|
"Sir, Ameiko has gone missing without word which is odd for her. Based on a letter found at the Rusty Dragon she came here last night to meet with her brother who claimed to have proof of criminality against their father. We have come to confirm Ameiko's safety as well as investigate the veracity of the claims against the father." Garen says feeling that evasion just invites greater suspicion.
Tot resists the temptation to slip into the Glassworks while the others talk, though she can't help wincing at their volume. She only hopes that the noise of the furnace will cover up the discussion. Still, she feels that it'll be better if she is out of sight and out of mind and does her best to hide behind her larger companions.
Sir Jasper nods as he recognizes Ari at least by name. He squints and ponders a moment. "Ameiko missin' ye sae? An' t'sheriff a'reay knows 'bout all this an' sanctions ye breakin' inta a place o'commerce, what? Seems ye tell it truly, so I'll leave ye to it. Hope t'barmaid turns up in time fer dinner. I am a wee bit hungry after all. Maybe I'll turn up t'Rusty Dragon later meself. Carry on then, carry on. Abadar's blessin's on all o'ye."
He putters back of towards the market square, leaving you to enter the glassworks if you see fit.
With the foppish drunk (at least that's how Tot sees him) taken care of, the small fighter slips into the door and starts looking around, keeping as quiet as she can and keeping her eyes and ears open for any trouble.
Ari stays back to let the more combat capable lead.
Tot enters the room after the elderly paladin goes on his way. Inside is the fancy customer showroom of the glassworks. Typically this place would be filled with light as there are many windows around the the circular room, but all the shades are drawn and the only light comes from Ari's spell, the open doorway, and a skylight of clear glass set into the ceiling here.
Shelves of dazzling glass sculpture, bowls, decanters and the like fill the space, all clearly very valuable in their own right. Myriad small rainbows are reflected around the space as the light catches magnificently crafted facets and corners of the fine workmanship displayed here. There are colored glass designs as well as clear ones of almost any size and shape you can imagine.
A clerk's counter stands on the north end of the round room, and two interior doors behind it are closed. One leads north and other more to the northeast, parallel to the building's rather odd orientation.
Isidian sneaks along side Tot, for once the gnome is quiet.
Tot moves around and listens at both of the doors to see if she can hear anything going on beyond them. When she notices the lights, she points to them and makes a chopping motion with her hand. She doesn't need them and all they'd do is give her away.
Ari moves around looking at the glass art work. There is more value here than he has ever seen. But where was everyone?
"We need to find Ameiko. Something is wrong here!"
Grod frowns in Ari's direction, then puts a finger to his lips and listens for any unusual sounds.
You cannot hear anything in the seemingly deserted showroom of the glassworks save the heavy rumble and thrum of what you assume is the furnace farther beyond. Since entering the building that noise, which as a rumble outside, has become more of a reverberating feeling, and sort of deafens any other soft sounds -- which might be good for stealthily entering, but makes hearing anyone else quite difficult.
Tot's hears nothing else at either door and no one sees anything of note either inside or outside so far.
Following after Garen.
Tot opens the door which leads to a short hallway that bends to the right and then again to the left. A single door is on the right just after entering the hall, and around the double corner there is a slightly longer hall that has a door at the end, and a pair of doors on the left.
The thrumming of the furnace continues in this space, and the interior hallways are unlit, so they are in dim light in the daytime. There does not seem to be sign of anyone present so far either by sight or sound.
Since Tot has gone around the double corner, Garen (and the rest) move up to keep line of sight on her, so they are a little closer than 30'.
Tot moves up through the hallway, listening at each of the doors as she goes. That the furnace is lit and that there seems to be no signs of the workers worries the young tiefling. The feeling that something is terribly wrong here only deepens as she delves deeper into the Glassworks and decides that if she doesn't hear anything to draw her interest, she'll make for the furnace to see what is going on.
Tot does not hear anything different than before at any of these doors. The rumble of the furnace makes an small sounds impossible to detect, so her listening does not result in anything unusual behind any door.
Ari follows along, wishing he had visited here before.... But he had never had coin to buy any of the fancy glass stuff produced here.
The sound of the furnace is slightly stronger from either of the doors on the side, but less strong from the door on the end of the hallway.
Hearing that the sound of the furnace isn't as loud from the last door, Tot slips back to the first door in the hallway and carefully opens it, trying to get a peek on the other side without drawing attention to herself and slipping through as quietly as she can manage if there is nothing there of note.
Tot is more than a little frustrated when both those doors open into small closets rather than a passage farther inside the seemingly deserted glassworks. The first closet has a mop, broom, bucket, and other cleaning supplies, while the second one has miscellaneous storage items like simple work clothes, firewood, towels and other sundry items.
Trying her best to not let her frustrations get the better of her, she moves on to the third door in the hallway. After taking a moment to regain her composure, she tries again to carefully open the door and peek at what lays beyond it before slipping through herself.
Knowing that Tot is likely upset about Ameiko being missing Ari stays close enough to watch but also to stay out of the way....
Izzy whispers to Garen "I'll check." She opens the door carefully and quietly.
"We are being SO sneaky now" She blurts, proud of them all!
The door near the showroom is a small closet where more finished glass pieces are held for sale, or to replace those sold. No sign of Ameiko, Tsuto, or any other clues are found here.
As Tot opens the door at the end of the hallway, she finds a dining or sitting room of sorts. Tables and chairs are here, enough for 8-10 people, but the room has been wrecked. One of the chairs is splintered, several are knocked askew on the floor. One of the tables has had a leg broken off, and it tilts lying half on the floor. Broken crockery and dishes are scattered about, and it looks like some kind of foodstuff has been smeared across the walls haphazardly, almost like a child's fingerpaints.
No sign of anything living is present, and the noise of the glass furnace is less here, but still noticeable. The lone window in this room, has the shades drawn, leaving the room in dim light. There are several doors that lead from here, but all are closed.
Seeing the carnage, Tot's uneasy feeling turns into certainty. She draws her sword before entering the room. Something bad did happen here, and the furnace going was more to divert suspicions, she suspects. Someone has to be fueling it. That someone might have answers, so she makes for the door to the northwest. Realizing that the noise will likely keep her from hearing anything, she carefully opens the door to peer beyond and see if there is anything or anyone that would notice her slipping through.
As Tot draws her weapon, and Garen follows suit, the door to the northwest opens into a long, dimly lit hallway. It appears to stretch south as far as the showroom, where it turns around a corner that Tot can barely make out in the half-light. To the north, it ends in double doors about 30' from where the fighter stands ready. The rumble of the furnace is louder here, and the hallway itself feels several degrees warmer than the chaotic dining room behind.
There are no visible or audible creatures in this long hall.
Tot almost ignores Garren, but a part of her acknowledges that he's right. After a moment's hesitation, she moves out of the hallway and back into the wrecked dining room and tries the door to the southwest.
Ari hears Garen's words and realizes that he wasn't focusing on what needed to be done.
"Somebody is here that shouldn't be. Let me check doors for traps before we open them. Then I'll get out of the way."
No traps are found in the staff quarters nor are any foes or any sign of Ameiko.
Area A5 is a dormitory style sleeping room. The beds are all in various states of disarray and blood is spattered on the walls and floor and soaking into sheets and mattresses. No bodies are present however.
A7 is a washroom and privy. A8 is a small kitchen which has been torn apart almost as if a whirlwind passed through. Drawers are dumped out, cabinets torn open, foodstuffs are scattered everywhere. A9 is a pantry and sacks of grain are torn open, crates of fish and venison have been broken open but most of the food is missing. A broken dogslicer, which you recognize from your previous run-ins with goblins, lies in one corner of the pantry. A10 is a storeroom where several mounds of firewood still lie apparently to fuel the kitchen stove. This room seems unmolested.
As they find more signs of something having gone wrong and the dogslicer, Tot's mood continues to darken. If Ameiko is alive, she probably wishes she wasn't given Tot's experiences with goblins. She wonders how her friend and employer's brother, Tsuto fits into this. Had his letter been a trap, or had they gotten caught by their father? Was Lonjiku cold-blooded enough to kill off his own workers as a coverup? No, not likely. Glassworkers would be hard to replace. That means that Tsuto becomes the primary suspect for what happened here, and the first flickers of anger burn through the worry and dread as Tot ponders that possibility. She tries to push them back, to put the cork back on her bottled up emotions from her own brother's betrayal two years ago, but they've grown too powerful. Tot doesn't even notice she's baring her teeth and fangs in a snarl as she tries to quietly open the door and see what's beyond after Ari checks on it.
As they find more and more damaged stuff, and blood, and then the dog-slicer.... Ari is a silent and worried as Tot obviously is. He isn't stepping out of the way for Garen anymore, moving ahead with Tot. He searches for details. Answer the questions. Where is Ameiko? Why are goblins here? How are the goblins here! Was Tsuto working with goblins? Or was he a victim along with Ameiko? And Lonjiku?
He had drawn his own blade, the thin rapier that he had trained with even though he had always hoped to never use it.
Grod takes a two-handed grip on his greataxe and, not even reaalizing he's doing so, moves toward the head of the group, ready to strike as soon as they find the goblins who are no doubt behind this. Not to mention whoever is behind the goblins.
There are no traps on the remaining door, and as Grod moves up closer to the front, Tot pushes the door open. It reveals a meeting or staff room. There are several chairs pushed askew here, but no other signs of intrusion or violence. There is another exit door on the north wall, and when opened, that leads into an oddly shaped internal hallway that is dimly lit. There are several doors leading from this passage, including a set of double doors that lead back to the long internal hallway.
Ari checks the double doors to the left. If they aren't trapped or locked he opens them. then remembers to glance at Tot to see which way she is facing.
Izzy is about to leave the apparently empty room behind, but hears Garren's worry so steps in and looks under the beds and calls out "Hello?"
If she finds nothing or no one of interest, she'll hurry to rejoin the others.
Tot is facing the door to the right when Ari checks on her. The tiefling scout turned cook carefully opens the door to peek through before trying to slip through herself if she sees nothing of note.
Grod lets Tot go first, but follows close behind, expecting trouble any moment.
Izzy did not find anything unusual under the beds, so she hurries back to catch up with the others.
The double doors Ari opens, lead back into the wide central corridor of the glassworks. The air inside that chamber is still several degrees warmer than the rest of the building, and the whoosh of the furnace is louder in that hall than in the areas the rest of the team is exploring.
The door opens into a short hall where another door leads into a suite of offices and a finely appointed waiting room. There is an exterior door here, leading outside the Glassworks which is locked from the inside -- no key is present. This appears to be an entrance and office space for outside customers not interested in show pieces. This area seems untouched by the chaos that seems to have filled other parts of the building, but is deserted just the same.
With no sign of Ameiko, Tsuto, or Lonjiku or further sign of goblins, Tot moves on to the last door in the strange hallway. With her sword in one hand, she quietly and carefully opens the door to peek beyond and see what she may before slipping through herself.
The area seems to be a loading dock or serve some similar function. A wheelbarrow sits against the wall here, and shelves on walls are full of additional reagents used to make colored glass: manganese, cobalt, tin.
A set of exterior double doors is present here, also locked with no visible key. Additionally, there are a pair of single doors, one on the south and one on the northwest. Another set of double doors is on the southwest wall. Near the center of the room, a pool of blood lies with drag marks leading to the double doors on the southwest.
A small safe is set in the floor under the shelves, but stands open at present with a set of keys still in the locking mechanism.
The hum of the furnace is quite loud to the south of here, making hearing rather difficult in this space.