Basic Fantasy RPG Forums

Thats what I thought. Doughbert eats and then goes to sleep.

_Silveredged wrote:Hiker looks to Miss Alma, "Night is coming on fast, Miss Alma. Me might just find a room to keep safe in until dawn when we can go home. The bad men are gone, dead, or locked up. At least you won't be in a nasty cage, right Miss Alma?"

Alma shrugs. "OK, Hiker, I guess that makes sense. We leave for Northridge first thing in the morning though, right?"

-----

Nivek blesses the food retrieved by Tannen from the north-westerly room. The Forge Lord shares his strength with the party (everyone gains 1 hit point).

Nivek has less luck in finding dwarf-sized armour. The only suit he can find is that worn by the bandit lieutenant, and that appears to be no better than the armour he's already wearing.

-----

Meanwhile, Mandross retrieves the bunch of keys and goes to investigate the locked door to the south-west. He finds that one of the keys fits the lock, and he carefully opens the door. Beyond he discovers what is clearly the bandits' treasure cave. There are several bags of coins (sorted conveniently into gold, silver and copper), a collection of silver cups, plates and cutlery, and four fancy-looking dresses that a noblewoman might wear.

There are no other exits from the treasure room.


Doughbert: HP 0/5 (stabilised). No '0' level spells remaining today.
Hiker: HP 16/16.
Karl: HP -1/8 (stabilised).
Mandross: HP 5/5. 2 '0' level and no 1st level spells remaining today.
Nivek: HP 11/11. No '0' level spells remaining today.
Paladin: HP 8/8.
Tannen: HP 8/11.
~7.00 pm, 28th day of Harvestide.

JoeCarr28 wrote: Alma shrugs. "OK, Hiker, I guess that makes sense. We leave for Northridge first thing in the morning though, right?"

"Yes, ma'am. Straight home, I'll take you. And boy, won't Mr. Alan be happy to see you! I bet he'll forget all about his headache and the broken window and everything!"

After some more incessant chattering, Alma telling him to calm down a bit, Hiker helps find a cozy safe place to get her settled in for the night and offers her some food that Nivek made. Following that, once she's comfortable, he will strike out in the explored cave rooms to look for something...

"Ah, something to be made from this adventure." Mandross will start bringing out treasure, up to where Nivek has set supply pile. He will gladly accept any help in hauling - from the party, mind you.

During the meal, Mandross will also add a bit about himself. "I may have mentioned, but I was travelling from Westport with our elven companions to their homelands to see an acquaintance from my youth, when we were waylaid by these bandits. Oh, is that wine? Mind if I take a nip? Ah... north road vinyard, a bit sweet, but it does travel well. Where was I? Oh yes. I'd spent most of my youth traveling with my mentor, Phineas. It was interesting, and there were lots of things to learn, but a lot of hard wor- B.T. Phineas and his Circus of Wonders? Yes, one and the same. Yes, he's not just an eccentric man with a travelling carnival and a menagerie (that means a bunch of animals, Hiker), but an eccentric Wizard with a travelling carnival and a... bunch of animals. Fortunate for me, as magic was something I have a talent for, unlike the rest of the acts and tricks... tumbling... knife throwing (shudder)... animal training... I did alright talking the crowds though, and I did pick up a couple of handy tricks..."

At some point, he will retrieve his oil flask, and discard the handkerchief. If anyone is intent on searching and wants an extra hand, he'll help for a while (and will monopolize the conversation less - apparently he needed a fresh audience. Apologies to Karl and Doughbert, who had no way of escaping). But he will make sure to get a solid bit of sleep.

Paladin smiles at Mandross's discovery of spirits! Paladin will help himself to a bottle and, after eating a good meal, open it up and carry it around with him, drinking as he goes. Paladin has a list of things to do in no particular order. He'll take any help that is offered.

Paladin's List

• •Search through the foodstuff for honey, bring it to Barnaby.
  •Introduce Mandross to Barnaby
  •Caper like an insane fool at the sight of the coinage
  •Pile the remains of the front door in front of it's splintered frame. Add to it some camp furnishings from the other rooms, like the dwarf's. Add on top of that spare weapons, glass or anything else that will clatter when it falls down
  •Sit with the keys found on the bodies and tie different colored thread pulled from the clothes of the corpses to each key as its purpose is identified. Do any keys remain without threads?
  •Search all of the corpses again for coin, jewelry, paperwork, and tattoos.
  •Check the horses for brands and, if any, see if Alma recognizes them.
  •Count the coin.
  •Search for extra sacks, rope, and oil among the bandits' stores.
  •Chat with the prisoners about their childhood. Point out that if they spill the beans to Paladin, he'll try to let them go or hire them as guards. After all, you guys are the smart ones he says. Paladin wants to know the deal between Morward and Bertie, whether the bandits individually or collectively have a price on their heads, and who in the region they have pissed off or allied with. Paladin thinks it would be a great idea to hire them on, especially if we can save them from a hanging.
  •Appraise the clothes and the silver.
  •Stand quietly, bottle in hand, glaring at the helpless sleeping Karl for a half-hour. He'll then say Stupid but not evil, eh?
  •Drag the dead up the corridor past the prisoners' sight, pausing to slit the throat of each corpse in their view before moving on.
  •Look at the maps and papers collected from everyone and try to make heads or tails of them
  •Measure the desk drawer heights inside and out looking for secret doors.
  •Systematically search the walls of Mandross's room, the treasure chamber and then the other rooms for secret doors

After all that, he'll catnap until it's time to go.

After presenting the dresses to Alma as a gift, Hiker outfits himself with a new-to-him shield he finds while rummaging around, slides a spare shortsword in his belt, and takes a seat on a stool near Alma while she rests during the night.

Doughbert stirs when a particularly loud clatter or dragging noise reaches his inner ear, but otherwise sleeps the sleep of the dead, or nearly so.

_Silveredged wrote:After presenting the dresses to Alma as a gift, Hiker outfits himself with a new-to-him shield he finds while rummaging around, slides a spare shortsword in his belt, and takes a seat on a stool near Alma while she rests during the night.

Alma smiles weakly as Hiker presents her with the dresses, and gives him a little kiss on the cheek. "Thank you Hiker, that's very sweet. But let's save such niceties until we're safely back at Northridge."

(Karl is happy to donate his mace to Hiker if he wants it; he still has his longsword as his main weapon.)


Whilst Nivek takes first watch, and the others get some rest, Paladin bursts into a flurry of activity ...

The halfling fails to find any honey for Barnaby, but takes Mandross to meet the bear in any case. Neither Barnaby nor Mandross seem particularly excited about this encounter. Mandross is well used to animals from his time with the circus, and Barnaby really couldn't care less.

Colour-coding the keys, Paladin discovers there is an exact correlation between keys used and doors opened. There are no unused keys on the bunch.

Totting-up all the money, Paladin arrives at a grand total of 506 gp, 1,018 sp and 2,002 cp. This is in addition to the 50 gp that you paid Morward earlier for the information about the goblin with the horned helm, which you're also able to recover. The silver dinner service is of good quality and would fetch a decent price at a suitable market. Or it would look mighty fine on a halfling's dining table.

The horses variously exhibit three different brands. Alma recognises one of them as belonging to a farm neighbouring Northridge, but she isn't familiar with the other two.

In the northwesterly storeroom, Paladin finds as many sacks and as much oil as he might need (within reason!). He's also able to plunder plenty of rope from the stables.

Karl glares back at Paladin. But he's sensible and disciplined enough to remain tight-lipped for now. He knows his time will come.

The captured bandits are a rather sorry bunch. All of them joined Morward's merry band after failing to hold down regular jobs, usually due to a catalogue of misdemeanours - theft, violence, and in one case arson. They are well aware that banditry carries a long jail sentence (or sometimes worse, depending on the local court) and plead to be released, promising to "mend their ways". Although they don't mention it, you're aware that they would probably each fetch a bounty of around 50 gp if you were to hand them over to the authorities in Marketstone. Regarding Kitchener, whilst a couple of the bandits know of him, they're not aware of any issues between him and Morward.

A study of the desks yields no obvious anomalies in their dimensions, and no secret compartments.

Regarding the wider search for secret doors ... do you really plan to search the entire cave complex? This will take many hours unless you all work together.


Doughbert: HP 0/5 (stabilised). No '0' level spells remaining today.
Hiker: HP 16/16.
Karl: HP -1/8 (stabilised).
Mandross: HP 5/5. 2 '0' level and no 1st level spells remaining today.
Nivek: HP 11/11. No '0' level spells remaining today.
Paladin: HP 8/8.
Tannen: HP 8/11.
~Midnight, 29th day of Harvestide.

Tannen ensures that everyone (particularly Karl and Doughbert) are well-fed, safe and comfortable and that the treasure and prisoners are well secured. {Where did we 'hole up' again?}

Tannen secures Morward's sword and armour and thoroughly searches both Morward and his dwarven lieutenant's body for other valuables.

{OOC: What is the local burial custom in these lands? Is a mass cremation acceptably civilized given the disreputable lives of the fallen? Would leaving the corpses to rot where they lie seem uncivilised? If so, Tannen will use the horses to move the bodies of the bandits out of the cave to create a funeral pyre.}

Once Tannen's labours are complete, he'll offer to take second watch (although without assistance he may need to work through the first watch in order to attend to the disposal of the dead.

In response to Mandross' conversation starters, Tannen replies:
"I'm glad we found you in those cells - that enchantment of yours certainly tipped the odds in our favour. Perhaps you would care to join our little band for the return trip to Markestone?"

Later Tannen will offer up a little history of his own:
"I'm from Westport, myself. Decided that accounting wasn't my strong suit and that I'd rather not join the family business when there was so much of the rest of the world to see... And wrongs to be righted." (here Tannen gestures in the direction of Alma). "In any case, too much coin will ruin even a good man."