There is nothing of note in the room. Tags sewn into some discarded clothing are partly faded but say something like "Eskar" on them. The clothing appears to belong to a woman of slight build.
The guards outside the south door do not appear to notice Vox.
Vox makes her way, slowly and carefully, back down to the main corridor. Where do we need to go? If that first room was an audience chamber and the study was for the Baron then there must be something else there... the bloody thing was locked after all!
You were too focused on the desk last time. Comes Iolaire's measured reply. Get back in there and examine the whole room. If you're right and it is the Baron's study there must be something there. Why else would guards be posted nearby?
Vox slips back down the corridor and proceeds to jimmy the locks rapidly to make her way back to the study.
Vox finds a secret door that can be triggered by pulling out a copy of "An Annotated History of the Settlers along the Banks of the Western Anterra".
Some of the books in the room look incredibly old .
Aha! Vox remembers to only exclaim mentally as she finds that "An Annotated History of the Settlers along the Banks of the Western Anterra" is not actually as dull as it seems. Before going through the doorway she makes sure that she has relocked the door to the study and checked that there is a way to open the secret door from inside.
Once she's reassured that there is as little trace of her presence as possible Vox heads through the secret door and pulls it gently shut behind her before continuing on down the (presumably dark) passage/hall/thing...
On this side of the secret door, there is a clear trigger mechanism. The room is dry and lifeless. There are no furnishings, only a ladder in the center of the western wall leading downwards to a dark passage leading north.
Vox listens carefully at the top of the ladder before descending, taking the time to let her eyes adjust to the much lower level of lighting.
The corridor darkens as it turns a corner to the northwest. Vox cannot see all the way down the hall.
Carefully Vox reaches into one of her many pockets and extracts a small torch which burns with a blue flame. Despite closing her hand around it entirely when Vox releases the stone back into the air it floats around her head, flame intact and shedding light.
With this source of illumination she creeps forward and peers subtly round the corner, catching her torch in one hand before she does so.
As Vox continues down the corridor, which turns at one point, she starts hearing a ruckus coming from higher up and further down. At first, it sounds like construction, but upon getting closer, it turns out to be the kind of snoring that could wake the dead. Another ladder leads up at the end of the hall.
Worried by the sheer volume of the snoring sound Vox continues stealthily down the corridor before climbing the ladder towards the noise.
As Vox approaches the ladder, she notices a secret door next to it and slight rustling on the other side.
Halting by the secret door Vox listens carefully. Drawing Iolaire and nocking an arrow she pushes at the door, ready to face whatever is on the other side.
https://app.roll20.net/join/1501806/wa1KhA
There is no magic on the other side.
Vox finds a nest of three dire rats on the other side but is able to surprise them before they notice her.
As the door opens Vox's reflexes, highly strung, allows her to shoot quickly at not one but two rats, although the darkness makes accurate targeting difficult.
Vox's second arrow flies straight into a rat's heart.
The other two rats scurry forward and attempts to bite Vox, to no avail.
Leaping swiftly back to the other side of the door Vox takes aim again and shoots again at the remaining rats from point blank range!
Vox takes the rats out in one fell swoop. The last of them twitches slightly and subsides.
With that excitement out of the way, she is able to get a look at the room. It is small and contains nothing but a simple though fairly comfortable-looking cot.
The snoring continues unabated above.
Vox, with Iolaire's amgical senses aiding her, takes the time to search the hidden room thoroughly before continuing down the passage way.
There is a secret door in the wall.
Vox tries the door, deploying her picks if necessary.
The door leads to a hallways with many close-set doors, one of which is open and has voices coming from it.
"...still don't understand why we need the door open to play cards," says an amused female voice.
"It's only proper," a man returns back stiffly. "Might want a nap soon, though. My next shift is at four, and it's in the dungeon."
She sighs. "That's always a tiring one. I thought it would be easier once they gave up. You think they really did try to kill the Baron?"
A roll of dice. "Hit par! Ten for me. It's his word against theirs, isn't it? Best keep your head down around the others if you like a steady wage. Azalor doesn't like questions."
Vox creeps along the corridor after shutting the secret door carefully behind her. She listens carefully at each door, although she avoids the open one as best she can, waiting for the clatter of dice before she slips past.
Vox passes around 6 doors. Other than the open one, they seem to be empty or have the sounds of heavy breathing, such as from sleep. Halfway down the corridor, a ray of sunshine streams in over a staircase that leads up towards a door to the outside.
There are more doors further down the hallway, mirroring the end of the hall that Vox entered through.
What do you think Iolaire? I suspect we've stumbled on the guards quarters. Not much here we need.
Taking the bow's silence for assent Vox returns to the secret door and slips back into the passageway, closing it behind her. As she returns to the previous passage the breathing sound grows louder again.
The snoring continues, this time with a bit more wheezing and grunting thrown in.
Taking her time and being careful Vox approaches the ladder and climbs down.
The room up the ladder is large, particularly compared to the tightly-packed rooms in the basement, though rather sparsely decorated. The source of the snoring can be traced to a blanketed figure on the high bed in the corner, of which only a tan arm is visible.
The snoring suddenly stops and is replaced by a murmur of "No, Elskar," but then the blankets fly off and the man in the bed shoots up, blinking blearily before he realizes he's not alone.
He fumbles on the bedside table and manages to grab a dagger, which he points at her. He pulls the blankets back over his bare legs, not taking his eyes off Vox.
"Who the hell are you, sweetheart?"
Vox moves swiftly, leaping back down the ladder and using it and her gloved hands to slow the fall from lethal to merely breakneck. Landing into a tuck and roll to bleed momentum she hurries down the corridor to the secret door and tucks herself in the shadows.
"Come back here!" floats down from the room, followed by a crash and some cursing.
The guard eventually bursts out of the trap door, a small torch in hand, but misses Vox's hiding spot and charges through the tunnel, yelling threats as he goes.
Vox stays put, waiting for a few minutes until the man either returns or she thinks the alarm may have died down. This is getting difficult Iolaire. The house may well be on alert now and we still don't know where these dungeons are...
The guard comes clattering back into the room, wild-eyed.
"I know you're still here!" he shouts. "It's the dungeons if I find you!"
Vox breathes deeply, then throws her voice across the room, making it sibilent and breathy. "But that's where I am dear boy... magic, it's so useful... go back to sleep little mouse. I might not come in your dreams again..."
The guard freezes and backs up, standing against the door. He points his torch towards the ladder.
"Where are you really?" he asks, his voice calmer than before. "Who are you?"
"My name is Vox, and I came to end the plague that curses this town. I bear you no ill will, I simply wish to find the dungeons - your master has imprisoned evil beneath his manor to line his own pockets. I would end that evil and see justice served." Vox has to stifle a cough at the end of this sentence, throwing her voice around the room is challenging for more than a line or two.
(21 if the bonus from Social Grace applies in Vigilante mode as well)
The guard lowers his torch.
"Vox, eh? Heard of you. Will you swear to me that you're not looking to cause any harm? Been asking the Baron for the cure for my mother, but I can't afford his prices. Bastard will cure us to avoid getting it in the household, but not our kin."
He sighs. "We don't know much about the prisoners, but I'll let you talk to them. The way to the dungeon is through the guard tower, first door to the right when you enter. I can call a meeting on the lawn to get the guards away while you go in."
"I swear to you that I seek to cause no harm to the people of the house, only to prevent this plague and restore justice. Do you know where the Baron keeps his collections? I will need to take the cure in order to save people like your mother - I fear ending the plague will do nothing for those already affected."
See Iolaire? Sometimes just asking nicely will do the trick.
Vox will follow the guard at a distance and once he gets the other guards together will slip into the tower and use the first door on the right.
"All right, maggots, listen up! One of you let Tombo loose, and we're not leaving the grounds until we get ahold of that darned cat!" Vix hears her ally bark as she slips into the guard tower, an octagonal room at the front of house. There are staircases leading upwards and downwards.
Vox takes the first door on the LEFT and heads downwards towards the dungeons. She proceeds slowly and carefully, keeping to the shadows where possible and stretching her eyes and ears to the limit.
A large metal trapdoor tethered against the wall is propped open at the entrance to the dungeon. A spiral staircase leads downwards to a a small landing, lit by a single everburning torch. There is a thick wooden door, which is locked .
A chair lays askew next to the door, a paperback ("The Conquest of Count Roderigo") laid on its spine underneath.
A persistent clanging can be heard through the door, along with a muffled voice.
"You can't just leave her there, she's been in that room for days!"
"Wait and be silent. You will be rescued shortly" Vox throws her voice through the door, hoping that the shouting from the other side will cease.
Settling down with her lockpicks she goes to work on the door.
The lock is similar to those upstairs and it is the work of seconds for Vox to tweak the lever back through the tumblers and open the door. As it swings quietly open she whisks Iolaire into hand, ready for action.
There is no light in the dungeon except for the light given off by the everburning torch at the entrance. The room is large and chilly. In the northernmost part of the western wall there is a simple wooden door. In the middle of the east wall, there is an imposing steel door.
The walls are lined with small prison cells made of iron bars. There is a simple straw mat in each of the cells. An elven man, face smudged with dirt, approaches the bars of his cell.
"You're not one of the guards," is all he says.
Vox can hear distant screaming.
"My name is Vox, I'm here because your captor has been unleashing a plague on the city. I intend to find the source and stop it. Why are you here?" Vox pauses for a moment. "And who is screaming?"
The man buries his face in his hands. "I'm here because I failed!" he shouts. "Nelleska has forsaken me for my sins. This is where I deserve to be!"
He clutches at his long, tangled hair. He is not looking particularly helpful.
"Nelleska has plans for us all, but they never leave us without hope of redemption in her eyes. I am undertaking this mission on behalf of the church - if I release you will you help me to end this evil? This is your chance to make a difference, to wipe out the result of your failure and serve the people of this city once again! What say you?" Vox deepens her voice, injecting the tone of authority she learned in the army, hoping that it will awaken the mans resolve.
The man eyes you with mistrust. "I've heard that before... it was all a trap..." He rocks back and forth a little. "If you mean what you say, prove yourself. Rescue the dwarf from the torture chamber." He gestures further down the hallway at the steel door. "Then, maybe I'll answer some of your questions."
Vox settles in with the lockpicks, keeping Iolaire propped against the doorframe so that she can take up her weapon quickly. The first attempt is foiled by the stiffness of the levers but on a second attempt the lock clicks open.
Vox sweeps up Iolaire, arrow notched on the string, before she opens the door. The bow is already drawn as the two agree, anyone who runs a torture chamber is not an innocent.
Do you hear the people sing? Singing the songs of angry men? It is the music of the people that you will not hear again!
The room is filled with gruesome instruments made for inflicting pain on intelligent beings. There is a large iron doors to the north with what appears to be a bloody handprint. The screaming that sounded distant in the dungeon is louder here.
A dwarven woman is chained to a blood-stained table in the middle of the room. Her hair is long and wild except for a few bare patches. She is wearing loosely-fastened, sodden robes of an indeterminate colour.
She has tried to shift her body as far away from the northern door as it will go, chains aside, and stares at it with haunted eyes.
"I can't see it, it's not there," she mumbles. She is focusing so hard that she has not even noticed Vox. "Back at the shop. We're testing a new chain alloy. How long?"
When I find the one responsible for this... Vox hurries over to the dwarf and starts unlocking her chains.
The dwarf's eyes focus on Vox.
"You're not one of them, are you? Please take me away from here. It's been so long..."
The moment the dwarf is free, Vox helps her off the table and leads her back into the cells. "I did what you asked. She's free, now for the love of Nelleska if you can help her then do it now!"
She keeps Iolaire in hand, sweeping the area in case the torturer or someone else comes in.