Six From Gate Pass - Chapter 3: Shelter From The Storm

[Gregor]

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Swamp

Hrimr, you pick up the trail again after another two hours of searching the vicinity. Thankfully you are not strayed off course again and, at about sunset, manage to reorient yourself in the swamp. The trail leads off towards the weeping willow trees and cliffs in the distance. The ruined tower remains nearby in the opposite direction.

[sblock="for Arnir"]Arnir, you're pretty confident that the giant humanoid is/was an Ogre. Ogres are a species of giant that are dim-witted, exceptionally strong, savage and live in areas well outside of civilization. They survive by raiding and by forcing lesser savage humanoids into their service.[/sblock]

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Bronze Trident

Lars, neither Reece nor anyone else in the tavern makes any move to stop you from leaving the premises. Reece merely smiles as you back away and offers only this warning as you approach the door. "Remember my words 'Romeo', I would really hate to have to act on them. But do come back if you come across enough gold or wish to undertake some kind of service in lieu of spending your hard earned coins."

 

[Adjuntive]

Arnir shivers in the cold, damp air while clutching his bow "Or we could go back and fetch that damnable bird and make it help us."

Alric frowns bitterly as he now notices the beginnings of rust developing on his armor. He makes a mental note to scour it well upon returning to Seaquen.

"Damn swamp... Save your breath to warm yourself Arnir. It seems Hrimr would rather leave pea-brained avians to piteous self-indulgent grief than delivering retribution to it's transgressors."

 

[The Bashar]

Hrimr gives a sigh of relief.

"I've found the trail again. We should probably camp though as I'm the only one who can see in the dark. The tower may give us some shelter, we should check it out."

He makes a mark for himself so that he knows where the trail is. He then heads over to the ruined tower. Along the way he has a look around to see if he notices anything unusual about the tower.

 

[funkmamagoat]

Kirio sighs loudly... "tower, right... ok, let's go."

 

[Gregor]

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Swamp

The ruins of the tower sits on a rise of relatively firm ground that slopes up out of the watery marshland. In its day, the foundation was probably 90 to 100 feet deep and 70 to 80 feet wide, made from stone. Today, only a ruined and outline of the first floor of the tower remains, its surface polished smooth by centuries of rain or cluttered with patches of moss and lichen. Here and there lay large stone blocks, some with the outlines of arched windows or a carved design or other iconography, half-buried in the muddy ground or peeking out from the surrounding water. Just outside of the foundation is a set of stone stairs, slippery with mildew, rainwater and moss that leads down to a set of stone double doors that presumably leads into the cellar. One of the doors sits slightly ajar, a pile of wild blown leaves and dead reeds clumped up at the opening.

 

[Bannock]

"Ah, an inn! And so good of them to leave the door open for us.", remarks Bannock, who at this point would rather be in a cave than out in the elements.

He draws a sunrod from a pouch and cracks it on a vambrace. Lacking their trap-finding thief friend, he decides to approach the cellar door and pry it open, peering into the dark with the aid of the light from the sunrod.

 

[fromage67]

Bronze Trident

Lars, neither Reece nor anyone else in the tavern makes any move to stop you from leaving the premises. Reece merely smiles as you back away and offers only this warning as you approach the door. "Remember my words 'Romeo', I would really hate to have to act on them. But do come back if you come across enough gold or wish to undertake some kind of service in lieu of spending your hard earned coins."

When evening is near, with still no news from the rest of the party, Lars figures that Reece's parting words were promising enough, so he decides that Romeo can return to the Bronze Trident. But not before stopping at Baba Gerty's, where the dinner was a creamy fish soup with thick dough rolls for dipping.

Shortly after dark, Lars/Romeo steps into the Bronze Trident. This time he makes himself more discreet and he seeks out Reece to see if he can have a word.

 

[Gregor]

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Swamp/Tower

Bannock, the stone door screeches open with some difficulty and your sunrod illuminates the majority of the room. The cellar is essentially the same shape as the remnants of the tower wall above ground it, but there are a number of triangle shaped niches cut into the walls on your left and right. Mold and mildew sits here and there in large black patches. Towards the rear of the cellar, and opposite the door, sits a large stone fountain. The yellow alchemical light of your sunrod dances on the murky stagnant water now filling the fountain, which you can see has been built to resemble a great cog laying flat on its side. Leaves and other detritus cover the dry floors and the almost completely rotten corpses of three small humanoids lay around the room. Small dried muddy footprints run from the doorway to where the corpses sit.

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Bronze Trident

Lars, when you return to the Bronze Trident in the evening, you find it a changed place. The taproom is highly crowded with much of the same type of people that lounged about during the day. Whores walk about seeking business, or sit in the laps of greasy sailors and mercenaries, while a couple of wenches run mugs of ale and jugs of wine to tables. In the middle of the room are a pair of gnome performers dressed ostentatiously in bright pinks, yellows and purples. One plays a lute, strumming a rapid pace and the other dances about and sings a bawdy song. Pipe smoke hangs just beneath the rafters like indoor clouds and the stench of spilled stale beer fills your nostrils.

As you walk up to see Reece, who casually stands behind the bar wiping tankards while his wenches fill orders, you notice a group of individuals conversing towards the back of the room. One large fellow in a fur cloak and a scarred face sits at a table with five or six thugs standing behind him. The scarred fellow listens while another man, who sticks out hopelessly with his expensive clothes and manicured hair, speaks to him nervously from across the table.

You lose sight of them as you pass through a crowd and arrive at the bar. One of the wenches moves to ask you what you'll have when Reece puts a hand on her shoulder and comes over instead. His face is neutral when he says: "Ahhh the mysterious Romeo returns."

 

[funkmamagoat]

Kirio approaches Bannock and stands next to him looking in "Let me have a closer look friend Bannock, my eyes are better than yours and I may spot things you cannot..." He enters the cellar and waves his hands while humming creating a brief flash of green (detect magic); and then begins inspecting it slowly and carefully, trying to see if there are any obvious dangers...

OOC: taking 20, knowledge check Engineering for structural dangers, age and weakness of room... so a total of 26

 

[Gregor]

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Swamp/Tower

Kirio, given the depth of the room, you walk about thirty feet into the cellar so that your spell can examine the entirety of the space. Nothing registers a magical aura to you as you sweep the room.

The light from Bannock's sunrod allows you to see that the walls are covered in weathered and mildew-covered carvings. You are able to make out shapes such as great cogs, gears and strange mechanical machines, anvils, hammers and other scenes of castles, aqueducts and cities being constructed. At the back of the room, in the middle of the murky-water filled fountain, stands a stone statue of a large bearded blacksmith whose apron and belt of tools, though weathered, are still visible in the stone. One hand is outstretched as if to hold something in its hand, while the other, which has broken off, appeared to be raised above the statue's head.

[sblock="for Kirio"]Kirio, the room appears to be extremely well constructed and generally safe. From what you know about architecture and engineering, the images on the wall are examples of human, gnomish and dwarven building traditions that date back over a thousand years. In fact, you can make the same assertion as to the age of this tower.[/sblock]