Castle Caldwell and Beyond: (A 5e Campaign) - The Wrecking Crew (Inactive)

Game Master Terquem

Histoff begins to eat the porridge with a wholesome smile on his face
It's delicious, thank you Niall
Histoff says while the groups speaks with Valarie.
Finishing the last bits if no one wants them.

Victor responds to Valerie, "There is never a time when an extra set of hands is not needed, in this place especially".

Niall shrugs, " It's ok I guess... " he replies. " I'm not much of a cook. "

" I don't have any torches, but I'd be happy to hold one, if others need to hold a shield and a weapon. " He adds to the general discussion as he gives his pot a feeble wash out.

Give me a moment to prepare my spells and I will be able to create light using a simple orison taught to me by my mother. The light this spell provides is better than a torch, it cannot catch anything on fire, which I suppose is both good and bad. I can call forth one such light, placing the spell on a piece of wood, or any item you would like to carry.

Valarie says as she kneels by the sacred family altar at the north end of this small room

I’m a little concerned that it seems like the party has lost its momentum. Shall I simply place you at the doors to the Manor house and jump start this adventure again?

"Yes let's get it going. Have to sometimes move things along in PbP...

I thought it was clear we were going to the manor and just waiting on Terquem.

Yep, full steam ahead for Magnus.

affirmative

Niall nods to Valarie [b]" Sounds good. He packs up his equipment and gets ready to leave for the Manor House.

Ready to go :)

When everyone has dressed, collected their gear, and checked themselves twice, the group moves right to the main doors of the Manor house

Quick question, are you bringing the Mule?

Valarie does everything she can to stay close to Magnus, and when the group is ready to force the doors open, she asks

Should should I carry the light, or does someone else think there is someone better suited for that role?

I would recommend leaving the mule back at "camp".

In front of the doors, Perry casts a light spell on his signet ring.

"Lights up, everybody," he says. "Let's do this."

Niall will hobble the mule inside before leaving.

" I'll carry it Valarie. " Niall volunteers.

"Aye, the half-elf is well-suited for it," Magnus says, readying his shield and drawing his sword as the group gets ready to head inside. "Everyone stay close, until our godlight has revealed what awaits us in the shadows."

Who is opening the door?
Histoff says nothing while he goes near the door waiting for someone to open it.

Victor will approach the door with his sword in one hand.

"Everyone ready?" he asks as he places his hand upon the door handle.

Assuming nobody protests...

Perry approaches the door, sword drawn, then nods to his companions and yanks it open, ready for anything.

Klodd stands ready a quick prayer on his lips.

Ayita rolls her eyes at how tense everyone is.

There's not going to be anything right behind the door a second time. We were already in the front foyer. It had some weird statue and some stairs. Ayita thinks to herself.

The Manor House, Castle Caldwell, Harrispania

Day 2, morning, about 9:00 am: It is the middle of the Spring season

Standing at the two side by side doors, Victor and Perry give each other a quick nod, and then both men pull open a door.

Sunlight floods into the space beyond the door, and Victor and Perry are the first to get a glimpse of what lies beyond, but the others standing close behind, are just as quick to crowd so as to not be left out of anything interesting.

Inside the ten foot wide opening of the doors is a grand entry hall. It is easily a full forty feet wide, and extends to the north sixty feet. There is a grand, double staircase at the north end of the hall with each stair starting at the wall to the east or west, and curving upward to meet in the center of the north wall at a balcony that runs the entire perimeter of the grand hall Through the woodwork of the railing on the second floor you can make out several doors on the second floor on the east and west balcony.

On the west and east walls, about thirty feet to the north along each wall, there is a ten foot, arched opening in the wall. It looks as if there are hallways on each side of the grand entry hall.
The floor here is bare wood, and there are piles of animal droppings in several places.

Under the staircase, directly in the center of the north wall, a dark, human like figure lurks in the shadowy darkness of a deep alcove.

Ayita strikes an action pose. "You lead, I'll follow."

Histoff keeps quite.
He will follow whoever is leading.

"Alrighty then," Perry says to the group, stepping forward. "Let's go see whether that's a statue or something."

Perry heads into the room, glowing ring in front of him, and approaches the shadowy figure calmly and nonthreateningly until he can see it more clearly.

As Perry leads the others into this shadowy hall he keeps his eyes on the figure in the alcove below the stair.

Fortunately the light from his ring, and from the piece of wood with Valarie’s light spell cast upon it, cut through the shadows ahead of Perry, and when he is still fifteen feet away from the alcove it becomes clear that the figure in the alcove is indeed a statue. It is a statue of a mature, but certainly not old, noble woman with strong, aristocratic features, straight hair in a single long braid over her right shoulder, and wearing winter attire.

The light seems to reflect, and gleam, off of a small metal plate on the base of the statue.

Wisdom check, trying Survival untrained: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21

Alert for any signs of danger, Magnus examines the floor for tracks and any indication of recent visitors. He pays particular attention to the animal waste and other detritus, hoping for clues.

"Who else reads scat? I've got a pretty good idea of what's been going on, but would welcome a tracker's eyes," he says.

"There sure are a lot of passageways. Whichever way we choose, we should watch our backs."

1d20 - 1 ⇒ (20) - 1 = 19 INT Check.

Klodd moves closer to the statue, intent on viewing the metal plate.

Magnus stoops over the stairs for a moment, then straightens.

"Something heavy's been dragged upstairs. Other than that, I'm only seeing signs of animals, most smaller than those wolves, by the look of it."

Histoff begins to check the statue forgetting about any danger.
she is quite beautiful and Noble, I wonder who his she.
Oh Klodd what did you find ?
Histoff looks at the metal plate Klodd has found, as he notices the light reflecting and gleaming too after a delay of a few seconds after Klodd.
knowledge: 1d20 ⇒ 13

Klodd and Lijan approach the statue and notice that there is a brass plate at the bottom of the statue, it is a bit dirty, but can still reflect light.

Cleaning the plate reveals a name, and possibly a date, but the words are written in Barvakovian Script (an alphabet similar to, but not exactly like the common script).

Victor heads over to the plate to see what the fuss is about.

"Huh. Duchess Renee Burqwuld Von Uvoullovich, b 1062 – d 1110".

He pauses for a moment, Knowledge Roll - 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20.

"The Uvoullovich family was once third in line to the Baravkovian Throne, and owned several mines in Baravkovia. I can only assume this means that the Baravkovian family that was last to own this castle, was the Uvoullovich family. Perhaps if not them a family closely connected to them. Our employer is a Caldwell, I wonder if they are related somehow..."

[ooc]Knowledge History check to see if I know that or not - 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8.

After listening to everyone's comments, Perry says, "Well, our goal is to clear the place of danger so the renovation crews can come in. Magnus, you say something heavy was dragged upstairs? If so, somebody had to do that, and might still be there. We should check that out. Everybody ready?"

"Ready!" Ayita moves to the bottom of the stairs. "Well if something heavy was dragged up them, at least we don't have to worry about these stairs collapsing."

Victor raises his hand and turns to Perry, "Wait for a second. Does anyone else know of the Uvoullovich's and the Caldwell's? What if this place does not belong to our employer, what then?

I have some... experience with such troubles."

"Are you saying the work we are doing might be dishonest? I'm not comfortable with that."

"Are you saying the work we are doing might be dishonest? I'm not comfortable with that."

"I am not saying that it is or is not, I just wondered if we can confirm that it's not dishonest.

From my point of view, if this Caldwell is just trying to take what is not his WE should just claim this place after all we are taking the risks and doing the work. Donkey almost got killed last night. Think of what it would mean for a Jackass like that if we could set him up in a place like this... I would rather secure this place for our Jackass than just any old jackass..."

I understand you Victor, but a little bit exploration won't hurt.
Don't forget we still need to clear this place and find more about it, we might find a supporting evidence for our employer with time.
Histoff says to Victor, understanding his concerns.
will do the history knowledge check later

History: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18

Niall stands next to Magnus by the stairs, shedding light on them. He straightens and listens to Victor.

" Well, Caldwell did say he bought this place, twelve thousands Atalls, and he seems to have some kind of deal with the Harispanian military. He must have some kind of deed. Could be hard to contest that. I'd rather complete our task and start getting back on the good side of the Solution Society... Besides like Histoff says, there's a good chance we'll find out more of this castles history as we explore. I wonder why they abandoned the place... "

"Geez! You guys sound like a bunch of nobles arguing over what to have for lunch. See here... we're adventurers... we find the bad guys, take their stuff, and go on to the next adventure".

With a grunt, Klodd starts up the stairs.

As the rest of the party gathers near one of the stairs to discuss what has been found, Klodd suddenly grumbles about the delay and plods, one heavy foot after another up the staircase.

When he reaches the top he takes a quick look around

I’ll try to get a map up tonight

Niall heads up the stairs following Klodd. He inspects the floor as he goes trying to see which way the heavy object was dragged.

Survival? Untrained: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6

Victor holds at the base of the stairs wary of other threats on the first floor.

Perception 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22

perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22
Histoff moves forward with the group, trying to look out for anything suspicious or special.

As Niall moves up the stairs after Klodd, he looks at the steps individually looking for clues and can easily see that whatever was hauled up the steps gouged and chipped the wood here and there, but when he reaches the top of the stairs he cannot tell what direction it went after that, as the floor here shows no signs of anything being dragged.

Victor looks around wary of the quiet

Histoff prepares himself to follow the others and sees a strange look on Victor’s face

Just then, Valarie, who is standing next to Magnus, ask the big man an innocent question

So are we splitting up then, and exploring this house in groups?

Magnus answers with a snort

We have not split up, yet. What is the plan, Perry

Victor motions for Perry and steps towards him whispering, "We are not alone down here..."

He motions to the hallway to his right.

Ayita waits patiently. She sees everyone start to get nervous and gets ready to punch something if need be.