While the others busy themselves with the trapdoor, Finn scouts around the vicinity, straining his senses to the utmost, hoping to see, hear or smell any traces of danger lurking about.
Daurros suddenly looks a bit embarrassed. "Um, possible dumb question, but before we head down there, did anyone bring any torches? I didn't prepare my light cantrip this morning; I can use it once naturally, but it only lasts about 10 minutes. Could be a problem if we can't see ..."
Finn lifts his chin up. "I am no great magician, but I can summon enough lights for us to see -- lights that caper and dance at my beck and call."
He concentrates and mutters a few words. First a strange glowing silhouette appears. It gestures mysteriously, then Finn speaks the same words again and a quartet of ghostly torches appear and proceed to dance around the humanoid figure in a silent waltz.
Within a minute they vanish from whence they came.
Ardanto looks at Daurros and shrugs his shoulders, "I just assumed it would be lit down there, Vanderboren is human after all so he needs light to see." He shrugs his shoulders again apologetically, "that is why you are the brains in this partnership, I can only be trusted to bring my sword and turn up Sober, well relatively Sober anyway."
Watching Finns demonstration Ardanto is obviously impressed, "can you do that at will?" "If so then all our light problems are solved."
"Yes, well, perhaps I should spend more time sober myself. Then maybe I would have remembered to ask the question before we got here." He turns to Finn and says, "Thankfully, you have solved this issue for us."
Mentally cursing himself for stupidity, Daurros hangs back and keeps an eye on the half-orc for any signs of a trap.
Silently Whisper watches the half-orc, not trusting him, just on principle, he was clearly dodgy if he was selling this sort of informnation. As the group reaches the trapdoor she carefully looks it over and pokes at it a bit, hunting for traps. "Looks okay to me"
"Thanks m'lady" Ardanto says as he flashes a smile at Whisper.
He then bends over the trap door and gives it a good solid tug open, ducking his head back as it opens to avoid any traps or readied actions from below. He is not clever enough to use the door itself as cover.
Assuming that there is no death from below, he will peer over the edge to look for a way to descend.
"Master Finn, I do not suppose you could send some of your twinkling lights down there to light up the passage before I go down?"
"Thanks m'lady" Ardanto says as he flashes a smile at Whisper.
He then bends over the trap door and gives it a good solid tug open, ducking his head back as it opens to avoid any traps or readied actions from below. He is not clever enough to use the door itself as cover.
Assuming that there is no death from below, he will peer over the edge to look for a way to descend.
"Master Finn, I do not suppose you could send some of your twinkling lights down there to light up the passage before I go down?"
"Wait, Ardanto ... perhaps our half-orc 'friend' can go down first and lead the way?"
Once the door is open you can see a 5 foot wide shaft leading down into the darkness below. A well used rope hands from a hook on the wall of the shaft leading down into the darkness.
Shefton gives the party a nervous smile and rubs his hands together. "Well I was payed to show ye where he was, Not go barging in on angry nobles with a temper. Can't spend gold if vanthus runs me though for bringing ya here now can I? I'll wait here or at the boat maybe when ya get him calmed down it'd be safer for me."
Finn waves dismissively at the half-orc. "Out of our way, coward. But know this: if you have led us into a trap, you will need to sleep with one eye open from now on."
He gestures and a glowing humanoid silhouette floats into the hole, stopping 10 feet from the bottom.
Ardanto scrambles down the hole almost too quickly for caution, he grins at the party just before his head disappears from view. "last person down buys the beers," he giggles and then scrambles down.
Finn clambers down the rope after Ardanto (showing more grace than he did trying to board the Blue Nixie) and sends his dancing light-man around the room, getting a glimpse of his surroundings.
Guard makes his way down the rope, to better protect the party in case of trouble.
To those down the shaft
This ten foot by ten foot room seems empty. The shaft you came though lays in the northwest corner of the room. A brick lined tunnel with a curved roof leads off to the west.
Before descending the rope, Daurros turns to the half-orc. With a scowl he says, "Understand this: if we come back up here and find you and the boat have vanished, I will find you; I am the son of a noble family, and our influence is spread wide. And when I do find you, you will regret the day you were born as I melt the flesh from your bones, starting with your feet and moving up." Daurros will then cast a quick acid splash away from anyone, but on some grass or bushes in order to show that is, indeed, acid.
He'll then go down after Guard, but also give a quick wink to those still up top (Whisper, Ithaniar, and Forzakhad, I believe) to show he wasn't (entirely) serious.
Intimidate against the half-orc (1d20-1=0)
Obviously, the half-orc notices the wink, and the bluff/intimidation is completely and utterly ineffective.
Ardanto braces him self in the corner under where the rope enters the chamber so he can help the others down the last drop of the climb.
After Daurros climbs down he notices that he has got him self dirty from the climb and the dungeon wall, "Urrgh, this place is disgusting, I am so going to send Vanderboren my cleaning bill when I get out of here" he mutters a few expletives as he tries to brush the dirt and dungeon detritus from his leggings.
"Hey Vanderboren!" Ardanto yells down the tunnel.
He pauses before continuing, "Your sister sent us!"
"We just want to talk!" He waits straining his ears to make out any reply or sound of fleeing feet .
Finn draws his longspear and casts a spell, surrounding himself with an invisible coat of armor.
The captain joins the group rather late and couldn't stop Ardanto's shouting. "How nice to announce that we are coming. Do you think, that this Vanthus guy has the fear of the gods in him, now that he knows, that his sister is looking for him, too?" The captain sighs.
"Whisper? Can you please check for traps on the way? If I'd try to welcome visitors, it would be there or in this room. Guard, Ardanto, you follow her, the rest comes up behind them."
"Whisper? Can you please check for traps on the way? If I'd try to welcome visitors, it would be there or in this room. Guard, Ardanto, you follow her, the rest comes up behind them."
Finn bristles.
"Captain, if it's all the same to you I would like to be in front. I'm certainly more quiet than a clanging warforged -- I do not mean to offend, Master Guard -- and I'll need to be there to direct the lighting," he murmurs quietly to the kalashtar.
When the party is ready to move off, Finn sends the dancing lights down the hall ahead of them, revealing the details of the corridor ahead while leaving the party concealed in shadow.
Before moving off down the passage, Daurros tries to ascertain whether or not it looks like these tunnels have been used recently. In other words, is the room dusty? Does the rope appear new? If there is dust or mildew, are there footprints in it? Any evidence of moving boxes or crates (that would contain things like foodstuffs, fresh water, etc.)?
Ardanto aids Daurros while he checks for tracks or signs of life.
While searching he whispers under his breath to Daurros "Do you get the feeling some of these guys are here for a fight? I thought we just wanted to ask him some questions and to try and get him to come to the manor house." He shrugs his shoulders and looks bemused.
Ardanto aids Daurros while he checks for tracks or signs of life.
While searching he whispers under his breath to Daurros "Do you get the feeling some of these guys are here for a fight? I thought we just wanted to ask him some questions and to try and get him to come to the manor house." He shrugs his shoulders and looks bemused.
"Well, he obviously does not want to be found. And with the friends he has been rumored to keep, perhaps being ready for a fight would be wise." With that, Daurros will also draw his rapier after he's done investigating the room.
Whisper makes her way down the shaft and checks the entry way for traps. Ithaniar is the last down the shaft the room is eerie with Finns lights. A sudden shout of surprise rings from above and the light seems blocked for a moment as sheftons bleeding body hits the floor. The rope goes slack as you see it fail around the bleeding half orc.
Ardanto is at the rear of the party and yelps with surprise as he leaps clear of the falling body. "What the hell?" he yells as he rushes over to the shaft and looks up to try and catch a glimpse of who has done the dark deed.
"Who's up there? Come down and fight us, you coward!"
Finn seethes in frustration as he looks at the sheer rock walls.
30 feet above you you can see a man in clothing of fashionable dress , he has sandy hair with a gotea. You have seen him before, his picture hangs on the wall at Vanderborn manor. At Finns cry Vanthus yells down the shaft
"Say hi to Penkus's ghost for me while your down there !"
30 feet above you you can see a man in clothing of fashionable dress , he has sandy hair with a gotea. You have seen him before, his picture hangs on the wall at Vanderborn manor. At Finns cry Vanthus yells down the shaft"Say hi to Penkus's ghost for me while your down there !"
Assuming he wins initiative, Daurros grabs his scroll of sleep and casts the spell, saying "Vanthus! Aren't you a bit tired? Maybe you should take a nap."
Ardanto has no ranged weapons so he stays out of everyone's way and keeps an eye out for the ghost!
Finn fumes helplessly. "Vanderboren? Is that you? Get down here and face us like a man!"
Guard, being stuck in the middle and having no ranged weapons at him, will squeeze by on the others to get to the previous front / now back, to secure them from getting hit in the back.
Getting there the warforged readies his halberd against anyone who might attack from the far end.
"Just to let you know, Lavinia sent us to HELP YOU. She fears that you are in trouble. Can we please stop this and talk about this like men, instead of playing hide and seek? I have no clue what it is you seek, but your actions cry out for desperation. You, sir, are in deep trouble. Let us help you."
Vanthus seem to answer the calls from Finn and Forzakhad with mocking laughter. Once the spell is cast he seems dazed for just a moment, then he shakes off the spell and the moment has past. He quickly moves from sight and darkness descends upon you has the trap door is shut. Heavy grinding from above leaves you with the feeling you have been trapped down here with something over the way out.
"And so the dog bites the hand, that tries to feed it...." You can hear a bit of teeth gnashing. "Finn, we definitely need this light of yours now. Let's find a way out of here."
Finn generates three lights in rapid succession: a man-shaped figure, four torches, and four balls of light. He sends them ahead of the party down the corridor in that order, keeping the party mostly in shadow but highlighting the way ahead.
Daurros will check the half-orc before we move out. If he's still alive, he'll ask Ithaniar to heal him a bit, saying "We may need all the help we can get to find a way out of here."
If the half-orc is dead, Daurros will search him, looking specifically for the gold he and Ardanto paid him (and anything that may be helpful to the team while we're down here). He'll toss Ardanto's 10gp over to him, and take his own 5gp back. (And if he gets any dirty looks - "What? It's not like he needs it anymore." :-) )
Guard looks back to Whisper, if she wants to take the lead, or if he should do it. Stealth is off limits, with the lights floating over their heads, but traps might still be on the way.
Stealth is off limits, with the lights floating over their heads, but traps might still be on the way.
Finn follows closely behind Whisper, his longspear at the ready, assisting her with trap detection.
"I'm guessing we will only find the dead in here based on his last comment" Ardanto mutters to no one in particular as he pockets the gold and follows the rest of them.
Whisper looks even more pale than usual, her body giving the occasional quake in fear. She's had to fight before but the notion of undead has the young rogue terrified. Too shy to voice her concerns she travels onwards in front of the group, keeping an eye out for traps.
The tunnels are soggy and cramped as the group makes their way down the brick passageway.Finely they come to a sodden door, whisper scrambles forward to check it for traps. It seems clear to her but the wood of the door is swollen with moister and will not bulge
"Why do we stop? What is there in front of you, Whisper? Guard?"
Quickly and quietly whisper looks over the door, checking for traps and listening for sounds of ghosts behind it.
"A door is in our path.
Whisper, let me get ahead, I will try to get it open.
And maybe take a step back."
Finn listens at the door as well.