Day 3 - The Thayan Threat
Having laid out a plan, the group set forth to explore the locations they had not yet seen.
In the room next to the cistern, they found the door open when they arrived, and remembered the Thayans that had snuck up on them when they were in the hallway above. The room itself was a storeroom that had partially been converted to living quarters with a pair of bunks against the walls while barrels and crates filled the southern half of the room. A quick look around the room yields some coin and a couple of gems.
33 sp, 19 gp, and two garnets valued at 10 gp each.
With no sign of other valuables, or threats, the group pushed on.
Sakamoto listens at the door for a moment, then reports that he heard a shuffling of feet. No sign of a lock was present, so the group decided a fast push was the proper way. Sakamoto threw open the door as Khorth and Akyra rushed in, Ariadne backing them up with her sling. As the door opened, you see the long room is partitioned into three areas, with iron bars walling off the north and south. Filthy straw lines the floors of the cells, and hinged doors secured by chains and padlocks. A disheveled human man is held in the cell to the south, while a young human boy occupied the cell in the north. Both of the prisoners are dressed in plain gray tunics and have iron collars fitted around their necks, and a heap of discarded clothing is piled carelessly against the far wall between two Thayan guards.
One of the guards sits in a chair, chin-to-chest, asleep. The other was leaning against the wall with his eyes half open. When the door opened, the standing guard stood to attention and slapped the shoulder of the one sitting next to him. The standing guard barely had time to register that you weren't who he expected before Khorth's sword took him in the throat and life left his eyes. The sleeping guard hadn't had time yet to wipe the sleep from his eyes and try to stand before Windfall was sheathed in the man's skull.
Sakamoto quickly found the key to the cells and freed the two prisoners, who thanked you profusely. The man was a merchant and artificer, and the boy was his son. They've been malnourished and treated somewhat roughly, but all in all they are still in decent health. "If you would be so kind as to retrieve our belongings, just there..." Ariadne helped them with their clothes from the pile in the far wall. As the man got dressed he tore off a pocket that was sewn onto the sleeve of his shirt and unfolded the fabric of it several times over, which was several times more than it logically should have been able to, before he reached into the fabric and retrieved a hard leather satchel. "A gift, for our rescue." He opened the flap and showed you the dark velvet lining inside. The main pocket was split in two by another piece of the hard leather, one side larger than the other by half.
"Both sides lead to an extra-dimensional space that holds far more than you think. This larger side, here, works purely as storage. Put the things you wish to keep and carry in here, and they will be there for you whenever you need them. Just think of the item you want when you reach in and it will find its way to your hand on its own. In the smaller side, here, you put things in but they won't come back out. This side has another opening, which is in my shop in Neverwinter. Any item you put in this small side will be transported to my shop, and belongs to me. Now, when I get those items from you, I'll give you a fair value it. Weapons, armor, magical items, gemstones, jewelry, anything I can actually sell. I'll transfer coins to match that value into the holding side, so you can reach in for the coins anytime you like and they'll be there waiting for you."
This bag is considered a bag of holding and as a functional traveling vendor. Any items you find can be put into the bag and instantly sold for 50% of their listed sales price. The man and his son agree to follow your instructions for leaving this cellar.
The duo keep themselves well back and out of harm's way as you explore the final corner of the cellar.
Sakamoto finds the previously shut door is now open. Inside is a bedchamber, the walls covered with drapes of scarlet cloth and the symbol of the Thayans. The furnishings include a small writing desk with matching chair, a comfortable-looking bed, and a wooden chest at the foot of the bed. The chest is open and its contents strewn out onto the bed, mostly clothing. Ariadne spots a bit of rolled parchment and discovers a pair of magical scrolls. Scroll of Cause Fear and Scroll of Animate Dead
Another door sits ajar on the western wall, leading to another room. This one appears to be a wizard's workshop. A large worktable is set up in the middle of the room with alembics, retorts, distillation coils, and other alchemical devices, some still stewing and bubbling away. Bookshelves are crowded with sheaves of parchment and a variety of tomes.
Most of what you see on the table is worthless, but there are three bottles of preserved ingredients that you might be able to sell to someone who knows what they are and what they can do with them. Three mystery ingredients, each worth 25 gp each.
