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Windhammer, Copyright Wayne Densley 2008 All Rights Reserved
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176
 The body of the Reaver lays as a dark mound in the centre of the hall but the dead monster is no longer your greatest concern. From somewhere in the distance you can hear the clamour of another approaching patrol and you are far too exposed. It is time to get out of this place. The large double doors in the eastern wall appear locked and your only chance of evading the patrol must lie in finding a place to hide.
It is said that all the main halls of Stoneholme hold secret doors and passages, and with little time to spare you begin to survey the walls for a possible way out. It is as you are searching the hall that you notice again in the dim light of your torch the slight, billowing motion of the tapestry. It is the same movement you noted just prior to your combat with the Reaver. Intrigued by what might be causing it you decide to quickly investigate the other side of the hanging. There is a slight chance that the rotting cloth may conceal a hidden exit from the hall.
Getting behind the tapestry proves difficult, the edges of the hanging having been fixed with iron fastenings and weighed down to keep it straight, but once you are behind it proves also to be an effective hiding place. It is not a moment too soon for the patrol bursts into the hall just as you disappear behind the heavy cloth. Standing silently in the darkness you can hear the patrol pass quickly into the hall and examine the lifeless form of the Reaver. From your vantage you wait and hear shouted commands, and the frantic too and fro of a search that ends with someone testing the large double doors in the east wall. In truth you wait anxiously, for the Hordim are not stupid and you have not found the least obvious of hiding places. All it will take is for one of them to run the edge of their scimitars along the tapestry and you will be discovered.
As with so many things however, fate plays its part and this time to your advantage. From the western passageway a great rumbling tumult erupts, the distinct sounds of collapsing stone echoing down the passage as a thundering vibration that shakes the wall behind you. In the Lesser Hall the Hordim do not react with alarm, instead a few laugh but then an urgent shout brings them all to a standstill. Something has happened, and you can only assume that one of their attempts at bringing down a passageway has gone awry. Whatever the reason it works in your favour. In a flurry of orders and organising troops the Hordim reform and move on, leaving the hall silent once again.
When you are sure it is again safe to move, you edge along the back of the tapestry until you stumble across a small alcove inset into the stonework. It looks like the entrance to an old disused tunnel, roughly delved and unfinished, but one worked for a purpose. Quickly you come to the view that this tunnel was not dug by the builders of Stoneholme, and you wonder quietly as to the identity of its maker and the reason for its delving. As you look around there are few clues to be found that might answer these questions, but it is another way ahead and you take it carefully. Taking up your torch you light it and illuminate the tunnel ahead. The first thing you notice is a stick, about an arm's length long, protruding from the centre of the floor some 5 metres ahead.
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This book, and its associated books and other documents in the Chronicles of Arborell series are the intellectual property of the author, Wayne F Densley, and all rights are reserved by him. Windhammer is best viewed at 1024 x 768 resolution. Any questions regarding the Chronicles of Arborell can be answered by emailing the author at densleyw@shoal.net.au
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Windhammer, Copyright Wayne Densley 2008 All Rights Reserved
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