Fantasy Cursed Island

[Fangs9090]

The brick clattered loudly through the doorway before lying still. A few moments passed, but nothing came to investigate. Either it was clear or whatever was there was too smart to fall for it.

 

[Deadwood Deer]

"Not gonna get much better than that in this joint, if just zombie wolves are running around," Jerry muttered. Climbing down from the statue, he took the curved path.

 

[Fangs9090]

The path lead to what seemed like a balcony, with a wall to the right and a railing to the left where it opened out to look down on a large room with an open ceiling. Down in the center of the room was a shallow pool. Around and in the pool were several large reptilian creatures with black, scaly hides, each one with a spear. They were all laid out on their stomachs, moonbathing. There was about three of them, plus one more than was twice as big. The larger one was most likely the leader.

From the balcony, there didn’t seem to be anywhere else to go. It was high up enough that simply jumping into the room would be painful at best. The far end of the balcony looked like it used to be passage, but it was collapsed. Across the room, another balcony could be seen. Down below it, there was another doorway.

 

[Deadwood Deer]

"Well, that's a lot of nope," Jerry decided, looking at the creatures. It seemed like the stairwell led down there, too. Okay, so in order to go further, he needed to get past the creatures. But he also needed to be able to come back through here with his loot, since it was the only known passage. He'd have to figure out how to get rid of them in a way that would keep him from getting hurt. He decided to go back to the other room and examine the lioness statue. That was a weird statue, maybe it did a thing, opened up a passage or something.

 

[Fangs9090]

Unfortunately, it seemed to just be a statue. Seriously, whoever made this place really tried to decorate it, but it’s purpose was still unclear.

 

[Deadwood Deer]

"Looks like it's stealth time," Jerry muttered. He was going to have to leave the treasure trunk behind if he had any hope of getting past the lizard creatures. He took a few minutes to reorganize his belongings so they wouldn't make any noise, strapping the bedroll to the backpack and extinguishing the lantern. Holding his swords so it wouldn't bounce on anything, he snuck down the stairs and tried to sneak past the creatures, keeping to shadows and brush.

 

[Fangs9090]

The reptiles were relaxed and had their guards lowered, so they didn’t seem to notice.

Down on the ground level of the room, one could find plenty of shadows around the edges by the walls. It was also clear now that there was another door at the bottom of some steps, suggesting it lead further in. However, the larger reptile was laying near that area, so getting there would be a risk. Crossing to the doorway he’d seen first might give something to give him an edge in case of a fight.

 

[Deadwood Deer]

Jerry was faced with a choice, here. There was a door that went deeper, but past the big one. He could probably sneak past as long as he didn't touch it, but he'd still have to deal with them later. At the opposite end of the room from where he started, he could see a glint of something. Either it would help him or it would be worth sneaking through lizardman territory, but Jerry needed every advantage he could get. Still sticking to the shadows and out of sight, Jerry began heading towards the doorway he'd seen firs.t

 

[Fangs9090]

The reptiles stayed where they were, unaware or unconcerned with his presence. Through the doorway was a hallway lined with torches, leading forward a ways before coming to a staircase. To the right, it spiraled upwards, likely leading to the other balcony. To the left, it spiraled downwards. There was no telling what lay down there.

 

[Deadwood Deer]

"Well, well, well," Jerry whispered as he stole into the hall, silent as the grave except for his whisperings, "I think there's someone alive in here." The only way to go back at this point was forward, so forward Jerry went, down the spiralling stairs.

 

[Fangs9090]

As he descended, he's soon catch the smell of blood. At the bottom of the stairs was a room stained red. This room was lit by candles rather than torches, making it eerily dim. The walls were lined with tools and devices that looked to serve every purpose from holding a person still to straight tearing them apart, and they looked used. Body bags hung from the ceiling by chains, all of which either had arrows sticking out of them or were simply run through by metal spikes. Judging by the blood that stained the bags and the smell, they were all filled. There bones piled in one corner as well, enough that it was hard to tell how many full sets could be there. Off to the side was a door leading into another room.

 

[Deadwood Deer]

"Correction, there was someone alive in here," Jerry muttered. Keeping his hand on his sword, he moved through the room towards the door, careful not to step on any loose body parts or bones on the floor. Whatever happened here, it was bad news bears. Hopefully whatever did it was gone. Considering that this was likely a torture chamber, Jerry did not think it possible to find anything of value, at least not in one piece,

 

[Fangs9090]

In the other room was a similar scene, though with a little less blood, at least. And at the far side was something unique. Another creature, though judging by it's mostly humanoid body shape, "person" might be more fitting. Also judging by body shape, "she" would fit better than "it." She wasn't human though, that much was certain. Her face was...canine? Lupine? Hard to tell. Definitely fluffy, with similarly fluffy, pointed ears on the side of her head. Her fur was black, which contrasted sharply with her long orange hair. A pair of short horns stuck out of the top of her head, curving backwards. As if she weren't strange enough, her legs seemed mismatched. Instead of dark fur, they were covered in purple scales and looked reptilian, matching her long and thick tail. Her rather ample chest was covered only in bandages wrapped around her, if one didn't count the fur. Her waist was covered similarly, with additional wrappings around her wrists, ankles, and tail. At present, she was shackled to a table of some sort, lifted and tilted up to keep her upright. For now, her eyes were closed and she stayed limp in her shackles.

 

[Deadwood Deer]

"What the..." What kind of... Why? Jerry pulled an unlit torch out of his pack and poked the creature with it, trying to determine if it was dead or alive.

 

[Fangs9090]

At his prodding, the creature opened her rather large magenta-colored eyes. She looked at the man in front of her and blinked. She looked surprised to see someone new here. Well, someone who wasn't on their way to a body bag, anyway.

 

[Deadwood Deer]

The critter hadn't freaked out, that was good. Hadn't alerted anything anyway. "Do you understand me?", he asked. Whatever it was, humanoids were generally intelligent. She might know some things.

 

[Fangs9090]

The girl chirped in response. She paused for a moment before nodding her head.

 

[Deadwood Deer]

"Okay," Jerry thought for a moment. "If I let you down, are you going to eat me?"

 

[Fangs9090]

She shook her head, glancing at her shackles before looking at the doorway he came in through.

 

[Deadwood Deer]

"Alright, I'm gonna let you loose," Jerry reached into his pack and pulled out his thieves' tools. Sometimes you gotta do something really illegal to get paid. He set to work on the locks holding the creature to the table before noticing where she was looking and looking at the door himself.

 

[Fangs9090]

The doorway was still clear, for now. Still, she did seem to be expecting something.

 

[Deadwood Deer]

"Must pick faster, must pick faster," Jerry muttered as he jiggled the wires in the locks. After a few seconds, one clicked open. Now he knew what kind of lock he was working with, picking the others was easy, and within a moment, the shackles jingled as they fell loose. He put his hand on his dagger as he looked back at the door. "If something comes through here, I am proper screwed."

 

[Fangs9090]

Once the last shackle was released, the girl fell to the floor, landing on her feet before dropping to all fours. She shifted back to a proper sitting position, or maybe crouching would describe it better, before she looked up at Jerry, giving a little trill. A thank you, perhaps? She paused for a moment before holding out her hand. Er, paw? It looked halfway between the two.

 

[Deadwood Deer]

Jerry didn't see any issue with lending her a hand, maybe she couldn't get up on her own, who knew how long she'd been strapped up like that? Still, Jerry was cautious, so he extended the armored hand.

 

[Fangs9090]

The girl stood up as she took his hand, but then she stepped over to hold his arm as well. She moved slow and had a very light grip, trying her best to not seem threatening. She glanced at his face again before trying to roll his sleeve up a little.