2. The First Delve

"Not much further. At least not further down. I’ve heard rumours of other such stonework elsewhere in the dungeon. If you find any, I’d be very grateful if you could direct me to them. Naturally, I’d reimburse you for your efforts."

" well... I think all of the presents would be happy to assist your researches if we happen to stumble upon more fine stoneworks on our exploration, which brings me to the question... are you stopping here or would you consider joining us in these deeps??

I, for one, would be more than happy to share the whereabouts of any other masterpieces. If course, this place is filled with dangerous threats. Finding stonework like this will be life threatening. I am sure you have taken that danger into account in the size of your reward. How much are you planning to pay for directions? I will even provide mapped directions.

Tiberious pulls out the parchment where he's tracked their progress so far. Have you seen beyond these rooms? We have come across a couple of traps that have thinned our group. Have you seen other such traps elsewhere in these halls?

"It is magnificent!" Gabbro says politely, pretending to admire the beautiful murals of dwarves killing elves. His past experience has led him to be leery of monoracial groups, be it all elves, all dwarves, all humans, or <shudder> all halflings. But he's reassured at the relatively polite welcome they've received. "May I ask if you've already explored beyond that door?" he asks, pointing to the southwest door. "We'd love to know what's behind it. If you haven't been that way, we can explore it and come back here to tell you all about it. I imagine your work capturing all the details of the craft on display here will keep you occupied for some time..."

Swan has moved near the door quietly. And stands there awaiting to hear.

Architectural Wonder
The dwarf takes Tiberious’ parchment, pushes his eyeglasses up his nose, and studies the map.

"Hmmm … well, you’ve explored further west than we have. But if you head south from here and then turn east at the forest room, you’ll reach Kobold Korners. That’s where we’ve been staying. It’s pretty squalid, but the food and board are cheap and there seems to be a general acceptance amongst Stonehell’s denizens that it’s a neutral zone. If you do find any interesting stonework elsewhere in the dungeon, that’s the best place to find us if we’re not here. I’ll pay one hundred gold for each example of Dwarven stonework that you find. And we make no claim on any treasure provided that it’s not of Dwarven origin."

Turning to Lahnkmer: "Our studies keep us here for now, but we’ll gladly accompany you if you find any of our stonework elsewhere in the dungeon."

Pointing to the southeast section of this room: "Oh, and we discovered a secret door over there. I wouldn’t go through it though - the place seems to be teeming with orcs."

Mapping information: sorry, I wasn’t clear previously - there’s no door at the southwest exit. It’s just a corridor that runs west for 20’ before reaching a corner section and turning south. The secret door is in the southern section of the eastern wall.

---
Day 2, 10:30 am
Fenwick, Elf 1: 5/5
Gabbro, Elf 1: 7/7
Lanhkmer, Thief 1: 4/4
Ricard, Fighter 1: 7/7
Swan, Fighter 1: 5/6
Tiberious, Magic-User 1: 5/5

Link to Gabbro's mega-maps ...
Link to Tiberious' mega-maps ...

Swan moves to do down the sw corridor. She deems there is no more knowledge to be gained here. She looks on to where we are going next. She likes to get some more exploring in before lunch. "Forward we go."

Ricard resumes his position and makes ready to leave.

"Kobold corner huh? Seems like something we should check out."

"Thank you for your guidance," Fenwick tells the Dwarves. "And best of luck with your studies. We will be sure to check in later and tell you of any other works we discover."

She follows after Swan and Ricard.

Swan agrees with Ricard, "That was my thoughts too. Possible supplies there as well. Those orcs might be trouble."

Lanhkmer rolls his hand over his head mimicking grateful and respectful greetings to the dwarves.
"your knowledge has helped us all, farewell..."

To the fellows adventurers "lead the way!"

Tiberious nods in agreement. We can probably gather a lot of information at Kobold Korners. I agree that would be a great place to make our next stop.

Swan and Ricard lead The Hellions out of the southwestern exit from the dwarves’ room. The passage continues west for 20’ before arriving at a corner section and turning south. After a further 20’ you arrive at a crossroads.

To the east: a 10’ corridor opens out into a chamber that is being used as a trash heap. There’s a chittering noise coming from within, as well as an obnoxious smell of dung and decay.

To the west: a 20’ corridor opens out into a larger area that extends beyond the range of your lantern’s light. From what you can see, the floor is covered with dust and loose rubble.

To the south: the passage continues for 20’ before arriving at another crossroads.

---
Day 2, 10:40 am
Fenwick, Elf 1: 5/5
Gabbro, Elf 1: 7/7
Lanhkmer, Thief 1: 4/4
Ricard, Fighter 1: 7/7
Swan, Fighter 1: 5/6
Tiberious, Magic-User 1: 5/5

Link to Gabbro's mega-maps ...
Link to Tiberious' mega-maps ...

Always have some passages behind us. Just the way it is. "Keep going this way. Looks to be the best way to Korners." Swan continues south.

"The dwarf said to turn east as the forest room, right? Whatever that is, doesn't look like any of these. So we keep going south."

As long as someone's still probing the floor ahead with a spear, Gabbro is happy to continue south to the second intersection.

Lanhkmer volunteers to be that scouting one, but he has no pole or spears with him

Don't worry - as long as Ricard is at the front of the marching order (which he is) and has his spear equipped (which he does) I'll assume he is routinely probing ahead, looking for traps, and make any rolls accordingly.

If that situation changes, please let me know.

You continue cautiously south for 20’ and arrive at the second crossroads. The passageways to the east, south and west all stretch into the darkness beyond the range of your lantern’s light.

---
Day 2, 10:40 am
Fenwick, Elf 1: 5/5
Gabbro, Elf 1: 7/7
Lanhkmer, Thief 1: 4/4
Ricard, Fighter 1: 7/7
Swan, Fighter 1: 5/6
Tiberious, Magic-User 1: 5/5

Link to Gabbro's mega-maps ...
Link to Tiberious' mega-maps ...

Swan looks over the crossing and continues forward. (Drive the mappers out of paper.)

The dwarves said to turn east at the forest room. I think our best bet it to continue south ... at least until we run into a room with a forest underground. He raises an eyebrow at this thought. I did not realize until now how strange that sounds. A forest, growing underground.