"I'n expectin everyone but ya to come Mario.  Not that ya ain't wanted, just that we may end up runnin back.  An we really do need t'e exit well guarded.  But if ya come, I recommend rear guard."

Not Problem... I guard front.

"Of course we are all coming, this could be a dangerous venture, not a cleanup job.  If Mario feels confident enough to move with us, he is welcome, otherwise guarding this gate is also important."

Nodwin shoulders his staff and pulls out his small crossbow. "Until we know what is ahead of us, we need to be watchful."

"Jareth, how far is the pit?"

"Not sure, but based how fast Otty was shufflin an how long till heard t'e clank of I presume it's gate, I'd say no more'n a hundred yards imperial."

Upon seeing some of the crew's faces at this, he shrugs.  "Ain't never been down here."

"I think most of what we need to guard against is likely to be down that way.  I'll handle rear guard, if that's okay."

In reply to Mario Crowfoot (msg # 58):

Your group advances, using one of Nodwin's stones as a light source, and
Soon comes to a small intersection.  The passage continues ahead, but there is a passage to the right, and a metal faced door on the left.
To the right, you can see a partially opened gate, and a metal faced door beside it.

Brodak Stops   That it Door?

"Probably t'e partially open gate.  But best we check t'e doors be locked as pass t'em."

Jareth will check the metal door on the left, first to see if it's locked, then inspecting it for signs of tampering or traps.


OOC:
19:21, Today: Jareth Mooncalled rolled 6 using 3d6.  Observation Search 11.  Checking the metal door on the left for tampering (like is the lock plate all scratched up, etc).
19:21, Today: Jareth Mooncalled rolled 11 using 3d6.  Traps 14.  Checking the metal door on the left.

Also did the tunnel go straight to here?  Did it meander?  And roughly how far from the 'cultist gate' have we traveled?

Nodwin loads the crossbow and keeps a close watch down the tunnel ahead, while Jareth checks the door next to them on the left. He motions to the next person behind him to watch the side passage to the right.

Mario watches the side corridor tensely, the light stone he kept still hanging from the upper nock of his bow.

"The cultists were disposing of bodies with the otyugh, too, weren't they?"

In reply to Mario Crowfoot (msg # 63):

From the gate, you travelled about thirty yards, the iron doors don't
seem to have been recently subject to forcing attempts, although the
smaller one next to the gate looks like it has often been fiddled with
 by someone impatient. The lock looks to fit your key.
The left hand door is fairly wide, and the lockplate looks slightly different from Jareth's key.  Up the corridor past the gate, the passage
turns again.

Running water can be heard from the open gate.

"I'd be much more comfortable if we at least lock that open gate before we go further."
This message was last updated by the player at 08:56, Mon 13 Mar 2017.

"That's t'e plan, just wanted sure this door locked before we put it behind us."

Jareth checks to see if it's locked.  And then if it is, if his key will unlock it.  Then if it does, he cracks it open and looks inside.

In reply to Jareth Mooncalled (msg # 66):

The small room revealed is a guarderobe, and it is occupied by an orc wearing the greenish brown uniform (or most of it, his heavy jacket is hanging on the back of the door, and his pants are around his ankles.
The orc is quite dead, his throat looking to have been crudely slit.

On the wall in a niche is a burned out stumpt of a tallow candle. Beside the dead civil servant is a rusty dueling bill, and a book lies face down and open on the floor.

"Dammit.  This requires attention."

Jareth opens the door fully and begins checking his clothes for keys, badges, etc, anything that might identify who he is.  Jareth will also pick up his book and mutter something about "savages treating a book like so".

What is the Book Jareth Dear...

In reply to Jocelyn Lemru (msg # 69):

The orc had a pouch with personal basics, some jerky, and attached to his
 belt by a chain, and a large key, a little different from Jareth's.
The book is a folio of plays written in Aralaise.

Jareth pockets the key, and hands the book to her "This guy was a theatre fan, it's a bunch of plays."

Then he closes and locks the door, "Surprised they didn't him turn into a zombie," and then cautiously heads towards the open gate.

In reply to Jareth Mooncalled (msg # 71):

The gate leads into a damp room with foot wide pipes
Protruding from the walls  at about head height. The flooring
 is a series of grates. The back wall is also made of gridwork,
and there seems to be water flowing beyond it.  There is a partly
Opened grate in the flooe near the back wall.

If either of his keys fit, Jareth shuts and locks the gate, and then moves to check the door next to it*.  Again, quick scan for traps, then trying his keys, then taking a peek inside.




* If his keys don't fit he tries to lock it with his "unofficial keys", the lockpicks.

OOC: 01:47, Today: Jareth Mooncalled rolled 8 using 3d6.  Traps 14, door by the gate.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:50, Wed 15 Mar 2017.

"Could be he was killed by someone other than the Saturnines?  As you say, those would likely have had him walking.

"But I'd guess he was supposed to watch and feed Otty and his folks.  I'm surprised whoever did him didn't take his key.  I certainly would have; lots faster than picking a lock."

In reply to Mario Crowfoot (msg # 74):

The new key is longer and gas two faceplates; the first one matches Jareth's existing key, if he pushes that part through the lock, the second plate engages the lock.
The Orc looked more recently dead than the tenament dwellers above.

Would one of those Otty things have done it?

"Unlikely an Otyugh would use a knife.  Not impossible."




OOC:  Still waiting on results from message #73's actions.

"I wonder if someone released Otty, and if so, why?" Nodwin ponders while keeping watch.  "Possibly someone killed the guard to get into the pit, or release the denizens of the pit.
More may be out there, and whoever killed the guard could be inside.  Bit risky that though."