[1] The Lower Road

"I was made a prisoner years ago. Everything has happened so many times, and so long ago... Or was it yesterday? It all seems so... fuzzy...."

She snaps to a sudden clarity though at the mention of Aeren, however. "That name! I know that name. I'll rip her heart out! She's the one who imprisoned me here! Let me out of these chains!"

She lets out a roar so great that it nearly deafens you. The entire stone room shakes, plaster and stone dust fall from the ceiling, and a chunk of the frame above the door crashes to the ground. And slowly, unbelievably, the heavy metal chains that bind her in place begin to fracture.

The doors slam behind you, and the roar slows to a dull vibration under your feet, but it doesn't stop. Whatever enchantment is on this room, it seems as if it doesn't stop time entirely. While she was asleep - or at least while she wasn't motivated to do anything, she was more or less silent, but now she's awake, and that roar could last quite some time.

The subtle shudder vibrates under your feet. If she wasn't slowed down as much as she is, there would be stones fracturing. As it is, it will be a while before there's any discernable effect, but you're sure there will be one eventually. You're going to need some help to settle her down before she becomes a problem.

You're also going to need to find those trogs. Fortunately, you're pretty sure you already found another way out. You head back to the room where you found the two kobold corpses, and carefully make your way down the dark hallway. It leads gradually upwards until it splits into two paths. One curves northward and carries the musty smell of stagnant rainwater. The other tunnel heads back down and the smell that wafts up from it is the unmistakable smell of troglodyte.

You carefully pick your way through the tunnel, moving slowly and quietly, but it soon becomes apparent that you don't need to worry. The trogs have set up on a lower level from where the tunnel comes out - about thirty feet down - and are set up to defend the tunnels on the level that they're on. Those tunnels face in the direction of the tunnels you were originally in, so finding those hidden halls did serve one good purpose... It's given you a spot from where you can launch an ambush. Timing is going to be the thing. Right now, it looks as though most of the troglodytes - and you count 12, you think - are active. They're eating some sort of gruel, but they're not staying together in a group to do it. Now might be a good time, or you can wait to see if they settle down at some point.

What do you think? You're far enough above them that unless you raise your voices, your conversations will mingle in with the background noise of theirs.