[IC] Chapter 1-4: Cellars of Hate

[Lugar]

"Oh there's many kinds of Giants, there's earth Giants, rock Giants, sea Giants, even Silent Giants!" Lugar gives SG a look as if waiting for a laugh. "I agree, fighting on land is preferable. Maybe they are too large to pass through this tunnel, that is why there are no tracks. Although I was thinking we could lure the beasties to us with Merri's corpse. I don't think she would object." Lugar knows this isn't a real possibility but likes to explore all options. Knowing SG wants to hide Merri, Lugar looks for a crevice or loose rock he could mine to bury her body.... He taps at the tunnel wall with his pick, it's resonating ping gives him an idea. He starts tapping the floor near the water making louder pings that travel through the water. "This will surely piss them off and make them come to us!" He exclaims. Ping. Ping. Ping. He swings his pick.

[DM Surranó]

"Don't you dare!" Maul thunders at Lugar's bait proposal then mutters something that could be the word "blasphemy".

Using the pick as a mining tool indeed raises resonating pings and Lugar finds that this kind of rock is not exceptionally hard to work-- just like the average stone in any coal or ore mine.

"Are you sure we are in a condition to lure them here?" Murkatos asks, greatsword loosely laid across his shoulder.

[Silent Giant]

"Oh there's many kinds of Giants, there's earth Giants, rock Giants, sea Giants, even Silent Giants!" Lugar gives SG a look as if waiting for a laugh.

Laugh is coming - Ha-ha-he-he.

Did you see any fish? It's time to eat something.
I prefer to lure them here tomorrow when we are after rest and have that "water breathing" stuff. Now we should finish the search or eat something.

ooc - how many hours did we spend here?

[DM Surranó]

More than two.. Less than six. hard to tell with no natural light or similar guidance.

[Lugar]

Lugar stops.  "What's more important priest, a lifeless corpse or the lives of Sea Jewel?   If I fall in battle you're more than welcome to my possessions.  If I fall, do whatever you have to survive."  With that exchange Lugar sulks away from Maul. Losing Merri hit him harder than the others would know.  The last elf friend he had known he also had to kill.  You do what you have to to survive he kept telling himself.  After a minute of brooding silence from Lugar he responds to Giant,  "Aye, your right, lets continue" and heads back to the underground mansion.  

Back in the large cavern area where they were last attacked Lugar will conduct an extensive search of the area for anything unusual.  He's looking for passages or other signs of life.

Ooc - take 20 on search

[Silent Giant]

Giant puts Merri's corpse into a sack and carries it on his shoulder. He follows Lugar and helps him to search (+2 aid another)

[DM Surranó]

OOC - Giant has to roll to aid another since taking 10 won't beat DC 10 in his case

After a long and exhausting search, even utilising Lugar's rope to reach as much space as possible, Lugar and Giant come up empty-handed. There's nothing of value and there are no ways, secret or obvious, other than those already known by the party.

Maul keeps a long silence and responds to Lugar only after they finished the search with Giant.
"Ignoring the Will of Gods is a bad idea." but doesn't comment further.

[Lugar]

Lugar shakes his head, both at Maul's words and the time wasted in the cavern.  "Nothing here, let's search the house again and rest there."

Ooc - take 10 searching the rooms since we already searched before. I don't think we did an extensive search of the attic or ever figured out what the noise was did we?

[DM Surranó]

OOC - if the issue of the trampling noise is brought up aloud Murkatos recalls that it came from abovehead; i.e. above the attic; whatever that may mean.

The party spends the next hour with routine search of the entire known area without immersing into the nitpicking details. Finally Maul calls out from the back of the guard room.
"Keys here!"

Indeed, there was a wall hanger behind a fallen plank, right behind the door, and since it was cracked open the priest took the liberty to peek inside. There are nine hooks in three rows; each hook labelled with some ancient runes Murkatos manages to decipher.
The first row of three keys are labeled "MaB", "MiB" and "Lib".
The second row of three keys are labeled "WGR", "BGR" and "GGR".
All these six keys are about the same size and design; made of brass based on the oxide color.
The third row contains three hangers; "Ent", "Din" and "Arm". The middle one is smaller than the rest while the two on the sides are larger than all the others. Correspondingly, there is a quite large iron key on the hanger labeled "Ent" and a quite small brass key on the hanger labeled "Din". The hanger labeled "Arm" is empty.

[Lugar]

"One of these keys must belong to the cellar door.  Lets take them all.  We should leave Merri in one of the bedrooms and shut the door while we finish exploring."  Lugar proposes to check the cellar first then go back up to the attic to investigate the noise.