FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Rehrdahl leaned heavily on his cane, letting the conversation wash over him without paying any actual attention to it. Rissa was much better with people than he, and he was content to let her handle the negotiations. He was already thinking about the job they were almost certainly going to accept, the dangers involved and what preparations might help. That was an area where he was much better than Rissa.

Rehrdahl was brought from his thoughts by a handshake. The deal was concluded then. As Rissa bade their patron goodbye, Rehrdahl tipped his wide-brimmed hat and followed Rissa out, his cane softly tapping against the nice hardwood floors on their way out.

The two were oddities in this town, a place full mostly of humans and elves, though a small enclave of dwarves lived inside the walls. Not many in these parts interacted with ratfolk, Rehrdahl and Rissa having travelled well beyond the reach of their people's trading caravan. They had to sidestep a lot in the city as few people seemed to look down as they walked. Rehrdahl stood a scant inch under four feet, and Rissa was only three and a half feet in height. Both had grey fur and dark eyes with large pupils. Rehrdahl wore a simple brown duster over his shirt, his wide-brimmed hat, and no shoes over his paws. Both ears were pierced with gold hoops, and a couple rings adorned his right paw. Rissa, despite being 5 inches shorter, was much more visible. Her cloak was a pattern of reds, oranges, and yellows, and a large black feather stuck out from the brim of her hat. A small rapier with an ornate hilt hung from her right hip, and the horn of some creature hung from a leather cord around her neck. While Rehrdahl leaned on his cane, she practically bounced down the crowded streets, pausing on occasion to impatiently gesture Rehrdahl to go faster.

"Aren't you excited to get started again?" Her body seemed too small to contain her excitement, causing her to bounce and hop along.

A corner of Rehrdahl's mouth twitched up. "It'll certainly be interesting--"

"Interesting?" Rissa sounded incredulous. "Honestly, it's hard to believe that all this was your idea to start with, all the enthusiasm you show for it."

Rehrdahl chuckled softly. "Not everyone shows their excitement like you, Rissa. A fact I attribute to Sarenrae's mercy."

Rissa's snort seemed entirely too loud to have come from such a small body. "I'll be sure to say a prayer of thanks to her that her mercy is the reason that I only have to put up with one person like you."

"Did that sentence actually make sense?"

A dismissive wave was Rehrdahl got in response, and he chuckled again, quickening his step a little to keep up with Rissa.

****

"Think this is it?"

"Must be, I suppose. Hmm..."

The pair stood outside a collection on stone ruins. Grey stone formed a pyramid in the forest clearing, but it didn't extend very high. Clearly, the majority of the work here had been done below ground.

"What's the matter?" Rissa was more serious than usual now that they were here, not that that was a particularly high bench mark to pass.

"It's not very large, but we aren't that far away from a decently travelled road. How does the Pathfinder Society not have more information about this place?"

"I dunno. But," Rissa paused a moment, "you're thinking people went looking and didn't come back?"

"It's one possibility. In any case, we'll need to be careful."

At this, Rissa rolled her eyes. "Has there ever been a time you haven't said that?"

Rehrdahl stood close to the entryway. Despite the sun's height in the sky, its light didn't penetrate far into the structure. Apparently the designers hadn't felt the need to allow light to filter in from the outside. Far more interesting to Rehrdahl was a lack of sconces for torches or any other sort of light source. Either whoever built the place relied on portable light sources or they, like Rehrdahl and Rissa, could see in the dark. He took his time examining the floor, walls, and ceilings despite the feeling of Rissa's impatience right behind him. When he was sure his sensitive eyes could make out no hint of traps, he stepped into the pyramid, careful not to make a sound. One advantage to being small was being harder to notice.

While Rissa appeared to be looking around with mere curiosity on entering the ruin, Rehrdahl could tell her ears were trained on their surroundings, and he knew more than one person had been surprised at the speed she could have her rapier out of her sheath and into their flesh. Rehrdahl could be nearly as quick himself in the event of danger, but Rissa was a much better fighter. She trained a long time to get as good as she was, and despite her seemingly useless flourishes, she had proven that she could hold her own and even surpass much larger opponents.

Not too far ahead were the stairs down, as Rehrdahl had expected. More surprising was the lack of any way up. While the pyramid wasn't particularly large, there was space above them for at least one if not two floors. It seemed hard to believe it would all be solid stone, but a careful inspection didn't shown any sign of a hidden passage. Normally, Rehrdahl would have preferred to spend more time in this part to uncover the reason for the oddity, but in this case, they had a specific job to do, and it wouldn't do to linger overlong.

Before going down the stairs, Rehrdahl focused, reaching into a familiar part of his mind. He allowed a feeling of curiosity to arise, and an image of an odd lens filled his mind. Rissa saw the familiar sequence of runes appear in a small circle in front of Rehrdahl before they disappeared, and Rehrdahl opened his eyes able to see more than most. As he looked towards Rissa, his eyes filled with the gentle mix of colours that represented the presence of magic. Looking longer, he knew, would show him first how many magical effects were in range of his sight before resolving to show him where they were and allow him to identify them. He was already well acquainted with the magic items Rissa held, however, and he turned his gaze down the stairs. No ghosts of colours lit the edge of his vision, so he started his slow and careful way down the stairs, keeping his eyes peeled for mechanical hazards as well as the telltale signs of magic.

The stairs headed in a straight line down, not turning despite their length. Rehrdahl couldn't help but think it was an obvious safety hazard. One wouldn't want to trip here; it could be a long way before you were able to stop. Rissa and he went with obvious caution, softening their footfalls and straining their eyes to try and see farther than the sixty feet through which they could pierce the dark. Even here, there was no place where one could put a light, Rehrdahl noted. Did the builders use lanterns? Magical light? Were they able to see in the dark? The place was built for people taller than they, clearly, but that didn't say much. Many races were larger, and some of those had darkvision as they did.

The stairs ended at a large stone door. Rehrdahl still couldn't discern any magic, though it was possible the door blocked the auras of things beyond. A keyhole was clear on the door's surface, but Rehrdahl ignored the door entirely for the moment. Past experience had showed him that more than one clever architect liked to build hidden doors near regular ones to trick the unwary. In one memorable instance, a door had had only a wall with a trap beyond it. If Rehrdahl hadn't been so short to begin with, he would have had to endure a large crossbow bolt to the chest instead of merely having Rissa bring it up every other week.

Rissa eyed him looking at the walls. "Do you think that door might be like the one in--"

"Sarenrae, Desna, and Brigh, would you let that go?" Rehrdahl could practically hear her grin without looking.

"No. Besides, you're looking in the wrong place."

"Oh? And what makes you say that?"

"It's not the walls, it's the stairs. Now why don't you double-check my work and make sure there's no traps on the switch here so we can be on our way?"

Rehrdahl turned his attention to the stairs where Rissa indicated. Sure enough, there were the telltale signs that they had moved in the past, though he couldn't say when the last time that would have happened had been. There was a concealed switch that seemed to be the mechanism to control the movement. He couldn't see any traps present, but that didn't necessarily mean there weren't any. Still, if ratfolk had one failing in general, it was curiosity. Rehrdahl nodded at his partner, and she pressed the switch.

There was a small click, and they watched with baited breath.

After a moment, they looked from the stairs to each other to the stairs again. Rehrdahl tentatively touched the bottom step with his cane. Nothing. Rissa giggled.

With a sigh, Rehrdahl put his foot on the step and pushed. The stone budged about half an inch. He looked toward Rissa once more. "Wanna give me a hand?"

Ratfolk weren't naturally very strong on account of their small stature, but Rehrdahl and Rissa had plenty of occasions in the past to build up some muscle. As they slowly pushed the stairs, making them slowly collapse into each other, Rissa asked, "Do you think the builders had to do this too, or is the mechanism just broken?"

"Who's to say?" Rehrdahl said through gritted teeth. "Most of the other places we've been didn't seem to have any more consideration for humble treasure hunters."

Once they had pushed the stairs back, they were faced with a choice. On their left, a tunnel that turned to go down past the untouched door. Ahead, a ladder descending further, far enough that they couldn't see the bottom. Rissa pulled a small stone out of a pocket, and, after a glance to Rehrdahl, dropped it down.

One... two... The soft crack of stone on stone. 70 to 100 ft down by Rehrdahl's estimation. A ladder that long?

Rissa tilted her head toward the tunnel, and Rehrdahl nodded in agreement. He'd rather not take that ladder unless he had to.

The tunnel wasn't a long one. It deposited them just beyond the door they had seen, and that confirmed Rehrdahl's suspicions about the door. There was no reason for a passage like this if the door worked as intended. He suppressed a shiver. Something about this place rubbed his fur the wrong way. A glance toward Rissa didn't reveal anything. She maintained caution in her movements and her senses, but she otherwise seemed at ease. Together, they made their way down the passage.

Rehrdahl once again focused his thoughts, another brief outline of runes taking form before vanishing. When he spoke, it sounded as a whisper right against Rissa's ear. "What do you think we'll find down here?"

Rissa's reply sounded in kind in Rehrdahl's ear. "Could be anything. Could be nothing. Nervous?"

"I don't know. I don't like this place."

"You're the one who wanted to get into this business."

Rehrdahl merely shook his head as they turned a corner. Down this way, they could see light further down. They shared a glance.

There were runes carved into the stones here. From the old Thassilon empire, if Rehrdahl had to guess. It matched with what their benefactor had said regarding the prize. Rehrdahl still didn't see any magic about the place, which he decided was for the best. He was about to lose his hold on the spell, he knew, but fortunately that particular knack didn't use up enough magical energy to matter. Recasting it only took a moment and concentration.

The light, it turned out, came from a large cylindrical room which they emerged at the top of. A staircase curled around the outside in a gentle spiral, and the builders didn't care for railings of any kind here either, it seemed. The light was a pale shade of blue, glowing from sconces spaced regularly around the walls. A glance over the edge showed the floor some sixty feet below, runes carved into it as well as the walls.

Rehrdahl was about to speak when there was a grating noise and he turned with surprise to see Rissa on what had been the top step. Now, however, the stairs had dipped, forming a curling slide, and Rissa couldn't recover in time, falling onto her back and accelerating down. Rehrdahl didn't hesitate, throwing himself down the slide after Rissa.

Rissa's dagger didn't manage to make an imprint on the floor when she tried to drag it, so she quickly gave up on that notion. The sconces were too high to reach, especially when sliding like this, so she gave up on that too. There didn't seem to be much they could do other than see where the slide ended, and hope it didn't end in spikes or lava.