Sinan stands far away from the door, sword in hand and a prayer on his lips, fully expecting anything from venomous plague rats all the way up to miniature tarrasques to pour out of the small domicile at any moment.
Simon tries to find a way through the collapsed rubble, but there simply is no way through. He crawls behind Deerslicer.
Pepper waits to see how Deerslicer will do-- and where he will go.
If he disappears around the corner, she will move in so she can keep an eye on him.
Beyond the turn, the crawlway continues for another 10 feet before opening up into a small chamber that appears to have once been a closet. The door leaving the space is barred by debris on the other side and cannot be opened, but there is a hatch built into the floor. It is very old, but free from debris and dust. The hatch is not locked, but the hinge is terribly rusted.
"Alright, let's get back," Gamble says as he feeds out the rope on his way to the corner of the building. He gets ready to heave once Sinan is out of the way.
Pepper waits to see what Deerslicer does--
--before turning back and motioning to Valor, explaining with gestures what is happening.
Valor sees a whole flurry of branch movements and leaves shaking--.
Pepper smiles, and is not stressed out though.
Kunsheng and Sinan move away from the front door. Once they're clear, Gamble gives the rope a good tug.
The door flies open and the three of you hear a soft FWOOSH! followed by a THUNK! as a crossbow bolt goes flying at gut level before slamming itself against a wall of one of the abandoned (at least you hope) buildings of the Dead Homes.
Sinan, Gamble and Kunsheng on entering would see that beyond the door, the foyer empties into a clearly abandoned living space. The hearth is choked with branches and debris from above, the furniture is smashed and soiled, and a thick layer of dirt and grime covers every surface. It is obvious that no one has used this room in years. The only other exit leads to a room thoroughly filled with debris from the collapsed roof above. Digging through the debris would take several hours at least and would likely cause a further collapse of the ruined second story above.
There is no sign of Hallod anywhere.
"This is not fit for a dwelling," Gamble notes. "I didn't hear the others shouting that Hallod was hopping out the back window. We should probably let them know there's nothing here."
"I'm certain Hallod's guilty of Bort's murder," Gamble says. "But I don't think trapping your own house is evidence of anything aside from a rough neighborhood or paranoia."
He makes his way out of the ramshackle living room and around to the back of the house. "Ho, Gracie! Where's everyone else?" he asks the bear rhetorically as he notes the open shutter.
|
Deerslicer turns back to Pepper, then glances at Simon, and says, "Didn't I say to go tell d'em up front we found a way in?" He shoos them out of the crawlspace. "Goblin's gotta do every'tin hisself."
As they get down the crawlspace enough to speak without shouting, he says to Gamble, Pepper, and Simon (and anyone else around), "D'ere a little room in d'is crawlspace, like a closet, and it got d'is door on da ground, kinda like a trapdoor, d'at goes down somewhere. And me heard a click sound, but not sure what dat was. Hallod mighta been closin' it, so maybe he know we're here. D'ere also a trap down here, but I took care of it. Let's go!" He hustles back down the crawlspace, assuming everyone else is following, into the small closet-like room.
"Just so we're clear," Gamble says with a chuckle. "All the other things we've learned says he's guilty to me."
"Guilty or not, you know this is my time to handle things like Pepper. I have no choice but to try."
"I am a role-model?!"
Pepper's leave rustle even though the air is stale and unmoving within the place...
"Since when? Yesterday?" Gamble asks with an arching of his eyebrow.
"It does not matter since when. if some find me a role-model today, that is good enough for me!"
Under the hatch is a stone-lined chute that descends almost 30 feet. Handholds have been carved into the stone wall, but they are uneven and treacherous. There is no light in the chute.
Sinan makes his way down the chute , but only barely.
At the bottom, he lights a torch to help the others see on their way down.
The chute deposits you into a short hallway that leads to a closed wooden door.
Gamble climbs down under the illumination and gets out of the way of the next person to descend.
"Cozy?"
Sinan gives the lit torch to Gamble and admires his glowing scimitar. "Truly, the Lady shines her light upon us, Valor. Dawn's Light has never looked so radiant." he smiles with admiration at his friend's spell.
All of you at the bottom of the chute can hear the shuffling of multiple feet and the brushing of bodies coming from the next room. More than likely, they've heard you talking as well.
"Animals, maybe?" Gamble ponders. "Maybe we should get Deerslicer or Pepper down here."
Seeing her comrades move around down there, and some light, then someone calling her name, Pepper steps into the chute and-- falls down the 30 feet, rapidly getting to the bottom.
She opens her branches and her leaves slow her down at the end, thus she lands with particular grace... not even shaken at all.
'Yes? What is going on?"
The small tree will squeeze her trunk to give more space...
Simon would notice the door is unlocked. After Deerslicer's fall you can all hear barking coming from the other room. Loud barking. It's incredibly tight in the tunnel now with no space available past the stairs. The only ones who can open the door are Sinan, Deerslicer and Valor.
Pepper hears something whistling down-- and manages to flatten out against wall.
BOOM!
"Oh, hello Gracie!"
She then turns towards the door.
"Those dogs are angry.
Maybe we can give them names? To differentiate them if we talk to them.
I mean, how many do you hear: four, five... not six?"
"I believe talking to the animals is your realm of expertise," Gamble says to Pepper as he squeezes back in the hall, lifting the torch away from the leshy's leaves.
The old wooden door swings open on rusted hinges, revealing a room lit by a single, flickering torch. Through the gloom you see piles of small crates and more than a few barrels stacked up haphazardly on the south side of the room. Opposite you is a stout wooden door with iron bands, while the north side of the room is bare save for an iron gate set into the middle of the wall. The stench of smoke and damp dog hangs heavy in the air.
"We'll never get to have words with Hallod waiting in here," Sinan says to his comrades. "We'll need more room to check on whatever wounds we have may have from our descent anyway. We'll deal with those dogs first if needs be"
He elbows his way into the dim room beyond the corridor brandishing his lit sword and and palming his holy symbol. As he passes Valor he chimes "How long will your light spell last, Valor? I hadn't thought of preparing it this morning. Apparently I was mistaken in what I asked the Lady for today."
Pepper will move - "Excuse me..." - if she can, and peek in the room, to try and converse with the dogs.
"Hello? yapping sounds..."
Immediately, the dogs start barking as Sinan enters the room, drowning out his voice.
"How long will your light spell last, Valor!? I hadn't thought of preparing it this morning. Apparently I was mistaken in what I asked the Lady for today!"
The barking subsides as Pepper begins to talk to the dogs. The animals listen to the tree-thing yapping and while they no longer bark, they still growl at the group and it's a good thing, too. The barking had masked the sound of the iron gate being lowered. By the time Pepper has finished talking to them, the iron gate is completely lowered. The dogs mill about, growling at you, and one even snapping their jaws at Sinan, but not actively looking to hurt you. You all have a sense that if you get too close or do anything they mildly disagree with, they'll immediately pounce on you.
"G-good puppy...Light preserve us."
The dog stares at Sinan blankly. It's a rather large dog, about 35 inches tall. It bares its teeth and goes back to padding around the room.
Gamble shuffles into the room, taking care to keep his torch away from the dogs and watching out for their paws as he steps. "Good tree spirit! I knew you could do it," Gamble says encouragingly. "Now, as much as I'd like to not give Hallod the time to prepare, I think finessing the door open might be the safer option at the moment. Deerslicer?"
Pepper moves back, smiling.
"Does anyone have some sausage or dried meat or whatever?"
She is ready to keep on talking--