Flick will use the crowbar and attempt to pry open on of the crates.
Elrohir finds a crate with 3 sets of Leather Lamellar armor, all coated with a protective oil to keep the leather from drying out.
Connor saw Alister's eyes fluttering. "Welcome back to the land of the living." he told the barbarian. He quickly filled in Alister what had happened with the gun-toting gang members, as well as the newcomers that were helping them loot Kol's hideout.
Leading Alister into the main room, Connor showed him the various rooms. "I think Elrohir might need help. I'm going to help Reaghar." he said.
Connor braced himself as he activated Call Item by tattoo. Connor didn't like using that power. It made things appear out of thin air; as far as Connor knew, he was unique, the only person with the power. But the items that appeared were strange, exotic. Not normal-looking. Like the time he had made a hooded lantern appear and what he had got in his hands was a paper mache creation colored red and covered in unreadable glyphs. Connor had never let his clan know he had the power.
A crowbar appeared in Connor's hands. An ordinary, common-looking crowbar that hummed a little if you examined it. Connor breathed a sigh of relief. "Hey Reaghar, I have a crowbar for you, but I'll have to help." he told the larger man.
Alister gasped as consciousness returned to him, and then flinched as the pain followed shortly after, clutching his still-bloody chest. "Well, that'll wake you up," he says, feeling what would surely prove to be an interesting scar and flinching before catching up with Connor. Good to hear you've made some friends, then, and it's certainly good to be back. This'll sure as hell be a good story, someday, he says, pointing to the wound before flinching once more.
If offered further healing, he shakes his head. "I'll manage," he says, carrying on with whatever he's doing.
He finds, and proceeds to heft, his hammer, and cleans the blood from it, both his and his enemies', before helping others with their assorted looting.
Reaghar will assist Connor into opening crates.
Selvan pockets the contents of the rogue.
As people continue to open crates, you find :
3 Sets of Studded Leather (coated in protective oils)
2 Casks of Gunpowder
1 much smaller crate of lead bars (about half empty)
1 crate full of cold weather gear (5 sets)
1 crate full of field rations (50 rations)
1 portable alchemists lab (masquerading as a crate)
That is all crates opened except the 4x4x4 crate in Kol's room that's under the lead filled crate. None of them contained magic items.
As Selvan stands in the hallway, an old woman slowly makes her way up the stairs. She holds a short stick with a white rag tied to the end. She steps over the dead guard and walks toward Selvan, stopping 10 ft away.
"So, sounds like the war is over. The merchants voted I should come up here and find out who killed Kol and took over his territory. I can negotiate rates and such." The woman is an ancient looking elf, with dried parchment for skin and pure white hair.
Alys steps out of the reinforced room with the small chest in hand seeking out Sammark.
"Do you happen to have any tricks up your sleeve, that might get this lock off the chest? I didn't want to just chop it off, who knows what volatile materials might be inside, considering the whole place apparently deals solely in firearms and magic items.", She pauses "And I'm not sure we can trust these other people with it."
Connor continued walking inbetween the crates in Elrohir's room and the crates in Reaghar's room. "Something is not adding up here." he said out loud. "We saw Kol selling magical items. But there's not a single magic item in here. Either Kol was merely a middleman, or his stash is hidden better than the keys to my father's wine cabinet. It's time I started looking with my powers." Connor concentrated, and began looking methodically again.
Connor detects nothing.
Something is off with the floor plan.
Something is off with the floor plan, there's missing space east and west of the main area.
After a little while, Alister moves on to another room before he starts getting pissed off. "How long's everybody been lookin', Connor? Where the bloody hell is there left to look 'at hasn't been looked at?
In his rummaging, he pauses. "Is it me, or is there something off about this building, Connor?" he asks, stepping back to look around at the walls around him.
"I think the female elfavian ripped up the floorboards in Kol's room, but it was just a higher density of wood paneling. I was about to start picking apart the fireplace." Connor replied to Alister. "But..." Connor looked left and right, mentally calculating distances.
"Are there outside corridors that we missed?" Connor asked. "Because I'm coming up a couple of feet short east-to-west. The bedrooms are far too small to meet the outside walls, and Kol doesn't have neighbors on this floor." Connor walked outside to the ledge hallway and started pacing off the floor.
Alister joins Connor, trying to figure it out.
You say we're missing a few feet? Alister asks. Well, we'd better find them, he finishes, hefting his hammer to swing forcefully at the wall.
He almost immediately, after the blow connects, grunts and doubles over. I'll be alright, but I don't have many more of those left in me, he says, his wound trickling blood with the exertion.
"Watch out, you're still wounded." Connor admonished. "I could give you another healing tattoo, but I was saving it in case we were ambushed again. Should we start looking for hidden passages, or just swing and hope we don't hit anything explosive?"
Connor stepped back into the hallway briefly. "Hey Red-eye and Newbie!" he shouted. "Check the outer east-west walls for hidden passages. The Big Guy and me have the outside ledge." Connor then went back to assisting Alister.
Connor directed Hero to start searching the east end of the ledge corridor.
Can Reaghar use his Disrupt Pattern ability on objects, say to slowly chip through the wall?
Looking through all applicable rules I can find (the cryptic class, and its insights) i see no solid yes or no. I also looked through the forums to see if DSP has posted any official word.
There are some insights that provide a bonus to damaging objects, which leads me to believe it can be done.
that said, Disrupt Pattern does half damage to creatures not of the type, which a wall would not be of my active type. (1d6+4)/2 might be too little to even worry about vs wood (hardness 5), but it would be good to know about in the future.
Reaghar will have a fly around the outside of the building to look for passages, as well as see if any authorities are approaching.
It would work, but, you'd be doing 1/4 damage. 1/2 because it's not the right type of target, and 1/2 because it's magic/psionic vs object. So yeah, not really worth it against hardness.
Sammark makes a big show of studying the chest for Alys, tapping it and looking at it from every angle before he stands, motions for her to get behind him and thumps it with his full psionic might.
As Selvan stands in the hallway, an old woman slowly makes her way up the stairs. She holds a short stick with a white rag tied to the end. She steps over the dead guard and walks toward Selvan, stopping 10 ft away.
"So, sounds like the war is over. The merchants voted I should come up here and find out who killed Kol and took over his territory. I can negotiate rates and such." The woman is an ancient looking elf, with dried parchment for skin and pure white hair.
"We're no one, elder." Selvan says in his most respectful tone than points at Connor. "They however have come to lay claim to the half orc's magical possessions. Quite volatile and dangerous. You don't happen to know if you or the other merchants saw his gang transport crates through here?"
Selvan attempts diplomacy!
Selvan uses knowledge engineering!
Pulling Alys and Sammark aside he points out two areas both east and west of the main area.
The old woman squints at Selvan (And Sammark and Alys when Selvan calls them out). "Never had any issues with magic, so I don't care about that. I do care about the fact you lot killed off the protectors of this area. You going to make us a center for a gang war as everyone around tries to take over this area."[b] She spits on the floor at Selvan's feet. [b]"How many of my people gonna get killed because you lot decided to come in and kill off a gang to steal their trinkets? Hope Alcinea sends you to the 9th level..." The old woman turns and begins to slowly walk away, her shoulder tight with anger.
Sammark begins trying to damage the lock, and the chest vibrates hard, and then explodes.
Gold coins, broken and busted jewelry, and cracked gems fly out like shrapnel.
Connor & Alister find nothing where they are.
Alister's hammer finds the wall to be both flimsy and solid. The outer layer of paneling cracks quite handily.
The heavy layer of metal strapped wood on the other side of it rebounds his hammer easily. There's about an eighth of an inch between the panelling and the reinforced wall behind it (and that looks more like age warping than an intentional space).
"Metal." Connor said, looking closely while Alister hefted his hammer. "I say we continue. Hero," he called over his shoulder, "keep inspecting your side for trapdoors. Do you want to try every connecting wall in each of the bedrooms on this side, Alister? It might take-" Connor asked, his question cut off by a loud -boom!- coming from inside Kol's hideout.
"Now what?" Connor sputtered. He walked to the hallway into the main area, only to see coins and gemstones lying everywhere. The half-elf and the elfavian stood at the center of what was left of a small wooden chest on the floor. "Before the incriminations begin," Connor drawled to the two, "may I ask if either of you are injured? I have a healer's kit."
Aly looks at the old woman with dismay. She pulls slevan closer and talks in a lowered tone, "Look, I am aware you and Sam probably don't care, but we can't just leave these people here at the front of some gang war. We need to do something."
Alys manages to dodge the worse part of the shrapnel. She regains her posture: "You know, a simple 'no', would have done the trick. There is a reason I was not trying hitting the thing with a big sword. You're lucky I was wrong."
She turns to Connor about to turn the offer down, but then she takes a look at her own body, looking over the various gunshot wounds: "It wasn't exactly the first hit I took today, perhaps i could use a bandage or two.", she sighs, "And a new dress..."
"Not our concern." Selvan says flatly. "We're no more responsible for the gang wars than we are for their safety. Besides, had we not arrived he would have died regardless. We're after a bigger problem."
Alister listens to Connor before he's interrupted by the blast, and then follows to investigate with him. Looks like we match, eh? he asks the elfavian, noticing her bullet wounds. "It's a shame I wasn't the only one who got hit, huh? Ah, well, at least it looks like the only casualties were Kol's guys.
He extends a hand, moving his hammer to his other shoulder. "I'm Alister, nice to meet ya."
Once that little conversation is complete, Alister turns to Connor. "Back to trying the bedrooms, I guess?"
Connor took off his backpack, getting his healer's kit out. Stepping up to Alys, he examined her arm and shoulder.
"Not yet, Alister, or you go ahead." Connor looked over at the half-elf, trying to gauge his wounds. He couldn't tell what was blood from this explosion and what was blood from before. Connor began wrapping the blonde's wounds with the bandages.
"While we're telling each other names," Connor began, "I'm Connor. Red-eye over there and Newbie are also with us. We're not gang members, we're just vigilantes trying to stop people from buying all these dangerous magical items that have sprung up in the city. Don't pay attention to our Clan colors." the humavian told them, touching his sleeve cuff and shirt collar colors. "What's your complaint with Kol? Just to make sure you're not after his domicile, here. Once we find the magical items we're contacting the Magical Disposal Authority and we're out of here."
"Thank you. We're looking to stop the magic item influx completely. Actually hoping to be able to interrogate Kol as to wether he has any superiors, but since he's dead...", Alys responds consciously avoiding the topics of names or employers.
"Yeah, Kol thought this was a rival guild takeover, and didn't want to cooperate. I yelled to him about the magic items, but Kol was stubborn." Connor told Alys. "Have you found any papers? Or lead-lined boxes? My detect mindpower hasn't come up with a single aura. The bodies do have a healing tattoo on them, however, and I haven't check the three you killed outside in the stairways."
Connor looked back at the half-elf as well as the still-nameless elfavian. "It looks like we had the same goal here. I glad we didn't shoot each other, and only Kol's henchmen. But we still haven't found any smuggled items. Maybe we should work together."
Connor took off his backpack, getting his healer's kit out. Stepping up to Alys, he examined her arm and shoulder.
"Not yet, Alister, or you go ahead." Connor looked over at the half-elf, trying to gauge his wounds. He couldn't tell what was blood from this explosion and what was blood from before. Connor began wrapping the blonde's wounds with the bandages."While we're telling each other names," Connor began, "I'm Connor. Red-eye over there and Newbie are also with us. We're not gang members, we're just vigilantes trying to stop people from buying all these dangerous magical items that have sprung up in the city. Don't pay attention to our Clan colors." the humavian told them, touching his sleeve cuff and shirt collar colors. "What's your complaint with Kol? Just to make sure you're not after his domicile, here. Once we find the magical items we're contacting the Magical Disposal Authority and we're out of here."
Alister nods. "Not like I'd be much use helping her out. Might as well do something useful," he says, moving to the bedroom and slamming the hammer against the back wall.
"You asked for help," Sam said, plucking splinters from his face, "So I helped. What did you expect?"
He follows the others and mostly remains silent during the conversation. The newcomers did not exactly inspire confidence in him but that may merely be his ingrained prejudices talking.
As the group talks and get's to know each other a bit, they search around the rooms. The following things are found out...
People with a +5 or better on Perception notice that the floors in room 1 (Northwest room with crates) and room 10 (Kol's room, southeast room) both have extremely heavily reinforced floors. In addition, both rooms have crates heavy a sin, filled with lead bricks and dust on top of them, as if they'd not been opened in months.
Sammark (with his +8 perception), after looking at both rooms with some help (aid another +2), realizes why the floors in the rooms are both heavily reinforced, and also scuffed and heavily damaged.
Those giant heavy crates are blocking secret doors. If someone with sufficient strength could move those crates, the access to the doors would be there. But, there's only room for one person to do the moving, and the only place to put them is behind them on the floor, blocking off access to the room by others. Each of those lead crates weighs about 600 lbs. The floors that aren't reinforced won't handle that load, and anyone carrying a crate that heavy will crash through the floor into the first floor area.
"There's apparently a secret door. Its not going to be easy to access though" Elrohir proceeds to explain the problem.
"If we empty the crate, it'll be easier to move."
"My thoughts exactly. No need to tug around the entire thing. If we pull off a side of the crate we could just shovel the lead out quickly."
The two groups end up working on the two rooms, Sammark and his group working on Kol's room, and Elrohir and his group on the storage room.
Cracking open the boxes and moving the lead out takes about an hour per crate, so two more hours.
The secret doors are then laid bare, there were some small bits of metal on Kol that nobody thought were more than a necklace, but once the doors are revealed, it's easy to see the two bits slide into the secret doors to unlock them.
The doors pop open, with an almost hiss as air begins flowing out. At least Elorhir's door hisses as the air inside floods out. The most noxious odor the McIntyre group has ever smelled comes flowing out on a steady wind.
Stepping inside, Sammark tugs on a hanging string, and the glow stone lamps open, lighting the room. There's a table in the end with a chair and tools for working on firearms. There is a shelf with 3 2x2x2 cases, the cases are coated with runes and heavy steel chains around them. The chains are loose, and locks lay next to the cases. There are plaques on the top of the cases.
WARNING - MAGICAL CONTRABAND
FOR DESTRUCTION ONLY
As you fight off the vomits from the smell, Hero begins to talk in your head.
Hey boss! Boss! There's like, 15 people out here standing around, just staring at me! I don't like it! They're just staring, not moving! And I can only see 40 ft, there may be more! I don't like this! Some of them have bows...
Reaghar leaves the room and paints the hallway wall with day-old boxty stew.
Alys steps up and looks at the crates: "I didn't actually expect to find crates that say "magical contraband" on them when I said that. But I suppose this works for me.", she taps her lower lip vwith a finger: "So I'm going to make a wild guess and say they procured this stuff from the disposal authority somehow."
Connor's face turned green, and he ran after Reaghar into the hallway. Finding a potted plant, Connor manifested Call Ralph and started fertilizing the flora.
Unable to speak, he sent Hero a telepathic message. Hide. I've got to warn the others...
Spitting to clear his throat, Connor croaked out a warning, weakly at first, but with greater strength as he repeated himself. "Am-bush! Ambush! The ledge! AMBUSH! LEDGE HALLWAY!"
Alister, in his weakened state, also begins throwing up. He holds onto the side of the crate which held lead, and spews into the corner.
Sam frowns at the alarm, "Whoever they are will be aware there are others in the building now. Cut and run?" He asks Selvan and Alys.
"I'm all in favor of getting out of here, for now. But I don't think the staircase is much of an option." she looks at Sammark: "Maybe tall dark and handsome out there might be able to carry you and we could all take the ledge exit; fewer people to punch through... I hope.", as her mind blade manifests again Alys heads out into the corridor and takes cover at the eastern hallway door. "Let me know how you decide!"
"Cut and Run" Selvan agrees blushing only slightly at Alys's offhand probably untrue compliment. "Over the roof and into the sky. We have what we came for."
As Selvan, Alys, and Sammark duck down the hallway toward the landing...
...Alys is first to reach the opening for the ledge...
...and she get's a confused glimpse of what looks like 30 or 40 people outside arranged in a circle around the landing...
...a hail of glass bottles, arrows, bolts, bottles, rocks, and bullets (two varieties) slam into the wall in front of her, missing her only because of the cover provided by the walls.
The patter of attacks slow down, but doesn't stop, after she does. Things slam into the wall in front of her. Including a flask of Liquid Ice that slams into the wall in front of her, dousing her with a splash of sub-zero liquid.
From the amount of things hitting the back of the hallway wall, there must be about 30 or so people out there with various weapons aimed at the opening.
They aren't very good shots.
They aren't very good shots, but they don't need to be, there's a lot of them.
They aren't very good shots, but they don't need to be, there's a lot of them. The mix of weapons is more mob than gang or militia. A pitchfork flung into the opening would complete the picture perfectly.
AH AH AH! THEY ARE TRYING TO KILL ME! RESCUE ME! OUCH OUCH OUCH COLD! COLD! COLD! IT BURNS COLD!
A small something comes flying in from the ledge, about the size of a someone's thumb. It climbs up Alys's leg and dives into her shirt and hides in her bra. It's VERY cold and shivers.
OOOH! NICE HIDING PLACE! YAY! Connor receives a mental image of hero's hiding place. WAY BETTER THAN THE BOX! AND WARM! I'M SO COLD!
Alys ducks down quickly: "S#!+! There's a whole mob waiting for us outside! I don't think we'd survive the crossfire from so many, even if we try to get to the roof first. -what the hell is that?!" she turns to Sammark and Selvan as she grabs the little thing and pulls it out: "Let's scoop up those other guys and see if we get a proper defense going. I don't see a way out until we can create a massive distraction. I'll worry about this thing later"