The story so far: There's a Diamond Carp somewhere in this house, or so our heroines suspect. Pity it's so dark. Pity the owners are home and very protective of their fish. Pity there's this breathing right down the hallway...

No tripwires. Nikole can hear and smell a dog, very distinctly. A very large dog, breathing in the rhythms of sleep.

Nikole puts her mouth near Darklis' ear and whispers, "Big dog. Be careful."

Darklis whispers back, "Where?"

Nikole listens carefully. "Near."

After a minute or two, Nikole can start to discern the outlines of furniture: tables, shoe-scrapers, doorway ahead. Darklis can't see a thing.

Nikole tiptoes toward the door, probing ahead carefully with each foot before putting it down so she doesn't trip over anything.

Darklis holds very still then. Can she hear Nikole moving?

There doesn't seem to be a door there, actually; just a doorframe with empty space, and a curtain pushed to one side.

Darklis can't hear a durned thing. The house is as quiet as the grave.

Nikole is one with the night. Quiet as a ghost, she slips through the doorway, completely unaware that she has left Darklis behind.

Darklis, thus, just stands there, waiting hopefully for either her eyes to adjust or for light to suddenly come into being.

On the other side of the doorway is a narrow hallway, stretching out ahead. The smell of dog is stronger here.

Nikole looks around the inner room. Any ostentatious glimmer of jeweled fish?

Nope. In fact, it's kind of shabby. Undecorated wood.

Nikole is still in a hallway, not in a room.

Darklis looks around the hallway some more. Any ostentatious glimmer of anything? Large glistening wet dog noses?

Nikole continues forward carefully, then.

No glimmers of anything for Darklis.

The dog breathing is now quite audible. In fact, the dog is right _there_.

Nikole stops very carefully and edges to the side, reaching out behind her to guide Darklis around the dog. Darklis? Darklis?

Darklis just stands there. Doo dee doo dee doo.

Nikole turns around to look for Darklis!

No Darklis.

Big dog. Furry dark dog sleeping right in front of the doorway before Nikole.

Nikole heads back to find out what happened to Darklis! Maybe she got nabbed by a very sneaky guard!

Now that she's been in the hallway for a few minutes, Nikole can feel the shape of it; there are more doorways to right and left. The scent of a nervous Darklis is just ahead.

Nikole takes a chance and hisses very quietly, "Darklis! Are you all right?"

Darklis startles, straightening up some. She might've been falling asleep. Nah. She wouldn't do that. "Nikole?" she hisses back. "Where are you?"

Nikole whispers, "I went to look for the fish! Why didn't you come?"

Well, *duh*. "I can't -see-!"

From behind you, you hear sleepy dog noises.

Nikole does not move! Nikole does not breathe! Nikole is not here!

After a minute, the snuffling subsides.

Nikole is still not here, not until the dog resumes snoring.

Darklis puts her hands on her hips, but she doesn't move or say anything. Yet.

No dog snoring emerges, but the breathing gets more regular.

Nikole takes Darklis's hand and whispers, "Follow me. There's not much to trip over."

Nikole then leads the way to the door on the lefthand side of the hallway, staying clear of the dog.

Darklis creeps along behind Nikole!

Nikole is once again one with the night, quiet as a ghost.

The lefthand-side door hangs loose on its hinges, and pushes open easily.

Nikole peeks carefully in before she actually enters.

This appears to be the kitchen; it's got counters and sinks and stools and a banked fire.

Nikole whispers, "I wouldn't keep a jeweled fish in a kitchen. Let's try the other door."

Darklis nodnods in the dark. Heck, Nikole can see, right?

Actually, Darklis can see the outlines of the kitchen in the glow from the fire. It's not very interesting, though.

Nikole leads back to the other door.

Darklis follows!

The other door is equally well oiled, fortunately. It opens onto a sumptuous dining room. Even in the dark, Nikole can see faint gleams from crystal and silver.

The long polished table in the center occupies most of the room, and the sideboards take up most of the rest. Easy to bump into things.

Nikole oohs! Quietly, though!

Darklis, veryvery quietly, whispers, "What?"

Nikole whispers, "Lots of shiny stuff!" She sounds somewhat magpie-like. "Dishes, though; I don't reckon any of it is fish. We might want to take some anyway."

Darklis suggests, "Find the fish first," in a pleasantly alliterative statement.

Nikole grimaces. "We have to get past the dog, then. It's at the end of the hallway."

Darklis wrinkles up her face. "Can we step over it?"

Darklis, face, squinched up, tugs your hand. "Wait," she whispers, "I think there's an opening at the other end here."

Nikole looks over there. Even not knowing anything about city houses, she can guess, "If the kitchen is over here, I reckon the front part of the house where the master stays is through there. Let's go!"

Darklis whispers, "Careful! Slow! I can't see very well!"

Darklis breezes through behind Nikole like a bull outside a china shop.

Nikole stops at the door to the next room and peers carefully at it.

The double doors to the next room stand open. Through them you can see see a majestic front hall, although the ceiling is lower just in front of you.

(Even Darklis can see this, since moonlight is filtering in through the windows.)

Nikole whispers, "Where'd the master sleep?"

Darklis, dubiously, whispers, "Upstairs?"

Nikole looks around for stairs, moving into the front hall if necessary but sticking close to the wall.

Darklis follows behind, trying to scan the room in the moonlight.

Sticking close to the wall results in being stuck in a corner very quickly; Darklis can tell they're standing under a staircase.

Darklis tugs on the back of Nikole's shirt, and points up. "Stairs," she mouths.

Nikole looks! She's still not used to this idea of stairs inside a house, but sure enough, that's what they are.

Nikole creeps to the foot of the stairs and up.

Darklis tip-toes behind Nikole!

Seen from the middle of the front hall, the staircase surpasses anything you've ever seen; it sweeps up in two parts, which meet in the middle at a doorway up above. A marble railing runs along the edge.

Darklis pauses before going up the stairs, then, to gape.

Darklis elbows Nikole and leans over to whisper in her ear, "Bet that railing would be fun to slide down."

Nikole stifles a giggle. "Maybe we'll have to make a fast escape!"

Darklis grins, and -now- tiptoes up. Tip toe tip toe!

The stairs are smooth stone, and very cold.

Nikole admires the hall from above as she ascends the stairs. "I reckon whoever lives here could afford a carp made from a single diamond!"

"Five," Darklis corrects quietly. "There are *five* diamond carps!"

Nikole says "Think they'd be impressed if we brought them all?"

Darklis grins. "That'd be best."

Nikole says "I wonder how big they are..."

Nikole hushes as she approaches the top of the staircase.

At the top of the staircase are carved wooden double doors.

Nikole cautiously tries the doors.

The doors slide open silently. Inside is a large space, even more brightly lit than the hallway; your eyes are briefly dazzled.

Nikole hisses annoyedly and covers her eyes!

Nikole listens for danger until her eyes adapt.

Darklis blinks a few times, squinting at the light. Ow.

Nikole peers around with one eye, keeping the other closed so her night vision won't be *completely* ruined. Squint. Ow.

You'll have to step into the room to see anything.

Darklis hasn't got any night vision anyway, so just edges forward into the room, squinting.

For Darklis, the dazzling light takes on a distinctly rainbow tinge.

Nikole pokes her head in after Darklis.

Nikole sees rainbows too, now.

Nikole looks around interestedly. This sure looks like the place for a diamond carp or five!

Darklis blinks. Rainbows. Weird. Anything else?

As your eyes adjust, you can tell that the moonlight's slanting in through high windows, and being refracted all around the large room by the five carved crystalline carp hanging from the ceiling.

Darklis looks up. "Ah-hah," she proclaims quietly.

Nikole stifles an undignified squeak!

Nikole looks up. How high are the carp?

The carp are _big_, perhaps eight inches wide and as long as your arm, and they dangle several feet above your heads, twisting slowly in imperceptible air currents.

Slender but strong ropes hold them in place; it looks like each one is embedded in the carp itself.

Nikole looks around the room *very* *carefully*. No one leaves anything like that lying around for anyone to walk off with.

Darklis whispers, "Those can't -really- be -diamond-."

Nikole says "Bigger than any diamond I ever saw, that's for sure!"

Apparently they have, though. The room is arranged as a parlor; soft couches and chairs sit directly below the fish, and paintings adorn the walls. A golden harp, as tall as Darklis, stands in the corner.

Darklis stares dubiously up at them. "Hope they're the right ones. How're we gonna get up there?"

Besides the door you came in, there's a closed door on the right side of the room.

Nikole says "Maybe I can boost you up and you can stand on my shoulders?"

Darklis hms. "Think we'll reach?"

Nikole gauges the distance. "Maybe. Let's try."

Darklis lifts a finger, and points at the door. "I think we should look in there first. Maybe there's a ladder."

Nikole finishes checking the room before climbing on any chairs. This is too easy.

The room is certifiably empty. Possibly the harp is constructed to shoot poisoned darts, though; Nikole can't tell.

The ceiling above the carp is polished stone, the walls are painted wood, the floor is polished marble and wood in alternate squares.

Nikole hms and tries standing on a chair, then.

Darklis suggests, "Maybe if you sort of use me for balance..."

The chair cushion is soft and squishy, but Nikole can put her hand on a carp without even standing on tiptoe.

Darklis looks suddenly horrified. "What if there are bells attached to the carps?"

Nikole says "Okay, get another chair over here, so you can catch the fish when I cut it loose."

Darklis goes to drag another chair over, looking nervous.

Nikole inspects the carp carefully for bells, poisoned needles, crazed monk-assassins, and other impediments to theft.

No bells. No wires running up the side of the rope. Nothing obviously coating the rope or sticking out of it.

How weird. Darklis moves the chair and climbs up on it to catch the carp.

Nikole looks up to the top of the rope. Maybe when the weight goes off it, it'll spring up and ring a bell or something.

Maybe; the ceiling is so high you can't clearly see what's up there.

That's actually what Darklis was afraid of. But heck, there are those nice marble railings to go sliding down, right? "C'mon!" she whispers.

Nikole says "I have an idea!"

Darklis says "What?"

Nikole looks around the room for anything string or rope-like.

The only obvious rope is that holding up the carp. But there are heavy braided sashes holding curtains back around the lower windows, if that would do.

Nikole hops down and gets one or tow of the sashes, enough to tie the end of the rope in place (she'll have to tie a knot in the end of the rope after cutting the carp loose).

Darklis watches, from her place on the chair.

Nikole ties the sashes together to make a double-length rope, then ties one end to the chair. Climbing up, she ties the other end to the rope just above the carp, making sure there's no slack.

Darklis blinks interestedly, and nods approvingly. From her perch on the chair.

Nikole says "Okay, get ready to catch it!"

Nikole holds the rope with one hand and saws at it with her knife between the sash and the fish.

Darklis holds out her hands, just below the carp!

The rope is fairly thick, but Nikole has a good knife; slowly, one strand after another parts.

Darklis waits nervously!

Nikole whispers, "Almost through!" *cut* *cut* *cut*

The last bit of the rope gives way with a *snap*, and the carp drops into Darklis's waiting arms! It's _really_ heavy.

Nikole holds the rope-end in place!

Darklis *grrhng*!

A second later, the entire section of floor beneath you swings down, dropping Nikole, Darklis, carp, and assorted furniture down into darkness!

Darklis yells, "Oh, shit!"

Nikole shrieks as she plummets!

There's sudden commotion up above; you can hear people shouting as you hit the ground. Hard ground. Stone ground. Cellar-floor ground.

Nikole's breath goes out of her WHOOF!

The carp, happily, is cushioned by Darklis and does not break.

Darklis lands on her back THUD and doesn't, at least, break the carp. "Hnnng. Shit." Breathlessly, she starts looking for a way out!

Nikole clambers to her feet, scoops up her knife, and looks around!

It's dark, but some residual light filters down from the floor opening far above your heads. The cellar is full of random junk: abandoned bits of clothing, boxes, ancient furniture. Bones.

Darklis looks to see if there are any windows the ancient furniture can be piled up against so they can get away!

Darklis tries really hard to ignore the bones.

Nikole looks at the shaft they fell down. Any way back up to the first floor?

No windows. The only exit seems to be a steeply angled vent on one wall, leading up.

The parlor is far, above your heads; nothing you could stand on would get you even close.

Darklis climbs to her feet and stares up at the vent. "Furniture," she says, and sets the carp down to start shoving furniture up under it so it can be reached. If it's high up.

Nikole peers up the vent, since the shaft they fell down is closed on all sides.

There's a low growling sound.

Peering up the vent, Nikole can't see very much, but there seem to be flickers of light.

Nikole looks around for the source of the growling!

The vent is reachable by Nikoles on tiptoe and Darklises with a boost.

The source of the growling is...over in that corner.

Nikole tries climbing up the vent by pushing her back against one side and her feet against the other.

That works; Nikole can wedge herself into the vent and slowly wriggle up.

Meanwhile, there's a rustling in the corner, and a small troll crawls out and heads for Darklis!

Darklis grabs the carp, and holds it up to Nikole, and shrieks! "A troll!"

Nikole is pretty good at this, since it's a standard mountain-climbing technique.

Nikole says "Troll?!"

Nikole grabs Darklis's hand and tries to pull her up into the vent!

You can tell it's a troll because it has a big knobby nose, misshapen teeth, a squat body, and smells a lot like the troll beggar you met by the well. It's only about two feet tall, but it moves quite fast.

Darklis's ankle looks like the most delicious thing this troll has seen in years. It lunges to bite.

Darklis shrieks again and tries to scramble into the vent!

Nikole pushes out hard with her legs to wedge herself in so Darklis doesn't pull her down!

Darklis yanks her ankle out of the way in the nick of time, and, gibbering, tries to get into the vent without dropping the carp.

Darklis, with nothing even vaguely resembling grace, manages to scramble up into the vent, just managing to keep ahold of the stupid damned carp. "Go! Scoot! Up!" Sentences of one syllable, that's our Darklis.

Nikole is wedged in, so Darklis is going to have to go up ahead of her. At least Nikole is the one with the knife.

So now you're both wedged into a dark vent, with faint light above and a troll below. Now what?

There isn't room for Darklis to pass Nikole; single file only. Single wriggle.

The troll jumps up and down, slavering, trying to reach the vent. It's _just_ above its head.

Darklis squeaks! "Go! Go!"

Nikole at least stuffs the carp into her bag. It doesn't really fit, but at least that leaves her hands free so she can wriggle up further.

Darklis beams gratefully at Nikole.

Nikole squirms upward!

There is no room to in the bag for the carp, even if there were enough space to wriggle it up in there.

Nikole doesn't care if it sticks out on both ends, just so long as it's not in her hands. The bag is trailing down toward Darklis, so she should be able to stuff it in.

Squirming upward towards the light is feasible, though. As Nikole gets near the top, she can see that it's closed by a door; the light leaks in around the edges.

Darklis now has a big heavy bag with a fish in it dangling in her face.

Darklis also has no practice climbing scary mountain shafts. She'll just sort of ... sit here.

Nikole wiggles up to the door and tries to figure out how to open it.

Darklis wriggles awkwardly after Nikole, then. Wriggle wriggle.

The door has no handle or lock; it will push open easily.

Nikole takes her knife from her teeth with one hand, and pushes the door open with the other.

Darklis holds her breath. Please don't let there be any Indignant Carpowners on the other side of the door.

Nikole opens it just a crack at first.

Light. Lamplight.

Nikole wiggles her head around to where she can see out the crack. Crick. Ow.

Through the crack Nikole can see a scullery. And a big hand holding a cudgel. At least it's a human hand...