Expedition: Earc/Guhra's Tower-Part II-29 July 2021

[Lunna]

Feeling better, Hereward also attempts listening at the door.

Do we have a marching order set up? I'm happy in the middle or at the back.

[Marullus]

Treasure taken. More books and writings of Hagaseth the wizard still here. Trap already sprung. East door lock broken by hammer; north door is ajar.
Room is trashed. Reading table/Desk is hacked to splinters and pieces burnt. Only shelves remain, now half-empty.

The bodies taken care of, Earc has the party rest in the chapel until the nausea has passed. Once ready, the party moves through the laboratory, broken glass still crunching under foot, the soggy remains of dead adventurers still arrayed on two of the three tables. The old reek of decay brings up further gorge in their throats, but it is not as pungent as the fresh mound of gnolls and the party is able to pass by. Hereward listens at the simple wooden door, then the group pushes it open.

The room beyond the door appears to have once been the library or study of a scholar. Bookshelves stand against the walls, much of their contents tossed and now papering the floor like old, crumbly confetti. Several hunks of wood reveal what was once a large desk in the middle of the room, now smashed into pieces and most of it hauled away. The room reeks of moldy paper, most of it ruined by the ransacking which already occured. This room is twenty feet wide and fifty feet long before you. The left wall has a door at its center, the wood and hinges splintered by a massive blow, letting it now hang useless. The right wall has a solid stone door with an ornate lock just off-center on the wall and closer to your end of the room.

Date: 1:30pm, 30 July 2021
Effects: Continual light, Incapacitating Nausea (Florian, Steve, Earc, Hereward)
Injuries: Herward (minor wound)

[Alethan]

Earc takes a proper turn to examine the contents of the bookshelf to make sure nothing valuable remains.

[Alethan]

OOC: Where is the door in relation to the wall it is on in the new room? Towards the left corner or the right corner, as we are looking into the new room?

[Marullus]

The door you are entering through is on the right end of the wall it is on.

Earc doesn't find any magical writings, and many of the personal papers and journals have been damaged or degraded by time. You find that many of the still-intact books are Journals Of Hagaseth, a wizard of peculiar interests, who resided with the dwarves previously here. In particular, his mundane notes discuss his relations with Duval, son of Duveth, son of Jabal, nephew of Jarkul (dwarven surnames are quite obnoxious that way) who ruled the watchtower and the small but loyal band there. They had some reason for a personal bond of trust but conflicted constantly on issues of policy and philosophy, the dwarf taking strong objection to use of magic for any purpose where proper craftsmanship would suffice.

Date: 1:40pm, 30 July 2021
Effects: Continual light
Injuries: Herward (minor wound)

[Zhym]

Olaf, son of Olaf, son of Olaf, knows that he is supposed to be interested in all that lineage stuff. But he never had the head for it. It's so much easier to keep track of who sired whom when everyone in the family all has the same name.

He waits for the party to decide where to go next.

[Alethan]

Earc wonders if any of the information contained in the journals might be of value to Wilhelm the Sage, who has previously offered gold for any information concerning the ancient civilizations of the north.

He picks a journal that is still mostly intact and that contains at least some interesting information and stows it in his pack.

Then he moves over to the stone door and examines the lock to see if it might be opened by the dwarven key they found on the runty goblin in the altar room.

[Marullus]

...it looks plausible.

[Zhym]

Olaf, as the strongest and best armored, takes the key from Earc (assuming Earc lets him). After looking around for anyone capable of checking the lock for traps and finding none, he unlocks the door and opens it.

[Alethan]

Earc happily allows Olaf to open the door...

[Alethan]

OOC: Updated Map...

Mapping 03.jpg (117.1 KiB) Viewed 755 times

[Lunna]

Hereward quickly peers through the broken door to the left..

[Marullus]

Hereward peeks through the broken door on the left, seeing into the center of a long room. The far wall is about 20 feet and has a sturdy, iron-reinforced door with a lock on it just a little to the right of center. The room has the same dimensions as your current chamber - it extends 25 feet both to your left and to your right. On the left side, this chamber holds an odd contraption of metal and wood. It's a 20-foot-diameter circular platform that is tilted heavily to one side. Beneath it you can discern mechanisms that seem to attach to a large crank not far away. Above the platform hang metal weights on thin chains, which in turn are attached to discs and belts that are attached to other winches. It seems as though turning the winches turns and tilts the platform and sets the weights to moving. On the right side are several large chests whose contents has been tossed and now mounds on the floor - fragile and dry-rotted fabrics and dwarven-sized padded armor pieces are visible, as are carved wooden weapons and miscellaneous trash.

Earc hands off the key to Olaf, who inserts it into the stone door. The key fits smoothly and the lock clicks open. Olaf pushes the door open slowly, allowing the light to shine in....

This room is choked with desiccated, papery, old corpses. The bodies of orcs and ogres lie in tangled heaps where they died, and the floor is sticky with dried blood. It looks like the orcs and ogres were fighting. Some side was the victor but you're not sure which one. The bodies are largely stripped of valuables, but a few broken weapons jut from the slain or lie discarded on the floor. The room itself is 50' across from you, 40' wide, extending 15' to your right and 25' to your left. The walls and floor -- where it can be seen through the bodies of the dead -- are covered with eldritch symbols. There is a simple wooden door with no apparent lock on the right wall, 10' from the far end. The far left corner has two wooden doors, one on the far wall and one on the left wall, both adjacent to the corner.

Date: 1:50pm, 30 July 2021
Effects: Continual light
Injuries: Herward (minor wound)

[Alethan]

"By Eruanna's beard," Earc whispers as they view the orc and ogre carnage.

Yet... he pauses before entering the room at Hereward's description of the room to the left.

"There are several doors in the battle room. Should we sort out the other rooms to the left first? It sounds like it might have been some sort of trap that was triggered already?"

Earc waits to see what the others want to do before continuing...

[Zhym]

"Yech," is Olaf's response. "That be a lot of dead."

His answer to Earc's query is a shrug. "Sure."

[onlyme]

Halfpint looks around and wonders what might have happened. She also silently counts their own forces and how many orcs or ogres might be left alive after this battle.

[Lunna]

"Yes, let's head to the left", agrees Hereward. "We may find something of use".

[Alethan]

Earc turns to Olaf and says, "Let's lock that door behind us, Olaf, just to make sure..."

Then he leads the party into the room to the left.

[Zhym]

"Aye," agrees Olaf. He locks the door.

[Marullus]

Olaf re-locks the stone door with the key and then Earc leads the party into the room on the left. They find it just as Hereward described.

The far wall is about 20 feet and has a sturdy, iron-reinforced door with a lock on it just a little to the right of center. The room has the same dimensions as your current chamber - it extends 25 feet both to your left and to your right. On the left side, this chamber holds an odd contraption of metal and wood. It's a 20-foot-diameter circular platform that is tilted heavily to one side. Beneath it you can discern mechanisms that seem to attach to a large crank not far away. Above the platform hang metal weights on thin chains, which in turn are attached to discs and belts that are attached to other winches. It seems as though turning the winches turns and tilts the platform and sets the weights to moving. On the right side are several large chests whose contents has been tossed and now mounds on the floor - fragile and dry-rotted fabrics and dwarven-sized padded armor pieces are visible, as are carved wooden weapons and miscellaneous trash.

Date: 2:00pm, 30 July 2021
Effects: Continual light
Injuries: Herward (minor wound)