Mervyn looks even more confused by Aurion's barrage of questions.

"You think Haffrung would wear this body ?!!" he eyes Vova with undisguised distaste ... which considering Vova's only been awake for perhaps a couple of minutes tops, must be some kind of record for getting into a person's bad books !

Wrukaog looks a bit confused as he watches Tesseryn walk down the stairs.

"If those stairs lead to the larder, which way to where Haffrung is?" he asks Halphed.

"Spare bodies for Haffrung? That sounds fascinating. Tell me more. Are they dead, or does Haffrung take over their minds while they are still alive? I'd really like to understand what he does. That does explain how he has been around so many years. Perhaps, one day, I will be able to learn to do that too," Brindle chats with Mervyn while Leisha retrieves Vova's gear from next door.

 Vova meanwhile, is stretching and flexing in a fashion that the more literately inclined would be very upset to have to refer to as 'otterish', pulling one knee up to wrap his arm around it and tug it in (there are happy little pops and disquietingly happy sighs) then the other before giving himself a shake and beaming at all and sundry...

 ...Vic meanwhile, gives Mervyn an evil look but seems to be more or less in agreement with the basic premise that, of the two of them (Vova and Mervyn) the evil cultist with the sacrificial knife is the less disconcerting and puts up with him.

 Leisha meanwhile, almost certainly finds a set of noble clothing (including a really sweet scaled vest) with some very nice boots, a pretty hair fixture, some ornate bracelets and a really sweet owlbear-hide cloak (the feathers are all up at the shoulders, making it look badass). Beyond that, there's a pack of clothing changes, some silk rope with unsettling knotwork in it, several hundred crowns worth of really nice breakfast-making material (including a good couple of pounds of coffee) and a potions case that's light on the cure wounds and heavy on the Cassil and alchemists kindness.

 The crossbow sitting nearby probably belonged to a guard or something, but it's at least a weapon and should likely be handed to him in the hope that he manages to shoot himself with it.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:08, Wed 15 Nov 2023.

Tesseryn replies to Wrukaog.  "Mervyn said downstairs in his study."  She fixes her gaze ahead, and sets forth once again down the stairs.  She continues to concentrate on Detect Evil ahead.

"Yes, perhaps the wisest course for you, Mervyn, is to wait and see how the next few minutes go for Haffrung before making up your mind." Aurion says, building on the cultist's confusion. "If you play your cards right, that could be your study downstairs. Meanwhile, it may be safer if you just stay indoors until I need you."

Turning his back on the cultist, he nods appreciatively at Vova's gymnastics and steps out into the next room.

18:14, Today: Aurion Moonbeak_ rolled 23 using 1d20+10.  bluff Mervyn.

Tesseryn pauses at the top of the stair.  She looks back to where the others are entering the passage.  "Spare bodies?"  She frowns.   "Brindle, Aurion, does that sound like something we need to know about?  Vova, do you know what that means?"  She looks back down the stairs, concentrating on Detect Evil, but does not go any further for the moment.

"There's two doors out of the larder," Halphed, lounging near the entrance to the chamber, assures Wrukaog. "One leads to Haffrung's study, the other to his workshop. He's bound to be in one or the other."

The question of spare bodies troubles/intrigues more than one member of the party, including Tesseryn, poised at the top of the stairway to the West.  Vova's silence on the matter probably suggests he knows absolutely nothing about them, though Mervyn feels he ought to speak up, directing his answers mainly to Aurion on the grounds that the Elf is the one yelling at him. 

"Haffrung just uses their bodies when he feels like it," he explains. "None of them were what you might call brilliant to begin with and they've certainly not improved at all in all the time that's passed.  He says it's like putting on a jacket."

"Apparently Haffrung's own body perished a while back ..." he trails off, somewhat alarmed as Vova, disconcertingly close at hand, does his stretches

At Brindle's urging the ex-Prisoners shuffle through the chamber which we shall lovingly call the 'Dissection Cell' to join Leisha in the passage outside as that worthy, egged on by Halphed's subtle nods and winks, opens the nearest door on the eastern side of the passage, and before she has chance to look around for Vova's lost belongs, she and those close by her are warmly greeted by a jovial burst of flames from the dark-robed figure therein, assumedly Dagda, Mervyn's fellow apprentice, and with an equally friendly scream ...

"Intruders !  DIE !!"

OOC: Map of the proceedings for Group 0 updated ...

 "Not the slightest!" Vova reports happily, although he does pause to contemplate just what 'spare bodies' might encompass and largely comes up with perfectly delightful, if anything but innocent possibilities - none of which are as cool as the one Mervyn puts forward, which has the dissipate noblemans eyes going wide as he exclaims, "Ohhhh, now that sounds like a world of fun. Think of all the... things... you could try!"

 Somehow, there's a very real possibility that Haffrung, wherever he is and whatever state he's in, now feels a pressing need to bathe. Thoroughly.

"Oh he has," Mervyn vouches to Vova, somewhat bitterly.  "He used to have a gorilla ..." Haffrung's apprenctice adds with no little distaste, trailing off at the shouts from the room next door.

"That'll be my ... that'll be Dagda," he winces. "She's not good with people and might be somewhat testy.  I'd keep your heads down."

"I don't suppose I could get my knife back ?"

"Thanks Mervyn, you have been very helpful. I think you should join our party," Brindle suggests cheerfully.

Then he recites the words of a spell to encourage Mervyn to agree.

OOC: Brindle casts Charm Person on Mervyn. (DC17 Will save.)

"Haffrung's rooms are down these stairs, off the larder? Good, Tessy is on the right track. Trust her to know where the carking fun is. I'll go keep her company." Wrukaog tells Aurion.

Although Leisha and the rescued recruits are already busy dealing with Dagda's fiery temper, he reminds them about the other room at the end of the hallway.

"That's the guard barracks down there on the left, so you're gonna have some company from there real soon unless you can spike the door shut or something," he suggests.

Then he dashes downstairs after Tesseryn.

Tesseryn was hesitating ... dithering ... trying to decide whether to do the sensible thing and investigate these extra bodies (?!!) ... or at lest honour her promise not to split the party again ...  But stuff all that!  Wrukaog's enthusiasm gets her across the line and she's clattering down the stairs as fast as her tin leggings will allow.  "Chaos!" she howls.

"Spare bodies are at the end of the hall if you want to take a look." Aurion suggests to Vova.

He hopes Brindle's spell works but doesn't linger to find out. He pokes his head around to door to Dagda's room after the blast. "Tsk, tsk!" he admonishes, stepping into her room. "That's no way to greet The Inquisition." The snakes waggle their tongues reprovingly from his hood. "You and Mervyn are all Set to succeed Haffrung ... if you cooperate."


17:21, Today: Aurion Moonbeak_ rolled 18 using 1d20+10.  bluff Dagda.

 "Oh?" Vova asks, with all too unsettling enthusiasm, apparently finding the prospect nowhere near as upsetting as anyone ought to, then looking between Aurion and Mervyn when the former vouches for the nearby stash, ruefully admitting "Probably not something I'll be able to take advantage of for a while yet, magic jar is a ridiculously difficult spell to hold together... Still, just another piece of evidence to the premise that wizards are perverted."

 Here, he winks up at Vic (who steadfastly refuses to make eye contact) before remarking to both co-conversationalists "I'm merely kinky. It's all about the line between using just a feather and using the whole chicken."

 Still, he can at least be slightly persuaded to keep his mind on business as the screaming and the shouting make him look back around and sigh, "But I suppose there's an adventure happening, isn't there? Are we involved?" - the last directed at Vic, who uncurls his head from under his wing to offer down an irritated 'Squonk!' that makes Vova pull an irritated face, as if he's just been told he has to eat his greens before he can have pudding.

Mervyn looks concerned or rather more concerned at Brindle's thanks and his brow furrows yet further as the Halfling casts a spell of ensorcellment ... after which he seems a lot happier, casting aside his cares of the day.

"I'd like that !" he enthusiastically agrees with Brindle's suggestion that he join the party, which is already straining at the seams.

His friend Dagda, on the other hand is less convinced by Aurion's attempts to sweet talk her, responding with what he at first takes to be a rude gesture but swiftly realises is a spell.  The Elf pulls his head back, out of sight, but when nothing happens risks a look back in again, just in time to see the mage becoming insubstantial, misty and translucent as she begins to waft towards him in a ghostly manner.

Vova kindly explains the finer points of things best left to the imagination of others, though by this point his audience has dwindled and it seems only Vic pays him any attention and that not approving.

As the door at the western end of the corridor swings back and a platemail clad Half-Elf looks out, Tesseryn finally decides that the lure of the dark stairway is too tempting, and with Wrukaog on her heels, your two most accomplished warriors race down the steps, finding themselves in a fifteen foot square room with a single door to the north, lined with shelves upon which they espy a goodly quantity of fine, rich foodstuffs, easily enough to last your entire and rather large party for about a month, even with two Halflings (at least one of which suddenly has a not entirely inconsequential hankering for roast chicken) in the mix.

OOC: Map of the proceedings for Group 0 updated ...

Wrukaog suddenly looks suspicious and taps Tesseryn on the shoulder and leans forward to whisper to her.

"Halphed said there's two doors out of the larder. One leads to Haffrung's study, the other to his workshop. I only see one door, so the other must be hidden by those carking shelves. Wanna bet the bastard ain't behind the door we can see? Halphed would know where the other door is hidden."

Brindle smiles at Mervyn and says, "Good choice. Welcome to the party!"

With that detail satisfactorily resolved he heads out the door. Seeing the state of everyone in the hallway and heads turned toward the now open door at the end of the hallway, he quickly makes his way past everyone down the hallway until he has a clear enough view into the guardroom, then casts a spell.

"We should have locked that door earlier," he mutters to himself.

OOC: Cast Web spell to completely fill the guardroom.

The halfling shrugs his shoulders, grinning at Vova. "With the number of new friends we've made recently, we're going to need a much bigger table back at the Inn when we celebrate our triumph!"

"First drinks on the newcomers!" he announces striding after his kinsman. "Wait for me!"

"What?! You're ghosting me?" Aurion is not pleased. "No one escapes the Inquisition that way!" He stands his ground and casts a spell right back at Dagda to show just how displeased he is.

Tesseryn grimaces back at Wrukaog.  "Well we'd best get on with it then."  She moves to the bookshelf opposite the door and searches for a secret door.


21:18, Today: Tesseryn Brightsoul rolled 8 using 1d20.  search.

Wrukaog shrugs and starts searching the shelves in the eastern wall, closest to the door.

OOC: Wrukaog_ rolled 17 using 1d20+8.  Search.

Downstairs, Tesseryn and Wrukaog conduct a thorough and exhaustive search for the elusive missing door ... but while both are exceptional warriors, neither have what one might call an eye for the finer details and utterly fail to locate it.

Not needing any more friends at this juncture, Brindle decides to deal with those within the guardroom in a direct manner.  Pushing his way down the corridor with Cogwitz at his heels, the Halfling gestures at the platemail clad Half-Elf peering out, causing him to defensively duck back into the room, just as it fills up with sticky webs, trapping him and the rest of the guards within.

Offended that Dagda has chosen to take her best shot then leave the field of play, Aurion throws a spell her way.  For a few brief moments the mage's misty form swirls in agitation ... then she manages to pull herself together and floats out in the corridor, entering the guard room at the northern end, unaffected by the webs in her current state.

Now it's just Mervyn and Vova left in the room, almost as if you'd never been there ... save Vova is now freed of his restraints and Mervyn is Brindle's newest best friend.  Smiling happily, even dreamily, at Vova, Brindle's best friend suddenly lifts up his robes and takes to his heels, smile vanished as he races hell-for-leather out the room, and up the stairs !

OOC: Map of the proceedings for Group 0 updated ...

 "Well, wasn't that odd?" Vova asks of the perched peacock, who glares down at him in response with the sort of malevolence usually reserved for the Fiends of Carceri (on an especially bad day).

 Over the course of a few short minutes he gathers up his assorted things and tucks them about his person before speculatively examining the sacrificial gear in case any of it might be fun in a more recreational setting, then goes to look for where the rest of what are pretty obviously an unusually erratic band of adventurers (even by his markedly loose standards) might have gone off to, before pausing at the door and addressing Mervyn "So, uhm... Might be an odd thing to ask, but I don't suppose you've any idea where I am, would you? Or... What's going on? I may have had a fairly good night last... time... and it's all a tad fuzzy."

OOC: Vova, you will need to run to ask Mervyn that question. He has fled out the southern door and away up the stairs. Away from you, apparently. I wonder why? ;)

Brindle curses mildly in annoyance as the misty mage wafts past into the web-filled guardroom. He whips out a wand and shoots a string of five magic missiles at her to teach her the error of her ways.

"Come back here at once, or next time it's a fireball!" he threatens her.

Brindle rolled 17 using 5d4+5.  Magic missile damage. – 17