“So it’s a kobold, but not a Kobold.” Mark stated. “I don’t see how this makes a difference.”

“Of course it makes a difference.” Paul gestured at the small pile of swords. “These ones had fur, the real ones have scales.”

“The real ones from Earth?” Mark crossed his arms. “The ones from the game you used to play.”

“Yes.” Paul stared off into the middle distance. “I realize now that this sounds crazy. But it’s really weird that these two different things have the same name. Like, did Gary Gygax come here before us and somehow get back?”

“Who?” Tim asked while leaning against the stone wall.

“The creator of Dungeons and Dragons.” Paul waved the explanation away. “That’s besides the point. What I’m trying to say is that this is some crazy coincidence and it’s going to drive me crazy figuring it out.”

“Yeah well you enjoy your crazy moment a bit later.” Francis got up from his haunches to stretch. “We did a bit more scouting and the path splits into a few more closed doors.”

“Right angle hallways?” Paul got out their notebook. “Kind of wish I had graph paper.”

“You’re right, oddly enough.” Francis drew on the floor. “So far, no traps in the hallways. Doors are all the same kind, wood with that ring for a handle. Sounds from the left and centre one, but nothing from the right.”

“Left danger, right treasure.” Paul jotted down a sketch. “Always a constant.”

Mark raised an eyebrow at Tim as if to say. “This guy serious?” But Tim could only shrug.

“Treasure you say?” Francis had a gleam in their eye. “So we’re checking out that right hand hallway first, right?”

“Good a plan as any.” Paul put their notebook away. “Lead the way.”

Francis opened the door and led the way deeper into the dungeon. He was practically skipping with excitement. They reached the crossroads and turned right. This hallway seemingly identical to the other hallways that were nearby.

“Maybe there should be signs?” Paul muttered at they turned the corner. “Is that something we could do?”

Reaching the doorway, the group stopped. The wooden door and iron ring mirrored what they had seen before.

“Since you say there isn’t anything moving on the other side.” Paul looked over the doorway. “Tim, did you want to try out your spell?”

“I don’t see why not.” Tim rolled their shoulders and faced the doorway head on. They slid a palm over their chest, up to their neck before finishing up at their temple. Runes glowing yellow as their hand passed over them. “[Find Traps]!”

Tim stood there. The yellow glow of runes had faded upon announcing the spell. There was only the ghostly white of [Light] coming from Francis.

“Well?” Francis prompted.

“I uh, don’t sense any traps.” Tim shuddered. “But man, do my eyes hurt. Like I’ve never thought about my eyes, but I really want to rub them, and I know I shouldn’t.”

“Take a breather then.” Mark stepped up to the door and pulled on the ring.

The door swung open to reveal another small room with an iron bound wooden chest in the centre.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“OK, that’s a trap.” Francis pointed at the chest. “You said you didn’t sense any traps.”

“There’s some words in there about only what I could see.” Tim rubbed their temples and scrunched up their eyes. “And it only lasts an instant.”

“Right, well. Let me work my own type of magic.” Francis rubbed their hands together.

Leaning into the room and glancing upwards was the first move. Reassuringly to Francis there wasn’t any bucket of whitewash, or something heavier and deadlier up there. From there it was gentle steps and furtive glances all around. They reached the chest itself without incident and squatted down to closely inspect any available surface. Francis was about to touch the lid when something finally caught their eye.

“Ah, something for you Paul.” Francis motioned the elf over. “Got one of those rune things near the edge here.”

Paul stepped over and took a knee to get low enough. “Hmmm, that does indeed look like a rune in those magic ring things. Not specifically sure which one it is, or what it does. But there’s one surefire way to find out.”

Paul looked over their shoulder at Tim. “Borrow your stick?”

Tim raised a golden eyebrow but passed the wooden staff to Paul. Paul motioned everyone backwards into the hallway and held the long piece of wood like a baseball bat. Winding up, Paul measured the swing with their eye before letting loose. The staff swung forward and clipped the wooden chest right where the rune had been carved.

A flash of light, a pop of noise, and the smell of ozone were the results of the swing. Paul had dropped the staff and was flapping their hands and sucking air through their teeth.

“You OK?” Tim went to Paul.

“Yeah, nothing to worry about.” Paul relaxed. “The impact vibrated so much that my hands sting.”

The wood from the staff was slightly charred at the point of impact. There was a line of black that went maybe six inches up from the bottom. The chest itself was now slightly ajar.

Francis pushed past the others and lifted the lid. “ehehehhehehhe” the quiet giggles of the halfling filled the room.

Francis pushed the lid fully open. Everyone else crowded around to see a literal pile of gold coins. Francis plucked a single coin up so everyone could inspect it. The featureless disk was a perfect circle made of the valuable material.

“We’re rich!” Francis chuckled.

“Maybe Julia was right about this place.” Mark couldn’t help but stare at the precious metals.

Francis flipped the coin into the air and snatched it to the side. “So what’s next? We move this gold up to the camp? We keep exploring? I’m leaning towards camp.”

“Yeah, no reason not to move this stuff now.” Paul agreed. “Let’s fetch some packs and get this stuff out.”

They all made their way back to the surface.

Nelly and Gary were sharing a blanket in the morning light. Everett was tending the fire and spotted the emerging group first. “Ready to turn tail and run already?”

“Just off loading the first haul.” Francis flipped a gold coin at Everett who caught the glittering object out of the air.

Mark and Tim scrounged their backpacks.

Paul looked over at Nelly and Gary to ask. “Things going good up here?”

“Oh yeah, nothing to worry about.” Nelly tucked the blanket a bit deeper. “Comfy cozy and all that.”

“If you spot any [Warming Stones] down there, haul those up first would you?” Gary shivered. “She’s not as warm as you would think she is.”

There was a rustle of blanket and Gary kept themselves as stone faced as they could. Nelly however would not be denied and Gary gave up a yell with “No pinching!”

The next half hour was spend hauling the gold in the chest up and into a pile. The chest itself was permanently affixed to the ground it turned out.

With that chore done, there were still more rooms to explore and map. Back into the depths they went.

The left room had another trio of kobolds, easily dispatched. A doorway beckoned onward but Paul cautioned to do a ‘breadth before depth’ kind of search pattern. The centre path had the same kobolds in a room.

“Why do you think these ones weren’t having a conversation like the first group?” Francis asked Paul.

“I really don’t know, but I can speculate.” Paul had to think for a moment. “I think that they might have heard us doing stuff and stiffened up. Or perhaps there’s some magic alarm going on because of the chest.”

“That’s nice and all, but it doesn’t make much of a difference.” Mark stood next to the doorway as their latest kills dissipated into magical energy. “They don’t chase us or leave their rooms. So I don’t think why they’re the way they are matters. Now we’ve checked out all the rooms so far, let’s get this door open.”

Mark pulled the ring and the door revealed stairs that went down.

Tim looked at the steps that curved behind a central column. “Breadth before depth?”

“I mean, yeah.” Paul also was transfixed by the steps. “But who could resist this?”