1) After resting from the fight, we decided to go back down the tunnel in which we fought the centipedes. We decided to keep the same marching order.
The tunnel was relatively unused and the roots were growing through the ceiling and wall. After about 40 yards beyond the location of the centipede encounter, we came upon a portion of the tunnel that was partially collapsed.
Using his move silently, Draega attempted to move silently and squeeze through the collapse in the tunnel to see what was ahead. He found that water damage had cause a partial collapse of the tunnel as he found himself sloshing through the mud. There were also signs of centipedes present.
We found the area to be free of any centipedes and spent about 30 minutes excavating the area so that we could continue through the tunnel.
We proceeded down the tunnel for another 1/2 mile, which matched up with our estimations of what the length of the tunnel. Then we came upon a wooden wall at the other end.
2) The wooden wall contained a door with the hinges facing towards us and it was secured with a lock.
D'Gar attempted to pick the lock, but the lock was too complicated. After a few more minutes, D'Gar's second attempt at opening the lock was successful.
Kel opened the door as quietly as possible. With Kel, that meant a herd of elephants would have made less noise. The door opened up to the wall and right behind the door was a… stone wall! WTF?
D'Gar examined the wall for anything that would indicate its purpose. D'Gar found a peephole and found out that the "stone wall" was more of a facade. Looking through the peephole, D'Gar couldn't see anything on the far side. It was pitch black.
3) Opening the door just a crack (which was the "stone wall") D'Gar found odors of ham, wine, and other delicious things wafting through the air. The air wasn't stagnant and there were obvious signs that living beings were not far from our position.
The room was a basement/cold cellar and there were crates and boxes holding various food items. Unfortunately the door only opened a few inches (2 to 4) and was obstructed on the other side by a crate or some other large, heavy object.
Kel slowly opened the door and pushed the object back with the door. The door and object moving back made a slow, grating sound.
Once the door was opened wide enough, we all moved through the space and into the room.
As we moved into the room, we found a flight of stairs that let up to an over-sized trap door. We also noticed that we were correct in our assumptions that this was a cold cellar.
Beld noticed that there were some boxes that stuck out from the wall on the far side of the room. He told D'Gar and D'Gar decided to investigate further. Searching around, D'Gar found a small panel on the ceiling. Before triggering the panel, D'Gar decided to look around and find out what the purpose of this panel was.
We thought that we were definitely under the compound. Because the boxes were moved away from the wall that we felt was the secret door, we knew that the current residents of the compound were aware of, if not using, this secret door.
4) We opened the door by pulling down on a chain and the door moved (think old-school chamber pot) by folding up into the ceiling.
On the other side of the door was a gentile ramp with walkways on either side. The walkways were inclined as well. There was an elaborate pulley system in the hallway with the incline, but it seemed out of place.
The ramps led down into a room with boxes that were being covered with tarps. Despite being curious about what was in the covered crates, we decided to leave them well enough alone and try the trap door that was easily visible in the cold cellar.
5) D'Gar attempted to smell what might lie on the other side of the door. Unfortunately, no discernible scents were present, so we decided to open the door. Draega attempted to heave the trap door open by pushing it up. Draega was… well… less than successful.
We realized there was an object obstructing the trap door from above. We were able to shimmy the object off and then opened the trap door without difficulty.
6) The trap door did not open to the kitchen, but rather to the open ground within the complex. There was a storage building right next to the trap door (we guessed), but there was also another building on the other side. We found that the tower was built into the wall. The tower was to our left and the storage building was on the right. The walls were 12 feet thick.
We remembered that there was typically a guard on top of the wall at night. We didn't notice any particular routines when observing the compound before we attempted to infiltrate it.
Draega crept out first and attempted to see what other doors led to. He was listening and gathering other information, but found that most doors were bolted from the inside and could not be opened.
One door could be opened and he heard sounds of snoring. Draega guessed that it was the servants quarters. A second door was found that was able to be opened and it led into a section of the compound. However, Draega could not find a entrance to the tower from this area.
7) We found two doors on either side of the tower. D'Gar picked the lock on the first try. We all crept across the courtyard and into the wall.
When we entered the compound, we saw three doors across from us on the far wall and one door down on the far right at the end of the hall.
The door was locked, but D'Gar successfully picked the lock on the second try. Here's the marching order:
Draega
Tosh
D'Gar
Kel
Beld (me)
Waltr
Sh'te (pronounced shit-tay)
Wrento
We heard the door in which we entered the compound being opened. We quickly jumped into one of the rooms and closed the door. Footsteps could be heard going into each room one by one as someone (presumably a guard) searching each room.
The footsteps stopped in front of the door to the room we were hiding in. Some people braced themselves against the door as the guard tried to open it. However, he couldn't push the door open. After trying a few times to enter, the guard left.
8) We entered the tower and found that there were regular stairs and then a second set of stairs that we assumed were for servants. We took the second set of stairs (the ones meant for servants) as we wanted to remain undetected.
We make it up to the 4th floor and D'Gar successfully unlocked the door on the first try. After the door was unlocked, Draega attempted to open the door silently and move past.
We found a hall with opulent furnishings including a plush carpet. There were 3 doors on the left-hand side and 2 doors on the right-hand side. At the end of the hallway was a set a stairs leading up.
We opened the 1st door on the right. Draega crept in to look for what was inside and found a sleeping figure. We left that room and locked the door behind us. We thought it may have been the wizard, but we were not 100% sure.
We went to examine the other rooms, but we found the other doors locked except for one that appeared to be a guest bedroom.
The only lock that D'Gar was able to pick led into a sitting room.
We went back and unlocked the door to the wizard's room. G'Dar started to sneak in, but was told by the wizard to halt to be burned. G'Dar jumped back and was badly burned by 2 ropes of flame, but the ropes did not entangle G'Dar.
Combat continued with the wizard erecting a wall of ice and blocking us from getting to him. D'Gar actually found the brooch we were looking for in the adjacent room. Sh'te had become mentally controlled by the wizard and started to attack allies. Sh'te was then subdued, but had taken a lot of damage.
All while this was happening, the wizard was calling for guards. The guards appeared when we had subdued Sh'te and secured the brooch.
9) We made it to the ground floor scullery without incident. Upon reaching this level we heard the alarm going out in full force. We were surprised by servants with knives, but they took one look at us and ran.
We continue to run out of the compound the same way we came in. Draega just managed to avoid a crossbow bolt that was aimed at her head.
We made it out through the work site and took our time getting back to town. We went to another gate and then went to another inn once we got back to town. It was another inn that Kel knew of.
Beld casted detect magic and these items were found to be magical:
A) ivory box
B) brooch
C) silver bead
Other items were found that were not magical, but they are recorded on Dreaga's character sheet.
