Turn 32.0: The Shiny Thing
Sent: 5/1/99
Storm stands smiling, happy about finding any sort of treasure, although still not a huge bounty. He pockets his share of the loot, after the group agrees to split it evenly; which is determined to be 3 gp, 6 sp, and 1 cp each [equivalently]) and stands around fidgeting while the party decides what to do.
Crayne, still shaking a little from seeing the sign of the Red Dragon, looks to everyone else realizing that this mission is one of great danger. He surveys the group and shakes his head slowly looking saddened. He moves off to a wall in the corridor and hunches down, resting his staff nearby. Taking one of his shoes off he removes a a small stone that has been causing him a problem. Doing up his laces he slowly rises again to his feet and picks his staff up. He then moves slowly back to the group, saying, "Friends! What have we here so far? The Umber Hulk, undead and now the Red Dragon wizards. Are they linked in some manner? It seems one of the Red Dragon wizards came off a little badly in this encounter! I think all that we can do now is find out more for I assume at this stage that nobody wants to abandon the mission. Let's head on shall we?" Crayne mutters some words under his breath as he waits for his groups opinions.
Guilliam takes his share of the coins and then listens to the meaning of the rings. "So they belonged to a powerful school of mages. Might they be magical in some way?"
Upon hearing Guilliam mention the possibility of the rings being magic, Storm, as if he hadn't even considered it, suddenly looks up again and chuckles. He looks around the party from person to person, and then looks toward Crayne, hoping the wizard can offer a judgement on the rings' magical qualities.
Crayne nodds and says, "Yeah I did think of that! However, it'll take me some time to take a closer look at the ring and at the moment I don't think I particularly want to hang around here!"
Cy clears his throat as a sign of agreement. After seeing that the small bounty is evenly distributed (though he had prepared to keep it all for later distribution, Storm led the way by taking a share for himself, the other's following suit), he says uncomfortably, "Let us be off! There is more here for us to be dealin' with. The sooner it is found, the sooner we ride home or mount the pale horse."
It is then decided to investigate the gray spot on the map. After making sure all relevant items are picked up from the mine-shaft floor, the party begins to backtrack toward the large inner chamber. It is almost comforting, returning to that room from the confining corridors of the mine.
Leading the group toward the entrance to the other mine shaft (the one with the gray spot at the end on the map), Storm walks on the fast side, new vigor seeming to flow through his veins. Treasure can do the stangest thing to some folk...especially a mountain-born freelance dwarf.
He leads the group into the shaft, much like the other one. After a few minutes of slow advance, the shaft splits into two. Storm turns around silently to face Guilliam, who is reading the map by torchlight. Looking to the dwarf, the bard tilts his head to the left, toward the even-smaller, narrower passageway. He can see Canter raise his eyebrows at the prospect of fitting the entire group into the small shaft.
But they do, one at a time, descending within the Raimead Mountain. After perhaps ten to fifteen minutes of walking, Storm slows. "It jus' stops," he whispers. As the rest of the party approaches, they can see what appears to be the end of the shaft; solid rock. The small alcove is just wide enough for the entire group to stand in a circle to confer, though their shoulders are touching and the space is tight. It's just tall enough for the tallest of Rinder's Six to stand, only bending over a little.
The torches crackle and the lightstone glows. Edryd looks around the group, shrugging his shoulders. Crayne says pointedly, "If there's nothing here, I don't want to stand around in this tiny shaft..."
Canter strokes his chin, mumbling, "I don't understand. Isn't there supposed to be something here?"
1. Though obviously there aren't exactly the right number of coins to give 3 gp, 6 sp, and 1 cp to each, by my calculations, each character gets one sixth of the total value of the loot that way. So please update your records accordingly.
2. Just so you know, the three rings have not yet been checked for any magic.
3. What now?