Unwillingly shoved in, Idril sang a quick tone and flicked her hand up to cast Dancing Lights in the form of a torchlight flame. She looked around.
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Between her dark skin and the dark clothes she is wearing, Asha is little more than a shadow. She does not seem to bear any weapons, save a walking stick, but she is wearing a curious patchwork coat stitched from a variety of hides, some still with tufts of fur attached, and sewn with shells, beads and bits of polished wood. Combined with the leather trousers, the small travelling pack and the multitude of pouches and leather bags hanging from her belt, she looks like a proper explorer ready to adventure in the underbelly of the city. A rather novice explorer, as her nervous expression and frequent glances over her shoulder readily betray.
Following the other into the stable, she retrieves a clear gray stone from one of her pockets and tosses it into the air, where... it simply floats. A spoken word causes the stone to light up with a steady brilliance. She whispers to the others "My master was kind enough to loan me something from his collection. A "trinket", he called it." Now that they have some light, she looks around curiously, poking at the old straw.
Broken desks, scuffed tables, and torn chairs crowd the horse stalls nearest you..
Jangled piles all covered with dust, molding matted clumps of straw, and a healthy amount of cobwebs.
Though Indio is a tad slow to catch it, you all hear the rising growl of canines coming from beyond the glow of conjured light.
The closest is a little more than 80 feet from you.
....G-good pups. Bastargrae gulped nervously.
He rummaged about beneath his poncho to thrust out his gnome pincher,holding it out in hopes it would Ward off any threats from his person.
Idril whips her bladed scarf off her shoulders and into her hands. She dropped into a total defensive stance. (Ac21).
Asha's eyes widen as noises menace them from the darkness. "Did you hear that? It sounds like at least three... dogs? Coming from that way." She points in front of her and a little to her left. "Spirits protect us" she adds in a quieter voice, reaching out a hand to rest on Erodel's arm, perhaps as reassurance.
Rexus instinctively backpedals. As he clumsily scrambles into the door, the top hinge starts to pull free, and the door wedges... stuck ajar with about a ten-inch gap.
Bastargrae thrust out with his pincher,squeezing the handle to imitate a crab snapping it's claw as menacingly as he could muster.
He blundered about blindly, catching nothing but dust motes..
The mongrels charge... one large mastiff and two grizzly mutts... one of which trails behind. The mastiff snaps at Erodel, the first mutt goes for Idril.. and fails to bite into her shins.
Indio's eyes flashes as he moves his blade through a basic fencing move, he then steps forward and stabs at the smaller hound.
The dog's charge makes Asha yelp; the large one is particularly frightening, and their ferocity as they snap at her companions is not a good sign. The third one, though... perhaps she can work with that. Drawing herself up, she puts all the authority she can muster in her voice, snapping out "SIT!" at the dog that is trailing behind.
Round 2
Seeing the dog coming right for her, Idril let out a little yip and lashed out with her bladed scarf. (Shifts out of Defensive stance at top of round).
for a possible slashing damage.
Again,Bastargrae's flailing proved ineffective in the darkness.
Idril's bladed scarf drops the mutt which had been painfully stabbed by Indio.
Erodel flays one shoulder and side of the mastiff.. a wound which should send it running, but the raging beast pushes on. It lurches forward and bites into Erodel's thigh.
The third mutt sees the member of its pack drop. It advances a few feet and barks ferociously.. rather than attack or flee.
Indio glares at the larger hound, steps up to it's side and atempts to stab it.
The mastiff drops.
The little one hasn't had much luck hitting things... Let's see if we can change that. Careful not to walk in front of the sharp and cutting implements that the others were wielding, Asha moves to the gnome's side, steadying his arm. "Only one left. See it? In front and to the right."
Round 3
Smoothly flowing into a twirling battle dance, Idril spun forward until she made contact with the last dog (to H,10) and lashed out with her bladed scarf.
for a possible slashing damage.
Bastargrae flinched at the use of magic the dusky skinned slave girl bestowed upon him,unused to such things.He blinked at her owlishly before attempting to pinch one of the dogs.
The gnome pincer snags some scruff as the bladed scarf snags and tears at the mutt... and wrenches it to the ground.
Rexus turns from the door stuck ajar... "Appears we've not drawn unwanted attention." He straightens his waistcoat with a shoulder roll and tug at his hem. He takes one last look through the gap in the door, and turns back with an "all's clear" nod... displaying his self-assigned role as lookout during the dogfight was finished.
There are thirteen horse stalls here.. many filled with junk and clumps of filth, a rear section with doorways to two side rooms , a passage on the south wall blocked by an iron gate , and a man door on the south end of the east wall .
There appears to have been a loft at one point... just a few islands of horizontal planks cling to the joists above your heads... also covered in debris.
In the aftermath of the fight, Idril snaps the blood off her bladed scarf and rewrapped it around her shoulders again.
Idril moved along the north wall stalls, looking around and under the debris using a pitchfork (or broomhandle or tongs or whatever is avaialbe so she doesnt get crap on her hands...).
Indio moves over to the iron gate, studying it for signs of wear and recent usage.
Asha looks around the door to the south-east, trying to see if it has been recently used, if there are any tracks or scuff marks around it. She is also curious about where the dogs came from.
Bastargrae stared at the limp corpse of the mangy cur with an odd feeling coursing through him. This was possibly the first time he'd contribute d to the death of a living critter aside from vermin plaguing his wares.
He frowned at the flutter in his chest.He didn't like it much--killing beasts that simply didn't know any better. It was different from defending oneself from sentient creatures who sought to do you harm for petty reasons.
Also,it was clear that outside the use of magic,he was ill-suited for combat.Dragging the end of his pincher along the floor in a rather dejected manner,the gnome peered at their surroundings.
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Erodel wipes off his blade as best he can on the fur of the mastiff before picking up and stowing his crossbow.
Resting the back of the blade of his falchion across his shoulder with his left hand and rubbing his wounded leg with the right, Erodel limps over toward the iron gate in hopes of seeing what lies beyond.
Poking along the north wall stalls, Idril finds no more than she might expect in the piles of debris.. junk.
.. and Bastargrae finds nothing of value in the stalls to south.
Indio sees no signs of recent usage.. it is rusty, but no sign of weakened points. It is locked.
Erodel finds no traps on or around the iron gates.. and confirms it is securely locked.
With no near illumination it is hard for you to see clearly.
As you are peering down the dim barred passage, you see a crate lid swing open.. seemingly on its own - you see nothing which could have opened it.
Asha finds the back door locked, and at least fairly sturdy. There is a barred peephole to peer through. It appears to be a rear exit to the building... though via a fenced-in stove/incinerator room.
You see a couple areas by the cart which look like how you'd imagine feral dog beds. You see what could be dog prints.. who knows if and what else.
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"The gate's locked up tight." Erodel says just as his head snaps back to look beyond the gate again as something has caught his eye,
"Heads up, folks. One of the lids on the crates in there just came open...no idea what opened it." he says slowly back-peddling away from the gate before turning his attention to the small rooms at the rear of the building.
Erodel stops just long enough to rummage though his pack for a sunrod and ignite it prior to searching the furthest room.
Noticing Erodel's limp, Asha approaches. "Shall I take care of that?"
Hearing the squelch, Idril realized what she had stepped in and wrinkled her nose in disgust.
"Eeeewwww!" She exclaimed. Distracted now, she did what she could to scrape the foul substance off her shoes with the pitchfork.
Bastargrae nearly jumped out of his skills n when something tapped him on the shoulder. He scrambled back,swiping at his shoulder before realizing it was only a clump of wet hay.
Probably from a old bird nest or bedding of a small animal in the rafters. It had been raining recently and the roof wasn't exactly sound.
At the sound of Idril's disgusted squeal and a smell of fresh dung,Bastargrae gingerly picked his way over to the others to avoid the same indignity. If the dogs had been living in here,they had to relieve themselves somewhere.
At Erodel's claim of a crate lid opening on his own,Bastargrae clutched his pincher to his chest rather nervously. C-come now...it was probably a gust of air. This rotting building must be riddled with drafts.
Once light is brought to the iron gate, Indio and Erodel can see a panel hanging loose in the short hallway beyond it - it appears to be a damaged secret door.
Erodel finds the second side room furnished as an office... desk, chair, cabinets. Nothing of significance catches Erodel's eyes as he looks around.
Asha see there are other prints, but has difficulty spotting anything but partials here and there... not enough to track or identify.
"Where there are animals of one kind, there may indeed be others.
A place as dilapidated as this may be expected to house large rodents at the very least.
Curious beasts they are..."
The first side room is also furnished as an office... though more of a mess. Every drawer has been pulled from the upended battered desk, and thrown around the room. The cabinet is tipped on its side and smashed as well.
"I take it that there is something noteworthy about these tracks? Quite aside from them not being made by our recent Canine encounter?"
"I saw them before, but didn't know what to make of them." Now that the tracks are being examined by people (hopefully) more knowledgeable than she, Asha wanders away to inspect the southern stalls.
Indio merely raises a fascinated eyebrow at this revelation, awaiting any possible further illumination before offering comments.
Idril came up from behind the rest of the Company.
"What are we looking at?" She wondered aloud.
Erodel is able to discern one trackable path among the clutter and other tracks. It leads to and through the bars of the iron gate.
The middle bars are very slightly bowed outward. It is possible someone small could fit through.