Murder, She Rolled (D&D 5th Ed)

"Okay guys, before you do anything" Daren knelt beside the trapdoor "I just want to be sure." he says as he tries to avoid Vella's disappointed looks

using thieves tools to find and get rid of traps/locks

edited 28th Apr '16 8:35:48 AM by Kyef

Thieves' tools proficiency check: 1d20+7 = 9. I award you no points, and may the gods have mercy on your soul.

Daren's incessant checking of the trapdoor revealed no obvious traps. (None that he could find, at least.) If it had been sentient, though, it would certainly have complained about the repeated probing - and probably demanded that Daren take it out to dinner first.

While they waited for Daren to complete his work, Vondal pulled out the broken halves of the wand he had found. "I think I might have found the murder weapon. Now that we've got a few minutes, I think I'd like to take a better look at it."

He sat down at the table and looked at the wand very intently.

Begin to ritual cast Detect Magic.

Vella crossed her arms. "C'mon, Daren, you didn't find traps the first time, what makes you think they'll be there now?" she asked him. She glanced over at Vondral when he mentioned the murder weapon. Vella stood and went to take a closer look at the object herself.

"You guys clearly have never been to a thieves guild, have you? I lost many companions to traps, and I've known a particularly nasty thief who prouded himself of having booby-trapped his underwears with toxic gas in case someone searched him for loot when he was down." he paused as he got up. "Gods-damned Vencarlo. He died on a turf war but took 5 guys with him the very next day. Plus made their lair stink like onions for two months.I've never ate onions since I saw the victms."

"Wait, Vondal... it seems we know who is it... remember the wan young man with the dark disposition. That was the Bard. He and Ned were fighting like dogs and cats and he did mention the skull... We gotta find Poncebottom and interrogate him" says Adelaide as she finally puts 2 and 2 together.

"Hmmm... yes, that seems right, now that you mention it," Vondal said. "Now's just a matter of tracking him down." He held up the two halves of the wand. "There isn't anything particularly magical about this, probably just used as an arcane focus. I don't know of bards who use wands, so the bard's probably not the culprit."

He looked at Daren. "How can you never eat onions? Onions are in everything. You've probably eaten a cartload of onions without even realizing it. Hells, they were probably even in the stew that Ned made the other night."

"Well, that seems like some kind of wand that wasn't enchanted all right." Said Daren, changing the subject "What I know of magical items basically consists of their high value on the market, both licit and illict...and one of the reasons why they're worth that much is because the freaking things never break. Not easily at least. Maybe the skull was involved."

"Anyway, shall we?" Said Daren, pointing at the trap door expectantly.

"By the way, good reasoning Ade, and you said you were only good for hitting things."

Not having a clue what the broken wand was about, and not having the strength to open the door, Vella glanced over at the others and listened as they debated what to do. When Adelaide brought up the bard, she raised her eyebrows. "Bard? Who would that be? I'm surprised I don't know the other bards around here, but then again, I just got here last night," she admitted, leaning against the table.

"Oh, there is very little in this life that is unbreakable, believe you me," Vondal said to Daren. "However, I can't read anything off of it beyond the barest residual traces of magic - as I said, perhaps some sort of wizard's focus."

"I'm not entirely sure," he added to Vella. "I never caught his name, but he was the one who first mentioned that the skull in question was the Skull of Neruok - or at least, that he believed it was. Why would he use this wand instead of his instrument, though, unless he happened to know ahead of time that he was going to need a magical focus different from his own? And why was it shoved into the wall? If he could make Ned's head disappear without a trace, I would think a small bit of wood isn't outside the realm of possibility either. There was the old man that night too, perhaps he was the owner of the wand instead of the bard?"

edited 2nd May '16 1:53:26 PM by nman

"Ned did say he was an awful bard... perhaps, that was a side job and he dealt with other kinds of magic? If he has such an interest for the dark arts he may have branched off into them instead of continuing to sing" says Adelaide even as she moves towards the trapdoor... seems like it is something the others are struggling with.

"And I am mostly just good for hitting things" she says, even as she flexes her muscles to try and open the door.

Strength Check

"I guess the broken wand was the indication of a fight, probably the bard broke it. Is it really that far off to assume that the Bard and the maid knew each other? Maybe they're both down there" said Daren, pointing at the trap door.

"Anyways. Our new clues are "Deathshadow Torment" (what a generic baddie name), a broken wand, missing bard witness. Maybe we should go for Poncebottom first and then the HQ. And have a look at the cemitery, and a word with Danass...but let Ade work her magic first." Daren motioned to the trap door

Strength check: 1d20+3 = 21. Huge success.

Adelaide's seasoned hands grasped the concealed handle on the trapdoor as she heaved mightily - and the heavy wooden panel swung open to the screech of finally-yielding hinges, revealing a ladder leading down into the darkness of Gorthmog's hitherto-unexplored cellar.

Vella listened as Adelaide admitted she was only good at hitting things. "Aww, don't say that," Vella assured her. "You're good at more things than that." She grinned when Adelaide swung open the door below like it was nothing. "Nice going!" she exclaimed, standing upright again and going to examine the cellar, peeking in curiously. "It's so dark in here..." she murmured.

She frowned, closing her eyes and cupping her hands together. Then she suddenly released them. "Lucarma," she whispered, then from her now-uncupped hands four glowing orbs of light began to orbit the group. "That's much better!" Vella exclaimed.

Vella casts dancing lights.

edited 5th May '16 9:54:46 AM by AllHailThrall

Gorthmog's House

The orbs of light circled around the party, illuminating Gorthmog's cellar just enough to show them that their path down into the basement was unobstructed - the ladder leading into it was about ten feet in height and rested on a a floor made of fairly well-maintained wooden boards. It was hard to make out any other features from their vantage point, though.

Vella squinted into the darkness, but couldn't make out anything of note down there. With a look at one of the glowing orbs and a light gesture of her hand, one of the orbs stopped orbiting the party and sailed down into the dark cellar to illuminate it further. Vella then look another look into the cellar to see if she could spot anything in particular.

Perception check, I don't know if having the dancing light there gives it advantage or not, or what.

Noticing that she can't really see much of the cellar from where she is at the top of the stairs, Adelaide goes for the rather straightforward option of dropping into it... to look around from closer what may lie around given that there seem to be no traps.

"Well, there are many types of punching things, or breaking things, or lifting things around... all to variable degrees of utility. My skills may be specialized but I'd say they are in high demand" says Adelaide from down there.

"They are always on high demand, friend" Daren says, landing just behind her a lot more lightly with a warm smile.

"Look, if this exit is shut there's chance people are still lying down here. It's dark, and suddenly this light burst over the entrance. See the problem? It can be seen miles away. There's no harm on it, we should stay alert for secret doors and exit they could have taken in case they flew away."

"Me and Vondal seem to look better in the dark. Isn't it better if we scout the way ahead first? Battlebeard, anything you make out will help. I heard dwarves were good with stones...?"

"What's that smell?" Vondal asked, sniffing the air as he followed after Adelaide and Daren down the ladder. "...Sausages? No, hold on... sewage. This basement must have been a cesspit in a past life."

At the bottom, he rolled his neck and stretched his shoulders. "That's awfully presumptuous of you, Elf," he said. After a moment, he added. "But yes, I've got a slight knack for it."

History check on any nearby stonework, +3

Gorthmog's House - Cellar

The party of four landed on the wooden planks with a loud "thump", but the floor held: the corruption and filth that permeated the whole of Golimar seemed to have spared Gorthmog's cellar to some extent, judging from the state of the boards they stood on and the sturdy oak beams that supported its ceiling.

Unfortunately, it looked like Gorthmog's plan, whatever they were, probably didn't involve his house. The wooden shelves that lined the cellar walls were mostly bare, and what remained had clearly been abandoned in haste - jars of preserves and spices spilt across the floor, a couple of books tossed to the floor in disarray, and a picture frame lying face-down in the corner. And although the light afforded by Vella's dancing lights was dim and wan, there was just barely enough light to see the source of the stench - a huge, ragged hole in the stone wall at the far end of the cellar, leading into the darkness.

edited 7th May '16 8:34:13 AM by Pyrite

As soon as Vella caught the whiff of sewage, Vella's hands flew to her nose. "That is so gross!" she exclaimed, shuddering and coughing from the reek. Her hands shook, but the young bard prepared a cantrip. "Dorem, dorem, dorem," she muttered, waving her hands. As she waved her hands, the disgusting smell around them was slowly being replaced with a more pleasant, neutral odor. "Much better," she sighed, looking around. As she looked around, her dancing lights were flying towards various objects in and around the room, to get a better light of what was present.

Vella casts prestidigitation several times to create "a harmless sensory effect".

edited 7th May '16 8:54:49 AM by AllHailThrall

"Well it's dwarven, that's for sure," Vondal said, glancing at the stonework. "And less than a century."

He bent down to pick up the picture frame and look at it.

"Hell, that could be younger than you for all we know.Let's see what our half-orc was...least interested in."

Daren began picking up the books

"That hole probably lead to the sewers. We're likely to find giant rats, giant spiders, giant frogs, giant insects, all sort of giant-and-fun stuff. Maybe even a wererat here or there? Anyway, If there's a way out close, I feel pretty confident I can take us there."

Vella winced at all the possible creatures that could be in the sewers underneath Gorthmog's house, and she winced, squirming where she stood. "Ew ew ew ew!! Stop it please!" Vella squeaked. She recomposed herself, though still distressed from the thought of whatever was down there. She decided to take a look at the books strewn around the area. She looked around for any books that could potentially be helpful.

Gorthmog's House - Cellar

Vella chanted, and the stench of sewage slowly faded away, replaced by a hint of mint and lavender - much to the relief of the others.

Shards of glass fell out of the fallen picture frame's face as Vondal picked it up off the floor. The faded miniature within - a portrait of a blonde woman in blue wizard's robes cradling an infant in her arms, while a green-skinned orc leaned on a two-handed maul next to her - had probably been painted in happier times.

Daren and Vella picked up a book each - the rogue found himself holding a copy of An Abbreviated History of Golimar (which must have been really abbreviated, seeing as how it was barely thicker than a magic initiate's spellbook), while the bard ended up with the month's edition of Good Innkeeping, with the not-particularly-interesting headline of "Insight and Arcana: Ten Easy Tips To Dodge Magical Scams".