----- The two men slowly descend into a slightly damp, chilly cellar. The boards in the stairs creak beneath their feet and a few slabs feel loose. Suddenly, Raven stops, peering into the darkness below. Thalog hesitates, sensing Raven freeze while he focuses on listening into the dark stillness. After a few moments, Raven continues downward, perhaps falling prey to nothing more than a trick of the shadows.
-----Finally, Raven's boot touches down on the cold hard floor. His footfall causes a slight snap of an echo as it reverberates off a distant wall. A high pitched squeak alerts Raven and as he brings the torch over, he sees a couple of small vermin scramble off beyond the torchlight. Everything falls silent as Thalog steps up beside him.
-----As they stand a few feet from the bottom of the stairs, they figure they are in a large area probably the same size as the floor above it. This proves hard to estimate as the light of the torch extends out to about fifteen feet.
-----On the floor, the heroes first see various broken pieces of old furniture, wooden items and rusty metal tools. As they walk from their position, more wooden pillars come into view. A large ash pit lies along the northern wall, once catching the ashes from the fireplace above.
-----Beside the smell of the orcs, evidence of the humanoids comes into sight. Scattered old blankets reveal where some of the orcs had slept. Food scraps have been thrown about. In one corner is found a mound of fur blankets and what looks like three stone containers.
-----Raven turns toward Thalog and then points at where the orcs slept. He then moves toward the three stone containers. The containers each stand about a foot high. They resemble jars made of a light earthen material. Lids cover the top of each one. As Raven looks over each one, he doesn't see anything that would look like the containers have a trap or safeguard connected to them.
-----Raven takes the lid off one of the containers and tries to see what's inside. With the light of the torch, a glistening is seen inside the jar. The flames pick up the luster of small silver coins with images etched into them. The layers of coins completely fill the container.
-----Thalog walks over to the orc bedding and uses his staff to inspect the old blankets. He moves with great caution trying to prepare for the unknown. Carefully, he pokes the blankets and nothing happens. He then uses his staff to move first one corner, then another to fold one of the blankets over. As Thalog begins to move a second blanket, a small pouch covered with a red velvety material is revealed.
-----Raven frowns and picks up one of the coins to examine it closer. A falcon is inscribed on one side. When he turns it over, Raven sees the outline of a shield on the other side.
-----Rand looks down at Arliss's prone form. He seems to be breathing slowly. Alarmingly, even in the bright afternoon sun, a dark cast begins to appear on the paladin's face.
-----Rand hears a grumbling humanoid voice. He looks down at the three captives. The orc with the skullcap leans across the orc with the eye patch. He stares hatefully at the skinny orc spouting orcish curses and spitting at him.
-----Rand kneels down in front of Arliss looking closely at him to see if he can detect any change in his condition.
-----Raven opens and looks at the other two containers. Inside he can see that these containers are also filled with silver coins just like the first stone jar.
-----Thalog removes a pair of leather gloves from his robes, which he puts on. He then kneels down and picks up the pouch. "I won't know unless I open it," he thinks. Thalog opens the pouch to find four small stones, however these are very much unlike the black gemstones the heroes had found along their journey.
-----One appears to be a very small transparent crystal. Another seems to be a darker translucent stone streaked with light bands. A third one looks to be a solid bluish rock with light flecks on its surface. The final stone seems a little bigger and it catches the light of the torch in an interesting way. This last stone appears to have a whitish translucent appearance with a pale blue glow.
-----Thalog closes the pouch and finishes searching the blankets. He then walks over to the pile of ashes and begins to sift through them with his staff. There are few ashes left within the pit and Thalog finds nothing more there. Thalog now walks over to Raven, points to his mouth, and then points to the stairs. Thalog then begins to move up the stairs.
-----Raven grabs a handful of coins and then follows Thalog out of the basement.
-----Thalog walks upstairs where he glances at Rand to check on him. As he looks out the window, he sees Rand looking over Arliss still lying on the ground. He waits as Raven walks up beside him. Thalog turns to him and says, "I found these in the blankets," as he displays the new stones. "I also came to the conclusion that we cannot let the orcs live if we wish to investigate the curse after this because they will tell their 'boss' and make us waiting targets." Thalog's face is so stretched and tense over his skull that emotion has been squeezed out of him.
-----Raven looks at the gems closely. "Well, I found three jars full of silver coins." Raven hands some coins to Thalog. "I'll have to ask the orcs where they got all that money." Raven turns toward where the orc prisoners are and says, "You're right, those orcs cannot be set free. We'll ask them one more round of questions and then we'll set their souls free." Raven turns toward the sun, closes his eyes, puts his head back and seems to smell the air. Raven is silent for a moment and then turns back to Thalog. "Let's do it." Raven heads toward the orcs.
-----"And so, some die so that others may live," Thalog thinks out loud. He slowly follows Raven back to the orcs and Rand. Thalog puts most of his weight on his staff in order to walk.