She blinked a lot at all their suggestions for the moment almost clearly at a loss. After a moment however she bit her lip and took on a more determined mien.
Research i would imagine would need to be handled during the day, on the prisoners i mean. I could ask around some of the local fellows, see if there are any older folk who were... working at the prison when it was a prison still. She offered with that slight frown still. She was not tusting at all of her womanly wiles yet some of the local boys had seemed to take a shine to her so it might be worth something.
"I do no' mind gettin' a bit o' sleep here'n the afternoon. Me eyes be better at th' nighttime capers, if ye get me meanin', than lookin' at the books. Less, o' course, ye want me t' come with ye, lass," he directs this last at Chellian.
For now, Morgrym follows Coiger to the graveyard to walk through, as though paying respects to the Professor, but really to look for the crypt during the day.
"No, there was no mention at all aside from his journal."
After hours of searching, still no mention of Harrowstone in the Lorrimor's library.
While you suspect very strongly that you've only scratched the surface, you are quite confident now that the Whispering Way are an organization of necromancers that appear to have been active in the Inner Sea region for thousands of years.
The Restlands graveyard is completely empty. A worn, wooden wheelbarrow full of tools stands near the southwest entry gate (where you entered for the procession before) with some fresh dirt clinging to its wheels, but it appears that the owner has left. Now that you're paying more attention to the surroundings, the place seems all the more dreary and grey.
Coiger looks about as he walks the grounds.
I have a feeling they might be more talkative so without a chaperone. You all he careful, while I would hate to miss anything maybe I can keep eyes here in town.
Richter looks to Sohar. "Why don't you come with me to the monument site after the sheriff leaves and see if we can find anything? I could use the company.
He looks to Morgrym and Coiger as they start off. Then to Chellian. "Please be careful Miss Chellian."
"Keen eye, there, Coiger. A deft work this was, indeed. We comin' back tonight fer a closer look, or do ye jus' want t' go in now while noone be around?"
The Restlands graveyard is completely empty. A worn, wooden wheelbarrow full of tools stands near the southwest entry gate (where you entered for the procession before) with some fresh dirt clinging to its wheels, but it appears that the owner has left. Now that you're paying more attention to the surroundings, the place seems all the more dreary and grey.
"Well then, shall we?"
The lock comes off without much fuss and the wood and iron door grinds open only after you really put your back into it. Inside the crypt, there is a small flagstone landing before a stairway that descends into blackness. In the thick dust accumulated on the landing and the first few steps visible in the meager light, a set of footprints is visible going both in and out of of the crypt. From the depths rises an earthy scent like a field after a rainstorm. A careful listen also reveals a very low, whistling air current.
"Well, that were as subtle as an ogre. Come on, let's get in n' out b'fore someone comes a lookin'."
"I'm right behind you."
Coiger utters a short prayer. Ghostly blue light illuminates the top head of his heavy dull, black, steel mace. He readies it and his shield.
It's clear the footprints lead down the stairs into the crypt and back out. A cool draft can be felt coming up the stairs.
The blue light from Coiger's mace casts a pallor over the stairway. The stronger contrast between faint glow and deep shadow almost makes the shadowy depth look even more foreboding than the pitch black of a moment ago. At the bottom of the steep staircase, maybe 8 feet down, a stone landing opens further forward, but is obscured in inky darkness.
Morgrym steps forward into the darkness, pulling his pick off his back and prepping it in his hand.
She went back to the professor's house awkwardly unsure how to continue. She ran hands through her hair, washed her face ...twice. Took several deep calming breaths before she made her way back out, leaving most her gear back home, taking with her just a dagger. The tavern was the one place she was sure she knew how to find so she made her way there. She made her way to the bar, sitting there offering a big smile doing her best to look bored.
Coiger and Morgrym just about jump out of their skin when Sohar steps up behind them at the entrance to the crypt.
The morning bunch at the Laughing Demon is sparse, but Zokar looks happy to see you. He quickly approaches and asks what you'll have. His son is busy polishing tables. His wife is mopping. There is a pair of older gentlemen playing a board game in one corner and an elderly couple eating breakfast and bickering about... the eggs, near as you can tell.
"Ahem, Well then, shall we?" Coiger says lowering his mace.
"Fer the love o' all that be holy, elf, what in blazes be ye doin'?!" Morgrym waves his hand to lead the others forward.
"That be a neat trick, but draws a lot o' attention. But come one, let's get further in. There be two iron gates there ahead, an' I say one o' us watches the road from 'ere to make sure no-one gets th' drop on us. Last thing Miss Kendra needs right now be some grave-robbin' guests. Another standin' at th' open gate, makin' sure it do no' close, an' another t' head deeper in t' see what be there. I'll volunteer fer the last, if'n ye like."
Coiger sighs heavily, readjusts his helmet and descends the last few steps into darkness and fairy light. He looks about ( ) before cautiously advancing toward the unsealed door ( ).
"If Sohar is taking the road he (or his little friend) can watch the door as well. We can wedge it if necessary. If anyone (or any thing) is still down here we have only just given it time to prepare for our arrival what with all the noise and lights. So... "
In the ghostly light, Coiger peers into the next chamber. Through the gate, another staircase descends another 8 feet or so to another chamber. Nothing noteworthy is visible from this vantage with such poor light.
This is the first time really I've ever been away from home, I was just ...curious about life outside of my home town I suppose. Like that old prison for instance. I've never seen a building of its like. When it .. when it was well operational did it bring in a lot of work to the town?
She asked Zokar innocently enough. She smiled broadly. It was easy to see she was curious about the place. Has the professor still been with them she would have been curious.
"Are their any books about it? Oh!!!! even better any of the older folk who maybe used to work there? It really is something neat and different from my sheltered experiances.
She was sure batted eyelashes and light grazes of her hand would work better on the single fellows so she just tried avid curiousity.
Fully revealed chamber
Coiger pushes on the open door, steps into the next chamber and looks about.
It looks like a dusty, old tomb. The single set of tracks in the dust is still visible passing through the open gate in both directions. Cobwebs fill the corners where the masoned walls meet the ceiling. At the base of the stairs in the lower chamber, a sarcophagus is set upon on a dais. From your vantage, you can see that the room spreads further into shadow both left and right of the dais.
She answered with a smile, not saying much more but enjoying the ambiance of the place and a simple drink. It seemed rude to just waltz in ask questions and leave. She spent some time listening to the chatter of the other patrons and nursing something to drink before saying her farewells to Zokar and making her way to the town hall. it wouldnt hurt to see what she might discover there first. She would look for the old wizard afterwards she supposed.
"Shall we?" He pushes past the doubt, and the gate, and heads down the steps....
The town hall is just across the plaza from Zokar's place. It is a fairly pedestrian building. Inside, the building really is just a giant hall with rows of benches and a rostrum at the front. Stuffed bookshelves line the wall on the rostrum and a clerk sits at a desk against the wall up there looking very bored.
Coiger steps through the grate and moves down the steps, the falls of his own boots echoing through the empty stone vault. The ghostly light from his mace provides some illumination, although there is virtually nothing to see. The stone sarcophagus bears handprints in the deep dust indicating where a previous visitor had placed his hands in order to slide the stone lid clear.
Coiger sheathes his mace in a leather loop on his belt, and shoves his shield further up his arm. He takes a moment to measure his own hands against the impressions left behind in the dust. He places his feet in the position that he guesses the unknown interloper did by the trail on the floor. His hands rest on the lid, and then, he pushes.
With a horrible grating sound, the stone slab grinds out of place exposing a cavity within that is conspicuously absent a corpse. Rather, a number of bottles and odd items fill the space.
Within you find...
A heavy object falls onto your shoulder and remains there. At first you mistake it for someone's hand, but then it moves. You leap to your feet and swat at the thing, causing it to fly off of your shoulder and tumble in a heap on the ground. As you spin to face it, you see a spider the size of your hand. And another. And another. All crawling through the cobwebs that fill the corners and joints on the west wall.
Then, a large, black mass in a bottom corner detaches itself from the shadowed webbing and moves out deftly on spindly legs as thick as walking sticks. All in all, the thing is roughly the size of a sheep! It moves toward you cautiously, its mandibles working furiously in anticipation of a bit meal.
Initiative!
The spider suddenly makes its move. It rears up to a terrifying height, considering what it is, and its abdomen flicks forward beneath it. A jet of thick, sticky webbing flies at you.
The thick string-liquid covers you from shoulder to knee and binds you up so you find it difficult to move your arms or legs too much. The spider hangs back cautiously a moment to see if you're caught. Entangled condition
You're up.