to the surface and must have vents cut that move air in and out. Too much smoke could still overwhelm a poorly designed system and kill us all." Farit was looking up and pointing to a hole in the ceiling where some of the smoke in the hallway was trailing up.
A great deal of the smoke hung high to the ceiling creeping both ways. Another vent was directly above her, as she could now see the edges of the smoke moving into the fist-sized hole.
Sarid looked back in at Rishk. He was on the floor next to the kobold shaman. He was rolling the bloody corpse up on its left side; rotten entrails fell from the hole in its middle. Sarid's nose crinkled but Rishk seemed not to notice. His hands deftly moved through the folds and pockets. His right hand stopped, pulled back a fist from inside the robe and opened it to show her a dead rat. He shrugged and tossed it to the side. He pulled the body back towards him, now, and started to check the kobold's left side. The movement was stirring the smell. Sarid waved her hand in front of her face, knowing the act would not help. Rishk saw the movement and was looking at her.
"I am guessing you won't be helping check the others?"
"No." she said simply "I will not. I am going to prepare a ritual for each of them."
"Why? You have no idea if they were worshipers of your Lady." Akara replied from the hallway. "It is none of your business to enforce your beliefs on others who may not want it."
Sarid shook her head. Her face showed the signs of displeasure with her lips pulled tight. She gave a slight sigh that only Rishk heard. She rubbed her holy symbol with her right hand and looked back over her shoulder into the hallway were Akara was. He had walked into the doorway with his arms crossed staring at her.
"I do it to give the departed luck in the next life and peace in this one. It protects them from being brought back into undead. For those wayward souls who do not worship my Lady Tymora it does not push them into her realm. It may show them the way to their own deity or it may do nothing. I only know that it is an act we perform when we can."
"Will you give this privilege to the lizards?" Akara stressed the word privilege while making a mocking face and putting his hands together in a pretend prayer.
"I have never thought about it. It would please me to perform the Luck of the Fallen ritual to them as well. It is selfless of you to think of their wellbeing." Sarid said with a beaming smile.
"I never… That is not…" Akara stammered. He looked down at Rishk, who was also smiling. "To Bane with you both." He turned and stormed back into the hallway.
Rishk could not help himself and began laughing. Sarid gave him a smirk as she pulled her pack open and removed her ritual book. She thumbed through the pages and stopped on the one she was looking for. She shifted her pack and grabbed her water skin. She held the book in her left and the water skin in her right. She read the first part of the page to herself. It was a short summary of what the Luck of the Fallen ritual was intended. The next paragraph was the prayer to bless water to be used in the ritual. It was this part that Sarid was now reading aloud. She felt a warm tingling as she finished the last word. She read the last two paragraphs to herself. She had read this page at least a hundred times but she always took the time review any ritual. Reading any of the words of Tymora's prayers, rituals, or any literature of the Goddess gave her a feeling of strength in her faith. She felt the words in her as if Tymora spoke them personally each time. She turned to look at Rishk.
"Were you done searching the other room?" she asked Rishk.
"I checked most of the kobolds. I can check the others when I am done in here. I wouldn't mind taking the time to look for any hidden panels or the such. Usually, kobolds have a little more coin than what I have found. This group were either not here long enough to bring back much or they have a good hiding spot. It really depends on how much time we have."
"Time," she said pondering. "I would like to keep moving. I am going to give final rites to the kobolds in the next room. I will check any obvious pouches and pockets for coin. I am not digging." Rishk was grinning at her stress of the word and palpable dislike of searching the dead. "I will come back here once you have finished checking the bodies. I say you can have the time to search for me to finish and everyone else to be ready to move out."
"You don't have to do that for the kobolds. Akara was just trying to get to you." Rishk said. He had just found a bundle of leather in the shaman's robes and was unrolling and stretching it out. It held dried plants tucked into small pouches along its entire length. Sarid estimated eight different types. Rishk gingerly rolled it back up and slid it down inside his vest. Sarid put a hand on her hip and looked down at Rishk.
"I know he is but I think there is nothing wrong with me doing it. I also think it will get at him. What is that you just did?" Sarid said.
"A small apothecary pouch the shaman had collected. Did you want it? I will give it to you." Rishk was pulling it back out of his vest.
"That is not what I said. I thought we said we are splitting whatever we find."
"We are. I asked if you wanted it." Rishk commented.
"It could have medicinal or spell components. I think it is fair to ask the group before you assume no one can use something. It is your choice." Sarid said as she turned and walked across to the next room. Rishk reluctantly threw the leather roll to the wall.
Sarid found Farit explaining the intricacies of the pouch to Akara. Akara looked up and motioned to Sarid.
"Farit, tell it again. Sarid, listen to this." Akara said.
"This is a wonderful pairing of two different pieces. The sling is halfling made and the pouch is dwarven. The sling gives the bullet a high chance to become combustible. The pouch only holds three stones. The stones are marked with a dwarvish mark meaning return. The pouch is enchanted the same. The stones will return to the pouch if used or after a time period. A trained individual can sling exploding fire bullets that continue to return to thrower. It is quite a treasure. Can you use a sling?" Farit asked holding both pieces and looking to Akara.
Akara shook his head no.
"Do you want to take the time to learn when we go back?" Farit asked.
"It does not suit my style. I prefer being in the middle of things," he said patting his scabbard.
"It will sell at a high price as a set and we can split the gold," Farit said with a shrug.
"Akara, can you help me move the other four kobolds to line them up next to the nest? I would like to perform rites for them." Sarid said walking towards the nearest kobold. She grabbed its arms and looked back to Akara. He was not in the room, though.
"He made a negative comment about your lineage as he walked out. I will help." Farit said as he grabbed the legs of the kobold she was holding.
They both pulled the kobold to lie next to the other two. Sarid looked over the nest as they stood there and noticed the eggs were broken. She looked back to Farit who had grabbed the next kobolds legs and was waiting.
"What happened to the eggs?" Sarid asked.
"Akara slashed them with his sword. I did not bother to ask why and he did not offer an explanation. When he looked at me I started to tell him about the sling."
They moved the other three kobolds in silence. She quietly checked the pouchs and pockets she could see and found several more gold and silver pieces. She sat them with the others against the wall.
The first words to be said were the prayer of the Luck of the Fallen offered over the dead kobolds to Tymora. She spoke them as she poured the blessed water into her hand over the first body. The water dripped from her cupped hand onto the kobold. She shook her hand four times over the body and finished the rite by touching her holy symbol and saying "Whether it is by good luck or bad luck you have fallen may Tymora's smile guide you". She did the exact same thing for the other five.
"Odd. I have never read of one of Tymora's followers ministering to dragonkin." Farit remarked.
"Neither have I. I do not think she will be upset, as I have never read that it is against any of her decrees. It was actually a suggestion by Akara. He meant it to poke at me but I ran with it. Tymora has always preferred the bold." Sarid winked at Farit. As she walked to the door she looked down at the loot they had piled against the wall. "Farit, why don't you take care of counting and keeping up with the spoils?"
Farit simply nodded and walked over to count the coins.
Sarid looked to the right and saw Akara sitting cross-legged on the floor at the intersection of the hallway. He had a torch propped up providing light as he pulled a whetstone down the edge of his sword. He did not bother looking or acknowledging her. Sarid looked back to the left and saw the crumpled bodies of the kobolds left in the hallway. She pulled each into a position that they lay on their back lined against the wall. She prayed and spoke the words to Tymora again asking for luck and sprinkling each with the blessed water. When she was done, she walked on into the room where Rishk was working.
Rishk had lined the bodies of the robed man and the two men in chainmail against the far wall. The kobold was lying where he had searched him. He was going through the large pack on the bowman as she walked in.
"Almost done," Rishk said as he pulled a coil of rope from the bottom of the pack. He threw the rope to the pile against the wall. It was quite a haul. She immediately saw torches, pouches, coins, two daggers, the longbow, a couple of books, a scroll, a couple of vials of a reddish liquid, and now the rope.
"We will not be able to take everything," Rishk mentioned as he saw Sarid looking at the stack. "One of the packs has enough food for a couple of days, if we are careful. I don't know about you but I only brought enough rations for a day." Rishk said.
"I only brought my leftovers from supper" she said with a scowl. "This was supposed to be a quick trip. I had no intent to be in here for a day or two for that matter."
"I am going to start over here." Sarid began the ritual again, moving to each, and finishing with the bowman. When she looked up everyone was standing inside the doorway.
"Can we gather our things and get moving?" Akara asked incredulously.
Sarid started to say something but Rishk spoke first. "I gave a quick look around the room the kobolds were using as a nest. I could not immediately see any hidden treasure. Farit grabbed up the loot from that room and has pocketed it. Now, we need to prioritize what we carry from this stack. While it would be nice to take everything it would be too heavy to move. I say we pick light items that have a high sale value and those things we may need to live." Rishk was moving to kneel next to the pile of equipment he set against the wall.
"The chainmail will bring 20 or so gold coins." Akara remarked pointing at the men against the far wall.
"Too heavy." Rishk was shaking his head. "It is also not in the best of conditions. If we had the time and I knew we would not need to move quickly I may agree with you. If you want, though, strip them and carry what you want."
Akara shook his head, as well, realizing the logical thinking. "Do we take turns on what we want? What is the best way to split it?"
"We could roll for it?" Sarid said and everyone turned to her with a quizzical look. "I have a dice my father gave me. We each roll it and pick in order."
The group looked at each other and back to Sarid.
"Sounds good." Farit said.
Sarid pulled the die from her robe and held it out. All three had reached out almost simultaneously but the reactions from each were immediate and different. Akara recoiled and took a step back. Farit's eyes became large and he stepped closer to take it from Sarid. Rishk has observed the reactions from the other two and dropped his hand. Farit took the dice in his hand.
Farit's left hand came up and his finger rolled it around in his right. Each side was marked differently with an object that signified a number as well. He looked up to Sarid.
"Did you know it is touched by magic?" Farit asked.
"It is a gift from my father when I left for the temple. Nothing more," she replied.
Farit looked at Akara. His face showed anger and it appeared he was prepared to lash out.
"He knows it too," Farit said. Sarid looked back between the two and did not understand. "If I had more time to divine the origins and abilities, I could advise you better. I would need to keep it for a while to research but I am thinking you would be against that."
Sarid was nodding to Farit but it was easy to see she did not understand. She looked back to Akara. He had calmed down and was leaning against the wall as if nothing happened. Farit had closed in on Sarid, took her hand in his, and placed the die there.
"You roll for each of us," Farit said looking to each. Akara turned his head and waved his hand dismissively. Rishk nodded.
Sarid leaned down. "Akara" she said and rolled it. The dice stopped with the single sword on its face. "Farit" she rolled again and the face showed the six stars. "Rishk" the dice bounced, settled, and showed the bundle of three stalks of wheat. "Me" and the dice twirled and hit the wall and rested on the five marks of a claw. Sarid felt a cold chill and shivered.
"Akara, me, Sarid and then Farit," Rishk said. "Pick whatever you want to carry. We go till everyone is good and ready to move. The coin we will split even."
"There were seven gold pieces and twelve silvers from the next room," Farit mentioned. "The pile in here totaled thirteen gold, five silvers, and three coppers."
Rishk pointed at the stack of equipment. "Go ahead, Akara."
Akara was standing against the wall pointing at his fingers mouthing to himself. He looked to Farit.
"I want my five gold and four silvers now," he said holding his hand out to Farit. Farit looked to Sarid, and Akara stepped in between the two. He shook his open hand to Farit. Farit reached into the pocket were he put all of the coins and began to count out Akara's part. Once Farit handed them over Akara moved to the pile.
"The vials have a mark denoting healing droughts," Farit said.
Akara picked up one of the daggers and held it up towards Rishk. The entire dagger was carved and shaped from bone. The blade was thicker than if it was made of metal and was etched with small teeth down one side. The hilt had been shaped for three fingers.
"I got it off the shaman" Rishk pointed to the dead kobold.
Akara gripped the middle of the dagger between his first finger and thumb. He waved it up and down trying to check the balance. Next, he stabbed it out and made a cutting motion back across. Then, he ran his finger along the straight edge and then the serrated side. Lastly, he stood, slipping the dagger into his belt along his back, and moved to the side.
Rishk took no time in deciding and grabbed the rolled leather that had contained the different plants. He gave a quick glance to Sarid. He was not pleased at having to use a pick on an item he could have already slipped in his armor.
Sarid looked over the items and picked up the rope without thinking. Akara snorted giving the impression her pick was impractical. She moved away and found a place for it in her pack.
Farit took his time touching each item and reviewing the books and scrolls. One book had belonged to the man in the robes and it contained his spells and rituals. Most of the spells were hard for Farit to discern but there were a couple he could copy into his own book. It also contained several rituals, which he could use with the correct components. The other book was a journal the bowman had, while the scroll was for a spell to cast a water wave. He looked back across the pile of equipment.
"If you all would agree, I would like the book of spells and the scroll. I would forfeit any other items if I am allowed these two picks." Farit said inquiringly.
"I don't think anyone else would get the use of them," Akara replied from behind Farit. Everyone else nodded in agreement.
Farit took both items and walked into the other room. He sat next to the fire pit and began to read and write notes in the new book.
The other three took turns going through the pile. Rishk had ended up with the journal, Akara the other dagger, and Sarid the healing potions. Everything else was split with little consequence. The last things left had been the torches, the bag of food, one of the long swords, and the bow. The torches and food were spread between everyone. The sword and bow were left, as no one wanted to carry the extra weight for a few pieces of gold.
Everyone moved to the end of the hall and made the left at the intersection continuing to look for a way out.