***
Lannon followed the trail through several more tunnels and chambers before encountering a locked iron door with a laughing Olrog face sculpted at the center of it. The door gave him immense trouble. He tried every technique he knew to get it open, but it wouldn't budge. Because Prince Vannas' trail passed beyond the door, Lannon had no choice but to keep trying.
The laughing Dwarf seemed to mock Lannon, making him increasingly angry. Yet the more he struggled against the door, the more exhausted he became and the weaker his attempts were. The key to the lock was dark sorcery, and Lannon's magic was just the opposite. At last he slumped down and rested for a while, letting his strength recuperate.
Once rested, he wandered back along the tunnel, looking for anything that would assist him. In a storage room he found a large iron anvil. He carried it to the door and hesitated. Stealth and surprise were great assets, but he was about to make enough noise to wake the dead (if they weren't already awake).
Yet Lannon felt he had no other options. The door's lock was simply too well-crafted by the Dwarves for him to manipulate. Nothing would work on it except dark sorcery or brute force.
With a grunt, Lannon hurled the anvil against the door with all the power the Eye could lend him. The heavy piece of iron bounced off and Lannon had to leap over it to avoid a couple of shattered legs. It had left a tiny dent.
Losing himself to frustration, Lannon lifted the anvil again and slammed it right into the laughing face--smashing it in. He heard a cracking noise at the edges of the door. Again and again he drove the iron object into the door, until at last he smashed it out of its frame and it fell to the stone floor with a deafening clatter. Lannon drew his sword and leaned against the wall, chest heaving.
He rested for a while, then moved on. He soon entered a magnificent hallway with huge, rusty weapons lining the walls. These weapons seemed built for Thallite Giants or Ogres, but the Eye revealed they were actually for the Barloak Demons themselves. There were battle axes, broadswords, spears, maces, and hammers. There were also helms, shields, and breastplates. These were crude and simple weapons, not designed to look fancy but simply to kill and terrorize. They were appropriately ugly--especially now that the centuries had left them thoroughly rusted.
Beyond that hall some wide steps led down to a large dining chamber full of chairs and oak tables, and it was here that Lannon found not only Prince Vannas, but his other companions as well. The prince stood in a corner, unshackled as far as Lannon could see. But there seemed to be something wrong with him. He held the White Flamestone in his cupped hands, and its pale glow filled the chamber. His gaze was locked onto the gem--his eyes blazing with intensity--and he was standing as still as a statue. He seemed frozen in some emotional moment.
The others--with the exception of Jace, who was nowhere to be seen--stood on the opposite side of the room, their bodies held motionless by a pale mist twisted about them. They were as frozen as Prince Vannas.
Cautiously, Lannon walked between the tables. The Dining Room was filled with fog. He sensed the demon was in here and concealed by the mist. The evil sorcery confused the Eye of Divinity, and the demon seemed everywhere.
On some of the tables were the remains of a feast--including large animal bones, some with meat still clinging to them. On one table lay a large, half-eaten pig, its blackened flesh reeking of spices. There were wine goblets as well, and the wine within them looked like blood. The smell of incense and wax was strong in the air, as atop each table burned incense stalks in vases and tall, red candles. A huge stone fireplace held burning logs, yet the room still felt cold.
Lannon went to Vannas first and shook him, but the prince would not respond. He was hopelessly lost in some trance, completely oblivious to his surroundings. Lannon tried to remove the White Flamestone from his hands--hoping it would awaken him--but he couldn't budge it. The prince was engulfed in a thin shield of pale fire that Lannon was unable to breach. He was an immovable object that seemingly nothing could harm or affect in any way.
Lannon tried to free the others, but the Eye was unable to pull apart their sorcerous chains. Lannon sensed that brute force wouldn't work this time, and he paused to contemplate the situation.
A noise reached his ears from behind and he whirled around. A wine goblet had tipped over, spilling crimson liquid. A bloated rat was creeping across the table in search of meat. It grabbed a bone with a bit of ragged flesh on it and fled.
Nearby, the mist suddenly came to life--and a towering figure leapt toward Lannon, long white claws tearing at his face.