"We're right behind that damned memorial stone," observed Kale from the front of the party. "All this time wasted solving the riddle, when we could have tunneled or blasted our way through with magic!''
"I am not certain that would have been the case, Kale," said Zandria. "The master stonewrights of Sarbreen had secret ways of strengthening stone, reinforcing against magical attack. It wouldn't surprise me if they had guarded the vaults behind the rotunda with these techniques."
"Door ahead," the thief said by way of reply. A great valve of shining silver stood at the top of the stairs at the end of the secret passage, only six feet in height but almost as wide. The likeness of a dignified elder dwarf was embossed in the center of the portal.
"Cedrizarun himself, I believe," Zandria said. "Search for a means to open it, Kale, but be careful. There may be a trap."
The lockpick nodded and moved closer to inspect the door. The rest of the group fell silent as they allowed Kale to do his work. "Ah," said the thief. "Avoid the handle, here. It triggers some kind of mechanism-a pit trap beneath this staircase, I believe. Instead, all we need to do is simply slide the door aside. It's on a very well concealed track."
"You mean it doesn't open? You just shove it aside like a decorative screen?" Brunn laughed. "Not very secure, is it?"
"That's not all. Some magical force prevents the door from moving. I suspect that we need a password of some kind, as we did above."
Zandria nodded. "Kharaz-urzu!" she stated. Nothing happened. The others waited, shifting nervously, but no silver light appeared, and the door remained immovable. "Damn, I'd hoped it was the same word. Very well, then. Stand back, I'll work a spell of opening."
The other retreated back down the stairs a few steps as Zandria raised her staff and struck once on the silver barrier, muttering old magical words. The silver surface glimmered and then began to roll aside. As it opened, an arc of darkness appeared at one corner and then twisted up and around, replacing the silver wall-the door was wheel-shaped, rolling aside in its seamless stone groove. Zandria waited for the door to move aside and then thrust her staff into the space revealed, conjuring a brilliant burst of magical light to illuminate the space beyond.
Gold glittered and sparkled in the darkness. Jack blinked in amazement; the vault was full! Dwarven arms and weapons gleamed in the light, tall banners from a dozen battles lined the walls, and everywhere he looked great painted vessels and gilt coffers bulged with gold and jewels. A single share of this loot might be worth thousands upon thousands of gold crowns!
"Oh, my," said Kale. The lockpick took one tentative step toward the waiting riches and licked his lips. "Oh, my."
Zandria barred his way with her staff. "We will examine the treasure carefully and completely before we begin to remove it from the vault. Remember, the first thing we want is the Orb. Anything after that is merely a pleasant bonus, and for Azuth's sake, exercise caution! Who knows what traps the Sarbreen dwarves might have planted within the vault itself?"
The Orb? Jack thought to himself. What in Faerun is Zandria looking for that all this wealth barely impresses her? He carefully trailed the adventurers into the vault, noting with some appreciation that Brunn and Maressa were engaged in wedging an iron spike under the rim of the door-wheel so that the heavy silver circle would not roll back into place and trap them all inside. The vault was arranged in a simple cross shape, with a small round room at the intersection of three short arms; the entrance was at the base of a somewhat longer arm. In the center of the round room stood a great stone sarcophagus.
Zandria and Kale split up, wandering through the vault without disturbing anything large, although Kale quietly pocketed a few interesting baubles when Zandria was not looking. Jack smiled and indulged his own larcenous impulses when neither the mage nor the lockpick was looking his way, filling his pockets as quickly as he could. He filched a fine-looking dagger of strange dark steel, a ring evidently carved from a single piece of onyx, and a dusty bottle that might or might not have sloshed with some small amount of Cedrizarun's legendary brandy.
"Ontrodes will bless me until his dying day." Jack smiled. Now for the real trick, he wondered: How do we separate this much wealth from the Company of the Red Falcon without a fight?
There was a vertical lift of over sixty feet on the way back to the surface, he recalled. Jack could post himself in the middle of the shaft, armed with a knife, then, when Zandria's companions hoisted up bags of loot, Jack could cut the line and drop the loot to the bottom of the shaft, where Anders and Tharzon waited to make off with the booty.
"That would fetch us only a fraction of the take," he muttered. "One or two bags at the most before they became suspicious."
Maybe he could substitute bags full of rocks for the gold, quietly switching the treasure one sack at a time as they hauled it past him, but he'd have to count on no one opening a sack at the top until all the sacks were up, and Jack couldn't imagine how he could encourage Zandria's friends to leave the sacks alone that long. Unless… unless there was someone up there when the sacks arrived, a passer-by who innocently engaged Zandria and her allies in conversation. Of course the Red Falcons wouldn't inspect their sacks if Tharzon and Anders happened by, engaged in a routine exploration of Sarbreen's upper levels. Zandria might order the two killed in order to protect their secrecy, but Jack doubted that she was made of such ruthless stuff. She'd probably chase them off after a few minutes. In the meantime, Jack would keep hauling up loot as if there were nothing wrong up above. He grinned widely. There was a plan worth putting into action!
"Come here!" Zandria stood by the sarcophagus, gazing at the stone carving on the lid. The top of the sarcophagus was worked into a likeness of Cedizarun, reposed on his back, a noble bottle clasped to his breast. "Brunn, Maressa-the sarcophagus holds a secret compartment!"
Jack looked over at the adventurers, now clustered around the dwarven tomb. Zandria carefully removed the stone bottle from the statue's grasp, a perfect piece of stonework that no doubt had taken years to carve. The stone grated coldly as the mage carefully pulled the stone bottle apart into two pieces. Inside, a brilliant white orb of pearly luminescence glimmered.
"The Orb of Khundrukar! Hidden in Cedrizarun's grasp, literally!"
"Is it magical?" asked Brunn.
"Very much so," Zandria replied, "although I am unsure of its properties." She took the Orb, wrapped it in a soft silk cloth, and tucked it into a pouch at her waist. "Help yourselves to the rest of the hoard, then. I have my prize."
Jack took that as his cue to slip out the door. It would take them some time to sort through all that treasure, enough time for he, Anders, and Tharzon to set up a careful pilferage of the treasure as the Red Falcons transported it back to the surface. Of course, he would have loved to get his hands on the Orb, but he'd settle for a king's ransom in gold and jewels. He was just setting up the operation in his mind when he heard shouts of alarm and the clash of arms from the other end of the passageway.
"Anders must have decided to rush the sentries," he realized. Quickly he dashed ahead to take the priest and the warrior from the rear, hoping to silence the fight before it spoiled his plans. Jack reached the staircase leading up into the outer rotunda and started to climb up, when suddenly Anders and Tharzon appeared at the head of the stair, leaping down in utter flight.
"Seal the door! Seal the door!" Tharzon bellowed.
An instant later, the priest Thieron followed the Northman and the dwarf. "Who in Tyr's seven hells are you?" he bellowed after them. "Where do you think you're going?"