The Malachite Fortress

5 November, 595
Part III

Thinking a bit about how he came to be where he was found, Serro recalls that at some point he had been taken up in an elevator before he was rescued. Retracing their steps, the group returns to the room in which he was found. A thorough search of the room reveals nothing new, but Felian descovers that one of the chests they had opened has a false bottom. Salla investigates further and finds it to contain a fine silver bracelet, 3 citrines, a vial containing a sparkling dusty substance, and an empty bag.

Backing up to the staircase leading to Keygan's shop, the group pursues the secret passageway they had found earlier, and are led to a room containing a wooden platform connected to chains and a series of pulleys. A nearby lever is triggered and the platform descends 200 feet into the depths of the earth. Along the way, the stone walls turn to black malachite; they are certainly in a different part of the ruins now.

At the bottom level, a door opens into a room with 2 hanging iron cages, and a stone sculpture planted in the middle between the cages. The stone figure is amorphously arrayed with sharp appendages protruding outward, ending in shards of crystal. After the first cage is investigated and found to be empty, Baxtor approaches the stone spike. It immediately springs to life and plods toward the priest of Kord. The rest of the group move forward and engage the animated block of stone, breaking off chunks until it no longer moves. Salla makes sure the thing is dead by using his axe to chop it into several tiny pieces.

Not much later, a large brutish humanoid emerges from a door, carrying a large filthy falchion. He takes a look at the heroes and rejoices about having more food for his larder. Waving his sword around viciously, he charges at the party. A fierce melee ensues and many in the group suffer grievous wounds before the ogrish creature is brought down. Salla takes a peek in his "larder" and finds an iron chest among the dung heaps. Inside is 2000 silver pieces, 2 deep green spinel gems, and a flask made from dried fungi containing what Baxtor guesses is a powerful healing potion.

The group decides to camp out for the rest of the evening, keeping watches in the dark.