Kaelic searches the door and finds no traps, but also finds that the door is not locked, the hinges are on the other side, and it would appear as if a large piece of furniture has been pushed up against the door.
"I believe this falls to you, Juma." He pats the door, and steps to the side. "Have at it, and don't strain anything."
"Hit it with your magic!" Kaelic waits a beat and then continues. "Oh wait. Alright, use your battering ram!" he waits another beat, then again, "Oh wait. Then... abuse it as per your people's custom. Whatever."
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Scowling slightly, Juma begins to line up for another shoulder-shove, then hears Kaelic's suggestion of a battering ram.
"Hey, good idea! I knew you'd be useful eventually."
With that, he picks up the gnome and pushes against the door.
"Abuse the door! The door!"
Juma continues to ambiguously abuse the door and/or the gnome.
"Ow!"
"Ow!"
"Ow!"
After many tries, and using the gnome as a living ram, you are able to push the door open enough to squeeze through the opening.
Within you find what looks to be another, albeit larger, servant's chamber. You see a large armoire has been pushed up against the door. You also notice the boots and legs of someone cowering under the bed.
"Alright, you can come on out now. We're not here to hurt you."
"Hey look, he's a fish! Isn't that great?"
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As Dagon and Kaelic entreat the person to come out, you see his feet draw further under the bed as if the person id trying to make themselves smaller. After a moment, a man slowly comes out from under the bed and looks at you sheepishly. "Uh, hello. What are you doing here?" He asks.
"Are you Hunclay? We were sent to find you, to see if you knew anything about what happened to the Witch Tower, but it seems someone armed the defenses."
"N..no, Hunclay is my master. I havn't seen him since last night. I hid when I heard that loud noise and saw the tower had collpased."
"Very smart of you to hide under a bed; no collapsing structures could ever hurt you there," Juma declares sarcastically.
"Anyway," he continues, more seriously, "We're here to set things in order. You need to tell us everything you know about where your master might have gone and what he might have been doing."
Kaelic awaits the man's response.
The man hestitates, considering his words before saying. "I don't know where he might have gone." He pauses longer, almost unwilling to go on, then says. "My master was employing the kobolds to undermine the foundations of the Witch Tower after having been unable to remove it by legal means." Mathezic also tearfully reports that Hunclay had contact with many unsavory parties for his research, which Mathezic believes “had to do with the stars.”
"Why did he want it removed? Any idea what he's up to?"
"Yeah, what's so bad about the tower? Was it in the spot he wanted to build a new swimming pool or something?"
"I...I..I think it had something to do with his observations of the stars. He was always complaining about it obstructing his research."
"How long ago did he leave? Was he in a rush, or was he well-packed? Did he leave alone?" Kaelic continues his questioning.
The servant shrugs. "He left in the morning. I did not see what he was carrying. He did make a habit of telling the servants of his comings and goings."
"Perhaps he collapsed the tower, then went to loot it."
"That sounds smart. Let's try to catch up with him once we're finished here."
Kaelic turns to walk out, then remembers the servant. "You should probably stay under that bed until we get things sorted out. There's kobold out there you know. Safer in here."
The servant nods and begins to crawl back under the bed. "Uh...ok...thank you."
Do the stairs lead up or down?
"Hm..." Juma pauses in thought for a moment.
"Well," he says, "Naughty things tend to be in basements, so there might be clues downstairs. On the other hand, he was wanting to look at stars, which is much more easily done from up top. I'm thinking maybe we start downstairs, where we might find info to help us interpret what we might find upstairs. What do you think, guys?"
"To be fair, we don't know how deep that basement might go. We might start with what we know before delving into what we don't. Eh Juma?" Kaelic says, tapping his head as though to indicate thought.
"I side with the gnome. The upstairs seems a better place to start."
As you move back to the entry room, the local undertaker, Calladastina Honas, is at the front door, removing the kobold corpse. "What are you three doing in here? I heard you were supposed to be investigating the Witch's Tower. I not sure how Baroness Devy would feel about you nosing about the wizard's house. I'm assuming you broke in?"
"Broke in? Hardly! We're fully deputized representatives of the local constabulary, and the sight of your burnt friend indicated a struggle, which justifies our entering the premises to keep the peace."
"Plus, everyone loves us!"
"Besides, if you want us to actually accomplish anything by exploring the collapsed tower, we need as much information as we can get, and this is the place to get it."
The undertaker gives you all a disapproving look. "I know your new to town, but surely you realize in a small town like this, word travels fast. I now what the Baroness asked of you." She puts her hands on her hips. "Don't take this the wrong way,....but Hunclay is an accomplished wizard. His manor most likely holds thing beyond your....experience. I suggest you follow Misstress Devy's request and don't risk the reward she's offering you." With that, she heaves the kobold corpse onto a cart and wanders off.
"Oooh, I do want to get paid. That might be a good thought." Kaelic says, looking to the others.
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"Fair enough," Juma says. "Fine, go test, I mean look, for traps in the ruins while we follow at a safe distance."
Kaelic shuffles back out, watching for disappearing floors and the like. He makes sure to shut the door behind him, whether or not everyone else is out (or as shut as a broken door can be, that is). He then proceeds to the rubble.
"Hmm... Traps, traps..."
Juma waits to hear the gnome's report.
Heading the word of the undertaker, the party exits the manor house and returns to the Witch's Tower. An enormous heap of cracked stone and splintered wood from the tower lies in a low mound here, tumbled partially down the hill to the southeast. The mound of rubble forms a natural ramp that leads up to the now-exposed second floor of the tower above.
Kaelic finds no traps or anything out of the ordinary.
"No traps, huh? They probably fell apart with the rest of the tower. Seems safe to me."
"Yep, looks good. Hey glowstick, want to go first?" Kaelic says as he holds a light spell dancing in his fingers.
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Stepping through the rubble, the party moves up to the second floor. Open to the sky above, this exposed upper floor contains only some smashed furniture and a sprinkling of rubble. A trap door is set in the floor against the northwest wall, but a stout timber has fallen across it.
"Looks like this is your department again, Juma. Heave to; I'll supervise."
"Oh, for crying out loud; do I have to do everything around here?"
Juma approaches the blocked portal and shoves the fallen timber.
...and again...