[IC] The Cult of Brannulv, Chapter 2

[Valmark]

"We are adventurers, following dangerous people" Ghiso stated "They are not here, but you still shouldn't be alone. Is your family nearby? Where do you live? Can you walk?"

[Zergrinch]

Zarron is suddenly filled with a sense of unease, such that it causes him to immediately break contact. There's just something unsettling with the child that he can't quite place. But, no matter how he looks at him, he seems to be a perfectly ordinary boy.

He kneels down to bring himself to the boy's eye level. " I'm a friend, and just passing through. How about you? What are you doing here?" he tries, in a friendly voice.

[Izzarra]

"M...M...My dog ran into the old crypt." The boy points at a set of stone stairs that descend into the ground. "I'm not allowed to go down there and he isn't coming out."

He tells Ghiso "I'm not hurt and my dad lives up the hill."

[Zergrinch]

His gut still telling him to steer clear, Zarron tries to determine if the child is on the level, and to determine where the boy's father may be residing on the hill

Insight: (1d20+4)[11]
Perception: (1d20+6)[25]

" What's your dog's name? What kind of dog is it?"

[Fay]

Rose is overhearing the conversation but currently studying the old overgrown garden instead, trying to determine what was originally grown there.

[Valmark]

"Then we'll find your dog" Ghiso said, because he wouldn't leave a puppy in danger "And take you back to your father. Breasel, go ahead scouting" he told his familiar before sitting down and opening his spellbook in front of him.

Spoiler: Ooc

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Ghiso will send his weasel familiar down the stone stairs using his action to share senses, not sending him beyond 100 feet. If anything dangerous-looking tries to attack, she'll turn tail and run while Ghiso dismisses her.

EDIT:

If helpful, Breasel rolled a 20 in Stealth and a 22 in Perception.

[Zergrinch]

Zarron extends a hand towards the sobbing boy to escort him to his father, as he also tries to get Rose's attention (seeing as how Ghiso seems occupied) by causing an illusory whisper to emanate close to her ear.

"It's me, Zarron. I dunno why, but my gut is telling me he's more than he seems. What do you think?"

OOC: Minor illusion cast.

[Fay]

Rose looks towards Zarron, shrugs but also starts looking around. She doesn't have the same bad feeling Zarron does but for safety's sake she studies the ground in the area looking for any unusual footprints or marks.

Spoiler: ooc

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Survival check to see there's anything weird on the ground. (1d20+3)[8]

[Izzarra]

Breasel heads into the crypt. In the first room there are some closed doors to the left and some rubble from where the ceiling collapsed on the right. In the second room there are over 2 dozen coffins. Up ahead in the third room just within the range of Breasel's darkvision there is a stature of a minstrel holding a lute. The lute does not look like it is part of the statue, but rather a functional instrument of fine craftsmanship.

---

The boy pulls away refusing to leave the area. "I wont leave without Muffin."

---

Rose doesn't find anything unusual.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

There is a map of the Crypt.

[Zergrinch]

Unwilling to force the issue, Zarron heads towards the top of the hill to find the boy's father so he can take him home.

[Fay]

As Zarron walks away from the boy, Rose casts minor illusion to create a whisper near his ears to shoot a reply to his earlier message.

Spoiler: whisper to Zarron

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"I don't really think so, my own senses don't pick up on any danger. I will keep an eye out though.

Then she walks over to be close enough to the boy to speak but still a couple steps away. "Hey, excuse me. I overheard some of the conversation. Has Muffin ever gone into the crypt before?

[Valmark]

"The crypt extends farther then I can see from here" Ghiso stated and stood up, recalling Breasel "The dog... Muffin... Is probably deeper in, since it shouldn't be able to open doors. We'll need to go inside"

Looking at Zarron walking away he raised his voice "There's also a magical looking musical instrument inside!" he called after him.

"Well I don't actually know if it's magical, but from the looks of it a normal lute would be all rotten over"

[Zergrinch]

The prospect of magical musical instruments piques the bard's interest and his ears perk up. However, why would anyone leave such a valuable in a musty tomb unless they were setting traps?

"Wow, Mr. Ghiso sir, that sounds interesting! Maybe we should go there! But I feel better if he's with his father. Be back in a flash!" he bellows as he starts jogging to where the boy's father might be.

OOC: Bardic inspiration (d6) to Ghiso.

[Xihirli]

Lana watched for threats from atop Taara's head.

Spoiler

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I will perceive! (1d20+5)[14]

[Izzarra]

As Zarron heads in the indicated direction he soon finds himself standing at the edge of the river where there used to be a bridge to the path that you just recently came down.

---

"Usually we are too busy for Muffin to run off, this is the first time he has gone down there."

---

Lana doesn't notice anything threatening at the moment.

[Zergrinch]

Zarron returns to the group with a puzzled look on his face. "There's a river between here and where he says his father is, and there's no bridge. How did you get all the way here with Muffin?"

[Izzarra]

"What do you mean there is no bridge, it is right over there." He points to the place where there used to be a bridge.

[Zergrinch]

Zarron instinctively looks down to see if the boy casts a shadow and whether he is levitating off the ground.

And then to humor him, he returns to the location of the supposed bridge and uses his ten foot pole to check if there is an invisible bridge there.

[Fay]

Rose, overhearing parts of Zarron's conversation but not enough to catch on that there's something strange going on, looked around the stairs down, hoping to find some moss or dirt on them to look for tracks in but was disappointed to find them quite clean. "I'm tempted to go down into the first room and get a general feel for the place. Not rushing off into the back rooms or anything, just having a look around that first room. Could someone watch my back in case something lunges out of the shadows?"

[Izzarra]

Studying the boy's shadow Zarron notices that it is burry and not sharp as it should be.

---

Probing with the pole Zarron finds no evidence of an invisible bridge.

[Zergrinch]

Zarron returns to the boy to report on his findings.

"Hate to break it to you, bud, but the bridge is out and you're trapped in this side. I even tested it with this pole here."

Now with a strong sense that not all is right with the lad, Zarron wracks his mind to see if he has ever heard of instances such as these, with a young boy asking strangers to walk into crypts, having a suspiciously translucent shadow, and insisting on things that aren't there, are in fact there.

OOC: Not sure what to roll, so I'm using a generalized intelligence roll. (1d20+1)[10]

[Fay]

Rose looks to Imrin, still intent on investigating the crypt. "Excuse me, may I ask you to accompany me? I suspect it'll be pretty dark down there so it'd probably be good if one of us could grab a torch too. Or perhaps you could light it and let the unseen servant carry it, just be ready to take the torch back after a while, I'm not quite sure how much longer the spell will last."

[Xihirli]

Lana crawled off of Taara's head and regrew, looking excited.
"Oh! Oh! I know! You're dead! You're stuck in the past and you're a ghost! Isn't that cool?" She asked the little boy after sprouting from a spider.

[Zergrinch]

"Um Miss Lana, I was able to touch him, just like this, and he's solid enough. Our friend is not a ghost," Zarron says, while putting an arm around the boy's shoulder as a sort of reassurance.

[Izzarra]

The boy begins to cry again after the mean words of the dark skinned elf and tries to get away.

Spoiler: Zarron

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Nothing this specific comes to mind.

---

Imrin helps Rose light one of her torches before they head down into the crypt.

The doors at the base of the stairs are rotting and one hangs at an angle. Inside the right side of the room is collapsed. There are a pare of closed doors on the left.
The light of the torch reveals that on the walls ahead there are some signs that a fresco used to decorate the room, but it has been destroyed by years of water damage to the point that nothing discernable remains.

The room ahead holds many coffins. A single coin sits on top of one of them shining in the light.

Spoiler: OOC

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Rose should mark one of the 10 torches she has off of her character sheet.

[Zergrinch]

In an attempt to mollify the restless spirit, Zarron steers himself towards the entrance to the crypt. " Okay, I'm going in with that nice lady and dwarf, okay? We're going to look for Muffin. Can you stay out here and give us a shout if something b bad happens, okay?"

Once the boy nods his assent, the young bard will swallow a couple of gulps, activate four luminescent orbs of gently-glowing dancing lights, and step inside the crypt.

Having been ambushed by creepy crawlers, the paranoid Zarron will pay special attention to the walls and ceiling, and will use his ten foot pole to experimentally tap on the floor to ensure he's not stepping on any booby traps!

[Fay]

Rose first carefully examines the first room for any potential tracks, scratch marks, mud prints, items, secrets, etc before moving on. She also takes a moment to ask everyone to be quiet and try to listen for if they hear anything from further in.

Spoiler: ooc

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Investigation to search for stuff in the room: (1d20)[10]
Perception to listen for any sounds further in: (1d20+1)[16]

[Xihirli]

Lana smiled at Taara and followed the others in. "Let's help the ghost boy!"

[Izzarra]

While looking around Imrin advises you to stay away from the collapsed section as it is likely unstable.

The doors on the left are rotten on the bottom from many years of water damage.

The floor is clean of dust and dirt from flooding and free of traps.

Above is an arched vaulted ceiling.

The only sound you can hear is the rush of water from the river outside.

[Zergrinch]

Zarron heads to the rotting door and puts his ear next to it. Can he hear anything?

Perception: (1d20+6)[12]

If he hears nothing, he'll try to crack it open a little bit and peek through the gap.