Chapter 2, Day 11

You search thoroughly and do find a few things. Off the main chamber where you felled the ogres are two well kept rooms. One a torture chamber. It is clean, well organized, although grim. Small barbed cages rest against the wall, not quite large enough to stand in and not quite wide enough to sit in. Several barrels of water are on the floor, leaning against one is a bloodstained mob. A simple cot and chair round out the room contents. Flipping the cot, you find a small coffer. Inside is 155 gold, 320 silver, and a fine ruby-set bracelet in the shape of a lion (valued at 200 gp).

Opposite the torture chamber is the room that the dragon rider must have in habited. Three large animals -- a leopard, wild boar, and a crocodile -- stand at the ready in the southern portion of this room ... but on second inspection, they prove to be stuffed and mounted for display. The walls are decorated with a striking tapestry depicting a five-headed dragon in a pose of destructive rage. A free-standing perch for a falcon or eagle stands in the room's northwest corner. A cot heaped with fine furs lies to the west, next to a large table. Atop the table lies a dead batlike creature, its abdomen cleaned and stuffed with salt and wood chips, and its wings pinned to the table's surface with several thin pins. An iron chest is under the table. The chest is locked.

Finally, the chamber the dragon emerged from. It is a large room that might have once been a library. Now its shelves lie in disarray along the east and western walls. No sign of any books are apparent. A large portion of the ceiling is missing -- this must have been the opening through which the dragon ascended into the sky--, as is a corresponding portion of the floor, which opens into the dark waters of the lake below.

Xara finds no traps or tricks, and gets to work on the chest. It's a strong lock, and her skills don't seem to be up to the task...

Looking it over, Ghunril figures that while the chest is made of sturdy enough wood and banded with iron, it's still made of wood. A series of well placed strikes, probably with a mace or other blunt instrument, would certain grant entry.