PBEM, Episode 34 - Wolf Run, Barracks

The group did the right thing and fled - and the dropping of the incense was inspired - throwing off the wolf's tracking. As it was still "early" in the day - there had been some discussion via discord on stopping or going on, deciding to continue for now. And as the group had said, "a room with dead mummified elves in it? Can we SKIP this one?!"

Follows:

THIRTY FOUR

(I/C)
“What’s the plan?” Kovid asked after catching his breath from moving the cabinet. “We resting?”

“Deepa we go inta de castle, oui?” Wyn offered.

The dwarf sighed. “Deeper into the rabbit hole?”

“Oui! Notin’ wort’ doin’ be easy,” The elf smiled. “Ain’t no group I’d rada be doin’ it wit.”

Lannis scoffed. “Look, I’m all for the kumbaya when the time is right, but this seems like an awful idea.” He scratched his chin, looking around the room absently. “But given our choices, less awful.”

Lyra drew out a fresh rock from her pouch, palming it tightly. “Yea, it’s a horrible idea.” She looked at the closed door and shuddered. “But it’s better than going back out there and getting sandwiched between kobolds and wolves I guess.”

“True that.” Lannis snapped his fingers, pointing at the dwarf, “Kovid! Fun fact: they're just as frequently called 'Dwarf Holes’, given Dwarves propensity for digging.” Kovid gave the magic user a piercing look, no smile under his beard. Lannis cleared his throat, unsure why his joke was unappreciated. “Let’s get moving, don't want to keep whatever terrible thing is down there waiting, that would be rude."

Kovid motioned ahead. “You first.”

Lannis scoffed and stuck his hand in his hat, making an unseen gesture, before putting it back in his head. The group gathered behind Brendon who whispered once more, “I think this is a bad idea,” before opening the door with care.

The passage turned to the south and showed a flight of stairs heading down into the gloom. The lantern held aloft, Brendon travelled with care, watching for anything that might be concerning, the group following behind. They kept going to the bottom where the stairs turned at the end to the west and ended at another door. “Shh,” the scout offered, laying his ear to the wooden portal (>Hear Noise, Red 28) for a few moments before standing up. “Door is unlocked, opens away from us to the right, no noise beyond here.”

Kovid had a tight grip on his hammer and the party was ready the same. Abraxas made his way down the steps to the front, humming as he did, “…manana, manana…there’s always, manana…” and grabbed the handle. “Uno…Dos…” And then with a solid turn and shove, pushed the door open.

The room was a BARRACKS, similar to the one that we had just left. However it was in shambles and from the look of things, had been so for decades. The TABLE had been busted in the center, broken clay bowls and plates cascaded about the chamber. The chairs had been upended and tossed about, the beds blown over. The stone cabinet had a number of cracks running through it, the doors burst off and the contents a mess. A few crates had smashed against the walls and spilled their contents about the floor.

There were five very dead, dried and mummified elves in here. They look like they had died long ago, their skin hanging sunken on their frame like pale drapery. It appeared that they were wearing the yellow tabards denoting them as part of the Guards of Dawnlands, the fabric had faded over the decades. There was a single door on the other side of the room currently closed, but it wasn’t perfectly in its frame.

Kovid had been giving the stairs and the room a once over (>Stonework, Yellow 5) as he and Brendon made sure the place was without traps. “Say what you will,” he muttered aloud. “No hobgoblin dug those stairs. This is all part of the original castle and has the look of 4 centuries to it.”

“Can we come in?” Abraxas asked looking around, sword out.

“Yeah,” Brendon replied, watching his feet.

Lyra had been quiet the last few minutes. Even before they had left the other room, the Cleric had been feeling a sense of mounting unease. Her conduit to Aine was being stretched as something was building up slowly as the minutes ticked by. It was towards the end that she was clutching her holy symbol tightly, that Aine seemed to sing through her veins (=Death Ray Save, White 11) and then it faded. Leaving a cold gravelike sensation in her heart that something…something foul…just happened and that it made Aine and Lyra both concerned and even a little fearful.

Time now is 2:12

(OOC)
Party has entered the LOWER Barracks, and it looks like whatever happened here happened decades ago, most likely when the Ispan’s Arcanist erected the Rainbow Ward. Room has been looked at, no traps.