* III *

Eisenmond Mine, North-East of Torlynn; later that day.

The rocky cavern closed up into a short narrow tunnel. It was poorly lit, but Elantar could tell it was empty. Eldarion was with her, and he agreed to her assessment when she asked. She didn't need his opinion, but wanted to involve him in an attempt to pull him out of his foul mood after the incident with the boar. He signalled for the others to join them. Silently, Elantar moved further up the passage and came to a large wooden door.

Eldarion was trying to teach the rest of the party to move a little quieter, with mixed success. Taldir, Arden and Coralyn were doing OK, although they still weren't up to scouting standards. Elantar closed her eyes and clearly heard every footfall, easily distinguishing Arden's light skip, Coralyn's nervous shuffle and Taldir's confident, almost arrogant strides. There could be no mistaking the sounds of the other three: Gravak and Boshley were both wearing full plate armour and carrying shields; they would make the party easy prey for an ambush if they were in the van. Buttercup didn't even understand what it meant to be quiet, and she'd never grasp the concept. Elantar moved back towards them, signalling a halt.

"Large door ahead," she whispered. "There are Ogres the other side; at least two."
"You understand their tongue, Rogue?" Taldir asked, surprised.
"Yes, Wizard; I do." She replied contemptuously. "They're not saying much of any help though, just boasting about what they did on their last raid."

The louder members of the party held back from the door a little and let the others approach. The door was thick and heavy, and muffled most sound; if they could take the Ogres by surprise, this fight would go a lot easier. Even Buttercup seemed like she might have understood that.
"Kobolds are fond of traps," Taldir whispered, "you should…"
"The door's safe. I already checked," Elantar interrupted. Taldir nodded and began to back away towards the others.

Eldarion swung the door open, and Buttercup sprinted through, swinging at the first Ogre in her path. Boshley and Gravak followed closely behind, each engaging another Ogre. There were three altogether, and each looked panicked as they reached for their clubs, shouts of dismay and accusation leaping between them. They had sprung their trap perfectly.

Arden's flute began to sing as she played Spring Meadows; a cheerful, uplifting tune that strangely juxtaposed their situation. Elantar flanked the Ogre that Gravak had engaged, using the distraction to cleave a deep wound in the side of its abdomen: it howled with pain and panic. Eldarion had, for the first time since they'd left Torlynn, fitted arrows to his bow and actually joined the fight: his shots striking true and injuring the Ogres. Coralyn's eyes widened as she took in the scene before her. Nervously, she fitted a bolt to her crossbow, but seemed somehow unable to fire.

Taldir stepped forwards, an arrogant smirk on his face. "Allow me!" he bellowed, raising his staff and chanting in a short-clipped tongue. A burst of colour sprung forth from his hands and engulfed the closest two Ogres.
Everybody froze. The Ogres were confused, but otherwise unaffected. Taldir, for the first time any of them had seen, looked embarrassed.
"Err…" he began.
"Typical wizard…" Elantar muttered, turning her attention back to the fight; the Ogre that she and Gravak were sparring with, reeling from several blows and looking doomed.

Buttercup's quarry pushed her aside and took a swing at Taldir. The Wizard panicked, dodged the blow and fell back to hide behind Boshley, sheltering with the Gnome behind his tower shield. Gravak caught a club swing on his shield, and turned it aside, overbalancing the Ogre. Elantar reacted, leaping onto its back and burying her right-hand sword up to the hilt in its neck. It fell, and would not move again.

A second Ogre fell moments later. Arrows protruding from its throat, it sagged forwards and Buttercup finished it off, cleaving its head from its shoulders with a single swing of her axe. It would save her doing it later when they claimed their trophies.

Panicked and enraged, the final Ogre swung wildly, keeping any of them from approaching it effectively. Eldarion was keeping up a steady rhythm, sticking it with arrows, but they weren't slowing it quickly enough. It was backing away towards a door on the far side of the chamber; if it managed to call for help, they could be in serious trouble.

Taldir stepped forwards once again, silent this time, but looking determined to prove himself. He muttered something under his breath and raised his left hand. The heat was incredible. The whole party flinched with surprise and shrunk back. An orange beam hit the Ogre square in the chest and burned a hole right through to the other side, where it scorched the wall at its back. It managed one last look of surprise before it fell. There was no blood; the large hole in the Ogre's chest had been cauterised by the heat.
"Now, that was more like it Taldir!" Arden exclaimed. "What was going on with that cloud of colours before? Were you trying to decorate the place? I'll admit that it's a bit shabby in here, but was it really the time?"
"Mention it not again!" Taldir snapped furiously. Arden gave a nervous laugh and turned her attention to the bodies. Even Elantar was impressed with the Wizard's final spell, but she wouldn't be telling him that.

"What do we have then, chaps?" Arden asked. Boshley and Gravak had begun raiding the Ogres' pockets immediately after the last one had fallen.
"A bunch of coins… And the usual rubbish Ogres carry," Gravak answered.
"This one had a pretty gem!" Boshley added. The largest Ogre's pockets had yielded a translucent ruby.

Eldarion looked sullenly around the room. "Such a waste…" he said. The Ogres had been sleeping on three large bear pelts, and Eldarion furiously chewed on his lower lip. "These noble beasts died to give bedding to these brutes!" Elantar approached with mock concern and rested a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sure it wasn't that bad," she said. "They probably ate them as well," she added with a smirk. This didn't seem to console the Ranger at all.

"This is good fur," Coralyn suggested. "It's probably worth something to a dress maker. Can we fit it in a pack?"
"I've got plenty of room," Gravak exclaimed. "Let's move on," he added."

The corridor stretched out silent before her. The light was low, but Elantar could make out a heavy wooden door at the far end, and three coming off of the corridor to the right. Slowly, she edged forwards, Eldarion preparing to follow. She began to enjoy the silence, before it was abruptly broken.

At first, she thought it had come from behind her, and she turned to scowl. The party looked confused. All of them except…
"Boshley…" Elantar grimaced. The Gnome was watching her from the corridor, giggling. She examined the floor beneath her. It was solid stone. She took a couple more steps, and was still plagued with sound. Eldarion joined her, confused as she was.
"What is that?" he asked. Elantar shook her head. Despite previous animosity between them, Eldarion and Elantar shared skills in scouting, and took the role seriously. They had been getting on far better since leaving Demara's Fortress.

"There is localised magic around your feet Rogue," Taldir proclaimed as he joined them.
"Well? Can't you get rid of it?" Eldarion asked.
"I see no real reason why I should…" Taldir countered dismissively. "And if I did want to, it's not possible. This is the kind of spell that simply burns itself out after a couple of hours," Taldir sneered. "You'll just have to ignore it."
"How am I supposed to scout this place with this going on!?" Elantar whispered furiously.
"It's not that loud…" Eldarion suggested, "and the doors here are well made."
"You'll be fine," added Taldir, "just block it out."

She made to walk away, but every step bought more sounds of flatulence, and more giggles from Boshley. Elantar was livid, and began to run through options for revenge. As much as she hated to admit it, Taldir and Eldarion were right: the sound she was making didn't seem to be loud enough to alert anyone to her presence, so she simply got on with it. The Gnome's laughter was harder to ignore. She consoled herself by imagining how much he'd squeak with her hands around his throat.

The door nearest to the waiting party concealed at least two more Ogres. They were engaged in some kind of dice game, and one of them was beginning to sound frustrated. Elantar marked the door with red ink, and passed Eldarion who was listening intently at the next one. The third gave up no sounds, and received a smear of green ink. Behind the final door at the end of the corridor were the sounds of beasts; she could hear them even at this distance. She slowly approached, still producing irritating sounds with every footstep, Boshley's laughter still clearly audible from the chamber at her back, and splashed red ink on the door. She thought she could make out three distinct animals by their growls, snarls and barks, mixed with a continuous metallic rattle.

As she made her way back to report, she passed Eldarion, still listening at the door.
"I can't hear anything," he whispered.
"So?" Elantar responded. "It's not beyond the realms of possibility that it's an empty room or some sort of cupboard."
"I just can't be sure…" he said. She couldn't work out what it was that was wrong with him today: first the misplaced concern for the boar, and now this… After taking a few seconds to listen carefully, she took out her green ink, dripped some just above the door handle and walked away.

The party agreed that they should take on the Ogres first; they were closest, and shouldn't be left to cut off their escape should they need one.
"They're playing, you say?" Taldir asked.
"Some sort of dice game," she replied, "they seem quite absorbed in it."
"If we can take these ones by surprise too, they'll hopefully go down as easy as the three we just left behind," Gravak observed.

And that's exactly what happened. They were once again greeted by the sight of panicked Ogres, trying to find weapons and somebody to blame. These Ogres wielded axes, but neither of them had any opportunity to use them before they were cut down.

Taldir examined the game they had been playing, and the vastly different sized piles of coins on each side of the table.
"Kraken's Bones!" the Wizard exclaimed.
"Pardon me?" asked Coralyn, a little confused by his outburst.
"A popular dice game the world-over. You really have seen little of the world, haven't you girl?" he sneered. "I can see why one of them was growing so angry." Coralyn frowned and turned away. Elantar suspected that adventuring hadn't quite been all she was expecting.

"Are you sure she's up to this?" Elantar asked, taking Arden aside. She made sure she was speaking loud enough for the girl to hear though.
"She'll be fine," Arden responded.
"Even if that's the case, do we need her? We just took down five Ogres without taking a scratch. I have to wonder why we recruited a healer at all."
Everybody stopped what they were doing and waited to see what would happen next.
"What?" Elantar asked the room. The uncomfortable silence continued.
"Well, I'm glad you're here, Coralyn," Eldarion announced.
"Me too!" squeaked Boshley. There were some other general murmurs of consent, and Arden looked on, daring Elantar to say something else.
"Alright… forget I said anything," was all that she did say, turning her attention to the loot.

"These axes are very well made," Gravak said, attempting to move the discussion on. "Too big for us to use, but probably of value."
"This belt is surprisingly… clean for one worn by an Ogre," Eldarion added, removing a band of precious looking leather and metal from one of the Ogre's waists.
"Forty-one Silver, fifty-eight Copper," Taldir announced, as he finished counting the pile of coins.

"Come on!" Taldir whispered forcefully. "How long does it take to check a door?!"
"You're welcome to do it yourself," Elantar snapped back.
"I can already see there's nothing there, just get on with it!"

They had moved on to the second door in the passage; the one that Eldarion had heard nothing at. Fuming, she slowly turned the handle and the door swung open. If a quick glance were all that there was to trap finding, she'd have let Buttercup do it. Elantar knew little of Kobolds, but she did know that their traps could be more deadly than the creatures themselves. She wouldn't be taking any chances, no matter how much of a hurry Taldir seemed to be in.

The chamber was small and bare. "An empty room. Let's move on," said Eldarion. Gravak had begun to move into the chamber.
"There's a trapdoor here," he said, unhooking his mace from his belt. Elantar had been examining the room, still alert for traps, and moved over to stand by the Cleric. Buttercup joined them, her axe drawn.

Elantar grasped the handle, with the Orcs standing opposite, ready to strike at anything that appeared.
"On three…" she began. "One… two…"

It was a few seconds before she could hear anything again. Eldarion's hound was barking raucously, a couple of her companions were groaning in pain, and Arden was screaming in agony.

There had been a click, and Elantar hit the floor. Her reflexes had saved her, as the trapdoor was hurled over her head and crashed into the wall where it shattered into pieces. The conflagration had spread from the pit towards the door where the rest of the party cowered.

She stood, and was shocked to see that Gravak and Buttercup had both survived. These Half-Orcs were made of stern stuff indeed… They weren't unharmed, but not seriously hindered.
"It was empty," Gravak said disappointingly.
"I'm sorry… I…" Elantar began. She found herself lost for words.
"Let us see to the others," was Gravak's only response.

They returned to the party, where Arden was still screaming. The fire thankfully hadn't engulfed her; it was the force of the explosion, however, that had thrown her into a wall and left her limbs bent at unnatural angles. Coralyn knelt besides her muttering, a feint grey glow about her hands.

Taldir glared accusingly at Elantar, but made no comment. Nobody else was seriously hurt, but everyone was concerned for the Bard.

After a minute or so, Arden's screams had subsided to sobs, and her arms and legs began to re-align. A few short seconds after that, she was able to stand again. Elantar looked at Coralyn with newfound respect.
"I'm OK…" said Arden. "Thank you Coralyn; I wouldn't have managed any more without you," she added with a smile. Coralyn coyly returned the gesture.
"There was nothing in the pit," Gravak said. "Let's try the next door."

This door had also been silent, and Taldir raised no objection this time when Elantar spent a good few minutes checking it over. As she worked, she reflected on her mistake; she simply didn't think to check the trapdoor itself for any devices. She couldn't explain it, even to herself, but her lapse in judgement had almost cost them greatly.
"It's clear," she announced.
"You're sure? No bombs on this one?" Taldir asked defiantly.
"The problem with that trapdoor wasn't that I missed something, it's that I didn't check at all. And that's your fault," Elantar insisted.
"My fault!?"
"Enough!" Gravak interjected. The two Elves fell silent and turned away from one another.

Buttercup was already walking through the door to explore the new room, closely followed by the rest of the party.
"Ugh! That's a terrible smell!" Boshley squeaked. "A garbage pit…" he observed. "I wonder what could be hidden here?"
"Rubbish?" Arden suggested. "Or maybe you're hopeful of finding the lost treasure of Aktraxaterez? There's nothing for us here, let's move on."
"I think the Gnome's right," Eldarion announced. "Let him take a look, it can't do any harm."
"Thank you!" responded Boshley with excitement, entirely mis-reading Eldarion's mocking tone. He approached the edge of the pit with the Orcs close behind.

"Stop!" said Gravak suddenly. "Something moved." Everybody peered into the pit, but saw nothing.
"The boar meat?" Arden suggested.
They retreated to the door, preparing to toss a haunch of meet towards the edge of the pit as bait. Gravak landed it exactly where they needed. A tentacle reached out, swiped the meat and took it down. A dimly glowing eye opened a few feet above the edge of the pit.

"OK, now I'm confused…" Arden announced. "What has tentacles and floating eyes?"
"I don't know, what does have tentacles and floating eyes?" Boshley asked, waiting expectantly for a punch line. "Wait… that was a real question?"
"A Carrion Crawler?" Elantar suggested.
"Not with eyes like that…" Taldir replied.
"The Great Tentacled Beast of Arglorr?" suggested Coralyn. "No, wait… you killed that." Everybody laughed.
"Coralyn… there was no Great… I made it up," Arden told her sympathetically.
"Oh… really?" Coralyn seemed genuinely disappointed.
"If you want to be an adventurer girl, a certain amount of dishonesty is… helpful." Taldir said smugly.
"Then… how do you trust each other?" Coralyn asked profoundly. The question was answered only with awkward silence.

"An Otyugh?" Eldarion suggested, moving the conversation on from a very uncomfortable place.
"This is the sort of place you'd expect to find one," Elantar agreed. "Never seen one before though; I almost didn't believe they were real."
"Well, whatever it is, it's going down!" Boshley announced. Before anyone could stop him, he was diving headlong into the pit to confront the mystery beast.

Author's Notes

James had made a decision before this session that Boshley had grown impatient with all of this sneaking around… He made a DM arrangement that the first character to make a stealth check would become the target of his daily (Gnome Racial) use of Prestidigitation to give them 'Farty Feet' (Pat. Pend.).

Given that the spell has no effect on game mechanics, it didn't penalise Elantar's attempts to move silently, which was quite tricky to write up… Trying to justify it by making the doors extra thick and a bit soundproof seemed the only way.

No one else knew that this was coming, so we spent a good few minutes rolling search checks, inspecting Elantar's boots and finally casting Detect Magic to work out what was going on. Boshley (and James) enjoyed this immensely…