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[Jack Haggerty]

Jack again readies his sword and shield, and stands at the entrance to the concealed tunnel, "I'll go down first, once we get some light." We waits there, peering down into the fading magical light, guarding against anyone returning through the passage.

OOC: Reaper, imagine a door that has a locked deadbolt (or that sort of chain-lock you see on hotel doors) on the inside, so that you can't open it fully from the outside. Now, imagine a small hidden hatch that opens up in the door that is just big enough to reach your arm through and undo the deadbolt. That's how this secret door works.

 

[Mark]

Having worked out the secret latch, teetered the crate, and uncovered the pit below, the adventurers stare down into the shallow hole. Dug into the moist clay that underlies this section of the town, it drops down a mere five feet. From that point a rounded tunnel heads off to the Southwest. No more than three feet around, the bottom appears to have collected some water that is pooling in small puddles. This moisture has settled between two wooden tracks that follow the tunnel off to who-knows-where...

 

[reapersaurus]

Arim gulps imperceptably and leans down to peer into the shallow tunnel.

[thoughts] . o 0 (I wonder if Achem found out about this secret conduit for hijacked goods of the city?
hmmm... this whole situation reeks like the flock's droppings.

A crooked businessman.
Achem getting railroaded into taking the blame for someone else's crime. (murder)
The convenient way he got caught and the real perpetrator and mastermind got away?) [/thoughts]

"Well, good work, all!
It seems we have uncovered a secret means of transporting this purloined vintage and storing it out of sight of the town guard.

What's the punishment for hijacking goods, or embezzlement, or perhaps murder, oh man-of-the-law Jack?

Oh wait - since this appears to be a businessman who is stealing goods, and not a shepard's-son, I'm sure the Guard won't be pursuing this crime en masse ; you might offend the town's leaders if they get implicated in the situation.

Well, we got a couple options if we wanna check this out a bit more.
Someone really short who doesn't mind a backache goes down there and finds out where it comes out, or we guess where in town the end of the tunnel is, since it seems to direct straight at Upper Jarlston (wonder if it goes under Darien's temple, eh, Danmor? ) or Arthael, you can send your bird down there to scout ahead and maybe save us some cramped crawling?

What do you guys say?
I know that for myself, I am VERY interested in uncovering who's behind this coverup for rather..... close and personal reasons."

edit:

OOC: Mark, AWESOME figure! That couldn't have been easy, and I appreciate it, since most of the time when it comes to visualizing mechanisms and layouts from just words, I just don't get what the other people see.

 

[turtle]

Arthael is still looking for some source for light in the other room. Crow drops the light source on the ground in front of the entrance-way

Arthael calls out If Crow wants to go down there he will.

Arthael glances toward Crow to see if the bird decides it is a good idea to scout ahead.

Gentlemen, it may be a good idea to equip ourselves before proceeding. Most of my things are back at Noscelle's place. Even if I manage to find a candle here (he says as he looks through whatever drawers are in the front room) I don't think it would be a very reliable source of light. We need to get ourselves a lantern or a torch. Another thing to consider is this: Are we more safe going down here with nobody knowing, or should we inform someone? I would volunteer myself to run down to Ponulia's house to tell her about this situation.

Arthael then realizes he could be putting himself into danger. His skin suddenly becomes cold and clammy. What am I doing here? Can I even trust these men?

 

[Jack Haggerty]

Jack takes another good look at the tunnel, the direction it takes away from the warehouse and the tracks set into into the tunnel's floor.

"There might be an easier way about this," he suggests. "That tunnel is running southwest... I'd guess that it goes right beneath the city wall and underneath the Chubby Chandler. There's probably a flatcart that runs along those tracks. It seems to me, that it'd be a rather convenient way to move goods between the warehouse and the store. Maybe that's why he bought the warehouse in the first place.

"Now, as for why it's concealed beneath a trap door, your guess is as good as mine at the moment. But I think we should head over to Zelper's shop and look for the other end of the tunnel before we go moling around in the mud."

OOC: Boy, that Jalston pdf sure is handy... Mark, what is the tunnel made of?

 

[turtle]

Arthael grits his teeth and steels himself

"Jack," he says, " I disagree. There is obviously something amiss here. I think we would be better advised going this way. After all, we don't know where the other end comes out. In addition we don't know who may be there. What if, for example someone was killed here and dragged down into the tunnel? What if we knocked on the door of the people while they are hiding the body? How would they react? We are better off coming in the way that is more hidden. Plus, if worst comes to worse we can come back out here. There is a pub across the road and we could get help there if we needed it. Now what about our equipment?"

 

[reapersaurus]

"Ahh.. so the bookworm thinks we should be sneaky.

First you want to tell Ponulia about this turn of events, then you want to be secretive about it?

If she's in on it, we're all set up anyway.

I'll trust my instincts about her.

It seems like we can kill two birds with one stone if we stop by their shop ;
we can get some supplies, or at least light, and we can see if that's where the other end of this tunnel leads.
We can also keep her abreast of the situation.

Ah ha - 'Keep Ponulia abreast' - he he.

Arim winks at Jack directly before leaning down again and taking a peek at the tunnel, this time trying to sense the elevation, and whether this track uses gravity to pull or push the cart that would be travelling these tracks, or if there must be some mechanism which helps propel the cart from tunnel end to end.

 

[Lichtenhart]

"If this passage leads to the Chubby Chandler, I think Ponulia should have known it existed." Danmor considers rather perplexed "If we can find a lantern, I think we should check what we find this way; if the workers are trustworthy, this is the only way master Zelper could have left the building, and if that's his blood he probably didn't left on his own."

Danmor will then search the passage for others blood stains, descending if there's enough room. Since he is rather short (5'5''=1,63m) he'll try to enter the tunnel to see if he is too much uncomfortable and if the tunnel widens after a few steps.

Returning to the others " I've got the feeling time could be an issue."

 

[Jack Haggerty]

"Look, Dan, whoever that blood belongs to is either dead already, or being kept alive for a reason. We'll find him either way.

"Besides, if we need to go get some light, I've got a lantern back at the smithy," Jack concedes. "If we're going back there, we might as well stop by the Chandler, since it's on the way. In the mean time, we can close the trap door, and stack some crates and barrels over and around it. That way, no one will be able to lift it open from the inside and this end of the tunnel will be secure."

Jack tests a few of crates and barrels to find the heaviest ones he can lift.

"I'd also wager that someone would be expecting us through that tunnel," he warns. "We were none too quiet coming through that door."

 

[turtle]

"Danmor already has his things. Why don't you wait here?" Arthael suggests, looking at Danmor. "I say we split up and get some equipment, then meet back here in... oh... 30 minutes should be enough. You don't want to jump down a dragon's throat unless you have some mint... heh heh." Arthael smiles.

If the others agree to his suggestion he hurries off to Noscelle's, leaving Crow with Danmor