Session Fourteen
Turning away from the waterfall & the rope bridge there is a considerable stock of hewn logs stacked against the cave wall, presumably fuel for the orc's merrily burning bonfires, just beyond the wood pile a fissure leads off from the main cave however crude gates hang across the opening, ut f the fissure a foul smell emanates. Grace, declining to go further into the cutting waits & watches on the shore of the lake, taking the opportunity to cram a few morsels into her mouth.
Entering the fissure the stench steadily increases until Stunty & Thorn are forced to cover their faces with a damp cloth before continuing, as the smell increases thier torches begin to flicker pale green. As the passage continues the floor gradually slopes down & becomes increasingly wetter, in the flickering light scum covered water can be seen pooling on the floor, gradually the water deepens & they are forced to halt as gasses bubble to the surface adding to the overpowering stench, suddenly Stunty can stomach the foul odour no more & he is violently sick.
Peering across the stagnant pool Thorn can see that the passage has been blocked by a well built stone wall, the wall itself forming a dam against the apparently deepening water, floating face down in water is a dead, naked & putrefying goblin, reaching forward with his spear Thorn manages to snag the flesh of the corpse & starts to drag it towards him, Stunty, clearly unwell flees the cave as Thorn's actions release even more fetid smells into the narrow passage. As Thorn beaches the corpse, his own guts react to the vile smell & the contents of his stomach quickly join Stunty's in the dirt, abandoning the body, Thorn stumbles from the passage in to the relative fresh air of the main cave.
As both Stunty & Thorn wretch from the stench, Grace becomes curious about what lies in the passage however as she steps forward the smell of her erstwhile friends is enough to stop her going any further.
Following the shoreline passed the collapsed jetty they soon realise they can go no further without wading into the dark waters of the lake, reluctant to do so they backtrack towards the waterfall & the slatted rope bridge across to the bonfire on the far shore.
Grace volunteers to cross the bridge first but in the failing firelight she comes close to slipping into the water as one of the slats snaps under her foot, safe on the opposite shore however she is soon joined by Stunty & Thorn, Thorn himself only narrowly escaping the icy waters on the very same broken slat.
Near opposite the rope bridge a second passage opens up & whilst odorous if is significantly sweeter than the foul smelling pool on the opposite bank. Cautiously they file into the entrance, Thorn at the front spear held in front of him with Grace following close behind & Stunty bringing up the rear. The entrance to the cave is lit by two spluttering torches which throw dancing shadows across the walls of the passage, as they proceed Thorn steps on something brittle which cracks with a loud snap, as the echo's fade he lowers his own torch to see what he has stood on only to find the floor is littered with gnawed & broken bones.
Before Thorn can react, the crack of the bone is answered by a snarl from further within the passage & as the three desperately try to backtrack a huge, nearly eight feel tall, creature lumbers around the next corner & rushes towards Thorn, arms outstretched. Bellowing for his friends to get out, Thorn, spear held in front of him, desperately fends the creatures blows away, fortunately, the creatures bulk hampers its own progress as its head & shoulders scrape the tapering walls. Once, then twice the creatures grasps at Thorn only to be thwarted by Thorn's armour, the creature is not so lucky however as Thorn puts his spear to good use.
Spilling out on the the beach Thorn stumbles back & falls to the dirt having been inadvertently struck from behind by Grace, expecting to die, he rolls into a ball & waits for the fatal blow, when it doesn't happen however he opens his eyes only to see the creature straining against chains around its wrist & waist preventing it moving beyond the passage entrance. Crawling backwards he joins Grace & Stunty in attacking the enraged but restrained creature until it lies bleeding from a multitude of wounds, feeling some pity for the clearly maddened monster, Grace raises her sword one last time & puts it out of its misery, looking the creature over Grace announces that she thinks it was an ogre.
Wary of the noise thier encounter has made Grace remains outside of the passage whilst Stunty & Thorn creep inside, a few minutes later they emerge clasping a small leather pouch & a blood covered silver circlet, before opening the pouch Thorn hands over the circlet to Grace,
"Yours if you want it, to small for me, but try not to hit me again please, I might not be so lucky next time"
Whilst Stunty cleans some of the filth from the cave off his armour Thorn opens the pouch & finds six small green stones,
"Emeralds, I think"