-----Rinda quickly rushes to Raven and embraces him. "No, don't fight me," she says holding back tears as she lays her head on his shoulder. Her lips then move, intoning words of favors from the Great Hunter. As Lovan investigates the silver pieces that lie about on the floor, part of the damage done to Raven is healed.
-----Raven hugs Rinda back and kisses her. Raven says, "Thank you, my love."
-----After finding a small bag of silver coins and nothing else in the room save the old darkened furnishings, the adventurers try the room across the hall. The door opens into another room in which an orc hiding behind a table is quickly killed by Raven.
-----The next two rooms appear to be living quarters now devoid of life. Lovan quips that "those who live in this place are living well, . . . for orcs." Again the furniture here appeared to be of a fine make at one time. The value has since been ruined, perhaps by the handling of the humanoids.
-----Finally in a room at the end of this corridor, before the passage made a right angle turn, something peculiar is found. The adventurers open the door to find two orcs backing away from something in the corner of the room. Pained gasps come from the humanoids before they turn toward the entering heroes. The orcs shriek as they draw their weapons but their lives are quickly ended.
-----As silence falls in the chamber, everyone can see that this was the sleeping quarters of someone in importance among the humanoids. A crude bed dominates the room piled with furs for blankets. A large trunk is located at the foot of the bed. To one side, blackened orcish swords lie atop a desk cluttered with parchments.
-----Oddly, when the corner that the orcs shrank back from is investigated, a short bow is found leaning against the wall. Golden grains of wood are reflected in the light and it is obvious this is no orcish weapon!
-----"Raven, I'm no archer, but that bow looks impressive from here. Ye might want t'take a closer look. Sarah, can ye read orcish?" Sol thinks for a moment before continuing in a derisive tone, "Do orcs even write? Either way, those papers might be able t'tell us something."
-----Sol sheathes his blade after wiping it clean on one of the two orcs they just slew, and then walks towards the chest rubbing his hands together slowly, explaining as he does so, "An' I'll continue my work as 'th' one who checks for traps.'"
-----"No, I can't and yes, they can." Sarah says looking oddly at the bow. "I'm not sure I would touch it if I were you. If it is magical, why didn't they use it on us earlier? With all those orcs around at least one of them could have been sent to get this....it may be cursed." Sarah says.
-----The mage gathers the parchments and sees if any are written in a language she knows. "Someone might want to break that chest open." She adds.
-----Raven looks at the bow and says, "Cursed? Why would they hold on to a cursed bow?" Raven thinks for a minute and then nods, "It is sign from the Hunter to continue our path. He wants this bow used to kill creatures of evil." Raven takes hold of the bow and inspects it.
-----Raven looks over at the chest and then says, "Sure, now that we really need a thief, Dread and his gang are long gone. Typical of Dread not to be around when he would actually be of use." Raven agrees with Sarah, "Break it open."
-----Sarah nods. "It is just like them. But I prefer to be away from those dishonorable types anyway." She glances at the chest as she sorts through the paper. "I was thinking one of you types with the muscles could do the actual breaking."
-----"A Hunter's bow, my love!" Rinda says, somewhat awestruck as she looks over the weapon with Raven. "The orcs could not touch it for their hearts are not of the Great Hunter's way."
-----Sol stands in front of the chest. He looks sternly at the large metal lock hanging from the latch. Picking up one of the orcish swords from the desk, he then attempts to hew the lock from the chest. He chops at the mechanism twice with little result. On the third strike, however, the lock falls apart. The Gorian then wisely uses the orc blade to lift the latch. Instantly a sharp spike swiftly protrudes from the metal below the latch. This would normally strike an unsuspecting person in front of the trunk.
-----"Ah, it was good you did that," Lovan comments as he observes the young warrior.
-----Sol then uses the blade of the weapon to slip under the lid of the container and pull it up. Nothing unexpected happens, so Sol looks inside. At first he uses the orc sword, but after a few moments and confident that no traps remain, he rummages through the contents.
-----Sarah, meanwhile, takes up a parchment and holds it up in different ways allowing her night vision to see in the dark room.
-----"I think we have found our next clue." Sarah says. "This is a map of some sort, and there is a castle that looks to be circled in red. It is probably either where the orcs were planning to attack, or where they were getting help from. Raven, can you look it over when we are done here?" She asks.