Colossal Caves Part 1

Introduction

The Colossal Caves is an adventure written for the B/X edition of the D&D rules. The adventure is meant for character levels 1-3. Large parties may fare better.

The Colossal Caves was originally written in 1982 and it was one of the first adventures I wrote. It is definitely a dungeon crawl and representative of many adventures written at the time. I believe I used the random dungeon generator tables in the back of the Dungeon Masters Guide to generate the basic structure of the dungeon and then free-handed in other areas as I saw fit.

For this version, I have cleaned things up a fair amount. For the most part, I have kept the same monsters in the same dungeon map but I have rewritten the room descriptions. The original version text was very basic. So be prepared for monsters, lots of monsters and an above average number of traps.

The Colossal Caves Setting and Background

The Colossal Caves are under Mount Vorhut in a low range of mountains. Vorhut is the highest of the range and is a long extinct volcanic cone. The dungeons beneath Vorhut or at least 200 years old but no one remembers who constructed them. Most rumors assume they are of dwarven construction or the result of some evil overlord with an army of goblinoids. Whatever their origin they have been repeatedly used over the years by bandits, orcs, and goblins. The most recent occupiers of the caves were bandits lead by one Reginald the Mumbler.

Recently, a wizard arrived at the Mount Vorhut accompanied by a black dragon. With the dragon’s backing the wizard Ikalis Blackflame convinced the bandits to accept him as their new leader. Once he moved in, Ikalis was joined by the Red Claw clan of orcs led by Tarak Bonebreaker.

The Colossal caves can be set in any wild lands area of your own campaign.  The village of Carlion is small enough to fit in practically anywhere.

Part 1: Carlion and the road to the caves.

The adventure starts with the heroes on the road north. On their map, there is a tiny village marked a few miles north where they should be able to rest and hopefully sleep under a roof. As the mountains are just becoming visible, they see smoke rising on the horizon in the direction of the village of Carlion.

As they continue toward the village, they see three horse-drawn carts loaded high with bundles of possessions. The carts are those of three families of villagers fleeing from Carlion. If the players stop the refugees to question them, they will hear that Carlion is burning. A dragon arrived early just before dawn and burned down most of the buildings and killed all of the local militia. Only a handful of people remain in Carlion. If the refugees are questioned carefully the players can learn that the dragon had very dark scales and was difficult to see. There also appears to have been orcs involved in the attack.

The attack was actually carried out by a black dragon known as Scatha. The burned buildings were from fires set by orcs but the dragon did knock over sections of the town palisade, damage buildings and kill the militia.

Leading the refugees is Rob Hegge who was the blacksmith in Carlion. He is in the lead wagon with his family. In the second wagon is the family of the carpenter Leiv Caspar. The last wagon has Hannah Voll with her three children.

Carlion

The village sits astride the Darkrun stream. A wooden bridge crosses the stream and was not damaged in the attack. There are only 14 buildings in the village and the larger buildings are in ruins and still smoking from this morning’s fires. There is one stone building in the village, a sanctum dedicated to the nature god Eses. The palisade around the village has three large sections that have been knocked over on the west side of the river.

There are no guards blocking the way into the village and the village gates lie open. Ahead a few men can be seen gathering bodies and laying them on the main street in front of a stone building that appears to be a temple. The locals look up in concern at your approach.

The locals are in no condition to start a fight so they look about concerned until one bearded man wearing soot-covered clothes approaches. He introduces himself as Dragfinn Noss the leader of the village. Judging that they are adventurers he asks if they can take a message to the local Watchtower that is manned by soldiers of the realm. The watchtower is just visible on the horizon to the northwest on top of a hill. Noss is concerned that the soldiers did not come to the aid of Carlion so he suspects the worst but someone needs to check on the tower.

Noss will answer questions about the attack. He awoke to find his home (the provisioner shop) on fire. He got his family outside onto the street and saw a dragon fly overhead. Father Solberg, the town priest, cast a beam of light at the dragon which flew back over the priest and killed him in a blast of its breath. Noss believes the dragon breath was acidic. He also saw orcs carrying torches setting the buildings on fire. Noss suspects that the orcs came from the caves up in the mountains. There is an infamous dungeon up in the mountains rumored to be beneath Mount Vorhut called the Colossal Caves. He tells the heroes that they can get to the watchtower by following the road west out of Carlion. The Caves are at the headwaters of the Darkrun stream.

The Watchtower

The watchtower is located on a hill just over half a mile from the village of Carlion. The hill is 180 feet in diameter and 60 feet high at its peak. The watchtower is small, only 25 feet tall and 12 feet square. There are two floors. The ground floor is a storeroom and a stable. The second floor is a living area with a kitchen and six beds. There is also a roof with a low wall around it. The tower is entered through a wooden door across the ten-foot span of a drawbridge.

The drawbridge is currently down and the tower looks quiet and deserted. Heroes hailing the tower from a distance will get no response.  Once heroes reach the 30 foot in diameter top of the hill, they will come under fire from five orcs stationed atop the tower who are armed with short bows.

Orcs (5): AC 6, HD 1, hp 4 each, MV 120’ (40’), #AT 1 short bow, spear, Dmg 1-6, Save F1, ML 8, AL C, xp 10 each, THAC0 19, TT D.

The door to the tower is closed and barred but its hinges are damaged and the door can be bashed open (1-2 on 1d6). The orcs broke the hinges when they stormed the tower the previous evening. The ground floor is a shamble, broken crates, barrels and the stains of blood on the floor. A stone stair leads to the living area.

The living area is also, trashed. The beds have been knocked over and sheets piled on the floor. There is a stew pot over a cold fire. There is nothing in the pot. A wooden ladder leads to the roof.  There is nothing of interest on the roof but there is an excellent view of the mountains and the village in the distance.

The Watchtower

Ascent to the Caves

The main dirt road leads from Carlion to the watchtower and appears well- traveled. But there is another path, this one more recent, that leads along the Darkrun Stream up into the hills toward Mount Vorhut. The trail is easy to follow and leads directly to the entrance to the Caves. If the players indicate they are checking for tracks they will be able to see many booted feet going to and from the caves along the trail.

Adventurers advancing toward the caves along the trail will face two ambushes.

Ambush 1

As the heroes pass a grove of pine trees they come under attack by a pair of human bandits. The bandits will rush toward the heroes out of a position of concealment.

Bandits (2): AC 6, HD 1, hp 3 each, MV 120’ (40’), #AT 1 short sword, Dmg 1-6, Save T1, ML 7, AL C, xp 10 each, THAC0 19, TT U.

The two bandits were once a part of Reg’s band and lived here in the Caves. They know the rough layout of the entrance area of the caves but things have changed since they were evicted. They have become desperate since the change in ownership and have come as close as they dare to the Cave entrance waiting for an opportunity. If one of them is captured and questioned he can tell the heroes the story of their bandit leader Reg the Mumbler and how he was overthrown by a dark-cloaked wizard. They immediately made a run for it so they do not know much more. This all happened several months ago.

Ambush 2

The trail moves further up into the mountains and trees become infrequent. As the trail winds through a clump of several enormous boulders, a group of kobolds attacks the heroes from both sides of the trail.

Kobolds (6): AC 7, HD ½, hp 2 each, MV 60’ (20’), #AT 1 spear, Dmg 1d6-1, Save NM, ML 6, AL C, xp 5 each, THAC0 19, TT P.

These kobolds have come to the Caves to worship the dragon. The orcs have put them to work as scouts and guards.

The Entrance to the Caves

The trail leads up the side of the mountain following the Darkrun Stream. Eventually, the trail ends at a large pool of water, the source of the stream. Judging by the steady rate of outflow into the river, the pool has an underwater source. On the other side of the pool on a deep ledge is the entrance to the Colossal Caves. There is a rickety rope bridge with a wooden walk crossing the pool leading from the trail to the entrance to the caves. The bridge is 75 feet long and 6 feet wide. Wooden boards are fastened to ropes to form the bed of the bridge. It looks dangerous but aside from some ominous creaking and a lot of swaying it is safe.

The Cave entrance itself is a 10-foot square, rough stone block entrance that extends 20 feet into the mountain before descending 20 feet down stone steps in the dungeon.

There is a trip wire stretched across the entrance at the top of the stairs 6 inches above the floor. If adventurers are careful, they will find the trip wire (1-2 on 1d6). If they miss the trip wire the first to move to the stair will trip and tumble down the stairs into the dungeon taking 1 point of damage. They will also hear a bell ring from below.

The Cave and pool

Can Carlion be Saved?

Over the hill ahead of you lies the Village of Carlion. Except that is is now in ruins, with all of the wooden buildings burning fiercely and the few stone buildings flattened to the ground. Wreckage and the charred the remains of peasants and soldiers litter the streets giving off a terrible smell. Several vultures pick through the bodies, one of which is clubbed away by an old man wearing grey robes.

Can Carlion be Saved?

In 1982 I wrote my second Basic D&D adventure. The first entry was a single paragraph introduction to the adventure (above) concerning the destruction of the town of Carlion by a black dragon. With little encouragement beyond a need to bring justice, the players are expected to hike up into the mountains to confront a black dragon.

To provide for a small trading post that can be used in any fantasy campaign setting. I have given Carlion a full detailing, before the arrival of the dragon. When there was still hope it could be saved.

Welcome to Carlion

Carlion

Carlion is located well north of Stillwater valley at the end of a trail from the village of Grimwell. Carlion was established fifty years ago as a trading post for trappers, loggers, and the odd homesteader. The current village has grown to a population of 30 in recent years. The village leader is Dragfinn Noss, the owner of much of the property in the village. Noss owns and runs the Provision shop, handed down from his father Atle. From the profits, he has purchased much of the rest of the village. He helped fund the building of the Temple, he owns a small market, the warehouse, the Inn and the Townhall. Noss also pays the wages of the five men-at-arms who protect the village.

Carlion lies in the middle of a flat valley floor in the shadow of Mount Vorhut, a long, quiet volcano. The Darkrun stream passes through the center of the village bringing cold, snowmelt water from the nearby mountains.

Carlion is surrounded by a wood palisade that is nine feet tall. The palisade has withstood two, night assaults by goblins in the past 15 years but generally, it has dissuaded most local humanoid tribes. In times of trouble, the five men-at-arms are bolstered by a 15 person militia of able-bodied locals.

Entry to Carlion

The two gates into Carlion face roughly north and south. The north gate remains closed unless someone requests it to be opened. The south gate is open from dawn to dusk. It is manned by two men-at-arms at all times. The men-at-arms are only checking for obvious trouble makers, most everyone is welcome in Carlion.

Noss Provisions

The town provision shop is the largest building in Carlion. Over the years extensions have been added onto the front and back of the wood building. It is one of the few two-story buildings in Carlion. The second story rooms are the personal apartments of Dragfinn Noss and his family.

In the main shop, visitors can find a wide selection of goods. Most of the common items in any Player’s Handbook equipment list. Prices start at +20% rulebook listed prices. There are no metal weapons. There are mundane hammers, axes, and knives but none designed for combat. The shop does sell dried rations.

Dragfinn Noss - Human, middle-aged (45). The owner is also the leader of the village. As has been noted he owns much of the property. His trading company buys a lot of the furs and meat brought in by trappers. He also provisions the town with food and equipment. Noss drives a hard bargain. He knows he has a monopoly and his prices reflect this.

Noss Family - wife (46), two sons (22, 20). Emelia is married to Noss. It was an arranged marriage and she had never met Noss before arriving in Carlion. She is reasonably happy with the arrangement and Noss treats her well. She does not help in the running of the business. Jorn and Ove are the two sons. Both work in the provision shop. Ove is the youngest and he also trains regularly with the men-at-arms. Ove is ready to set out on life as an adventurer. He has never seen another settlement and longs to see the big towns of the south.

Torn Shoe Tavern

The tavern was purchased by Noss from Marta Dahl when she pulled up stakes and moved to Pirn. Marta called the tavern the Torn Shoe because she stopped in Carlion to get a boot repaired and then stayed awhile. Marta was a sometime caravan guard and adventurer.

The tavern ground floor has three rooms for guests. On the roof of the three rooms is an area in the rafters where the tavern workers sleep. The rest of the ground floor is the kitchen and tavern. There are four tables each surrounded by stools. The tavern has a limited list of food and drinks available (ale, water, wine, porridge, venison, stew).

Working at the tavern is the Innkeeper Agnar Loberg (human, 34) and the barmaid Gunnhild Jelle (human, 36).

Hunter

A small wooden shack near the south gate is the home of Nesby, a human hunter. Nesby makes his living hunting deer and selling the meat and hides to Noss.

Nesby - human middle-aged 35. Nesby has long, matted, grey hair and dresses in simple leather clothes of his own manufacture. Nesby is a good source of information on the local area all of the way up into the mountains.

Blacksmith

Across from the shack of the hunter is the workshop of Rob Hegge the village blacksmith. The main building is a shop and at the back are three rooms - private rooms and kitchen. Attached to the building is a lean-to style shed that is open on the front and houses the forge.

Rob Hegge - human 28. Rob is adept and making nails, horseshoes and barrel hoops. He is assisted by his son Ulf (14). Rob’s wife Rebecca works in the shop.

The smith can shoe adventurers horses but it not of much help on other items. He has never forged or repaired armor or weapons.

Looking West

Charcoaler

The charcoaler burns wood collected in the nearby forests to produce charcoal that other villagers use to heat their stoves and fireplaces. The smith also makes use of the product.

Ragnar Bonde - human 32. Ragnar is a perpetually filthy human covered in soot.

Carpenter

The carpenter’s shop is build of freshly painted pine boards. Half of the area under the roof is the home of the carpenter. The other half under the roof is open. Under this roof is a plie of raw logs, and freshly cut wooden boards. There is a long work table with tools lying on it.

Leiv Caspar - human 34 is the carpenter. He maintains the bridge over the river and repairs most of the buildings in the village.

Caspar family - wife Marta 25, daughter Aud 8 and son Bard 6. Marta has her hands full with the two children most of the time.

Small Market

The small market is a simple wooden building with a large open front. When the shutters over this area are pitched open a table is placed under the window where local vegetables are displayed for sale. Inside are wooden boxes full of vegetables. The building is managed by Ove Graven (human age 24) on behalf of Noss. It is open most days in the summer between dawn and a few hours before dusk. The rest of the year it is closed and Ove works at the Tavern.

Erland Market

The market is the second largest building in the village. It is made of wood that has aged grey. Bendik Erland is the owner of this market. The ground floor of the building is a shop that sells food and some general items. Most of the items are imported into Carlion.

Bendik Erland - human 44. Bendik has lived most of his life in Carlion. He is the second most important land holder in Carlion. He is assisted by his son Reidar (age 21). His wife died ten years ago.

Cobbler/Tinker

The cobbler’s shop is a small, single-story cottage. The front half of the cottage is the tinker/cobbler shop with various benches holding leather goods. Hanging from the rafters are pots and pans. The back half of the cottage is the living area for the cobbler Nils Mossing.

Nils Mossing - human age 26. Nils repairs shoes and pots and pans for a living. There is a large opening on the front of the cottage facing the street. During the day when Nils is working it is open allowing passersby to view his shop. Nils is a notorious drunkard, but when sober he does reasonably good work.

Noss Warehouse

Near the river is a large, wooden warehouse. Nearby, is a wooden dock. The warehouse is currently full so there is a large number of barrels resting on the ground outside the warehouse. The door to the warehouse has a chain and padlock on it. The key is held by Dragfinn Noss. Inside are furs packed to be sent south and goods for which there is not enough room in the provision shop.

Sanctum of Eses

There is a small, stone temple in the village. Noss paid for its construction and brought the dwarf Age Hofstad to the village to build it. The temple is of solid construction and is a place of safe refuge for the villagers if the village is attacked. Inside there are small shrines to six, popular local gods. The main altar in the center of the back wall is devoted to Eses a god of the wild places.

Father Solberg - human male priest of Eses, age 45. Solberg was convinced to move to Carlion by Noss. He gets an annual stipend and his food is free.

Father Solberg resides in a wooden extension added onto the back of the stone temple.

Noss Stable

The wooden stable has six stalls for animals. There is a small loft that holds fresh hay and a sleeping area for the stable boy Dag. Noss owns two horses that are stabled here.

Dag - human male boy age 14.

Great Hall

Carlion has a small town hall. The hall rests on a closed wooden platform. There is a wooden porch at the front of the hall. Inside is a large, single room. Cots and hammocks have been set up for the five men-at-arms hired by Noss to protect the town. Town meetings are held in this hall. There are three men and two women fighters hired by Noss to protect the village.

Men-at-arms (5), Alt Sharpe, Ramsey Mac, Hugo Dani, Ina Helly, and Cara Moris.

Baker

The town bakers are Marius and Hannah. They are there three children live in this wooden cottage and run a bakery as well. For the most part, they make loaves of bread. But their son Simon is able to make passable pastries when they have the supplies to do so.

Marius and Hannah Voll - humans aged 45 and 43. There children Dan (19), Simon (17) and Anne (14).

Mason

The loan non-human member of the village is Age Hofstad, a dwarf. He is an outcast from his mountain clan and has lived among humans for more than 20 years (he is 55 years old). Noss brought Age to Carlion to build the temple. He has remained because he likes the solitude and the nearness of the nearby mountains. He occasionally repairs the foundations of some of the buildings in town.

To the North

North of the village of Carlion are foothills rise into mountains including Mount Vorhut. The mountains are the home of humanoid races and have been a source of trouble for the region. Because of this, a small, two-story stone watchtower was built on the top of a flat hill. The tower is visible from Carlion. The Watchtower has a permanent garrison of five soldiers from the Realm.

Carlion Map

Marn's Crossing

The Inn

“He’s a cheat!, Get him!” The man yelled to the other men in the small back room of the Tavern. Myro looked about nervously. As a stranger in Marn’s Crossing the room looked to be siding with this dumb oaf. Best to get out of here with my winnings Myro thought.

I have made a small map to show the locations that appear in my previous few posts of fiction. Marn’s Crossing is an old stone bridge that spans the Croydes Stream. The stream is dry throughout the year except in the Spring. Snow meltwater turns the stream into a raging river and blocks travel. A few hundred years ago a stone bridge was built to allow year-round travel.

A few carpenters and stone-workers were settled near the bridge to help maintain it. One of the more enterprising carpenters expanded his cottage into a simple Inn. The Inn at Marn’s Crossing has had several expansions in size since then.

The current Innkeeper is Lars Montefelo, a middle-aged, heavyset man. Lars brings in extra coin by hosting dice and card games in the back room of the Inn. The games draw in the usual local rabble and travelers.

The Inn and cellar map

Tavern Area

There is a mud porch outside the door to the Inn and a nearby outhouse in the yard before the river road. The tavern has a bar stocked with local ale a little else. There are six wooden tables surrounded by stools and chairs. No two alike. Three doors exit the tavern to other rooms, Lars room, a sleeping area and the door to the kitchen.

In addition to finding Lars working behind the bar, he has two maids/helpers who work the tavern. Sisters Jona and Caelia serve drinks, make beds, clean and do just about any other odd job around the Inn. They sleep in the loft above the tavern. It is accessible by a ladder against the wall.

Owners Area

Lars and his wife Marion live in this simple room. There is little more than a bed, table, and a few chests of clothes.

Sleeping Area

For a pair of silver pieces, a traveler can purchase one of five beds in the sleeping area. The tavern and the sleeping area are kept warm in the fall and winter by a large fireplace.

Kitchen Area

The kitchen has a cooking fireplace, preparation tables and crates and barrels of food. Marion, the wife of the Innkeeper, does the cooking. She is a passable cook but is often let down by the scarcity of fresh ingredients. A wooden door leads to a rickety wooden stair to the cellar. A young boy lives in this area, sleeping near the fire on a bundle of wool blankets. Roald is an orphan that Lars has agreed to look after in exchange for work gathering firewood and tending the fires in the four fireplaces.

Back Room

In the back room, there are three tables that can be used for drinking, eating or gambling. A game of cards or dice can usually be found here once the sun goes down. Aside from a few local toughs, most of the gamblers are travelers on the river road passing through.

Occasionally, a lone traveler will go missing after winning one too many hands at cards. Whether it is at the hands of a local tough or passing mercenary. Lars can be counted on to dispose of the body for a share of the winnings.

Beneath the Inn.

Lars uses the cellar beneath the Inn to store non-perishable foods and supplies for the Inn. For some reason, the cellar is always very damp. Lars is unaware that the Inn is built over the ruins of an old temple to a forgotten god. Previous Innkeepers many years ago used the crypts beneath the Inn to hold smuggled goods.

Marn's Crossing

Three Crowns, Part 4

Picking up the candle again, Myro quietly headed back out into the hallway. He passed down the hall and moved past the stairs he had come down. Ahead was another stone archway. There was a very dim light bleeding through the archway.

“A way out”, Myro exclaimed. He quickened his pace. Then Myro heard a sound echoing down the hall toward him. Something was moving in the chamber. There was a scraping sound and a metallic rattle. Like the chains on a ghost, Myro thought to myself.

Softly Myro advanced to the archway, beyond was another small, stone chamber. The chamber was almost as dark as the hallway but a dim light came through an opening barred by rusty metal bars halfway up the far wall. It looked like the entrance over a long forgotten sewer.

Myro felt the hairs on his right forearm come to attention. Glancing down, he spotted a dim, blue glow emanating from the short sword. From out of the shadows by the wall came motion and a skeleton of a man lurched out of the dark holding a shield and swinging a rusty sword.

“Ahhh!”, Myro screamed and brought the sword up defensively. The sword met the skeleton’s sword mid-arc with a thunderous clang of metal. Jumping back, Myro tried to prepare himself, but the skeleton moved forward and was on him again. He desperately parried two more ringing strikes from the skeleton moving back as he did. He felt the cold stone wall at his back.

Myro leaped forward trying to get around the skeleton and swung the sword in an arc as he vaulted by. Landing past the skeleton, Myro turned toward the hallway as he heard a clatter of metal and bones behind him.

Moving into the hallway, Myro carefully, looked behind himself into the room. The skeleton was an unmoving pile of bones on the floor. A rotted wooden shield and rusty sword lay nearby.

“Hah”, Myro yelled. Exhilaration filled his muscles with energy. His breaths were short and ragged. Myro paused and breathed out slowly for a few short, long breaths.

Myro walked over to the sewer opening. He could see a tunnel and a dim light in the distance. A slight, cool breeze played across his face. Myro gripped two of the rusty bars and pulled. The bars budged slightly. Looking about, Myro picked up the discarded rusty sword on the floor. Placing it between two bars, he levered the bars until they began to move. With a sudden start, one of the rusty bars snapped off and fell to the floor. There was just enough space for him to fit.

Myro tossed the bent, rusty sword into the opening and squeezed in after it. Picking up the rusty sword in his left hand and clutching the short blade in his right Myro crawled down the tunnel.

After a dozen feet, he came to another opening. Rusty stubs of metal marked where the opening was once barred. Clumps of grass ringed the opening. Pushing through the opening, Myro tumbled out into a dry streambed. Looking up he could see the stars wheeling above.

Myro lay on his back for a few minutes taking an inventory of the night's events. Pushing himself to his feet, Myro slid the short sword into his new scabbard and trudged off into the night.

THE END.

The Exit

Three Crowns, Part 3

Descent into the Depths

Myro looked about in the near total darkness. Four walls with no sign of an exit and a few dark shapes rising out of the floor. Picking up the nearby candle, Myro leaned over the stairs in the bottom of the crypt. The stairs were old, stone and very steep. They appeared to descend about twelve feet to a passage.

Shivering to himself, Myro thought, “There is no obvious exit up here so down I go I guess”.  Not likely to find an exit if I keep going down Myro thought. I could wait up here until the furor in the inn settles down.

“Where is the adventure in that,” Myro said out loud. His voice sounded a little tremulous to him. “Screw that,” he thought. And stepped gingerly into the crypt and descended the stair.

Upon reaching the passage, Myro saw ancient stone walls before him. The passage went a short distance before entering another passage at right angles. Nervously, Myro extended the candle into the new passage. The flame atop the candle guttered for a moment then was still.

“There must be a way out!”, Myro thought. There was clearly a breeze from somewhere. Myro looked left and right. Both directions looked the same. Stone walls of large worked blocks leading to an archway. The passage was fairly wide, at least five feet and just over six feet tall. The ceiling was slightly arched. The entire passage looked old. Far older than the buildings of Marn’s Crossing.

“Scrittch”, an odd scratching sound came from Myro’s left. He could barely hear it but in the deafening silence of the passage, it seemed really loud. The hairs on the back of Myro’s neck stood at attention and he felt a cold chill run down his back.

“Right it is then”, Myro said aloud. No, I am not scared at all he thought to himself.

Myro softly padded to the right, passing under an archway part way down the passage. To his left and right were two openings in the stone walls. In each opening sat an old wooden coffin.

I am not looking in those coffins, no matter that they might be bodies buried with gold, Myro thought. I can come back later, let's just get out of here.

Ahead was another archway but this time it led into a small chamber. Myro looked about, raising the candle high. The chamber was filled with old wooden barrels and crates. Broken wood and straw littered the stone floor. Thick dust and cobwebs covered everything. To the right behind a broken wooden crate, there was a pair of moldy boots. Myro breathed in sharply. The boots looked to be attached to feet and legs but were unmoving. Slowly Myro advanced and shone the candlelight around the corner of the crate. Beyond was the corpse of a long dead man. The man was slumped into a seated position clutching one hand to his chest. In his other hand was a short sword.

“Juvan's reach”, Myro exclaimed.

Putting the candle down, Myro took a good look at the unfortunate man lying on the floor.

“You’ve been here a long time, haven’t you my friend.”

Myro noted the small leather pouch at the bodies waist., Well I am sure he has no use for it anymore thought Myro. He reached for the pouch and slipped it off the belt. There was the beautiful sound of metal on metal. Dumping the contents into his hand, a number of silver coins fell into his hand. Counting them quickly, Myro counted 24 silver coins.

“Thank you good sir”, Myro said to the corpse. He turned to leave, but then he spotted the short blade again.

“Pardon me”, Myro said to the corpse and gingerly picked up the sword. It felt light and well-balanced in his hand. Not used to blades much longer than a kitchen knife, Myro swung it awkwardly. The blade swished through the air.

“Better to take this too”, Myro thought to himself. He looked at his waist. His simple leather belt did not make much of a scabbard. Looking back down at the skeleton he noted the leather belt and scabbard at its waist.

“Well, I guess I need this as well”, leaning in close Myro carefully unbuckled and removed the belt, the skeleton shifted and leaned against him. Glancing to the right, Myro looked directly into the skeletons face. Dark, empty eye sockets looked back at him. Gingerly, Myro pushed the skeleton back against the wall. It stayed put, then the head seemed to nod forward in agreement with Myro’s actions.

“Well, that is unsettling”, Myro whispered. I wonder who he was and when he died Myro thought. And I wonder if what killed him is still down here. Myro gripped the borrowed short sword more tightly in his right hand.

Looking about Myro could see no other exits from the chamber. Well, I guess I have to head back Myro thought to himself.

An Unfortunate Adventurer