Dark Lord Rob's DarkForce

Hey Daddy-o! We Go Down to the Basement

     It was no trouble getting back to the basement. Everyone seemed to have been instructed to pretty much leave us alone, which of course was fine with us. We just kind of strolled on down the stairs, with a nod to the guards that just kind of said, "Hey, the Big Guy said we should wait down here. Not what we wanna do, but who's to argue?" They nodded back with a kind of "Whatever" nonchalance.
     The Soul Lamps were just bustling with energy; you could see the glow all the way down the corridor. It gave the whole place a really spooky atmosphere, like it didn't have one to begin with. I wondered what Nathan's theory about the Lamps was; I figured that he probably thought they were some sort of clever battery-powered fakes (which, I found out later, was exactly what he did think).
     We hit a snag when we got to the Helldoor itself, however. There were two guards posted there, and they had the look of guys that there was no way you could bluff your way past. Big, thick looking sorts, the type that obey orders to the end. Good to have working for you, I suppose, especially if you're employing them as Human Shields, but not the sort you want to be up against in a situation where they're between you and the Gates of Hell and you really, really want to get in.
     Actually, in my honest opinion, I can't think of anyone I'd rather have between me and the Gates of Hell when Nathan really, really wants to get in.
     Well, long story short, Nathan tries to bluff his way through but doesn't have any luck. Tells the guys that we've been sent to relieve them. They don't buy it. Asks if he can have just a peep through the door. No. Tells them there's trouble topside and they ought to check it out right away. They started getting a bit annoyed at about that point, and it seemed as though their Christianity was starting to lean in the direction of "Let's us turn youse guys other cheeks with a couplea knuckle sandwiches". So we retired back to the Lamp Room to discuss strategy.
     I was all for heading back up to daylight and rummaging for sustenance in the kitchen (after all, this siege could go on for a while; my stomach felt that it was in my best interests that I should stock up now). Nathan, on the other hand, felt that we hadn't quite explored all the possibilities.
     Alternate tunnels, for one thing.
     "It's simple," he said. "We'll just kind of poke around; there just may be some sort of adjacent connecting tunnel, perhaps bricked over or something."
     Nathan was right, as it turned out; though the way we found out was not the most pleasant.

Next: Beyond the Door