"We should go through the well entrance."
"Works for me. Let's go."
"Don't leave me out of this." Reynard says, taking a spot near the front. He check some vials and bottles as he goes.
"Heh. You guys know best here. Just lead the way."
Watch out for rats! Cordwin adds helpfully!
You get back down into the room, and find no rats this time.
Faywen steps lightly through the basement, listening carefully for any activity in the old house.
Skarn wipes his brow, and chews his cigar a bit. "I can't say that the lack of rats isn't a welcome sight!"
I can! Cordwin says with a shudder.
"Heh. I'm ok with no rats. So what else is down here? Any secret chambers? That sort of thing? Did you guys already explore all of the rooms?"
Druamin, fists resting on his hips, stands in the center of the main room looking around. He notices several doors and a broad passageway leading south.
Kobu shambles around the room, sniffing.
"Ummm, no, once we survived the rats, we ran."
Did we mention how big, diseased and nasty the rats were? Cordwin says in defense.
"No doubt. Truly, I don't doubt your valor nor the wrath of the rats. In fact, it seems that you scared them off."
Pointing to the southern passage. "Let's go that direction and leave the closed doors closed for now. Unless someone has a better idea."
"I think we should check these rooms, in case there's something waiting for us to turn our backs on them."
René gave Druamin a blank look. "You mean the way we just came in?"
Trox really has no little idea what was seen before but keeps himself in front and ready none the less.
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On slide 2, you entered at B1.
On Slide 3, this brought you in by B32, and then you climbed the stairs at B32.
This brought you up to the Red 5 on the stairs on Slide 1, and then you followed the pink line.
Druamin looks first to the ascending stairs and then the closed doors. "Yeah, Faywen, you are right. Before going upstairs let's make sure there are no surprises hiding for us down here. Which one?"
Druamin puts an ear to each door, listening for sounds on the other side.
Trox moves to the door near Faywen and Skarn. He listenes for a moment and unless someone stops opens the door and steps into the room to clear the opening.
"Start here and work around the doors is as good as any."
"Be my guest," Faywen says stepping out of Trox's way.
"I'll be right behind you." Reynard says.
As Trox takes front and center, René gives him an encouraging pat on the back. "Good luck!"
The west door seems quiet to Druamin. Trox bursts open the door, and then reflexively shuts it again.
Once a pantry, this room has become a filthy, reeking lair of what must be hundreds, if not thousands, of rats. Swaths of fur cling to everything, and mounds of rat droppings cover the floor.
Checking the south door, all also seems safe to proceed, but having seen the rats, you act a bit more cautiously.
Two wine racks line the walls here, their shelves empty and dusty. Mounds of broken glass bottles clutter the floor.
Finally, you investigate the last door off the kitchen. Two bunks stand in this room, relatively free of dust and mold. A single chair lies on its side between them.
"Did you say more rats? Dammit!"
"Other than the rat nest, this place seems clear. Should we go up or downstairs?"
" So..... rates. I would like to just leave the to it... ok? Downstairs or... whatever."
I told you there were rats! Cordwin says with an air of justification!
"I never doubted," Druamin says as he pats Cordwin on the shoulder. "But I guess we go upstairs now."
Reynard keeps his eye out for anything dangerous (or valuable).
Erond notices a hidden compartment in the wine cellar. Beyond is a narrow nook in which are hidden eight fine vintages of wine from the famed Vigardeis vineyard in distant Cheliax. Each bottle is likely worth 100 gp.
Moving upstairs, Druamin comes up on a door. All sounds quiet on the other side. Opening the door to peek in, you find you are in the main floor of the house.
A rather gruesome antique-what appears to be a mummified monkey head-hangs on the northern wall here, its tiny mouth gaping. A bellpull extends from the monkey's gaping mouth. A ratty throw rug partially obscures a foul stain of dark-colored mold on the floor.
Skarn holds up his fist, as if he held a tankard in it, "praises be to the Drunken Hero, he is giving us a sign. All shall be well, and we will have time to share these bottles with one another!"
----------------
Skarn will determine what he knows about the dark-colored mold.
+3 to identify creature abilities and weaknesses
He will also see about detecting evil (and other alignments as needed), in the direction of the monkey's head!
Druamin scans the room for magical auras.
Faywen joins Skarn over by the mold, trying to remember if she's ever seen something similar.
Reynard glances at the wine. "I know that vineyard. Probably a hundred gold a bottle. I's good stuff, or so I've hear. Out of my price range, certainly."
"And yet, by Cailean's fortune, you shall be blessed to grace your palate with this vintage!"
Reynard confirms the appraisal of the wine, although it sounds like Skarn will be drinking them.
The mold, while rather mundane, does seem to have grown in a spiral pattern. It looks almost like a bird's eye view of a spiraling staircase descending downward, with each step littered with skulls and bones.
The monkey head does radiate some magic.
"How, and more importantly, why, would you make mold grow like that?" Faywen asks, perplexed by the design.
"What sort of magic did you say the monkey head has?" He chews his mustache for a moment, and follows up with, "any chance the monkey head controls these mold steps or something?"
Reynard studies the mold carefully, bringing the full weight of his considerable intellect to bear.
Druamin examines the monkey more. "I'm not quite sure what magic is there yet. Give me a moment."
René stood back at the edge of the room as the rest of the group examined things, occasionally yelling "helpful" comments. It was good to have more people around: it meant he had to do significantly less work.
The spiral pattern is clearly not natural, but nothing else appears to be the cause of it.
The monkey head is interesting, but perhaps not too useful. With Reynard's help, Druamin determines that the monkey head is actually a minor wondrous item called a <i>hunnry decapitant</i>. When the
attached rope is pulled, the head gives out a shrill simian shriek akin to an <i>alarm spell</i>.