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Elf Noir

Exploration

Exploration

May 25, 2023

"Is that the only fear rune?" I ask Enturi.

"No," he answers. "They are set in the outer wall of the Hall at regular intervals." He points to stones in the walls, about three feet from the floor. "Here and here and here and here." 

"So what happens," I ask, "If we take the stone in your hand and put it back into the wall with the rune side facing downward?"

Enturi grins.

"Any creepy crawlies in the basement are going to be quite frightened. And there would be a narrow, fear-free corridor right along the big wall outside that would allow us to get to the outside corner of the ruins without having to counteract the ward. Then, if we crawled low to the ground under this second runestone here, we could get to the hole in the wall and reenter." 

I take the runestone from him and place it back in the wall, rune side down. It fits perfectly.

"All right, then." I grin back at Enturi. "Looks like we have a fear-free path in. Unless whoever warded the Hall pulls out the stone to inspect it, they won't know there's a gap in their armor.

"Who did ward this place?" Enturi asks.

"I don't know. This room looks like no one has been here for a very long time. Let's see what the rest of the place looks like. There might be some clue."

We don't find anything useful on the rest of the first floor. Bare stone rooms, rotted wooden walls and doors, old blood stains dark as pitch here and there on the floor, probably where elves or guards died during the storming of the Hall in the revolt. A few caved-in spots. A couple clumps of weeds growing in corners of the entrance hall where the sun can creep in late in the afternoon. In a large empty chamber behind the entrance hall, there are stairs going up to the second floor and the ruined tower and stairs going down into a basement or dungeon. I look at Enturi.

"Better odds down," he says. I agree.

"A little light?" I ask. He nods and does his little incantation. The pale blue globe appears in his hand again. I lead the way down the stairs, weapons drawn. He follows, holding the light out to the side so that my shadow falls against the wall rather than in front of us, where it could obscure our vision.

At the base of the stairs is another large stone room. A storage room, perhaps. It is empty, as though nothing was ever here, except for a few more old dark blotches staining the floor. Looks like Enturi and I were wrong. There is a door, though. On the Elftown side of the room. Stone, bound in metal, looking solid. With a large window at face height, crisscrossed by decrepit rust-orange iron bars.

"Looks like we found the dungeon," I say, crossing to the door. It opens surprisingly smoothly for such an old, heavy door, with just a little whine from the hinges. 

"Good thing it wasn't trapped," Enturi says annoyingly from just behind me. He's right. Should have checked. But he doesn't have to be such an orc about it. Oh, wait. Yes, he does. Because he's Enturi. We've been cooperating so well I forgot how much he irritates me.

"Ghosts don't set traps," I sneer.

Beyond the door is a wide corridor, with smaller cell doors set on each side every few paces. It's impossible to tell how many cells there used to be because the passageway is collapsed after the first six cells. I peer into the nearest cell, but there's nothing to see but some old bits of metal protruding from the rear wall.

"Not sure there's anything to see down here," I announce, but Enturi does not respond. I turn to look at him. He is facing down the hall toward the cave-in, but his eyes are unfocused. The light flickers in his hand.

"Something's not right here," he mutters.

I stand still and focus on my senses. I can't see anything. I can't hear anything. But I can feel something. So faint, I wonder if it's real. A vibration, cadenced, like the vibrations I felt below the olive oil warehouse from the Footstomp tavern. But that's impossible. I am on the other side of Elftown. There is no way I could hear them here in the dungeon of the Hall of Law.

I look at Enturi with alarm.

"Uh-oh," I whisper.

"What? What is it?"

I don't know. But it can't be good.

"Come on!" I whisper, turning around. I run swiftly through the door into the storage room and up the stairs to the first floor chamber. "Put out your light!"

The sorcerer complies as we reach the top of the stairs. From the first floor chamber, I take the stairs up to the second floor and continue up into the ruined tower. About ten steps up, there is a hole in the tower wall.

I peer out the opening, into the wet night.


rebcon
A. Harris Lanning

Creator

Arq and Enturi explore the ruins. The Hall of Law seems deserted, but something is not right.

#elf #noir #exploration #ruins #dungeon #mystery #runes #sorcery #investigation

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E. V. Macredes
E. V. Macredes

Top comment

Please let it be a ghost, please let it be a ghost! 👻 like a nice helpful ghost 😃

2

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When a prostitute under Jet's protection is brutally murdered, Jet sends Arq and a team of enforcers - including his creepy, ambitious rival; Jet's dangerously alluring girlfriend; and a chatty dwarf-of-all-trades - to find the killer and make an example of him. But when they uncover the dark reason for the murder, the delicate balance of power in Elftown begins to crumble.

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Author: A. Harris Lanning
Cover Art: Xavier Ward
(c)2016, 2023

Updates Tuesday, Thursday, and SaturdayRead more
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115 episodes

  • Infiltration
    Episode 41 Infiltration
  • The Tunnel
    Episode 42 The Tunnel
  • The Light At The End Of The Tunnel
    Episode 43 The Light At The End Of The Tunnel
  • The Necromancer's Apprentice
    Episode 44 The Necromancer's Apprentice
  • Undeadly Gambit
    Episode 45 Undeadly Gambit
  • The Outsider
    Episode 46 The Outsider
  • Framed
    Episode 47 Framed
  • Crime Scene Cleanup
    Episode 48 Crime Scene Cleanup
  • Bearer Of Ill Tidings
    Episode 49 Bearer Of Ill Tidings
  • News Of Lynae
    Episode 50 News Of Lynae
  • Jet Strikes Back
    Episode 51 Jet Strikes Back
  • Gratuitous
    Episode 52 Gratuitous
  • Afterthoughts
    Episode 53 Afterthoughts
  • The Hall Of Law
    Episode 54 The Hall Of Law
  • Fear
    Episode 55 Fear
  • Backup
    Episode 56 Backup
  • Magical Creatures
    Episode 57 Magical Creatures
  • Remnants Of Repression And Rebellion
    Episode 58 Remnants Of Repression And Rebellion
  • The Blood Of Slaves
    Episode 59 The Blood Of Slaves
  • Enturi's Answer
    Episode 60 Enturi's Answer
  • Exploration
    Episode 61 Exploration
  • The Watchers In The Tower     (with bonus art by Emalie!)
    Episode 62 The Watchers In The Tower (with bonus art by Emalie!)
  • Aftermath
    Episode 63 Aftermath
  • Red Tide Reprisal
    Episode 64 Red Tide Reprisal
  • The Shattered Hideout
    Episode 65 The Shattered Hideout
  • Cut Adrift
    Episode 66 Cut Adrift
  • Going To Ground
    Episode 67 Going To Ground
  • The Yew Tree
    Episode 68 The Yew Tree
  • Shared And Unshared Knowledge
    Episode 69 Shared And Unshared Knowledge
  • Sanctuary
    Episode 70 Sanctuary
  • Treacherous Ruins
    Episode 71 Treacherous Ruins
  • Enturi's Secret
    Episode 72 Enturi's Secret
  • Arquë's Secret
    Episode 73 Arquë's Secret
  • Elven Attraction
    Episode 74 Elven Attraction
  • Lynae's Secret
    Episode 75 Lynae's Secret
  • Keep or Kill
    Episode 76 Keep or Kill
  • Enturi Steps Up
    Episode 77 Enturi Steps Up
  • Bonus Episode: Bread
    Episode 78 Bonus Episode: Bread
  • Back Alley Herbseller
    Episode 79 Back Alley Herbseller
  • Playing With Fire
    Episode 80 Playing With Fire
  • Seductive
    Episode 81 Seductive
  • In The Underground
    Episode 82 In The Underground
  • Bombs and Poisons
    Episode 83 Bombs and Poisons
  • Getting The Lowdown
    Episode 84 Getting The Lowdown
  • Diplomatic Sacrifices
    Episode 85 Diplomatic Sacrifices
  • A Bit Of Fun
    Episode 86 A Bit Of Fun
  • The Smokescreen Girl
    Episode 87 The Smokescreen Girl
  • Over The Edge
    Episode 88 Over The Edge
  • Idyllic Elftown
    Episode 89 Idyllic Elftown
  • Breakdown
    Episode 90 Breakdown
  • Death Or Chance
    Episode 91 Death Or Chance
  • A Bad Habit
    Episode 92 A Bad Habit
  • Wake Me Up Inside
    Episode 93 Wake Me Up Inside
  • The Escape Plan
    Episode 94 The Escape Plan
  • Arq's Temper Tested
    Episode 95 Arq's Temper Tested
  • Back On The Case
    Episode 96 Back On The Case
  • Seeing The Darkness
    Episode 97 Seeing The Darkness
  • The Ends And The Means
    Episode 98 The Ends And The Means
  • Hitches
    Episode 99 Hitches
  • Human Refuse
    Episode 100 Human Refuse
Ep. 61 Exploration

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Exploration

Exploration

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