Following the morlock assault, the Coopers take a short breather. Thorne announces he will take care of the unconscious Gerald while the rest of them continue on their trek. Roscoe orders the Hellknights to stay behind as well. He then decides to head first in the tunnel. He crawls a short distance, and reaches a dead end. Looking around, he discovers a trap door above him. He pushes the trap door, and notices that it is very heavy. He heaves again, and this time the trap door opens. On top were the bodies of two now dead morlocks. They show evidence of having suffered a fire attack.
Roscoe crawls out of the hole, and helps his sisters out. They trudge down the hall, but as soon as Roscoe takes a step around the corner, he triggers a trap. A large blade comes rushing out of the wall at a horizontal angle, nearly slicing his head off. Unlike the paladin, the sisters successfully dodge this attack. Having been almost decapitated, Roscoe requires healing. Darelle provides him with a few scrolls and uses her gem of healing as well. Roscoe feels better, if not completely healed.
The Coopers find two doors on the right side of a short corridor. Daryle takes a peek through the door, and sees six adult morlocks and four children in what appears to be a common room. A large number of mangy pelts are laid about, and four large rats are slowly roasting over open flames. Taking position by both doors, Daryle and Darelle fire their bows, while Roscoe charges the room. The combat is quickly over. With the children still screaming and throwing feces, Daryle slaughters them all to put them out of their misery.
They search the room. Darelle discovers a human skull with an aquamarine fake eye worth about 500 crowns half buried under hot coals. After disposing of the bodies, the Coopers go through the doors across the common room and find themselves standing in a small alcove. A large statue of a bird-headed humanoid with snakes for legs stands in the corner, with large tubes lining the wall behind it. The statue has been heavily vandalized, and any riches it may have held have long since disappeared. Upon closer inspection, Daryle recognizes the statue as being that of Abraxas, a demon lord from the Abyss. Roscoe casts detect evil on it, but finds nothing. It is only a statue.
Continuing their exploration, Roscoe discovers another secret tunnel that connects two rooms. In the second room he finds a sleeping morlock that should have been standing guard instead, and he kills it. This room is a complete mess, with smashed furniture and tiles, which have been piled against a wall. Intrigued, Roscoe looks at the pile, and discover yet another secret tunnel. He returns to get his sisters, and together they proceed down this longer tunnel.
Roscoe opens up the hatch at the end of the tunnel, but despite his best efforts it makes enough noise to warn the occupants. Three morlocks have hidden behind a pile of rubble. Roscoe climbs out of the tunnel, and walks towards the morlocks. However, one of them is very much taller and bigger than the others, and wields a great club. He leaps down from the rubble pile and charges the paladin. Together they become entangled in a fight to the death. They exchange mighty blows, but the morlock begins to gain the upper hand on Roscoe. His sisters climb out of the hole, and also focus their attacks on this raging morlock. Though the monster successfully disables Roscoe, Darelle and Daryle are able to land enough blows to kill him. Soon, the other morlocks are dispatched as well. Now the party is thoroughly bloodied and bruised, and running low on healing spells. What other horrible surprises does the 9th level of the Emerald Spire have in store for them? This adventure continues in The Mistress of Thorns.
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