"Ya keep 'em, Rodi. I'll be good with me steel and hammer."
"I'm for heading back, but since we're here, might as well make sure that we haven't missed an armory or vault. It was a long trip down to get here." Mikos adds.
You find keys on each of the two Splinter leaders.
The door directly off the shrine leads to the priestess's personal chamber. A finely woven rug with a subtle tan and moorit pattern covers
the floor of this bedroom. A garderobe enclosed by a wall is in the northeast corner, and to the west of it stands a large wardrobe.
The wardrobe is secured with an excellent combination lock.
*
The first door to the south and east opens into what was clearly Jaris's workshop of sorts, and worse. This room is full of small cages containing rabbits, mice, rats, cats, and dogs. The din is deafening, and the room smells strongly of animal waste. The center of the room has a workbench, atop which lies the broken remains of the iron cobra.
The caged animals are obviously malnourished and victims of Jaris's experiments: discolored and patchy fur, strange sounds and scents, and even one of the dogs glows in the dark!
*
The next room over appears to be the alchemist's room. This room is choked with tables stacked with stills and alembics, flasks, bubbling vats, and crockery. The eastern wall is fitted with stout wine racks filled with bottles of various sizes and shapes.
*
The fourth room, down the hall to the south, is someone’s personal quarters. Lacking the key, you use Keg's crowbar to bust open the door. A comfortable bed stands in the southwest corner. Several small keepsakes, including a couple of small leather journals, clutter the wall shelves. The keepsakes on the shelves include a gold chess piece, an ivory comb, and a statuette of a woman with a lyre.
Mikos keeps his eyes peeled in the Norgorberite's chambers. "Careful. I don't doubt that there's some poison needle trap in here," he cautions.
"Look at that glowing dog! How much do you think we could sell it for?"
"I'm not touching anything in here. I've been blown up enough recently."
"Well, what do we have here? See, loot and maybe some answers." he picks up the journals and leafs through.
The Keg rolls up the carpet for sale and searches both wardrobes.
The Keg's face twists in anger at seeing the caged animals, and he immediately moves to free them grumbling about unnatural and cruel imprisonment.
A complete reversal from the previous rooms, The Keg's eyes go wide at the wine rack. He grabs a bottle and pops it open with his teeth, sniffing deeply before he takes a long draw, sighing in pleasure. He stuffs the rest of the bottles in his backpack before he eyes the work table for anything else of value (or magic)
The Keg peruses the journals for any relevant tidbits.
A few of you notice scuff marks on the floor by the wardrobe, where it appears to have been pushed aside to reach the wall behind. On closer inspection, you see there is a hidden panel behind the wardrobe leading into another room to the north.
Rodi finds no traps on the wardrobe or panel behind it.
*
The Keg releases the animals from their cages. The animals scatter, seeking freedom and food, but the glowing dog remains, tail wagging expectantly.
*
The various bottles, vials and flasks are labeled in a fine cursive script. The collection includes 11 bottles of wine, five bottles of brandy, and eight bottles of vinegar. There is also 14 vials of synesthetic agent; eight vials of antidote for synesthetic agent, three vials of acid, four vials of black adder venom, three minor healing potions, and two cheetah's elixirs.
*
The journals are the work of someone named Lenik Hastenfar, one of the Splinter officers who liked to keep a log of his exploits. Most of it is bragging up his exploits, but you pick out a few details. One, the priestess Tarin Dars, the Splinter's leader, was apparently a bit of a heretic to the Norgorberite faith; she was busy rewriting the faith's holy text, Words Behind the Mask with her own additions. Two, the Splinters were mostly autonomous, but were being forced to pay tribute to Klarkosh, a situation none of the brigands were happy with. He mentions that Klarkosh even sent up a clockwork servant to help, somehow. Three, in the last entry dated two days ago, Hastenfar notes that he is leading a group of Splinters into the Echo Wood for a raid.
"You sure there's no trap, Rodi," Mikos asks while opening the panel.
*
Mikos looks around for some food for the dog."I think you got a friend out of it anyway, Keg."
*
Curiosity gets the better of Mikos and he looks over Keg's helm and the potions that he's scavenging. "Hey, how come those two are underlined? Seems odd."
*
"Still need to open this locked wardrobe as well"
The Keg grins, "Yeah, come on boy. Let's get you some place warm where they'll feed you well."
"Dinna know? Mebbe we should see if we can check it out - possible poison?"
"Ooo, what kind of curse? Will I grow horns if I drink it? Or get really big or really small? Or explode? Mikos, I COULD EXPLODE, MIKOS!" Rodi tries to snatch one of the mystery vials for exmaination, clearly too excited by the prospect of potential explosion.
Mikos struggles to think of a horrible curse that Rodi wouldn't find exciting. "Hold up, Rodi. Give Keg a chance to check 'em. They could just be poison and you'll die a really quick and boring death."
Rodi frowns. "Well THAT doesn't sound like fun at all. But... You could bring me back! Hire a druid and maybe I'd come back as a plant! Or a squirrel! Or a monkey! OR A SQUIRREL MONKEY!"
Mikos appears to consider Rodi's reincarnation. "That might not be a bad idea. Little monkey hands could make you better at picking locks."
The Keg snorts and the mutters, "Like that's a tough bar to beat ..."
He looks at his calloused hands from excessive crowbar use ...
Mikos opens the panel in behind the wardrobe. The small secret room beyond is filled, floor to ceiling, with shelves and pigeonholes containing myriad tomes, ledgers and records. The air holds the dusty aroma of ancient parchment. A black ledger with a lock rests on the small table in the northeast corner, sitting beside a heavily-earmarked tome titled Words Behind the Mask.
Standing by the eastern wall is a human-sized construct, with four arms, three legs and a barrel-like torso. It has a round metal stump for a head, adorned with crystalline eyes and an exhaust vent for a mouth.
Mikos grabs the special edition of Ranting behind the Mask and steps away from the construct. "I wouldn't touch it. The last one nearly blew me up," he warns.
"Hey Mikos, Ben, Keg, is that statue SUPPOSED to be watching us? Because it's totally watching us! Hello statue! How are you? I'm Rodi! Nice to meet you!"
"What do you mean- 'watching us'? Don't talk to it. Stab it." Mikos takes another step back.
"This is why you don't have many friends, all the stabbing. If you stabbed less and talked more, you might make a friend or two!"
Mikos rolls his eyes and waits for the screaming to begin.
The Keg pushes past his arguing compatriots to look at the barrel-bot for a couple seconds, squinting. If it doesn't respond to Rodi, he then bumps it with his shield.
"Rodi, 'stead of arguing with the Friendless Stabber, why dontcha pick the lock on that wardrobe?"
Watching it closely, the clockwork servant makes a show of being inanimate, but when the Keg bumps it, the construct shifts to regain its balance. Now that the gig is up, it whirs and faces you. Who are you? Where is Tarrin Dars? it asks in a tinny voice that, oddly, has a Numerian accent.
"Tarrin Dars? Which one of the sphincters is that? Oh wait, didn't one of the sphincters have a friend mecha-man? Sorry, mecha-man but that person is dead. Sorry!"
"I remember the mechanical snake guy; he's dead. And the goblins' mecha-zombie; they're all dead. Is there another one that I'm forgetting, Rodi?" Mikos rasps.
The construct buzzes but does not make any aggressive movements. "Unfortunate, but not unexpected. Her insubordination and delusions of grandeur ensured her eventual doom. It just came sooner than expected."
"What do you want, then? Are you vagrants seeking murder and gold, or do you hope to supplant the Splinters? I have no use for the former, but could make something of the latter."
Rodi perks up. "I've never supplanted before! Is that like planting with supper?"
Mikos recalls the journal entry. "Kkarkosh sent you up here to help, right? Where is he? Maybe we can come to an arrangement. "
The tinny voice chuckles. "You are speaking to him presently. Apparently my reputation precedes me -- you know of me, but I know nothing of you. I ask again: who are you, and what are do you seek here?"
Mikos steps forward with his blade at the ready to peer closely at the tin man. "What? are you inside there? You already have our names thanks to our talkative little friend here. I'm Mikos. We seek wealth. Why else would you go poking around ruins? Not for the ambiance."
"Wealth? Hmm, of course. You must be modestly capable if you were able to take out Tarrin's Splinters with your small band, but you will have to prove yourselves further."
"I am on level six, three levels below you presently. Reach me... and I will offer employment that will make you wealthy indeed."
"Lookin' forward to it ..." The Keg mutters.
To his compatriots, "Check this crypt, and iffun we're lucky, see if we can free some poor soul trapped in an undead prison?"
"Level 6? Well, the Lords of Level 3 look forward to making your acquaintance."
Mikos leads the way to the crypt.
You leave the construct behind and secret library unexplored.
Out in the cavern, you find the ancient stone door to the crypt stuck, but with a little muscle, Mikos breaks through the crust and gets the door open.
Beyond is a dusty old crypt. Five stone sepulchers sit in the chamber’s northern and center portions. Each is carved with an effigy of a masked man or woman. To the south, one large sepulcher lies, its lid secured with iron bands.
You leave the... secret library unexplored.
Mikos eyeballs the bound coffin and frowns at Keg. "I suppose that suggesting we leave that one be isn't an option."
"Not if there is a chance some necromancer has imprisoned a soul."
The Keg switches to the Warhammer and hefts it, "Lets break some bones"
"You gonna hammer those iron bands?" Mikos asks.
"We'll get the crowbar in there and then wedge 'em out with a quick smack-ola ... unless there's a lock and we got enough food to not starve while Rodi works on it."
"It's okay Keg! I know you're secretly in awe of my agile fingers and speedy unlocks. I'd teach you, but" Rodi wiggles their fingers, "Your poor sausages aren't cut out for delicate work."
"Want me to do it still, Keg?" Rodi flexes.