Den and Draken head off to the left hand hall, now that the cells are deemed as empty. He moves carefully after nodding towards the others at the rear.
"Empty cells, I wonder what we have in this direction, Draken."
Avogadro, confidence building somewhat seeing that there aren't any more surprises thus far, begins to prowl around, always making sure he is not going anywhere noone else has been however!
"ancient or empty, ancient and empty! Can anybody see anything that isn't ancient or empty!?"
Kicking about the dust and cobwebs in the cell, Pipernortin sighs his disappointment. He walks back out and pushes the door closed behind him, letting the heavy iron thing echo through the corridor. "I wish we could find something," he grumbles in response to the stupendous Avogadro. "Ancient and empty doesn't seem to doing us a whole lotta good."
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Garekk follows the rest of the group silently. He cautiously peers into each peephole he passes. His voice rumbles out through the stilled air. "This place is depressing.. First torture, and now empty cells used for gods knows what. Am I the only one beginning to wonder what the hell this wizard was up to down here?"
"I am not sure he knew of this place, Garekk."
"I wouldn't be too sure about that... What do we know about this wizard?"
"The place, so far, seems like it went unused for a long time. I wouldn't be surprised we are only able to get here thanks to the fall of the tower."
"Perhaps the wizard knew that, and did this himself!" With a shrug, the gnome laughs as he pokes his head into another of the cells--just to make sure they're all empty. "If so, he made a big mess for a whole lot of nothing."
"Great. A dead end to the ancient, empty cells. Shall we try the other fork or just lay down and sleep here. I think we're the first people here in a long time. I don't see and roving wizards anyway!"
Avogadro, prestidigitators some juggling balls and starts to juggle absent mindedly as the group come to the 'end' of the corridor
"Not as dead as you might think..." With a great flourish intended to mimic the fantabulous Avogadro, Pipernortin steps to where he spots a strange seam in the stonework and gives it a good shove. And then, when that doesn't seem to work, a swift kick. And then, when that doesn't work, he steps back and lets someone larger do the wall-shoving for him.
"That went better in my head. I think there's a door here, though. I don't suppose anyone sees a mechanism to open it... or is it just that heavy?"
After a brief pause, and without any further effort from Pip's colleagues, the door swings open, to reveal a further corridor on the other side.
"Good eyes Pip!"
"Well done, Pip, well done. Perhaps it is best if I take the rear with Draken as a guard and those better qualified to lead......lead?"
"Secret tunnels! This is getting flipping mysterious huh!? Bit gloomy though... "
Avogadro removes his tophat. Then, with a click of his fingers, conjures small coloured lights to float out from it. A rabbit pokes its head out looks around a bit and then ducks quickly back as the hat is upturned and replaced on Avogadro's head.
Avogadro's curiosity is getting the better of his cowardice. Peering down the newly found corridor
"I think our burly friends should take the lead..."
I can help lead the way, my friends. - Roet says in a peaceful tone - Although I'm not really any good with traps.
The half-Orc proceeds with caution, trying to notice what his perceptive eyes and ears can bring to his attention.
The party proceeds through the hidden doorway. The corridor beyond rapidly bends to the right (east), then turns again to the south, then again to the west. This lower corridor is lined with more cells. Unlike those in the previous section, before the secret door, these cells do contain human remains, apparently very old.
As the party approaches the half-way point in the lower corridor, a pale face appears at a cell door's window, and filthy hands grip the bars. The desperate face immediately calls out to the party:
"Oh, gods, kind faces! Aroden bless you, noble souls! I ain't seen the jailers in ages, I think they forgot about us! We ain't eaten in days and the water's all but gone; my cousins're both sick. I swear we'd give back the boar if we could, but we ate it, starvin' as we was. We didn't even know it was the baron's lands, didn't know we was poachin'! I beg you, we're all gonna die in here! Kindness, noble souls, we've suffered awful! Good Baron Sarvo wills it!"
"This is not possible! How long have you been here? Who are you? When was the last time you saw the jailers?"
The prisoner stares back at Arnon, wide-eyed. "Water! Food! Good Baron Sarvo wills it!" is his only response.
Arnon checks if there is a way to open the door (he won't do it yet).
"Tell me! It the only way we can release you."
The door isn't locked.
Again, the prisoner responds: "Water! Food! Good Baron Sarvo wills it!"
"Does anybody has any food or water?"
He examines the man carefully.
Pip tugs at Arnon's sleeve. "Arnon, I'm not sure what good that will do... the baron he's talking about is over 200 years dead. And not the happy kind of death, either. And the man himself doesn't look exactly... whole, to me." He pulls out one of his trail rations, one of the good ones he'd been saving for a month (these dried berries were best a little crunchy, regardless of what everyone else thought) and offered it to Arnon. "Will this help? I've, uh, never been part of a ghost story before."
"Or it is not real and just in our minds. Be careful with this ghost. Even Hunclay may not have been aware of these cells if what Pipnortin says is veracious. And I'm sure it is."
For a moment the slightly nervous woodland druid falls back into more noble Talden speech.
Keeping uncharacteristically quiet following Pip's warning, Avogadro casts detect magic.
Then steps cautiously forward
"Sir, we have been sent on a mission by the will of the ruler of the Barony of Belhaim, my colleague here is a deputy..."
Avogadro gestures to Arnon
"...we will help you, as the good baroness wills it. Will you help us?"
Arnon notices nothing particularly unusual about the man.
Avogadro doesn't sense any magic aura emanating from the man.
The man turns and responds in turn to Avogadro's question: "Water! Food! Good Baron Sarvo wills it!"
Avogadro addresses the group, whispering not quite quietly enough to be polite
"He's responsive enough, but quite clearly insane, as little Pip says, 'not exactly whole' ghost is a bit of a leap though don't you think?"
Avogadro taps the side of his head with a long index finger
"Poor soul, give him the food and water and lets keep moving, we can tell someone in the town when we return... no way to treat the unsound. The question is, should we let the poor wretch out...?"
Roet puts his hand on the shoulder of Arnon. He completes what Pip said.
This is certainly not what it looks like. Tread carefully. Let me try.
That said, he pulls one of his rations from the bag and tries to offer to the "man".
All shall be fed while they wait for their judgment. - he says in an emotionless tone.
The prisoner hungrily grabs at the food. [b]"Thanks be to ye, pass in peace, in Aroden's name!"[b], he squawks, gratefully. With his eyes still on the food, he moves back out of sight into the room.
The door swings open. The room is empty. The rations sit innocently in the middle of the room.
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Garekk stood quietly through the encounter with the ghost, and as the door opens of its own volition to an empty room with the ration sitting in the middle of the floor, he gives a mighty shiver. "200 years you say, Pip? That mans shade has waited 200 years for a bit of kindness.. I can think of no greater evil than this.." he says mournfully as he turns back to the rest of the hall.
"It seems the secrets will not end with dead men begging for bread. We have another secret door." Garekk notes with distaste before pushing it open, his sword at the ready.
"A ghost you say? I beg Erastil he can move now to the Lady's Graveyard. Thank you Pip and Garekk, for letting his soul free."
I am at home in the woods of Verduran, maybe sometimes in the villages and towns, but this is not for me. Be at peace, you are not alone and there was no great danger here apart from the unknown.
Den and Draken both frown at each other at the disappearing prisoner and he then claps a hand on Garekk's shoulder for clearing and noticing the way ahead.
Roet knees down in a quick prayer for Irori, but leaves the rations undisturbed. Finally, he stands up and silently reassumes his place in the formation, carrying his sansetsukon in hands.
At the other side of the door is a narrow corridor, with a small room at its end. The room contains a strange metallic contraption of gears and chains. A large lever extends out at a forty-five-degree angle from the front of it. Above the lever hovers a small, roiling cloud of energy that periodically sends out sparks of electricity into the air or along the chains.
Arnon asks the others to leave the room, takes out his shirt, makes a small prayer to Erastil (Guidance again) and covering his hand in the cloth quickly tries to move the lever.
Den waits behind, several paces away, and lets the impulsive cleric take the lead. It may not be a decision filled with wisdom, but he bows to the insistence.
He is young, he is brave and he wants to take responsibility for our lives. But perhaps he should give the rest a chance to see if they can help. Impulsive, brave and hopefully he will not suffer for it.
As he steps back, letting the cleric step up, Avogadro looks around for anything that might reveal the machine's function casting detect magic as he does so.
"Pip, you seem to know a bit about engines and such, any ideas?"
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Garekk leads the way down the corridor, only to be stumped by the mechanical dead end. As Arnon steps forward, he cautions the cleric "We do not know what that cloud may be.. Shouldn't we let others at least look at it first?" However, the man grabs hold of the lever, and Garekk stands back some ways, weight on his toes and watchful.. ready to move either forwards or back..
At hearing Garekk, Arnon refrains from activating the lever.
"Yes, check it, be careful. If we find nothing let me try and activate it."
Avogadro notices nothing in the room, other than the details already noted. The lever seems to be mechanical rather than magical. However, he does recognise the ball of energy.
Excited to see his rations still there (and the ghost move on to the Boneyard, too, he supposes), Pip leans down to pick up his rations, but halts at the last second. Was it a ghost story faux pas to take your offering to the dead back? It wasn't like he was going to use them...
Slowly standing back up, Pipernortin decides to err, for once, on the side of caution. Which is a damned shame, because those berries were just about perfect.
Fortunately, his disappointment only lasts a few moments before Garekk pushes open another secret door. The glowing orb of crackling electricity sparks at the far end, immediately attracting Pip's curiosity. He bounds forward, leaning to either side and clambering up the wall to see past the taller folks. "Ooh. Neat. But what is it? And what's the thing do? And why's it all hiding behind a ghost?"
Pip takes a closer look at the lever (making sure not to get any closer than the very, very brave Arnon), trying to puzzle out what it might do.
"Friends, we are in the company of one of the other! That is an elemental of air. Born of lightning and thunder, a force of nature manifest a consciousness... it is rather small though isn't it?... don't suppose any of you speak the language of the air folk? May I suggest, brave cleric, that you leave any metal you may be carrying with us before you pull yonder lever."
Avogadro looks around for anything that Arnon could stand on to insulate himself
Pip doesn't really note anything that would require engineering training. But, as he follows the direction of the chains, and their connection to the lever, he can see that the lever controls a chain that runs overhead and then out of the room to the west, through a semicircular hole in the wall.