You wake up in darkness. The air is dry and warm. In a brief momentof panic, you think your arms are missing, but then you realize they are only numb, and that the pain in your shoulders is due to the fact that you are hanging in shackles by your wrists. The stone wall behind you is cool and damp (in contrast to the air) and it eases the throbbing ache in your head. You are wearing simple peasants cotton trousers. You dont remember why you are here, or who you are. As your eyes slowly open and try to focus you notice a dim red glow from somewhere.
I'm going to try to keep game mechanics (and plot) simple, but make the dungeon detailed and full of puzzles. Not much will happen in each turn, so feel free to ask questions and explore in detail. I'll try to do a turn every day.
R: I'll wait for my eyes to adjust. Then I'll try to get free, slowly and quietly. I'll also whisper, "Anybody there?"
Turn 1.5 As your eyes adjust to the dim red glow, you see that it comes from two wide archways directly across from you. The rest of the room you are in is in shadow. You whisper into the darkness, but there is no reply. You cant seem to slip your hands out of the shackles. Groping with your hands, you are able to grasp the chains that your wrist shackles are hanging from. They feel rusty and flaky. It feels good to hold the chains and lift your body weight, instead of just hanging. A sharp tingle rushes through your arms as your circulation is restored. By pressing your bare feet against the wall, grabbing the chain just above your shackles, pulling, pushing and twisting, you think you can break some of the links. Its doesn't seem to be too far down to the floor, but you wonder how much noise you will make when you fall. The rest of the dungeon seems quiet and still. (No chorus of knights singing Camelot!)
R: Well then I take a chance and grab the chains and try and yank them until they break. I try and do it silently but if I have to make noise to break them I will.
2 The chain on your right hand breaks fairly easily, just a few links up from where it joins your wrist-iron. This leaves you suddenly hanging from your left arm, but you are able to get turned around, press your feet against the wall, and lean back to really tug on that chain. Before you know it, you're on your back, on the floor, and free! As you slowly stand, the dungeon still seems still and quiet. There is something lumpy and leathery under your foot. The two wide arches to the west (about 10 wide, 10 high) take up most of that wall. The rest of the room is dark. Beyond the arches is a dimly lit stone chamber with some kind of table.
R: I'll slowly search around. I'm looking to find out whats under my foot and then I will search around for maybe a club or something. I'll quietly make my way to other room.
3: Feeling under your foot, you realize that you're standing on your own shoes. They must have fallen off while you were on the wall. They seem fine, I presume you put them on. You feel around on the walls, they seem quite bare except for vertically hanging chains at regular intervals. There is a damp spot where you were hanging. Some of the chains reach almost to the floor and end in large iron rings, which are hooked over horizontal bars that protrude slightly from the base of the wall.
You make your way to the arches and look into the next room: It is a large square chamber, (30'x30') with tall ceilings (12'). There are wide arches in the west wall, which you are peering through, and a 5' wide, 8' high arched passage centered in the north wall. The pillar between the arches supports an iron brazier about 4' up. It is piled high with glowing coals which dimly light all but the corners of the room. In the center of the room is a large wooden table with some mechanical looking wheels and gears on it and shackles. With a shudder, you realize what that is for. There also seems to be a pair of iron tongs left lying on the rack. The floor, walls and ceiling of this entire place seem to be made of stone blocks. The ceilings are vaulted in smooth gentle curves.
R: I grab the tongs and look for an exit. I'll continue to sneak around hopefully not making any noise.
4: The tongs are metal, similar to long-handled pliers (about 14"). They don't seem heavy or sharp enough to make a decent weapon, but they might be useful. The only exit (other than the two wide arches leading back to your cell) is a door way (About 3' wide and 6.5' high, with an arched top). The door way passes through the north wall (the walls seem to be about 5' think) and into a dark open space. Standing in the doorway, you hear a loud snoring that echoes from somewhere in the darkness ahead.
R: I'll do a thorough search of my cell as quiet as I can. I want to look for anything I can use for a weapon. Then I will stealth-fully move towards the snoring.
5: Searching this area and your cell some more you don't find anything new. The glowing coals are too hot to touch. When you inspect the chains on the wall, you find they are hanging loosely from the ceiling in some kind of bracket. One end of each chain has a wrist shackle, and the other end has an iron ring (which slides over a bar sticking out near the bottom of the wall). Although the chains can slide in their brackets, neither end can pass through. Except 2 of the chains have had the wrist shackles broken off, and they can be freed from the wall! The heavy, rusty, chains are 10 12 feet long, and have iron rings at the ends. These could be useful, but you might need 2 hands to fight with it (1 hand to hold the bulk of the chain, 1 to swing the Iron ring.) You carry one of the chains in 1 hand, and still have the tongs in the other. You can always drop the tongs if you need to fight!
Quietly, you go back toward the door way to the North. You listen for the snoring, but instead you hear a high-pitched voice, and see a light! From the doorway, you can now see that it leads into a corridor running east and west. Across the corridor, on the wall opposite the door way, is an unlit torch in a bracket.
"Why misa gawssa doya dirsee scrounger work?" Mutters the squeaky voice to its self. The little creature with the light steps into view from the west. It has dark green skin and small bat-wings. It moves in small hops of flight. It has its back to you as it approaches the torch on the wall. In one gloved hand, it is carrying a candle.
You are still hiding in the doorway.
R: I'll refrain from making any jokes about Jar jar binks. I'll put the tongs down and double up the chain. I will trot lightly forward and whip the chain around my head a few times to gain momentum to then slam the chain into the creature's head. I will try and beat the creature to death as swiftly as possible.
6: You drop the tongs and step forward, swinging the chain in a circle over your head. The little winged goblin turns just in time to see the Iron ring come crashing onto his skull. The creature collapses on the floor, dropping its candle. Its wings are fluttering as it struggles on the edge of consciousness. The area has gone dark again, as the creature has dropped its candle before being able to light the torch. You hear it whimpering at your feet. You hear snoring down the hall to the west (there is a faint glow of torchlight from that direction) and from the East you hear a low rumble like impending thunder. You realize it is a distant growl.
R: I'll tuck the candle in my pants and through the survival instinct of leaving no witnesses to raise alarm later I try and silently break the creatures neck. I will search the creature briefly for weapons and then I will sneak towards the snoring.
7: By kneeling on its head (with your knee on its jaw) you twist the goblins shoulders and its struggle ends. Pawing over it, you find its candle (still warm) and tuck that into your trousers. You also find a wood-handled knife tucked into its belt. You put that into your trousers as well, and wish you had a belt of your own. The goblins belt would be too small for you. Do you still want the pliers? With the chain in hand, you creep west into the dark corridor. The knife slips loose and lands on the floor. You freeze, but you still hear snoring ahead. With the knife securely in your teeth instead, you continue to creep forward. You reach the bottom of some stone stairs. At the top, you can see that the hall turns north. There is torchlight coming from around that corner, and it casts a shadow on the wall near the top of the stairwell. The shadow on the wall is of a massive beast with short horns protruding from its head; it is slumped over and breathing deeply.
R: I'll use the belt to loop over one shoulder and hang the tongs so they are pinned between the belt and my chest. I'll put down the candle and I'll sneak with the knife out. I will sneak past the creature and go up the stairs.
8, 9: To clarify, the stairs are immediately in front of you. At the top of the stairs you see the creatures shadow. The creature and the torch are at the top of the stairs and around the corner to the north. As I understand it, you use the goblins belt under one arm and across the opposite shoulder. This gives you a decent place for the tongs. The candle you leave in the hall by the body. And the chain? The knife is in hand.
You creep up the stairs, where the hall immediately turns north. Peeking around the corner, you see: The corridor continues to the north, but at an upward angle. Nearby, a narrow passage leads off the corridor to the east, just before the main passage begins to ramp up. Across from this passage the is a lit torch in a wall bracket. Next to the torch, is a massive humanoid. He is squatting on a tiny stool and leaning on a heavy-looking axe. His skin is green and rubbery looking, and stretched tightly across bulging muscles. His Iron helmet is custom made to allow for his two short horns. His pig-like snout quivers as he snores. Tucked into his belt is an iron key. (Imagine the gromerian guards from Return of the Jedi) From the east passage, you hear deep muttering voices.
R: I'll try and sneak up and get a real good shot at sticking my knife through his throat as many times as I can. I know its grisly but I think I can take him out. I don't think I can steal the key.
10 - 15: You cautiously approach the slumbering guard. His massive head is drooped down, which makes his throat hard to reach. His jugular is still quite accessible, but he seems much more thickly skinned than a human.
Across from where the slumbering guard sits in the corridor is a narrow passage leading briefly east to a doorway. A small barred window in the door reveals light, and the voices of more creatures. They don't seem to have noticed you, but are sure to be alarmed if you make anything less than a very clean kill. Do you still want to go for it?
To the north the main hall slopes upward into darkness. To the south are the stairs you came up.
R: I'll sneak north.
17: You wonder if one of the nasty green brutes left this belt with a dagger here. It seems like it would be better than the belt you're using. You hear movement again from somewhere on the other side of the curtain, like a small animal scurrying about somewhere. There defiantly seems to be the glow of daylight from under the curtain.
R: I'll take the belt and put it on. Then I'll head outside.
18: You don the leather belt with dagger, and discard the ill-fitting goblin belt. You realize that the new belt also has a small pouch attached, which contains a flint & steel striker. You tuck your tongs into your new belt. You are still carrying a knife, and I presume the chain (unless you'd have left it behind) is across your shoulder.
Passing through the curtain, you find you are in the Central chamber. You are on a circular balcony overlooking a round room. From this level there are arches overlooking the central area, and if you follow the ring-shaped balcony around, there are more curtains (E, W, and N, you just came through the South curtain). There are similar galleries above and below you. High above is a domed ceiling with a round hole at the very top. This hole is open to the air, but there's no way to reach it. Beams of sunlight reflect on a pool or well below you in the round central room. It is a welcome sight. You don't notice anyone else here, but with three levels of rings of arches, there are plenty of shadows to hide in.
R: I head west.
18.5 You walk around the balcony to the west, you think you hear a strange sound like tearing cloth somewhere above you. A bit of your past comes back to mind you remember working for a cloth merchant, mostly just doing labor. One day he gave you coin to cart his wares to a business associate in the next city. You were traveling there with a caravan, and it was ambushed.
Oh, the curtain leading west; with knife in hand you pass through. You are in a 10' wide hallway running west. After about 40' it comes to some stairs leading down. The glow of torchlight is visible down the stairs, but it is moving away.
R: I'll check out the passage to the north and look up to see if I can see where the sound of tearing cloth is coming from.
19: [looks up to see a gypsy boy with a shield tearing curtains on the upper balcony to make a rope and climb down]
20: The gypsy boy waves at you, as if to invite you to join him, and then slides down the purple-curtain rope he has hung over the upper balcony. Its long enough to get him to the mid level where you are. He is to the south, directly across from you now. You keep to the shadows and try to remain unseen. Some where above and to the east you hear a bell ring.
R: I'll go over to him cautiously and explain my situation and ask him about this place.
21.5 The boy pockets the silver coin (unless you want to try to get it first?) And then offers to shake hands, introducing himself as Garidan Gry. Garidan says: "I came from up higher - I was heading downwards.I'm not sure climbing back up is practical.Do you want to try this way (east) or down another level?"
R: "Sounds good to me. I'll follow you."
22: Garridan pushes past the curtain and begins heading into the darkness, feeling his way along the right hand wall. Its pitch black in here, and you left that candle down by the cells You can hear Garridan moving slowly and cautiously ahead of you. You follow, listening carefully in case he runs into something.
R: "Psst..maybe we should head down one of the hallways that has more light. This may not be lit for a reason." I'll whisper that.
Garridan: So, North is not so good, and West seems a little noisy, and East is too dark.Up is inconvenient. Anybody have an opinion about the south hallway, or shall we pull down another curtain and try climbing down?
R: South is a dungeon I just from there. I say we go down. Mike: How far up are we? Can I climb down or is it best to start ripping curtains and making a rope?
23: He seemed to be thinking the same thing, and you're both soon back in the central chamber. On the far side of this balcony, coming through the curtain leading west, is a man with a torch and small wooden shield. He has a raccoon with him, and it has something small hanging around its neck that is glowing green very brightly! These two seem to be in quite a hurry, and behind them to the east you can hear what sounds like a mob of excited children running and yelling.
R: Let's make sure we head in the direction away from where I came, the dungeon.Away from the dark corridor and away from the mob of children.
24: Each level is about 15'. You can do a hanging drop from here to the floor with out too much risk, but climbing back up might be tricky. The man with the torch who came from the west says: "Turn around, turn around! Goblins - Goblins coming - evil short people with knives So you drop down to the bottom level, there's really no time for messing with curtains it sounds lie the mob of children or goblins or whatever are about to come through one! Landing is a bit of an ankle twister. But you're in one piece. This level has a great deal of debris by the walls and pillars, there's a 4' high 10' wide circular pool in the middle. There is one exit, a 10 wide archway leading south. It seems dark and quiet that way. Do you want to remain visible to the people and monsters on the balcony above, or go under the balcony where you can be seen? Or go south?
R: I'll go south
25: The hall goes south for a short way and then turns to the west. It then ends in an open archway that leads west into a square room. There is a dim blue glow coming from the room. You approach the arch way, and the room seems unoccupied. It is about 30' x 30' and has a door in the NW corner leading west (into darkness). There is a table with a few objects on it, and some small round stones scattered on the floor. You can hear the other adventurers jumping down after you.
R: I'll pick up the stones and check out the objects on the table.
26: Stepping into the room you see that it is lit by a shuttered lantern hanging high up in the center of the ceiling. Its a vaulted ceiling, like most in this dungeon, and about 12' high in the center) A dim blue glow comes form under its shutters. On the table is a jug of something that smalls like fish, some clay cups, an old glove, and a deck of cards. The stones are scattered around a circle that is scratched onto the floor. They are small, smooth and round, like marbles or sling stones. You grab a few, and then hear voices quietly muttering from beyond the west door, which you notice is open. It sounds like goblins coming from that way. You also hear the raccoon approaching from the way you came.
R: I'll switch the knife and dagger. I'll ready the chain and then rush into the next room hoping to surprise whomever is in there in hopes of killing them.
27: As you ready your weapons, you hear a strange sound from the west , like the creak and groan of ropes under great tension. It makes you think of ships and reminds you of the smell of salty air, and the docks near where you used to live.
The room to the west is pitch dark, but you do hear surprised squeals as you rush in. You swing the chain toward what must be the voice of a goblin There is a rewarding thud as the end of the chain strikes something, and a grunt that lets you know you're just getting started...
R: I'll back up making a retreat as I swing the the chain around trying to draw the goblins into the light where I can see them...
But alas, the hapless prisoner does not escape the goblin dungeon, he is dragged into the darkness an never seen again...