Chapter 15: Imtarumbar

Tirion stared at the disappearing bodies in amazement, which rapidly turned to anger.
"This house is eating them! Drinking their very life-blood!"
Leaving his post, Tirion took two flasks of oil from his pack. Handing one to Fred, he quickly moved toward Eoras' body and dowsed the body with oil. Once this is done, he took the torch offered by Fred and lit it on fire.
Taurvantar bowed his head and as all watched their companion's body burn, the peredhil sang a song, to remember Eoras, a traveller who had left his road to help those who might be in danger, and fight against evil in a land not his own.
The orcs, even the one who was still alive, continued to sink farther into the floor as did the burning body of Eoras. But the progress was so slow, that the agonized cries of the wounded orc assailed their ears for some time. Even as the party watched, trying to deafen themselves to these hideous sounds, they were horrified to see that the oil eventually sputtered out, leaving blackened and charred, yet still relatively whole remains of what had been Eoras.
"By Eru, forgive me!"
Taurvantar pulled his sword free and hacking and sawing at the body, cut the front half of it clear from the floor. It was terribly grisly business and Fred and Tirion turned away, unable to bear witness to such deeds. Barely holding in his lunch, Daern stopped to help Taurvantar heap the black and bloody giblets of flesh and bone up onto one of the tables. There, dousing it with oil, what remained of Eoras was set on fire. Taurvantar began his song again, without interuption now as the wounded orc fell quiet. Fred tried to talk to it, but it just stared out with glassy eyes. It too was dead.
Taurvantar immediately went to work on the other bodies of the orcs, chipping away at the floor with one of their rusty blades. Seeing no hafted blades, he settled for the broad scimitar of the orc he had fought.
"Look," Fred pointed.
All could see that, just as it had in the foyer, the floor bled as if living. And just as it had earlier, it healed itself, stone growing new stone.
Wiping the sweat from his brow, Taurvantar tossed the orcish scimitar aside. He turned to the others.
"Well, that is the first of our number fallen. Soon, like Englorion's band, we shall all fall one by one, and with each of us fallen, a new warriour there will be for this cursed house. I say we forget this methodical search and now find a way to bring a swift end to this place. Let us search out the pool Ranciryon had spoken of, and then the school room. There is a way to defeat this place, I know it. We just need to find the clues."
Though listening to his words, no one could suggest another course, so like tired sheep, they followed what moved, and that was the will of Taurvantar.
"I think I should have a drink of that potion," Fred muttered to Ordain. "Seems to have done wonders for Taurvantar."
Making great speed, the party followed Ranciryon and Taurvantar, as the Numenorean led them back past the distrurbed dust of previous steps and down into the great ice room, where torn bodies writhed in a grisly dance, while hung up on hooks. Still, these bits of corpses, probably intended as orc food, seem to offer no threat, so the party continued through the secret door in one of the great casks and progressed through twisting stone corridors that had many doors, as yet unexplored. Bypassing a door that Ranciryon warned was full of undead, the party skitted by nervously until they stopped near the end of the corridor.
"That way," Ranciryon pointed, "leads down to the great barred door, with runes carved upon it. And here," he pointed again, "is the room where the pool lies."
Opening the door to the room, the party entered. Their torches bit at the darkness, casting it aside with flickers of light that danced everywhere, but left shadows in the corners. The room was 20' square, and set in one wall was a door, but all the other walls appeared blank. Set in the middle of the rough stone floor, bordered by a raised portion of seamless marble was a pool of water.
Fred brought a candle to it's surface, the liquid reacted by glowing, its translucent depths beckoning. The reflective water magnified the light until the faces of the party were uplit by the radiance from the pool. Then the light faded and it was as if light were sucked from their torches and candle, so that they gave off only a portion of the light they had once given.
"What do we do now?" Kal asked.
"I have a theory," Ordain voiced. "When I remember what Ranciryon told us, and judging from other things I have seen in this house, I believe blood is the key."
"Blood!," Fred looked wide eyed at the Dunedain. "Whose blood?"
Ordain shrugged. "Why anyone's. Mine, I suppose will suffice." Taking out a knife, Ordain did something that surprised everyone. He stabbed his forearm with the point of the knife, letting some drops of blood fall into the pool. The water reacted by glowing as if on fire. In fact, it did seem to burn with a blue radiance, and within its depths, images could be seen.
Tiron bent down. "I think I see something," he exclaimed, though no one looked at him. All were bent down, looking at the pool.
But the something was gone in an instant and the pool was dark again. A strange chill had also entered the room and everyone was quiet.
"Well, I guess I was right," Ordain surmised. "Now all we need is more blood." Everyone looked around, but no one stepped forward.

Yes indeed, the goblets indeed contained blood, much of which was spilled onto the floor where it was absorbed. You do recall two goblets that had blood in them, but Fred himself poured these out in a corner, before stowing away the goblets.
JK

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