Etienne and Blacky walked over to the door in the east wall of the keep. The others kept careful watch on the surroundings. Everything remained quiet and still. Strangely enough, the door was locked.
Aloysius shook his head, then spoke in a hushed tone. "Methinks it likely that all the other doors be locked as well. None of us can pick a lock, and breaking down a door seems ill-advised. I suppose we could check the other doors that lead to the keep proper. If they be locked as well, our choice would seem clear. We could either leave and return at a later time, or we could use Arachne's skills to get us deeper inside the kee.......with no way certain to leave once more."
"If Etienne or Lasiar (better vision) want to go through themselves and then open the door from the other side," Arachne whispered, "that would be less of a drain on me. If you think the door can be unlocked from inside..."
"If you did that, wouldst you still be able to get us all out if need be?" asked Aloysius. "If so, that might be a wise course to take."
"Well, no, but the door would be open."
"Oh.....well, there's that...." replied the mage.
"I'm more interested in getting the hell out of here than in what's behind that door," Jana growled. "If no one hears anything and we have no reason to think Echo isn't, Echo and Rumer aren't there, then screw it. Let's move on."
"Hold on a second, I'm going to try something. Everyone be at the ready." Blacky whispered in the darkness and felt for the door latch.
Blacky forced the door open, completely decimating the lock mechanism and making more noise than anyone would have liked. When nothing happened after a minute or two, everyone filed into the now opened large room. A low burning fire in the fine stone hearth of the room provided enough light for everyone to see, although just barely. It also made the room uncomfortably warm on this Eleasias night.
"Sorry about that, I thought I could break it quietly." Blacky whispered as his cheeks grew rosy. He moved into the room and stood with his axe at the ready.
The room was dominated by a large feast table made of dark wood. Other than the table and its chairs, the room was bare. A large brass bell was set into the wall directly above the hearth.
The south wall of the room had a door in the middle of it. A second door stood in the northeast corner of the room.
"Ranchefus disappeared to the northeast afore," muttered Aloysius. "Mayhap we should try that door next?" He looked at the northeast door to see if he could discern any light coming from underneath it. "If someone has a torch or a lantern, does anyone think it might be wise to light it from the fireplace so we have at least one constant source of light?"
Kaileer," Jana whispered, "I've heard elves have good ears. Can you see if you can hear anything at either door?"
"We just more good at listen," he said softly then walked to the door on the right and put his ear against it, motioning for the others to be quiet.
"This is the door he took Rumer through." Blacky whispered, indicating the door they just came through. "I don't know where he went from here, I was blocked from following by two men, who by now are regretting that decision in the afterlife."
With a frown, Kaileer pulled his ear away from the door and shrugged. "I not hear, but with sound from break door I know if some live still here they hear." he whispered as he walked across the room to listen at the other door.
"So if there's anyone here, they already know we're here," Jana said softly, "so why in the hells are we being quiet? All this creeping around is accomplishing nothing more than giving them time to set up an ambush. Let's smash our way in, fast and furious. Maybe we can catch them off-balance."
Etienne looked around the room slowly," Perhaps, Ranchefus knew we would be back and has left a few surprises of the arcane type here for us. Even if no one is here I suggest caution." He left it at that and waited to see what the others wanted to do.
Aloysius fidgeted nervously in the midle of the room. "Er....at this juncture," he interjected, "we know naught of either door. Therefore, we may be equally well-served by either. If Kaileer hears nothing at the other door, then let us pick one and go. Whether or not they know we are here, we must face them anyway, so we may as well move forth."
