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When Shayla's back inside the inn she sees Zalanda and Alia walking to the bath. Shayla walks up to them and whispers "I've got some food and water."
After checking if they're out of the witches' and Rosh' sight, Shayla hands them the food and her waterskin. "Mostly berries I found, but it should be enough to keep us on our feet." She then points at the waterskin. "I want that back."
Shayla then goed to Seiomi and also offers her the food and water. That is, if the witches and Rosh aren't around to see it.
There is no sign of any of the Grymble sisters following the adventurers as they head to the bath. Inside the bathing area, two tubs stand ready, and hot water is available from the pot over the fireplace in the centre of the room. The floor near one of the tubs indeed shows scratches, as if the bath tub had been recently moved.
Moving the tub causes a scraping noise - not particularly loud, but certainly audible. Depending on where the Grymble sisters are, they might have heard it - it's hard to judge.
Below the tub, a trapdoor that leads to a lower area.
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An uneasy feeling comes over Zalanda as she looks down into the hole the trap door leads too. "I think one of use should stay up here to guard are escape. I do not like the idea of being trap in a hole. I'll go down below only if someone is staying here to make sure we don't get caught in the same trap as the Dwarven envoy's."
A wooden ladders descends into a cluttered and dimly lit, L-shaped room. Crates and bits of furniture are stacked against brick walls and oaken doors lie to the east and south. The crates contain tablecloths, linens and tableware, as well as men and women's clothing from a variety of different cultures and races.
Zalanda has a look around the room, which seems to be some kind of extra storage room. The door to the south in unlocked, the one to the east is locked
Shayla takes a short run at the door, then puts her full weight against it. With a deep, drumming sound, the door gives way and open to the next room.
This area is bare save for a rickety side table and chair set against the north wall. A set of keys lies on the table, alongside a browned, half-eaten apple, stale crust of bread, and dull paring knife. A door-lined corridor stretches to the south, and a single oaken door is opposite of the door Shayla just barged through.
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On the table in the room to the east Shayla sees a set of keys, which she takes. She looks around and notices the door-lined corridor and the single oaken door.
Are these prison cells?
Seeing the half-eaten food, Shayla looks around for other traces they're not the only ones in these rooms below the inn. She also checks to see if the single oaken door is locked.
Half eaten food in the wilds means an animal's close... Who's here?
Shayla picks up the keychain holding eight black keys. The surface of the table is carved with grooves and swirls, and Shayla notices the name 'Rosh' carved in among them.
The door to the east is locked.
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Maybe simple Rosh isn't actually that simple?
The keychain in her off hand, Shayla draws one of her swords with the other. She then checks to see if all the doors in the hallway are locked, but won't open any yet.
If all of these are locked I'll go back to the first room. I have a feeling I haven't checked that south door properly.
The other doors in the corridor are indeed locked, and the keys seem to be at least of the right kind of type to open these doors.
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"Several locked doors. These keys may fit", Shayla informs the others when she enters the first room again, holding the keys up. "Also... half-eaten food. Someone's been here not too long ago. I have a feeling it's the simple guy, and I wonder if he's truly simple."
Shayla checks the door to the south again, which turns out to be unlocked.
Darn... missed that the first time...
Slowly Shayla opens the door, carefully peering inside. If it appears safe, then she'll enter what's probably another room or corridor.
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"I'd like to check what's behind this door, before someone comes out and stabs us in the back."
Shayla holds out the keychain to Zalanda. "Everything's locked behind the other door. So it should be somewhat safe if you want to go check it out. I'll make sure no one comes at us from behind this door."
Shayla stands guard as Zalanda moves through the east door to inspect the corridor. All doors in the corridor, save for the western one Zalanda just came through, are locked.
Alia notices a loose brick in the north wall, just above the table, which reveals a hidden compartment containing a small box. In it, a few locks of hair and a vial of blood.
Shayla's peek through the door reveals another long corridor, which on its far end seems to lead to a larger room.
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Alia briefly pats Shayla's shoulder.
Let me go help Zalanda, real quick. She winks at Shayla.
Be right back!
Alia scurries over to see what she can do to help Zalanda, but notices something unusual just above the carved-upon table...
What is this?, she says, holding up the hair and vial. She moves up next to Zalanda, to show her the purloined items.
Zalanda inspects the vial and hair that Alia found. "Weird, very weird."
The hair and blood immediately give Zalanda the idea that some kind of voodoo might be in the works. Then she remembers that such items may also be the focus of spells directed at tracking specific people - scrying spells.
Shayla finds a large room. On the floor, she sees a trail of faint bloodstain, leading to the east. On the east side, a single door end the corridor, and it's unlocked. A door to the north leads to the corridor Shayla was in before - this door is lock, as she previously found.
Zalanda moves up to the first door on the west side of the corridor. Listening, she can discern no sound but for the slight tapping walk of one of the Grymble sisters upstairs.
Shayla peeks through the eastern door. A wooden ladder in the southeast corner descends from above into this untidy chamber. Some pieces of broken furniture lie scattered across the floor, along with some soiled clothing. A corridor leads north.
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It would be best to return to the others now. If I continue I might be the one that gets attacked from behind...
Shayla goes to where Zalanda and Alia are, constantly looking behind her to make sure no one's following her.
"I was just there", Shayla whispers to the others when she sees them, pointing at the door at the end of the corridor. "A bloodstain trail starts on that side of the door and leads to this corridor. Also, there's a messy room just east passed that door. It has a ladder leading up somewhere, and there's another corridor leading north. I heard the sound of metal scraping there."
Which a loud screech, the key turns in the lock, and the door to the cell opens. Matted straw is strewn across the floor, and a set of manacles hangs affixed to the wall opposite the entrance. Two buckets sit at the center of this dank prison.
Shayla hears a metal scraping coming from the other corridor.
The remaining three doors on the left, and the one of the right have small windows in them, blocked by three iron bars. It's dark here, so to look through them some kind of light will be needed.
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Let me take a look, Shayla, she whispers.
Alia nods at Shayla and walks south, peering into each of the four remaining cells with her darkvision.
Alia takes a peak through each of the cell door windows. In three of the cells, a malnourished dwarven prisoner is being held.
The first prisoner is a female dwarf. She mutters her name as Rakuska.
Faith barge... bloody extortionists, took all our money, then attacked us... brought us here. Torture, interrogation. Holy Ahendile, a cleric. Merciless... She thinks we are here to an uproar...
A male dwarf calls himself Pechas Domri:
The mute brought us food and snuck in treats from the kitchen. Would have perished otherwise..
The third is a male dwarf called Holfist Sendstrom:
Saw the smiling old ladies when we arrived... Here, sometimes we heard a nasty gargling sound, and a wet sliding sound like a mop being dragged back across a floor.
The dwarves are malnourished and exhausted, and can only stumble forward slowly. They can walk unsupported, though.