Certainly. Just a moment." Aleks says, before charging his hand with positive energy and touching her lightly on the arm.
Govannon is also carrying a CLW wand. Help yourself to as many charges as you need (1d8+1 each) and I'll keep track.
Aleksander notices that the buildings behind the man in the painting correlate to buildings in the castle you are exploring - buildings beyond the mansion that you are currently exploring. He notes that the painting includes an ornate stone bridge that connects the two buildings. Something is odd about the bridge in the painting, but he cannot put his finger on what is out of place.
Govannon opens the door to reveal a store room full of coal. There are doors on the north and east walls.
Weapon Equipped = Scimitar
Conditions = None
scimitar: Attack: BAB +4, Str +4, Magic +1, Weapon Focus +1, Power Attack -2 Damage: Str +4, Magic +1, Power Attack +4
longbow (19 cold iron): Attack: BAB +4, Dex +1 Damage: Str +4
wand of cure light wounds (17/50)
Arcane Pool (su/swift): (2/6)
Fly Hex (su/std): (4/6m)
Healing Hex (2d8+6): Govannon, Zelda,
Spells (Caster Level 6, Concentration +9 (+4 defensively))
At Will (self only): Feather Fall; Once a Day: Levitate
Zero (13): Dancing Lights, Detect Magic, Prestidigitation, Ray of Frost
First (14):
Second (15):
Govannon nearly attacks the coal so wound up is he, but he calms himself down and moves to the next northern door. When everyone is ready, he opens it fully prepared to attack another coal bin.
"Hold on guys, something isn't right here." Aleks says, staring at the painting. he points to the buildings in the background "This looks like the castle we're in, but...I'm not sure, something isn't right about the bridge."
Govannon comes back to the painting, and peers at it at Aleksander's behest. He'll check to see if it's magical at all as he tries to make out what's on the bridge.
He casts Detect Magic and studies it.
Zelda also notices that something about the bridge doesn't align with your passing memory of the bridge in the background.
Govannon detects no magic.
Aleks walks back out the door and studies the bridge.
Aleks recognizes the buildings in the paintings and sees that a flimsy rope bridge of wooden planks connects them.
Zelda detects no traps.
Nodding to Zelda, Govannon opens the door, scimitar out - ready for action.
The north door opens to reveal a kitchen. This large kitchen contains a roaring stove, several workbenches, and a spice cabinet. A bell hangs above the stove.
There is a door in the east wall.
; 1=N, 2=E
Aleksander walks in and looks around. "Why is the stove on?"
"That's a good question Aleksander. Trolls don't like fire, elementals and constructs don't need to eat. Who needs this?"
He pokes around the kitchen looking for clues.
He shrugs along with Aleksander, finding nothing!
He moves to the next door, and when the party is ready, opens it.
You find no further clues in the kitchen.
Govannon opens the eastern door to reveal another storeroom. The household storeroom contains furniture polish, mops and brooms, torches, and other simple tools.
"One of those trolls told me that the Whispering Way was here."
She adds, looking at the stove, "Maybe they just had dinner?"
Looking around, "But where are they now..."
Ali aids everyone in their looking around. When Govannon opens the storeroom, the also-jittery Ali nearly spears one of the mop heads with her staff.
"Got another smoke?" She nervously asks Govannon.
Govannon leads with his scimitar as he checks the storeroom briefly for anything of value.
"Got another smoke?" She nervously asks Govannon.
He'll pause and, gentlemanly, rolls Alliseya a cigarette. It's sloppily done as usual, but it mostly holds together as he lights it with a tindertwig.
"Ready?" he checks in with everyone before proceeding to the next door (the southern one where I am on the map). Again, uneasily, he opens it, scimitar at the ready.
Govannon finds nothing of interest.
Opening the southern door, you find another storeroom. This one is a well-stocked wine cellar. You note pipes running overhead and the temperature is noticeable cooler in here. Doors exit to the west and south.
Aleksander likewise follows, hands on his knives and ready for any threat.
Ali breaks out into a coughing fit with her first drag.
"Whew, that's..." * cough! cough! * "...strong. And..." * cough! cough! * "...it's been a while. Thanks."
She grabs a bottle of wine, whichever looks strongest in alcoholic content, and sticks it into her satchel. After hesitating a moment, she then grabs a second bottle.
"I think I'll need both of these. After all the c^@p we've been through..."
Taking another inhale of Gov's sloppy but effective craftsmanship, she only coughs mildly as she follows into whichever room the others choose next.
"I'm not sure how the...gentleman we're here to see will feel about that." Aleks says as Ali filches the wine. "Is it worth the possibility of angering someone whose cooperation we need?"
Govannon smiles at Aliseya, "Yeah, smooth." he nods and moves to the inner door - fully expecting it to be a closet or some such. When everyone is ready, he'll open it, scimitar at the ready.
The middle room is a larder stocked with excellent foodstuffs. Pipes also run through the ceiling of this room.
Govannon shrugs and closes the door for now. He rejoins Zelda, and tries that door (from G9a heading east).
As more doors present themselves, he begins to relax a little. He still has his scimitar at the ready, but he's no longer quite so jumpy. Perhaps its the fatigue of the last few days catching up with him. If so, he hopes he can stave it off a little longer.
Opening the door reveals a dining room. The vaulted ceiling of this large room is adorned with gilt. A pair of halberds hang above a huge lit fireplace in the far wall. A great dining table and twelve chairs take up the center of the room.
A passage exits from the south.
Govannon wonders at the lit fireplace, "Trolls don't need fire." he mumbles, and continues searching for those who do.
He walks to the passage south.
The south passage turns west and connects with the entry foyer where you were attacked by the spider construct. You note five doors in the hall - one on the east wall, two on the north wall and two on the south wall.
Growing frustrated, Aleks shakes his bald head. "Good grief. Surely one of these doors leads somewhere useful."
Govannon nods in agreement with the others and moves into the hallway. He starts with the middle northern door, then the other northern door, then the others in a more or less clockwise fashion. At each, he's careful to open the door with scimitar readied as he searches the chambers.
The first room (G4) is a library. Shelves crammed with books line the walls of this room. A comfortable leather chair sits in the room’s center.
The next room (G5) is a smoking room. Two plush chairs sit around a small lit fire in this cramped, tobacco-stained room. Numerous tobacco jars stand on a shelf next to a pipe rack filled with strange
pipes.
The next two rooms (G6) are trophy rooms. These two rooms are crammed with taxidermied animals and stuffed heads.
The final room (G7) is a billards room. A billiards table fills up most of this chamber, and a rack of cues on one wall. A brass and gold score checker hangs by the door.
Back by the wine room, Ali looks back at the two bottles once more after Aleks comments on their owner's wishes. Normally, she would care. But now, she just shrugs. "Frankly my dear Aleks, I don't give a damn."
In fact, she then pops the cork on one bottle and chugs a healthy mouthful before returning Gov's cigarette to her lips.
When Aleks grows frustrated with the mundane rooms they're finding, she offers the bottle of wine to him.
She offers it to anyone else so inclined as well. Starting with Zelda, after nearly dying today.
When they enter the smoking room, Ali smiles at Govannon as she takes in a deeper puff, nearly managing to not choke or cough this time. Then she takes another healthy sip of wine.
"Ew!" She instinctively retracts when entering the trophy room.
"Maybe we can play later," Ali remarks in the game room while running her fingertips along the fancy pool table's edge. Smiling, more relaxed than usual, it seems the wine is beginning to take its toll on the poor young lady...
"So. I guess there's like one more place to look. On this floor at least..."
Govannon eyes the tobacco, but decides it can wait until they're on their way out - if they make it that far. He does take a swig of the proffered wine, but only one swig.
He grudgingly walks to the staircase... and begins to climb.
The upstairs reveals two guest bedrooms, an engineer's quarters and a master bedroom.
Three simple cots are arranged within the engineer's quarters. Numerous drawings and books litter a nearby table.
The neat master bedchamber holds a resplendent four-poster bed surrounded by oak furniture.
Govannon pads around the rooms uneasily. "There must be more to this place than this. There's no evidence of the residents!"
He lights up a smoke, dribbling tobacco on the rug as he rolls his own.
He'll take some time while the party decides what to do and investigate the drawings and books. What was the last thing they were reading?
Aleks carefully looks around the rooms for anything suspicious.
"Sure, let's look around."
Govannon also searches with Aleksander, but he largely stands back and guards in case something jumps out of the woodwork.
When the search is completed, he suggests, "Let's rest upstairs tonight and continue first thing in the morning. We don't have a lot of time, but I'm about out of resources and could use a rest if we can manage it. It was tough getting in here, and I worry about what else we might find." he grins lopsidedly.
Aleksander finds nothing of interest when he searches the rooms.
You are able to rest the night without incident.
"No. We can't rest now!"
Aliseya's eyes show fierce determination in spite of her mild inebriation. "We came to find Mr. Golem's one last chance to avoid being murdered tomorrow morning, this Caromarc fellow. We MUST keep searching for him. It may be too late in the morning."
She looks around, "What have we missed? We must have missed something. Maybe there's a hidden cellar door, or another building on the premises?"
Govanno agrees with Zelda, "Aliseya, we haven't found what we were looking for, and we're running ragged. It may well be that things are clearer in the light. We can step outside the building if we have to and fly up to the other side, if there is another side."
"Time is short, I agree, but we have this one last chance. We should be careful with it."
If the argument is successful, Govannon beds down, but will wake (or more likely be awakened) for his shift readily enough.
"It will do our friend no good if we get killed because we exhausted ourselves. Time is shot, but not so short that we cannot rest."