”Shhh...shhh...it’s alright. That’s a good girl. It’s alright...” Ulark had a way with animals, ever since a young age. It was a skill that he never thought would have been of great use. But now, with the rampaging bird here, he was glad that he at least had the chance of diffusing the situation.
Kreed must have made significant progress training this large bird, for it responds with obedience to Ulark's appeal - at least after a few moments. At first, it appears confused by his soothing approach, suggesting that its former master used more authoritarian, physical training methods.
The bird raises its neck and cradles its wings against its flanks, thus abandoning its posture of aggression and challenge. It idly scratches against the balcony carpeting with its talons and raps sharply upon the banister with its blade-like beak, trying to deduce its surroundings.
Micheo finds it hard to form words in common and the edges of his vision are assailed by ghostly fragments of possible futures.
"What...is...it...?...What...does....it...eat?"
'If I had to guess based on that room back there, meat.' Dugan says, still eyeing the bird warily.
"It's an Axebeak, there are some in the Carpendan Planes to the south east of Falcon's Hollow. I've always left them be..."
The axebeak pecks yet harder at the banister, carving a thick divot from the polished wood and threatening to break off an entire chunk of its length.
"Ulark, can you control the creature, or will we have to put it down?", Micheo asks, his stance tense.
'Looks hungry. We won't be able to control it long without feeding it something.'
”I can keep it in check, I think, until you all can bring it some food.” He replied.
'Someone help me carry more meat up here. I expect it's got an appetite' With that, Dugan sets off again for the kitchen.
'We'll have to ask the boy if he intends to keep his Pa's pets.' He says along the way.
Thankfully, Kreed was a man who believed in enjoying the comforts brought by wealth and power rather than simply hoarding them for their own sake, as evidenced by how well-stocked the larder remains even many days after his death. Plenty of salted meat remains, stored in small barrels beneath the pantry shelves, to provide a suitable offering to the large bird.
"I shall assist you, Dugan."
Ulark busied himself with feeding the bird and keeping it calm, while the others continued searching. He spoke quiet, gentle words as he ensured that it was fed without going into a starvation fueled rage.
Inconnu keeps his shield ready in case the creature lunges forward at Ulark.
Dugan hands a barrel of meat to Micheo before taking one himself and making the return trip upstairs.
'At the very least the boy is going to have a lot to learn about running a household in a short amount of time. He needs a family that will keep his best interests in mind and help him grow into a leader for this town.' He continues his musings as to young master Kreed's future.
The axebeak responds well to the proffered food, corroborating that Kreed likely progressed rather far in training this beast. However, the period of isolation left it disturbed, thus explaining the deplorable state of the "kennel" from which it escaped. The other cages have been broken open, their contents eaten. Sacks of food have likewise been ripped open, and leather harnesses have been hacked to shreds by the bird's eponymous beak.
Returning your attention to Kreed's office and the combination of mechanisms built into the door.
Inconnu recognizes that the lock mechanism built into the door appears bulkier and more complex than necessary for a mere lock. What's more, there is unusual fluting in the woodwork around the door jamb. Furthermore, the wooden flooring at the foot of the door feels thicker than the boards of the surrounding floor. This leads the bard to suspect that multiple mechanisms may be tied to the office door.
'Does one of Kreed's keys open this? Do you think using the key would keep whatever trickery is in there from going off?'
"I am glad that we are unlikely to be pecked to death while we make the attempt. But I do not know, Dugan."
It's worth a shot... if only we had brought a locksmith with a streak of heroic idiocy with us."[/b] He tapped on a piece of wall near the door. "I know it would do some damage but I'd rather none of us get killed... we might be able to smash through this."
It takes several hours, but through careful study you are able to ascertain the combination of keys that can open the door without triggering...whatever lurks within the jamb.
The door swings quietly open upon well-oiled hinges, revealing the late gavel's private office. A broad, darkwood desk dominates the center of the room. Laid upon the ground before it is a carpet made from the skin of a firepelt cougar, its leering head still attached and aimed towards the door, offering a silent snarl in lieu of welcome. Behind the desk is a high-backed chair, its top adorned with a pair of blade-like ornaments that you soon realize are beaks taken from a pair of large axebeaks, even larger than the living one you met out on the balcony.
To one side, the wall is dominated by a stout bookcase, only half filled with tomes and ledgers. On the other side of the room stands a glass display case filled with motionless animals, mostly works of taxidermy but also including a falcon made of brass and copper.
A stuffed owlbear looms beside the door, posed mid-lunge upon its hind legs.
Micheo slowly advances into the room, taking a closer look at the various taxidermy pieces.
The smaller pieces in the display case, and especially the owlbear in the corner, attest to the amount of practice Kreed once dedicated to his taxidermy hobby. These are not merely the crude, awkward productions of an amateur.
The display case hosts a firefoot fennec, a mereswan, and a feathered falcon, alongside a long pair of tusks, and less readily identifiable oddments. Standing out from the others, the metallic falcon appears to be a clockwork creation.
The stitching upon the owlbear is almost imperceptible, ensuring that its joints do not betray its dead state. The immobile beast's eyes, however, are milky white and cracked, being the piece's one obvious flaw.
Dugan closes to the desk and examines it for any documents.
'Rooms a bit much' He mutters to himself as he searches.
”A display of wealth for who? Can’t say I will ever understand the man.” That I killed. He thought to himself as he joined in the search.
"No, everyone needs an escape... I don't think this was for anyone but him. His entire existence couldn't have been being a monster. I'm sure he justified his action to himself but we know well his crimes. I'm not sure if he'd bring his work here so to speak but it's worth checking." Inconnu checks the walls, floor and furniture for hidden caches. He also spares a moment to examine the owlbear more closely incase the flaw is to mark something.
Micheo does his best to seek documents or hidden compartments.
The owlbear proves quite the distraction for Inconnu, monopolizing his attention while his companions examine the rest of the office. At first the bard believes it to be nothing but another macabre statement of dominance by the late gavel. He soon grows convinced, though, that it may be some kind of trap or guardian, but he cannot figure how.
Dugan tests the drawers in the desk, finding most of them to be locked. Although you identify the keys that fit inside the small holes, turning them does not alone prove to be enough to open the drawers. He does find a single drawer that is without a lock. Amidst some ordinary ink, quills, penknives, and other sundry tools, there is a note written in heavy, plain strokes.
I know not what enemy you work for or what advantage you seek, and I know not whether I am alive or dead that you may have worked your way into my office.
To you, I will only say this:
If you would plunder my secrets, ensure that my boy, Jurin, is not inside my house when you do.
.....
Remaining persistent, Dugan solves the puzzle involved in unlocking the desk drawers. Each one's face is adorned with elaborate carvings of birds and beasts, and he discovers carefully concealed grooves among the carvings. These prove to be hidden buttons that, when pressed in conjunction with turning the key, unlock the drawer.
Within the locked drawers, you discover two items of immediate interest. The first is a small, almost pocket-sized black book. The pages are filled with many lines of cramped handwriting. Even a cursory skimming of the notes reveals that this book contains the blackmail information that Kreed had gathered to use against the townsfolk to keep them under his heel. It reveals the debts, affairs, taboos, criminal pasts, and many other secrets of the Valers in Falcon's Hollow.
Secondly, there is an unfinished letter written in red ink. However, the words are indecipherable. It is not written in any language that any of you are familiar with.
You recognize that this letter is written in a complex cipher. You recognize some of the conventions, but without the key, you are unable to crack the code.
"Maybe we should heed the warning an get Jurin out. There's some kind of a cypher in the letter but I can't figure it out... there's definitely some kind of pattern at work." His eyes keep darting back to the owlbear. "I think theres something up with that thing, a trap or a guardian... maybe that's what the letter is about."
”Maybe something to do with these scratch marks here? Yes, tell him to evacuate the house. Along with anyone else here should this go awry. We will keep looking around.”
'Agreed about the boy. And I think someone's been messing around up there.' Dugan says, gesturing to the scuff on the desk and the space above the deck. 'Don't reckon I'm tall enough to get at whatever's up there. I can go talk to the boy and send him down to Kimi's though.'
Dugan marches downstairs and, after a brief search, finds Jurin's door to knock upon. The lad opens the door, offering a look somewhere between curious and confused.
Meanwhile, back upstairs in the office, the rest of the party discusses which of the room's oddities to investigate first.
Micheo adds:
"Those scratch marks...perhaps there is a secret door?"
Dugan smiles at the boy, hoping his request doesn't upset the boy 'We've found your pa's office. There was a note from him requesting we send you out of the house if anyone but him goes in. I'm not about to tell the man of the house what to do, but if you go to Kimi's, her ma will give you something to eat and your friends would like to see you.'
"Worth a closer look while we wait for Dugan." Inconnu moves closer checking for a secret door... and of course traps.
"Oh, well...well if Pa said so..." Jurin says while his eyes idly, nervously sweep the floor. "It'll be good to see Kimi, even if she'll probably punch me in the shoulder for keeping away for so long."
Jurin gathers a few items from his room, stores them into a small valise, and departs Kreed Manor. None of his father's remaining guards follow him. Instead, they continue keeping watch around the house.
Thus, the party is left to investigate the office with one less worry.
Dugan digs out a coin for the boy and holds it up. 'Pick up some sweets on the way. It might just help you avoid that punch.' With a warm smile he presses the gold into Jurin's hand and gives him a firm pat on the back, shoving him towards the door.
With that, he returns to the rest of the group.
Ulark followed Inconnu’s lead, having decided that working together with two sets of eyes was the most optimal route.
The walls of the office are astoundingly solid. Knocking upon the wall panels and studs reveals no hollows, and you find them to be quite thick, as though reinforcing the office. Thus, you are denied the dramatic discovery of some concealed room or hidden passage.
However, that is not to say there are no secrets to be uncovered.
You turn your attention to the scratch marks at the foot of the bookcase, and there you find your hollow. The bottom panel at the base of the furnishing appears removable, accounting for the faint scratches on the wooden floor.
Inconnu checks the panel for traps... and even if he doesn't find anything gets the others to move back. From a distance he moves it with mage hand.
Micheo stands ready, arms ready also, to face anything that emerges.
The panel pops off with a satisfying (if anti-climactic) clunk, dragging some loose nails behind it along the floor. A hidden compartment, partially recessed into the floor, is thus revealed without the triggering of any slicing, swinging, shooting, or burning traps.
You spot a number of objects tucked within the compartment: a slim wooden coffer, a leather folio, and three bulging oilcloth sacks.
"Perhaps what we seek." Inconnu lifts each one by one out using mage hand and gives them a jingle... as he is still worried about traps.
"First I'll have a look at the book."
"I shall maintain watch.", adds Micheo.
The folio slides out first. As the invisible touch of magic carries it forth, you can hear the shuffle of documents within. The coffer is next, and it is a bit trickier to maneuver out of the recess that cradles it. When it does come loose, you can hear the jingle of small items as they rattle inside.
Only one of the sacks can be removed, dragged along the floor as it were. The other two prove to be just too heavy for Inconnu's magic to move. Nevertheless, the effort alone provides enough evidence to leave you certain that all three contain coins. Could this be the missing payroll?
Ulark went over to pull it out. If magic wouldn’t remove it, then muscle would. And while potentially dangerous, how could he ask a friend to do something he would not?
Ulark yanks both sacks out from the hidden compartment. The oilcloth creaks with the weight of many coins within. Thankfully, their removal does not trigger any sort of pressure plate or other nasty surprise.
The two heavier bags contain hundreds of copper coins, mostly of Andoren mintage but with quite a few from Absalom mixed in, too. This hardly seems like the personal wealth that Kreed would hoard for himself, but it is much more akin to the wages that would be paid out to loggers, woodsmen, and laborers.
The bag that was retrieved via Inconnu's magic contains a smaller number of silver coins. These are likely meant to pay the wages of mill workers, foremen, and - of course - the Consortium's enforcers.
”We did it! Now the workers can be paid. We need to get these to the authorities to distribute, so that everyone can be assured of the fairness.” Ulark said with a grin.
"Excellent work, Ulark! Let us ensure that none is left behind. I would not see the workers cheated of back pay through our negligence."
Dugan wanders back into the room as the bags are being retrieved. He helps haul them to the desk and frowns when they turn out to be small denomination coins, 'Maybe we can sell some of this trash' He waves his hand absently around at the decor of the office.