Storn of Gorum |
Storn huffs at Quill's obvious irritation. The iron-clad northerner's armour looks scoured clean from his few scant moments in the blob; his skin is reddened and messy hair is curled and frizzed at the ends.
"Bah, make up your mind, you were all about fists yesterday!"
Storn then looks over the room curiously at the iron.
"Hmph. Blob thing didn't eat my armour. I bet it was meant to be in here, and kept in here. Good practice, encasing everything in iron."
He then makes his way past Mariana through the unlocked door.
"See? Traps don't exist. But you never send a horde of bloodthirsty barbarians to rip out the spleens of their enemies without sending your scouts up ahead first. Or uh, unlock the door."
Storn steps into the room, waiting for a moment for another blob to eat him before he looks the place over.
Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16
Quill the Fletcher |
Quill looks agog at Storn, wondering what he did now to offend the big man. "I'm sorry..." Quill mumbles and steps out of Storn's way, letting the big man to the secret door.
As others move along, Quill takes the end, trying to get far away from the man who is constantly yelling (at him or otherwise).
p.s. Keep it up, Storn, I love it. It's good RP.
DM Bigrin |
The door opened into the main room with the white sword mosaic set in a circle of light gray marble, and you were able to get a clear idea of the things only glimpsed through the portcullis. The ladder leading upwards ended at a wooden trapdoor, it's bolts open and allowing the trap to be pulled upwards. Against the wall on the other side of the portcullis, just out of arms reach of the opening, was a large brass lever. On the floor beneath it sat a wooden chest. On the northern wall was an empty bookshelf.
A short hallway led east, connecting to the hallway there. Another led north, with two doors leading off of it, one to the north (D,E/5), and the other to the west (E/5,6).
Quill the Fletcher |
"Ooh, the ladder!" Quill remembers, moving to jump on the rungs and climb up. "I wonder where this goes. Probably up." Take 10 climb to see where it goes. Will climb down if it looks dangerous.
DM Bigrin |
Quill climbs the ladder 10 feet to the trapdoor and gently raises it. Peering out through the crack, he saw the charred iron legs of many beds. It appears that the trapdoor leads to the open spot between the beds in the big room above. He sees no sign of the charred corpses that previously frightened them all out of the room.
Vashta Denaria |
*sigh* Apparently I can't read. Sorry!
"The road isn't ready to turn around yet, Quill. I think we have more to discover down here."
She turns to the north, looking to see what else may have been blocked by the portcullis.
"Mariana?" she says, gesturing for the slight woman to precede her.
Mariana Trellis |
"How about we see what is in there, first?" with that, Mariana moves over to the chest and checks it for traps.
1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26
Remove Traps: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12
Open Lock: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (16) + 8 = 24
DM Bigrin |
Mariana looked over the chest and found a small needle trap in the lock. Fiddling with the enclosure, she thought she had disabled it. She undid the locking mechanism, but as she finished, the needle sprang out and pricked her finger. Immediately she felt a warm flush around the puncture as the toxin on the needle flowed into her bloodstream.
Mariana must make a DC12 Fort save or take 1d2 ⇒ 2 strength damage
Quill the Fletcher |
Quill returns down the ladder, looking over Mariana's shoulder as she works.
"Oh no! Did that get you, Mariana? Are you okay?" Quill wonders what he can do for the woman.
Mariana Trellis |
1d20 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 2 = 14
Wincing as she bites her finger and gives it a suck fighting the poison, then giving a spit. "Finally...proof of traps..."
DM Bigrin |
The trunk opens to reveal an eclectic selection of goods, obviously taken from different sources. There was some alchemical items, clothing, jewelry, thieve's tools, and a lot of loose coins.
I am putting together a loot list for you guys. I'll have it up soon. Sorry I hadn't done this already.
Vashta Denaria |
"They probably came down the trap door; or bypassed the portcullis the other way. Though the question of who is certainly a good one. Perhaps our mystery artist? Who may be our killer too. The better question may be why? I've found the answer's not usually to my liking."
Storn of Gorum |
Storn grumbles but doesn't say much. "Stupid traps. FINE. I owe you a drink."
He crouches down and looks in the chest. "I see alchemy stuff. A disguise kit. A fancy outfit. And lock picks. There was the idea that the sword graffiti is alchemy stuff, that could play in with all of this, right? What would one person use this all for?"
Quill the Fletcher |
Quill glances over the loot, not seeing anything of immediate interest to him. "There are more new questions than ones being answered here."
Quill looks over the chest and trapdoor again.
"It's possible this chest and room has nothing to do with the blob or the murder too. With the ladder, they might not even know about the knife and blob. One could enter and leave here and never cross paths with where the dagger was not the blob. Besides, why would they leave the dagger upstairs when they have a locked chest below?"
Mariana Trellis |
"I doubt that the owner of this chest did not know about the ooze thing, however, I believe the hopeknife likely was outside of their gaze. The real question is...do we leave this here as a trap and hide and wait...or do we take it and come back later to to try and catch the owner..." Mariana says as she continues to shake her hand, the needle annoying her more than anything.
Quill the Fletcher |
Quill moves to F8, bringing his light to look up the hallway/door (?) in that direction.
"Yeah, maybe. Lots more questions, huh, Mariana," Quill replies, happy that someone answered him without yelling or slapping or punching.
1d20 + 10 ⇒ (10) + 10 = 20 Perception
Quill the Fletcher |
Yay Vashta! I was waiting for someone else to post this weekend.
"I've looked, they seem fine to me. Just doors. Ain't no reason to fear doors, after all...any traps are usually on chests, like Storn says," Quill offers.
"I'd say open the left door first, but I dunno...this place is crazy."
Yelena Shukhov |
Yelena looks over the loot. "I believe these items used to belong to the citizens of Trunau, but I doubt that it belonged to anyone still living. Perhaps we can put them to better use than moldering in a chest." The paladin hear Quill speculating on the nature of the door in front of them. "But then again, perhaps every door in this building was trapped, and only that last one was actually set off. Huh? Huuuuuuh?" She turns to Mariana, "Do you want to try again? Or do you want me to just hit it with my hammer from a safe distance?
Storn of Gorum |
Storn stands back and shrugs, his scale male creaking with the movement.
"Well somebody has to check for something or I'm kicking the door down. It's only reasonable."
Quill the Fletcher |
"Well somebody has to check for something or I'm kicking the door down. It's only reasonable."
"I've looked, they seem fine to me. Just doors. Ain't no reason to fear doors, after all..." Quill offers.
Quill waits.
Storn of Gorum |
"That's the spirit Quill!"
Storn stomps over to the left door and swings it open enthusiastically.
Opening F5
DM Bigrin |
Storn pushed the door open to reveal a small furnace room. An old cast-iron furnace and a pile of coal occupy most of the room's floor. Most of the rest was taken up by a young man - more of a boy, really - tied up and crying softly to himself.
As the door opened, the boy screamed, "Please don't kill me!" He stopped hollering almost immediately when he saw Storn, however, and said more reasonably "Who are you? It doesn't matter. Please free me and help me get home! Hurry, before they come back!"
Quill the Fletcher |
Quill looks at the boy, disappointed that Vashta had gotten there first.
Is the boy from Trunau? Does Quill recognize him?
"Who? Who exactly might come back?"
DM Bigrin |
Quill doesn't recognize the boy by name, though he thinks he might have seen him at a number of festivals. If he is a local, he likely comes from one of the farms outlying Trunau.
The boy wrung his hands over his wrists where the cords had bit into them. "That half-orc that caught me and put me in here. I been here for days! Please, I want to go home."
Vashta Denaria |
"Of course we'll take you home," Vashta says, cutting the boy's ties. "What's your name? And where do you live? How did the half-orc catch you?"
Sense Motive (untrained) because Vashta's got a suspicious player: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4 Oh, he's definitely telling the truth.
Had we heard anything about missing people?
Storn of Gorum |
Storn stares at the boy, flabbergasted.
"Wait, what?!" He moves to the side to let Vashta untie the child.
"Hrmph. Kidnapping children. I don't approve of that."
Kneel down, Storn looks over the child to ensure he's not injured, and also to carefully listen to his story.
Heal: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15
Sense MOtive: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 3 = 12
Quill the Fletcher |
Quill helps the boy up.
"Come now, I'll get you out of here right now," Quill offers, walking back to the ladder. "I'll go up first, then you follow, and I'll walk you to the front door. You can walk back, yes? Go and tell Kurst of what happened to you."
Quill will go up the ladder first, walking the kid to the front door, taking a look around before sending the boy to the walls of Trunau.
1d20 + 10 ⇒ (14) + 10 = 24 Perception
Vashta Denaria |
"Well, that's good to know, Storn. I think we were all a little concerned you might be OK with it."
Vashta smiles to make sure there's no sting in her jibe.
"Perhaps we shouldn't send the boy off alone? How much more could there be to this place? I think he's safest if we keep him with us."
Mariana Trellis |
"Perhaps we should head back to town, and then come back down here without the young man in tow. After the sheer amount of surprises this place has offered, it might be best to step out and back in to ensure we do not bring him to further harm?" Mariana does not like this and it just keeps getting worse. "We need to find this half-orc and make him pay."
Sheesh...kid was throwing up all morning and I didn't touch my computer until now...egads you guys have been busy!
Molly Blackfoot |
"Any idea what he wanted you for, kid?" Molly asks while she slots a fresh arrow into her crossbow and winds the crank.
'This would be a perfect moment for the jerk to show his face and attack us from behind...' she thinks, looking around for signs of danger.
Perception 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10
Yelena Shukhov |
Sense Motive 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17
"I would hope that the half-orc will return for the boy and give us a chance to ambush him, but the damage we did getting in here would be more than enough to tip him off. Boy, do you know why he wanted you? We may still be able to ambush him outside the house if we can lay a trap."
DM Bigrin |
"Name's Othdan, and my folks have a pig farm up north a ways. I was just looking around here, minding no one's business but my own, when this hulking great half-orc grabbed me. He started yelling about me spying on them and tied me up and threw me in here. Please, we need to hurry before he gets back! "
The boy looked worriedly all about, craning his neck to look behind you and to the sides. He was in relatively good health, with the abrasions on his wrists left by the ropes the only injury he had other than a few bruises. As Storn looked him over, the boy saw his waterskin. "Mister, can I have a drink? I'm really thirsty. I can drink as we move."