GM Badblood's The Dragon's Demand

Game Master Lance K

Falcon wakes up and rolling his neck all stiff from the night prior in these spartan accommodations.

He gives a wink to Ilvaria and Irlana and uses the whetstone on the katana and sighs Let's go get this over with with all the treasure that has to to go this stinker's indolent nephew

Ilvaria is reluctant but she only has these people here and does not want to disappoint.

"Ehh ... yes. Let us go!"

Andwise stays quiet a moment as the human sit down next to him but does nothing to discourage the conversation. Seeing no other option, he extends his hand to the man for a formal greeting. It's rare for a human to not have ulterior motives...

As the man speaks his piece, Andwise sees an opportunity.

"Gregol, you said? The name is Andwise. Thanks for the drink! You are correct, I was in the old manner today. They mayor has asked us to catalogue the contents on behalf of Hunnley's estate. It is well built. I must admit, the whole place is a little confusing- some doors are fully locked without any obvious way of entry. And we still haven't made it to the cellar yet. If you don't mind me asking, what did he have you build down there?"

Irlana agrees with Sir Falcon's apparent attitude. "We'll probably find the basement more dangerous than the other traps from upstairs. The mage wouldn't have needed to hide those dangers down there. Probably never had any visitors allowed down there!"

Gregol is eager to talk about the manor, as this was one of the largest projects the stone mason has worked on and he is quite proud of his craftmanship. He insists that there are no secret doors in the house and explains quite convincingly that it would be impossible for any secret doors to exist.

In regard to the door in the kitchen that wouldn't open, he says, "That rooms just a linen closet. Hunclay didn't even want a lock on that door. You sure it doesn't open? No offense, but maybe it was just a bit heavy for you."

When Andwise asks about the cellar, the man shrugs and says "He just wanted a little storage space to store wine and such. Trust me, there's no secret doors or torture chambers down there. Won't take you more than ten minutes to inspect it."

The party has a good night's rest and wakes up ready to explore the rest of the manor.

Irlana adjusts her spells for work inside and readies herself for returning. What had the sorcerer used the basement for? Was it sound proof so he could torture creatures? She wouldn't be surprised. So far it seemed like the mage had used the small town terribly and she was annoyed that nobody seemed to have noticed. She wonders what his relatives knew of him. Or were they like him?

"Maybe we should do a quick walk-through of the rooms that we've already cleared? Just to be sure nothing entered while we were away...."

If they're clear we don't need to post it. ?? But then we can go downstairs and clear "the dungeon".

There is just that door in the kitchen. Its not locked, but it also doesn't open. No one tried to force it open yet, though.

Ilvaria tries to support to break the door!

str aid dc 10: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (18) - 2 = 16

Ilvaria throws her shoulder against the door, but she is too small and skinny to budge the door. Forcing open the door is going to need to be a team effort.

I think Ilvara's roll was an Aid attempt, as mine will be. Not that we're supposed to be breaking the door down, but is there anything here that could be used like a battering ram? Can spend a while with Mending to fix the damage later....

Irlana waits until Sir Falcon is ready. "Let's try all together. The door is stuck but maybe with all of us that can.... I'll hit it low!"

Aid for Sir Falcon's attempt: 1d20 ⇒ 19

With two people pushing on the door, I will assume that the party wants to force the door open. Its a STR DC 23, so even with Sir Falcon leading it might take several tries.

It takes several attempts but there is a loud crash as the heavy armoire that was pushed against the door falls over. At the same time the barricade falls over the party hears what sounds like a frightened yelp from inside the room. Finally, the party is able to push the door open wide enough for even Sir Falcon to squeeze through in his armor.

Falcon leads the way Who goes there!

The room has a bed and a number of shelves filled with linen and laundry supplies. When Sir Falcon calls out, he hears a faint welp coming from underneath the bed.

Falcon flips over the bed Who are you!

Ilvaria casts detect magic and looks around.

perception : 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

Irlana moves in to the room and beside Sir Falcon. "Sir Falcon. Easy now, you're scaring whoever is here."

She looks around under the bed and calls out, "Please come out. We mean you no harm. Nobody is supposed to be in here."

Diplomacy?: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (8) + 9 = 17
Perception: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (5) + 13 = 18

"Yes, we do want to help!" the drow lady says.

Auto aid diplomacy.

Under the bed is a human dressed in dirty brown robes. He has an unkempt light brown beard and smells like he hasn't bathed for at least a week. Sir Falcon can see that his bright green eyes are filled with terror, right before he covers his head with his arms and whimpers pathetically. He cries out in terror as more of the party squeezes into the room.

Ilvaria doesn't detect any magic in this room. Irlana looks around the room and sees that it clearly served a dual purpose as both a linen closet and a servants quarter. She also notices signs in the room showing that this man has been in here awhile, including a basket in one corner that is emitting an unspeakable odor.

Andwise steps in and also offers some calming words and a drink from his water skin. The man greedily drinks the water and is noticeable calmer.

Botting Andwise to Aid Diplomacy. That gives you enough to calm him down

The startled man looks up and says "Who, who are you? Where is Master Hunclay?"

The Drow shrugs.

“He is dead. We are here to see what’s happening here. Why weren’t you coming out?!?“

Trying to keep the man calm enough for conversation Irlana turns toward the door. "We were hired by the town to check out the mage's home. There was concern over traps and his magic. Perhaps you could come out to the larger room? I think we're too many for this little room. The air is a little stuffy...."

She exits the room hoping the others will follow.

He is still cowering against the wall and doesn't seem quite ready to leave the room yet. He seems genuinely dismayed when told that Hunclay is dead.
"He's...he's dead? Who killed him? How did he die? What is happening out there?"

The Drow shrugs again.

“Well, nobody seems to be missing you …. I mean does anyone know you exist? I’d suggest you walk out with us and jump in the river. Then we can organize some lodging for you. So spill the beans mister. Who are you and what is going on here?!?“ she says smiling.

Sounds like Ilvaria needs to roll Intimidation

"I'm Mathezic. I'm just one of Hunclay's servants. I just cleaned and did laundry and sometimes shopping and errands. I'm not a wizard or anything, just somebody who needed a situation. I didn't even know he died. Just heard that the tower collapsed and then he never came back. How...how did he die?". He sounds genuinely concerned about the old wizard.

intimidate : 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12 +2 in dim light.

“He was crushed by debris when the tower collapsed. So come on mister. Let’s get you cleaned up!!“

Mathezic gasps when Ilvaria tells him that Hunclay was crushed when the tower fell, but then he shakes his head sadly and says, "We knew that working with those kobolds wasn't going to lead to anything good, but it's not like he would listen to us. And considering some of the other...people...he was talking to, those kobolds seemed relatively harmless. It's still hard to believe that something like some falling rocks could kill such a great man though."

He stands up and shuffles towards the open door. "I haven't eaten anything in three days. Can I please get something to eat from the pantry first?"

Irlana nods agreement to Mathezic's words. "Yes. And while you're getting yourself a meal, perhaps you can tell us about some of the other...people, that Hunclay was talking with? He seemed to be working on some dangerous things."

Mathezic goes into the cupboard and starts stuffing his mouth with whatever food he can grab. In between bites he says, "None of us staff ever saw them, and I thank the gods for that. I don't think they were from this world at all, let alone being people. I think they had something to do with the stars he was always interested in." He tears up as he says this. "I heard him talking to one of them once. I didn't understand a thing they were saying, but when the other one spoke it made my blood turn into ice."

Falcon blinks and touches the man Like...he froze you? Turned you blue? Maybe stone? Maybe a voice medusa?

The man raises an eyebrow and between bites says, "What? No, not literally. I just meant that hearing its voice was very, very scary."

"That sounds more like he was using magic, either summoning monsters from another place, or at least talking to them. He might have made deals with demons to try and get stronger magic. If that's the case then he damned himself to whatever plane the demons are from."

Trying to figure out the right way to say that for a person with no knowledge skills. Religion, Planes, etc.

That's fine. I assume most adventurers know *of* the Planes and of the existence of devil's, demons and daemons. But if you want to know more than the basics or identity specific creatures and their abilities then you usually need Knowledge (Planes) trained.

“Ohh Mathezic, that must have been hard to endure. Did you hear what he was taking about with the mystery voice? And can you tell us more about the wizard’s agreement with the kobolds??“ she asks gently.

diplomacy : 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (17) + 12 = 29

Mathezic shakes his head. "I couldn't understand them. They weren't speaking the Common tongue, that's for sure."

"The kobolds were willing to knock that tower down for him, which was all he cared about. It was blocking his view of one of his stars and Lady Origena wouldn't let him tear it down. He'd been trying to get someone to do it for years, but no one wanted to defy the Baroness. Of course kobolds don't care nothing about the law, being monsters and all."

Mathezic continues eating, but asks "so you're here to check out the house for traps? You probably already know about the hole in the entry way, but I know there's more. That's the only one we knew how to turn off and on. He never let us go into his bedroom by ourselves and we knew not to touch any door or chest that we weren't given permission to."

"Okay, so glad that you are out but is there anything else that you know that could help us to not get killed?!?!" she asks.

Irlana waits for Ilvaria's question and then adds, "Was anyone ever allowed to go downstairs? We haven't checked that yet but we're wondering how dangerous we should be expecting that to be. ??"

"Well, if your job is to search the house for traps, then that's going to be dangerous, right? I heard that the former chef got melted once but that was before my time. The only trap we knew about for sure was the hole, because we had to shut it off when we'd get a delivery."

"We'd just go down there if we needed to get wine or some meat from the cold room. There's some other doors down there but he told us not to touch them. I've heard voices coming from down there, though. I don't think they were human, so I'd appreciate it if I could get a nice head start away from here before you go down there. It's dark down there too, which is another reason we didn't go down there on our own
Hunclay would cast some spell on a piece of my clothes that would light it up if I had to go down there for something."

Party members can make a Sense Motive check while talking to Mathezic.

sense motive : 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 1 = 20

Ilvaria senses that Mathezic is being truthsfuk, but still has a feeling that he is holding something back.

“Come on Mathezic!! I know you’re truthful but you’re still not telling us everything you know. Please … we need to know what’s going on… please!!“ she pleads.

diplomacy : 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (8) + 12 = 20

Sir Falcon toys with his Katana during the negotiations. Not to be threatening but because he has nothing to say and enjoys using the blade as a mirror shining light on Mathezic as he apparently lies.

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (12) + 11 = 23

Hearing Ilvaria's words Irlana adds a little, "We can provide our own light, but if you're that concerned you must know something.... more than you've said so far. If we're ready for whatever is down there we'll be more likely to handle it and not let it loose on the town. The Mayor hired us to clear the house for Hunclay's relatives. We're not treasure hunters or anything like that. We're just trying to be sure Hunclay didn't leave anything behind that might destroy the town!"

Diplomacy assist: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (10) + 9 = 19

It actually does sound like Sir Falcon is trying to Intimidate Mathezic.

Botting Andwise! Auto-aid Diplomacy

Andwise steps forward and says "Hey guy. Your former boss was messing around with a lot of dangerous magic and we just want to make sure he didn't leave anything behind that could hurt somebody. You don't leave anything out and see somebody get hurt, do you?"

Mathezic grimaces, then says, "Okay, okay. Master Hunclay had a secret cave that nobody in town knows about. We never went inside it, but we helped master move stuff there. When the tower fell Linus and Saba decided they were going to go there and loot it. I was too scared to go with them and I barricaded myself in the room instead."

The man runs his hands through his dirty hair before finishing. "I was going to go there myself to see if they left anything behind. I got nothing in this world and one magic item could set me up somewhere new."

Mathezic gives the party directions to the cave, which lies in the woods north of town.

Irlana looks at Mathezic with concern, "So now you need to check on your friends? Hunclay's stuff was dangerous. Your friends might be trapped, or worse! Do you know where they might be if they survived the cave? We could escort you to them and if they were hurt.... heal their wounds?"

"I think it's been almost a week since that tower fell. They are probably long gone. And if they ran into a trap, they're probably dead." He considers Irlana's offer and shaking his head he says, "I don't want to go there. I don't wanna see their bodies if they died there and I'm not interested in looking at an empty cave either. Actually, I think I want to get far away from this place."

Ilvaria nods.

“Maybe we first go to the cave and see if your friends are ok? If all works out then we return to check out the last level here?“ she asks.

"I already said that I don't want to go to the cave. You're welcome to go there, but if it's alright with you, I'd like to pack up my belongings and get out of this town."

Ilvaria shrugs.

"Goodbye then! All the best! Let us go down then!"