Marcus nods along, soaking up the town's history.
"Thank you so much for your time, this is a wonderful tale. It does seem that we may be around town for a while, is there anything about historical, or current, Belham that we should know about as we settle in?"
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"Glad t' hear it." Grargath grins at the idea that the townsfolk were taking a shine to them. It felt good. Unable at the moment to think of any questions beyond what Marcus and Cira have asked already, he waits with interest to hear what more Bassy has to say about Belhaim.
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Bassy pours cups of tea, offering some to the adventurers. "Not much, I believe I've covered the major happenings. There's the old monastery, but that's been abandoned for centuries."
The old gnome sips her tea. "Saint Kyerixus, I believe it was devoted to. A group of Iroran priests petitioned Lady Tula to allow its construction right around when Belhaim was founded. The monks built it overlooking the Dragondens and lived in harmony with the town until Castle Tula was burned during the Canteclure's rebellion. Right around then, the monks just vanished. Gone without a trace. It's been empty but for monsters and wild beasts ever since."
"And that, to my knowledge, is everything exceptional about our sleepy town, except for the company of course," she offers with a wink.
Though not much of a tea drinker, Grargath accepts the tea and very slowly nurses it, doing his best to not be rude. "An' no one knows why th' monks jus' vanished?" he asks with interest. "Any rumors or th' like as t' wha' happened t' them?"
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Cira drinks the offered tea contentedly, but pauses at the mention of the monks. "Did anyone investigate it?" she adds on to Grargath's questions.
Marcus perks up again with the talk of a mysteriously abandoned monestary but waits on his friends answers before adding any questions of his own.
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Bassy sets her tea aside and thinks. "No rumors, no warnings, they just disappeared." She turns to Cira. "Some tried early on, but they were driven away by the temple's defenses or wandering monsters. We haven't heard so much as a peep from the monastery since then."
Marcus nods, "Thank you again for your time." turning to his companions, "Might put a pin in that one as something to take a look at later, when we are done with the manor."
When goodbyes are said with the old gnome,"shall we liquidate this excess weight and restock for our manor explorations?"
"Yes, thank you, Bassy. We appreciate your help. And the tea," she adds with a smile, realizing that her headache is mostly gone.
She nods in agreement to possibly investigating the temple later on and hefts her bag onto her shoulder. "Yes. Sell first, then onto the manor? There's something strange with this town, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious about what it is."
Grargath nods in agreement. "Aye, let's find some merchants an' be on our way."
As they leave Bassy's house, Cira motions for the group to wait and waves her hands over the vast amount of loot they were carrying.
"Something might be useful," she explains. "I'd hate to accidentally get rid some something that could help us down the road."
Marcus takes a look at the objects with Cira, casting his own spells to help with detection.
Frowning over the items, he mutters "We may need to invest in some scrolls of Identify, or hope this town has a sage to help us."
"You need help with something?" Bassy calls, leaning out of one of her cottage's windows. Steam rises from a cup of tea she set on the still.
Cira turns towards Bassy. "Er, well... we have some magical items that might be of use to us, but we're having a difficult time figuring out what they are." She thinks for a moment. "Do you know of anyone in town that could help us?"
"I have an eye for that sort of thing," Bassy explains. "Why don't you show me? I'd usually charge for that sort of thing, but you brought the Malak girl back to us. Consider it my thanks."
Marcus smiles his gratitude at Bassy. "My thanks, your wisdome surely will help us accomplish our tasks. Should we find anything worth knowing, I would gladly return and share knowledge with you. Until then, have a pleasant day"
Leaving Bassy's home, he speaks with the group. "Money changer, jeweler, general store, blacksmith. Anywhere else we need to visit today? We also need to take stock on what potions, wands and su dry we've found and divide by usefulness. I fear this mansion is going to be more trouble than we're getting paid for."
Despite that, Marcus walks with a spring in his step. They were about to have fat coinpurses, he had a fine night drinking, more adventure was at hand, and he had good companions to travel with.
I'm getting soft aren't I, good companionship is spoiling me.
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"Thank you Bassy, you have been a great boon to us." Francis says.
As they are leaving, Francis listens to Marcus and nods at his assessment of the mansion they are soon to be exploring. "Meddling in the affairs of wizards is certainly a dangerous past-time. I have faith in your new-found skills with traps however."
Cira smiles and waves to Bassy as they leave, casually clasping her hands behind her back as they make their way towards the market.
"I fear this mansion is going to be more trouble than we're getting paid for."
"Meddling in the affairs of wizards is certainly a dangerous past-time."
"It should be interesting though," she says, overhearing the bard and cleric's conversation. "At least we won't be bored."
Grargath nods his head in thanks to Bassy as they take off from her home once again. "Aye, I dinnae wish t' die in an old wizard's house jus' because we didn' 'ave enough potions. Best t' be as prepared as we can."
The Hunclay manor is the newest building in Belhaim, constructed from large blocks of hewn granite. The windowless exterior is unadorned and fortress-like, the only novelty of the construction is a glass dome atop the roof. A tube-like construction of polished brass protrudes from this half-sphere.
A pair of thick wooden doors banded with iron sit at the end of a small courtyard. A marvelously-complicated lock surrounded by faintly glowing runes connects the two panels.
The stone-paved ground before the doors bear a blackened char mark, all that remains of the unfortunate Blood Vow kobold that tried to gain entry after the collapse of the Witch Tower.
Grargath stares up at the mansion in awe. The building felt so different from the rest of Belhaim that if he didn't know better he'd say they had accidentally wandered into a different city altogether. The dwarf begins to walk closer to observe the charred remains of the kobold who tried to enter before them, but quickly stops himself. Who knows what other traps might surround the entrance?
"Marcus? Keep us alive, lad."
Marcus glares at the ominous structure and its equally ominous dead kobold decorations. Silently taking the key from Cira, he carefully approaches the doorway, casting a simple cantrip to help him check the manor doorway for the probable trap.
"Well, this just looks lovely. I'm hoping the key is all that's needed to get through this first door."
Not seeing anything terribly, obviously, lethal, Marcus takes the key and tries the door, unable to stifle a wince as the lock turns and the door opens.
Turning to the group he smiles and says, "Step one complete, now to the fun part."
Cira lets out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding and cautiously follows into the manor, casting one last look at the charred, cautionary kobold.
When the doors open, glass orbs that line the walls flicker and glow, suffusing the room with light. They reveal a well-appointed entry hall adorned with a pair of expensive Qadiran rugs and several over-sized leather couches. Two dozen paintings with gilded frames hang on the walls, portraits and landscapes, all of exquisite artistry. To the north sits a large bird cage. Wooden doors open in the east and west walls, and an elaborate spiral staircase of iron both ascends and descends in the southeast corner.
Marcus lets out a low whistle as he scans the room from the doorway before stepping inside.
"Posh, why would the wizard work with kobolds when he had digs like this? Ah, one can never understand the ways of wizards. Can only trust sorceresses.." the last bit with a wink to Cira.
Marcus again uses a simple cantrip to observe the birdcage in detail from across the room, muttering "Hope there isn't a starving bird in there."
Grargath cautiously enters, regarding everything in the wizard's home with suspicion. The dwarf tries to make himself as small as possible as to not accidentally bump into some cursed object. "S'awful fancy," he mutters, watching the portraits carefully in case something were to move.
"Ah, one can never understand the ways of wizards. Can only trust sorceresses.." the last bit with a wink to Cira.
"That's just what we want you to think," Cira replies with a grin before turning back to the ornate room.
"This is even more lavish than I was expecting," she says in agreement with the others as she takes in the room before them. "Though considering the way the Baroness talked about him, maybe we shouldn't be surprised." She reaches out to touch one of the paintings but quickly recoils her hand, remembering the kobold outside.
"Be careful! There's some type of magic rune here. No clue what it does, but don't step on the rug!"
Marcus hisses out, pointing to the rune over the entryway.
Assuming nothing horrid immediately happens, he mutters, "Which way now?"
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Francis grips his holy symbol tightly as Marcus unlocks and opens the door. As the door swings open without any mishaps he sighs in relief and relaxes his grip...somewhat.
Looking around the room at the opulence, Francis shakes his head. "All of this wealth, and in the end the man lies buried under a pile of rubble with no one to mourn his passing. Life and wealth are but a vapor, here one day and gone the next. I hope I leave a greater legacy than a few rugs to be pawned off at my passing." Francis says quietly.
Hearing voices, the chirping of dozens of birds sings out from beneath the covered bird cage.
Skirting around the rune on the rug, Cira walks carefully to the birdcage. "Poor things," she murmurs. "They haven't been fed in days." She pulls the cover from the cage to look at the birds.
Grargath sidesteps the carpet, and looks around the room at the availabe options. "Af'er we catalog wha's 'ere," he begins, eyeing the expensive frames, "We should explore the first floor before takin' th' stairs."
The birdcage contains five frantic songbirds. They hop from perch to perch chirping intensely at Cira. The food dish in the cage is empty. Nearby the cage is a bag of feed.
Cira looks over the birds curiously. "They're so pretty," she murmurs. "And hungry." Reaching into the bag of feed, she scoops some into her hand and carefully funnels it through her fingers and into the cage.
Marcus looks at the rune inscribed rug with a frown on his face.
"Im not sure I can disarm this one, maybe Ill try it our way out."
Looking about the room he wanders over to look at the birds.
"Hmm, pretty."
Grargath, not too interested in the birds, begins walking toward the west hallway. "Any surprises on this door, Marcus?" he calls out before touching the door.
Marcus heads to the west door, "Hold on, let me take a closer look."
"Seems fine, let me go first."
I updated the Adventure Map, btw.
The western door opens to a wide hallway, richly appointed with fine rugs and paintings. Two doors lead off from the hall, one to the north and the other to the south.
I updated the Adventure Map, btw
Cira peers down the hallway at the pair of doors. "I'm honestly kind of afraid to touch anything in here," she admits, looking at Marcus. "You first?" She gives him a sheepish smile and shrugs.