Ensis says, "I can't say I like the idea of having those little regurgitating monstrosities behind us... Ben, do you think you could blast them inside the walls? Or, if we can't do that, maybe collapse the tunnels and keep them at bay."
"Blast? Blasting I can do. Although I'd look for a source of water. Just in case." He says as he pulls out a clay flask.
"It's not LIKELY that the building will catch on fire from my alchemical explosions. But it is within the realm of possibilities." He explains.
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"Maybe the walls are false for a hidden meeting room of the ravens behind?" Dee probably has read too many murder mysteries or terrible romance novels with hidden rooms and secret passages.
As Ben looks for a likely place to plant something that goes BOOM!, he notices that the walls are full of those nasty little burrow entrances. There's likely a veritable honeycomb of tunnels behind the walls. Which leads to some interesting possibilities.
Never one to have too much inaction Dee shakes her head slightly at the honeycombed wall and tries to focus. Moving into a slight crouch, she darts forwards as if fired from a bow and launches herself at the wall. But rather then trying to punch a hole in it as could be prudent, she slams a shoulder into it to open a reasonable sized hole and hopes her momentum could take her through. 'Better do this before Ben sets fire to the entire building.....again.' she thinks.
Ben looks thoughtful, (which seems to take more concentration than usual?) he smiles a big, toothy grin.
Holding a finger to his lips, he points to the others, then to some openings across the room from him. He makes motions to indicate the others should wait next to the openings with weapons.
Then he primes his clay flask, adds a dash of,... something, to it, stoppers it, and tosses it into the hole with a rolling motion designed to allow the little flask to roll as far as possible before,...
BOOM!
Dee bounces off square S9.
Dee bounces painfully off the wall, while Ben tosses a bomb into one of the tiny tunnels. A rumble and shower of dirt behind the wall seems to indicate that some damage was done to the tunnels in that area.
Valexia
Round 3: Map!
Dee
Ben
Rexus
Ensis
Bertom
Grimple Gremlins
Rexus moves up to the disturbed grimple nest, poking through it gingerly with his sword-cane. ”Looks like there may be valuables in here, though I doubt it’s the fabled Lost Treasure of the Silver Ravens. More like the scavenged loot of gremlins.” He sighs heavily. ”Still, I have little enough to live on. It’s probably worth picking through, if those things are gone. Who knows, they might have happened on something of value.” He picks up various pieces of blankets and gnawed clothing on the end of his sword and piles them beside the little depression, shaking them to free anything valuable from the folds.
Seeing the result of his bomb, Ben nods in satisfaction.
"We do not have to hunt down the gremlins. I'm not an exterminator. But it seems like we can collapse these burrow entrances easily enough. Or block them. Then we can search for Rexus' legacy without worry, or at least with LESS worry, of being disturbed by maniacal Fae."
"Well we don't seem to be doing much good here... Let's see what they left us." Bertom leaves the wall battering to Ben and Dee, instead he moves over to join Rexus by the next, and takes a look for anything interesting.
Ben nods and moves over to another wall where there seems to be a large number of potential gremlin entrances, and chucks another bomb in a likely-looking hole.
:)
"Don't have enough bombs for EVERY hole, but they don't know that!" Ben whispers to Dee as he observes his handiwork.
Bertom digs through the pile of gnawed blankets and rags and comes up with a motley assortment of items: copper, silver, and a little gold, a pair of earrings with an opaque pale stone, a matched set of decorative silver buttons--nine in all--that might have some value. He also notices that one of the "rags" is obviously finely woven, shimmery fabric that is of much higher quality than the others. Rexus "helps" by moving the shredded, filthy bedding out of the way so Bertom doesn't have to touch it. Much of it is bloodstained, and there are some bones in the bottom, large enough to be human remains.
As Ben moves to another area of perforated wall, he notices that the wall extends into the shadows beyond the lantern-light. He definitely does not have enough bombs for this entire area.
Ben looks at the walls, notices a distinct lack of Grmelins, and nods in a satisfied manner.
"And STAY out!" he grumbles, shaking another bomb at the nearest wall. Ben notices Dee's slight cringe as he shakes the flask.
"Sorry." He mutters, tucking it back into his satchel. With a last, suspicious, glance at the burrows, he turns to join the others.
Seeing what Bertrom has recovered, and the remains, Ben pulls on a pair of stained work gloves and moves to assist. He seems more interested in the remains than the recovered baubles.
"Forgive me if I do not stare into holes in the wall where vomit spewing creatures would be able to puke directly into my eyes," says Valexia. "Ah, but let me look at those of you who were hit! Let's keep tidy!"
Ensis chuckles, "I guess that taught them. Let's hope anything else we find is no more courageous... though a little less icky would be fine."
"Those of us who weren't hit appreciate the cleanup just as much, I think," Rexus observes, nose wrinkled. He gestures at the items in the nest. "Looks like the gremlins have been thieving at best and... well... hopefully scavenging at worst. Those bones look gnawed. Maybe they're animal bones. Maybe not. Either way, I don't like having them at our backs, but hate to waste time poking in holes in the wall, or wasting bombs we might need later. They don't appear to have the Silver Ravens' treasury - at least, I hope this isn't it! Think we should move along with one person keeping an eye out behind us? Another lantern or torch could come in handy." He shrugs. "I'm open to other suggestions."
"Small pieces of what could possibly be considered treasure." Bertom says showing the bits of things that could be valuable. "They probably just collected some shiny things that took their fancy, though maybe there's more where these came from."
The young rogue nods agreeing with Rexus' suggestion "A rear guard, or watch sounds like a good idea. Ensis, you have the quickest sword and sharpest eye in the dark do you prefer to lead the way or watch the back? I'll volunteer for whichever's left"
Ensis shrugs, "I can do either -- but I'm thinking leading might be the better call -- especially since in thinking the gremlins are likely more afraid of Ben than they are of me."
Ben smiles and stands a little taller at Ensis words.
"Here." Ben says, still smiling at the praise (It sounded like great praise to him!) as he unpacks his own lantern, fills it with oil and lights it.
"Here you go. Someone else might need to carry it. I work faster with both hands free. I should make a light source that can be carried easier,..."
Dee stops scrounging in the pile of dirt that the grimples had scavenged and goes over to Val for her vomited laden shirt to be refreshed by her mystical prowess.
"Thanks for that." she says plucking at the garment; "It was rather disgusting and I'd prefer not to have to remove this too." she adds with an arched eyebrow at Ben.
Then motions forwards to the western wall; "Lead on Ensis."
Ben glances around, then places his fingertips on his chest with a wide eyed 'who, me?!?' look.
With almost anyone else in the realm it would be obviously contrived. With Ben,... your just not sure.
Ben holds out his lantern, if no one else takes it he keeps it in one hand and keeps his club in the other. He takes up the rear, occasionally making threatening gestures at a particularly large hole in the wall.
Ensis nods his head at Deanna's gesture, "As the Lady wishes..", and turns, giving his eyes a moment to adjust before starting forward.
Inclining her head at Ensis' reply, Dee takes the response as her due. Being used to others following her requests, she slips into the middle of the group with a wary eye upon the wall and another on Rexus.
"Alright, I guess we're in the back Ben, I'd offer to take the lantern from you, but I work best with steel in each hand. I'd rather not be caught unprepared." Bertom moves over to rear guard position with Ben.
"That works." Ben says agreeably, gratefully handing the lantern over to Dee and unlimbering his crossbow. He loads it and holds it at the ready.
"Only have so many bombs. Might need them later?" He says to Bertom quietly.
Watching behind them alongside Bertom, with the lantern Dee is now holding behind them, the light is not in their eyes and makes it easier to see than holding the lantern in front of his own face. Ben makes a mental note of that for his future light-holder he is designing in his head.
First he has to invent an alchemical light source for it to hold,... something smaller and less sparkly than an alchemical torch.
Ensis tries his best to focus on what's ahead of him even as the light behind him flickers and shifts. If they keep that up, I'll get out may candle-lamp again...
Ensis leads the way westward, but soon comes up against a back wall pocked with grimple holes. After a couple minutes of exploring, it’s obvious that the west end is a dead end with an odd, u-shaped wall and post just inside. Emerging from the u-turn of the west end, Ensis is leading the way towards a double row of wooden support timbers with a rusty, half-destroyed metal grating blocking the passage. Stairs lead downward past the grating.
The grating is padlocked.
"I think we can get to the stairs from the outside? although we may make a fair bit of noise doing so." Ben offers thoughtfully as they explore.
Dee shines a couple of the copper & silver coins before leaving them for the grimples as 'treasure' despite their vomitting natures & grabs the the shimmering fabric and ties it around her waist as a makeshift skirt. "Can anyone unlock a padlock? Or ...." She glances at Ben with a wince.
"Oh! Yes, let me try,..." Ben says, putting the safety on his crossbow and letting it hang from its carry-strap.
Ben examines the lock carefully, peers into the keyhole, Pulls out a couple of long wires, dips them in a chemical vial, and inserts them into the lock, probing the mechanism gently.
Ben freezes at a sound the lock makes. He smiles.
"I think that did it!" He grins happily.
Rexus comes up to the grate with the light so Ben is able to see the lock and Ensis can see a far ahead as possible.
The lock is rusty and stiff, but after a moment’s effort, Ben is surprised to feel it jump open in his hand. The grate is unlocked, and everyone can see the stone stairs leading down to a pair of wooden doors that are hanging from their hinges. There’s a smell of old water in the air and, faintly, the sound of pipes. The thin melody echoes as if sounding in a large space, or in a faraway canyon.
Ben blinks in surprise as the pops off noisily in his hand.
"Beginners luck." He says as he tucks the thin tools back into their leather case and picks back up his crossbow.
The alchemist looks behind them once more.
"Shall we?"
Ensis smiles, "Such modesty. But, yes, let's."
Rex bows Ensis forward down the stairs to avoid ruining his vision with the lantern, then follows to the base of the stairs where the doors hang. The occasional sound of a drip echoes loudly but melodically through the chamber beyond.
Peeking through the doors, Ensis can make out a circular chamber filled with a fifty-foot diameter pool of what seems to be a rancid brown slurry. Chunks of plaster have fallen away, leaving ragged patches behind in the walls and ceiling and mounds of rubble on the floor. What wall space remains is decorated with crude drawings and symbols of sinister form. Greasy-looking chains run between four stout pillars rising from the muck and anchor to various points on the wall.
Besides the occasional drip into the pool, the room is quiet.
Ben peers in past Ensis' broad shoulder.
"Just what every noble wants in their Barn's basement. What is it?" He stage whispers.
Ensis shrugs, "Almost looks like a midden pit, as if we're under a latrine... But I don't see anything, other than the weird symbols and the chains... "
The far walls of the room are out of the range of the lanterns' light. Remainders of thin walls dot the circumference, casting long, dark shadows.
"Huh. Never seen chains in a midden before." Ben observes quietly into the sepulcher stillness.
"So, what are THESE then?" he asks a moment later, peering at the crude drawings and symbols sloppily smeared onto the remaining wall space.
"By the way. Before anyone asks. I am NOT going into THAT." Ben says firmly, pointing at the stagnant brown slimy water, still peering at the drawings.
"I don't think this is a midden. Looks more like a cistern that was contaminated with... something," Rexus opines.
Valexia says, looking at the crude drawings and symbols that Ben is looking at. "They look like pictures to me, Ben."
"And I agree with you, Ben. Pretty sure wading into stuff like that is how people get flesh eating diseases," says Valexia, shaking her head disapprovingly. "Even my incredible magic could not keep that from happening."