Book 3: Chapter 2 - Into the Cold North

[Wbweather]

Hartley has to stifle the urge to run toward the sound of the crying children. What Telurin suggests sounds reasonable to him and he states so to the group. "I can go forward as well, or stay back and guard. Let's just hope that no other creatures will be using these tunnels today be they hound, warg or orc."

[Vardaen]

Halleth and Hugo are sent forward as scouts, the rest of the company waits here.

The pair move forward down the passage, and enter into a chamber, its mostly devoid of contents, save a few gnawed bones and some broken rotting barrels. Several passages exit on the far side, the echoing cries of children can be heard. They are not as close as you thought, the tunnels and chambers here create echo chambers, causing sound to travel funnily. No, it will not be that easy to get in and out. It will take some skill of ear to chase these phantom sounds. So the two return with news.

[AndyDez]

"It seems these caves are playing with our ears. We crept forward to the next chamber and found nothing! There are several tunnels within the chamber, but it is difficult to tell which one the cries come from. It seems to be coming from all of them, and none! Perhaps we can all move into the chamber and lend more ears to the search or I could creep down each one a bit in hopes of catching something more definitive?"

[Muskrat]

Halleth nods. "I think something like what Hugo says makes sense. We should all enter the tunnels, while those with the keenest ears scout ahead, with the rest following when we've determined the way in. And we clearly mark our route, so we can get out in a hurry again. I've no desire to be lost while herding a group of freed prisoners and being pursued by something nasty."

[Wbweather]

Hartley nods in agreement. "That certainly sounds reasonable to me."

[Blubbo_Baggins]

Telurin begins scratching a line on the wall to mark where they came from - their exit - and begins to quietly follow. He begins to resolve himself that their task in Carn Dum may be far longer than he initially hoped. "I will keep an eye out behind us as we go," he adds.

[Vardaen]

You head into the maze, that's what the locals call it, a maze of tunnels and small chambers. You hear the noise from the crying children here and there, plus other sounds, yells, and barks, metal on metal, and other noises you can't discern the source of that make your spines shiver. You move along, through the endless tunnels, up stairs, down stairs, and through the pitch black.

Without your torches or lamps you would be in utter darkness. From time to time you think you see a light at the end of a tunnel, but you've avoided them so far. The air is stagnant, and many of the passages are caved in or littered with skeletons of Orcs and other unidentifiable things.

After a long while you decide you must follow one of the lit tunnels, with hopes the children prisoners are down that way. You've lost track of the sounds, but your marks from Telurin are a good guide to get you back if you aren't in a hurry. At long last you near an area of red flames before you. You come to a side passage, partially blocked by a few piles of raw ore. You look out into the chamber and see before you halls red with flame, fueled by the crimson of coal burning forges. Goblin slaves labour in the heat with long rakes, shovels, hammers and tongs (20-30 of them in all). They are forging steel blades, chains, and armour, tossing them in great piles. The slaves are driven by a cruel Hill-man of Rhudaur with long whips and snarling faces.

[Muskrat]

Halleth sighs and whispers to the others, "Not exactly a dead end, but I didn't come here to free goblins. But it's entirely possible that those we're looking for won't be easy to get to--that we'll need to find some way to sneak it deeper into the orcs' layer to find where our captives are being held."

[Wbweather]

Hartley peaks out of the shadows into the hall looking to see if there is another exit that can be reached without drawing unwanted attention to them. "It is loud in here, we might be able to maneuver our way around this room without being heard, if we can avoid being seen as well."

[Blubbo_Baggins]

"We definitely heard the voices of women and children. They may be near, but I feel we could not have heard those sounds past the din of this room," says Telurin. He looks to the Hill-men traveling with them. "Have you ever seen, or heard of this before, Hill-men who have enslaved goblins?"