Growing accustomed to the surroundings, Fentus presses his ear against the door and tries to sort out conversations from the low buzz on the other side. "Roxie, get us some lunch, eh?" one voice shouts. "I'll warrant those heroes have been done in by the goblins or some such!" cries another. He hears the name Roxie said more than once.
Whispering back to the rest of the group, "We are in an Inn or tavern or something, does anyone remember the name Roxie from in town? I honestly forgot most of the townsfolks names already," he says with a slight chuckle holding his hands up for forgiveness.
"Not anyone that I've met. Do they sound like cultists?"
Zainab shakes her head and shrugs. The voices were as alien to her as the others. "They don't sound cultish to me."
”Hmmm.. Roxie, that sounds familiar.” Olaf muses quietly before grunting, ”There was in innkeeper named Roxie in Breachill. Rough place, my kind of place … the Pickeled Ear is it’s name. I’m thinking we’re back in town.”
"Well, I could use a drink after the day we've had." Trista pushes open the door.
Trista leads the group out of the storeroom. The door opens onto a short flight of stairs up, and then into the common room of the Pickled Ear. Several patrons are there, eating lunch and consuming libations, and all conversations stop as your group, dusty, bloody and scratched emerges from teh storeroom.
A rather rotund red-headed woman with a stained apron calls out from behind the bar. "Oi! Who'r you lot and how'd ye get in me cupboard, eh?"
"Ah, we are the heroes of Breechill. At least this month! We seem to have found a back door into your establishment. How about a drink? Adventuring is thirsty work." Trista bellies up to the sticky bar of the Pickled Ear and peers at the cloudy bottles racked behind the bar.
Out of all the situations she prepared her mind to deal with, coming back into an establishment from a cave wasn't really one of them. So when the redhead called them out on it, she froze... wondering what to say before she just blurted it out.
"Would you believe us if we said we walked right into here from a hole in the ground?" she laughed nervously.
The barkeep, who it turns out, is also the proprietor Roxie Denn, looks surprised. "The heroes a' Breachill? But you're all at Hellknight hill, ain'tcha? What tunnel are you on about now? This some kind of joke?"
She flips a bar towel over her shoulder and puts her hands on her ample hips, and says in a gruffer tone. "Let's go back down there an' you can just show me, eh?" She points back down the stairs to the storeroom.
Eying the rest of the patrons suspiciously, "Alright they'll show you the secret tunnel, but the rest of you all are staying in here with me, I'm not sure what's going on, but until we figure it out, no one," and he points and eyes each patron, "and I mean no one is going anywhere, so don't even think about trying to leave," and with that he conjures a ball of flame and tries to act intimidatingly towards the patrons of the tavern.
No one stirs, not even to pick up a drink or a bite of food as they are all mesmerized by the bloody and torn sorcerer's magical fire. The rest move slowly back down the stairs to the storeroom. "No one's movin' no-how guvn'r" says one of the petrified workmen at a table near the back. "Strange goin's on, s'what this is."
When you show the trapdoor in the floor of the storeroom, Roxie is stunned staring at the portal with an open mouthed. "Well! Never in all my years at the Ear have I seen such a bloody thing. Where do you think it goes, eh? Are boogeymen and goblins going to come out and eat me pickles?" She seems overwrought with worry.
"I'd bar the tunnel and place something heavy over it. We can talk to the blacksmith in town about getting a lock for you." Trista finds the situation pretty odd, too. But then, it's been a a strange day.
To supplement the sorcerer’s display, Olaf casually rests his bloody sword across his shoulder and smiles.
Zainab gently put Fentus' hands down. "I... think she got the point," she added softly.
Once they got to the tunnel, she would ask Roxie a question. "Have you been anyone shady walking through your bar as of late?"
Fentus, weary and untrusting of the towns folks after the recent days in the Fortress, relents his aggressive behavior toward the seemingly innocent townfolks, "Maybe you're right, I'm just tired," He quenches his flames and looks toward Roxie.
"Its all just very suspicious, we really have reason to believe cultists have been using this tunnel to move from the town to the Castle,"
With some effort, Roxie slides a tun of wine over the trapdoor. "This'll keep bloody intruders out I reckon!" she says, slightly out of breath.
She turns to look at Zainab. "Have you seen this place, its full of shady peopel all the time. Can't get reg'lar customers to come here, much as I'd like ta. These roughnecks scare every'un off. Shady, yeah, that's rich."
As Fentus mentions cultists, Roxie looks confused. "Cults, what? There ain't been no cultists 'round here. That I can guarantee yeh. Some touch guys here and there, and what not, but no preachy evil fellas. Will be sure to call ya if I see any, ha!"
"Well, it takes all sorts. If you see any people that aren't locals, can you leave a message for us? Warble should know how to get in touch with us, if we are out at Hellknight Hill." Speaking of Warble, Trista thinks it probably best to check in with the goblin before heading off to bed...in a more reputable place.
"Specifically, if you see anyone trying to enter through this tunnel again, could you tell us who? We think whoever's coming and going may try and do so again."
Nodding and thunking the Tun of Wine over the trapdoor, "Seems pretty solid, though hopefully we don't need to use this escape tunnel in the near future," he says with a small chuckle, before looking to the others "Well, we are back in town, should we sleep here tonight and head back to the Castle bright and early?"
Roxie nods and says a bit sarcastically. "Sure, sure. I'll be right certain to tell you if anyone pops up in me bloody storeroom. The very idea...Far as I know that hatch-thing never existed an' no one's ever used it. Period. The end." She shrugs her shoulders as if to say, "is that all?".
”Rest would be good. I wouldn’t mind stopping by a blacksmith and seeing about some heavier armor, if we have time, with all this fighting. “ Olaf observes, wiping and sheathing his blade, now that things seemed calmer.
It might have been a good idea to continue the interrogation, but at that point she was exhausted from all the stress of fighting and she merely let out a tired sigh. "You can go ahead. We'll think of what else to do later." When she left, she turned towards the others.
"I still think we should check to see if anyone tries to come back here. It might be our best chance of a lead."
"I agree, but if we clear out the fort, I doubt anyone from town will bother going back out there. We can also warn the goblins about the tunnel and have them guard it, if they decide to return to that level of the structure."
After being called out, Fentus turns around quickly, responding to the drunk man, listening, his eyes growing cold and black, "When did you see this, tell me? Who did they look like?"
He looks to Roxie, gesturing and barking a magical word.
to the target, your words are honey and your visage seems bathed in a dreamy haze. It must attempt a Will save, with a +4 circumstance bonus if you or your allies recently threatened it or used hostile actions against it.
You can Dismiss the spell. If you use hostile actions against the target, the spell ends. When the spell ends, the target doesn't necessarily realize it was charmed unless its friendship with you or the actions you convinced it to take clash with its expectations, meaning you could potentially convince the target to continue being your friend via mundane means.
Critical Success The target is unaffected and aware you tried to charm it.
Success The target is unaffected but thinks your spell was something harmless instead of charm, unless it identifies the spell (see Identifying Spells).
Failure The target's attitude becomes friendly toward you. If it was friendly, it becomes helpful. It can't use hostile actions against you.
Critical Failure The target's attitude becomes helpful toward you, and it can't use hostile actions against you.
Olaf watches Fentus’ actions with a wary eye, hand drifting to his hilt at the tone of his voice.
”So much for an ale, hot meal, bath and sleep.” he grumbled to himself.
Fentus spins a magical spell that settles over the plump barkeep. Soon enough, she smiles at him warmly. "Why hullo there big boy. I ain't noticed you before now, silly me. You are a handsome one ain'tcha. What can little ole Roxie do for you, hun?"
His demeanor changing as he realizes his magic has taken effect. Fentus strides over to Roxie, whispering real close like in her ear, "Come on, Roxie, you can tell your new friend. Who's been using that secret tunnel?" Laying the natural charm on thick.
Zainab does a double take as she looks at Fentus before looking at Roxie, then back with Fentus with shock. She doesn't say anything just yet, but her reaction may well depend on how things go with the charm spell.
Olaf stays quiet, eying both the folks in the tavern and his battered shield, mentally cataloguing the steps he’d need to take to fully repair it, and it’s twin.
"I probably shouldn't be telling you blokes this, cuz she paid me to be quiet, but you seem like trustworthy lads, yeah?" She leans in close and whispers to you, "It were Voz Lirayne, it were. You know her, eh? She's the half-elven lass what runs the bookstore. She's a bit of a strange bird, you know. Doings with weird magic an' the like with skulls and bones and stuff. I don't know nothin' about why she'd be wanting to creep down this shaft, but seems like she did at least once. Paid me right handsomely for to keep it hush-hush, but here I am blabbing like it was me gossip group. Does that help ya, mate?"
Nodding along, as she tells him, "ahh, mhm mhm, yeah of course, I won't tell a soul, a little secret between new best friends," He winks at her, "Thank you for sharing this with me, I can't believe you were gonna keep some gossip like this from me. Now let's finish boarding this tunnel up, making sure no one else can use it for the time being,"
Fentus tries to make eye contact with Olaf and the other's, indicating he's learned something, big, like real big as he makes a nodding motion with this head.
"Hey Roxie, baby, my friends and I are just gonna step outside for a quick minute, get some fresh air, if you don't mind. It was pretty stuffy down there in that tunnel, we'll just be a moment,"
Trista takes a quick swig to finish her drink and heads out with Fentus.
Zainab looks uncomfortable, but doesn't want to voice her concerns until they are out of earshot from Roxie. Once they were outside she gave him an odd look. "I really hope you have a good reason for using charm magic on that tavern lady."
Stepping outside with the others, looking to Zainab, "Sometimes, magic like that is necessary, especially when wayward bartenders are trying to lie to us,"
He then looks to Trista, eying her, "You know the bookstore lady right? You're pretty good friends with her, you'd say?" He takes a few steps back from Trista, "Roxie in there said that Voz Lirayne, the bookstore owner is the one that paid her to keep that tunnel a secret. That Voz has been doing Necromancy magic and worse,"
"We've chatted, but it looks like we'll need to have a more in-depth conversation." Trista yawns. "Preferably after we get a good night's sleep."
Fentus spills what he has learned to the others, and plans are made to visit Voz Liryane's shop tomorrow.
Zainab took the time to run through with this latest revelation. While her expression was one of disdain at first, she slowly reached the same conclusion. "Back in the cave, didn't you say that it had necrotic energy. If that's something Voz can do..." She paced herself and nodded when Trista suggested they visit her.
"Agreed on both accounts. Maybe you can talk to her about the evidence when we go to her place."
Nodding with the others, "To bed then, I know we have some rooms across town at the other inn, the Wizard's Boot or something,"
"Rest sounds good." Olaf agrees and heads with the group towards their respetive beds.
The inn is the Wizard's Grace, and you all have been provided rooms there for free if you choose it. Trinil the owner makes food drink and bathing available to any who wish it. Many are gathered in the common room of the inn to hear your story, including the goblin ambassador Warble.
Before bedding down for the night, Fentus spends his remaining magic, exhausting himself to do so and casting his magic like he learned from Zainab to heal the rest of the group
Thanking Fentus for additional healing and feeling weak and drained, Olaf happily beds down for the night after maintaining his weapons and shields.