Iron Heroes - Dark Harbor

[Old Fezziwig]

Grendel smiles at Damien's suggestion. He appreciated the need to be methodical.

 

[Dalamar]

Another check and another opened door later, our herous find themselves in another empty room, shaped as a quarter-circle again. In the corner of the room, there are stairs leading upwards, most likely to the roof of the Tower. There isn't any sunlight coming down though, so there is probably an entrance room before one gets to the roof itself.
There are some dried blood marks on the upper steps, and against one of the walls. Guessing by their arrangement, it seems somebody was seriously bleeding when they came down the steps, and leaned down against the wall as they or somebody else bound their wounds.

 

[Ambrus]

Damien steps closer to the steps to look at the dried blood stains and staircase with the light of the torch while smiling. "Hm. Since I doubt there was a rook nest up there a hundred years ago when the towers were above water, I'd guess these bloodstains are from a more recent explorer like us, though they could still be decades old I suppose. It would seem this place has indeed been pilfered before, though it makes me wonder why all the doors were closed after the adventurers passed through." The young sage shrugs and smiles. "Anyone care to take a peek up top or should we simply head down?"

 

[Iron Captain]

"I think it's best if we head straight down. Those blood rooks will probably be very aggressive if someone comes too close to their nest."
Subotai looks around the room and doesn't seem very pleased.

I hope the other rooms aren't this empty. It would be a shame if we left empty handed and wasted time on nothing.

 

[Ambrus]

Damien's face spreads into a lighthearted grin. "That may be true. But what's also true is that corvids like rooks, magpies, jackdaws, crows and ravens have been known to collect and hoard shiny trinkets in their nests." The young sage shrugs sheepishly. "Maybe these blood rooks have the same instincts as their cousins. Maybe they and their ancestors have been pilfering treasure from the towers for many of their generations. If so it might be worth a brief look up top. Then again, there may be nothing but trouble up there." Damien raises his eyebrows in a silent question to his companions.

 

[Old Fezziwig]

Grendel shakes his head. "I think it's a question of opportunity and risk — we stand a much greater potential yield the deeper we go into the tower. Is the potential trouble with the blood rooks worth a few baubles? If this tower is truly empty, we can take a look on our way out."

 

[Ambrus]

Damien blinks curiously at Grendel's eloquence and then walks to the top of the stairs to illuminate the flight with his torch. "Very well. Down it is then." The young sage waits a moment for the pointman to lead the way down before following with the light.

 

[Erekose13]

Following the short debate, upon which Ghuntomas stayed out of, he leads the group down the stairs.

 

[Dalamar]

Descending the stairs, you are greeted by the faint scent of decayed flesh. At the feet of the stairs lay two skeletal corpses. Both are the size of a small dog, though they show rat-like features mixed with bony protrusions. They are both also in quite unnatural poses, looking like they had been thrown down the stairs; whether the fall is the reason for their death is impossible to tell, however.
Damien and Ghuntomas believe these are the remains of creatures called dire rats, over-grown and more ferocious versions of a regular rat.

The room itself is possibly the crampiest you've entered so far, though much of the space is taken by two staircases; the one you descended through and another that goes lower still. There's only one door in the room, and it shows some signs of being hacked at with a bladed weapon, and the bottom left corner looks it's been gnawed away, leaving an opening about a foot in diameter.

 

[Ambrus]

Damien nods knowingly to Ghuntomas and simply offers: "More enlarged vermin... Hm." The young sage kneels down next to the carcasses and draws the torch closer to examine the remains; attempting to determine whether they've been gnawed on or if their flesh simply decayed and disintegrated through time and to look for cut marks or fractures that may reveal what killed them (Search +9).

Looking back up the stairs at the rest of his companions, Damien motions to the gap-toothed sailor. "Grendel, how about you come over here and keep an eye on the stairs down." The seemingly unarmed young sage looks grateful to have his companions flanking him as he turns his attention towards the closed door. Already on his knees, Damien brings his head and torch down to the floor so as to be able to pear through the hole in the door from across the landing. If the hole seems unobstructed, he'll move closer and even push the torch through carefully to get a better look beyond while listening for noise (Spot & Listen +4).