2. The First Delve

Looking at Pickles "Do you want to give a go at picking the lock? It would save us time."

Shrugging the Halfling made his way to the door pulled out a dagger and fiddled with the lock . . .

"A sneak attack is probably the best bet, let's go around."

"Well I am a Halfling not a Thief."

To confirm, only thieves can pick locks in B/X / OSE.

Leaving the locked door behind, you continue south, past the portcullis that leads to the Chamber of the Sea, and on to the scene of yesterday’s slaughter at the Old Animal Pen.

There has been no tidying up since your last visit - the bodies of the 12 goblins and two wolves still lie scattered across the floor, which is now stained rust brown from the dried pools of blood.

The secret door in the room’s north-west corner is closed (although, Gabbro, you might want to double-check your map!).

---
Day 4, 12:10 pm
Gabbro, Elf 1: 7/7, 90’, Sleep
Horath, Cleric 1: 4/4, 90’
Luther, Cleric 3: (6+?)/(9+?); 90’, Cure Light Wounds, (Torch)
Pickles, Halfling 2: 10/10, 90’
Ricard, Fighter 3: 16/18, 90’
---
Johann, Gnome 1: 3/5, 90’

Link to Gabbro's mega-maps ...

Pickles gives a chuckle at his own joke as he makes his way to where the secret door the Goblin came out of. He looks around at the groups handy work and nods his approval, "Shall we knock and announce ourselves, we don’t want to be impolite do we."

Ricard chuckles. Pickles always had a way of cutting the tension of a life and death situation.

Gabbro moves to the secret door and into the northern room. "We've got two choices: north again, or west. I'd rather go north, on the premise that we may be able to unlock that door from this side, and so we'd have another avenue of retreat. But it could be that it locks with a key, and whoever locked it took the key elsewhere...so then we'd be stuck at a dead-end on this side of the door." He sighs. "I still think it's worth our while to open that door first: even if we don't figure out a way to open the locked door, we'll find out what's immediately to the north, see if we can be surrounded from that side if we do go west next."

Pickles draws his bow and slips an arrow into place, a smile still plays on his lips but the dead look again falls upon his eyes. "North it is then."

Ricard clamps a hand on the halfling's shoulder, he knew that look and knew the weight killing carried.

"North it is."

Blade at the ready, he leads the way north.

Stepping over the bodies of the goblins and wolves, you make your way to the northwest corner of the Old Animal Pen and slip through the secret door. The room beyond appears undisturbed from when you last briefly visited. The campfire in the middle of the room is now dead, but as far as you can recall, the gnawed bones and scattered travel bundles that litter the floor are unmoved.

A quick check reveals that the door leading west is locked. However, the door to the north opens freely and Ricard leads the way through.

Your nostrils are immediately assaulted by a foul odour as you enter the square chamber beyond. A quick scan reveals the room to be empty, the smell emanating from filth-encrusted floors and walls. The dirt on the walls has been liberally supplemented with goblin graffiti.

There are two other visible exits - doors in each of the east and west walls. Both are locked.

Mapping information: square room, 30’ x 30’. You enter through the western section of the southern wall. There are (locked) doors in the centre of the eastern and western walls.

---
Day 4, 12:20 pm
Gabbro, Elf 1: 7/7, 90’, Sleep
Horath, Cleric 1: 4/4, 90’
Luther, Cleric 3: 6/10; 90’, Cure Light Wounds, (Torch)
Pickles, Halfling 2: 10/10, 90’
Ricard, Fighter 3: 16/18, 90’
---
Johann, Gnome 1: 3/5, 90’

Link to Gabbro's mega-maps ...

As Ricard opens the door and peers into the glum, Pickles gives the campfire room a search.