Chapter One - The Adventure Begins

The small door under the stairs is open, revealing a stone staircase leading down into darkness. The steps are shrouded with cobwebs and dust. Peering down from where you stand at the top of the steps, you can see that it descends about twenty feet before turning to the right and plunging into darkness. Fhenryl leads the way, his keen eyes able to see at least partially in the darkness.

After the first turn, the staircase descends another twenty feet and then turns again. You move carefully and quietly down to the next landing. From here, you can hear strange sounds emanating from the chamber below: chirping birds, rustling leaves, and cheery giggles. The landing itself is bare, save for an empty iron torch sconce mounted on the south wall. The stairs descend a final twenty feet and open into a large square room.

There is barely enough light in this room to make out the dimensions of this chamber -- it seems to be about a forty foot square with a ten foot ceiling. You can feel a slight draft blowing into the room from a 10' wide passage heading out of the room directly across from the stairs. To your left are two 4' diameter circular doors made of wood and framed with a ring of mortared stones.

The farther of the two doors is closed; you can see that it bears a strange glyph. The closer door bears a different glyph but rests half-open, revealing a rim of gear-like teeth. Dim light spills from the chamber beyond the door, providing the light by which you can see this room.

Mounted to the walls of this chamber are twelve tarnished copper masks, each two feet tall and mounted about four feet above the floor. Each of the masks depicts a slightly different smiling gnome's face. The soft giggling, chirping, and rustling sounds you heard from above seem to pour from the very walls.