Jolly motions for everyone to come into the room and close the door quietly behind them.

Once everyone is inside, he turns to Beyla and asks, "does this mural and red veined stone mean anything to you?"

==========================================

OOC:  Sweet!  Also, looks to see where the water is going.  Is there a drain that it runs into?  Or is there a pool in the floor?

Beyla shakes her head no, "I have never heard of the stone or these images."

You note the small fountain in the room that the water drains into.

You now hear a voice in the room:

"JOLLY TWOFOOT, DO NOT BE AFRAID. TOUCH THE STONE AND ALL WILL BE MADE PLAIN."

Jolly - The others around you stand quietly as though they did not hear the voice.

Jolly chuckles to himself and then says, "alright, let's check out the north door on the other side of the pit."

He opens the door and walks around the zombie pit to the north door.  He waits for everyone to exit and close the door.  Once everyone is quiet he listens at this door for a minute or two.

(OOC - Okay, that made me shoot coffee out of my nose! No strange voices for you, lol!)

Jolly - moving to the North door, you begin to listen...

You hear some muffled music...

(OOC - Somewhat like the music played during the initial serpent cult tower scene in the original Conan the Barbarian film)

Jolly straightens up and readies his shield as he whispers, "get ready for a fight just in case."

He waits until everyone has prepared themselves.  Once everyone is ready, he will try to open the door and look inside from the doorway before entering.

Looking inside you see a long corridor:



Ancient statues line the hall, similar to this:



The music is now a bit louder.

Jolly moves into the hallway of statues slowly and cautiously and motions for everyone to follow him.

Moving into the hallway you approach the first set of dust covered statues. Just as you stop to examine them, two dirty disheveled little girls come into view far ahead. You can tell that their hair is fair, they're likely sisters. Their clothes are of obvious fine quality, though torn and filthy. As your lantern beam plays over them they clutch each other tightly and stand still.

Jolly smiles and says to them, "it's alright.  We're not going hurt you.  How did you get down here?"

They stand still, unsure whether to run or seek from you the help they badly need. Finally Beyla approaches them gently and begins to quietly talk to them.

After she is done she hugs them both and tells them, "Sit here for a bit children and eat this food."

She returns to the group and whispers, "These two girls are sisters named Sarah and Rachel. They are from the town of Six Moons - That's about 30 Kilometers north of here. They do not know how long it has been since they were abducted as they are still very young. Sarah is 5 and Rachel is 6 years old."

Her voice tightens, "These eternally damned cultists have kidnapped these and other children, and have enslaved them. They intend to sacrifice them tonight in a ceremony to their filthy god. Sarah and Rachel escaped by slipping away from the group."

She stares murderously down the hallway of statues, "These cultists have now signed their own death warrants. I will now kill every one of them without an ounce of pity."

Shirl hisses, "Kill them all!"

Baldue curses under his breath, "I won't be afraid no more! Not now!"

Jolly's jaw tightens as he fights back the anger welling up inside him.  

Got think clearly in this damned place, boyo!  he mentally chides himself.

After a moment he clears his throat and asks Beyla, "can they lead us back the way they came?  How many cultists did they see?  How many more children are there?"

Beyla talks at length with the two children and finally returns to you, "They tell me that there are at least a dozen more little girls - just like them. They also guessed there were at least 50 cultists. Rachel knows where the cultists went to. They are all gathered in one spot."

"She helped me make a map. She says that she has only gone as far as the great double doors and does not know what is beyond them, but it smells bad..."

"She also says there are usually several guards lurking and watching the great hall that leads to the double doors. I have marked their location in red."

"Here, take a look."

Foromo indicates to Jolly he has an idea...let you and me go ahead as we don't need light, scout ahead and kill the gaurds. Let Hurtag act as messenger between us as his skill at tavelling silent is quite good.  Let us pave the way for retribution from above...Hurmak as you seem to have found your true calling, let you be Beyla's Left Hand of Justice and keep her as safe as you can...you will sate your bloodlust soon...

Jolly nods at Foromo and says, "yes, we'll try to take the guards lightning fast and hope that we have the element of surprise."

There is nothing more to say so both of you move out. Arriving at the door to the great hall you look to your right and both see a large heat image at the opposite end of the hall- the guards are right where Beyla indicated. It's obvious that they have several torches lit to ward off the darkness.

Next move?