Mum considers, then turns to the cleric and says "Let me check if there is a catch on the other side." in a soft puff, she is gone, reappearing on the other side of the bars. Without looking back she starts a search.
A short distance away, to the west is the entrance to a small cave that goes north, after Mum’s short search it looks there is what is probably a bag of holding hidden away. A brief check shows some foul smelling vials and some potions, as well as rations - odd but obvious emergency supplies should he need to flee the keep. A lever on the wall is apparent. It doesn’t look to be trapped, and Mum tests it and finds it lowers the bars of the gate soundlessly, though there are a few vibrations in the wall.
Mum comes out of the dark, with a simple smile and an announcement of "Found something." She leads them to the supplies and bag of holding.
Letting the others investigate the findings, Tikroch and Luca keep an eye out for signs of life.
Donovan keeps his blade in hand as the team follows Mum to the supply cache.
Vincent was preparing to teleport the entire group through the portcullis, but Mum saved him the trouble. So he follows along with a smile.
To the west, after the cache cave, the passage opens on an an expansive limestone cavern. There is a stairway carved into the limestone, in the northern part of the cave, which follows the wall, leading up. At the top of the landing, a 5-foot wide passageway leads west. The passage has another carved stair, and terminates at a wall after about twenty feet.
Vincent stays quietly at the back of the group - he knows his place and while he's probably quieter than Donovan, it's better than Mum (who is actually sneaky) goes first.
Tikroch squeezes his large form about halfway through the hallway before squeezing his way back out. Unless a wall needs to be broken down, he will be of little use in the smaller passageway. He commands Luca to support their vanguard as he is smaller.
Mum slips forward, as quiet as a mouse despite being clothed in steel. Her fey cursed eyes pierce the darkness with easy, but she takes her time moving toward the steps, making sure to avoid ambushes from wildlife and traps.
Mum finds a seam in the wall, there is a secret door. She can open it if she wants, it doesn’t appear trapped.
Donovan's no stranger to this kind of group work and does his best to stand very still while Mum does her sneaky business.
After checking for traps, she leans into the wall, listening before opening as quietly as she can.
She frowns, and then moves to her companions. Whispering she tells them about the voices "does anyone have a magic to see what is on the other side?"
"Alas, no."
"I prepared rather more direct spells. But I could given a little time." Vincent replies softly. Simplest would be to turn into mist and just go through the wall to have a look.
"How much time?" Mum asks.
"A couple of minutes." Vincent replies. "I could turn myself into mist and go through to listen but that is potentially a lot of time and magic for little gain. Do we really want to wait and take the chance?"
Mum considers. They could be fighting their way through the entire castle, so wasting Vincent's spells would be a problem. After a moment she shakes her head. "I'll attempt to crack the door slowy. Be prepared to attack quickly if we are discovered."
She returns to the secret door, looks over the mechanism for opening, the doors, considers again and then opens... slowly.
Mum cracks open the door and sees the following. An L-shaped table sits in the southeast corner of this dusty chamber, its velvet-lined surface displaying a number of small, precious stones and pieces of jewelry. A couple of large, ornately carved cedar trunks take up the other corners of the room.
She hears more clearly the sound of some people arguing loudly, through what must be a thin wall to the west. It’s clear that there is a visible secret door (from this side) on the western wall and on the southern wall of the small room. There are no creatures visible, so the sound must have been the people arguing.
With his keen senses, Tikroch hears the door open down the corridor and squeezes his large form through the hallway to rejoin the group. He eyes the gems and jewels on the table with curiosity before turning his attention to the voices nearby. Nodding his head to the secret door, he whispers "Ambush?" Just in case, he commands Luca to be extra quiet.
Mum raises a finger, for the universal one moment motion, then slips into the room and moves toward the other secret door, to press her ear against it.
Mum hears two people arguing, one loudly and one softly. They seem to be arguing about whether they should try to “escape.” One is arguing caution, and the other seems to think they can get out and they should escape immediately. They seem scared and loud.
It’s not clear what they’re escaping from, since it’s not visible.
Mum looks back at Tikroch, and nods in answer to his question. She waits until they all are ready then opens the door, slowly and quietly
Donovan keeps sword in hand, ready for possible confrontation.
Opening the secret door locked door lies a cold, musty dungeon. Five cells, complete with meticulously crafted iron bars and doors, fill most
of the space. A wooden door also leads east to a functioning latrine, judging by the smell. This door opens to the back of one of the cells.
In two of the cells are prisoners. One is an older gentleman, rugged, but distinguished, who reminds Mum of Kisanda, the girl who warned Tatzleford of the danger. The older man is seated against the wall, and he looks resigned in some way, and dejected.
The other looks to be a younger female human. She's the one indicating that they should leave. His arms are hanging out of a nearby cell, and she looks strong. She
They're both dressed shabbily, but the quality of their things seems to indicate that they dressed like people of some importance.
The older man points at the door when it opens, and then stands up, scrambling, "goodness. Wha... who is that?" The woman is startled as well and backs away.
"Mum" Mum says, simply with a don't scream smile, hands open and wide "That's who is this?"
"Are you Kisandra's father and sister?"
The woman languidly responds, ”Tamary? Naw. The barbarians have her. I’m just a family friend.”
The man clears his throat, ”yes, miss Mum. I am Terrion Numesti, Kisandra’s father. I assume then that her escape to Gliocas was successful? Is Tatzlford safe?” He looks relieved, ”see Emryn - we just had to wait a little longer.”
Emryn waves her hand dismissively, ”eh, we’ll see. Everyone wants something.”
Mum repressed a very Chrysa like smirk as she felt a slight kinship with this Emryn. With her attention focused on Terrion she says "Your daughter is safe, Tatzlford is as well. The enemy army was defeated with ease." turning to look at Emryn "Your friend provided us information and a contact in this town, asking only that we attempt to save her father and sister in return."
"But of course we'd attempt to save you anyway, since we are heroes and all." she manages to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. "Tamary is with the barbarians?"
The large beast that is Tikroch easily squeezes through the door expecting a fight but is sorely disappointed that the whispers belonged to prisoners instead of guards. This talk of barbarians was intriguing though. The beast begins moving its mouth but a disconcertingly human voice is heard. "Barbarians were a part of the attack on Tatzlford correct? I remember seeing the... leftovers on our arrival there. We were under the impression the giants were the only allies here."
Numesti shakes his head, ”I don’t know everything, but I was a captain of Lord Drelev before he descended into this… madness. He recruited me to come settle from Brevoy many years ago. “
He goes on to explain what he observed recently. A clan of barbarians called the Tiger Lords lived in the area for quite some time. The Brevians settled nearby, and Drelev and others looted a number of their ancestral tombs. The Tiger Lords eventually attacked, and Drelev and his companions won, remarkably, due to discipline and skill.
The Tiger Lords disappeared for some time, but then came back, and had support seemingly from the larger and wealthier nation of Pitax to the southwest. A small country that had been established many years ago in the river kingdoms, it’s most recent king, Iorvetti, was more expansionist than earlier rulers. Together they beat Drelev, and made him supplicate himself, and gave the Tiger Lords hostages to ensure Drelev and his captain’s compliance.
”I refused - and he took her anyway. Drelev has some independence, and he seeks to liquidate some of his personal wealth to expand the holdings - nominally in the service of Pitax, with the ultimate goal of being strong enough to fight back against them and the tiger lords again. He’s right that it’s just a matter of numbers - he’s a clever tactician, mostly, and if he can get resources and manpower, he can win against them if they aren’t badly outnumbered. Eventually he seeks to take all of the Stolen Lands, and to eventually invade Brevoy as well.”
The Lord shakes his head sadly, ”none of us are interested in that, nor are we interested in Brevoy either. That’s why we moved down here. We didn’t realize the Tiger Clan was living here already, or we would have been more careful - though …” He looks contemplative ”I suppose Drelev’s mind had broken by then. He didn’t listen to our advice. Before he threw me in jail, his orders were increasingly unhinged. He’s paranoid , he’s dangerous, and he’s clever.”
He looks weak, and tired, but adds, ”if you give me a weapon, I’ll help fight him, and if we can defeat him, and make sure that there’s a way that there won’t be retribution - I think that the people here would be appreciative. They would like to join a larger kingdom. I speak for many when I say, we are tired of being pawns in the games of others.”
He says a little louder, ”Emryn, you’re getting your wish. Maybe you have a weapon for her?”
Emryn seemed to have fallen asleep during the conversation, and she wakes with a start, ”wha? What?” She rubs her eyes, ”yeah, yeah” she yawns, ”yeah, I have a bone to pick with the Tiger Lords. Old one. And I like Terrion and Tamary and Kisandra and most of these breviary settlers, so if you give me an axe I’ll bury it in Drelev’s head and then we can go kill some of the Tiger Lords. Yeah?”
"I have an extra dagger" she pulls the blade from a sheath on her thigh and hands it to whoever reaches for it. "We've not searched the room we came from, so it might have more." she offers to Emryn. "Otherwise, I am certain we will run into guards eager to allow you to use theirs."
Back to the lord "Our goal is Drelev. To put a stop to his invasion. You know the castle, and potentially where he is. Lead us to him and we can end this. Afterward, we'll help you get in contact with the two leaders to the east. Sound acceptable?"
Mum will inspect the locks to the jail cells, and then work at opening them. "Look around to see if there is a key." she suggests to the others since her work might take a moment
--
"Yes," agrees Sootscale, who begins looking around for a key to set the prisoners free.
There are no keys around here apparently, and Mum can’t get the second cell open easily. She tries a few more times and the prisoners are free.
True to their word, the two seem ready to fight.
Seeing their condition, the warrior lady asks "Donovan, can you see to their wounds? I'll check the trunks in the room we just came from for weapons." if no one disagrees, Mum will inspect the chest for traps then attempt to open and search.
She also, once out of earshot, cast a quick detect magic on the jewelry.
In the secret room, within one of the cedar chests, Drelev seems to have stored the valuable gear taken from Terrion Numesti. It includes a magical breastplate, a magic longsword, a masterwork composite longbow (Str +3), 20 arrows, and a masterwork dagger.
On the table is only one magic item, a rod of wonder, amidst the gems.
Mum can tell immediately that the crest on the equipment these as Brevian, and more specifically ones made for the Numesti family.
The breastplate and longsword are +2.
Next to the gear with the crest is a magic set of studded leather, some magic punching daggers.
They’re +1 studded leather and +1 punching daggers.
There’s no obvious sounds in the room to the south from the jail, and the party sneaks a peak - it’s empty, but has one more doors exiting to the east. This cold, earth-floored cellar helps keep food from spoiling as quickly as it would in the upstairs pantry.
There’s also an obvious stone staircase just north of the door that leads up into the keep.
The dark-haired warrior steps back into the jail and states "Some weapons and armor are in here, help yourselves." she states, not letting on she recognizes any crests, since Mum is Mum and not a red-headed baroness who makes it a habit of knowing things.
She did this AFTER slipping the rod of wonder into her pack.
Not one to get in the way of someone's payback, Tikroch nods his head towards the secret room. "I'll not stand in your way if you want to take your revenge. Just don't get in our way or become a burden. Saving yourselves now might be your better bet."
Terrion looks very appreciative, "th...thank you. These are heirlooms. My grandfather's things. And to think that scoundrel was going to sell them." He shakes his head, then responds to Tikroch, "I know how to fight, talking wooly creature, thank you." He picks up the longsword and though he's obviously injured, he knows how to hold a blade - better than most of those in the group, in fact.
Emryn scampers over and grabs the armor and the punching daggers, "my babies..." She caresses them lovingly, and then takes a few practice swipes at the air, following with a satisfied nod.
Vincent trots along behind the others - he can't heal the two ex-prisoners, so he waits for Donovan to help out and in the meantime... well, someone will need to be blown up at some point.
"Let's get everyone into fighting trim before we press on," suggests Donovan. He sheathes his sword and instead clasps his holy symbol (a smaller sword, amusingly) in one gauntleted fist, then stretches out his other hand in an unnecessary cosmetic gesture.
"Thank you" Mum states, then turns toward the former prisoners "What is the best path to Drelev? If there is not one that won't involve a chance he will get away, we could explore the secret rooms first."
The pair seem to have healed some of their injuries.
Numesti leans on the wall, appreciative of the positive energy as it cascades over his damaged body.
He rights himself, a little unsteady and responds to Mum, ”oh, a secret area. As far as I know, the only secret area he built into the basement was that room you came from. There was only one entrance when I saw it being built - through the wine cellar, but since you came from there - he must have added more.” He gestures towards the pantry, ”the wine cellar is through there, and he had, I suppose, his standard ‘treasure vault’ just south of the cellar. It looks like he had turned some of his wealth into gems, and I know he gave a great deal to Iorvetti and Armag, but there’s at least the giant’s pay in there - in large barrels.”
Embryn is sharpening the punching daggers on a whetstone she’s scrounged up from somewhere, with some amount of skill. Though dirty and injured still, she seems eager to engage, and is trying to be patient.
"Do you need water?" asks Donovan, ready to rummage through his gear. Since Embryn is still battered, he applies another healing spell.
Seemingly content to remain silent for some time, he suddenly interjects as Numesti mentions a chance for treasure. "Treasure vault? In cellar? Any powerful items in vault?"
They both take the water and drink some thankfully.
He shakes his head at the kobold, "I would guess many of those he kept for himself in that secret vault you came from. Last time I saw, there was just money. Come, young man, we can go check." He leads Sootscale and the others through the wine cellar.
Numesti gestures, "Baron Drelev keeps a wide selection of spirits on hand in his personal wine cellar. Something of a connoisseur, he has collected Taldan fire-brandy, hard liquor from Andoran, and even delicate berry wines out of the elven homeland of Kyonin."
The door to the vault is solid iron, heavy and locked with an extraordinarily good lock.