Episode 30
"The Great Escape"
(c) Matt Grossman and J. Sage Schreiner

Nigil Palom, noble from a far-distant land -- Kevin Osborn
Tron, a resourcefull elf -- Matt Grossman
Danic, a dwarven warrior-mage -- Eric Kruller
Soren, a priest of the dwarven god -- Paul Skavland
All others -- Sage Schreiner

The cell was almost completely dark. Only a thin line of dim torchlight shone under the iron-bound 
door. The elf hung limply in his chains. The cell was so small that if he stretched his arms out 
he could touch both walls. It had been hours since he moved. The only sound was the drip of water 
on stone and the scuttle of rats. One of these now approached the slumped, emaciated figure. It 
ran out onto his arm, then to his shoulder, and finally sniffed at his face. The elf did not move.

Suddenly the sound of an alarm bell echoed in the room. Dimly through the door came the sound of 
voices raised in anger, and the clash of steel on steel.

Voice#1: Intruders!  Alarm!
Voice#2: vaanDrager!!! [crunch]
Voice#3: vaanDrager!!! [crash]
Voice#4: Ouch!  Take that! [clang]

The rat jumped away, and ran partway up the elf's arm. The body did not move, however, and the rat, 
driven by hunger, once more approached the elf's face.

Voice#4: Bah!  You vaanDrager scum can lick my...
Voice#2: Clanless dog! [gut]
Voice#4: Ooogh. [thud]
Voice#1: I surrender!  Don't kill me!
Voice#3: Give me the keys.

The rat bared its yellowed fangs and nipped at the elf's cheek. Suddenly the elf's jaws closed 
on the rat's head. The beast squealed and struggled, then the elf crunched its skull.

Tron: (starts eating the rat raw, bones and all)

Suddenly the door is flung open, revealing two dwarves holding a ring of keys.

Dwarf: An elf!  Well, I guess we gotta free him too.
Tron: Mmmph... mugh... ptuh. Who are you guys?
Danic:  I am Danic vaanDrager, and this is my cousin Soren vaanDrager. We have been hired by the 
Lady Groa to rescue survivors of the attack. We infiltrated the keep and here we are. We freed a 
bunch of guys in the upper dungeons, then came down here to rescue you.

Soon Nigil, Norel, and Sapphire are also free. Out of the surviving adventurers, only Nigil and Tron 
appear at all vigorous.

Norel: (leans on Sapphire)
Sapphire: (doesn't mind)
Soren: Ya know, I used to think gnome chicks were hot, but...
Danic: Yeah, what's with the filed teeth?

Nigil and Tron arm themselves with the weapons of the guards. Tron takes a shortsword and shield, 
and Nigil takes a shield and battleaxe. They both take light crossbows and quivers of quarrels as 
well.

Nigil: Listeners, stand by for the obvious...
Guard#2: Gurgle. [thud]
Soren: Huh?  Why did you kill him?
Tron: He was, uhhh, reaching for the bell.
Soren: But his hands were tied?  What was he going to ring it with?
Tron: Uhhh...

Nigil: Hey, this is my old shield!  That guard must have taken it. At least I have one of my magic 
items back.
Tron: That's right, I still have that ring of Aran's. Hang on a sec.
Nigil: Where did you hide it?  They strip searched me, and...
Tron: Oof!  Ugh!  Ahhh...
Soren: By the gods!
Danic: That's both admirable and disgusting.
Tron: (wiping the ring off) Now I can sit down again.

After verifying that there are no more prisoners in the lower dungeon, they head up a long flight 
of stairs to the upper dungeons. There are about a dozen scraggly, sickly looking men standing 
around. There is also a girl who looks the worse for wear.

Nigil: Hey, it's that Idne chick!
Danic: The alarm bell must have alerted them. They've barred the door back into the keep, and I 
can hear guards out there.
Tron: I hear something about "Garflin".
Nigil: He must have survived.
Tron: Or was resurrected. They just mentioned something about "bringing it". Whatever that means.
Soren: Duh. Let's look for another way out.

They explore this level of the dungeon. Besides the door leading back into the keep, there is a 
recently bricked up wall, an iron padlocked door which they cannot open, a locked door which seems 
to lead into a further area of the dungeons, a beating room with a bloody, sticky floor, and a fully 
equipped torture room. There are two corridors: One corridor dead-ends in a wall of collapsed rock,
the other ends in an old shrine of Pelor. The sun symbol on the floor has been defaced, there is a 
large statue of a scowling warrior holding a fistful of arrows in the corner, and niches along the wall are 
filled with skeletons.

Soren: Hey, that's Hextor!  (pushes over the statue, which shatters on the floor) Take that, demon!
Tron: There might be a secret door here. Let's search it.

They search the room thoroughly, finding some coins and a scroll tube.

Tron: Can anyone draw sounds?
Danic: I can. But I won't read it now. It might be magic.

They discuss what to do. Suddenly a face appears at the window of the door into the keep.

Dwarf: Hey, listen up in there!  If you all surrender now, we'll go easy on you!
Tron: (shoots at dwarf but misses) Sure, why don't you come in to discuss terms?
Dwarf: All right, elf, you asked for it!

The door flies open and six guards charge in.

Danic: We'll hold them!  Get out of the other door!

Tron runs down to the other door, opens it and heads through. Suddenly two guards jump out and attack 
him.

Tron: (holding them off with difficulty) I could do with some help here...
Nigil: On my way!

Danic and Soren fight shoulder to shoulder. Both of them are using magic in addition to weapons.

Soren: Fear the power of Moraddin!
Guard: Aaaah! (flees in terror)
Danic: Mystic shield, I summon you! [bzorm]

The dwarves are slowly driven back. Meanwhile, Nigil arrives where Tron is desperately struggling.

Nigil: Gnyarr! (body checks a guard into the wall)
Guard#1: Oof!
Tron: (grabs a loaded crossbow off of Nigil's belt and shoots Guard#1 through the throat)
Guard#1: Urk.
Guard#2: I surrender!
Tron: Heh.
Nigil: Wait, Tron!  Don't kill this one!
Tron: Bah.
Guard#2: Phew.

Danic and Soren have been forced back, but are still fighting hard. They have slain one guard and 
wounded all the others.

Guard#3: They fight like demons!  Let's get out of here!
Dwarf (the sergeant): You cowards!  Get back here and fight!
Guards: No way! We're outta here!
Danic: If you want to live, you should follow your men.
Dwarf: I'll see you in hell first! [hack]
Danic: vaanDrager! [clang]
Soren: I summon the hammer of Moraddin!

A glowing hammer flies from his hand and attacks the dwarf sergeant.

Dwarf: [bonk] Ow!

Tron runs up behind the dwarves and shoots the sergeant in the head with his crossbow. Amazingly, 
the dwarf survives.

Dwarf: Must... get... out... (he runs to the door and finds that the fleeing guards have barred it 
against him) bastard sons of hoors...
Danic: vaanDrager! [clunk]
Dwarf: [thud]
Danic: Huh?  He's still alive.
Soren: (binds the sergeant's wounds)
Tron: Why are you wasting bandages on him?
Soren: He was a worthy foe. I guess you elves don't understand honor.

The guards seem unclear what to do. The party hears a lot of talking behind the door and mutters 
about "Vodius" and "Garflinn". Soren uses his healing magic to heal Danic and himself.

Tron: Attica!  Attica!  Attica!
Danic: Huh?
Tron: Never mind. What's down this corridor?

Behind the door that the two guards were hiding behind they find a small guardroom and another cell 
block. They can hear a clinking from behind one of the doors.

Nigil: Hello?  (to guard) What's behind this door?
Guard: Uhh... An important traitor, I guess. He doesn't talk.
Soren: Maybe it's that Thorfinn guy.

They open the door and find... Rognvald!  He has been badly beaten, all the fingers on his left hand 
are cut off, and his tongue has been cut out. One of his eyes is missing, and it's clear that both
femurs have been shattered.

Nigil: What happened?  What did they do to you?  Oh, never mind.
Soren: (heals Rognvald) That was my last major healing spell. Nobody better get hurt.
Rognvald: Ney aht anu.
Tron: Hey, he still can't talk.
Soren: Moraddin has not yet given me the power to regrow limbs, or other bits.

Though healed, it is clear that Rognvald is still not whole in other ways as well. His face shows
defeat and hopelessness.

Meanwhile, Danic knocks down the bricked up wall to find an alcove, containing a skeleton.

Danic: There's no sign of who he was.
Tron: I guess it's the iron door or nothing. (to Guard) Where does this go?
Guard: Duhh, I dunno. I just work here. 
Tron: (starts picking the lock)
Danic: Allow me. [hack]  I pick locks with my axe.
Tron: I would have gotten it eventually.

The door swings open, revealing a tunnel leading deep into the earth.

Nigil: Not again!

They drag equipment from the torture chamber in front of the dungeon entrance to block it, then 
prepare to go through the iron door. They grab a number of torches off the walls and enter the 
corridor. It is clearly a natural cavern that has been somewhat worked on, but is still very rough.

After hiking for a good distance, they come to a hole in the floor. Beyond it, the corridor bends 
sharply, hiding what lies ahead.

Tron: The air seems fresher near this hole.
Danic: I agree!  I will explore it.

The dwarf jumps into the hole and sees that it continues for some time in a mud-floored tunnel. 
Suddenly...

Danic: Aaaah!  My legs are burning!  Pull me up!  Pull me up!

Tron and Nigil grab the dwarf and yank him out of the hole. After him comes a huge yellowish-orange 
pseudopod. A massive amoeboid creature starts to ooze out of the hole.

Tron: Are these the ones that are immune to fire and lightning, or...
Nigil: Let's find out! (sticks it with a torch)
Ochre Jelly: (recoils, burned, but keeps advancing)
Nigil: I think I hurt it!
Tron: Then let's hurt it some more!
Soren: vaanDrager!
Danic: vannDrager!

They fight, using fire as a weapon. Danic flings a flask of oil on the creature and ignites it. 
The others strike at it with torches. Although these attacks seem to burn it, the jelly does not 
seem deterred.

Ochre Jelly: (grabs Danic and starts to digest him)
Danic: Aaaagh! (breaks free)
Ochre Jelly: (strikes Danic with a pseudopod)
Danic: Urk... medic... [thump]
Ochre Jelly: (Surrounds Soren and begins to digest him)
Soren: (Struggles) Mmmmmrrrphhhh!

Tron grabs Danic's unconscious body and drags it away from the jelly.

Soren: (Struggles free). Arrgh!!! It burns!
Tron: Soren!  You've got to help bandage him!
Soren: Aaah!  We're all gonna die!  Aaahhh! (flees in terror)
Tron: Wuss. Ok, let's see, the rabbit goes around the tree and... whoops, I don't think arms are 
supposed to bend that way.

Meanwhile, Nigil faces the creature.

Nigil: I've had enough of this! (draws his battleaxe and cleaves the creature in twain) Ha! 
Ochre Jelly#1: (oozes at Nigil)
Ochre Jelly#2: (oozes at Nigil)
Nigil: Umm, I, uhh, meant to do that.
Rognvald: Gnnnuuhhh!!! (runs up and attacks the jellies with a torch)
Nigil: All right!  I knew we could count on you!
Rognvald: Unnnhhh!!!
Nigil: I'll take that as a yes.

Soren: (runs back past Tron) We're all gonna die!
Tron: Look, you're a cleric, could you at least heal your cousin?
Soren: All right. [bink]

Danic stops bleeding.

Tron: Great!  (runs back into combat)
Soren: These people are insane!  I'd better scout ahead and see if I can find a way out.

Eventually, the two jellies are defeated. All of the part except Tron are badly wounded, and he 
is not in the best of health. Danic is still unconscious. They find that the corridor ends a 
short way past the jelly hole.

Tron: Ok, directly ahead there's a chamber filled with fungi, to the right there's another corridor, 
to the left there's a muddy hole in the floor. Where's Soren?
Soren: (climbs out of the muddy hole) Is it dead?
Tron: No thanks to you and your wuss god.
Soren: Next time you can let yourself out of prison, ok?  I wasn't expecting to be almost killed 
by some kind of giant amoeba.
Tron: Oh yeah? You better watch out or I'm going shove you back down that hole.
Nigil: Ok, guys, break it up. We've got to find a way out of here before those guards come in.

The find that the muddy hole in the floor goes down about fifty feet and then is flooded. The 
fungi-filled chamber ahead deadends after about twenty feet. The corridor to the right...

Soren: With my dwarven stoneworking skills, I can tell that this corridor is completely safe.
Tron: Look out!

They leap clear as the ceiling collapses.

Tron: Nice going.
Soren: Bah.
Nigil: That leaves us the hole that thing came out of.
Soren: Fine, I'll scout ahead. Come on Tron.
Nigil: I'll stay out here with the other prisoners.

Tron and Soren climb down into the hole and follow the cramped, muddy tunnel for some distance. 
They have to crawl on their bellies and in some places Soren has to take his armor off to fit through.
Meanwhile, the other prisoners huddle in the corridor, with no light. It is cold and they are all 
hungry.

Nigil: They've been gone awhile... hey, what's that?

He can hear the scrape of chain on stone approaching from the direction of the dungeon, and some sort
of alien mumbling.

There appears to be a large shape near the light.

Rognvald: (starts crawling into the hole)
Nigil: Right. Everybody, into the hole!

The escaped prisoners crowd into the hole and start following Tron and Soren. They are in almost total
darkness as there are only two torches, and only one is kept lit. Nigil is the last to leap into the 
hole. He looks up to see something hulking at the edge of the darkness. Behind him a long dark
arm reaches into the hole and gropes around.

Nigil: I don't know what that is, but right now I don't want to find out. Hurry it up down there!

After a long crawl through the mud and darkness, Tron and Soren emerge into a large cave. They can 
smell the sea, and a quick scout shows that they are on a subterranean beach.

Tron: This seems familiar.

On one wall there is a chalked skull and crossbones, with beneath it a boat, a skeleton, and a chest.
The other prisoners emerge from their muddy crawl.

Idne: A pirate!  Horrors!
Nigil: That's a good sign. Maybe when the tide is out this cave connects to the outside world.

However, right now it seems that there is no way out of the cave. The boat turns out to be rotted and 
useless. The skeleton has no valuables, only a fine axe head lying in the sand near it. The chest 
contains a large quantity of gold and silver coins and two glass vials. A scroll disentegrates the
moement it is touched.

Soren: Maybe when Danic wakes up he can identify them. After I rest and pray to Moraddin, I will be 
able to create food and drink for us all. Until then, we must rest.

They light a small fire and prepare to sleep, staring anxiously into the darkness. There seems to be 
no pursuit from the dungeon. Under the circumstances, this is not entirely encouraging.

TO BE CONTINUED...