genericangstyposter Posted:

I take my chances with rolling (10). I’m confident that I know the lock, now. If that fails horribly, I take 20.

You approach the opposite jail cell’s lock and the gnome gushes with relief.

“Ohthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou…”

With your trusty shoelace, you start to pick at the lock. #3s never really confounded you, even though you knew many people who were stumped even by a #5 basic configuration; you always had that peculiar sensitivity of touch vital to “locksmiths” everywhere. All the same, you wish you had your rake and tension lever- you would have had this damned thrice-blasted cur-

You jump as you feel a hand on your shoulder. Instinctively you spin around, hand reaching for a weapon- any weapon- but coming up empty. You almost bolt before you realise, heart still pounding in your chest, that’s it’s just the blind elf, face mere inches away from your own.

“The guards won’t be by for another three hours. You can take your time.”

The smile flickers on and then off again just as suddenly, as if a switch was flipped somewhere behind the blindfold. You can feel your goosebumps rise on your arms even as you repress a shudder from being so close to him. There’s an unnatural symmetry to his face, even for an elf, that is both unnerving and alien at the same time, as if that smooth perfection was hiding something yet more sinister beneath it: from the smooth ridge of his nose to the thin, flat lips, you can find no flaw save for its flawlessness.

“May I enquire, out of pure academic interest, what do you intend to do with the gnome after you release him as a distraction?” The gnome shoots the both of you a look of pure terror. “After you kill the three guards above you, then what?”

The gnome whimpers softly, but the elf ignores him and continues.

“What I mean is, do you even know your way out of this place? There must be close to ten levels to the dungeon complex, some of which abruptly end in dead falls and guard quarters.” It’s true; in your half-conscious stupor, you remember being brought down a long way before ending up in this cell. The smile flickers on again.

What now, my valiant adventurers?