"Those jewels... I remember some tales about people giving presents to the ghosts in order to make their wishes true." the girl takes one silver coin and throws it to the pile "Please spirits, let us know if someone tries to leave the place without our consent."
She then closes by with Adir and readies her crossbow as he opens the trapdoor.
Dundin makes a note to himself: grab the loot on the way out.
Groin grips his warhammer tightly, to prevent his fingers from shaking. The wail of the spirits having chilled him to the core.
Adir does not notice any traps on the floor, but sees the condition of the cover is rather worn and damaged from the old fire and age. Adir mentions to the others the trap door is in bad repair, but not trapped nor locked.
...and gives it a strong tug.
Looking down the hole, Adir sees a chamber, illuminated dimly by the light from above. A ladder leads down into the southern corner of a roughly 20' x 20' room. Embedded into the floor of this chamber is a ten-foot-diameter granite emblem of a faded gold and white longsword. Four passages appear to lead out of the chamber in different directions. A rusty portcullis blocks the southern exit, and a sturdy wooden door leads to the west, while the northern and eastern halls appear unhindered, at least from the druid's current vantage point above. A small chest and decrepit bookshelf face one another from opposite walls, south and north respectively.
"What is there Adir?" Leira looks through the trapdoor over the druid's head "Wow! That's the Iomedae sword! This place served as a temple for Iomedae for a time until the second burning when the orc forces attacked Trunau. This might be one area of the temple preserved from the flames and perhaps even from the orc looters."
The girl focuses on her mother's tattoo and all of a sudden 4 spheres of light emerge from her hand. With a grin she sends them down so the room is fully illuminated for the party.
She then descends after anyone else.
Leira reaches the bottom of the ladder easily. The air is cool, but tinged with a slight musty, smoky taint. The ceiling rafters are scorched, dry, but solid and sturdy. Thick webbing clumps here and there in the corners, along the ceiling, moreso than you might expect, but otherwise not so prolific as to cause concern or nuisance.
There are faint tracks upon the floor; this area has seen traffic, much of it recently.
Leira talks up with cushioned voice "Ei guys! It seems there are further marks here, come down! It seems safe."
She moves to the center of the room sending her light orbs through the eastern corridor to check for any possible danger before anyone tests the chest.
"Some underground rom and several passageways leading from it." Adir gives one last look around at the creepy former sickroom and with a shudder, descends into the chamber.
Adir calls up, "Leira has the right of it, looks like someone has been here recently. Chest down here, though that seems suspicious." He also refreshes his light spell on the tip of his short spear.
Adir and Leira find the bookshelf holds a few books and several loose pages, some spilling over onto the floor. A small crank lever is mounted to the wall on the right of the portcullis to the south. The chest appears beaten and aged, but otherwise sturdy. A small padlock secures it shut.
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"There has clearly been foot traffic down here, and not long ago at that...I would dare say that we can now be certain that the lights people have been seeing from here are probably not from the haunting spirits...or at the very least, not completely. We know that they come under cover of night. Maybe we should find a hiding spot outside the ruins to spy and see if anyone comes once the sun has set?"
"Why not? It's as good a plan as any, since it seems likely they'll show up with all the recent activity 'round town."
"We still have time to explore. Do we not want to take advantage of the few hours of daylight?"
"That's a good idea Songan. We can check this chest and then explore one of the passages, then go up and hide somewhere. What do you think?" says the girl as she closes by the chest and inspects it for traps.
If no trap is found she opens the chest if no one else is to do it.
Delia still feels the unease of the haunting about them all as they discuss their next plan of action. She looks down the hole, then back at Jace and Tuzak. "I fear the problem we will likely run into, is lowering Jace and Tuzak down into this place. I am not sure we will have the time to lowering them down, then lift them back up in time before our quarry arrives."
"Can they not wait for us? I would rather investigate before someone takes stuff away or kills any prisoners. Plus this place may have a hidden exit and entrance."
Leira nods in agreement to Dundin "They can stay back and alert us if something happens. We will not stay much more here though. I agree with Delia we have not plenty of time to explore."
Meanwhile she opens the chest.
"Tuzak could probably manage, but I understand the point."
Adir steps back as Leira starts fiddling with the padlock.
Leira does not detect any traps on the chest, but she is having trouble getting past the locked padlock. Someone may need to pick at the lock or smash it, whichever option the group decides upon to bypass it and discover the contents.
The papers and books laying scattered by the bookshelf are texts and works holy to Iomedae's worship, mostly damaged and defaced. Many bear crude scribbling in orcish runes similar to those found at the Ramblehouse.
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"I'll take a crack at it, Leira. I've had some...past experience..in working with locking mechanisms." he volunteers, then steps forward, pulling a small pouch from his backpack that is stocked with a number of different types of lockpicks and other tools that the average thief would find exceedingly handy.
Leira retreats giving space for Songan to work "You are a box of surprises Songan" she says while smiling.
Meanwhile the catfolk works the girl gives a closer look to the scattered documents, trying to get information on what might has happened in the Plague House as of recent.
Songan manages to pop the mechanism and remove the padlock. He opens the hasp and lifts the chest lid.
The chest contains a small vial with dried resin around the stopper, a vial of a clear liquid with a dropper attached to the cap, 50 feet of silk rope, a disguise kit (with 6 uses remaining), a set of thieves’ tools, a noble’s outfit in red leather and gold brocade, a signet ring of a dragon rampant, and coins totaling 237 gp, 155 sp, and 55 cp.
Leira tries to detect if there is magic on the items and analyses what might be their use.
The books and papers are treatises on the Acts of iomedae and similar religious parables. There are no magical writings. The orcish runes are graffiti and slurs about fellow orcs/half-orcs and the "lesser" races.
The two vials are magical, everything else is mundane. The first has a strong transmutation aura. The latter is not clear, perhaps overshadowed by the other aura.
"It seems the vials are magical, although I cannot find what are they exactly. Perhaps it is time to explore the corridors"
Assuming the objects are picked up, Leira follows Adir into the northern corridor "Let's see what's behind that door."
Leira let's her companions to check and open the door. Then, if clean, she follows into, crossbow at the ready.
Dundin sniffs then tastes the potions.
Trying the first potion Dundin finds the fluid to be thick and sticky, clinging to the small stopper similar to syrups, or perhaps adhesives. Too similar in fact for after a moment or two of tasting a warm, rich molasses, his teeth become bound and fuse together. He tries to part them, causing his tongue to adhere to the roof of his mouth, while his lips nearly seal shut from their contact with the woody resin.
Thinking on instinct, the dwarf uses the dropper from the second vial to drip a drop or two of that thin solution onto his lips, then teeth, and lastly along his tongue. The dwarf grimaces strongly, nauseously as a tart, bitter taste causes small hives to break out across his mouth, inside and out, but also dissolving the previously iron strong glue, allowing him to separate and move his jaws once more. The others look to him, waiting to hear his verdict on the vials' contents.
"Oh Dundin! Watch out with those products! It seems your tongue is getting sticky!" the girl cannot hold his laugh at some point seeing the facial gestures the dwarf is making in order to try stop the sticky thing. She closes by him and tries to help as much as she can to take it off.
First servicing the second product, then she takes the vial from one hand, and placing her foot on the dwarf's belly, she pulls out the vial with strength "Well, I guess, the first vial is some kind of glue. What do you think?"
Delia gives Dundin an irritated look when he suggests leaving her companion behind. "I will not leave Jace up here alone to face the ghosts of these burned-out ruins. Nor will I leave him alone to face any enemies which may come upon us while we are exploring below. If you must go below to explore, then I will remain topside with Tuzak and Jace. I will examine the area to determine the best way to lower him into the tunnels below..."
"Blech!! Glue and a solvent. Quite handy."
He puts them in his pack.
"We stick together. Let's find a blind to watch this place. I do have darksight."
"Ok Delia, I will help you descend Jace." the small girl comes to the stairs with the just discovered silken rope and climbs giving the other girl the extreme of the rope "Prepare a comfortable nest-chair for Jace with it. We can make an improvised crane passing the extreme through one of the nearest chairs or other fixed element."
Once Delia has secured Jace, Leira calls for the help of the rest of the companions in order to hold the other extreme of the rope and make Jace gracefully descend into the basement "We can leave it prepared for when we have to come back, ok?"
Looking at the still closed door to the north the girl points there and says "Well, we came here to explore, didn't we?" she grins for a moment then adds "Let's open that door for once and for all and discover the secrets that lie in this awfully preserved structure."
"We might want to clear the upper floor before we descend. Or we may find ourselves cut off..." Groin offers.
The dwarf nods and leads the way.
"Sure thing. Let's keep an eye on the time, like Songan said."
Leira follows the party upstairs and then through the rest of the ground level "We can probably start on the northern area"
The group restores the lower chamber to roughly what was first seen when they arrived then returned up the ladder. The fallen spirits are slowly re-coalescing; they may well cause issues again if not laid to rest. The group then follows down the main hall, moving to the north. The support walls and pillars that once connected the Plague House to the huge boulder behind it have burnt and crumbled in this ruined chamber, revealing nearly the entire face of the monolithic stone as well as much of the sky above. Thick webbing clutters the upper corners and a few spots along the ceiling, masking the burned upper level. Jagged red and white runes have been painted onto the rock in long, broad strokes that reach from top to bottom. A cabinet on the southeast wall and a tall bookcase against the northeastern wall are all that remain of the room’s furnishings.
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Songan, moving ahead of the others, approaches the cabinet, curious as to why both it and the bookcase seem untouched by the fire that had immolated much of the rest of the building. "Perhaps they were brought in after the fire?" he questions aloud, searching around the outside of the cabinet for anything unusual and also casting Detect Magic before he attempts to open it.
"Mmmm... you are right Songan, that is suspicous." the girl checks the bookcase for any interesting book.
If nothing is found she points towards the southern door "Shall we continue that way?" and opens it.
Adir and Tuzak watch the group's back as they investigate.
As your group spreads out to investigate, they notice the largest runes painted on the rock, known locally as the Freestone, spell out the name “Skreed” in Orcish.
Leira notices the initials “R + B” carved on a support beam near the bookshelf— perhaps a lingering reminder of the last time Rodrik and Brinya met in the Plague House to share their love. An abandoned hopeknife sits in plain sight on one of the shelves. It's blade bears the inscription, “For Rodrik, my love.” This is the hopeknife that Brinya originally gave to Rodrik, but he misplaced it here.
Songan moves towards the cabinet at the other end of the room, pushing aside the rotted boards in the cabinet to reveal an iron flask containing a thin oily liquid and a small vial holding a golden colored liquid. A beat-up steel scroll case (worth 5 gp) holds several rolls of parchment, three to be precise, while two vials of holy water sit upon the lowest shelf.
Unfortunately, before Songan or Leira can call out their findings, the rooms current occupants drop down from overhead to fight for their privacy. A quartet of spiders succeeded in a surprise round of activity.
The largest, a giant spider, approaches Songan, for plus . While the bite hurts, a green globule mostly coats the catfolk's fur, little of it reaching the open puncture wound.
Young Spider A snaps at Tuzak, for and a , the big sloth shrugging off any effects of the creature's venom.
Young Spider B jumps down to Adir, but misses the tall druid as he steps back, instinctively reflexing away upon noticing Tuzak's bristling fur.
Young Spider C lunges out of the shadows at Groin, but misses due to the nimble nature of the ready warrior.
Giant Spider
Young Spider A
Young Spider B
Young Spider C
Adir
Delia
Dundin
Groin
Jacen
Leira
Songan
Tuzak
Group Initiatives
First Group: Adir, Delia, Jacen, Giant Spider, Young Spider A
Second Group: Dundin, Young Spider B, Young Spider C
Third Group: Groin, Leira, Songan, Tuzak
is up, 36 hour timer counting
Leira is checking more on detail the hopeknife when the spiders appear, catching her totally unprepared.
Startled, Leira ends her search of the bookshelf to draw weapons to assist Songan. The girl notices the spider her catfolk ally fights is much larger and sinister than the ones facing her other comrades.
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"Spiders!," Adir calls out. Creepy bastards. From behind his shield, he thrusts with his spear at the one in front of Tuzak, striking at the spider's mandibles.
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Adir wounds the spider facing Tuzak, ignoring the one attempting to strike a bite at himself.
Adir wounds the spider facing Tuzak, ignoring the one attempting to strike a bite at himself.