Turn 56 -- Follow the Leader

	"Chakka cor!" curses Druckner loudly from across the room.  
The red and sweaty dwarf kicks the door at the end of the room in 
frustration, "That's twice!  That goat-loving son-of-a-slime won't get 
away from us again!"  Calmly down slightly, he walks back towards the 
group and looks up at the frozen face of Talimar, "Well, at least he 
ain't unconscious!  So what's up cap'n?  Shall we smoke out that one-eyed 
twerp before he recovers some new spells on the morrow?  Them that are 
too injured could rest up and guard our rears while we go after 'em."
Druckner starts taping up his leg while he waits for the others to 
recover.  He has one eye on the exit at all times.

     Knowing that talking only gives the one-eyed man more time to 
effect his escape, Ortho moves toward the door.  "He's gettin' away!  
Ras, get that flask ready an' come on!  For the glory of Ironrock!  
Follow me!"  He then charges through the door after the man, oblivious
as to whether anyone follows after him.

     Watching the back of Ortho disappear through the doorway, Gnore 
shakes his head and sighs, "Fool dwarf, he'll get us all killed yet.  
Someone will be needed to keep death at arms length from him."  He 
then turns to Lyntern, "Lyntern, you can follow if you want or stay 
here with the company, it is your decision.  Where Ortho and I go you 
might not enjoy."  With an apologetic gaze given to the party, Gnore 
hefts his bastard sword and runs after Ortho.

     Druckner swears profusely as he sees Gnore and Ortho take off 
through the door.  Pulling his crossbow forward, he yells "Baruk 
Berzik! (Red Feather in dwarvish) before running after them.
 
     Angry at having the one-eyed man escape from him yet again, 
Kersath stands after wiping his blades on the corpse of the man 
beneath him.  Seeing Ortho's charge, he quickly yells after him, 
"Stop!  You don't know what's waiting for you there.  Come back!"  
Seeing that the dwarves could not be stopped by a hoard of gnarling 
beasts from going down into the keep, he sighs to himself, "Well, no 
sense in using your brain when you can avoid it..."  He flashes an 
apologetic smile to the paralized companions then rushes through the 
door, trying to catch up with the dwarves.  

     In the center of the room, Ras sees his comrades running after 
the retreating men and hollers, "I will stay here and keep an eye on 
Talimar and Dain!"  He then moves over to search the bodies of the 
dead men in the chamber, taking the time to tie up those who were 
simply unconscious.  Moving from body to body, he piles up all the 
coins and their weapons in the center of the room. 
     Turning to address the others in the room, Garth sighs wearily, 
"I am bound to stay here, for my wounds and fatigue would only hinder 
others in combat.  At least here I may watch over our comrades and 
prevent foul play."  With the help of the still shaken Lyntern and 
the quiet Kuiper, he then begins to shift Randor and Talimar around 
to a more easily defended position in the room.  After this is 
accomplished, he sets about closing the battered doors in the east 
wall.  Just as he is doing this, Beleg walks through the doorway 
having overcome the compulsion to flee from the one-eyed man.
     "Where have they gone?" is the only thing spoken from the great 
warrior.  Having healed himself a bit before coming in, Beleg listens 
to Kre report what happened after he ran from the room and then moves 
to follow after the dwarves and Kersath.  With shield in front and 
sword at the ready, he moves through the doorway and down the stairs.
	
     After talking with Beleg, Kre moves to retrieve his daggers before
walking around the room searching for any secret passages or traps.  
After making a thorough search of the room and finding nothing, he 
begins to look at the remains of the smoke bomb thrown by the thief, 
attempting to find out the components of the bag. While he is doing 
this, Dain moves over to have a word with him. 
     "I don't think this guy is gonna let us get at him one to one.  
Next time we find him, you and Ras should try to take him out at a 
range, or perhaps you could maneauver behind him and take him out?  
Just a suggestion," says Dain to the smiling thief.
     With a wicked grin, Kre nods, "I like that idea, mage.  If I can 
manage to hit him, I'll do my best to keep him from casting spells and 
with Ras' skill with the daggers I'm sure that he'll be a pin cushion 
before he can stop any of us again.  I'll just need someone to fight 
the melee battle around Ras and I.  Old One-eye is sure to try and 
stop the rain of daggers and I'd rather not stop tossing daggers to 
get rid of an annoying fighter or three."  He winks and begins 
sharpening a dagger, cleansing the blood from it first.

     About this time, the companions upstairs hear a very loud crash 
from down below.  Ras turns to the stairs to see what he can then says,
"I will go down, with my heightened sight I should be able to help 
them in the dark.  Why don't a couple more of you go also?"  
     Kre sighs heavily, as much as he wants to go and feed ColdHeart 
the black blood of his soulless enemies, he decides to stay behind and
stand watch over Tal and Randor.  "Go ahead Ras, I'll wait here, but 
if you run into any trouble call out and I'll be there."  He winks at 
Ras and smiles, then moves over to search the bodies once again.
     Dain moves over to Ras, "I will follow after you.  Lead on, friend
Ras."
     The two then move to go down the stairs.

Down the Stairs (earlier)
     "Aye, no sense in doin' an error in part," Gnore huffs to gather 
his strength as he follows after Ortho.  Calling over his shoulder to 
Druckner and Kersath, he yells, "I can just hear that pompus Beleg 
lecturing us for our hasty charge.  Bah!!!  What's done is done!!  We 
commit to the dwarven way!!!!"
     Deciding speed is more important than stealth at the moment, the 
companions hastily run down the steps after the men.  After one flight 
of steps, they reach the bottom and come out into a circular room with
a diameter of about forty feet.  Torches in wall sconces illumine the 
room and show that there is only one exit to the south.  As soon as 
the companions reach the bottom of the steps, the door slams shut.
     "Ahah!  Any door in this old keep has got to be near ta rotten" 
offers Ortho.  Tapping his helmet on securely, Ortho then begins to 
run in place, his knees rising higher and higher with each passing 
moment.  The other companions look at him curiously from the stairs.  
Without any warning, Ortho leans forward and propels himself toward 
the door, head and shield first.
     "Rammin' SPEEEEEEEEED!" he yells as he crosses the room at top 
speed.  
      Druckner moves out of the way as Ortho rams the door but quickly 
steps back in line as the dwarf passes, his crossbow raised and pointed
at the about to be open doorway.
      With a thunderous crash, Ortho smashes into the unlocked door 
full-speed.  The afore-mentioned unlocked and unbolted door smashes 
completely off the hinges from the force of the charging dwarf and 
door and dwarf smash into the wall across the hall.  As the other 
companions step through, they notice that the door opens into a 
corridor approximately ten feet wide that leads about a hundred and 
forty feet before them.  With a quick look they can make out a door on
the right about forty feet down followed by an opening sixty feet down
on the left and another door ninety feet down on the right again.  
About ten feet before the hallway ends, it turns sharply to the south.
      The companions see no one in the hallway, nor do they see any 
signs of the passing one-eyed man or his companion.
      "A futile attempt to be quiet over the dwarve's noisyness," 
whispers Kersath more to himself than anyone else.  "I say we secure 
each room, move from door to door and clean out the bastards like 
rabbits in their holes!" he says more firmly to his fellows.
      Looking upon Ortho with a smile filled with pride (Dwarven way 
always works), Gnore surveys the hallways and listens to Kersath.  
"I was going to suggest that we wait for the others so that we will 
have two groups to search the rooms and opening but if the group wants
to proceed, I have no complaints.  How 'bout that door there," he 
suggest poking a thumb towards the door to the right.
     "Aye Gnore, ye've got the right of it.  Let's destroy the first 
door on the right." answers Druckner.  "Although this time, I'll keep 
an eye on the rest of the hallway, otherwise we'd have our backsides 
exposed.  Lead on then!"  Taking a moment to answer Kersath, he adds 
"What's goin' on wit' the rest of the gang?  Well, like my Pa Alizor 
used to say, 'When the going gets tough, it's tough to get going!"
      Kersath shakes his head and smiles as the group moves down the 
corridor to the room on the right.  As they get in front of the door, 
Druckner moves farther into the passageway and takes up residence in a
shadow of the hallway with crossbow raised and eyes westward.  
     Securing a better grip on his bastard sword, Gnore pats Ortho on 
the back and smiles, "I believe your services are again required on 
that door, Ortho IronNoggin'" Gnore laughs again and taps the head of 
Ortho.
     With a nod, Ortho lowers his head and quickly slams into the door 
before him.  The doorway once again gives way before the might of the 
stout dwarf and crashes in, falling to the ground once again as Gnore 
and Kersath peer into the opening.  The passageway before them opens 
up to about twenty feet wide going thirty feet to the north.  It opens
up into another, larger room but nothing can be seen from this vantage
point by the companions.
     Peering into the room using his infravision to no avail, Gnore 
shakes his head and mumbles to the rest of the 'scouting' party, "Eh, 
I don't think we should stray too far without letting our 'reserves' 
know where we are.  How 'bout that opening in the hallway to the left?"
He says this with a worried look as he continues to scan the larger 
room.  After a few moments he gives up and shrugs his shoulders.  
"'Course if you all feel this room has merit to be searched, I am 
easily convinced where exploration is concerned.  What say the rest of
you?"  He finishes and looks to the others for any sign of what they 
wish to do.
     Shaking his head to clear it of a few cobwebs, Ortho quickly 
looks forward to the large room ahead, "Aye, friend Gnore, yonder room
seems to hold little promise of findin' our enemies.  Let's be off to 
the passage on the left.  Druckner, ye've got the rear guard with that
wicked crossbow of yours.  Kersath, care to use that speed of yours to
peek down the passage at the end of the hallway while we go down the 
near left passage?  Else, form up with us and let's go."  
     Ortho then turns and leads Gnore and the others at a jog down the 
main passage to the first passageway on the left.  Stopping before the 
opening, he speaks to the others, "Gnore, let's you and I take a 
little trip down this hallway while Kersath and Druckner hold this 
intersection and keep their eyes peeled for friend and foe alike.  
Kersath, any chance of your picking up any tracks while ye wait fer 
us?"
     Before Kersath can answer, Druckner broaches another question, 
"Kersath, while you hold here I will return upstairs to get the other.  
We tried getting One-eye by using speed and we failed...temporarily.  
Now I think all should participate in the search.  And Ortho, 'ware 
the death wish, it kills more dwarves than orcs do!"  He then turns 
and moves back to the east and the stairs.
     Watching the back of Druckner as the dwarf goes to inform the 
others of their location and situation, Gnore turns to Ortho and gives
a nod to show his readiness.  Turning back to Kersath, he smiles and 
gives a wink, "Keep our backs safe but I would be false if I didn't 
say I was more concerned about our fronts."  With that Gnore steps in 
line with Ortho behind and to the right.
     "Fear not, friend Gnore," says Ortho, "We go not unprepared and 
we'll not go far.  Anyway, the bold rule the world!" 
     Kersath whispers as loudly as he can to the dwarves before they 
rush forward, "Wait!  You don't know what's in there!  As much as I 
like rushing off mindlessly to our impending doom, I think I'd take 
the more cautious approach right now.  What if there are some guards 
in that room?  Do you wish to be surrounded by an unknown number of 
enemies on their turn?  They could come up behind us and trap us like 
mice, and I think we should secure each room first."
     Stopping to whisper loudly over his shoulder so that Kersath can 
hear, Gnore answers him, "If I die, Lyntern can have my place in the 
company.  He has proven himself.  Ortho doesn't seem to be slowing and 
I'll not let a dwarven brother die alone.  Who wants to live forever 
anyway!"  They both then continue forward.
     As the two dwarves walk past the opening to their left, they feel 
a truly terrible and unholy presence emenate from the room.  Deciding 
not to stop and investigate, they continue forward the remaining sixty
feet or so till they reach the turn in the corridor.  Stepping around 
the corner, they see that the hallway does open up to a width of 
twenty feet and continues south about another fifty feet before 
narrowing again and heading into darkness.  Across the corridor is 
another door on the right as well as one ten feet down to their left 
and another thirty feet down from that.  There appears to be no one in
the hallway.

Dain and Ras:
     Before heading down the stairwell, Ras turns to Dain, "I don't 
think we should go too far without the other five.  Talimar and Randor 
should be awake and I assume they will come down.  I say we secure the 
rooms in the hall and wait for our leader to awake.  Stay behind me, 
I will check for traps."  
     "Agreed," answers Dain, "we will secure these rooms and then wait 
for the others to join us before looking for the rest.  I can't wait 
til I can get my hands on that little one-eyed pig licking creap.  
And I literally mean getting my hands on him!"  An evil grin spreads 
across the mages face as he and Ras head down the stairs.
     "Apparently our friends have come through here," says Ras as he 
points to the smashed door at the bottom of the stairs.  "This was 
obviously the source of the crashing sound we heard.  Perhaps venturing 
farther down the hallway will reveal more clues as to our friends 
whereabouts."
     "Ok, let's not go too far though.  If you want to wander farther 
I will follow but I will mark the walls so the rest can find us."
     The two then step through the smashed doorway and stumble right 
into Druckner and Beleg.  
     "Argh!  I almost shot you through the heart with me bow" exclaims 
Druckner to Ras.  "You scared me near ta death!  What are ye doin' 
'ere?"
     "We heard the crash and came to follow you and Beleg," answers 
Ras.
     "Well Gnore, Ortho and Kersath be about sixty feet up the hallway 
there.  I'm going to get the others." says Druckner as he updates the 
other two before heading up the stairs.

Forward to the next turn