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Mheenah flitters back to her companion companions and becomes visible again.
"Nothin' there. Just bones and undead guys. And BOY HOWDY do they stink like poop! You gotta hand it to them really -- stinking that bad, they gotta work at it!"
"i'm not sure they're zombies neither. Zombies act all stupid and lost -- these guys seemed like they was a little more with it. And zombies just don't smell that nassssty."
"Bottom line, unless yer feelin' feisty, I say leave 'em there and let's blow this place."
"Okay! Let's go look around town and see what we can find. Maybe we'll find the elves!" And just like that, Spirit is charging off again towards the trap door.
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Mheenah finds a secret door on the southwestern wall of the room with the trap door…opening it and peeking, she finds the main cellar room…
A stairway leads up (to what Mheenah would guess to be the inn’s kitchen) in this dark and musty room with no windows. Many tables and chairs, some broken, are stacked against the south wall. Cobwebs cover much of the ceiling, filling in the spaces between the rafters. Two wooden doors flank the stairway, and the walls have many torch sockets arranged along them at neat intervals.
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Opening the door west of the stairs, Mheenah sees a room with a dozen kegs and casks of various sizes. The room has a dirt floor and the air here is damp and chilled…
Two small casks contain red and white wine, while the rest contain different types of beer. Stairs lead up to an outside cellar door that is locked and barred from the inside. There is nothing else of interest here.
"Secret door! Secret door!" Spirit excitedly copies Mheenah, following her into the hidden space. He darts around between the kegs looking around.
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Finding nothing of significance in the wet goods store room, Mheenah tries the door on the other side with Spirit in tow…
This room has a wooden floor, upon which are stacked a number of crates and boxes...
Upon further inspection, you find these contain the necessary implements for the running of the inn: extra platters, utensils, cases of flour, grain and dried beans. As in the other room, there is nothing further of interest in here…
Big surprise. inn storage...Please dont tell me the zombie room is our only course of action next
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"I think we found all the interestin' stuff here. This lousy innkeeper and his pal Derek are worshipin' the Great Undead Snake Goddess and are responsible for kidnappin' our masters. We should try to find the elves! Clearly dealing with this cult is the whole reason our masters came here to meet 'em."
"Or we could try and capture one of those goombas and try an' torture 'em up good! But they might be kinda tough to capture and hold. And they might have weird SNAKE POWERS!"
Clearly Mheenah thinks this is both quite likely and quite enviable.
"Yeah, we should go out and look around! It looks like they took stuff out of their secret tunnels so they must have taken it somewhere else! Maybe that's where they're hiding our friends!"
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Even after your excursion into the cellar, you still find the way clear up to the innkeeper’s quarters. After closing the trap door and placing the rug back over it, you make your way back out the door and find yourself outside the inn…and also find you still have questions unresolved. Why you’ve learned you are likely dealing with cultists, you wonder…where have they taken your masters? And where might you find the Elves that summoned them?
"When I scouted the forest, I did not find any elves, but a possible druid living alone in the woods. Perhaps he knows where the elves or our Masters have gone?"
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Mr. Pitch leads you to the grove of elms he traveled to earlier…
The narrow trail winds among majestic elms, at times disappearing into thick shrubbery. The bushes between the trees are dense, rising to a height of eight or ten feet. The elms themselves average 75' tall, and they are the only trees here. They are widely spaced, allowing much sunlight to pour between their ancient boughs.
The raven stops when you are in sight of the ramshackle cottage on the far side of this small grove…
Spirit climbs up on Lorelei's back for the trip out to the druid's grove. The little ferret chatters about anything and everything during the trip, looking about at everything around the group as he rides.
He jumps to the ground as he sees the little cottage. "Ooo, a druid grove!" he exclaims, running up to the door. He pauses for a moment to look around for anything interesting.
Spirit, being of course the *soul* of politeness, uses his telekinesis to knock on the door.
Spirit happily throws the door open with his telekinetic 'hand' and runs into the cabin.
"Hi!" he proclaims as soon as he's through the door. "There's some cultists that kidnapped our friends and we don't know where to look for them! They were going to visit some elves but we don't know where to look for them either. So we came to see you!"
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Upon opening the door, you see an old hermit, sitting in a rocker with a weasel perched on his shoulder, eying you as you enter…
Upon hearing Spirit’s outburst, ”Aye, be a tellin’ me somethin’ Whiskers and Eh don’t be a knowin’…the cult has taken a hold here somethin’ fierce…Eh can’t stand the bastards…but what do ye know ‘bout ‘em? And why should Eh a be trustin’ ye?”
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"Woof Woof. We found their secret lair under the inn. With a big Snake Goddess idol and undead minions! And there were some empty chests that looked like they had been used for storing something or as a drop-off between one group and another.
"Woof Woof. We know the innkeeper is part of the cult, and a big dumb guy called Derek staying at the inn too. And we know they were responsible for kidnapping our masters. We heard them admitting it and talking about how they were trying to find the elves, who our masters came to meet. Woof Woof."
That sums it up correctly enough. Lorelei sighs internally peering at the barking Quasit.
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"Why in four hells be ye a stayin' in that den of cultists?" the hermit exclaims. "Of course the innkeeper thar be a cultist...the whole damn place be! If ye truly be not cultists yourselves, he shouldn't be a stayin' that...the Inn of the Slumbering Serpent be a better place, at least for now that be..."
He ponders a moment. "Hmmm...if ye be a wantin' me help, ye must be a provin' yerselves...when ye be a findin' anythin' more on the cult, be a bringin' that information to me...
"Now what this ye be sayin' 'bout Elves?"
"Our masters were going to meet some elves here! But they didn't tell us more about it, so I'm not sure what we could tell you," Spirit states. "But it seemed like the bad guys were really curious about them. So what do you mean about proving ourselves? Is it something fun to do?"
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The hermit nods. ”Ye seem to be OK…but ye and yer friends be a stayin’ with cultists…and Eh jest be a meetin’ ye…but ye seem sincere…”
The old man puts a hand to his chin and ponders a moment. ”Eh tell ye whut…the only Elves that be here live in a small cottage…east of the inn ye be a stayin’ and just off the southern edge of the pond…they be a bit mysterious…no one in town be a trustin’’em…tell me whut ye be a findin’ out from ‘em and come tell me…and then mebbe Whiskers and Eh can be a helpin’ ye…”
that sounds like a plan... we have a direction now. Everyone lets go. Time to move out! Lorelei barks, turning on her heel ready to leave immediately
Spirit climbs back up onto Lorelei's back. "Yes, onwards!" he declares, pointing with a tiny paw in completely the wrong direction.
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The hermit nods, gives you a quick snack almost suitable to your tastes and sends you on your way…
You head south back towards the inn and then take the east road that leads to the lake/large pond. While you see three residences south of the water, only the first (#9) matches the description of a small cottage…
This small, square building has been freshly white- washed. Heavy curtains hang over the windows, and the door is shut.
By now, the sun is starting to set…
Spirit jumps off Lorelei's back and excitedly runs around the cottage looking around.
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Mheenah finds the door locked; perturbed, she flicks her tail into the lock and…
…while she finds it a tougher nut to crack than normal, she does pick it on the first try…
Opening the door reveals…
A front room with a table and a couple of bedrolls…an adjoining room to the north appears to be a kitchen of sorts…
The Elves are not present…
"Oooo, maybe they're playing hide-and-seek? After pretend camping?" Spirit suggests, joining in on the fun of searching through the cottage.