I. Natalya's Hideout

[dmw71]

"Ah, yes," Fenster starts, extending his filthy paw out towards Petra to request the coins. "Fenster show you, I will."

If Petra does pay Fenster, the vagrant will lead the group, hobbling slowly across town to the Underbridge. "Is nearby," he says as the group approaches. "There," he says, pointing with a long boney finger towards an old boarding house about 100-yards distant. "That be where ol' Fenster seen Natalya."

Natalya’s new hideout has seen better days. Its clapboard sides are dark with mildew and marred by scorch marks. In places fire has gutted portions of the roof ’s moss covered tile shingles, but the building appears to be structurally intact. The building stands near the stark wall of the Seacleft, and scree from several decades of minor rockfalls has piled up along its southern face. The building’s windows are heavily boarded over and the only door seen is made of wood and cannot be locked.



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+600xp (150xp each)

[Das]

Marshal seemed to stay back as the group went....looking at the mans little rathole...with a look like he should go there sometime soon. But than he shook his head in anger..starting to follow the others. His crossbow loaded in one hand, his axe in another..he expected trouble.

[tooleychris]

Petra hands him the coins and follows the hobbling wretch.
The witch pulls the group into a huddle and whispers
"If Fenster knows where Natalya is and is willing to sell her out for ten gold...how has she remained hidden at all? I don't like this."

[Alethan]

Ty shrugs, "Maybe she's not there anymore. Let's find out."

He readies his starknife and looks for a way to approach the building unobserved.

[Das]

Marshal motioned to his weapons in hand.


"If this doesn't pan out. The gloves are coming off. We need a plan."

[tooleychris]

"Perhaps our smelly friend could go in and introduce us? I'll be most put off if this is an ambush and Natalya is really back in his hovel ""

[dmw71]

Natalya’s new hideout, a simple two-story building, has only the single entrance -- an unlocked wooden door in the southernmost wall. A small shack leans against the side of the building, probably a storage shed of some sort. Boarded windows allow peeks into the shed which features an interior littered with fresh garbage and debris of recent habitation.

Natalya's Hideout.png (13.34 KiB) Viewed 939 times

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[Das]

"I will check out the shed, see if we get some concrete evidence before we go into this place." He is still clearly cautious and not trusting this situation in full.

[Alethan]

Ty creeps up to the door and tries to listen for any noise coming from inside.

[dmw71]

Das peers into the shed and sees only that it's littered with fresh garbage and debris of recent habitation, but nothing concretely useful. Ty, listening at the front door, hears water dripping inside, but no other sounds are evident.

[tooleychris]

Petra will keep an eye on their smelly escort and await reports.

[Das]

Marshal came around the corner and shook his head. Than he nodded seeing his companion was "Safeguarding" their escort. Than he went to test the windows to see if any are loose enough to take a peek inside.

[Alethan]

Wary of a trap, Ty stands to the side of the door and pushes it open with his sword.

[ybn1197]

Athriel whispers to the others, "She may be on the second floor somewhere. I think we should carefully make our way in. If she has been here for any length of time, I'm sure she has the place booby-trapped."

[dmw71]

Petra aims to keep an eye on Fenster, but the crotchety old man is determined to return to his crude abode, and does so unless prevented. "I ain't got no business wit'er," he insists. "Ye'll know were'ta find me, if'n you need."

While Athriel whispers cautions of potential booby-traps, Marshal moves on from the shed, circling around the southern entrance to explore the boarded up window on the eastern wall. Unless some planks are forcefully removed, the view inside is significantly obstructed, but does allow the dwarf to see that the room beyond appears to have very little floor, with only a narrow ledge extending away from the wall on all sides. The majority of the room almost directly opens into the sump of a sewage pit below. Likewise, the charred ceiling has fallen away, revealing the fire-blackened rafters above. Next to a hole cut in the southwest corner of the wall, a crude ladder that has been nailed to the wall provides access to the rafters above.

Further south, near the front entrance, Ty pushes in the front door with his sword and discovers, much as Marshal has, that nearly the entire floor of this entry chamber has collapsed into the pool of water five feet below. The earthen walls of this flooded sub-cellar ooze with foul rivulets, and the smell is abominable. Two oozing sewer pipes protrude through the east wall of this pit just above the level of the sewage. Part of the ceiling above the entrance has collapsed, revealing an attic crawlspace above; a rickety ladder leads up from the water into the crawlspace. A door stands in the far wall across the sludge pit. A wooden plank balanced between both doors makes a precarious bridge between the two doors.

Entrance.png (17.14 KiB) Viewed 917 times

Note: Limitations of the map don't allow me to easily add it, but note that there is a narrow ledge -- ranging between 6 and 12-inches -- on the floors in both rooms, at the foot of the walls.


Actions?

[Das]

Marshal shook his head. "We need people outside..to ensure she doesn't make a run for it." He exhaled obviously knowing this was a bad scenario...than he starts to enter with a nod. His crossbow in one hand pointing around. With his darkvision he shouldn't have much issue inside and tries to slip into the shadows...using the rubble as cover.

(Stealth please/Perception also)

[tooleychris]

"Your business is with US." Petra says gently coaxing the wretch to stay.
"A familiar face may ease tensions if she is here. I'll make it worth your while."

[Alethan]

If he can, Ty tries to reach the ladder from the doorway and carefully makes his ascent.

[ybn1197]

Athriel says, "Marshal, why don't you and Ty take the inside. Petra and I will cover the outside. I will take the back."

[dmw71]

Petra, at least for the time being, is able to coax Fenster into remaining with the group, but the crotchety old man is still resistant to the idea. She and Athriel remain outside the hideaway, each of them monitoring a side in case there are any attempts to escape.

Marshal and Ty carefully enter the nearly floorless room, with the Marshal balancing on the ledge and turning right, towards the corner, and Ty navigating slightly to the left. Both men get a more up close and personal view and whiff of the festering sewage beneath them. Marshal finds a secure footing and watches over the room with his crossbow out and armed, while Ty gets a closer inspection of the ladder and finds it to be in terrible condition, and likely to break if anyone were to apply their full weight to any of its rungs.

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