@Elisani: Looking through these grizzly trophies, you notice the withered hand attached to one still has a ring on it, a sapphire ring you think is probably worth 80 gp. It a signet of the Office of the Lord Mayor of Magnimar.
@Sherman: There appears to be no religious significance to these, likely just for the owners own twisted amusement as trophies.
"Hmm, this is interesting." Elisani carefully slides the ring off of a dried-up finger and holds it up for the others to see. "A signet of the Office of the Lord-Mayor of Magnimar. I wonder how it came to be here?" Once everyone has had a chance to look at the ring, she tucks it away in a vest pocket. Onward into the filthiest house in all of Varisia!
The stench coming from the door to the east is eye-watering, even with her peppermint-scented kerchief. Grimly, Elisani begins looking for traps. If she doesn't find any, she opens the door.
Estella takes a closer look, though she has no insight to offer. "I can at least assure you that Korvosan officials have better lodgings," she smirks.
As Elisani moves to open the door, Estella asks "Want me to take point?"
@Elisani: The heightened awareness is almost a determent at this point, making you all the more aware of the rancid smells wafting through this house. A banquet of aromas that you get to experience one after the other.
Also, you find no traps on the door.
”Brace yourselves, everyone. Whatever lies behind this door smells even worse than what we’ve encountered thus far.” Elisani resists the urge to take a deep breath and opens the door.
"Ugh, I beginning to wonder if we should've just burned this place down." Sherman tries to wrap some cloth to cover his nose and mouth.
Fresh chunks of flesh and severed limbs are scattered across the room.
Across the cheek of the center-piece head is a tattoo of a black arrow.
Like a plowed field in miniature, three lines down the length of the table are cleared of any obstruction.
Tarphrex’ nasally voice (his nostrils have closed of their own volition: ”Is arrow tattoo someone we know? Shalelu look for Black Arrow person, maybe this was a friend, too?”
Oh, gods. Elisani's stomach roils; heightened awareness was a bad idea. All she can do at this point is wait for the extract to wear off, though. She sets her jaw and begins methodically searching each door for traps.
"Unfortunately looks like a black arrow. I hope that wasn't a friend of anyone's..." Sherman shakes his head in sadness. And then retreats from the room to draw some breath.
"With all due respect friend Sherman, at the very minimum it was a colleague of the gentleman Shalelu was watching over when we left her; I am at a loss for how to respectfully handle these remains. My temptation is to set this entire place ablaze as we leave."
As everyone prepares themselves to enter the room, to sift through what remains or to check the other doors, Elisani holds up her hand. The door frame itself is trapped, the mechanism hidden by the door while it is closed and the trap armed when the door was opened.. Any passing through the doorway now will trigger the trap...
”Wait. The door is trapped.” Elisani produces a roll of soft leather from her backpack, unrolling it to reveal a wide selection of lockpicks and other tools. She takes a long moment to examine the mechanism, then gets to work deactivating it.
"Good catch." Estella looks around. "The fact that they've installed so many crafty traps here while the rest of the house looks like," She gestures wildly around her, "this... I'm surprised, to be honest."
She waits for Elisani to disable the trap and carefully walks inside.
Tarphrex crouches down to study the tools, then stands to study the trap.
”Elisani very smart, very good at finding.” He continues in their shared language.
@Elisani: You begin to dismantle the trigger mechanism, carefully pulling apart the springs in the door frame before anyone enters the room.
As you work, you're struck by how crafty this is, how this trap was made with so many odds and ends but is still stable and rather deadly. While you are thinking of this, a back-up trigger springs, unexectedly, and you snatch the latch with your tools just before it goes off.
The trap is disabled. Barely.
Elisani breathes a sigh of relief, and instantly regrets it as the stench of the room hits her. "All right, it's safe now. This door is, at least. Let me check the other doors."
You can, and find the same trap on each of them. Knowing how to disarm them from doing so on the first entry, you can do so on the others as well.
Whichever ogrekin made these traps was skilled, but not terribly creative. Elisani makes short work of the other two traps. "There, all the doors to this room are safe now. Does anyone have a preference as to which one to explore first?"
"Good job, Elisani. We'd be in trouble without you." Sherman watches the half-elf's work from across the room.
Opening the door to A5...
A single ogrekin sits in the corner. Or what is left of one. The body is that of an older child, but the withered legs at the thighs show no signs of growth. The body is malnourished, gaunt, and is old enough to no longer smell.
While it doesn't exactly smell good in this room, the air isn't as foul as it was in the dining room. Elisani carefully steps inside, looking for valuables or information. Or more traps.
Tarphrex looks at the "toys" with some interest, ignoring the carcasses. He looks at Elisani, shaking his head, "Frightening. And sad."
Estella grimaces once more and clutches her napkin close to her nose. "How long do you reckon they've been here? I imagined they only squatted recently, but it looks like they've made themselves at home for a while..."
@Elisani: You find nothing else of interest.
@Tarphrex: The toys are crude. Poorly whittled wooden animals where it is difficult to tell if it is a horse or a cow, rough clothe sewn with to large of thread into dolls stuffed with straw, that sort of thing.
The tiny dragon drops the toy he was reviewing and stands, dusting off his hands and shaking his head.
"I don't know whether to be disgusted or sad." Sherman shakes his head.
"I don't know whether to be disgusted or sad." Sherman shakes his head.
”Both, I should think.” Given the temperament of the ogrekin they’ve encountered thus far, Elisani can’t imagine that the crippled child had a happy life. She shakes her head and exits the room, heading for the other door out of the dining room.
Through the window directly across from where you're standing, you can see the barn. Shalelu stands guard at the entrance with bow out and arrow knocked. Another door on your left is narrow and locked closed from this side.
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"Oh dear gods." Is there no end to the horrors in this house? Elisani desperately wants to burn the whole thing down once they're done. Grimly, the detective picks her way through the carnage and starts examining the door for traps.
If she doesn't find any traps, she starts hunting for a key.
As Estella peers through the door, the assault on her senses makes her look away and press her hand against her mouth. A while out in the field roughened her up, but room after room of these displays is not something the noble-born was ready for.
"Let's just make this quick. Please."
@Elisani: The cleaver's catch your eye. Based on the weighting of them, they could be used as masterwork throwing axes, 3 of them.
Also, no need for a key. The door is locked from this side. Not meant to keep you out, but to keep something in the basement.
@Estella: The good news is, if you did throw up, no one would be able to smell it over the rank odors of the rest of the house.
"Locked from this side?" Sherman comes to take a look at the door. "Perhaps we should not risk letting out whatever it that the ogre's decided to lock in there. Not before we have cleared the rest of the house."
Of course there could be some black arrow prisoners in there. Or something horrible.
"Oh, those cleavers actually look like they could be sold for good money." Sherman reaches out for one of them, but then withdraws his hand. "After a good cleaning, of course."
Tarphrex looks at the cleavers hanging from the ceiling. "Maybe Ceven use wind-magic and Tarphrex clean kitchen meat-axes." He wiggles his taloned fingers like he's casting magic, then looks around for the kineticist.
This entire place... Should be cleansed... Preferably with fire...
"I can certainly grab those cleavers Tarphrex, good thinking, although I am inclined to agree with Ain about our overall approach to cleaning."
”Yes, take keep-things, burn rest, sprinkle holy-man water on ashes. Yes, Tarphrex feels this.”
Cev will use Telekinetic Haul to bring the cleavers down
"Locked from this side?" Sherman comes to take a look at the door. "Perhaps we should not risk letting out whatever it that the ogre's decided to lock in there. Not before we have cleared the rest of the house."
Elisani turns to face the priest, finished with her search for traps. "You make a good point. I saw a staircase leading upstairs earlier, perhaps we should search the second floor before the basement."
When Ain and the others suggest torching the place, she nods firmly. "I agree that nothing short of complete destruction will purge the evils done here... not to mention the stench. However, we must take great care to ensure that the fire does not spread to the surrounding forest." Uncontrolled fire is one of a city-dweller's worst nightmares. Every few years, a block or three in one of the poorer districts of Magnimar- built from wood rather than brick or stone- burns down, and the death toll is always horrific.
After recovering herself a bit and listening to the ongoing conversation, Estella nods in agreement. "If there's anything upstairs, the last thing we want is to end up between them and whatever nasty beast is locked up downstairs."
After recovering herself a bit and listening to the ongoing conversation, Estella nods in agreement. "If there's anything upstairs, the last thing we want is to end up between them and whatever nasty beast is locked up downstairs."
"Well there were only beds in the bedroom I entered, and nothing confronted me as I came downstairs."
Tarphrex points at his earhole and gestures toward the locked door. "Elisani listen?"
Moving back through the dinning room into the center of the house, you ascend the stairs to the second floor. A narrow, L-shaped hallway with a creaky wooden floor and a musty smell are your first impressions.
The hall goes forward, turning right before ending at two doors, one on either side of you.
To your left, Ceven can tell you, is the bedroom. To your right, a complete unknown. Could me another bedroom. Could be 17 badgers in a trench coat writing the next great stage play (titled A Midsummer Badger's Dream).
The bedroom was searched, but somewhat hastily as traps were going off down stairs.
Which direction would you like to go?
No. How could you ask such a question? Heinous.