8 - Into the Ruins [Story]

The keep itself was nothing but uninhabited ruins. Great piles of shattered stone blocks and scorched timbers litter the site, sprawling out from its center to the edge of the woods. No plants grew among the ruins or in any of the site, which was just bare dirt. The woods that seemed to so quickly overgrow the seemingly rarely traveled road to the keep had made no intrusion onto the site itself, as if afraid.

However, even those without the perception of Naruel or the construction knowledge of Bailyn could tell that there had been activity in the ruins. In the center of the debris, stone blocks and timbers have been gathered into a pile. There was a path through the rubble and the wreckage had been pulled aside to reveal a stone staircase, descending into darkness.

Naruel pulled on her mask and turned around. Her voice slightly muffled by the fabric, she told them that she would scout ahead.

* * * *

Hidden in the shadows of the stairwell, Naruel peered into the room before her. It was a bare stone room illuminated by the flicker of torchlight. On the far end stood a gangly, short dirty grey-green humanoid -- a goblin, clad in functional but raggedy leather armor. She gestured to her friends waiting behind her to wait until a signal.

She fired. The goblin yelled in surprise as the arrow grazed him. At that sound, the rest of the group came rushing down he steps.

Wing and Naruel stopped at the entry to the stairway, firing arcane and mundane missiles at the guard.

Brandishing his warhammer, Farad charged the surprised and wounded goblin, but before he could reach him, the dragonborn disappeared from sight as the ground gave way beneath him. There was a loud crash as the plate mail laden paladin landed awkwardly in the concealed pit. Farad had landed in the midst of a swarm of squeaking, biting rats that filled the concealed pit. Farad cursed and swung his warhammer, smashing left and right at the seething mass of fur, teeth and claws. Madeleine and Bailyn ran around the pit towards the guard.

"Wing!" yelled Madeleine.

"Got it!" answered the mage. A collumn of flame erupted from the pit. It was so close that Farad could feel the heat of the magical fire, but the spell was effective against the mass of vermin, leaving a stinking pile of burnt corpses in its wake.

The goblin guard was down, Naruel's arrows rising from its slumped form, but two goblins bearing bows appeared from a chamber behind the entry room. Guttural battle cries erupted as they knelt and fired, but in their haste the shots went wide, crashing harmlessly into stone walls.

Calmly, Naruel returned fire, with much greater accuracy. Two arrows flew true and plunged deep -- through leather and into tender flesh. One goblin staggered back and before it could recover Madeleine was upon it. With one powerful swing she cut the goblin open, who fell to the ground with a dull thud.

Farad and Wing finished off the remaining rats with hammer and magical fire, the paladin's boots and legs soon covered in a dreck of blood and gristle from burned and smashed vermin.

Bailyn ran by Madeleine after the remaining archer. As he gave chase into the next chamber a goblin who had been waiting in the corner charged, brandishing shield and blade. But the dwarf was ready; before the soldier could attack, Bailyn smashed his maul into the goblin's side and simultaneously lashed out with his leg. The goblin fell in a crash to the floor with a scream of pain and surprise.

The last remaining goblin archer squealed in terror and ran through the door to its right. "Runner!" yelled Madeleine as her greatsword carved a fatal gash in the midsection of the goblin that Bailyn had sent to the floor.

The last remaining goblin archer raced through an empty store room and tore through a dark curtain. Wing and Naruel were waiting on the other side. The first bolt of ice that appeared from Wing's hand went wide. The goblin, shrieking, ran by them and towards the door to their left. Naruel calmly aimed at the exposed goblin's back.

The goblin shuddered as he gripped the door handle, then crumpled to the ground, two arrows buried deep in its body. Its corpse came to rest leaning against the door.

The calm after the fight was broken by the paladin's voice: "Can someone assist me? I am afraid with my armor I can not get out of this pit unassisted."

* * * *

Cracking open the door where the goblin had unsuccessfully tried to flee, Naruel, Farad and Bailyn saw another plan torch-lit stone hallway and heard several goblin voices in the distance. Though none of them spoke their tongue, it sounded like an argument. Madeleine gestured for Naruel to move forward. "Same plan," she whispered, "we'll charge upon your fire." Naruel did not respond.

"Nary, I sad ..." Madeleine repeated.

"Wait," Naruel said. She paused and looked at what appeared to Madeleine as nothing but blank stone wall. "What is that?" she whispered.

"What is what?" Madeleine whispered in response. She turned to Wing, who also was looking puzzled. Bailyn's reaction, however, was different. He gave a low whistle, "Lassy, that is a fine catch. Even a stone working dwarf as myself did not see it."

"See what?" Madeleine said, a bit exasperated.

"There's a door there," Naruel said.

* * * *
The hidden doorway slid open without a sound and Naruel peeked out into a small chamber whose walls were formed by hanging tapestries. The room was dominated by a bed upon which lay the fattest goblin Naruel had ever seen, soundly asleep and snoring.

* * * *

Balgrom the Fat awoke from pleasant dreams of roasted lizard to a gauntlet over the mouth and a sharp blade to the throad. "If you do not speak common you are about to die. Do not speak a word and nod your head if you understand," said a woman's voice. Balgrom looked up at the masked intruder and saw calm resolve in her light blue eyes.

The goblin nodded.

"Get up. You're coming with me."

* * * *

"Oy, goblins smell rank enough, but this chubby one takes the cake!" Bailyn snorted, his nose wrinkling.

"By the looks of it, a lot of cakes." Wing noted. Naruel shushed them and leaned over the immensely fat goblin, who was sitting naked in the secret tunnel floor, surrounded by the adventurers and his clothing in a pile beside them. "Are you Kalarel?" she asked.

"I am not Kalarel!" the goblin answered in heavily accented common.

The adventurers looked at each other. It was probably true. Whoever wrote the message to Irontooth wrote in a clean legible hand and this creature's common was barely intelligible. "Who are you?" Naruel demanded.

"I am Balgrom, leader of the goblins here. I do not know this Kalarel... let me go and I will take my people and leave."

Wing's eyes narrowed. He leaned over and a ghostly green glow emanated from his hands. "Well, if you do not know who Kalarel is, you are of no use to us..."

The obese goblin blanched and his multiple chins quivered. "No, no, wait! I am sorry, I know where Kalarel is. He is not here. He is down below ..."

"Where is the rift?" Farad demanded, the dragonborn kneeling down so that his snout almost touched the goblin.

"Rift? What rift?"

Balgrom whimpered and put his pudgy hands up in defense as Farad waved his warhammer at him. "Don't lie you disgusting little minion of Orcus! I will leave your remains spread all over this wall" he rumbled.

"I am not lying! Kalarel does many things down below ... I am but a simple goblin! Please spare me ... I give you my treasure chest .... key in pants" Balgrom cried. An even more rank smell assailed them as a puddle began to form around where Balgrom sat. Madeleine gagged in disgust but Farad continued to wave his hammer.

Naruel interposed herself between Bailyn and the sobbing goblin, partly out of pity, partly out of fear that Bailyn might cause the terrified goblin to scream and alert nearby guards.

"Quit it. I believe that he doesn't know anything about the rift."

"I do not worship Orcus! Please let me go!" Balgrom pleaded, spittle flying out of his bloated lips.

"I believe him. Looks like to me that the only thing this guy worships is the lord of meat pies," Bailyn muttered to Madeleine.

"I tell you how to get to the stairs to the lower level if you let me go. Kalarel is there," Balgrom suggested.

"He'll just run and get his mates or maybe even warn Kalarel if we let him go. Maybe we should take him back to town. Lord Padraig can have him tried for banditry. We may even get a reward." Madeleine suggested, pointing at him menacingly with her warblade. Balgrom waved his hands in apparent alarm at the prospect of being dragged to town.

"No, no! I have another offer. I will take you to the stairs to the lower level. Hobgoblins guard the way but I know the password. Kalarel is down there but I do not know where. I take you to the stairs-- then you promise to let me go? I will run away and not bother you -- I promise!"

"We should have him take us all the way to Kalarel," Bailyn said.

"No! I do not know where Kalarel is -- I am not allowed beyond the first room. There are hobgoblins there guarding him. You will have to fight them and if you bring me they will kill me! But I give you the password -- it is "And life fails in the dark". You get the drop on them. But I can not go -- it is murder -- I am naked and unarmed!" Balgrom hissed, his jowls bouncing with the emphasis.

The group was silent as they stood around the quavering fleshy goblin. "We'll see," Naruel said, her voice muffled through her mask. "First you take us there."

"Hey, before we go," Madeleine said. "What was that about a treasure?"