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Hanlin backs away from the door he was about to open, almost as if he'd heard a ghost of some invisible hunter urging him away from it. He heads back to the other room and nods to the bugbear "Down, unless its a large complex then let's finish topside."
He walks behind the table and glances out the window to the yard.
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Hanlin backs away from the door he was about to open, almost as if he'd heard a ghost of some invisible hunter urging him away from it. He heads back to the other room and nods to the bugbear "Down, unless its a large complex then let's finish topside."
He walks behind the table and glances out the window to the yard.
Abaal holds his tongue as much as a man of action can even though it is perfectly obvious how tall the structure is. One can tell just by going outside and looking up.
"If it is your wish to delve into the unknown depths beneath this place, rather than exploring the readily apparent attic reaches first, so be it. Let us not dawdle here on the stair." says the gruff swordsman to the clergyman with more than a little shade.
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"I'm sure the important bits are hidden down underground, but there could always be plenty of skeletons in the upstairs closets. Either way, I'm ready to dust them." He backs away to give Abaal and Akazim space. Hanlin always dreamed of being that knight in shining armor; the man at the front of the fray: not backing down from an up close and personal fight. But as the missions mounted he found he was far more effective as a secondary line of defense than front and center.
A quick confab among yourselves leads to the decision to see what lies below before continuing your exploration of the house's ground floor. While Hanlin gazes out the eastern window, seeing little besides a wild, overgrown yard, Akazim and Abaal get into position, Ingrge edges up to the trap door and opens it to reveal a wooden ladder leading down into darkness. The Great Swordsman shines the light of his wayfinder down into the opening, illuminating what appears to be part of a room with earthen walls and floor that lies maybe 10 feet down.
It's difficult to tell from so far up but it looks as though there are a handful of dark splotches on the earth below...
As Hanlin drops the piece of brightly shining firewood down the hatch it hits the earthen floor below with a *WHUMP*, offering a bit more illumination should anyone choose to descend the ladder. Now that the lighting down below is better, it does indeed look like the earth at the bottom of the ladder is marred with dark splotches of some sort.
Anticipating something nasty happening, Malusha keeps a respectable distance and readies his crossbow.
...
....
.....
Nothing else happens. No crawling corpses, no ghosts, not even the rattle of bones.
It's quiet.
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When Cirri heads down alone - since he can't see Ingrge descending the ladder - Akazim decides to join her. He focuses his mind on overcoming the very essence of gravity and his boots silently lift off the ground. The scholar grips his glaive in both hands, careful not to catch it on the lip of the trapdoor as he descends straight down into the basement.
"Maybe don't alight on the ground itself until we know more about what those stains are," he whispers to the ... flying bugbear.
Not the strangest thing I've ever seen, he considers.
About the time that Ingrge decides to head down the ladder his invisibility finally wears off. Luckily, nothing happens and he's able to continue his descent unmolested. As he reaches the bottom of the ladder he can see that this is a simple passage with rough earthen walls and wooden supports. A heavy wooden door at the southern end is the first that you've seen in the house that is actually on hinges rather than on a track. Though Ingrge doesn't notice any traps on the door or anywhere else in this small passage, he does note that this is the first door the group has encountered that is actually fitted with a lock.
Meanwhile, up above, Cirri takes flight and takes a deep sniff of the air wafting up from the hole in the floor. It smells musty and damp, with an undercurrent of blood - both old and new.
Akazim also takes flight and carefully descends down through the trap door, unwilling to touch the floor just yet. Both he and Ingrge have little trouble, now that they've descended, determining that the dark splotches on the earth are blood.
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"Are we sure we'd like to progress into this area with the threat of the house still over us? This would a very easy space to trap us and do.. unspeakable things while we were trapped..." Calls down Hanlin from above as Ingrge starts working on the locked door.
"We would be better served to try to block the trap door for now and keep what could be down there contained while we search the remainder of the manor."
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The Daring Sword of Katapesh™️ rolls his eyes at all this dithering. He could only imagine how some of his allies returned to their darkened homes at night.
Abaal neatly slides down the ladder in his pointed-toe boots.
"We are here. Hanlin can guard our rear. He is strong with Iomedae and the clerics of that faith are like--like a large receptacle, container, or structure for holding a liquid or gas--the Taldane word escapes me, but he is no doubt one of those, and can deal with things by himself. Let us press on." He gestures forward with one large hand, freeing his blade from its sheath with the other.
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Akazim shifts out of the way as The Descending Sword of Katapesh slides right by him into the short hallway. He floats back into the ladder well since there doesn't appear to be anywhere else for him to go.
"Hanlin, it's a bit crowded down here at the moment. At least until we get the door open."
He then switches up to a quick, percussive language that sounds a bit like the popping of a fire.
The references to heat and flame flow naturally as part of the Ignan language, and the sentence simply wouldn't make sense without them, of course.
As more of you begin to descend down the ladder it does become clear that quarters are tight and that the passage leading to the wooden door really only allows for three of you to stand comfortably; anyone else coming down will have to stay on the ladder or in the ladder well (as Akazim does) or squeeze into someone else's personal space which is a level of awkward most of you would probably prefer to avoid if possible.
Cirri positions herself at the far end of the passage while Ingrge gets to work on the door and Abaal stands guard just behind. The blood spatters on the ground are rather concerning and closer inspection reveals them to be mostly dry with only a small bit of tackiness at the epicenter of each one. While the dampness of the cellar might have some effect on the drying time, Abaal is fairly certain that they're not more than a day or two old.
And though Hanlin expresses some unease at delving further into the basement when there's still more of the ground floor that remains a mystery, Akazim and Abaal both offer their support for pressing onward - and a belief that the two clerics can handle themselves up top for the time being.
With there being no traps on the door it doesn't take Ingrge too terribly long fiddling with it before the lock pops open with a soft *click*.
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As Abaal descends, Malusha looks around the room. Only he, Hanlin and Ciri are left in the room. Concern appears on his face and he fidgets with his crossbow. "Well, it looks like it's up to us to keep everyone else safe." A grim smile crosses his face. "I've been in worse places. Maybe not as ominous, but dangerous none the less."
At Abaal's insistence, Ingrge shuffles out of the way so that the The Daring Sword of Katapesh™️ can take point. Barring any last-minute objections from his companions, Abaal is able to carefully swing the door open...
The manacles and fetters set in the western wall leave little doubt as to this room's purpose. Ancient rusty-brown stains coat the walls and floor where prisoners once hung in chains - and where one small, thin form hangs now. A young girl is shackled to the wall, her clothes grimy, torn, and spattered with blood. As Abaal stands in the doorway she makes nary a sound, nor does she stir, and it's impossible to tell if she's alive...or dead.
Other than the girl herself, the room seems to be empty. In the northeast corner, a small table is covered with torture instruments and a small stack of books. In the opposite corner of the room sits a very large barrel next to a stool with a hammer resting on it. The lid has been removed and the barrel is empty.
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At Cirri's cry, Akazim calls out to Hanlin and Malusha, "Gentlemen, I believe your expertise may be required. There's plenty of room down here now."
He zips into the room, flying just above the ground and adds, upon seeing the motionless and unresponsive girl.
He then backs out of the room and takes up a guard position in the dead-end of the corridor to make sure no one traps them all together in the creepy dungeon.
I do hope that 'dead-end' is just a figure of speech in this case...
"Someone has been here; someone chained her up. And this someone used a key to secure the room. So not a ghost, not just a haunt, not a mindless beast; but a thinking, planning creature with some need for Seiko and the traveler above. Perhaps much - but not all - of the 'haunted mansion' aspect of this mission is just a cover for something more mundane," he muses, although it's clear he's really just thinking out loud rather than addressing anyone directly.
Cirri hurries into the room, pushing past Abaal in the process and rushing to Seiko's - for surely this is Naomi's missing friend - side. Ingrge follows hot on her heels, bow ready in case the whole thing is some manner of trick or ambush. The woman-turned-bugbear is no medic but as she watches closely she can just barely see the shallow rise and fall of the girl's chest; she's alive, but barely.
Though Ingrge continuously scans the small torture chamber nothing else seems amiss or suspicious and there are no signs of any hidden compartments or other means of exit save for the door you entered through.
Akazim does zip into the room long enough to take stock of the situation before zipping back out again, of a mind to keep watch in the dead-end passageway as he waits for Hanlin and Malusha to come down the ladder.
It's brief, but as you zip into the chamber you feel a shiver up your spine and you're certain that the pain and anguish that has taken place here has coalesced into something wicked and malevolent - but neither you nor your companions seem to have roused it. Yet.
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Wait, what was that? What did I just feel?
It isn't until a few moments after he leaves the room that Akazim realizes he noticed something. Something ... wrong. But he'd been musing about who or what else might be in the mansion that it had slipped his mind initially.
"Careful! There is something else in the room. Another troubled soul lingers here. Hanlin, Malusha, be ready to neutralize it if you can," he warns his teammates.
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"Looks like things are about to get messy. Let's help illuminate the situation." Hanlin asks Iomedae to grant him daylight to light up the darkness.
Then he carefully climbs down into the basement to have a look around. "I'm not much of a physician." He says as he walks towards the room like a human LED.
Just when it seems as though things can't get more dire Akazim suddenly calls out a warning that there's some manner of malevolent spirit or haunt lurking within the torture chamber, somewhere. Still topside, Hanlin has little choice but to head down to support his companions and so he conjures the light of day onto his breastplate and then heads down the ladder, clanging and clanking the whole way.
Once the priest of Iomedae makes it to the bottom he's waved into a small chamber by Akazim and is greeted by a disturbing sight - the young girl Seiko, barely alive and shackled to the far wall. Cirri stands by her side but the girl doesn't stir. In the northeast corner, Hanlin notes a small table that is covered with torture instruments and a small stack of books. And, strangely, a very large barrel sits in the opposite corner next to a stool with a hammer resting on it. The lid has been removed and the barrel is empty.
The tension inside the small chamber is palpable now but even though Akazim is positive that he sensed something, yours seems to be the only presence or presences in the room...
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Once the priest of Iomedae makes it to the bottom he's waved into a small chamber by Akazim and is greeted by a disturbing sight - the young girl Seiko, barely alive and shackled to the far wall.
"Let us leave this place. We can discus things out of the dark." says Abaal. He nods toward the girl.
There is a flash of black, and the swordsman is sheathing his blade.
Quick as a flash The Daring Sword of Katapesh™️ cleaves the shackles holding Seiko in twain and then deftly reaches out to catch her unconscious form as she slumps forward. He gently places her on the ground and steps back so that Hanlin, now joined by Malusha, can have a better look at her.
Seiko's skin is warm with fever, her pulse is rapid and her breaths are shallow, but she's still alive. Bruises can be seen on her neck as well as both wrists, surrounding pairs of small, circular puncture marks - the same as the dead man you found hanging in the dining hall. But unlike that unfortunate soul, you've reached Seiko before whoever or whatever did this could return and finish draining the young girl dry.
Malusha calls upon his goddess to bring the young girl back from Pharasma's door and some color seems to flow back into Seiko's cheeks. He's confident that her condition is stable, for the time being, but that she'll need time and further care to make a complete recovery from her injuries.
Your catch the faintest whiff of infection from Seiko's bite wounds and you suspect that on top of being drained of her blood that she's also suffering from filth fever.
And with Seiko now stable and safe to move, Cirri gently scoops the girl up in her arms as the group beats a hasty retreat from the torture chamber. Akazim calls out a reminder for someone to bring along the books stacked on the table, which isn't a problem for whoever decides to do so.
With that, you're able to make your way back up the ladder, Seiko in tow, and return to the storeroom on the house's ground floor. All is as you left it.
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The man with the grin is no fool, he's seen filth fever before and this little girl has it. "She's got filth fever but that can wait until we get her out of here." He stows his healer's tools while she's carried off.
He grabs the books and notes as he heads out, to be read once they get out of this dank hole in the ground.
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Ingrge will play rearguard and wait till everyone is up the stairs before he ascends, keeping his bow ready just in case something comes flying out of that barrel...
Once up, he looks to the others. "How stable is the girl? Too dangerous to carry her while we continue to search the house. Is she well enough that we could let her rest in that guardroom we found earlier while we clear the place? Or should we carry her back to town immediately and risk that the haunts reset and whatever resides here perhaps is more prepared for us when we come back?"
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"She's fine for the moment. I don't think I can properly heal her today but tomorrow morning I can prepare the appropriate magic to remove the disease. You said she should be ok for a little while, right Hanlin?" Malusha looks with concern on Seiko as Cirri carries her out.
"I don't know the best action, Ingrge. We have done what we came here for. We found the girl. But if we leave now, we might be leaving a danger here for someone else to stumble upon. Or even worse, whatever evil is here may start actively preying on the town." Malusha is clearly torn. The whole atmosphere of the house is oppressive and sets his nerves on edge but he can't in good conscience leave such an evil to be.
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Hanlin agrees with Ingrge "Saving this girl's life was something we were able to accomplish, but not the reason the Society sent us here in the first place... almost like it was a secondary success condition." He raises an eyebrow and nods to everyone.
"We've got to explore this mansion fully and figure out the remainder of the history here, and hopefully right whatever wrongs have happened since."
Once the group makes it back safely into the kitchen Hanlin will take a look at the books.