Rosia Lightfoot's Journal - Part 18

Our luck continues to be bad...

After resting we set about exploring again, this time vowing to be more careful. We found a room which had ghostly noises of battle coming from it, with an ancient rusty sword hanging by a rope from the ceiling. We checked the room for magic, and the sword was not magical, but the area above it was. This suggested a trap to us, so we decided to leave the ghosts to their own devices and move on.

For the sake of my sanity I have decided to produce a more concise summary of the rooms we explore (along with the traps...) I will add extra comments as appropriate.

• Room with well in it, halfling tracks going to well (perhaps the halfling who brought Ran here?) Healing potions in bucket down well, but trap on handle. Trap set off by Ran (I think) Stone blocks fell from ceiling. Only minor damage, and we now have potions, hurrah!
• Bugbear lair - dirty and no treasure, but we did find a map showing how this area is populated. We are in Bugbear section now, Goblins to the south, "despair" to north-east (avoid) and "death" in south-east (avoid more)
• Room with red, white and black tiles on floor, tapestry on rear wall, obviously a trap. Solution printed on other wall, but I think it is a fake solution. We did some tests using a bugbear body and a summoned wolf, and decided it was too risky.
• Safe room. At last, a room with no traps! No treasure either, but we can seal this room with a secret door.
• Found a secret area: Room with four chests stacked up, all trapped. We managed to avoid some of the traps, but we set off a fire spell which destroyed the contents of one chest. Also found a clay goblin head on a pedestal. Tried to examine it, but Quercus destroyed it. Oh well. Also found a room with a desk - ring and book on desk: both trapped. Decided to use mage hand to lift the book away (hoping to find more info) Trap went off, book got burnt. Ring was left, took it and put it on. BIG mistake, see below...
• Room with another well in, bag of gems in front of it. Big sign floating in air above saying "TRAP!" Found a trap mechanism on door, propped door open with chests from secret area. Tried to disarm trap, but set it off instead. Managed to get out of the room before door sealed. Sound of water filling room. Eventually drained away, gems still there. They can stay there.

When I put the ring on, the one we found on the desk in the secret area, it magically re-sized itself to fit my finger. In fact it now fits so tightly I can't take it off... (What is it with halflings and cursed rings?) As soon as I put it on I realized I was under the effect of an enchantment. I feel compelled to tell the truth at all times. Once the others realised this they wasted no time in asking me lots of awkward questions, including what I really thought of Quercus. I told them he was a "one-legged, pompous, Pelor-pushing twat", which didn't go down very well with Quercus, as you can imagine. Of course, it was only after this that I realised that just because I have to speak the truth, doesn't mean I have to answer every question...

There is something worse than the truth-telling though. I also find myself compelled to act according to the law, which is not a good thing for someone of my profession. I can only assume this ring is some sort of restraining device for evil creatures. I want to remove it as quickly as possible, let's hope Quercus will remove this curse, if I haven't upset him too much...

We are resting in the safe room, and it seems there is some magic in the air here. A few hours of sleep and we are all refreshed and ready to set off again. Time to turn over a new leaf, no more stealing for me! Wait a minute, that's not my idea, it must be that bloody ring, trying to influence me. Must resist, must be free!