"Maybe this is what they didn't want Rodrik to find. There's magic somewhere here." We will dig out the body, but being alert for traps and spiders .
We will search the body, and try to determine what's magical.
Slei will join Ziggy in searching the body.
It appears that the mostly eaten body was once a half-orc. His chainmail is still intact, and a number of items are in his pockets: a fine silver dagger, a silvery wand (magic), a red-gold holy symbol, and six onyx gems.
"Perhaps it wasn't the magic as much as what this appears to be, a tunnel underneath Trunau. If Master-iss Ziggy's...vision, is true, then Trunau has some serious enemies who are looking to bring us low. Let us take our time searching here before moving on."
Eldan begins to give the place a thorough frisking.
Also, he has some knowledges that may prove useful in uncovering information.
"Oh, Eldan! That's brilliant! I'll bet that's it!" ... and they would've gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for us pesky kids....
"We should bring the holy symbol back to Sanctuary" , " although it looks really valuable. Maybe they'll give us a reward."
"Does anyone else want the chain mail? It's a little better than what I have."
"Good eye, mate!" Slei joins in Eldan's search of the tunnel.
"You keep the chainmail, Ziggy. I prefer to keep my movements free, and," looking at the half-orc, "I think it'd be closer to your size."
Hands the wand and the silvery dagger to Eldan. "Eldan, you should probably take these." I assume that Eldan will identify the wand when he gets a chance.
As long as it seems quiet, will remove the pieces of half orc from the chainmail. She steps back, and turns away from the group to remove her scale mail and put on the chain mail. "No peeking!"
His nose wrinkles in disgust "I'm definitely going to need to clean this when I get back. And myself."
He will roll up the scale mail as best he can and secure it to his backpack. She also stows the holy symbol and the gems.
The collapsed tunnel probably had gone about 20 feet in the general direction of the town. At this depth, it would have gone not only below the wall, but below the plateau the town is built on. If this was an attempt to tunnel into the city, it would have had to go at least another 80 feet north, then about 50 feet up to break through to the street level of the Inner Quarter.
Eldan sees signs that the tunnel had struck a small rat tunnel when digging stopped.
There are also picks and shovels scattered around the room.
Taking the wand and dagger, Eldan says, "Thank you. I will have to inspect these tomorrow. We seem to have uncovered everything we can in this room so lets move on and finish exploring here."
"Sounds good."
Out the western door, and Zigil will try to open the door on the north end of the hallway.
The iron door at the end of the hallway is locked.
"Hmph maybe one of those picks would get this open?"
"Hmm, this is an interesting symbol. Let's see if I can't figure it out."
To Giles: "Yes, tonight you'd love me to be, opening doors and pulling some strings but I have no skill with locks."
"On the other hand, this symbol, I don't know if I've seen it before."
Zigil recognizes the UNholy symbol as that of Nulgreth, the blood god. He knows little about the god, beyond the fact that he is worshiped by some of the more violent and sadistic of the orcs of the Hold of Belkzen.
Zigil looks at Eldan very thoughtfully... very thoughtfully . "Eldan, perhaps someone else should carry that."
She turns back to the door. "I think we're going to have to force it open if we want to know what's in there."
Giles swings one of the heavy metal picks at the lock as many times as it takes to break it open.
Giles begins striking the door with a pick, causing a great clangor. After a few blows, the lock shatters.
Beyond the door is a cramped chamber containing a furnace and pile of coal.
A young man cowers beside the furnace.
From his position behind the party, "What is up there? Did you find anything? Secret knowledge, perhaps in the form of books? Books would be good."
Surprised, to Eldan, "We found a person!"
To the cowering young man: "We won't hurt you. What is your name? Are you injured? Do you need food?"
And as the conversation goes on: "Are you from Trunau? Why are you locked in here? What can you tell us about the orc presence here? We found one of their holy symbols."
When Zigil gets a chance, scan the room and the young man with detect magic.
"Oh! Thank the gods you've found me!"
"I'm Othdan! I've been kidnapped!"
"I was exploring near the Plague House when somebody hit me on the head. When I woke up, I was locked in this room. A half-orc has brought me a bit of bread and water. I've heard him talking to somebody at night, but I couldn't understand the language."
"Please! Take me back to Trunau!"
"Arright Othdan, we'll take you back,"
Slei is pretty sure that she has seen Othdan around town before.
"We should head back now, and let Kurst and Tyari know what we've found out. And maybe Katrezra. Until we know if anyone in town is involved, it's too dangerous to tell anyone else."
"Othdan, can we trust you not to tell what has happened here? And one more question. Was the half-orc wearing any insignia or symbols?"
Othdan scratches his head.
"I only saw him in the dark. I think I could maybe recognize him again, but I don't remember anything like a symbol. I bet he'll come back again at night to meet with his friend, though."
"Well, gang. Shall we wait and see if the half-orc and his friend come here tonight? We might be able to ambush and question them."
Othdan asks, "Could you please take me back to town first? Then you can come and get them. I think they usually meet around midnight. Be careful though, I think they set traps."
"Why were you exploring for here at the Plague House? This place is haunted after all and most citizens don't come here."
"That is a very good question." Looks closely at Othdan.
Othdan looks sheepish.
"Do you know Sylvie, the baker's apprentice? Well, she's always going on about the brave patrolmen. And I thought if I came out and got something from the Plague House, she'd think I was brave too..."
"Othdan, that was a very foolish risk you took. Brave, but foolish. Promise me that you'll keep your visit here secret for now. If you do, when we finally figure out what's going on here, we will tell everyone how you helped us here."
Once Othdan gives us his word to keep his visit here quiet, then we'll escort him back to town. If anyone is injured, we can do some healing too.
We may as well search the room, while we're here. Including the pile of coal and the furnace (as long as it's not on). I doubt that his captors leave anything valuable here, but it doesn't hurt to check.
Anyone else want to do something before we leave?
Slei will help Ziggy search the room before the rest of the group departs.
Slei digs into the pile of coal and locates a small pouch. Othdan's jaw drops open as he sees what he has missed over the last few days.
The pouch contains 55 platinum coins.
Ziggy will put the pouch of platinum coins in her backpack. Then, smiling, she counts out 10 gp from the treasure collected so far, and hands it to Othdan. "This is for helping us, and telling us about your guard and his friend. And if you keep silent about being here, and about meeting us, we will see that you get another 10 in two weeks. Oh and if you hear anything more about the Plague House from anyone, we would appreciate knowing. You can usually find me at Sanctuary when I am in town."
He turns to the rest of the party, "Shall we return to Trunau now? I think we've all earned a good meal. And some of us need to shop."
"Seems like to right thing. And no doubt that cursed dog will be whining to be fed by now."
On our way out, we will stop at the steel strongbox at the top of the stairs. (I don't believe we've found any keys for it unfortunately.)
If the strongbox can be carried by one person, we will take it with us back to town. Perhaps we can hire someone who has the necessary skills to open the lock.
"Ah, love, how it makes people stupid. I believe we have time to escort you back and still get back here for the night. Let us gather any outstanding items and make our way back."
The steel lockbox is approximately 2'x1'x1' and weighs almost 50 pounds. Zepfina hefts it, and there is the noise of something rattling around inside.
"This is silly. Let's break open the strongbox. We can buy a brand new one if we really want one, but I'd rather not risk breaking what's inside (if it's breakable)."
"Does anyone have a crowbar? If not, we can go back downstairs, and grab a pick to pry open the strong box." If no one does, Zepfina, Slei, and I will go get the pick, while the others stay to stand watch over the strongbox.
Eldan blinks for a second, gives himself a brief once over, and then realizes, "I am afraid I do not have a crow-bar, unless this is some sort of jest I do not get."
Eldan than pauses, runs upstairs, and returns with some parchment. "I believe one of these may help." Speaking a few strange words, the lock on the chest makes an audible click. "Try it now."
There is a satisfying click, then the lockbox lid swings open on its own. Within the box are a potion vial, two scrolls, a well-made hand crossbow, and a large case for carrying bolts.
After gathering the valuables from the lockbox, the group makes their way back to town. After their exertions, and considering the time, most of the group are ready for a meal.
On the way back, Zigil says, "I think first thing after we eat, we need to bring Katrezra up to date on what we've found, and see if he knows or has had any visions of the half-orc activity at the Plague House."
"Then we need to find Kurst and show him that we've found Rodrik's real hope knife, and bring him up to date on what we found. We will tell him that we're going back to get more information."
"We should also give Rodrik's real hope knife to Brinya. I think she'd like to have it."
"I don't know if we can get all of that done before we go back to the Plague House tonight, but we should try."
"And then we also have the last two scrolls, several potions, a couple of vials, and a wand to identify. Eldan, would you be able to do that tomorrow, or do we need to hire someone?"
"Sounds reasonable enough."
"I can review the scrolls right now. As for the rest, it will have to wait until the morrow. Can I see them now?"