Lubella's victory over the monstrous mound of flesh is shortlived, as she slashes at the remaining beast's warty gut, managing only to slice air. Amalie's blow from moments before didn't seem to harm the creature, but it did distract it long enough for Felicia to nick it with her dagger. It doesn't penetrate its skin, but just the merest contact with the silver blade slightly blackens its unholy flesh. It hisses in pain and returns its attention to the swashbuckler.
Arcos musters up a bolt of electricity and shoots it at one of the blobs.
The bolt of lightning streaks towards the sole remaining blob of flesh, striking it what passes for a chest. Smoke rises from its charred hide, but it still retains enough vitality to continue its assault upon Felicia.
None of its clumsy attacks are able to penetrate the swordswoman's defenses, however. Rexus continues to try to distract the creature from harming Felicia. "Somebody, kill it quick!", he cries.
"I'm trying!", Lubella replied to Rexus. "There's something weird about their hide — my blade won't bite like it normally does!" She danced around the hideous blobby creature and swung again, trying to find a weak spot.
The cursing through gritted teeth continues, but at a somewhat more determined and less frustrated manner.
To prove her point, Lubella's blade flashes in the gloom, delivering a slash that would fell a mortal man. The monstrosity, however, too stupid to know or fear death, remains standing. Capitalizing on its weakness, Felicia thrusts the dagger into the creature's eye, which sizzles as it effortlessly pierces the beast's unholy hide. It falls to the ground before her, still at last.
After the last creature fell, Lubella said, "That silver dagger seems to cut them easily enough! I need to save up my money and get a mithril scimitar, if I can find someone to make it for me. Mithril should do the trick, right?"
She moved forward and looked at the strange symbols on the wall of the chamber, trying to ignore the stench that filled her nostrils.
I don't know what manner of beasts those were. It is foul down here though, isn't it? Amalie says, trying not to step in the wretched remains of the blob.
Lubella examines the symbols, and is quickly able to determine that they involve some sort of arcane ritual, well above her ability to understand.
"Did anyone else hear music while we were fighting?", Lubella asked. "It sounded like pipe-playing coming from the tunnels, but it's stopped now.
As she examined the symbols, she said, "This looks like some sort of magic ritual to me. What do you make of it, Rexus?" In her mind, he was the one most likely to know about this sort of thing.
Hmm. Looks like it's some kind of litanies and invocations to some Hell-dweller. Not sure if they are just there though. Amalie says, realizing she could understand the script now that she took a moment to look at it.
"Very little, I'm afraid," Rexus says with a sheepish look. "Most of my experience with the arcane arts have been self-taught, and my studies have been historical and genealogical, rather than mystical. However, I have spent quite some time learning the tongue of Hell, among others. Seemed wise to learn it as a subject of the Thrice-Damned House of Thrune, whether you cleave to the throne in Egorian or not." He examines the scribblings, silently mouthing the words. As he does, color drains from his face.
"Wh-whoever wrote this was attempting to contact someone in one of the circles of Hell. I can't tell you for what reason, or whether they were successful or not, but there's the gist of it." He quickly chants a simple spell, and his eyes glow purple for a few moments. "There doesn't seem to be any magic in them, for what that's worth."
"Now, what was this about piping?"
"Someone's been busy down here," Lubella remarked.
She did her best to describe the music that she heard earlier, then walked around the cesspool to see if there was anything else in the chamber.
"You know, I thought I heard something during that fight, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Might have been piping. And yes, quite busy. These were carefully inscribed in the walls. I couldn't really venture a guess as to how long it would have taken, but this was a deliberate attempt to contact Hell." He shudders at the thought.
Other than the pool and its foul contents, Lubella finds nothing else of interest in the room.
Felicia wrinkles her nose and carefully strides to the other side of the cistern, returning the dagger to its handy spot in back of her corset. Realizing that she can't see far without Lubella she simply raises her sword defensively and waits on the more knowledgeable folk to finish their discussion. Her mood is foul, but she has regained her composure at least.
Put off by the smell still, Felicia isn't in much of a mood for being perceptive.
Lubella completed her circuit of the chamber, returning to find that the others were standing in darkness. "Someone else must have a light source here!", she said.
"Didn't think to buy a torch. Not too much needin it 'round Kintargo. Most places are either lit or... intentionally dark." Felicia lets a wry smile alight her face for a moment. "Can't be much further. I don't imagine the people that made this hideout wanted to hike a mile to make tea time." She spat at the very thought of food or drink with the sickly air assaulting her still.
"Anyways, there's passageways leading off from the other side of the chamber," Lubella said. "I'm going to have a closer look. If you don't have any other light , you'd best follow me." She returned to the far side of the room, and looked into the connecting spaces, all the while listening for any further pipe music.
It matters little which of the passages Lubella follows from this chamber, as they all lead into a series of rooms in great disrepair. Chunks of plaster hang from the walls, exposing rough stonework beyond. Scattered furnishings that once outfitted bunkrooms, a kitchen, and even an armory lie scattered about in various states of deterioration, and doors hang from hinges in the crumbling archways that lie between the chambers. The piping has not resumed at any point in her explorations, and the silence in the chambers are broken only by her quiet breathing.
Lubella spent some time looking around the abandoned quarters.
Felicia follows in silence.
While the stench of the previous room is still noticeable, it's not strong enough to overwhelm the scent that Felicia catches coming from some sealed crates located in the northeastern section of the complex of rooms. It's unmistakable - there's magic in those crates, though what type is uncertain.
Rather close to that cache that Felicia finds is a small nest of straw and cloth, almost certainly a nest of some sort. It's large enough to tell that a humanoid creature roughly the same size as the possum creatures bedded here, but you can't really tell much more than that.
"There's a nest near those crates, Felicia," Lubella said. "It's about the right size for those possum creatures we ran into earlier." She moved up to to the nest and looked to see if there were any more of the creatures hiding nearby.
The nest is devoid of any living creatures at all, possumesque or otherwise.
"I don't see any creatures hiding around here," Lubella said to her companions. "Let's see what's in these crates." Lubella looked at the crates and tried her best to open them.
Arcos looks about, hoping to find something of value.
"Those little s&#%s seemed too social to have a loner all the way out here. And their nest was all big and stuffed with stuff. This seems off. "
Felicia does indeed chance a whiff of the crates and, if they did indeed contain loot, a whiff of the items for magic.
It doesn't take too long to pry open the crates. The first contains a small cache of weapons and armor, a finely wrought cloak, and a pouch filled with pearls. The second contains a locked and sealed iron coffer - no key is included inside. The third appears to only contain straw, but Felicia's nose picks up a strong scent of magic within. Several moments of digging through the straw reveals the contents, and the source of the magical scent - a half dozen lifelike raven statuettes, cast from solid silver.
Lubella looked over the items they found. She could tell that some of the items were magical, but lacked the skill to determine their properties. "I wonder what these do?", she said looking over the raven statuettes.
After looking at the other items, she turned her attention to the coffer. "Rexus, could this iron box contain what your mother was referring to her letter?, she asked.
"You and I should really read up on the auras, mate. I'd really like to know what these delightful smells are!" She buries her face in the cloak, happy to have a reprieve from the stinking cesspool.
Felicia is rewarded with the pleasant scent of pine and cedar as she inhales the aura emanating from the cloak.
"Let me take a look at them, I might be able to solve that part," Rexus says, taking a moment to examine the auras upon the items you've found.
After a minute or so of mystical examination, Rexus clears his throat awkwardly. "Or, um, maybe not. All I can tell is that the statuettes have a strong aura around them. Erm, sorry?"
"Oh! You're right, Lubella, it could!", Rexus said, thankful that she had found a way to change the subject and help him save face. He picks it up, trying to find a way to open it. "Can any of you crack it? I'm not seeing a key anywhere..." He starts digging through the straw in the case where the statuettes came from again, in search of a way to open the coffer beyond brute force or finesse.
"I'm guessing your mithril key doesn't open this," Lubella said. She spent a couple of minutes examining the box, in case there was any other way of opening it.
"It doesn't," Rexus says, coming up out of the box and brushing the straw from his clothes. "That's...elsewhere."
"I certainly can't open it," Lubella said. Does anyone know someone who's good with locks?"
Lubella had another look at the signet ring, on the off chance that had anything to do with the locking mechanism. She also had a close look at the raven statuettes.
She also tried saying aloud, "Silver Ravens," while holding the statuettes.
"We could probably find a locksmith to open it, if none of us can do it," Rexus offers. As for the items, both Amalie and Arcos have a go at examining the auras around them.
Both of them are able to determine that the leather armor has a minor protective enchantment upon it, but the other two auras elude their understanding.
"Hopefully we've got everything we came for, even if we can't open the box at the moment," Lubella said to the others. "I'm going to check the kitchen and the armory more thoroughly, just in case."
"I'm afraid I have little skill with opening boxes. I may know a few locksmiths however. Between the Blue Warlock and my scribing business I've had a surprising number of occasions to deal with them."
"I'b sure we cad fihd theb abobe groud. I'b out." Felicia, ears flat against her head and nose firmly plugged, starts walking away. She'll use the wall to guide her if no one follows quickly.
Lubella's thorough search reveals little else. While the armory has the capacity to hold enough arms and armor to outfit two score of warriors, the racks are bare, and the armor stands have nothing upon them but dust. Even the kitchen's foodstuffs have either been eaten by rats or molded beyond the point of consumption. Only the seals on the boxes prevented the elements from corrupting the things you did find. Your exit from the depths of the stables is only marred by the incessant barking of the dogs again.
Felicia makes embarrassing kissy noises at the dogs, ignoring their feral attitudes. "I have the distinct feeling that calling in on the proclamation money would be taking blood money. Still, silver spends." She sloshes her flask of Applejack, noting that it seems only half full.
"My impression is that the large dogs collected by the dotarri are for use in Barzillai Thrune's 'Doghousing' torture," Lubella replied. "They're probably deliberately starved, so they will fight with the victims for food. I'd rather release a dog than subject it to that type of mistreatment."
Rexus doesn't even try to hide his horror at what Lubella's describing. "That sounds horrible, for both the tormented and the dogs forced to do the tormenting. I can't in good conscience turn the dog over to the dottari if that's what they're going to do with it. Probably best to unpen them somehow."
"What do you guys want to do?", Lubella asked. "If you want to try to tame them, and make pets of them, we'd have to get them across the river somehow. I'm not sure trying to take them over the bridge is a good idea, so that would leave hiring a boat, and somehow keeping control over them. It all sounds pretty sketchy to me.
"The only other alternative I can see is to release them." She looked at her companions, awaiting their thoughts on the matter.
"Sounds as smart as anything to me." Felicia says coldly. She reaches out to pet one and narrowly avoids getting bitten. "If we find a cache of treasure in all this I'm taking some to buy a new hammock. Hey who knows maybe if we come by to feed them for a while they'll calm down?"
After a moment, Felicia takes the problem of releasing them at hand. "What would Jackdaw do?... After a moment, she pointed to a rather wide gap between two boards. "There! I can fit my sword far enough through there to cut the cords at least, that way they won't be stuck here to starve tied up, and we don't have to kill them just to get away. We can get well out of sight by the time they make it out of the door."
If we release them, what's the likelihood one of the dottari find them and turn them in on their own? Amalie says, looking pensively at the animals.
If we were to just kill them here, we could give them proper burials and save them from the horrors that would come if they were found and turned over to that vile man. she thinks quietly, turning the possibilities over in her mind.
Lubella looked at gap that Felicia was talking about. "I think that might just work, Felicia!", she said.
"Maybe they will, and maybe they won't," she replied to Amalie. "Once we get the Silver Ravens going, they might be too busy to worry about stray dogs. I don't have the heart to kill them."
"Well, I'm more of a cat person myself, but I couldn't live with myself having given the dogs to Barzillai so he can torture our fellow Kintargans."