Rosia Lightfoot's Journal - Part 16

We have now copied the map, and most useful it has been to us! From the room with map we located another room to the south, full of scrolls and books, much as the one we found to the west as we came into this area. However, they seemed to be in much better condition, and we had good hopes that we might find out more about this place. Also in the room was a stone chair and desk. Oren was much taken with the chair, admiring its quality. As he sat in it, I noticed a glint from underneath the chair. There was a golden amulet, just resting there! I cast a spell, and was able to detect a magical aura around it. Being wary, I checked for traps, and finding none I reached out to take the amulet. Alas! It was trapped, with magical fire. As I touched it, great flames rushed outwards, filling the room. I was able to jump quickly behind the desk, and took no damage, but the others were not all so lucky. Poor Oren, being sat on the chair which was over the amulet, was blasted into the air, and then crashed into the roof. At the same time, all the books and scrolls were incinerated, along with the amulet. I think the others were a little cross with me, and I was sorry to lose the chance to peruse the parchments in this room, but it was a very shiny amulet...

We found some other rooms that seemed to have a theme to them. One room was blazing with terrible heat, and I was able to use my magic to lift a scroll case from a pedestal therein, without entering. Inside was a magical fireball scroll of some power, which Isaac is able to use. We also found a room that was a deep pit filled with water. There was a small, slippery ledge going all round the room. At the far end was a large, glowing gem, fixed into the wall. Oren appraised it, and thought that it was worth at least 10,000 gold pieces! We decided that I had the best chance of making it round, so the others tied a rope to me (again!) and I made my way around the ledge. Unfortunately, halfway round I slipped and fell into the water. It was icy cold, and I lost my breath and started to drown. Fortunately, Oren was able to quickly pull me back in before any harm was done. I tried again, but was so cold that this time I had barely managed 3 feet before I tumbled into the water again. They soon, had me out, and were keen to have me try once more. I was less keen, but the thought of the large glowing gem sustained me, and the third time was the charm!

When I got there, I unpacked my tools, and soon found that the gem was trapped with a magical device. It seemed a very powerful spell, but I decided to risk it, and this time luck was with me! I prised the gem out of its socket, and made my way back. The gem felt warm to the touch. More than that, it seemed to warm my whole body (which was nice, after my swim...) Oren seemed to have taken a shine to it as well, and we agreed to share custody of it. I hope this doesn't cause a problem later on...

We ended up in a room with a large pit in front of the door, and two sections going off west and north. In the west section a large sword was embedded in the floor. To the north, a skeleton was slumped against a wall, with an axe in its hands. Once more the party decided that I should go first, and tied a rope around me, in case I fell into the pit. This turned out to be a good thing, as when I went into the west side of the room (easily avoiding the pit) the floor fell away. The sword fell down into a pit, and I tumbled after it. The rope broke my fall, and the others were able to pull me back up before the floor closed up again. Having lost the sword, we decided to try for the axe. I went northwards (very carefully!) and was able to snatch the axe away without incident. I returned to the group, and Curbag and Oren examined the axe. Curbag wasn't too keen on it, for some reason, but Oren said it felt as though it had been made for him. The axe had a name engraved on it, Urthieln, and when we fought some dire wolves shortly afterwards Oren found that the axe was magical and seemed to do great damage. At last we have found some decent magical treasures! We may be rich in terms of gems and other valuables, but they will not help us survive this endless dungeon...