Locke looks around the room and sniffs, "Hm, empty. But maybe there's some hidden secrets. Let's take a closer look."
Locke steps a few feet forwards, however halts with an enlightened gaze on his face as he realizes what appears to be a door at the end of the room is merely a crudely painted image on the wall with a false handle attached. He further realizes looking at the door that there is a trap door in the ceiling which slowly trickles with dust from its cracks.
"Ha ha!" Locke laughs. "Whoever this pilchard is, he's sneaky."
"Why is that?" Lil asks, to which Locke simply points his thumb up towards the ceiling.
"This door's fake." Locke announces. "It's merely a decoy to throw us off the real game. That trap door up there is the real exit from here."
"Incredible," Lil pauses in wonderment. "You've actually proved yourself useful!"
"Why, thank you," Locke responds cheerfully. "And there was you thinking I was just needless baggage."
"Yes, yes, I was. Now, shall we head back?”
"We shan't," Locke bluntly states. "I want to check out that trap door."
Once again, Lil scrunches her nose, "Whatever for?”
"Our slippery, free fingered friend could be up there. Either that, or his booty is."
"Your funeral," Lil mutters.
"Hey Lil," Locke, after a few moments, says. "Come here."
Lil stammers, "W-Why?"
"How much does one weigh?"
She frowns and crosses her arms, "I don't think that's any of your business!"
"Well, I was thinking I could either throw you up there, or I could give you a boost and you could open the door!"
Lil turns her nose up at Locke before she looks off in the opposite direction, "Why would I ever let you do that? What if that trap is filled with arrows or boulders that could kill me?"
"Hm," murmurs Locke. "I didn't consider that." He cups his chin in thought for a few moments before he looks back up at the door again, "I wonder if I could open it with a shot of my bow. . ."
Lil turns her nose up at Locke again, "Well, you do that; meanwhile, I'll be exploring."
She says this before she begins to walk off down the hallway – with Locke following close behind. The two return to the large cave-like chamber in which their exploration first began. Locke looks down the west tunnel and proceeds forwards. The west hallway is brightly lit and after about ten feet, the two find themselves in a wider hallway where the left wall is lined with three doors. The two doors closest are closed, but the door furthest away appears to be wide open. Past the open door, the hallway once again narrows.
Locke spies the three doors, and with some thought, looks to Lil and asks, "Pick a number between 1 and 3."
Thoughtfully, Lil looks to the floor before she responds with, "One."
"Let's go through the door closest to us," announces Locke, who points to the door.
Lil nods before she asks, "Do you think we should listen first? For all we know, there could be another Drake in there."
Locke grins slightly and raises his foot to the door. "Cods-wallop!" He replies, defiantly. "Let's go in all guns blazing!"
However, before Locke can boot the door open, Lil shoves him aside with a frown, "Well, if you not going to listen, then I am!"
Lil cups her ear with her hand and presses it against the old wooden door. As she listens, she hears what could be conversation and soon it grows even louder as both Lil and Locke can hear it.
"What do you think?"
"Of what?"
"The human thieves, imbecile!"
"You mean Maroco and Madoco?"
"Well, of course they can't be trusted! You have to admit though. . . That Madoco is indeed not bad looking for a wench."
"Disgusting!" The voice snarls.
"Why do we associate ourselves with you, anyway?" Another voice snarls, ending the conversation.
"Did you hear that?" Lil asks.
"Hm, I did," Locke replies. "Apparently, Madoco isn't bad looking. I wonder if he wants to play match maker."
Lil flicks him in the forehead and cries, "You're all the same!" before she begins to stomp angrily down the hall, grumbling under her breath about male chauvinism. Locke rubs his forehead and looks at the door. He reaches for the handle, but shakes his head and walks after Lil.
Lil finally clears her throat, "Well, what now? We have another closed door, and one open one."
"Call me rash," Locke announces, "but let's have a look in the open room."
Our heroes then make their way down a dimly lit corridor before following a right turn, where they find themselves in what appears to be a resting chamber. In the upper left corner sits a table with sheets of paper spread across its surface, while in the right corner lies two beds – one currently occupied by a sleeping Halfling Thief.
"Whoops," Locke whispers before he looks to Lil. "I'll come back."
He then begins to turn and walk out of the room, Lil raising her brow at him as she asks, "What are you doing?"
"Well, he looks comfortable. Let's go and bother those cretins in the other room instead."
"I think not!" Lil hisses quietly. Locke stares at Lil for a second before turning back around.
"Fine," He concedes. "But if Goldilocks there wakes up, don't say I charged in for once."
"Fine, fine," Lil whispers back. "What's that on the table? Should we check it out?"
Locke looks at the thief sleeping, before glancing at the table, calculating the distance between the sleeping adversary and the table as he replies, “Okay. But let's go slow, and silent."
Lil smiles slyly, "You first."
He sticks his thumb up in the air and carefully begins to make his way towards the table. Thanks to Locke being light on his feet along with his natural sense of stealth, the thief continues to sleep. Lil stays where she is, weary of waking up the halfling as Locke sorts through the pile of papers on the table. His eyes scan over them before he notices one sheet of paper that is particularly interesting. A snort causes Locke to look over to the thief, who is still sleeping but simply mumbled in his sleep. Looking again at the sheet of paper, he observes that it is plain, except for a large combination written in ink, stating "R3 L2 R5.” Locke looks back to Lilanei before folding up the sheet of paper which he tucks into his pouch, then he attempts to make his way back towards Lil without disturbing their sleeping host. As Locke approaches the doorway, the halfling thief darts up in his bed – however, with a snort, he softly falls back into his bed as he was merely dreaming. The pair make their way back down the hallway, until they are sure they are alone, and safe to speak.
"So what is it?" Lil asks.
"I'm not sure," Locke answers before he unfolds the sheet of paper and hands it to Lil. "It's simply a bunch of letters and numbers. Perhaps a code?"
"Hm," Lil murmurs. "In any case, we should hold onto it. It might prove useful."
Locke nods and returns the paper to his pouch. He looks back to the center door which they passed earlier and suggests, "Should we try this door now? I'm anxious to find the slime who took our money."
Lil nods in agreement and the pair walk to the door. Locke reaches for the handle and attempts to open it, but the door doesn't budge.
"Oh, Goblin snot!" Locke hisses. "The door won't budge. I'll have to use my delicate lock picking technique."
Lil interjects, "Hold on. Let me have a look."
Locke lowers his foot, which he was about to kick into the door and steps aside, allowing Lil to stand in front of the door. She glances at the door handle for a moment before pointing down at it, "Do you recognize this?"
"What exactly?" Locke asks as he peers at the door before he realizes it has a combination lock. "Aha!" Locke says, pointing his finger in the air as if he's had an epiphany. "I guess this is what the paper could be for."
He quickly digs out the paper. Looking at the writing, Locke begins to turn the small figures on each of the dials in accordance to the order on the paper – R3, L2, and then R5. As Locke completes the combination, he hears a click. He grips the door handle and opens the door, which opens easily after being unlocked. He then simply nods to Lil before entering through the door first. The short hall eventually leads to a room which is slightly dim as well as empty; however in the limited light Locke and Lil see a large pouch in the corner, a treasure chest next to it, and a parchment paper pinned to the stone wall with a dagger hanging above the treasure chest.
"Well, well, well," Locke whispers. "It's all about the booty."
As Lil stands behind Locke, she swiftly kicks Locke in the calf, "I've had enough of your male chauvinism for the day, thank you!"
"What do you mean?" Locke asks, turning back to her. "Booty – treasure – get it?"
"Whatever," Lil responds, turning her nose up at Locke.
He shakes his head and walks into the room, looking at the three items in front of him. Even though his heart tells him to look in the treasure chest first, his mind leads him to scan the paper hanging from the stone wall. He walks in front of the wall and reaches out, grabbing the dagger and trying to pull it away, but finds it is too embedded in the rock wall. Instead, he then grabs the paper and tears it off the blade before putting it to his face so he can read it. In the limited light, he can make out written in Common language:
"HAIL MAROCO & MADOCO – MASTER THIEVES!"
"Hail Maroco and Madoco," Locke says mockingly before adding, "Master thieves! Ooo!"
Lil rubs her chin thoughtfully, "You don't suppose they're the ones responsible for our missing gold, do you?"
"It looks that way," Locke answers. "They were so quick to take it and I didn't feel a thing. I can only hope if those hands went elsewhere, they were this Madoco's."
With a growl, Lil prepares to punch Locke in the back of the head; however she thinks different of it and walks to the corner containing the sack. Peering inside it with ease, Lil finds it contains three potions of healing, one of which she throws at Locke's head.
With a snarl, she says, "I don't know why I even bother."
"Calm down," Locke replies, grabbing the bottle from the air and placing in his bag. "I'm just trying to keep the mood jovial. I'm sorry you take it too much to heart."
Lil purses her lips in annoyance and simply ignores him.
Locke looks towards the treasure, "Now, why don't we crack open this egg?" He places his hands on the lid of the chest in an attempt to open it, but soon finds it won't budge as the chest is locked.
"Frog spawn – it's locked!"
"It would appear so," Lil states plainly. "Maybe you should try your master lock picking skills."
"It's worth a go," Locke says as he stands back. He brings his left foot up into the air and slams it hard against the lid of the treasure chest in hopes of breaking it open, but the chest doesn't budge. "One more!" Locke cries, in an attempt to repeat the process.
A brief of look of concern flashes across Lil's face, "Just don't break your ankle, you buffoon."
Locke kicks the treasure lid once again, which again refuses to open. Locke throws his hands up in the air and turns around shaking his head.
"Nuts to it!" He cries. "Let's just carry it out of here!"
Lil shakes her head and grabs Locke forcefully by arm before she drags him, the two making their way out of the room and back into the passageway which houses the three doors. Lil, seeing that their only options are the first door, or to continue down the hall, decides to make her way down the hall with Locke right behind her. The duo turn right and continue down the hallway, where they make another right before finding themselves in yet another hallway with a single ladder which leads down to the next level. In front of the ladder lies a rather large pile of beer bottles – empty, of course.
"I think those belong to the Drake's keeper," Locke deduces.
Lil glances at the pile of bottles which nearly reach the height of her knee before asking sarcastically, "What makes you think that?"
"Well, he was pretty jar-swoggled," Locke answers to which Lil simply shakes her head.
"Whatever. Look – there's a ladder. What should we do now?”
"Well, you know what they say," Locke replies. "When you're on top, the only way to go is down."
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