She shut the door carefully behind her, working the door handle so the latch did not click, and as she let go, the sound of grinding stone disappeared. All was quiet. Standing very still, she listened as her eyes adjusted. The faint glow of torchlight flickered around the bend, shadows danced against the stone, and voices whispered against the walls.
She knew right where she was. She was in the hallway where she had first encountered the dragon. The same hallway where she had begun. She had the Emberblade again. She still had her Voorlock. She still had all her gear. She had everything she needed, except a way out.
Carefully, she shut the door behind her, working the door handle so the latch did not click. The faint glow of torchlight was flickering at her from around the bend. She was in a curved hallway with a tall ceiling. It was the same hallway where she had first encountered the dragon. Assuming she had seen it correctly, the beast had been a black dragon, which was a curious choice for a dungeon monster as black dragons were known more for their evil insight and their ability to ambush from swamps and the dark corners of mountains than for their combat prowess in dungeons. She waited, actively using her [Listen] skill. When no warning popped up, she let her [Listen] return to [passive] so she could take a look at her loot.
She pulled the sword from its scabbard and the red-gold blade shimmered faintly in the dim light. She hadn’t taken the time to look at the sword’s stats before, but she did so now. They were amazing. It wasn’t so much the damage, but the bonus to hit. The flavor text read: The damage of an enchanted long sword with the precision of a scalpel. She turned the blade this way and that, inspecting it. I’m pretty sure I could cut the wings off a gnat with this thing.
Scrolling down, she got to [Special Abilities] where there was nothing but a list of [Unnamed Abilities]. Curious, she thought, I haven’t seen that in a while.
She tried to remember the last time she had encountered an item she couldn’t fully identify on her own. She had a very high [Value] skill as well as her Delver ability to [Analyze Item]. However, neither of those abilities seemed to be working here. She tried to think of a sage she could go to who might know more than her. If this were the beta, I would probably have to go to Yandmouth where Helvetika could take a stab at it. If I could make it to Evenport, Belcalanzor could do it for sure. Until then, it was surely the best weapon she had. She slid the blade back into its scabbard and then hit [equip].
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It was time to move. She had to choose, left or right. Left was down toward the torchlight, to her right, up into the darkness. Since closing the door, she had not moved for fear of traps, so now she lowered herself to her haunches and studied the cobblestone floor. It looks safe in the half-light, but he's changed everything else, why not this too? The hallway looked similar, but she wasn’t sure. Cautious, she took a step and waited for something to happen. When nothing did, she took another, and then another, and then finally she began to walk.
She decided to turn left and head down. It was a dungeon, after all. Might as well explore. Up didn’t necessarily mean escape, just as down didn’t always mean danger, but light was always appealing. The descent was gradual as she followed the curve of the hallway. When she spotted her first torch, she stopped at the edge of the shadows to look and listen. All of the torches to this point had been unlit and now she could see why. Before her stood a doorway large enough for someone twice her size and every torch past it was lit. Someone had come through here and she had a pretty good guess as to their occupation.
Seeing the hallway was clear, she crept to the doorway and pressed her ear against it. Inside, she could hear more voices, all of them deep and male and unlikely to be human. Trolls, she realized. I saw their markings back on the surface, and I could see and smell the troll droppings all over that room with the desk and the key. She pressed her ear to the door again. It sounded as though there were at least a half dozen voices. I suppose I could turn around and go up, but who knows what’s up there. It might be something even worse. At least this way I know what’s ahead of me. It’s a pair of guards.
The torches were large and burned brightly so that her shadow on the wall loomed over her. She knew that if something came upon her she had no shot of hiding so she kept one hand on the pouch that held her invisibility potions. A glance behind her, all clear. She picked up the pace. She wanted to get within earshot of the guards so she could hear what they were saying. As she passed through a portcullis, the hallway took a turn and suddenly she could hear the trolls’ voices echo against the walls.