The Unseen Servant forums

Korin "Yah deaf? Er a mute? Names Korin an who might yah be?" the dwarf asks in common and if no reply will try again in dwarven though it appears obvious this is no dwarf the he is speaking to.

Phoenix remains inside the entrance of the mound, out of sight and ready to surprise the strange man abouts they turn out to be hostile

Thorelf "My apologies dear Sir Dwarf, I seem to have been taken by surprise by your sudden appearance, as well as the heat and the scenery. I go by the name of Thorelf and I was looking the Valley of Kings. But alas, I seem to have lost my way." Thorelf relaxes his stance somewhat and smiles broadly. And who do I have the pleasure of speking to?

Korin "Korin would be me. An the little fellow is Pheonix, Then we got Ox an Norbold be the pointy eared feller. This here be Minn's Mound an we just found an ogre in this openin now we be headin in ta the next entrance ta see what resides within."

Ox- caught off guard by the sudden appearance of a figure outside the ruins. Weapons drawn. Friend or foe thats what we need to know.

Thorelf Raises his hands slowly as to show he's unarmed apart from a dagger in his belt, next to a small leather bag. Easy now friend. (to Ox) I'm just here looking for adventure, as I suspect are you? An ogre you say? Did you know they communicate in grunts? I'm actually able to communicate with ogres myself. A....handy skill, when searching through mounds. May I join you? I can be quite resourceful, and I bet there's plenty of gold in there for all of us. What say ye? Thorelf lowers his hands and reaches slowly for a backpack hanging by his horse's saddle. With his other hand he grabs a large stick, cleaned from leaves. Friends?

Phoenix scowls from within the mound but shrugs ultimately and nods his head to the others.

Korin grunts "Dwarf use grunts to yah know at times. How bout we say allies fer now eh? We gonna let tha ogre calm down a bit before we plan ta go back an communicate to it."

As if on cue, a hollow:

<Grrrr-wuuuaaaarggh-h-h-h-h>

echoes from within the mound. Sounds of rock being bashed about can also faintly be heard.

Korin goes into the next entrance to the right of the one they already entered and found the ogre.

Ox- Walks up and shakes his hand. Welcome to the group another blade is always welcomed. Come lets follow Korin.

Phoenix comes out of the mound, his rainbow coloured robes billowing around his gnomish frame, his long blonde topknot of hair trailing behind him.

”Hello there, my my my your a handsome one aren’t you. Steamer of hearts no doubt. Welcome to the group. I am Phoenix the Magnificent, master of shapes and changes of hue!” the gnome stands proudly staff in hand.

He looks over his shoulder at the the mound they just excited. ”Errr that ogre does not seem like he wants to be friends dear comrades. It may behoove us to move on.”

The close group of friends gradually warm up to the handsome outsider who just appeared on the shore, Korin feeling safe enough to turn his back on the newcomer and wander over to the next opening in the dried mud wall, with Ox following behind.

Ox and Korin note that this opening looks very similar to the previous. The outside light does not reach very far into the 15' high opening, so when peering in from a position on the river bank, it's difficult to see exactly what's inside.

Thorelf grabs a torch from his backpack, closes the backpack and puts it on. Pleased to meet you Ox he says, shaking Ox's hand firmly while performing an almost unnoticable bow. He turns to Phoenix and nods in his direction, Phoenix, a pleasure. With that he runs up to Korin and lights his torch on his. He follows closly after Korin and Ox into the opening, torch in one hand and the large stick in the other. Soooo, what do we have here? If this is a burial place there might be traps. However if that was the case, it seems unlikely that the ogre wouldn't have ventured here and set them off already.

Nordbo wrote:The close group of friends gradually warm up to the handsome outsider who just appeared on the shore, Korin feeling safe enough to turn his back on the newcomer and wander over to the next opening in the dried mud wall, with Ox following behind.

Ox and Korin note that this opening looks very similar to the previous. The outside light does not reach very far into the 15' high opening, so when peering in from a position on the river bank, it's difficult to see exactly what's inside.

I thought I took out another torch and light it after we exited but might have been disrupted by Thorelf's sudden appearance

Korin digs out a new torch to light in replacement of the one he through in the ogre cave the proceeds into the second entrance.

I thought I took out another torch and light it

You are correct, GW, Korin did indeed light a new torch upon exiting the first entrance, so no need to light a new one.

The rays of the strong midday sun are so strong, that a lit torch held in the open, outside the 2nd entrance, reveals little of its interior. However, Korin (and Ox behind him) can make this much out:

This passage, like the first one, looks like it's cut out from the mud - but there's no smell of fish wafting towards them, like the pong coming from the previous opening. The passage continues inwards like the first one did. Korin's dwarven senses do not detect anything special this time.

Korin proceeds into the second entrance torch in hand he will stop at least 50 feet in and check for sliding/shifting walls/rooms or traps involving pits or stonework. As well as try to determine grade or slope and new construction in passage or tunnel.

Phoenix will follow, weapons ready.

The passage seems similar to the previous one. Korin detects no sliding walls, no stonework-related traps but does clearly sense that the path ahead slopes slightly upward from the entrance.

And then the passage widens; Thorelf's and Korin's torch light flicker into and across a space that looks wider and higher than the passage everyone is currently standing in. Some kind of structural work can be glimpsed on a wall ahead, at the torch lights' perimeter. Alert me if you can't see the above picture

The air in the passage is already beginning to feel much more clammy than outside.

Thorelf walks up to the wall, carefully, watching his steps. He holds the torch in front of him, just a yard away from the wall, examining it. This is strange?