"Eh - Ah'm not that tall lad. Tha can see over me well enough."
Healaugh obligingly drops to the floor as Siobhan opens the door.
The band can see that this room must be some kind of antechamber as it once housed elegant sofas, now wrecked. There is a door in the opposite wall. The group's resident half-elf can sense the magic lies behind that other door. A door in the left hand wall must lead back into the corridor.
Healaugh scrambles to his feet and fairly hustles Siobhan across the room.
"Which way now lass - we warm yet?"
Siobhán walks at a steady pace across the room, making sure she doesn't miss anything. Focusing on the door in the opposite wall she approaches it and puts her ear against this one as well, not wanting to lead the others into a room full of violent creatures.
She hears...
the sound...
of silence...
"Coom on lass, tha' canst hear awt."
Healaugh ducks under Siobhan's arm and opens the door.
Ynyr is trying not to bounce around looking excited, but, he tells himself, this is a chance to learn something new, so the bouncing is probably justified.
*bouncily*
"Now, then, tell me... what do you see? Do you see anything?"
Shaking her head a little at the abundance of excitement around her Siobhán steps through the door, following her instincts and the wand.
She walks in and sees a broken desk, smashed chairs, and particularly badly hacked up walls. The hacking and smashing seems particularly fierce in this room.
"Goodness..." breathes Melisana.
The half elf gets a feeling from the stick that the magical aura is within one of the surviving large pieces of desk.
Ynyr follows Siobhán (and anybody else) into the room. Noticing Siobhán looking at the broken desk, he starts to investigate.
"Well, isn't this a fine messy place, no? Do you think whoever did this was looking for what we are looking for, whatever that is? Or do you think they just felt they ought to smash things?"
Coinneach speaks up with reluctance, "Happen they hoped to find treasures."
Healaugh scurrys over to the broken bits of desk and starts rummaging.
Search and Spot checks on the desk area (1d20 2=17, 1d20 5=25)
"Shift that wand lass, need to know when we're getting close."
Siobhán carefully follows the sticks guidance and helps Haelaugh in his hunting.
Kneeling beside the broken desk and Healaugh, Ynyr searches with all his heart.
Search and spot for that magical thingy - or anything really. (1d20 2=5, 1d20=10)
Despite his eagerness, he probably only finds bits of broken wood. Taking a deep breath, Ynyr tries to be a little less excited.
Ynyr cannot find anything in the remains of the desk, no matter how much he chucks bits of wood about.
Siobhán follows the urging of the stick and it leads her to a large intact piece of desk, but with no visible drawer. There must be a secret panel into it...
"This be more like." Healaugh surges approvingly over to the large chunk of desk.
"Ynyr lad, you're a tinkering type. Coom over 'ere and give us hand like."
Spot check to look for secret panel in desk (1d20 5=7)
Sadly, in his excitement, he fails to find anything useful at all.
"Ynyr lad, you're a tinkering type. Coom over 'ere and give us hand like."
Ynyr moves over to Healaugh a calmer and a wiser man, and looks and the piece of desk. He uses his knowledge of putting things together to see if he can fathom any secrets it may have and also does a search of and around it for good measure.
"Now, you see, is there some secret place in this thing? Well something is beginning to take shape in my head as to how it might work, don't you see?"
Yrnr tries to concentrate really hard.
The two lads find a secret compartment and with Ynyr's knowledge of woodwork, open it up with a 'click'. Sliding it open reveals a velvet inlay, and lying on this the most well-made dagger any of you have ever seen.
"Looks treaure-like to me." says Healaugh with considerable satisfaction.
"On we go lass. Next room."
Thinking that they ought to take the dagger now that they have found it, Ynyr picks it up reverently. He also takes the velvet with him (if he can) because you never know when it will come in handy.
Ynyr finds that the velvet is nailed into the drawer as a lining. He can feel that the dagger is possessed of great power indeed.
Brand just watches the door for any sign of trouble as the scholars search
Man alive, this is the hungriest I've felt ever!
"Canst tha' see awt Brand? Don't want to haul lass here into nest of pucha-scum."
Healaugh prepares to shovel Siobhan ever onwards, but waits to see if Brand can see anything before he does so. With rather unusual caution.
Siobhán shakes her head a little at the halflings enthusiasm and apparent need to drive her ever onwards. She stays still for a moment besides Ynyr, concentrating on the dagger and the stick she has in had she tries to glean any more information she can about the treasure and who it would be best suited to.
Ynyr
Turning to those still in the room.
"Well now, is not this a strange thing? The dagger is talking to me see? Well, do I really mean talking? No. Just it is suggesting to me - not that it is using words, you know? - but it is saying - with a feeling so to speak - as it might be that it would be really useful against, against... Whooo that power is strong no? Against giants, yes giants. Are there any giants here we need to fight?"
"Yer all giants to my way of thinking. Reckon it knows about halflings?" asked Healaugh optimistically.
Ynyr
Coinneach looks on sadly as Ynyr holds the dagger.
"Oh. I'd better just keep this safe, I think."
Ynyr suddenly looks embarrased and stops talking.
Ynyr nods at Coinneach, Brand and Siobhán and joins the party going to the next room (or wherever).
Healaugh ducks under Brand's arm and looks swiftly up and down the corridor before darting up to the next door to take his fancy.
Directions
Healaugh's fancy takes him out into the main corridor where he deftly nips around the corner and comes to an abrupt halt in front of a door on his left.
"This'll do."
Listen check outside new door (1d20 3=7)
"Best someone else has a listen. Can't hear awt but own heartbeat."
Slightly abashed, Healaugh steps away from the door.
Healaugh makes his way out of the room into the corridor which he can see is much nicer than the servants one - elaborate (now rotting) tapestries and a much better finish to the walls. He hears nothing at the door.
Healaugh pads up to the tapestries and looks at them, wondering if they contain any clues about the treasure.
Spot check on tapestries (1d20 5=11)
Sadly, he's too concerned with watching for Siobhan and the stick to appear to make much sense of them.
The halfling notes that the tapestries were rather fine and showed scenes of noble life and sailing ships. But now they are shadows and dust... shadows and dust.
Whispers
"Shouldn't we be going the other way? Was it not along the corridor back there that Coinneach's map was showing us to go? Anyhow, best we don't go too far this way because I thought this is where the nasties had their base wasn't it?"
Then, he thinks Well, I can't see anything bad yet, so just this one room this way, why not?
He listens:
Listening at that door Healaugh wants to go through. (1d20=18)
Ynyr also strains his ears and hears nowt.
Brand takes up a postion to watch the "unexplored" area to the north, brow furrowing a bit at the scattering of everyone
Ynyr looks at Healaugh.
"I don't think there are any nasties in there you know? Should we go in, do you think? Mind you, don't you think we should be going back and not this way unless this is where we know the treasure is?"
"Aye, happen tha's right. Joost take quick peek then. Coom on lass, bring tha'sel and stick over here."
Conall rolls his eyes and mutters "Come on." and opens the door, moving past the tinker and the fisherman.
The room bears the scars of the yrchish search and seems to be a bedchamber for a younger person. The princes perhaps? Everything is wrecked.
Siobhan starts feeling a sensation in the stick.. not from this room but from one further 'up' the corridor.
"Reckon our lass might be spotting summat" Healaugh mutters at Ynyr as he spots Siobhan's distracted expression.
"Brand lad, check further up for danger, Ynyr and I can guard lass. Connall, mebbe you and Miss Melisana could cover us backs. Coinneach - what's oop there?"
Healaugh displays a sudden interest in tactics as he bundles the half-elf towards the latest hot spot.
Siobhán moves carefully and quietly, following the guidance of the stick and the excitable halfling.
Lifting his eyes to the ceiling as if to say "Now you know, there is no way you can help some people is there?" Ynyr pats the place where he stowed the dagger and follows divining couple, checking only that Bran and the others are still with them.