As the party climbed down the hatch into a lower level, Shay pointed ahead of them. Oswin was the last to enter the chamber, and he looked up toward the hole down which they had descended. It was quite a drop, he thought with a shiver, and then he rejoined the others. In this chamber lay the ruins of the original Fort - arches of stone, broken roads with grass growing through the cracks, the scent of mildew and decaying wood. There was a barely-noticeable source of light from above, sparkling across the wet surface of the ground and illuminating the haunting ruins.
"Think Corus will be ok?" Aera asked, keeping his voice low for fear of echoes.
Oswin shrugged, "He knew what he was doing."
"I'm sure he'll be joining us shortly," Aylin said offhandedly, "There's no way he's not busting out of there."
"I disagree," Oswin said, "He seemed hell-bent on-"
"Oh come on, Oswin," Aylin retorted, "You don't seriously think he was going to let himself be locked up forever? He wanted to get information out of the guards from the beginning, right? Maybe he figured this was the best way to do it."
"You give his planning ability too much credit," Oswin disagreed.
Aera chuckled, "We'll see. For now, let's focus on the fort. There's got to be some loot around here."
Bromash spoke up, his deep voice reverberating in the dark, "Hopefully some clues, you mean?"
"No, I mean loot," Aera said, "Gold, armor, weapons, tiny figurines?"
As they were talking, Shay led the party through a rotting doorway into a different chamber, in which stood a dilapidated building of stone, the roof partly caved in. Here, the scent of cave water and mold was strong, and they could see fungus of various types growing on the stones. Shay paused, unsure of where to go next.
"I can feel my sister's presence," she whispered, "But it's further down."
"Let us look around here while you rest," River suggested, "take a moment to reset your senses."
"Agreed," Aylin said, following her companions into the building while Bromash hung back with the girl. Inside, Oswin lit a torch and the party looked over the interior. It appeared that this used to be some sort of sleeping area, as there were two rooms filled with rotting wooden beds. The party searched all around, finding a few gold pieces and some decaying paper. The only thing of interest was a small locked box, which River was quick to break into. Inside was an old leather-bound journal, and a ribbon of red satin.
"Interesting," River murmured, thumbing through the pages, "It seems this belonged to a young woman named Alice. She was an escort, and there's something in here about being forced to stay? She couldn't leave..."
"Anything about the fall of the fort?" Aylin asked. River squinted into the last pages.
"Not necessarily," the Tabaxi replied, "She says Fortin Hara was using some kind of magic to... take advantage of the women working in this brothel."
"Shit..." Aera murmured, "That bastard."
"Think it might have been enough to force her hand?" Oswin asked, "Maybe she was consumed by vengeance and became a witch."
"Maybe..." Aylin mumbled, leaving the group to search some of the smaller rooms. Most of them yielded nothing, but as she entered one she saw something moving under the scanty blanket on one of the beds. She drew her sword, flipping the blanket off of the lump to reveal a huge, green snake. It hissed at her, rearing its head as she screamed. Aera came running just as Aylin lopped its head off, sending it flying across the room. She turned to face him, her cheeks flushed with fright, and sheathed her blade. As they finished searching the room, the sound of footsteps echoed and Bromash entered the room with Shay. He had a look of annoyance on his face and he was gripping his sword.
