Adventurers
- Alfredward (Dwarf 4)
- Dulo Chaec (Magic User 2)
- Knuckles (Thief 2)
- Koko (Cleric 4)
- Lynal the Elf (Elf 1)
- Mandras (Dwarf 2)
- Rarder (Fighter 5)
Reprovisioning from the horses’ saddlebags, the party made their way down again into the depths. This time they made their way past the forge, and followed the corridor round until it opened up into a vast chamber populated only by a pair of hounds standing over four arrow-pierced bodies.
Koko calmed the dogs down and drew them away with copious rations, while the others pilfered the bodies. The freed adventurer Cullen recognised the corpses and indeed the doodgs too. He passed on what little he knew of his late colleague’s trained instructions for the hounds.
Lynal also pulled a feline-decorated ring from one of the bodies. The party were surprised to see and hear a domestic cat let out a startled exclamation when she tried it on herself. Removing the ring returned her to her elven form.
the party then opted to double back on themselves and make their way down another corridor, passing a storeroom, dining hall and kitchen, all recently in use but all empty of hairy occupants.
They then came to a larger room with pews shoved to the side and an altar at one end, over which stood a large statue of a female warrior built into the wall. The statue’s eyes gleamed in the torchlight, and so while the others investigated the room, Knuckles clambered up to purloined the enormous gems. As he started to pry, however, the head dropped a few feet, revealing a gaping hole in the wall from which emerged several large flying insects.
They made a beeline for the hapless thief, and Knuckles tumbled to the ground, just barely surviving the series of stings before his allies could reach him to form a protective barrier. They cut the creatures down in short order, but Knuckles was left badly injured.
As the party debated sending Rarder’s halfling retainer down the hole, they spied a face at the door. It quickly vanished, and the adventurers gave chase to the footsteps sounding down the corridor. Eventually they came to a long corridor, at the wnd of which stood a group of hairy ones blocking the way with bows and tower shields.
Wary of an ambush, Duloe sent the creatures into an enchanted sleep, and Alfredward dragged the dozing forms back to the party. Binding them and depositing them with the rest of the prisoners back at the surface under the watchful eye of the party’s mercenary squad, and confident that they now knew where the King Under The Mountain resided, the adventurers readied themselves for one more decisive delve…