[Game Thread] Welcome to Belhaim

[Khalil]

Raufinus looked at the others momentarily. Yous' can go ahead. I'll catch up in a few, am sure these two gentlemen can assist me if needed. With those words Raufinus turned and slung his baldric out of the way. He looked for footholds and handholds that would help his Dice Climb Check: 1d20+2 (13)+2 Total = 15 ascent.

[Avelestar]

Raufinius The half-orc scales the rubble mount carefully and though the odd bit of rock slides away he makes it up to the second floor without trouble. The floor of the second story is mostly intact, with a hole less than half a meter wide that Raufinius easily steps across. The floor is bare other than a small amount of rubble and some smashed furniture, while being open to the sky above. In the northeast corner there is a trapdoor set into the floor, but a stout timber has fallen across it.

Alun, Dania & Rone It takes only a few short minutes to cross the hill and reach Hunclay's manor. It is a two story manor, with a short tower making up a third floor, made of heavy stone bricks. The outside is plain but functional, all the curtains are drawn tightly and you can't see through them. As you approach you make out a small shape lying on the doorstep unmoving. The trio picks up their pace as they spot it, one calling out to ask if the shape is ok. As you get closer Rone draws his sword and snarls "Kobold!" Thankfully the creature is clearly dead, contorted on the floor, the flesh of its right hand and face burnt black. You see no immediate threat, no hedges adorn the manor's front yard and the south down to the village clear.

[Khalil]

Raufinus gave the door a quick look then turned to look down on the two law enforcers. There be a door here. Someone might have used it to escape harm. I will check it out. He looked at the two men trying to judge their character and considered his next few words before giving a request. If I find someone and they are unconscious, I will need help pulling them up through the door. Would one of you care to come up here? Raufinus then turned back his attention to the trap door. Again he examined it, and tried to open it.

 

Raufinus will try to open the door and look inside of it and use his scent and darkvision ability to determine if someone is in there. If it is locked he will try to bash the lock/hinges. If he goes inside he will drink his mutagen: dexterity type before he goes in.

If one of the fellows doesn't want to come up, I'll ask them to report one of the other adventurers to let them know what I found.

[Coelubris]

Originally Posted by Avelestar

Dania frowned, and Casting Detect Magic againexamined the area with considerable thought as she let Rone and Alun poke at the kobold. She wondered what had burned it's hand and face, which might be what had killed it, or it might be evidence that Hunclay was not just an ordinary man, but possibly a mage or sorcerer.

[Avelestar]

Raufinius Piggy nose and wispy moustache just stare at Raufinius as he pops his head out, then turn and face a woman to their right. She is nearing middle age, pretty despite heavy aging on her face. She looks strained, but puts on as much a smile as she can and answers Raunfinius. "Are your partners with you?" The two deputies look at their feet and wispy moustache whimpers out "They went to Hunclays..." The lady snaps her head around to face them, fire in her amber eyes. "And you fools let them?! Hodd get your sorry ass over to Hunclay's and ask them to come see me immediately. Mulle I expect you inside that tower within the next thirty seconds." Wispy moustache starts scampering up the rubble mount immediately while piggy nose jogs towards the manor, already out of breath. "Please be careful in the tower" the lady calls up to Raufinius. You're not sure if its the sun in her eyes or the dust in the air, but she seems to be fighting back tears. With wispy moustache's help you easily shift the beam across the trap door and it swings open freely. The inside is dark, but your orcish heritage lets you see perfectly. The tower's large ground floor has mostly collapsed under the rubble, but along the western portion of the room a section remains clear of debris. An iron trap door set in the floor directly below a companion door in the ceiling above. Shattered wooden furniture lies scattered around the corpses of two small, green-scaled creatures...kobolds! "Can you see anything?" wispy moustache asks, not getting any closer to the trap door than he has to.

 

Dania Dania sweeps her gaze over the front of the house, taking half a step back at what she detects. Door, windows, second floor and is that...the door mat? All with very strong traces of magic! The schools of magic from each area are well hidden, clearly the caster is quite powerful. The kobold corpse seems safe and as she gets closer its plain to see he's been scorched with some sort of fire spell, and his right hand is in an open fist as if had just tried to open a door. She remembers Alun mentioning a wizard within Belhaim and Hunclay must be he.

[zevonian]

"Yes, that is a kobold." Alun affirmed Rone's response, albeit with less enthusiasm. He approached the body, and was then able to crouch down while using his walking stick to keep his balance. He waved a hand over the corpse and muttered in some hybrid language he had been developing. A word in Celestial, a phrase in Draconic, you get the idea. Sometimes it triggered magic, sometimes it was just wordplay to keep himself occupied as the caravan traveled. Once he did it as he looked over the body of a dead squirrel, as if giving prayers due to lack of a real priest amongst the travelers.

"However did you get yourself deadened?"

He didn't touch the kobold, not with his cursory examination. But an examination was at hand nonetheless as Daria and Rone went about their business. "If one of you know on Hunclay's door, and get an answer, tell 'em that Alun, his onetime Tower consultant, is here."

[Avelestar]

Alun The kobold has very faint traces of magic on it, fading by the second. Pulling on his knowledge of magics and healing he surmises that the kobold was slain by a Burning Hands spell. He also notices that the kobold is wearing a large satchel, now half burnt. It is empty, as if the creature meant to steal something before its death. The manor remains quiet, no wizard has come forth to ask why you are on his doorstep. No further kobolds have sprung out from hiding.

[Khalil]

OOC Has not drank mutagen yet.

How... odd. Raufinus thought musingly. He could see the worrisome look the woman had, but he wasn't sure if they were for him or for his companions. At the end of the thought he just chocked it up to the relationship between the town and the wizard. The town seems to have a certain fear for this Hunclays fellow. As he stared down the first trap door he noticed the kobolds. By this time one of the deputies had managed to clamber up. Uh... Raufinus considered the man's question. Yes. Tell me, has your town had recent encounters with the Koblonoid race? Or do they wander in often? He stared at the man with the wispy mustache, but seemed to only received a blank stare back. Kobolds. I meant Kobolds, little reptilian humanoids with nasty tendencies? Raufinus was still unfamiliar with Taldor, and was unsure of what were it's usual pests most nations usually dealt with. He went back to looking down through the trap door as he waited for the man to answer. He then slid his legs over the hole and then turned around to let his upper body hold his weight as his scooted his legsAssuming there is a ladder? Maybe? towards the ladder. He looked up as he did so I will be heading down to make some examinations. You stay up here Mister... O my, this is actually quite embarrising. What did you say your name was? He kept stepping down as the man answered his question. He took a deep with in the air trying to determine if there could be anything else in the area, and quickly shuffled towards the two kobolds. Trained instinct kicked in and he examined their wounds. Raufinus morbid depresseion seemed to have been replaced with a mystery to uncover. Well at least with something that kept his mind occupied. He searched them for any possesions that they may have had, and then he looked around to see if there was anything else of interest.

[zevonian]

Alun stood up as the others tended to what interested them. "Burnt by magick. Recently. Tread carefully, all."

Pleased that he'd identified the source of the kobold's demise, Alun proceeded to use his walking stick to pull at the satchel's strap away from its owner, only to then lift the bag off the ground. "This might be salvageable."

[DoverianDragoon]

When it was clear that all immediate dangers were... well, absent, Rone sheathed his sword again. One dead kobold wasn't enough to keep him alarmed. Nor was it considered a loss. A warning, though... he could see it as a warning. He eyed the kobold's hand, then the manor's doorknob, and nodded to himself. He strode up to the door - but not too close, and off to the side some, as though expecting danger to burst forth from it at any moment, and checked for knockers or bells or... something. If there was such a thing on the door, he would try it. If not... he'd just knock. The kobold, after all, probably hadn't tried that approach.

[Coelubris]

Dania stopped before she touched the door, and said thoughtfully "I am not sure he wishes to be disturbed, given the amount of magic he has layered around the doors and windows and even on the doormat. I don't recall you mentioning Hunclay was a hugely friendly fellow, Alun. You might want to knock with your staff, given the burns on that body's hand there."

[zevonian]

After Alun finished taking possession of the burnt satchel, he walked over to where his counterparts were standing. His sister had wise words for him. "I thought he was friendly enough, but there are ways to let a wizard know someone is outside their chamber door without just knocking."

He took a step back, and held his walking stick in such a manner that his thumb was free. Gestures with the thumb followed, precise gestures at that. A couple of taps on the ground with his staff were accompanied by whispers, first in his hybrid tongue, and then in standard Common.

Two balls of light appeared in the air, one purple, one gold. They proceeded to circle around the manor silently, with twists and turns as if chasing each other.

 

Cast: Dancing Lights.

[Avelestar]

Raufinius "Its Mulle" answers wispy moustache, his face still blank as he edges away from the hole. "And what do you mean kobolds? I've never heard of them around here, let alone seen one." He paces back and forth worrying his hands "Oh this is bad this is bad, and the sheriff is going to be gone for another day at least." Mulle is quite happy to stay on the second floor and watch as Raufinius climbs down the ladder. Its a little rickety and the last two steps are missing but safe enough. He carefully picks his way across the rubble to the kobold corpses, both have severe fractures and bleeding from the falling rubble. There is little of use on the corpses, a small dagger and a broken spear each with a few small trinkets on their belts. Both are also wearing a large satchel strapped across their backs, completely empty and other than the dust very new. The door to the outside is completely blocked by rubble, the pile would take several hours to remove. A few bricks lay atop another trap door set into the floor, but they should be easy enough to move. Other than that the first floor is dark and empty.

Alun, Dania & Rone Rone walks up to the door and raps on it sharply twice, taking care not to touch the door mat. He takes a step backwards after and listens, one hand on the hilt of his sword. There is no answer or sound of movement from within the manor, nor are there anymore traps on the door it seems. Attempting a more magical approach Alun sends a pair of messages floating through the air up towards the second story. They float around the house as if looking for a way in, but when one drifts too close to a window is bursts with a soft glow, the soft sound of Alun's voice drifting by on the wind for half a second. The second ball disappears similarly, Alun and Dania frowning at the outcome. They quickly come to the conclusion that the house is completely sealed to magic, though mundane objects may still work. Before they can test their theory the trio hears heavy footsteps crunching up the path behind them. Piggy nose is gasping and panting as he jogs along, though he musn't have run more than a few hundred meters to reach the manor. "The...Baroness wants to *wheeze* see you....at the tower." he pants, doubled over with his hands on his knees. He catches some of his breath after a moment and straightens up then makes a noise in alarm when he sees the kobold. "What is that?!"

OOC: If you decide to stay and want to investigate further, let me know exactly what you are checking out with Detect Magic. i.e. are you going to go over the door frame, the door knob/lock, the windows? Usually just aiming at the door would be fine, but there's so much magic coming forth its going to take awhile to work out whats connected to what, and what the spells even are.

[zevonian]

"Extraordinary. It catches and thwarts magic in the air near it, not just magic trying to affect it directly."

Alun raised his staff, intending on gesturing with it. But then he heard footsteps, and turned to see what turned out to be a messenger.

"That is a dead kobold. It won't bite you. Take a breath, I'll be with you in a moment." And then Alun kindly let the man gain his composure, and proceeded to go about casting a spell.

ooc Detect Magic: Upon the knob/lock itself. Then the frame. Few rounds on each, will share the results with the group, using big words because it'll make the guard think we're impressive.

[Khalil]

Interesting. Raufinus said as he turned one of the kobold's head. It's neck seemed twisted and a slight protrusion would indicate a greater internal injury. The combat medic assistant's thoughts automatically said what he half expected to hear from his father. The subject has received severe blunt force trauma to the head, causing it's spine to be crushed immediately upon impact... The half-orc closed his eyes for a second and tried to drown out the thought. Mulle? Or Mr. Mulle. He said aloud to keep the man talking. Well it seems you will be seeing one today. A couple of them actually. Who is this sheriff you speak of? Was he the same that arrested the merchant and my comrades? Where has he gone off to? He leaned in and took the wretched creature's dagger and stuffed it into his satchel. Not as sharp as a scalpel but it could be useful, in a pinch. He thought. Again the words of wisdom from his mentor brought a new onslaught of memories. Agan he pressed on trying to drown them out. As he searched through the satchel he noticed that they were empty. He lifted them up into his nose and he took a big whiff. He tried to identify any components that it might have once carried. Could the willy things have brought the building down with explosives? No... no scent of that here. The other items... they remain. He looked back towards his own satchel that now contained his newly acquiered dagger. His thoughts led him to believe that the creatures came here for something. Tell me Mr. Mulle, what was this building before it became a crumbled ruined? Raufinus moved over to the other trap door, and he brushed out the debris that laid on top of it. He inspected it quickly searching for any Dice Perception: 1d20+5 (8)+5 Total = 13 traps. Goblins were known to leave behind nasty surprises, and if the creatures were anything like them they could too. Though if any remained he doubted they had had ample time to do so. When satisfied that it was clear he opened the door. He laid down on the floor and slowly inched his head over the lip of the ledge. He Using scent ability to detect enemies and sniff out hidden foes. His to see anything obvious. Dice Perception to look in next room.: 1d20+5 (18)+5 Total = 23 let his eyes and nose take in what they could.