Chapter 5: The Darkness of Dimwater

[greyarea]

Yon takes the broach. He then heads over to the cabinet watching the others.

[Grognardsw]

Aric grunts and whacks the cabinet lock with his sword.

Break lock or door [1d6] = 4, [1d20] = 14

[ravenn4544]

Wil continues to guard the perimeter while the party fiddles with the cabinet and storeroom.

[Mant72]

Hex stands before the storage room, inspecting it from a safe distance and watching for any signs of danger. Other than the darkness and dancing shadows cast from his candlelight, the illusionist notices nothing ominous.

Heeding Aric’s request for more dexterous hands, Phineas and Kragg turn their attention to the cabinet and commence with plying their trade. The halfling and dwarf search for traps and attempt to pick the lock; however, no snares are found, and the locking mechanism’s complexity seems to elude both of the thieves.

While most of the party members busy themselves with the cabinet, Osprey steals over to the northern door and listens; he detects nothing but silence.

The quiet of the chamber is soon replaced with the sound of splintering wood as Aric hacks away at the dense cabinet. After several blows from the warrior’s sword, what remains of the cabinet doors is able to be wrenched free. Contained within are the following items:

A pair of gold and silver chalices
A bronze filigree censer
A silver moon-shaped monstrance
3 texts containing the holy scriptures of Lunia

Actions?

[greyarea]

Yon inspects the texts. I'm sure if we return these holy artifacts to a Church of Lunia, we will be greatly rewarded.

[GreyWolfVT]

Kragg amid stuffing the cabinet's contents into his pack stops at Yon's words "Right yes returning them, holy you say, yes that is the intent to return them for great reward." the dwarf says while smiling and shifting his eyes ever so often whilst speaking. Then turns and goes back to splitting the findings with Phineas. "I was gonna say sometimes the brute method works as well Aric but you beat me to that point."

[Inferno]

P.T. Codswallop, halfling impresario:

Saddened that the proceeds of the shattered cabinet could not be examined by his expert appraisal before Kragg dutifully secured them for safe keeping, Phineas listens at the northern door to see if he hears more mysterious weeping.

[Grognardsw]

Aric, barbarian

The northman hews the cabinet door and peers through the cracks. "I spy gold!"

He hacks the door asunder and reaches in first to claim his prize. "These chalices will fetch a pretty price! And books with pages to wipe our arses!"

Aric stuffs the chalices in his backpack.

"This thing looks valuable too," pointing to the monstrance. He leaves it on the shelf for Kragg.

[Storm11]

Seeing nothing coming from the storeroom attracted by the candles light the halfling will wedge the door open by sliding one of his daggers under it until it jams and then enter the area, candle high, examining more closely what is stored within. He won't touch anything yet but will get pretty close to the shelves if there are any, and what is contained within.

[GreyWolfVT]

Kragg baffled that Phineas didn't take any of the findings from the cabinet and walked off moping he gladly splits the items with Aric, not that he would try and stop the big man from taking anything anyways. "Yes yes thank you Aric." the dwarf winces seeing the chalices get scuffed as the barbarian stuffs them into his pack, then the dwarf looks up and smiles at Aric as he is offered the monstrance.

[coil23]

Osprey says quietly, so- northern door now?


The weeping sound came from the partially open door or the northern door? I thought it was the partially open door but that looks to be just a closet.

[Mant72]

The contents of the now defunct cabinet are examined.

Yon peruses the texts and determines that they are quite old. Their antiquated pages detail the doctrines of Lunia, her scriptures, and ceremonies. The cleric wonders if more might be learned about Dimwater through their study.

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Aric and Kragg confiscate the chalices and monstrance, greedily stashing the loot into their packs.

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Osprey proposes that the exploration continue with the northern door, and Phineas joins the elf to try to listen for the inexplicable weeping; the ardent entrepreneur is unable to detect any sound.

Hex pauses to wedge a dagger beneath the storage room door before cautiously entering with candle held high. The ink-black shadows disperse, revealing a row of shelves that line the back wall. Stacked on the shelves are a few old crates and boxes. A few rodent tracks crisscross through the dusty room, but other than that, there are no signs indicating that anything living has visited this place in quite some time.

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Map:

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Actions?

[Storm11]

If he can Hex will place his candle upon the top shelf securely, letting some of the wax melt it to the bottom of the wood. Then he will begin to try and see what is inside the crates and boxes carefully with another dagger, lifting any lids with its sharp point, watching out for rats.

[coil23]

Osprey observes the looting without comment, recalling a recent encounter with a statue and thinking that an offsite priest's permission does not necessarily imply a god's acquiescence. He waits quietly for the group to be ready to move on while idly wondering what could be past the hall with masks.

[GreyWolfVT]

Kragg joins those listening to the weeping and takes back out his scimitar, standing at the ready looking quite like a dwarf pirate.

[Inferno]

P.T. Codswallop, halfling impresario:

Phineas slowly, quietly opens the northern door, using it as a shield against anything that might leap out to kill him.

If nothing does, he'll risk an eyeball; peering around the door to see what lies beyond it.

[ravenn4544]

Wil moves to back up Phineas at the north door. "The weeping troubles me. A trap? Could it have been coming from the items found in the cabinet some how?"

[Grognardsw]

Aric Inglorak, barbarian

Hearing Wil's suspicion, Aric reluctantly opens his backpack.

"And the monstrance," he grumbles to Kragg.

The barbarian concentrates, waiting to see if the items make him nauseous, ready to vomit if need be on Yon.

If so, he'll abandon the treasure to someone else. "I still want my cut."

If not, he bags the chalices. Seeing the little people carefully opening a door that deserves to be battered down, Aric strides forth with sword and shield into the room.

[greyarea]

Yon puts the book in his pack for safe keeping. Then hearing the back-and-forth between Wil and Aric, he says, I can take the ostensorium if you'd like. We'll return it to a Church of Lunia, or failing that, to a church of the Lord of Light. Don't worry about your "cut," I'll make sure the reward is equally split. In fact, what I don't donate to the Church, I'll happily give to you as well.

My soul is my priority, and getting these items to a proper home is part of that. The money? Don't worry yourself, you'll have your share and more.

[Inferno]

P.T. Codswallop, halfling impresario:

I can take the ostensorium if you'd like. We'll return it to a Church of Lunia, or failing that, to a church of the Lord of Light. Don't worry about your "cut," I'll make sure the reward is equally split. In fact, what I don't donate to the Church, I'll happily give to you as well.

My soul is my priority, and getting these items to a proper home is part of that. The money? Don't worry yourself, you'll have your share and more.

Hearing this made Phineas ponder. Why was it, with every religion, you could have money or your soul? But never both! Scratch that. You could have both, but only if you were the church in question. They had the ticket to eternal life, and gold chalices and monstrances and crates of diamonds to boot. It was one hell of a sweet deal. Suckers showing up every Sunday on their own copper to empty their pockets into your collection basket. Phineas would have to figure out how to get into that line of work!