McButterpants - OSR - In Search of the Unknown

Urden (Human Thief) - a man of special skills. He has been on his own for a long time and forced to do what he needed to survive. Over the years, he's become proficient at getting in and out of difficult situations. Still, he is wary of letting his companions get too close. He's sure that would lead to some challenges with some, like Rikard. Descriptors: Lazy, Greedy and Rude.

Rikard (Human Cleric) - worshiper of Mayaheine, the demigoddess of protection, justice and valor. Rikard wants to prove himself as worthy. He has decided to embark on a journey to search for lands in trouble and lend a hand to help push back evil from the land. Descriptors: Devoted, Generous and Eager.

Lasos (Human Fighter) - a strong back only gets you so far. Lasos put in many hours working the town guard, hoping to get noticed. He was passed up time and again for promotions. Just two weeks ago, he gave up and decided to forge his own path. He'll search for gold and renown the old fashioned way - get out there and take it. Descriptors: Proud, inexperienced and impulsive.

Tiberious (Human Magic-User) - has spent most of his life in the search for knowledge. He has learned as much as he can in the local library and realized he needed to get out into the world to expand his mind. Descriptors: Scholarly, Calm and Careful

Danton (Human Bard) - quick with a story, Danton enjoys hearing himself speak. He regales those around him with tales of wonder. He needs new material, though. He's decided to head out on a trek with some local adventurers and take note of their escapades. It wouldn't hurt to fill his purse along the way. Descriptors: Charming, Enthusiastic and Cowardly

The party starts outside of this large stronghold hewn from a great rock outcropping at the crest of a large wooded hill. All of the characters knew of this place and it's inhabitants. Some had heard rumours of what could be found inside.

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• The owners of this castle were Rogahn the Fearless and Zelligar the Unknown
• Rogahn was a famous fighter and Zelligar was a powerful wizard.
• Both had gone missing and not been heard of for many years.
• Danton had heard that Zelligar had a workshop where he worked on magic stronger than any known to man
• Lasos had heard that the stronghold was named Quasqueton
• Rikard had heard that the treasures of Zelligar and Rogahn are safely hidden in a pool of water
• Tiberious had heard that Rogahn's trophy room has battle relics and slain monster remains from his adventures.
• Tiberious also heard that all treasures of Zelligar and Rogahn are cursed to bring ill to any who possess them.

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Their first trip into the stronghold did not last long. They found a cave-like entrance which provided an easy access point into the upper level of the structure. They walked down a long hallway to eventually come across the dead bodies of another adventuring party. They continued through the winding corridors until they came across their first room. Behind that door were two crazed guards worshiping a statue of an owlbear. The guards attacked without any provocation and nearly killed both Rikard and Lasos. The group was able to take down both of the berserkers, but the wounds to Rikard and Lasos were too grievous. The party needed to carry their companions back to town for proper healing. It took well over a week before the two men were fit enough to return. Lasos had earned a scar on his upper left pec that will most likely be there for the rest of his life. Something to tell his grandchildren about - if he lives long enough to have any.

The second trek into the stronghold has lasted much longer. The party had retraced some of their steps. They came across the dead party they had found last time. The bodies were now food for some massive rats and some of the bodies had been removed. Likewise, the bodies of the slain guards were also gone. They made their way through an armory and into the castle barracks. There was something living there. They decided to avoid that battle and moved on to another area of the castle. They found a room that could have belonged to Zelligar. The north wall was a massive bass relief of a wizard casting spells from a hilltop upon a fleeing army of men. The room housed seven skeletal remains of what appeared to be guards and the wizard. Two of the skeletons followed the group, but they were able to escape without altercation.

When last we left the group, they had entered a ballroom sized throne room. Two white marble chairs placed atop a raised platform of red granite overlooked the room. Seated in one of the thrones was a lizard-like humanoid. It jumped out of the seat and cowered behind the chair while the party made their way down the hall towards the dais.

"Hold the light higher" Lasos whispers back to Urden, then turns back to the creature. "You, what are you doing? Who else is here?" The rest of the group search the dark shadows of the room looking for movement. The room is massive. The north and south walls are barely visible in the torch light. The east wall, behind the dais, is shrouded in darkness, but Lasos fails to see a door back there. This creature is trapped. That's never a good thing. He signals to the group to stop. "Alright. There's no escape. No one wants to hurt you. All we want is to find the treasure. Do you speak common?"

Rikard frowns in the darkness. "We are here to assess the danger." Lasos looks back quickly. "I don't think this is the time to argue over our mission." He looks back at the creature. It has knelt behind the thrones and peers out from between the two marble chairs. "You are here to kill. Your kind is always here to kill." It hisses.

Lasos raises a brow. "Oh, you do understand common. We will not attack you if you lead us to the rooms filled with treasure." To show good faith, Lasos steps back and signals access to the southern side of the room. "You can pass. We won't hurt you." He says. "Just know that we expect you to lead us to something valuable. Otherwise, we will be upset."

The lizard-like creature slowly moves from behind the chairs and down the dais towards the south end of the room. It is crouched and scrambles on all fours; a long, heavy tail dragging behind it. It stands when it reaches the first pillar, grasping the stone with it's clawed fingers (reaction roll 4 = unfriendly, may attack). It hisses at the group, then slides back into the shadows and moves to run down the corridor. (Initiative: Urden 7, Rikard 6, Troglodyte 6, Danton 4, Lasos 1 & Tiberious 1).

Urden is the first to react "It's getting away. Stop it!" He pulls a dagger from his belt and whips it at the fleeing creature. Tiberious and Rikard are in the way and make the throw a difficult one. The dagger it strikes the wall wide, clattering to the tile floor somewhere in the darkness. "Dammit! I hope I didn't lose that."

Rikard moves to intercept, pulling his mace as he strides across the room. (Attack 19 = hit, Damage 6) He swings the heavy weapon and smashes the creature hard to the chest as it tries to run by. The lizard creatures is knocked back, twists and tumbles against the wall. The nauseating stench from the creature assaults Rikard's senses. (Save vs Poison 7 = Fail) The smell burns at his nostrils and his eyes begin to water. He tries to swing again as it rushes by, but he can see nothing through the tears. "Aaagh! It has poisoned me!"

Danton turns and watches the creature rush towards the southwestern passage. His expression doesn't change and he says nothing. He simply watches the creature run and then looks back at the rest of the group. Lasos cries out in frustration. He attempts to give chase, but the creature is long gone before he can make it just outside the torchlight. "Dammit! I should have known that would happen." He comes back to the rest of the group. "We'll have some trouble later if he has friends nearby. We should probably head in another direction."

A loud retching sound fills the hall as Rikard loses his lunch behind one of the pillars. "Tiberious. Do you have anything that will help Rikard?" The old man looks surprised at the calling of his name. "Oh, yes. Let's see if there's something in my pack." With that, he pulls off his backpack and heads over to Rikard. The group doesn't spend much more time in the room. Tiberious sooths Rikard's eyes with a cool wet cloth - about the only thing he has that will help. Urden searches, (Fate roll of 83 = No) but is unable to find his dagger.

They move back out of the hall and head north. The hallways of this stronghold are like a maze. The party takes turn after turn, doing their best to move northward, away from the lizard man. The smell of death comes from up ahead. The group is cautious and Urden sneaks ahead to check around the corner. "Well, dammit. It appears we're going in circles." The party comes around the corner and find the bloated and half-eaten corpses of the adventurers they encountered when they first entered the castle. "No sign of the rats this time." Urden adds.

There are two doors to either side of the hall. Urden moves to the west door and puts his ear to it. He listens intently. Lasos shifts position and the plates of his armor scrape against each other, making a dull noise. Urden looks back at him with a sneer. "Can you please stand still for just a few seconds. You don't want to walk in on a room full of those lizard creatures, now do you?" Lasos returns a level gaze. "Just hurry your work Urden. If there was a room full of them, I think you would have heard them by now." Urden frowns and goes back to the door. (Listen at door roll = success) "Wait! I hear something. There are voices." Lasos moves closer and puts his ear to the door. "How many?" Urden turns to Lasos "Maybe I would be able to tell if you shut up and let me do my job." There is a giggle from the group and Lasos give them a look. "Someone find that funny?" No one responds.

Lasos turns to the eastern door and crosses to it. "I'd prefer to search the vacant rooms. We are taking enough risk just making our way through this dark castle. We don't know what's in there. If there's voices, there is most likely at least a few of them." The others shake their heads in agreement. Rikard steps forward into the lamp light. "I think we need to discuss our mission. I know that you are all here to fill your pockets with treasures. I am not opposed to that, but I am here for a specific reason. I am here to protect the local townspeople from the creatures that reside in this castle. There are potentially things in this castle that, if they fall into the wrong hands, could be very dangerous. My job is to make sure that doesn't happen. I need to know that you will all help me with this goal." Rikard looks at each of us in the torchlight as if trying to read our thoughts.

Tiberious suddenly speaks up, his voice quiet as a whisper. He hasn't said much since they all met. "I think all of our goals align in some way. Some of us are here for wealth. Some are here for knowledge. You are here to clear this place of it's dangers. If we all work together, I think we will all accomplish our goals. We don't need to clear every room, but we should focus on the important rooms. We can always come back to this room in the future." With that, he pulls some chalk from his cloak and marks a large circle on the door. "We'll cross off the rooms we have cleared. The circle shows that we have not cleared this room." The chalk disappears back into a pocket and he leans on his staff. "Now, let's see if there's anything across the hall."

Urden listens at the easter door (Listen at door roll = fail). "I don't hear anything." Lasos tries the door and finds it locked (1-2 on a d6 = locked door - rolled 2 = locked). Lasos smiles back at the group. "A locked door and no one inside. That's a good sign if you ask me." Urden steps up and tries the door (Open Locks roll 97 v 15 = fail). He fiddles with the door for a while and cannot get the lock to open. "It's a bugger, this one." They discuss what to do. Lasos wants to kick it down, but they all know that the noise will just alert whoever's across the hall - and maybe others nearby. Tiberious steps up and draws a large circle on the door. "We'll come back to this one later."

They make their way north. The hallway extends for about 100 feet before turning east. When the get to the corner, Lasos looks around the corner and scans the area ahead. He holds the lantern up high , trying to extend the light down the corridor (Wandering Monster check = 1 - yes). He is about to wave the others ahead, when he hears voices (Surprise roll - Party = 6, Wandering Monster = 2 - Wandering Monster surprised). He signals for the group to stop and back up. Everyone turns and move to retrace their steps down the dark hall. They move down the hall as quickly as they can without making noise. Rikard and Lasos struggle to move quickly without echoing the rattle of metal on metal. The group manages to get down the hall and turn the corner before they hear the voices echo down the hall behind them. The voices get closer and closer. Lasos and Rikard ready their weapons and wait, their backs pressed against the north wall of the corridor. The voices are close now, just a few feet away. They are speaking gibberish. Lasos looks to Rikard to see if he understands, but Rikard shrugs. All of a sudden, the voices sound as if they are moving away. Lasos takes a quick look into the hall and sees that the two men have moved down the hall to the east.

Lasos signals to the group and they continue back up the hall they just came from. "Shouldn't we go another route?" Asks Danton. "There might be more of them back up that way." Lasos looks back. "Well, there's two less. Besides I don’t think there are that many settled here. If there were more, they'd have guards at the front doors or overlooking the pass. My guess is that there's a small group of men here, trying to settle in. They must be fairly new. There's still creatures like that lizard-man and none of the halls are lit." He turns back up the hall, Urden moving ahead slightly scouting the corridor ahead. "We might have to deal with them at some point - maybe just run them off."

A bit further ahead they come across a door to the north. Urden leans his ear against the door (Listen Roll 6 = Fail) and shakes his head. Lasos tries the door (Locked Door Roll 2 = Locked). "It appears we need to find a key-ring." Urden gets to work on this lock (Open Lock roll 12 = success). Unlike the first door, this one clicks audibly and Urden steps back smiling. "Good work" Rikard says and grasps his shoulder. "That is a useful skill for this place." Urden turns and does not answer. Lasos opens the door quietly and then hisses back "light." Urden passes the light up and Lasos scans the dark room. It's is largely empty and thick with dust. Lasos turns back to the group (Surprise roll 3 = Yes). "I don't think this room as been used in …" Suddenly something large drops on top of him. (Initiative: Lasos 8, Rikard 6, Danton 5, Crab Spider 3, Lasos 3, Tiberious 2). The spider is massive. It's almost the size of Lasos himself. The creature grabs at him with it's large crab-like pincers and attempts to bite (Attack 15 = miss). The teeth scratch against his breastplate and streams of green liquid stream down the front of the armor.

Urden rushes into the room like a flash. He pulls his dagger from the sheath on his chest harness and buries it deep into the creature's head (Attack 24 (Nat 20) = hit, Damage 8). The creature emits a high pitch scream and shrinks back from the pain. Rikard tries to push forward to attack, but he can't get past Urden. Danton is able to get his bow drawn, but dares not unleash an arrow into the melee. He holds and waits to see what happens. (Morale roll = Surrender, or Flee) The creature scurries back into the room, climbs up the far wall and disappears around the next corner.

Urden steps into the room and holds the lantern up to scan the ceiling for other beasts, but there is none. He keeps watch to see if the spider comes back while Rikard lends Lasos a hand to get up. "You are very lucky, my friend. If that bite would have hit, you'd probably be dead by now. We'll need to be more careful entering these rooms. You should check the ceiling before moving in." The group backs out of the room and close the door behind them. (Missed Treasure = False map that shows the room and adjacent corridor in detail; nothing else is accurate).

They continue down the hall, rounding a corner and see a door up ahead. The group continues forward with Urden in the front (Find Trap 79 = Fail). All of a sudden, the floor starts to sink. "What the hell …" Uden says as he tries to grab hold of the wall. There is confusion as the floor separates in the middle and opens to darkness. The whole of the floor gives way. There is nothing to hold onto and everyone falls through the opening landing with a loud splash into a pool below. Urden's lamp goes dark as it is submersed in the water. Above, the floor retracts and closes.

Urden tries to grab the wall, but his hand grasps at nothing. He topples, seeing the corridor above disappear into darkness. He sees the water below, but is unable to adjust his position as he's falling and hits the water awkardly (d4 damage = 4 HP). Everything goes dark.

Lasos falls like a stone. He hits the water feet first and sinks deep. His feet hit the bottom and he is completely submerged (d4 damage = 3). He pushes off from the bottom and tries to swim up, but his plate armor is heavy. He can barely move his arms enough to swim towards the surface. (Chance of drowning 90-(Dex x 5) roll 17 = success)He does not break the surface, but is lucky enough to have landed near the edge. He grabs at the silt and mud on the bottom of the pool and pulls himself up along the pool floor, finally breaking the water and gasping for air.

Tiberious is older and frail. The fall is longer than he expected and he strikes the water with a heavy THWAP (d4 damage = 4). The wind is knocked out of him and he struggles to keep conscious. He manages to swim to the surface and sputters, gasping for air. It takes a bit for him to get his wind back and his teeth shiver from the frigid cold of the water. Tiberious forces his numb hands and legs to action (Check against cold of water CON x 5 roll 42 = success). He gets himself to the edge of the pool and drags himself onto the dark, rocky floor of the cavern. He crawls over to the wall of the cave and pulls himself into a ball, shivering is his cold and wet clothing.

Danton is towards the back of the party and tries to jump the edge of the trap before falling through. He strikes the stone, but can't hold on. He tumbles through the hole in the floor and falls head over heels. He tries to pull himself into a ball before impact (d4 damage = 3). He strikes the water. He had expected hard earth, or worse. Once it registers that he's fallen into a pool of water, he immediately unfurls and swims with all of his might. He is one of the first out of the pool. He digs into his pack and pulls out a lantern. It takes a minute or two to get his numb fingers to work the flint, but he does manage to light it as the others struggle from the pool.

Rikard, like Lasos, falls like a stone (d4 damage = 4 HP). He hits the water hard - face, then chest, then feet. His shattered nose is bleeding profusely, inking the water even darker. He won't be aware of the damage until he gets to shore. Rikard struggles against his armor, trying to pull of his breast plate, but realizes he doesn't have time. He sinks to the bottom and pushes off to get to the surface (Chance of drowning 90 - DEX x 5 roll of 22 = success). He pushes off from the bottom breaking the surface and inhales as much air as he can before he goes under again. He does this multiple times until he reaches the edge of the pool and can finally hold his head above the water by just standing.

Lasos, Tiberious, Danton and Rikard huddle around the lantern and dig through their packs looking for something to burn. Rikard pulls out a half dozen torches and drops them in a pile. "I don't know how much heat these will give off, but we can burn three of them and see if it's enough." The soggy torches take some time to light, but eventually get burning. Everyone is soaked to the bone. They all decide that sitting in the cold, wet clothing is going to be worse for them, so they all strip and jerry-rig a clothesline with some rope and pitons.

Rikard looks around. "Where is Urden?" The rest of the group look around. "Did anyone see him get out of the pool?" There is a bit of concern in his voice. He grabs the lantern and holds it up to search the dark water. The light shines out onto the now-still water. He sees something floating atop the pool, near it's center. "There! He is there." Rikard sets the lantern down and starts towards the edge of the pool.

"Stop!" Lasos rushes up and grasps the man's shoulder. "He is gone. Even if you are able to survive the frigid water and bring him back, what can we do? He has been in the water too long ... he is gone." Rikard looks out over the small lake. Whatever was floating there before, is gone. Maybe it was never there. He stands looking out over the lake for a few minutes more before he returns to the small fire to warm himself up.

The group huddle around the fire warming up as best they can. They all decide to take a meal. It has been a long morning. "We need to find a way out of here. None of us are in any shape to deal with the creatures that could be lurking in these caverns. We'll need to be extra careful." Tiberious looks up towards the ceiling trying to make out the trap. He can't see through the darkness, but estimates the trap is some 40 feet up. "The way in is much to perilous to be the way out. I cannot make that climb. I don't think any of you are well enough to make it either. We will need to continue on and see if there is an alternate exit."

They all look towards the cave mouth to the south. It appears to be the only way forward. They rest on the rocks until the torches burn low. The clothing is still cold and wet, but at least better than it was before. Lasos and Rikard don their armor again and they prepare to move forward. "Danton. Come, walk beside me and keep your bow at the ready. Don't loose an arrow unless absolutely necessary." With that, Lasos continues forward.

They move through the large cavern just south of the pool. The lantern illuminates the dark, damp walls around them, but casts plenty of shadows all around. They continue on until they come across a door in the eastern wall. "Could this be a way out?" Danton whispers to Lasos. "I don't know, but we should check it out." He signals to Danton to listen at the door. Danton hesitates for a minute, then puts his ear to the door (Listen at Door roll 6 = failure). He listens for a long while, then pulls back. "I don't hear anything." Lasos shrugs "That's good enough for me." (Locked Door roll 2 = locked) Lasos grabs the handle and pulls, but the door doesn’t budge. "Damn! It's locked." He looks back at the group. Danton shrugs. Tiberious leans on his staff and says "I don't think they'd put a door here for nothing. There has to be something important behind it. We'll have to come back to take a look." With that, he walks up and chalks a large circle on the door.

The group continues on through the quiet tunnels looking for any signs of a way out. After about an hour of slowly moving through the caverns, they hear voices in the distance. Danton puts out the lantern and they are all cast into complete darkness.

Tiberious steps up and listens to the darkness, trying to hear what the creatures are saying. He signals for them all to move back, then once out of earshot, he whispers. "The voices are not in common. It almost sounds like dogs yipping and growling at each other. I am in no condition to confront these creatures. Truth be told, I don't think any of us are. We should look for an alternate route - preferably out of this place." Rikard shakes his head and puts a hand on Tiberous's shoulder. "You are right, my friend. I am scared for you. We have no idea how to get out and that fall almost killed you. I cannot leave another of this group here. Let us backtrack and look for an exit. There must be a way out." The rest of the group nod their heads. Lasos takes the lead and moves back up the tunnel.The group continues to backtrack away from the dog creatures. Danton has lit his lantern again and scouts the tunnel ahead. After a while, he touches Lasos's shoulder. "Stop." He whispers. "There is something ahead." The group stop cold and scan the tunnel ahead. Something moves in the dim light. You can barely hear the slow shuffling of feet. The creatures are moving away. Danton holds the lantern high and they watch the figures move into the darkness. All of sudden, one turns and starts shuffling back in their direction. Another pauses and looks back, then turns and starts shuffling closer. "Dammit." Lasos hisses to himself, then to the rest of the group in a whisper "Prepare yourselves. Tiberious, you move to the back. Let us deal with these two." The group stand ready to fight.

Tiberious moves back about 10 feet from the group. Danton places the lantern on the floor near the wall, draws his bow and moves to stand in front of Tiberious. The creatures shuffle forward and step into the light. Their faces are grey and gaunt. The smell of rotting meat fills the tunnel. "They are dead." Whispers Rikard. He has only heard of such things. He grabs the chain that hangs around his neck and holds it up high. "Mayaheine. These creatures are an abomination. Someone has stained the world with this evil. Help me release these creatures from the hell they have been brought into." The symbol on the end of the chain shines. The light gets brighter - filling the chamber. The light falters and retreats until it is just the lamp light shining in the tunnel. "I have offended you, Mayaheine. I will do my best to regain your favour." Rikard whispers to himself. One of the creatures in on top of Lasos and he lashes out.The blade scrapes across the rusted breastplate worn by the creature and does little, but hold it back for a second. The two are now on top of Rikard and Lasos.The undead grabs at Lasos and scratches at him, trying to pull him in for a bite. Lasos manages to hold the creature back, but it does open a wound - a scratch on his exposed arm. The second lurches forward and catches Rikard off guard. Rikard was looking at the pendant on the chain as the light went out and almost forgot about the creature. It grabs him and pulls itself on top of him and latches to his neck, above the heavy armor. Rikard lets out a cry as blood pulses from the wound in his neck. He tries to pull away, but ends up falling back, pulling the creature along with him. It bites again at his face. Rikard tries to cry out, but his voice is garbled by the blood. It only takes a few seconds for him to go silent as he bleeds out on the floor of the tunnel.Danton seeing Rikard go down, unleashes an arrow at the creature. It is shot as they both fall and catches the undead in the shoulder. Tiberious conjures a glowing dart of energy from thin air. It streaks out at the creature, now on the floor, and strikes it directly in the molded temple. The head is rocked back from the bolt and part of the skull is ripped away. Lasos, unaware that his friend has fallen, pushes back on the creature grasping at him. He slashes with his sword and rips the jaw and part of the face away.The creature shuffles forward, but Lasos holds it back with his sword. Danton lets loose another bolt, but it goes wide and splinters against the wall of the cave. Tiberious throws his dagger. It strikes the creature in the chest and remains lodged there, but seems to have little impact. Lasos pushes the creature back with his sword again. When it moves in to attack, he cleanly lops it's head off. The head smack the floor with a dull thud and rolls into the darkness. The body crumples to the floor.

Tiberious steps up and checks on Rikard. "There's nothing I can do to save him. His neck has been torn out. That is a second we've lost from our group. I knew this would be a dangerous adventure, but it has been more difficult than I ever imagined." Lasos kneels beside the wizard and puts a hand to his shoulder. "It will not get much better. There are only three of us left. We have lost the advantage of numbers. Our only hope is to find a way out of here and back to town. We need to rest and maybe find some more skilled warriors. Come, let us keep moving."

The group wanders through the tunnels and caverns for another hour or so. They move slowly, listening intently for any sounds from the chambers ahead. There is a faint glow coming from the tunnel to the south. Danton turns out the light in his lantern and the group is the very dim light to guide them forward. The group move into the room and see two lizard men staring at them. The creatures separate and move a bit closer, cutting off the exit routes from the cavern. "Drop your weapons humans!" The larger yells at the group. "Drop your weapons and die. There is no way forward for you. You made a mistake coming into these caves ... our caves!" The other creatures makes a strange clicking noise and Tiberious realizes it's laughing. "We have no quarrel with you." Lasos steps up and puts himself in front of the group. "We only look for the way out. Point in the right direction and we'll be on our way."

"No. That will not do. We are hungry and a great feast has just walked in. No, you are not leaving." With that, the creatures rushed forward and jumps at Lasos, the smaller one rushes in as well.The first one jumps onto Lasos's chest and attempts to knock him down, slashing with its claws, but only finding steel armor. The second smashes into Lasos from the side, but cannot find an opening. Lasos prepares for the creatures as they rush in. The stench of them hits before the creatures do and Lasos's eyes water. "*Gasp!* The smell. *cough, cough* it is overwhelming. Stay back!" He tries to strike at the lizard men, but they have crowded him and he is unable to swing his blade. Danton steps back against the wall and fires an arrow, but can't find a clear shot without potentially hitting Lasos. Tiberious ignore Lasos's words and swipes at the smaller creature with his staff. It strikes, but does l little damage. The first creature pulls at Lasos's armor. It claws and scratches, trying to find a way to tear the plate off. The second creature manages to get a claw in above the armor and scratches large bloody welts across Lasos's neck. Lasos cries out in pain. Lasos manages to get his blade between him and the creature and pushes it in with all of his might. The blade squeals as it scrapes along his armor, but sinks deep into flesh. The creatures screams in pain and steps back, the blade lodged deep in its belly. Lasos pulls back with a hard yank and is sprayed with blood as he pulls the sword free. Another bolt whizzes past and disappears into the darkness. Tiberious strikes again with his staff with little effect. The lizard man grabs at his stomach, blood gushing between its fingers and slashes out at Lasos with its other claw. The claw catches him across his exposed neck and tear the flesh. Blood splashes the wall of the cavern. Lasos grabs at his throat, gurgles something and falls to the stone floor. The second creature turns to Tiberious, who has struck him twice with the staff and thrusts one clawed hand into the mage's belly then pulls out a fist full of gore. Tiberious groans in pain and falls, clutching at his innards. Both creatures turn to Danton, who turns and rushes back up the passage he came from, disappearing into the darkness.

Epilogue:
It took two weeks before Danton was able to escape. He survived on rats and stale water from the pool they fell into. At first, he could not bring himself to drink knowing that Urden lay somewhere beneath, rotting in the still water. It didn't take long for the thirst to change his mind. He broke into the only door they had come across while down here. It did not lead up top, but did provide a room to hide in. The first few days were spent huddled behind some ancient crates, hoping not to be found. Eventually the hunger forces him to venture out. He mapped the caverns, one after another. Rushing back to the doored room whenever he got a hint of something in the tunnels ahead.

The exit was in the direction the group originally started down. The dog creatures had set some sort of trap, but Danton was lucky. He had been so careful. He noticed the thin line just before he triggered it. It was a few days after that when he opened a door and was blinded by the brilliant, beautiful light of the sun. He wept openly. His body shaking from the horrible sobs.

He found no treasure, no fortune ... only death. He sang of these stories for years. His songs helped save many would-be adventurers from certain death. He still has nightmares of the castle.