Not a sound was made as Fieri's leathery tail slithered along the confines of Haldric's Prison-Castle. The halls ahead, barren and looted long ago, were dimly lit by still-burning torches helpfully placed by the castle's previous plunderers. The gloomy light emitted by the torches playfully flickered along the floor, revealing conspicuously missing tiles. On closer inspection, the tiles appeared to be pressure plates long-ago uprooted, their mechanic innards looted and sold. A brief splash of inspiration struck Fieri-- [i]the forester said something about this castle being filled with traps. All I need to do it loot them, and I'll be [b]rich![/b][/i] An evil glint shone in Fieri's eye, as a whole range of mercantile opportunities opened themselves to her. Fieri slithered on.

The nondescript, winding walls of the Prison-Castle gradually began to reveal more and more of their creator's [i]personal[/i] tastes. Though the castle's ancient traps had been made almost obnoxiously conspicuous through either previous adventurers' markings or their mechanisms obvious absence, they were becoming alarmingly common. Every few yards, another shattered or removed pressure plate would cross her view. Whatever the Prison-Castle's previous occupants did, it was clear that they had to do it [i]carefully[/i]. The sheer density of traps on this floor spoke volumes of the Mad King's paranoia. Fieri, harrowed but unwilling to turn back, occupied herself by brainstorming. Fieri, being an entrepreneur, knew that she couldn't earn any customers by simply offering [i]services[/i], she would have to offer [i]goods[/i] as well. A proof of concept could go a long way to ensure that she would be worth the money she wanted from them. To do that, she would need to [i]Artifice[/i]. To Artifice, she needed [i]ideas.[/i] It was at that point that Fieri activated a cleverly-hidden spike trap.

In retrospect, Fieri probably shouldn't have been thinking so hard on what enchantments would be useful, especially given where she [i]was.[/i] It was only thanks to dumb luck and the misfortune of a previous adventurer that Fieri avoided impalement. Instead of meeting hard, rusty steel at the end of a spike, Fieri was instead struck with the corpse of a leather-clad humanoid, rotted far beyond the point of recognizability. For a moment, Fieri was dumbstruck. Then, like a bloated float rising from the depths, Fieri emitted an animal noise, mindless and pained. What started as an idiot's croak grew quickly into a shrill scream, and Fieri flung herself backwards until her back slammed into the wall. Fieri, overcome with panic, curled up into the fetal position, and began sobbing hysterically.