Giant Centipedes and Hallowed Halls

A Narrow Escape

Mudvane Thistlefoot, a halfling rogue sat quietly at a booth all to himself, ironic that a single halfling would take up the whole table designed for those nearly twice his size. He reveled in the silence, although that was all there was to revel in here, thinking to himself that this town was a waste of time. There was not enough here to steal to make any real cash, wooden plates and cutlery served up a palpable meal and even that lacked any real flavour or spices. He looked over at the bar to see a young human mage, but one that had somehow still carried a great many years upon his shoulders, far more than he could have possibly ever lived at least.

His attention turned to the doors as an half elven ranger and a human paladin entered the bar, both looking roughed up and needing a drink. They sat down and began to get a meal and drink to rest weary nerves, and rest they would get here as this place had no excitement whatsoever. He began listening in to their conversation, in the chance that they had any information that might give this town any value or significance. After a short meal and relaxation the two began to look around and survey the inn, taking note of the discombobulated wizard and the sly halfling. Sharing what they had just been through, the two opened the offer to the lone adventurers, and after accepting the offer the quartet began making their way to the cave entrance.

The group having left the key with Kneezmat and Jessamine inside the dungeon, now had no way in themselves. Mudvane took it upon himself to deal with the situation pulling out his lock picks and easily manipulating the catch and popping the lock open, showing fantastic skill with the tools of his profession. The group made their way to the common room again where they were greeted by the pair who remained behind, eager to move forward with all haste. The pair had began working on an old door that had been locked and trapped all those years ago, the door was still in good working condition due mostly to its rugged dwarven construction. I turned out the traps construction had worn somewhat with age yet it was still strong enough to be deadly, swinging open with immense force and almost catching Kneezmat as it slammed hard. Kneezmat, Helarik and Jessamine pinned the door and jammed the little gnomes crowbar to wedge it open so that it could not reset itself again.

Rallying to his side Kalrick the wizard had a moment of clarity and strode forth trying to channel forth a spell effect to fend off the vile abominations, the dwoemer surged forth and flames singed and burned almost a quarter of them. A potent surge erupted from the wizard at the time of the casting causing two to turn to stone as well, surprising many of the group at the unsettling turn of events. With the remainder of the arachnids being dispatched by the group handily the group regrouped for a moment, and began searching the room for any clues. Kalrick the young wizard, looked at the suits of armour curiously -as he remembered it from somewhere or in some history books- as specially made for an honorary inn for dwarves. The fleeting memory passes quickly and the group pushes on to the next room.

What questions arose in the previous room were punctuated after the next hallway in the remnants of this small mess hall, which while it lacked the dwarven corpses rotted with age it still represented the haste which the occupants had evacuated. The chairs were strewn about and much of the food left rotting on plates, however not a weapon or shield was to be found. Searching the room from top to bottom, they found little else in the room except a few oddities, tetrahedrons and cubes both perfectly shaped and without marks of age of any sort.

The five doors in the room overwhelmed the party with far too many directions to split into, two on the east side of the room, with two on the south wall. Thankfully the fifth was the passage they entered, narrowing things down somewhat. Mudvane opened the eastern-most door on the south wall allowing them to come to a door with no handle upon it, seeing no pathway in meant that they would need to return later to search again. Pressing on to the next door on the south side they opened the door to find a set of stairs that brought the group to deeper into the old abandoned home of the dwarves. The hallway led the group to what seemed to be a large room designed for diplomacy and emissaries.

Couches lined the edge of the massive room where courtesans would likely have entertained emissaries, while diplomats would deal with others at the tables over matters of trade or alliances. A number of books sat in an old dusty shelf at the mid-point of the eastern wall, piquing the interest of the two magic users, Kalrick and Jessamine made a quick path to the books while Kneezmat made his way to the couches to look for dropped coins.

Zeiller, Helarik and Mudvane all went to a heavy portcullis that sat ominously in the south east corner, nearing it to inspect the grate more intensely tapping a blade on the steel bars. The mild clang of the sword on the bars giving a mild echo down the hall, as if beckoning some form of oncoming terror hidden in the darkness. The assault was furious and rapid, rushing towards the paladin with fervour sinking its mandibles into his thigh injecting a strong acid to dissolve his flesh. With the paladin nearly crippled, the giant centipede turned its attention to Helarik and bit him aggressively coating him with acid as well.

Swinging aggressively the two wounded champions attempted to gain the attention of the rest of the group, the rogue drew out his dart gun and tried to penetrate the chitinous plating of the centipede to no avail. After fending the beast off with glinting steel, the two managed to land a few lucky blows felling the creature to a heap of legs and mandibles.