"I have some jerky if that will help."
Sinan reaches into his sack and pulls out some rations to give to Pepper
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Deerslicer and Gracie make their way across the room toward the other door. On the way, they glance at and into (if possible) the various barrels on the south side of the room. He keeps his hand ready to pull his dogslicer if ... well, you get the idea ... but makes no overtly hostile action.
Making their way to the opposite door, Deerslicer checks it for traps, and then goes to pick the lock.
Deerslicer finds the barrels and crates empty except for packing straw and bits of cloth. Sinan, riffling through the barrel in front of him finds two vials of alchemist’s fire, laid carelessly in the packing straw.
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With no traps in sight, Deerslicer begins to work the lock. One of the dogs barks at him while he works.
click! thunk! screeeee!
The heavy iron door opens. Past the door is a large steel wheel on the wall. Studying it, you see it's the control wheel for the iron gate of the kennel. A hidden viewing slit is also observable on the iron door, allowing one to see into the room you are all in.
You are greeted by a living area that is a mess, with a cot in one corner and a crude firepit in the other. A simple chimney leads up from this room. However, you don't recall the fireplace in the home above you being serviceable. This area connects to two other rooms: a larder and a lavatory, as well as to an open passageway that leads off into darkness.
"Let's just shut the door behind us and leave those pups out there," Gamble says as he cautiously moves across the storage room, through the door, and on to search the living quarters.
"Thank you, Sinan."
Pepper waves to dogs and tosses them the meat, in a manner that they all get some and do not fight.
Then she follows the others.
Looking around the living quarters, Gamble finds bits of trash and a few pieces of gear: a whetstone, a dagger, 15 feet of rope, a hammer, 2 candles, and a coin purse with 2 gp, 8 sp, and 14 cp. There's also a lockbox under the cot. It is made from stout wood, banded in iron and closed with a simple lock.
The dogs gulp down the rations. They even fight among themselves for the meal.
"Well, this will pay for some of the repairs on the house or several nights at the inn," Gamble says, collecting the murderer's money and other useful tools. He holds a small chest in his hands, looking at it cock-eyed. "Hmm. It's locked and... I think it's trapped. Something fishy about the lock."
Sinan follows Deerslicer, staying back by Gracie in case the goblin runs into anything.. problematic. He knows his days of picking locks are too many years behind him.
Truly, I was nothing more than a street rat and criminal..what.. 10 years ago? It seems like a lifetime ago.
Having been fed, some of the dogs follow you into the living quarters. They explore for a bit, sniffing and growling at you when they get near you. Eventually they and lie down and watch you the way dogs do.
The larder is a simple storeroom filled with scraps of old meat, a third of a wheel of cheese, a sack of turnips, and a barrel of weak ale. There is also a crate of empty wine bottles in one corner. They are all of a good Chelish vintage and were probably quite valuable when full.
The lavatory sits just off the main living space, and it is little more than an open pit. By the look of the place, this appears to be where Hallod disposes of his garbage, and there are scraps of moldy food and bits of junk in the corners of the room.
Simon, you notice that there are a number of small, identical bottles scattered among the trash. Examining the bottles reveals they all have a silvery residue in the bottom that smells strongly of iron and something else terribly acrid.
juggernaut mutagen.
Pepper kisses Sinan's hands.
"So generous! The doggies have nice souls... just starved and made to act bad."
When the dogs lie down, Pepper breaks a little piece of dead wood from her roots, like a too long toe-nail for humans, and-- tosses it: "FETCH!
Don't want you to get fat, better exercise some."
"Hey!" Gamble exclaims as dogs file into the room. He heads back to the iron bound door and shuts it. "I suggested closing it for just this reason."
He comes back out the hall and holds out the small coffer. "Should we open it? After Deerslicer deals with its trap?"
Pepper is a bit sad that the dogs are rejected-- 'At least they are fed!"
She looks around: this is a nice dark place, moist, underground-- could be fungus and mushrooms around.
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Deerslicer is about to take off down the passage, since he sees no sign of a person there, only to be asked about the lockbox. He sighs and nods. "Goblins always gotta do everys-thing." He takes the box and sits it on the floor, then crouches down, pulling his lockpicks as he begins checking the box for traps. "D'ere food in here, I get first pick," he mutters.
"Look here. That looks funny, right?" Gamble says, pointing out the trap.
With Gamble's help, Deerslicer immediately sees the trap. A small hidden needle ready to stab the unwary who try to fiddle with the lock. In a matter if seconds, the goblin ranger neutralizes it.
The lockbox is no longer trapped; however, remains locked. As Deerslicer had the chance to study the mechanism more carefully, he can tell this is a very complex lock.
"Aye," Gamble says. "Maybe he has the key."
With the lock disarmed, the Ulfen jostles the chest gently, trying to get a sense of what it contains before sliding it into his pack and moving onward.
Returning to the passageway, Deerslicer can see that it begins as worked stone, but as it goes further and further, it becomes more of a natural cavern passage, worked only here and there to make it more passable.
Two of the dogs play with Pepper's twig while another one rubs its snout against her branches asking for more food. From beyond the now locked iron door, the other dogs have begun barking once more.
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Beyond Hallod’s living quarters is a system of natural caves. Although the path is far from level, it has been worked to allow for easy travel; stalagmites have been cleared away in some spots and small wooden footbridges have been stretched over pools of stagnant water no more than 5 feet deep.
"Deerslicer," Gamble says. "Although maybe we won't be running into anymore doors, do you want me to fix your tools before we press on?"
Gamble sets out a small anvil and pulls out several tools from his backpack and begins to work on the goblin's tools.
Sinan stops next to Deerslicer and checks his bumps and bruises. "Stay still, and I wont have to hit you in the face like I had to with Gamble." Sinan gives a small smirk.
Moving the chest around, Gamble would hear the sound of paper and the tell-tell sound of coins in the chest. He would also be able to fix Deerslicer's pick, but just barely. Thankfully, Deerslicer is at hand to test each correction Gamble makes. Concentrating and learning from each other, both companions work together to get things right. Perhaps the takeaway from this is that Gamble has a newfound respect for the nimble movements needed to open a lock and the need for such precise tools. Simple things are sometimes more complicated than they appear to be.
Sinan also takes a moment to check the battered goblin's injuries. From the look of things, Deerslicer is very resilient, as he sustained only bruises from a 25-foot drop and that's taking into account that he sheltered Gracie from the worst of the fall with his own body. To go so far to protect another is truly a testament to the bond of goblin and bear that everyone can 'bear' witness to.
Pepper comes up to Deerslicer, and pulls out sharp wooden twigs, dried cocoons, and some herbs... dropping sap onto them and patching the Goblin up.
She looks around, and plucks a cobweb down that she tosses on top--
--"Nice!"
Gamble looks over at Valor rifling through his pack to fish out the coffer. "If you wanted that, all you had to do was ask," he says and then goes back to his work on the tools. "You any good at cracking locks?"
"Have at it," he says, waving his tiny hammer in Valor's direction. "Just be careful. It's got a trap on it."
Simon hears to pins click into place. Wiggling his tools around, he knows there's one more pin in there to set.
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After ten minutes of travel, the passageway opens up into a large natural chamber, the center of which is occupied by a pool of brackish water. Stalactites and stalagmites occupy much of the room, but a path between them leads around the pool and to another corridor on the opposite side of the cave.
A strange blue glow emanates up from the pool, sending a cascade of shimmering light to the ceiling above. Seconds later, the heads of three giant blue snakes rise from the pool with sparks of electricity dancing between their fangs, while metal, rattle-tipped tails poke out of the water behind them, audibly building up a charge with every flick of the rattle.
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