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18 Hammer 1371
Dear Master Zorthaster,
Even after Aramil's close brush with death, we decided to press
on and explore further. We discovered a larger room ahead that was
entirely blocked by a deep pit. At the bottom of the pit was a dark
pool of water. The drop from the floor to the surface of the water
was about 20 feet, similar to the distance from the outside ledge
to the surface of the lake. I'm guessing that the lake and this
pool are connected via an underground passage of some sort.
The room was not a safe place. There were tiny hooks tied to strings
woven throughout the room on the entrance side of the cavern. Xan
and Shane got injured a bit by the little hooks, but they came through
it okay. Across the chasm two jermlain set up a fort inside a big
steel helmet. Their little blowguns would stick out and fire at
us as we cleared away the hooks and strings. A magic missile took
one as the nasty little beastie tried to take a shot. The other
was exposed when one of my companions threw a loop of rope around
the helmet and dragged it into the pool. The little monster scurried
down a hole that was covered by the helmet.
These Jermlain are clever. They had thin lines attached to both
sides of the chasm. It was set up so they could use a hook to catch
the line and slide down to a hole on either side of the pit. A rock,
with a line tied around it, covered a hole on our side of the pit.
We used a pot tied to a rope to scoop up some water to flush out
our hole. One at a time, three jermlain got flushed out of the hole
to splash into the pool below. None survived the frantic swim to
the other side. Something lives in the pool. Something that feeds
on jermlain. We saw only a green scaled, hand armed with dark claws
as the jermlain met their ends.
Good sense finally prevailed and we all decided to suspend our
explorations for the day. Aramil set up some traps in case the jermlain
tried a sneak attack. The rest of us used the wooden doors of the
pit trap to erect a barricade and then we all carefully searched
for secret little tunnel entrances between our barricade and the
cavern entrance. When we felt secure, we set up watches and spent
the afternoon and night resting.
In the morning I selected a few different spells for today's adventure,
thinking that I had a better idea of what lay ahead. We made a rope
and grappling hook crossing of the chasm and were undisturbed by
jermlain. After pouring several pots of water into the hole on the
far side of the pit, and seeing only a trickle of water exiting
the other end, we guessed that there was a more sizable warren attached
to this set of holes. Aramil set another trap at the top end of
the hole and we went deeper into the caves.
The next obstacle was a brick wall eight feet high. Kerith boosted
Shane up to the top to look over. The halfling was carrying a sunrod
that suddenly went out. We had a rope tied to the monk so we started
to drag him back. For such a little guy, his protests were plenty
loud. He described the creatures he saw below and their reaction
to him. Xan and I both recognized rust monsters immediately. We
planned an assault of the fortress. I cast a sleep spell that knocked
out one of the two monsters. Shane and others, stripped of any hint
of metal, went over the wall to do battle. I loaned my staff to
the cause. The monk got bit by the monster still awake, but it did
not last long against his little fists of fury. The slumbering monster
was quickly dispatched and the way was made safe. A doorway ahead
was inscribe with the words "Spelled front to back it's a person's
name or a preventative guard, it's certain. Spelled back to front,
it's what you do with a bow, a blank page, or a curtain." above
a set of four dials set with letters. The answer to the riddle was
"WARD" and we opened the door. It swung in and up from the bottom,
hinged at the top.
Xan lead the way now and he discovered our next challenge. As he
entered the room ahead a voice spoke in his mind. "Many of the squares
ahead are trapped. I will not tell you which are trapped but I will
tell you how many traps are adjacent to the tile you are on." Xan
grinned. "I love this kind of puzzle!"
The first step was the trickiest. Fortunately, Aramil saw what
he thought was a trap in the first rank of tiles. Xan avoided that
one and started across. Primula followed marking each safe tile
and the number of adjacent traps. I made a map of the room for future
reference. Xan made it across without making an error. He did stop
several times to mop a very sweaty brow though.
A couple of jermlain were at the other side to shoot blowguns as
we crossed, but they did not stick around to harass us for long.
Primula figured out the next riddle. Here there were 20 steps leading
up to a landing. Upon each step was a word. "It seems every
second or third time I step away fate
isthere without a doubt to trap
my course." The third words (and third steps) held the key. Even
so, I nearly lead Xan to disaster by misreading my own notes and
suggested he step on the 15th step. I nearly fainted.
At the top of the steps was a small landing. Along the left wall
were weapons mounted on plaques. At the top of each was a label
that listed the weapon type. In the middle were the weapons themselves,
and at the bottom were some interesting words:
Pair of Siagham
PA'S HAND WEAPONS, GUTSTICKERS.
Spiked Gauntlet
PA'S GAUNTLET, FIST OF PAIN.
Falchion
PA'S SWORD, ISLET'S LAUGHTER.
At the end of the landing was a metal door. I cast a mage hand
spell and tried to open it. A magical mouth appeared and spoke,
"not without the password you don't. What's the password?" This
one stumped us for quite a while. We were not told any password.
We didn't find anything that looked like a password. What password!?!
I got fed up with trying to figure this out after trying every
password I could think of. After giving up I sat down for a rest.
My mind began to wander and eventually I began to think of my littlest
sister who likes all sorts of word puzzles. She is very clever you
know. Anyway, I started to wonder how she would figure this one
out. Almost immediately it came. Change the spaces between words
under the falchion and it reads "PASSWORD IS LET SLAUGHTER". Please
tell Larissa how helpful she was to our adventure if you should
see her. For me, now it is onward, deeper into the cavern.
Till next,
Cedar
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