Velika slams the books shut with a little shriek of horror and moves it out of the sight of her companions.
"Some stories should never be told. We should destroy this thing. Tilver, do you think you can burn it?"
"Burn it? What, what is that book, Velika?" He moves to try and see the cover and title.
"This place was controlled by a cult. Destroying it later might be wise. But should we destroy it if we might need it soon?
"Even if we did need it, we couldn't use it. It's cursed, or trapped. Or maybe it's just pure evil. Tilver, I know you're curious, but trust me, don't read it. It should be destroyed."
Velika tentatively holds the book out to Tilver and starts humming quietly to herself, a sure sign that she's very, very scared.
While his companions examine the table and its contents, Dain heads over to a window and gazes out at the roofs of Oldtown. He mutters as he looks out - too softly to be understood - and at one point, waves at someone or something.
Velika's shriek gets his attention, and he turns quickly from the window to see if she is hurt. "Papercut?" he asks, before realizing that fear, not pain, had upset his friend, and he places a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"The jar and the book are both magical; transmutation magic. If you think we should destroy it, I can try to do so with acid. It is minimal effort. Velika, can you identify the nature of the magic on the jar? I have a vague idea."
Tilver seems more put off by the idea of the book being cursed than it being pure evil. He nods reluctantly and pulls out a torch. He snaps his fingers and instantly the end of the torch bursts into flame, brightening the whole room.
As Holys burns the book with acid, Tilver holds the torch to the pages as well. He turns to the sorceror as they both destroy the book.
"The jar is magic? That jar is full of piss! Now the candle has a weird inscription on it. I think it reads 'Segginal.' Whatever that means."
The book sturdily refuses to burn. Its edges char a bit but swiftly return to their original look when the torch is removed.
Velika gives a shaky laugh, "Tilver, is 'piss' a very technical alchemy term?"
Relieved to have something practical to do, she casts Detect Magic, focusing on the jar. She avoids looking at the book as Tilver and Holys attempt to deal with it.
Velika doesn't really have any insight into the nature of the magical pee jar. :-)
Velika looks at the candle to see the inscription Tilver mentioned. She examines the plate it was on too, for any additional writing.
"Hmmm, strange. Perhaps we should take it with us to a temple later and they can deal with it. As for the jar of 'piss', as you so delicately put it, sounds to me like it would be at home with the rest of your... concoctions, Tilver."
Tilver shrugs. "Yeah, just check twice if I hand you a potion ok?" He picks up the jar and stuffs it into his magical haversack. He looks back at the unburnt book. "Velika, is it supposed to do that? Should we leave it here if it's dangerous or should we try to secure it?"
"As far as I know, it should be possible to destroy it. It must be very powerful." She hums a bit to herself.
"Silas, you'd prefer to take these things? Your inner dragon wants his hoard? ... ah, not one of my better jokes ...
I hate the thought of taking that book with us, but I hate the idea of leaving it just a little bit more."
Velika, you think that Segginal might be a Prustan male name.
Tilver, you come up empty.
"If they are magical we surely shouldn't leave them behind. Especially if they might be evil or lead others to evil. Let us bag them and bring them along. If these are magical and the boots are not I am not sure if its worth bring them, but it couldn't hurt."
Someone puts the boots, book, and jar in a bag and then we head back down out of the room.
"Right. So back down to the bottom floor?" Tilver begins climbing down the ladder. He pulls up the trap door to the first floor and looks down.
"Yes, we should head down now and start at the first floor and then work up." Silas will follow Tilver down to the first floor and then when he pulls open the trap door there Silas will head down.
The crew climbs down two floors. This is the first level of the tall southeastern tower. A wooden ladder leads up through a hole in the ceiling to get to the next level (and the level beyond that). Remnants of broken wooden furnishings, covered in grime and cobwebs, fill the room.
"Ugh."
Holys takes a moment to use his merchant's eye to determine whether the remains of furniture were one of a high quality, or if it was and is junk.
Dain pokes around through the rubble with Holys.
Silas joins in searching around and also checks for any scents from anyone other then ratlings that might have been about.
Silas will exit through the door.
Tilver follows Silas out the door, looking around for any rats.
The room beyond the tower is dirty and shabby, but empty. The door beyond leads you back to the carpeted room where you fought the ratman ambush.
Velika moves into the room and crouches in front of Magill. "Did anything happen while we were gone?"
Silas will move up to the door in front of the one to the tower and look around it for any sign of tampering by the ratlings.
"No," squeaks Magill, tersely. He is nervous as a cat. "Bad place."
Nothing looks out of place with the door.
Silas opens the door and moves into the room carefully.
This chamber clearly was once used by the prostitutes of the brothel— the room contains three beds covered with silk sheets and pillows, now layered in grime, dust, and cobwebs. Silk draperies filthy with mildew and dirt line the walls. Between the draperies hang lewd, moldy paintings in wooden frames. Brass braziers once lit and heated these rooms, but today they lie dust-covered and overturned. The floors are carpeted with thick rugs, now worm-ridden and rotten. The boudoirs smell of mold and mildew.
Silas moves to stand in the room and begins looking around for any sign of the key or secret compartments where it might have been stashed.
Silas finds nothing else of interest.
Holys points at the framed pictures. "Let's take those with us when we leave. I can think of a parlour or two where they'd go quite nicely. But for now, we should continue."
The next room is identical to the last, save only that it has three beds and not four.
After seeing that the next room is more of the boudoir Silas heads over to the large curtain with the brute had hidden and looks behind it.
A large and dusty chamber stands empty, save for an iron spiral staircase leading up to the second floor. An alcove on the east remains hidden from view.
"Yes, this is a bad place. Thank you, Magill, for helping us out." Velika moves to look in the boudoir to see the pictures, then nods to Holys in agreement. Then she moves over to the other door and waits for one of her more perceptive teammates to open the door.
"Heh." Tilver grins and chuckles as he walks through the old brothel. Imagine if these sheets could talk!
Exiting the rooms, he glances at the thuck curtain right before Silas pulls it aside. The ex-gladiator steps inside and looks around. He goes up towards the stairs and looks around the corner.
Silas follows Tilver in and stops at the door looking for anything amiss.
Dain peeks into the first boudoir, and wrinkles his nose - not in protest of the sights or smells, but in response to the childhood memories the room evoked in him.
While the others continue to inspect the boudoirs, Dain and Magill explore the entry room more thoroughly - searching through the leaves and refuse.