Chapter 15 - To the Liberated City of Strod...and Below

[Bluehorse]

In the meantime, Kablamicus bickers with his owl. Chet, in his blue robe, meditates and begins communicating with the owl.

DM rolls dice

The owl alights, flapping its massive wings. Seconds later, Kablamicus feels two pellets strike his hat. The smell tells him what they are. Chet walks away giggling. It appears the owl did indeed dare.

Stops in his tracks and looks around hearing a pair of thumps. He then takes off his hat and examines it, seeing the droppings and howels. "Where is that damn bird?! I'll pluck him beak to blisters after I blast him!" He begins to ready a spell of some sort, the air crackling around him as he holds out a hand as if holding somethin... the relictantly holds back. "oh! You're lucky you're so ... expensive! " he takes out a handkerchief and wipes the hat clean... then with a dicusted face, discards the rag.

Eyeing the monk. "Don't be a bad influence on him. He's already dreadfully insubordinate!" with that he puts his hat back on and follows after the leads in the group.

[Nuke66]

Galan presses forward, slowly, carefully watching for trip wires and triggers across the floor.

[tkrexx]

Keep yer traps shut. Nobody finds out we were talkin' about this door, y'hear?

Hyde gives the speaking guard the hairy eyeball. A very hairy eyeball, given his brows. I'll be askin' you more about that when I get back, yeahh, His demeanor is less than friendly. He tosses the mongrel child the silver coin and adds, Don't fight ova it, hah? That ought feed the lot of ya for a couple days. He falls in line following the smallfolk, far more adept at sneakery than himself. You be careful up there, Figgis, hah? Them Orcs, they don't like Dwarfs, no, don't like 'em none.

1 sp removed.

[Zhym]

Angus holds up one hand. "Y'all hold up a spell," he tells Figgis and Galan, "Let me look see whether I can suss out any traffic patterns."

[AleBelly]

The guard sneers in reply to Hyde's diatribe, but makes sure the supervisor doesn't see it. Angus checks for any signs of recent movement within the entrance

DM rolls dice

and finds none. It looks as if the area has not been disturbed for weeks.

Two of the smallfolk, Galan and Figgis, creep forward, searching for traps. They find no tripwires or other signs of suspicious activity. They lose faith in their trap-finding ability once they reach the limits of the sunlight from above - infravision isn't sufficient for the fine detail they need in plying their trade. They do, however, see that after a 20' descent the rough stony ground levels out and soon turns north. A peek around the corner shows that after 20' a 10' wide corridor then doubles back, heading west. Their dark vision suggests something lumpy, unmoving, lies in the northeast corner of the bend.

Map:

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Date: 25 Culling, Year 44
Time: 07:27
Conditions: 39F, raining
Known Spells in Effect: None
Light bearers: sun
Intended Direction of Travel: In the orc stronghold
Injury Status: None

[Tamerlaine]

Figgis pauses at the sight of the lumpy thing in the corner. He's got a short sword in one hand, a dagger in the other, ready to bring to bear. Both blades are plain with age and lack decoration, yet the two are razor sharp.

Figgis studies the lump for moment, studying it. Does it move? How big is it? If it doesn't move he will pick up a pebble if any from the ground and toss it at the lump.

[enn.in.me]

After listening and presumably not hearing anything, Yenny shines a light towards the lump from the SW corner. "What do you think it is?"

Is there a localized smell of death in the air, or is the air just generally unpleasant?

[AleBelly]

There is a faint musty odor...but not really the smell of death.

[CAI4]

"Huh, wonder if it's some sort of goo...interesting. An ant farm? I don't know" offers Chet.

[tkrexx]

Hyde remains silent. Sometimes it be best to say nothing and be thought of as a fool...

[Bluehorse]

Kablamicus

Looks for a pebble.

[AleBelly]

Figgis observes the object in the northeast corner. It does not move. Chet makes some outlandish assumptions about the nature of the lump, but Yenny gets to action. She shines one of her continuous light sources on the lump.

A large, thick square of cloth, 3' on a side, is draped over what appear to be a pile of copper coins. Several dozen sit atop the cloth, while hundreds more spill out underneath. The pile over which the cloth is draped is roughly 2-3' off the ground.

Date: 25 Culling, Year 44
Time: 07:28
Conditions: 44F, damp
Known Spells in Effect: None
Light bearers: sun
Intended Direction of Travel: In the orc stronghold
Injury Status: None

[Tamerlaine]

Figgis notes the copper coins and hawks up a good chunk of phlegm, spitting it to the floor with distaste.

"Bugger all...copper. Useless shite," the ugly dwarf hisses. "All that amounts t' nothin' and heavy as hell."

He turns to face west and begins his way into the dark, not caring for the heap of copper behind him nor waiting for Galan.

[enn.in.me]

Yenny attempts to shield her light except for a wee bit for those in need, and keeps an eye on the pile of copper. "Many things aren't what they seem." she mutters, as the dwarf heads forward into the dark.

[Zhym]

Angus follows along, keeping a wary eye out.

[Bluehorse]

Kablambicus

Hrumphs and tosses a pebble at the pile or coins looking for a reaction?

[tkrexx]

Hyde stows his sword and readies his bow, still eyeballing the robed copper pile. That be a trap, yeahh. Best we move on, hah?

[CAI4]

Chet watches Figgis, but gets his fists ready for a fight.

[AleBelly]

Kablambicus finds a pebble - not too difficult a task on this uneven floor - and flicks it at the cloth-covered pile. A 'clink,' muffled by the cloth, is heard. The pebble returns to the stone floor. The owl stirs on his shoulder.

Figgis, disgusted by the copper, continues down the hall. The 10' wide corridor ends, 50' after it turns west, at a heavy wooden door. Figgis inspects it. There is an iron ring bolted into the door, a rather conventional handle. No lock is visible.

Date: 25 Culling, Year 44
Time: 07:29
Conditions: 44F, damp
Known Spells in Effect: None
Light bearers: Yenny's light
Intended Direction of Travel: In the orc stronghold
Injury Status: None

[Nuke66]

Galan follows along and before long he inspects te door as well, looking above for any indication of danger from gravometric type traps.