Edgar announces what he finds out about the items, as flames erupt.
The fire brings images of his family farm burning to the ground to Edgar’s mind, but he is able to resist the urge to flee. As he steels himself he notices Edwin has joined Bupkis in fleeing for terror,”Edwin!!?! Get back here! It’s just some flames.”
Menrozzar stops running, breathing heavily with Bupkis and the mute Edgar kept calling his brother Edwin. What was the deal with him anyway? He had to remember to ask Edgar about it. The fear having subsided somewhat, Menrozzar trudged back to the Plague House with Bupkis, climbing back up onto the porch and going back into the room - although he had to take a couple deep breaths before he could. Retrieving his hammer, he said, "Apparently this place really is haunted. How did Brinya and Rodrik manage to meet down here and not flee in terror at the sight of that?"
Still somewhat shaken, Menrozzar looks over the trap door. "I could strike it with my hammer to break it in, but we should see if we can just pull it up first. No sense causing more destruction to this place than we need to." He eyed th ebed sideways, as though expecting a flaming corpse to leap up and attempt to kill him if he did."[/b]
As Bupkis moves back into the room his eye catches a gleam amidst the ashes in the west corner or the room. The floorboards say down into this corner slightly and it looks like rain might have washed items there over the years.
Daseem nodded at Menrozzar's words. The trap door did look rather rotted... So he thought he'd have a go breaking it open by main force. He attempted to grab hold of it but the wood was slippery and friable, and he ended up falling on his backside.
Non-plussed he picked himself up and tried stomping on it for all he was worth!
Bupkis finally mustered up the courage to go back into the room with the beds. Something caught his eye in one corner of the room, so we moved over to have a closer look; he was much more cautious and subdued than he was previously.
Daseem's second stomp easily shatters the trapdoor into so many splinters, the majority tumbling down below to land with a resounding crash. Upon shining a light down, or someone with darkvision looking you see a roughly 20ft. square chamber.
Embedded into the floor of this chamber is a ten-foot-diameter granite emblem of a faded gold and white longsword. Four passages lead out of the chamber in different directions. A portcullis blocks the southern exit, and a sturdy wooden door leads west. A ladder in the southern corner of the room leads down, and a small chest and decrepit bookshelf face one another from opposite walls.
Bupkis's investigates the ashes and discover a number of shiny items, the largest of which appears to be a knife. He is going to need to delve into the dust, or clear it away to clearly identify, and get his hands on the rest of the objects.
Bupkis use telekinesis to bring the knife to his hand. "Bupkis finds knife, and other shinys!", he said excitedly. He used the knife to clear away some of the ashes, and then levitated the objects one by one, and moved then to a clear section of the floor.
Bupkis's excavation takes quite some time as there prove to be 63 silver pieces, a heart shaped locket, and the hopeknife which turns out to be fairly ornate, though not quite as well made as Sara's work.
"Everybody leaves Hopeknifes in Plague House!", Bupkis marveled. He examined the blade for inscriptions, and tried to see if he could open the locket, and see what was inside.
Menrozzar peered down through the trap door, looking for signs of any creatures, his torch held aloft. "Bupkis, if you want to bring those in here, we may need your help getting down here."
Bupkis had heard the crash when Daseem had caved in the trap door, but had been too engrossed in the shinys to pay much attention. When Menrozzar called his name, he wandered over and looked down at the room below.
"You wants Bupkis go first?", he asked. He was still a little nervous after the vision of flames.
Bupkis opens the locket easily and finds a badly water damaged portrait that was probably a woman, or possibly a gnarled tree in a dress, it is difficult to tell. Nevertheless the locket is still quite fine. The Hopeknife bears no inscription, and all a detailed inspection reveals is that whoever commissioned it probably liked apples as they feature quite prominently in the design.
"Me's will goes. Me's looks around while Bupkis float magics rope," the other goblin said, trying to put on a brave face.
He didn't even bother with the ladder. He just went down the hole headfirst like some kind of weird bug.
Edgar will cast detect magic again and take a look over Bupkis’ findings,”hmmm I wonder how long this has been here...”he muses aloud. I don’t like this; haunted beds, abandoned hopeknives, and now a secret chamber under Plague house? What’s going on here Desna? he prays as he grips his starknife to reassure himself.
Ivan will take time to look around the room before moving to the trap door.
Hmmm. I'm for thinkin' this be worth checking out. But how ta' get down.... Anyone wanna hold me on a rope bwahaha. Welp, lets get a goin' sooner we do, the sooner we get back ta' our beds tonight. Though, I'm for thinkin' someone a wee lighter than me should be testing tha' ladder first.
When Scrabbler went down the hole, Bupkis' fear of going first was replaced by a desire not to be left behind! "Bupkis tests ladder!", he declared, and scrambled down the rungs to the chamber below.
"If you don't see anything and the ladder seems sturdy, let us know. I'll come down next, then Ivan, Edgar, Edwin and Daseem. Hopefully we'll be able to use the ladder safely."
Menrozzar wasn't entirely sure what this underground area was doing under the Plague House. The faded gold and white sword suggested it was some kind of catacombs from the original church of Iomedae, but why had no one ever mentioned this? Did anyone even know about it? What could be down here that could possibly cause Trunau problems?
The ladder seems sound enough, apparently not touched by the fire and easily accommodates Bupkis. Tales about the Plague House tend to focus on it being haunted, rather than its basement, its not so much a secret as it is not interesting enough to get mentioned.
Daseem followed the others down the surprisingly intact ladder into the basement. Once down below he had a good look around at his surroundings, looking for anything of interest or for tracks that might show if others have been down here and where they went.
Daseem can make out several fresh tracks, one set of great muddy webbed footprints and another less obvious set of mansized boot prints. Daseem's best guess is that they are only moments old, both look to have moved to the northwest passage.
Edgar and Edwin will climb down, once they get down Edgar will use Detect Magic to check the room for any notes of magic;
"I bet that cute priestess would like to take a look down here. Thats an Iomedae holy symbol isn't it?" he says with a mischievous grin as he looks around, also casting Light on Edwin's Scythe blade. Maybe I can take a page of ole Rodricks book and show her myself... he muses to himself before shaking his head with a smile and focusing on checking his surroundings.
When he reached the bottom of the ladder, Bupkis looked around, starting with the bookcase.
He peered through the portcullis. "Who puts bars-gate here?"
Ivan looks around, trying to guess as where the passages would lead to before wandering over to look at the chest.
Well, I'm fer thinkin' that all the passages be worth explorin'... Wonder how long these tunnels been abandoned. As he looks around, he notices Daseem looking intently at the tracks.
ye find something there Daseem? When Daseem points out the fresh tracks, Ivan smacks his hands together and rubs them.
Well, I'll be. I'm thinkin' we jus' found a new lead boys. I'd suggest moving slowly though, he very likely may have heard us fightin' the spiders, or the manly shrieks at the ghostly fire... Though, I'm also fer wonderin' what be in the chest there. he points to the chest sitting on the floor.
Menrozzar holds up a finger to his lips to indicate quiet, then whispers, [smaller]"Tracks first. Whoever's down here, they may think we were scared off by the...ghostly fire. That could give us an advantage. Scrabbler, Bupkis, could you quietly scout that way?"
Daseem was about to draw his sword and follow the tracks, but he saw the sense in letting the amazingly stealthy goblins scout ahead. Still he found them somewhat unpredictable and hoped they didn't get up to any 'antics'. Ivan was right, the sounds of combat not to mention the smashing of the trap door likely forewarned whoever had fled to the northwest.
"Yes, Bupkis scouts!," the little goblin replied in a low voice. He moved quietly down the northwest passage, looking and listening for whoever else was down here.
Scrabbler nodded quickly at Menrozzar's prompting and headed into the dark.
In his excitement, he was much less aware than he usually was. The spike of nerves caused by the fire ghosts was still lingering. He let Bupkis take the lead. He really didn't like this place, but he was trying to be brave.
Advancing it seems clear the recent footprints headed through the side door. And upon opening the door you see a once-grand flagstone hall is filled with statues of different celestial creatures in every corner. An old fire pit in the center of the room is bordered on all sides by moth-eaten bedrolls, while shovels, picks, and other digging equipment lie strewn about a shallow tunnel bored into the northeastern wall. The ceiling above the tunnel has collapsed, leaving a hole open to the sky above a pile of burnt rubble.
Given the state of the floor in hear it is not immediately obvious where the footprints headed.
Once Scrabbler and Bupkis give the all clear, Menrozzar advances to where they are, and looks about the room. He kneels down to investigate the fire pit, trying to determine how long ago it was last used.
His investigation of the fire pit finished, he turns his attention to the tunnel - a tunnel which, with his knowledge of the Plague House's location, pointed straight at the town of Trunau. His earlier feeling of dread returned tenfold, as he looked at the tunnel.
Bupkis moved into the room and crept along the northwest wall. Someone had just come this way, and might well be hiding in the tunnel! He scanned the room for hiding spots.
Ivan takes time to check for tracks, then he will check over most of the statues before moving to follow the tracks, if any.
Well, this place is lovely in'it?
He then points to the tunnel and cave in.
Shoddy work there. Shoulda brought a dwarf wit' em. Wonder how long ago that tunnel was mined? An' how old these tools are.
Ivan will glance over the tools, to determine, roughly, how old they are.
Daseem watched the goblins scamper down the tunnel, once they'd given the all clear he followed them into the room. Clearly somebody had been digging a tunnel, but why? Pointing at the picks and shovels he grunted, "Odd!" Determined to try and find a reason, Daseem scanned the room looking for clues.
Edgar and Edwin both follow Menrozzar and Ivan once the all clear is given. Oh my stars... this tunnel could lead right to the town! Edwin will kneel down next to Menrozzar and inspect the fire pit with him.
As that goes on, Edgar looks to Ivan, “Did you ever find anything in that chest?” he says as he scans this room for any magic.
On the opposite side of the opening from Bupkis, Scrabbler stuck his head town the hole in the wall. He didn't really know what a "mine" was, but he knew what a tunnel was. He liked tunnels. They usually lead to interesting places. Hiding holes. Escape routes. Treasures. Critters. All the funnest things were in tunnels.
The inspection of the fireplace doesn't show much. As the downpour of the last days has drowned the firepit. But you guess that it's been used no longer than a week ago. The tools are recently made. They are dirty now from the water and start to rust, but they don't show the use, year old tools would have. They might even be bought in Trunau.
The statues are just that. There is no one hiding behind and nothing hidden within. The "tunnel" - which Ivan correctly identifies as a hole in the ground - is only 10 or 15 feet long. And being that short is probably the only reason it hasn't collapsed yet. But it contains an unpleasant surprise. Rats. And not normal rats but really ugly and unhealthy looking ones.
Bupkis hears an unpleasant squeaking emanating from the tunnel; he looks around the corner and sees a mass of vile rodents swarming forth! He quickly retrieves a sling bullet from his pocket, and sends it accelerating quickly towards the rats, throwing off violent ripples in the aether. "Ratses swarming!"
Edwin and Edgar both clear out of the way for those that have an effective way to combat the swarm.
Bupkis hits the rat hard, almost ending it.
Scrabbler instinctively tires to stomp the rat in front of him. Then he leaps back to get clear yelling "Ratses!" to get everyone else's attention.
Menrozzar drops his torch then moves to strike at the rats, wordlessly yelling as he swings the hammer.
Unfortunately, trying to not hit those in front of him, he misses the vermin.
Ivan plants his shield in front of him and lashes out with his hammer.
But the tight quarters seem to hinder the ironclad dwarfs movements.
Durned rats, hold still why don't ye!
As Ivan plants his shield he feels that there is not only stone and dirt beneath it.
In front of your eyes the rats bodies disappear and leave only a ghostly translucent rat outline. One which then disappears into the dark. the other attacks Scrabbler. But he is lucky and pulls away his leg in time.
Bupkis moves around to get a better shot at the remaining scary rat. He pulls out another sling bullet and lets it fly, sailing down the tunnel, completely wide of the mark.
Edgar and Edwin will both rush in and attack the rat in Scrabblers square,"So its not a swarm after all!" Edgar says as he rushes in to slash with his star knife, Edwin right behind him, winding up his scythe.
Much to Daseem's consternation everyone was crowding around the tunnel and he was unable to reach the rats for fear of hitting somebody with his over-sided sword. Mind racing, Daseem thought, 'Well if I can't hit them lets make darned sure Menrozzar can!'
He reached out and patted Menrozzar, and growled, "Gorum be with ye!"
Menrozzar is momentarily confused by the ghostly rats - were they false creatures? How could non-sentient beings have the unfinished business needed to become ghosts? Was this another incident like the flaming beds above?
Feeling Gorum’s blessing empower him, Menrozzar again lets out a roar and swings the Lucerne hammer at the rat.
Scrabbler gets to dance as heavy weapons come down next to and between his feet. Edgar misses with his starknife, but the scythe of Edwin cuts the rat in half. But the rat doesn't care and moves through the blade that should nail it dead to the ground. The earthbreaker of Menrozzar comes down on the rat in a way that would kill much larger enemies, making it disappear beneath, but again the ghostly rat comes out of the metal of the weapons head as if it weren't there.