"Is that who grabbed the townsfolk?" Betty asks, not entirely sure that's how she remembered the conversation with the de facto Redbrand leader. Still, she was pretty rage-hazy at the time. She tsks. "Pity, Betty kinda liked the little guy, I suppose."

Bite. "'Cordin' to the leader, [bite] they were gonna feed the family [bite] to that eye-thing."

"All the more reason for us to make haste," Maric said around a mouthful of bran and fruit. Taking a sip of herbal tea, he added, "I would save them, if we can."

Morgan shovels a final sausage into her mouth and wipes the corners of her mouth with a napkin. She nods at Maric, gets up and picks up her sword, cinching it to her belt, and then readying her shield. "I'm ready to go."
This message was last edited by the player at 13:04, Sun 14 Mar 2021.

With the Redbrands cleared out, a solid night's sleep obtained, and a hearty breakfast to fuel them along, the party gathered up their things and set out once more to the basement of the abandoned manor in hopes of rescuing the woodworker's family.

You can take the same entrance you did last time, using the hidden door out in the woods and then following the tunnel in (takes an extra 15'ish minutes, or you can use the actual entrance, which is how you left when you chased after Glasstaff.

"If no one objects, I would take the hidden door," Maric suggested.

"I agree." Betty says, nodding sagely. "While the front door is often the best entrance to use, and certainly my preference, there is a certain appeal - not to mention an element of surprise - when unexpectedly using the back door, I suppose." Without skipping a beat, she loosens her rapier in its scabbard, and secures her buckler to her forearm. "Shall we begin?"

For the time being, Maric is content to remain in his native elven form, at least until they draw near to the monster.

Morgan readies her sword and shield. "The eye-weirdo is by the secret entrance. Best to confront it right away."

"Let Betty try to talk to it first." Betty suggests. "We'd established something of a rapport, and he was quite useful, I suppose. Plus, I have plenty of tasty snacks, thanks to the innkeepers generosity."

The party gathered their things and made their way back to the hidden entrance to the Redbrand's hideout. Finding it was easy enough as it was not really all that well hidden, it just happened to be a place that few people were ever likely to stumble onto it. They found the cellar-like doors open, which seemed somewhat odd on one hand, but on the other they couldn't actually remember if they had bothered closing it when last they used it.

Regardless, they proceeded down into the long tunnel, extra cautious to start with (just in case) before relaxing a bit for the sake of saving time since they'd seen no definitive signs that others had been here. It was pitch black in this tunnel, so Morgan lit a torch and held it aloft for all to see as best they could.

When they arrived at the cellar, things immediately looked different. To start, all of the wall sconces had burned out, leaving even this in pitch darkness. Shadows danced about all around you in the light of the torch. You heard no sounds and neither saw nor hear hears any sign of life.

The Redbrand captain's instructions had been pretty clear. If you were to find the family in their cell, you would need to cross to the western side of the chasm and then go to the northeast corner to find them. There were traps if you came at it from the south east, but there was a hidden door if you went up the chasm and came in from the northwest.

As the group set out to follow their instructions, preparing to cross the chasm, they were struck by a surprising sight - the one eyed creature laid dead just inside the lip of the chasm, deep cuts and punctures into his torso, and a slice the clove through his jaw and up into the lower part of his brain.

There was no memory to have mixed up with that bit - the group certainly had not killed this creature before they left.

Someone else had been here since last you left!

"Well..." Betty said, somewhat sadly, "More snacks for Betty, I suppose." The sight tugged at her small heartstrings, though she couldn't say why she felt anything for the dead creature. He was a small, unusual sort.

Her eyes narrowed as she surveyed the room. There was no need to stat the obvious, but she did take blade into hand. "We should, perhaps, hurry. The assailants could be friend ... or foe."
This message was last edited by the player at 06:33, Thu 18 Mar 2021.

Maric transforms again to his dire wolf state. He leads the way slowly, sniffing as he goes.

Perception check: 19

Maric lead the group with his canine nose searching for signs of danger. The place smelled of men, of sweat and stale air.

It also smells of death, and rotting flesh. Something down in the crevasse seems to have died a while ago and been left to rot. The bodies of the men you killed on your previous trip would be stinking as well, but not quite as bad as that. (Should have noted that the wolf's nose is the one that picked up the smell of the longer rot. The rest of the group will just smell the normal death smell that the other men have left behind.)

Ahead was a storage area with barrels lining the walls. The far right wall is where you were told you could find the secret entrance.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:19, Sat 20 Mar 2021.

"I can't say I'm sad to see that thing dead. Let's make sure the smell isn't coming from the family we're here to rescue. If it's not, then we move on to try and find where they're being held."

"I wonder why we didn't smell it before?" Betty notes, wrinkling her nose. "Perhaps we were too occupied with the Redbrands?"

'Woof' said Maric.

Taking a look down into the chasm, you see a body, face-down, dressed in common clothing. A broken bridge spans the chasm nearby, with part of the body beneath it on the far side. Getting down there, and back up, seems easy enough to do.

Maric rolls his eyes as if to say, I transformed for this?

Morgan looks into the chasm to see how far down the drop is, and if there is any easy path down, or at least hand/foot holds in the wall for climbing.

Morgan made the short descent down into the chasm to have a closer look. She noticed immediately that it was distinctly colder down here. Unnaturally so. As she stood there for a moment, she felt no effects from the magical source of cold, so one she went to have a look. She discovered the body matched the description of Thel Dendrar, the murdered woodcarver. He'd been dead for more than a week, but whatever this cold was down here, it had preserved the corpse somewhat, slowing the process of its decay. There were pieces of his flesh missing, with obvious signs of large teeth that matched up quite well with those of the one-eyed creature.

Human eyes were not well suited to shifting shadows and darkness, but those a trained warrior were a bit better than the average. Not far off, hidden beneath the broken bridge, was a small chest. The chest drew Morgan's attention on its own, but the hilt of a sword behind it drew her even more.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:44, Sat 20 Mar 2021.

Betty watches on with interest, but can tell wolf-Maric is frustrated by the situation. She stands tippy-toe and reaches up to scratch under his jaw. Even stretched fully, he has to lower his head for her to reach him.

Thrilled with the affection, Maric let's out a high pitched whine of contentment as his tail nearly knocks Betty over.

"Hey, there's something down here. I'm gonna check it out."

Morgan moves cautiously up to the chest. She gives it a cursory inspection before moving to the sword behind it. She takes up the blade from its resting place and examines it with keen interest.

"Don't touch it!" Betty calls, too late. "It's probably trapped!"

[OOC: Sorry, couldn't help myself! :D -Ken]
This message was last edited by the player at 03:28, Wed 24 Mar 2021.