The small party of five adventurers and a hireling crossed the bridge into the wilderness. They headed into the forest in search of Modnar’s tower. At the edges of the forest they passed foresters and wood colliers. All were able to point the party in the right direction. The woodfolk were unanimous in staying away from the ruined tower due to the sinister creatures often spotted lurking there.

The journey through the forest which for the last mile or so was pathless was however uneventful with no monster or creature threatening the party.

What the party found was that little of the tower remained. A few toppled walls and moss cover flagstones sat in the middle of a clearing. The forest slowly reclaiming it.

OOC Ok I have the marching order as:

FRONT
Derry
Preston, Kara
Devin, Wyndham
BACK

Day 17. Time: 9:00am. Weather: Cloudy and dry. Vision: Daylight. Movement 20’

"Do you think it maybe had a basement?" Devin asked aloud.

He walked toward the tower to survey the stones.  It looked safe enough at the moment.

Before leaving Derry had bid adieu to Ms. Eadwynn Haute, regretting that his present circumstances did not permit him to extend her employment.

Grateful that they had not been waylaid by serpents or engulfed by giant toads, Derry joins Devin in poking about the ruins, looking for a way down since there was no way up, with something approaching a skip to his step.

It soon occurs to him that if they lurk about long enough that "sinister creatures" will probably show up and eat them all, dampening his mood considerably.

OOC 1 SP to pay the toll. 10 GP for a week's worth of rations.

Wyndham clutches his bow like a security blanket and glances around nervously while Devin and Derry survey the ruins.
"Probably a basement somewhere," he says in agreement with Devin.  "Otherwise, the long walk here wouldn't amount to... much."
Sensing Derry's apprehension, he adds, "How much longer before the giant bees or somesuch show up?"

"If the bees show up, then we will dine on royal jelly," Kara says her voice light, clearly happy to finally be exploring the tower ruin. Certain there would be a basement or dungeon, or even a root cellar, she also joined in looking for some concealed entryway; Preston on guard watching for any approaching threats.

DM:

I have the marching order as:
FRONT
Derry
Preston, Kara
Devin, Wyndham
BACK

That puts Kara way too close to the front. If something appears, Derry might not be able to stop them, and she might not be able to use her magic. So, if it is staying like that, than she will move behind Preston. Like so:
FRONT
Derry
Preston
Kara
Devin, Wyndham
BACK

However, I would recommend this:
FRONT
Derry
Devin, Preston
Kara
Wyndham
BACK

Derry and Devin have the best armor, and most enemies are likely to come from the front, so it makes the most sense for the best-protected people to be there.
That also preserves what people wanted- Devin not in the front rank, Windham in the back, Kara in the center-rear.


This message was last edited by the player at 06:33, Fri 07 Jan 2022.

The five explorers approached the ruins and found in the centre of what was once the tower’s ground floor was a rusty trapdoor with an attached iron pull ring.

OOC
Day 17. Time: 9:00am. Weather: Cloudy and dry. Vision: Daylight. Movement: 20’

With an abundance of caution, Wyndham ties one end of his 48' of rope to the iron pull ring. He then steps back about 10' from trapdoor. If there are no objections from the rest of party, Wyndham kindly asks everyone to step back apace. Then he attempts to pull open the trapdoor.

Devin has no objections to standing well back.  He vividly remembered the last time the man had "helped" him out.

In reply to Devin Harper (msg # 8):

"Devin, you're not still sore about that fire-trap thing, are ya? Yeah, sorry about all that. I know it ain't kind to say but the way you erupted in flame and started smoking? Whew! I was fearing some orcs would come by looking for barbecue or somethin'! Good thing I managed to spot that trigger so we didn't blow up again on the way out, eh?"
This message was last edited by the player at 01:44, Sat 08 Jan 2022.

Taking heed of his warning, Kara and Preston will step well back.

Kara looks through the ruins to see if anything remains here, hidden and not found since the tower's destruction.
Preston remains on guard.

Devin turned away and gave himself a wider berth from the man.  He'd all but admitted he'd done it on purpose!  It was no wonder they'd all fared so poorly on these sojourns with such backstabbing and ire.

Cautious Wyndham tied his rope to the iron pull ring and at a distance tugged. He heaved and pulled then the trapdoor swung open.

The ruins except for moss and forest debris was bare. The stone worn from what might have been hundreds of years weather and the encroaching forest.

Derry lights a torch and gives it to Kara to hold. Then he sees about descending into the tower's basement if that's what it is.

Taking the torch, Kara stated, "I had been assuming that it had been unexplored, and we would thus be facing golems, undead, and vermin primarily- things that could exist without need of the seal being broken. But it did not look particularly difficult to raise the trapdoor, something one would not expect if it had been unmolested for decades. That might indicate that the checkered bandits, or orcs, or some other such beings might be within."

She looked to the sky. "The storm would have washed away any evidence here on the outside, but as we go in, perhaps tracks in the dust of ages, or the absence of such dust, might suggest if this theory is sound."


(ooc)
I assume Kara found nothing of interest while looking outside? If so, she and Preston will move on with the others.

Wyndham gathers his rope while keeping an eye out for anything resembling an ambush.

The trapdoor open the dwarf Derry went to explore whilst the others prepared themselves.

He found that the open rusty trapdoor led down to the niter encrusted steps of a spiral stairway. It was dark below and the Derry could only see far as the curve of the stairs would allow him.

OOC That’s right, Kara nor anyone else found anything of interest above ground.

Devin lit a torch of his own off of the one Kara held and followed after Derry.

Wyndham followed Devin down the stairs.