– Magic can do everything except what you need the most. –
The beaten and battered goblin drops his original plan and stumbles back into the null magic room to check on Aronn and Hawk. Taking note of their groaning he sits down in the middle of the null room with his gun and tools and begins to check on his rifle. Once he’s confident he can simply swap out an air tank he begins the process of doing so.
He begins to talk. Mostly to himself.
“T’ eksploshin suggests tat are friends mebbe stayed alife and have dealt wit t’ source off t’ Tings.”
He points at the open door.
“Ifin not, ten we’ll know win one off t’ Tings comes runnin’ in t’ kill us. We know tat tis room kills tem so are best bet fir the moment is t’ be t’ cake in t’ mouse trap.”
He pauses to take out his burning glass to look closely at the connector for the air canister. If that’s damaged his rifle is no better than a club. He then tells the two pinkies (They’re alright. He’d introduce his family to them.) the plan he has just improvised.
“Ifin some time passes and neither a Ting or are friends comes in, ten I’m goin’ t’ use my scoutin’ skills t’ sneak into tat final room in t’ hopes I kin find us a solution t’ being surrounded by enemies in tere. When I do tat you two need t’ make a plan t’ escape in inny way yi kin.”
Lacking the time for a proper inspection and cleaning, Thwip begins to load a new canister.
“Tis is t’ point were yi tell me offa better plan.”
Sitting up slowly and blinking, Ranar instinctively readies his axe and shield and looks around. But all seems quiet. After a moment, he stands and walks over to check on Nic and Jibril. “Um… ahh… Sorry I kinda botched the retreat, guys. B-but thanks for the swift backup! We should probably get back to the mages. But they might want to see this…” He walks over and picks up Eabd’s helmet, examining the craftsmanship and looking for anything peculiar.
“Aight, triangle formation, I’ll take lead, Nic on the right, Jibril on the left.” With that he steps ahead and starts walking back toward the map room, wary of the side passage that they haven’t gone down yet. “I can’t believe there’s nothing left of it. Twas enormous! And the stench of it! The beast may be gone but I d’know if I can ever forget the smell.”
Eabd’s armour is of high quality and very thick, and includes internal bracing that would interfere with a human wearing it. Other than that, nothing unusual is apparent.
The combat party, minus Eabd’s body, return to the map room without incident.
Ranar heaves a sigh of relief at seeing Thwip, Blue Hawk, and Aronn still apparently intact. “Well, there was a dark and smelly tunnel. More of those zombie-things. And a…a… horrific monstrosity. Birthing or eating them, maybe both. Goo and tentacles everywhere.” He shudders and briefly looks away.
“Umm… The armor man, he ahh… fell apart.” He holds out the helmet to Thwip. “Got ripped apart, that is. This glowed like the midday sky. I thought maybe one of you might want to see it.”
Thwip takes the helmet offered to him and gazes into the emptiness.
“Pity. I vas startin t’ become quite fondt off it.”
He flips it over a few times to inspect the build quality, taking note of the support structures inside. He then puts his hand into it and pokes his fingers through the visor in a mockery of eyes. He frowns at his own foolishness and puts the helmet to the side.
“I shall return vun day t’ recoffer it’s boddy. Tere’s much t’ learn.”
Making sure of the solidity of his equipment, he stands up. He isn’t becoming good at ignoring his constant pain however he is becoming skilled at stifling his whimpers.
“Ifin yir confident it’s safe I tink we kin go doon tat hall an see ifin tere’s a way oot off are predikament.” he says as he nods at the surface activity on the map.
Ranar nods, “Aye, would no guarantee it safe, but safer than it was.” He looks around at the group and hrmphs to get everyone’s attention. “L-l-let’s form up and get moving. Jibril and I will take the lead, Aronn and Blue Hawk take the center, and Thwip and Nic in the back. First we’ll go fishing to get Blue Hawk’s equipment back and fish out any more of the armoury weaponry that we can carry. Then we’ll take a look down the unexplored passage.”
“That may be a way out, or we might find somethin’ such that we need to get out quick. Or by then, what’s up above might’ve come down to meet us. Let’s move quick so that we can meet 'em on our own terms however it goes. And let’s stick together. Nobody wander off alone or ahem charge off impulsively, eh?”
Apart from the splashing of your footsteps and the clinking of Ranar’s armour, all is quiet as you head out into the main chamber. A quick search locates Hawk’s gear and the other weapons. Leaving Eabd’s armoury on the steps to the map room, you head for the unexplored section. The water level appears to have stabilised at about a foot deep in the main chamber, insufficient to reach up the stairs into the hallways but enough to flood the hidden section.
The other fork in the hidden section leads to a pair of locked metal doors. The locks, although of good quality, are swiftly dealt with by Thwip and Jibril.
The chambers revealed appear to be storerooms; clean and undamaged shelving, holding nothing but dust. However, Thwip notices what appears to be a small (about a foot square) metal hatch behind the shelving in the corner of the right hand room.
There is no handle or other apparent means to open it. Hawk reports that he senses magic on the hatch.
He feels around his torn coat for a bit before deciding upon the burning glass to inspect the hatch and the wall it is attached to more closely. He momentarily considers using the dowsing stone but he still doesn’t understand its magic and how it interacts with other magicks.
While he carefully and slowly inspects the area around the hatch, “Tere might be a way t’ open it elsewhere. Innyone remember seein’ a switch r’ lever innywhere? Or mebbe in tis room behind or unner a shelf? ‘Leaf noo a stoon un-tarnedt, yi green bugger!’ as mi oldt mentor once said.”
The metal panel appears featureless, but the cut of the stone around it makes it clear that it’s supposed to swing out when opened, on hidden hinges at the bottom. Close examination reveals that it appears to cover a small metal safe set into the stone wall behind. The panel is lipped over the edge of the safe; a crowbar might get a bit of purchase on the panel, but you wouldn’t get a lot of power, and you have no idea how solidly the panel is held.
Thwip points out his findings to Jabril. “You kin give tis a shot. I’ll help t’ otters look fir a remote swich.”
He then gets on all fours. He fights the urge to get on all one while down there. His lingering injuries and the grim silence of the others is making him want to lay down and let this vault vanish from his mind for eight to twelve hours.
Shaking it off, he begins to examine the underside of the shelves for any switches. Should he not pass out, he intends to inspect the other walls for one.
Ranar walks to the corner where the passage split and peers back down toward the Uberthing chamber. “Could be something in there that we missed in all the ‘excitement’” he says to Nicolas.
Pausing in his inspection of the floor, Thwip shouts up at the others, “Mebbe yi kin shout sum old Dwarfing words about frindship at it since it’s got magick on it. I redt tat inna book once.”
