Runelords 2E IC

[Farmerbink]

Jannis stops suddenly. "Seems like ocean breeze over here- but the sea is that way," he scowls, hooking a thumb towards the eastern wall. "Strange and stranger, this place. Check it out?"

[farothel]

"Everything is close to the ocean," Shalendra said as she looked at the door for traps and also listening for something on the other side, "it can just be that the wind blows strange around this house and forms eddies or something like that. But we can best have a look at it."

If needed, she would get out her tools and try to open the door.

Spoiler: OOC rolls

Show

Door to B19
perception: (1d20+10)[19]
if needed, thievery to open a locked door: (1d20+11)[18]

[DrK]

Pushing open the door Jannis can see the source of the sea salt and the breeze, a huge hole in the ceiling here revealing the rafters above. Rain has created a mouldy path of rotted planks and flors atop which storage containers teeter dangerously. A pair of ravens on the edge of the broken tiles look down at Jannis and caw loudly as the wind whirls around carrying the sea spray from the where waves crash against the cliffs into the room....

[Farmerbink]

Jannis peers into the room uneasily, and scowls at the gaping hole. "Wonder what came through," he breathes. "No sense worrying too much over holes in the ceiling, though. Let's go."

[stack]

"All that rot, best to leave it alone. Surprised that we didn't see signs of damage from below."

[farothel]

"Might actually be natural decay," Shalendra said, "I mean, how long is this thing abandoned.
But such things do take time, so it might not be visible on the next floor yet. Anyway, there's little we can do about it anyway, so lets move on. From the layout and the location these I think are servant's bedrooms. We had them in the same location back home."

She will move to the next door, check again for traps and sounds and then look inside. And then the next one and the next.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

next are all the rooms called B20 on the map, which I assume are servant's bedrooms.
perception: (1d20+10)[30]

[DrK]

The next 3 rooms (B20) are all empty store rooms. Collections of old furniture, sheets of rotted linen, crates of mouldy boots and the like hold nothing of interest. The second door on the left (B23) seems slightly more promising. Shelves of books line the wall of this room interspersed with curios such as skull fitted with stubs of candles, tribal festishes and decorated scroll cases with strange runes. An empty birdcage lies near the southern wall beside a small desk and a fine leather chair. Statues and sculptures of monsters, mythological beasts and armoured warriors grin creepily from all corners of the room.

[Bunny Commando]

Lysander - HP: 74/78 - Conditions: None - Active Effects: None

---------------

"I don't like those ravens much. Feels like we're being observed." Lysander says with a low voice, following the others through the empty rooms with his sword at the ready - more to keep himself steady and focused than out of a real need to use it.

[farothel]

"Oooh, interesting stuff," Shalendra said as she saw all the goodies. She did check for any traps and did a detect magic before entering though.

Spoiler: OOC rolls

Show

perception: (1d20+10)[19]
if traps, thievery to disarm: (1d20+11)[23]
detect magic around the room to check out for magical stuff (traps, haunts, goodies).

[DrK]

Shalendra looks around the room an detects a magical aura in the far corner of the room tucked in the desk. As she enters enters the study, dozens of memories of expeditions, sea voyages, and travels to exotic locales race through her mind. As the memories built momentum, they became increasingly infused with a sense of bitter disappointment and regret, as became increasingly aware that she was receiving memories that never were, memories of fantastic discoveries that Traver Foxglove could have made had he not chosen to settle down with a shrill harpy of a wife... As the memories fade there is a profound sense of loss that floods through Shalendra...

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Will Save DC 18 or gain stupefied 1

[farothel]

"Hey, there's something magical out there," Shalendra said, before the memories started to flow, "wait, what the ..."
She used all the tricks she had learned during her magical training to gain the upper hand and get them to stop. When the flood of the images stopped, she looked at the others.
"That was... intense," she said, "wait outside. I'll get the objects of interest. I'm not sure if you will get the images as well, but no sense in tempting fate."

She will head to the desk and search for the magical object and any other objects that are interesting/have high resale value.

[DrK]

As the images faded away Shalendra can still feel the nagging doubt about her history and the wasted life that she had missed out on studying in this office reading about journeys and far flung places. As she searches around the desk she see's a strange metallic orb atop a map of the inner sea. Its the strange metallic orb that radiates the magic as she recognises it as an energised cartridge that would affix to a crossbow an turn it into an elemental onslaught.

[Bunny Commando]

Lysander - HP: 74/78 - Conditions: None - Active Effects: None

---------------

"Don't have to say it twice." Lysander answers, staying outside the room with a concerned look "Hate how this place messes with one's head. Wonder if occured...well, let's say "naturally" or if it's a mage tampering."

[Farmerbink]

"I don't like those ravens much. Feels like we're being observed."

Jannis nods, looking up at the black birds with an odd expression of appreciation. "They're smarter than most people give them credit for," he murmurs. "Likelier than not, they're just curious why we're here. I imagine this house has been theirs for some time. Plenty of shelter for the birds to nest in broken rooms and the like." As the turn away, he adds a final thought.

"Lots of people find omens where there aren't any. They're just animals like any other, they do what makes sense for an animal."

---

He stops short at Shalendra's warning, watching warily as she makes her way into and back out of the room. "There's nothing normal about this place," he grumps at Lysander. "Shame it hasn't been razed long since."

With a frown, he nods to the door across the hall. "I'll check in here." Cautiously, he twists the handle and peers in (to room B24?).

[stack]

Jon heeds SHalendra's warning and accompanies Jannis, watching for enchantments.

[farothel]

Shalendra had a look at the statues and the books to see if she could determine their worth and if it was worth it to haul them all the way back to Sandpoint.

Spoiler: OOC rolls

Show

for the statues I guess crafting will certainly work: (1d20+13)[22]
probably for the books as well, but if there's books on heraldry, I guess lore(heraldry) works better (lower DC): (1d20+11)[24] (I have the same modifier on Arcana, so books on magical theory I can do with the same roll.

[DrK]

Shalendra glances around the room and reckons the collection may be worth some 10gold if cleaned up from the verdigris and moss. The books are more valuable and map maker would probably pay double that for them as they contain some mas of the mwangis expanse and distant Osirion.

On the far side of the corridor Jon and Jannis reach for the door but pause, the door looks to be locked as you can see a heavy latch laid across the handle, odd that it i locked from the outside! And then Jon can distantly hear the sounds of what appears to be sobbing from inside the room (B24)

[farothel]

Leaving the statues, she took the books, scrolls and maps that were the most valuable (or belonged together) and hauled those out.
"That's the most valuable stuff," she said, "the rest is not worth much. So what's in that room?"

[stack]

"Sounds like sobbing. Likely another haunt, given what we have found here, but we can investigate further anyhow. When the door opens, everyone else should stand back. But first, we need to open the lock." Jon given the latch a jiggle for emphasis.

[farothel]

As soon as the books/scrolls and other stuff she wants to take with her are outside in the hallway, Shallendra has a look at the lock.
"If it's on the outside, it's probably to keep something in, rather than out," she said, "so a haunt is very much possible. Well, let's have a look at it."

She tries to open the lock.

Spoiler: OOC rolls

Show

thievery: (1d20+11)[18]

[Farmerbink]

Jannis visibly steels himself. "I'm inclined to leave it be, but if we're wrong about whether it can come out, it could be deadly...." He gives Shallendra room, but readies his bow just behind her.

[DrK]

Shalendra tries the lock, picks rattling and scraping in a way that seems to cause an increase in the sobbing sound form the room beyond. However be it rust, dust, age or fine Cheliaxian craftmanship the tumblr does not move and she does not manage to unlock the door an the door remains resolutely closed...

[stack]

Jon queries, "Break it down or leave it be?"

[farothel]

"I'd say leave it be," Shalendra said, "but if we want to clean out this place, we have to deal with it at some point. Of course, I think we best strip everything of value out of this place and set fire to the rest, but that's me."

[Farmerbink]

"I don't figure it's likely to follow us," Jannis murmurs hopefully. "And if the door's well barred, the whole questions could be pointless. Let's move on."

[farothel]

"Sounds like a plan," Shalendra said, "we can always revisit this later and if whatever is inside hasn't come out by now, it probably can't. At least not on its own, so it should be safe to leave it there."

She would head to the next location they hadn't investigated, first going up before going down.