Yngvilda readies her axe and shield after the door while Cwm and Tykent address the bedding.
She looks poised to attack, the comfortable appointments and impressive architecture of this wizards tower thus far lacking the requisite epic battle to make a good ulfen battle song.
A hesitant and shake male voice calls out "No. Don't hurt me. Please."
”See?” Tykent softly pats Cwm on the shoulder as he slowly kneels down next to the bed, his knees creaking almost as much as the cane he leans heavily on. ”We won’t hurt you, don’t worry. We were asked by the Baroness to catalogue the estate, but we’re certainly happy to find someone alive in here. Come on out, let’s take a look at you, get you some food. What is your name, by the way?”
Cwm is wary and stays off to the side, ready for a trap.
After a moment, a man in his mid-thirties with a rough beard of lightly colored brown hair slowly comes out from under the bed and looks at you sheepishly. "Uh, hello. What are you doing here?" He asks.
Trying to look non-threatening by putting her axe back onto her belt, Yngvilda replies.
"As Tykent said, we're employed by the Baroness to catalogue the estate. What are you doing here?"
She lets her free hand rest on the axe, and narrows her eyes at the man.
Moving to a sitting position, the man looks up at Yngvilda and says "Uh, I live here. What are you doing here? Are you guests of Master Hunclay?"
"Ah, I'm sorry sir, I mistook you for a thief. You are a hireling then? A boon companion perhaps? I'm sorry to have to tell you that Master Hunclay is dead."
She pats him on the shoulder not unkindly
"We are here on behalf of his family to catalogue his belongings. You might be able to help us. What was your role here? Why were you hiding? When did you last see Hunclay? We still have many unanswered questions as you can see"
The man looks genuinely surprised. "Dead? How can he be dead? I suppose he has been gone for awhile now. At least there haven't been any kobolds around either."
The man's eyes go wide. "I shouldn't have said that. Nope, I should not have said that."
Moving past that to her questions he adds "I am his servant and assistant. Cooking. Cleaning. Hiding. Yes. Terrified of kobolds." He grimaces and smacks his face. "I mean. I like being alone in my room. Mathezic did not say kobolds. No he did not."
"Were there kobolds around before or after Hunclay was gone for a while?" Tykent asks gently, motioning for the man to sit on the bed with him. "We did get rid of quite a few of them over by the old quarry. And how long have you been trapped here? Can we take you out of here to Belhaim?"
The man looks around nervously as if he expects Hunclay to walk through the door any moment. "Uhm, before. Master Hunclay was employing them to undermine the foundation of the tower since he had previously been unable to remove it through legal means."
He swallows hard and says "I barricaded myself in here once the tower came down."
Looking around again he makes to rise from the bed "Yes. Take me out please. Can I go now?"
Cwm doesn't sheath his knives but listens as the man rambles. "What's that about kobolds and Hunclay trying to take down the tower? And why was he unable to do so legally?" He moves to ensure the man can't leave without their approval. "I think you should show us around, point out the other traps he's had installed."
The man shrugs "He hated that tower. He tried to get rid of it forever. The Baronness would never even consider taking it down because of what it meant to her husband. So, Master Hunclay took it upon himself to contract out the work. I can't believe he died in it though.
When it comes to being shown around he looks to Tykent. I'd rather go like the nice man offered. I've been stuck in here for so long, I just need to get out!"
"It's ok Mathezic, you are free to leave, but before you do I have a couple more questions. What did the tower mean to the Baroness' husband? And why did Hunclay hate it?"
She listens intently (but looks confused), and finally tries to find where he'll be in case they have more questions.
"Do you have somewhere to stay in town?"
Mathezic nods. "Oh. Oh yes. The inn. I'll be at the inn if you need me."
"The Baroness's husband loved the tower. He always wanted to explore it's mysteries. He ended up dying in the tower and so she never wanted to take it down because it reminded her of his passion during life. Creepy if you ask me, but that's what it was."
"How did he die in the tower? Spike trap? Poison darts? What else is to be found around here? And did the kobolds do what they do and make secret passages so they could avoid all the traps?"
Cwm leans in with a flinty smile, "and we'll stop by the inn later with some more questions. Don't do something stupid like leaving town. Our employer would be most displeased."
"S-S-skip town? Who would do such a thing? Not me. I'm loyal. I'll sit and wait for you in the inn."
Without answering Cwm's other questions, he tries to take his leave like nice Aasimar said he could, pushing past them into the kitchen.
Cwm holds up a hand as the man walks by, "why not wait here, we can make sure you're safe in the room and won't be injured on your way out. Then we can all return to town together." He taps his dagger against his leg to make his point crystal clear. "Or we can remand you over to the deputy waiting outside. I'm sure he'll be interested to know someone was still in here."
”Cwm, you’ve scared the poor lad past his wit’s end,” Tykent chides. ”Yngvilda already said he could go, so don’t confuse him. And can’t you see he’s not eaten for days? Probably hasn’t slept either from the look of it.” A wrinkled hand pulls the ifrit closer. ”Besides, the poor fellow is just going to bolt the first chance he gets if you try to keep him with you. Probably scared of you worse than whatever else might be in here at this point.”
Cwm looks from Tykent to Mathezic, surprised. He shrugs and stands back, shifting his daggers to one hand, "that she did, that she did." He extends his free arm toward the kitchen, "by all means Mathezic. I wouldn't want to keep you from the kobolds, err the Inn any longer. Mind the spike traps in the floor."
Mathezic nods several times quickly, all but running out the door for the exit of the room. As he makes his way out, he shouts back "Please tell Linus and Saba I left!" as he dashes out the door.
Cwm watches the dust rise in a small cloud as Mathezic bolts. He looks at the others, "Guess we should keep an eye out or Linus and Saba too." He moves to the kitchen and looks around for anything salvageable. "I hope letting him go doesn't come back on us."
After he's gone, Yngvilda apologizes.
"I'm sorry Cwm, I didn't mean to speak for you. My mouth moves faster than my head sometimes, as my father used to say."
She stares off in the distance, lost in a memory.
"You're too trusting to be an ulfen guard! That beggar will be laughing his way to the gambling tent with the money you gave him. You stupid stupid girl"
She hoists her shield a little higher. "I hope he finds somewhere safe to sleep. Shall we try the stairs?"
Yngvilda leads the group up the stairs to a lushly furnished library that features three tall bookcases running north to south down the center of the chamber and another bookcase of iron in the northeast corner. A stuffed grizzly bear towers in the northwest corner, its claws and fangs bared aggressively. The east wall features sixteen paintings of various planets in gilt frames.
A ladder in the west side of the ceiling leads up to a trap door. Open doorways lead both east and west.
"Be careful everyone, we know there are traps here, and I don't like the look of that", says Yngvilda, indicating the bear.
Being ever so careful, she will proceed to the no-doubt magically animated stuffing golem, using her longspear in one hand to prod each section of floor before she steps into it.
When she reaches it, she will gently poke it with the haft of her spear to see if it comes alive and tries to eat her.
If it does not, she will turn around and look embarrassed.
Cwm watches the bear as Yngvilda approaches, sliding around so that he can assist her if the bear is indeed another trap, "I hope that thing is dead. I wish Mathezic was here so we could tell us what to look for."
”How much do you think that statue is worth?” Tykent muses, pen posed over the parchment as he studies the bear and surrounding room for traces of magical auras.
Much to Yngvilda's benefit, the bear does not come alive to eat her or anyone else in the room. A quick survey of the room reveals that all of the value in this room is coming from the bookcase. Of the 16 tomes in the iron bookcase, it looks like 13 of them are extraordinarily rare books related to astronomy. There are over 600 books in this room in total. Three of the books detect as magic with either strong or overwhleming auras.
Yngvilda looks sheepish when the stuffed bear fails to attack.
"I've heard stories of such..."
Her explanation trails off. She tries to wait patiently while the others examine the magic books, but she gets bored and pokes her head into the room nearest the staircase to see what's in there, using her spear to poke the ground before she steps on it like a peculiar walking stick.
Eldon eagerly examines the books that have magical auras.
Eldon finds a book of extended summoning, a flesh golem manual and a manual of war in the bookcase.
Yngvilda moves to open the door which previously looked like it was open but upon closer inspection she finds locked and not budging at all. Using the keys that were located down below in the biddcage, the door opens up. When it does however, she's greeted with a rather unpleasant sound which screams loudly, echoing throughout the house.
Yngvilda's hands clap to her ears as the sound shakes her, and she stands there insensate, only able to wince in pain
”Goodness! Yngvilda, are you alright?” Tykent hurries over, magic glimmering around his fingers.
Yngvilda eventually returns to her senses, and wipes the blood from her ears. When she speaks it's much too loudly
She looks embarrassed and grumpy and she waits for someone more learned to tell her it's safe to continue
Once the all clear is given and Yngvilda's magical effects wear off, she moves into the study where she finds two long tables of stained oak tables that line the east wall of this room, each cluttered with alchemical supplies. Atop the desk on the west wall are writing implements, ink, sheets of vellum, and several scrolls. A large chest secured by a prominent lock sits just north of the desk.
Cwm eyes the chest and turns to Yngvilda. His mouth begins to move but she can't hear any words. He keeps up the charade for almost a minute before he gives in, "sorry Yngvilda, the opportunity was too good to let pass." He smiles and moves over to stand before the chest. He takes a few minutes examining the lock before he attempts to open it. He calls back over his shoulder to tell everyone to stand clear just in case.
Cwm determines that chest does not appear to be trapped so he goes to work on the lock just as he meets with the same fate as Yngvilda. The lock begins to scream loudly, echoing throughout the house.
Cwm falls backwards as soon as he hears the screaming and is therefore able to avoid the brunt of the damage. He sits right back up and dabs at his ears, amazed at the blood.
”Hmm. Tell you what,” the old man suggests. ”Perhaps the next time you’re suspicious about a trap, Eldon and I can look around the area for magical auras. It is a wizard’s house, after all. Or, well, was.”
"That does seem sensible Tykent. Loud noises are one thing, but one of these spells could turn me into a troll!"
She does her best to hide her amusement at Cwm succumbing to the same trap that she herself did, so soon after making fun of her.
"Is anything else in here magical?"
Cwm nods at the others, sure they're saying something sensible but he can't hear what.
Magic indeed.
Five flasks rest on the eastern tables detect magic. Four scrolls on the writing desk detect as magic, however the biggest find are six spellbooks inside the chest.
The words from the deputy stationed outside suddenly ring in your head once again.
"Baroness said to tell you that your aren't allowed to be lootin' anything from inside, all of that is being auctioned off. You are gettin' a flat fee for your services."
"That certainly sounds useful, Tykent I assume you're getting this down?"
Yngvilda goes to flip through the spellbooks to see if there might be anything of use stored between the pages, but she doesn't want to get blasted again.
"Do you think they're safe to examine closer Cwm?"
As she's waiting for him to have a look she remembers that she still has one of the powerful healing potions they found on the kobolds under the collapsed tower, and drinks it.
Scanning the room slowly Eldon spots the flasks, scrolls and spell books glowing with magical auras. Ignoring the spell books entirely he wonders over to the flasks and studies them carefully.
Once he's done he goes over to the desk with the scrolls and mutters to himself before examining there contents.
"Careful with those books Yngvilda"[b] he says absently, [b]"You never know what these wizards do to their books. They seem to think they are important for some reason.".
Eldon identifies a scroll of campfire wall, a scroll of excruciating deformation, a scroll of haunting mists, and a scroll of magic circle against chaos.
However, the room's grand prize is in the locked chest to the right of the desk. Inside are Hunclay's six spellbooks. This collection of spellbooks contains all cantrips and a number of higher level spells-25 1st-level, 22 2nd-level, 17 3rd-level, 13 4th-level, and 11 5th-level spells. A gloss in the margin on the book that contains the spell Secret Page has four words noted in the margin "Eox," "Aucturn," "Carcosa," and "Dominion". All of them have been crossed out other than "Dominion".
"Wow, those spellbooks must be worth a fortune! I wonder if Hunclay's relatives are rich already, or if this will be a huge windfall for them. Wouldn't that be great, if a weird uncle you didn't know you died and you inherited a place like this?"
She screws up her face at the strange words.
"Eeeyocks. Ork-turn.. Maybe he was trying to pick a name for his familiar? Dominion is a pretty silly name though!
She laughs at the idea of a cat named dominion, but she isn't thrilled by wizard spellbooks and is eager to search the next room.
"Shall we try the next room? The magical traps are starting to get on my nerves so how about this..."
She goes on to outline a plan where Eldon or Tykent cast detect magic, Cwm and Mak examine for mundane traps, and then Yngvilda pokes with her spear before stepping to minimise the chance that she'll trigger any more traps.
"How about it?"
Cwm appreciates Yngvilda coming up with a plan to avoid the traps and thanks her profusely. His hearing comes back just before she tries to pronounce the words on the book. He shuffles over and takes a look over her shoulder, trying to decipher what it says and discern any additional meaning.