By the dim, flickering light of her companions torch, Quinn stared at the markings scrawled on the wall. She sighed. Reading the ancient runes of a civilization dead for thousands of years was difficult enough in a well-lit study, much less a dark, dingy dungeon, with only a dim-burning torch.
Muttering to herself, the magician reached into her robes and drew out a small, cut quartz crystal. Holding it up to her face, she whispered a few words of power. A tingle ran through her body as the magic flowed through her into the polished stone. It lit up, a steady, bright white light. Holding it up to the wall, she started reading again, mouthing silently.
“Well, can you read them, scholar?” The torch-bearer said, a little grumpily. Lady Kattarim was a tall, strong blonde woman from the far north. The tabard over her chainmail bore the crest of the Red Knights, a valiant order of paladins, and she was quite skilled with the long sword belted at her side. The Grandmasters of the order had assigned her the task of delving into the ancient dungeons of the sorcerer kings in search of the fabled sword of Sir Grothin.
Quinn nodded. “I think so.” Holding the crystal up, Quinn pulled out a small, leather bound tomb, and compared the cramped writing in it to the runes carved on the stone. “We’re not far from the great chamber.” The short, brown-haired woman was a mage of the third rank in the Vejarris Order. She’d jumped at the chance to see the fabled dungeons first hand, rather than simply read about them in dusty tomes in the order’s library.
“Good. Then we had better be moving along.” The third member of the party said quietly. The tall, slender dark haired woman was Ezri Torn, master thief. Kattarim and Quinn had recruited her just before delving into the dungeons, both for her skill with a blade and her knowledge of locks and traps. “While you’re reading those ancient signs, I see more recent ones. We’re in goblin territory here, and we’d best keep moving if we don’t want to fight them.”
“Let them come,” Kattarim grunted defiantly. “if they wish to taste my steel I welcome the challenge.”
“Keep talking and you’ll get your wish…” Ezri said, shrugging. The three women turned and headed out of the chamber. Quinn let the light in her crystal fade, and the shadows encircled the three adventurers again, the flickering torch throwing red shadows dancing on the cold stone.
The door out of the chamber led into a long, narrow hallway. Here and there, the corridor split off into other paths, winding off into the darkness. Several times, Quinn consulted her tome, and the ancient runes carved into the walls to find the right path, that would lead to their destination.
After what seemed hours, if not days, the corridor suddenly widened into a large hall. The ceiling stretched high above them, out of sight in the gloom, supported by rows and rows of towering columns. “Finally!” Ezri said, stepping through the portal. “Some open space, I thought I’d go mad in those cramped corr-oof!” The thief went down, out cold, as a stone caught her across the brow.
“Ambush!” Kattarim said, drawing her sword and unslinging her shield. Quinn ducked behind the larger woman as more stones shot out of the darkness at them. The metal of Kattarim’s shield rang as the sling stones bounced off it.
Ahead of them, a cacophony of shrill war cries echoed through the cavernous hall, as a dozen squat grey-green figures loped out of the darkness, brandishing knives and short spears. “Mage, use your magic!” Kattarim shouted as she assumed a fighting stance.
Concentrating, Quinn summoned up her magical energy. She raised a hand and chanted the words of power. Pointing a finger, she conjured a bolt of lightning which arced across the space between her and the goblins, lighting up the whole area in a blue light. The bolt struck one of the goblins in the chest. Shrieking, the goblin fell to the ground, dead. The other goblins on either side, chittered fearfully, spreading out from their stricken comrade, but the rest of them kept coming.
By now, they were less than a dozen yards away. Quinn didn’t have time for anything big. While Kattarim readied to meet their charge, Quinn hurriedly spoke another word of power. Raising a hand, she created an orb of blinding light. Hurriedly, the mage shut her eyes, shouting at Kattarim to do the same. Even so, when she opened her eyes, spots danced before her eyes. The goblins, however, had been blinded, however temporarily. A war cry on her lips, Kattarim bounded forward, cutting down two of the goblins before they could react.
“A dishonorable trick.” Kattarim said, parrying a spear thrust. “But an effective one, I’ll admit.”
“There’s just no pleasing you, is there?” Quinn said, drawing up power for another lightning bolt. The young mage was finding it harder to keep the burly warrior between her and the goblins, as the raiders began circling around the two. Just then, one of the slingers let fly with another stone with struck Quinn. She fell to the ground, slipping into unconsciousness…

“ugh…” Quinn moaned as she came to. She shook her head, grunting. It felt like someone had used her skull as a kettle drum. When she saw where she was, Quinn almost wished she was still unconscious…
The young mage was hanging from a stout pole, being held up by two goblins. Her hands and her feet had been lashed to the pole with strips of cloth. Another strip of cloth was tied between her teeth, to keep her from casting any spells. With a groan, Quinn realized the strips of cloth were what was left of her robes, while she was out, the young woman had been stripped completely naked…
Quinn struggled to lift her head and look around. Ahead of her, she could see Ezri. The thief had also been stripped of her gear, her weapons and her clothes, like Quinn, she was lashed to a pole, being carried by two more of their captors. Behind Quinn, Kattarim had also been captured and stripped. She was lashed to her pole with stout cables, at her ankles, knees and chest. The amazon had obviously gone down fighting, her naked body was bruised and battered, as were more than a few of the goblins around them.
Just then, the party of goblins and their prisoners reached a large gate, of goblin construction. A couple guards, burly for goblins, stood on watch. One of them walked over to the raiding party. “What’s this then?” He said in accented common.
“Spies, thieves, we caught them in north-skyward chamber, skulking around.” The lead goblin replied. “We were taking them to the mines.”
The guard walked over and quickly examined Ezri, then Quinn. The scholar trembled in fear as a cruel smile crossed the goblin’s face. “No, I think the Goblin-King will want to see these pretties for himself.” He turned to his fellow guards. “Open the gate! These pretties here have a date with the goblin-king!” Quinn moaned in fright as she and the other two were carried through the gate into the goblin city…