Chapter 4: Preparations

[tibbius]

The Axe and Serpent
The next day, Andrew and Marcus and Bran (for he had appointed himself to come along) stood with Bakthos before a half-ruined building in the morning sunlight. The shallow angle of the sun threw on them a cool shadow from the building, except for a bright trapezoid of golden light that fell from the doorway across their feet. They could see that the ancient roof had fallen in, and that the side walls had partly fallen as well. But the front was strong. Above the broad doorway there was set a stone carving of a serpent wrapped around an axe.

"Here it is," said Bakthos. He clapped his hands together and rubbed them as he readied for work. "I reckon if there's goods there still, they'll be under in a cellar or the like. We'd best be ready to remove some rubble. Bran, Marcus, ... Andrew. Lend a hand." As would any patriarch, he had taken charge of the project at hand.

[Mr Stereo1]

"Aye father." Marcus consents, stepping into the ruin and searching out the cellar. As they search he begins to wonder what other caches might remain hidden across the ruined city, if only they thought to search for them. Perhaps their little library hid clues to other treasures if one learned in letters could uncover them?

Searching the house if needed [1d6] = 3[1d6] = 4[1d6] = 6

[cybersavant]

Andrew

Andrew helped best he could, though he was unused to the physical labor of it. He sifted through debris in silence, wiping his brow often.

[tibbius]

Fortunately Andrew had brought with him the scroll that Bakthos had pointed out. Would it be helpful in searching the building? What would Andrew look for on it?

[Leitz]

Bran did his best to observe the building, to see how the structure might be made to conceal a store of weapons and armor. Sadly, his mind was on a very beautiful young woman. Smiling to himself, he put strong muscles to the task of moving old rocks and dirt.

Observe Building [1d6] = 1

[tibbius]

I made a couple of rolls

Bran observing building as a mason [1d6] = 4[1d6] = 5

Andrew searching building [1d6] = 4[1d6] = 5

and they were good

At almost the same time, Andrew and Bran noticed something inside the front right corner of the building.

A stone archway still stood amid a pile of rubble where the roof had collapsed, about eight feet inside the front wall. The arch was seven or eight feet high and stone blocks alongside it suggested it had once been the entrance to a stairway descending into the ground. The rubble of old roof beams and tiles now covered where the stairway might be. At the top of the arch was another relief carving of the axe and serpent.

It looked like the rubble could be cleared in a couple of hours. It was near mid-day and the sun was hot.

[Leitz]

Bran grinned, and then dug into moving the debries. "Luck favors those who work."

[cybersavant]

Andrew


"The Fates favor us, not labor." Andrew struggled with the debris while the others made it seem effortless.


Once the entrance was cleared, "Allow me to enter first. We may need a source of light."

Andrew reread the scroll to see if there were any indications of traps or riddles needed.

[tibbius]

Andrew reread the scroll to see if there were any indications of traps or riddles needed.

The scroll had two symbols next to a crude drawing of the axe and serpent: "Quiet Guardian."

[Leitz]

Assuming Andrew mentions the "Quiet Guardian".

Bran frowned, but kept his skilled eyes on the structure. Looking for anything out of place, or at risk. Even if there was no trap, the age of the building put them at risk. "Actually, while I value your intellect, I might be a better choice for going first. I'm a builder by trade, and may see things that are dangerous."

[Mr Stereo1]

Marcus' brow furrows in concern as he looked between the two scholars and to his father, dearly aware that he was the least knowledgeable in these matters. He keeps his peace though as they sort matters out among themselves, until he is called upon to help.

[cybersavant]

Andrew

Andrew showed him the scroll. "Watch for these symbols then."

[Leitz]

Bran picked up a short, thick stick, and then moved forward cautiously. He had no idea what lay inside, and he let the air clear for a few moments as he looked. A torch might be useful, if this went far or turned away from the sunlight.

Bran grinned. He would keep himself safe, and focused. Aegium would have a militia to rival anyone nearby, and enough to deal with the lycanthropes!

[tibbius]

Bran picked up a short, thick stick, and then moved forward cautiously. He had no idea what lay inside, and he let the air clear for a few moments as he looked. A torch might be useful, if this went far or turned away from the sunlight.

Bran grinned. He would keep himself safe, and focused. Aegium would have a militia to rival anyone nearby, and enough to deal with the lycanthropes!

It took about twenty minutes to clear the rubble from the entrance to the downward stairs. Bran's eyes roamed the structure of the archway above him as he started to descend.

The stairwell looked to be about ten feet deep. Halfway down, the steps fell into shadow. As Bran lowered his foot onto the first shadowed step, he felt the step drop away. Lunging forward and downward, he tumbled down the remaining five feet into the shadows. Above him, the step clunked loudly back into place.

"What was that?" called Bakthos from above.

[Mr Stereo1]

What indeed. Marcus asks himself, dropping to his knees in front of the staircase. "Bran, are you well? Should we sent for the healer?" He shouts down with concern, but doesn't rush down in case he joins him. Instead taking his dagger from his belt and poking at the source of the noise suspiciously, trying to find the trap or trick that tripped Bran while his aged father peers over his shoulder.

Does the step shift for Marcus too?

[cybersavant]

Andrew

From behind the others Andrew asked, "What is it? What happened?"

[tibbius]

Marcus hadn't been watching as closely as he might, but he vaguely remembered that Bran had been right at the edge of the shadows when he tumbled down. Not wanting to suffer the same result, Marcus awkwardly clambered down the steps on all fours, pushing down his dagger against each lower step before he shifted his full weight onto it.

None of the steps seemed to move under the point of the dagger. Then, as he scrambled down one more step,

[Leitz]

"Careful!" Bran called back up the stairs. "One of the steps shifted under my weight. I'm okay, just startled. Does anyone have a torch?

[Mr Stereo1]

Marcus holds himself back and looks up the stairs to the others. His ever prepared father 'hns' and goes to fetch the one he brought and some tinder. Marcus retreats slightly up the staircase to get it and holds it out to try and see where Bran lies.

"Perhaps we should find some planks to build a ramp here, father?" He suggests. "If the weapons are here we can't be dodging a trapped stair while we carry them up."

Hope that's okay, because do we really need to go running next door to get one? We're still in the village so the lack of preparation doesn't really matter.

[tibbius]

Way to move things along. Thanks for not grinding on finding a torch ...

As Marcus moved restlessly on the steps, waiting for Bakthos to bring the torch, he noticed that four of the steps were different from the others. His weight rested on the uppermost of the four. At one side of the stairwell above the step where he half-crouched, half-lay, there wasa hole indented into the stone slab wall (close to the step) and a thick bronze post with a knobbed head protruding horizontally from the slab (above halfway above the step toward the next step up). Fiddling with the post, Marcus found that it could be slid out of another hole in the slab and fitted into the lower hole near the step. Once it was in the lower hole, the knobbed head rubbed against the top of the step. With the knob in the lower position, the step felt somehow more solid.