Tyde, you find a key on Grimjaw's body.  It's made of black iron, and looks like it could unlock some sort of gate or something.  You find several stacks of reports on his desk as well, mostly about the state of supplies for the keep.  There are also reports from bandits in the surrounding area about what loot they've taken, with entries like "Wagonload of flour, near B."  Finally, there's a single odd sheet of paper with a note about the arrival of a "band of troublemakers," 4 humans and a half-elf.  The note is written in unusual handwriting, mixing block letters and script.

Rubin, you find a secret door behind Grimjaw's seat.  There are no traps visible on it, and it opens onto a spiral staircase leading down.

There are also two doorways at the back of the room, one on each side.

"Found a secret door here."  Rubin tells the others.  He nods to the other normal doors as well.  "We have three choices it seems.  I guess I'd suggest the secret one, as those tend to lead somewhere people tend to not want you to go."

(So are you going down the staircase behind the secret door?)

Quote from Brian_Avery >>

"There's also reports about supplies in the keep, bandit's loot from nearby raids, and this odd sheet," Tyde now holds up the odd sheet for the others to see. "It mentions some troublemakers, a band of 4 humans and a half-elf. It has a strange mix of block letters and script."

"WELL, that explains why he was so quick to arm against us..." Kethra will crumple the note onto one of the plates on the table then set it alight using one of the room's torches, and lets it burn as she hangrily eats all of the goodberries Rubin grew. When it's done, she scatters the ashes.

"I mean...the writing is weird, but I'd rather not let one of the lackeys find the note. Not when no one in here knows about us, anyways. Actually, could you hold this for me? I think it'll be easier to explain if they see us with the Driftglobe..."

Kethra lights a torch and hands it to Mr. Tyde.

Quote from DragonDenn >>

When asked to make some goodberry he casts the spell and hands some over.

Then taking the guidance of the man who gave her food, Kethra descends down the secret staircase, testing each step with Grimjaw's old mace to see if anything gets set off. (Is the mace just a normal mace?)

""If Grimjaw went out of his way to spend all this money to hire a bunch of sellswords and repair a broken old keep...then there's probably more than a few secrets to hide down here."

(It's a maul, but it's normal.)

At the bottom of the stairs, you find a torchlit chamber where two boats bob in an underground stream. The stream flows toward daylight to the east and leads upstream into darkness toward the west.

"Always with the light..."  Rubin complains.  He would slip past the others, moving out into the lead, where his ability to blend into the darkness would not be hampered by the torch.  He would watch for traps and secret doors as he leads the way.

Perception:  13

(I assume someone else is keeping the magical dagger going forward.)

(Jairus will keep it for now.)

(Are you heading upstream then?  If so, it's a river.  There's no room to walk.)

After finding the place clear of danger, Kethra slides the seat back into place, rejoins the party, and asks the party if they're okay with taking a short rest. (OOC: I got 18/31 HP here and 0 ki points so I'd reaaaallly like to get some of those back.)

Kethra then motions to Rubin and Davian.

"You two, I need you to swim ahead upstream for us. From our experience, downstream is probably the grate we saw earlier. And from our experience...going deeper in caves in this area always turns up some kind of cultist activity. Stay on each other and help each other out."

Quote from DragonDenn >>

"Always with the light..."  Rubin complains.  He would slip past the others, moving out into the lead, where his ability to blend into the darkness would not be hampered by the torch.  He would watch for traps and secret doors as he leads the way.

"You see, the rest of us are going to need light to navigate our boat, but you don't need any of that light. And on the likely chance that some guards spot our light, you two can pop up and get the JUMP on them without having our light get in the way."

Kethra takes out an unlit torch and jokingly pokes Rubin with it. "Light, light, light!"

Her pale blue eyes delightedly dance in Mr. Tyde's flickering torchlight as she giggles at her own joke, but the light also give away the reflection of a shed tear and the split second of a sad face. She forces herself to smile and then addresses them sternly.

"...on the unlikely chance you guys get spotted by something out there, just tuck your head under the water, spread out your limbs so that the current will bring you back to us, and you knock into our little rowboat. We'll pull you up and keep you afloat by the boat and give you a bit of cover as we paddle to somewhere safe."

"Right?" she then asks the others.

To Mr. Tyde, Kethra will ask: "Can I ask you to hold the torch on the boat, keep an investigative eye out...and every now and then, mark an arrow on the wall so we can easily find our way back?"

To Jairus: "And you, Lord of Trappers, slayer of the legendary Man-boar, you're gonna help me paddle. Take the paddles from the other boat so they can't follow us."

When the party gets ready to move on, Kethra will fall behind, staring back and placing one hand on her heart as if quietly addressing a noble, unseen spirit above their heads, "I'll find your sword, master, I don't care how long it takes!"

(OOC: Oh right, a maul, sorry. ^^)

Rubin looks between the boat, the river, and the stairs they just came down.  "Sure we should continue this way?"  He asks the others with a frown.  "There is a lot of chambers back there we have yet to check out, and this seems to be taking us away from the keep..."

"So be it." Rubin says with a nod.

(Are you following Kethra's plan of swimming ahead?)

Kethra nods at Mr. Tyde's advice and addresses Rubin's concerns.

"Given our experience of cults taking their operations underground--I mean, we're two for two now! Lance Rock at the surface was a legitimate self-quarantine area from disease but it turned out that the disease was a cult raising zombies. Red Larch had a legitimate wagon shop at the surface and....you know, I still don't 100% understand what was going on there between the err Woe-Bringers and the orc 'punishing' the little boy with the Delver-worshippers there was at least 2 cults operating under the city!

With a tired smile Kethra gives Rubin one more poke with the unlit torch in her hands. "Can we count on you to scout ahead? Davian, you too!"

(I mean—legitimate as far as you can get with a couple of wooden signs and a hole in a rock.  And no disease.)

(Just want to make sure I have confirmation from the ahead scouts that they're going.  You could punch a hole in if you really didn't want them going after you.)

(And also, are we all fine with a short rest?)

Rubin glances to the water warily.  He was not a water person, the swim into the keep was one of the few times he had ever swam in his entire life.  He sighs as it becomes obvious they are doing this though.

"I can help scout, but not sure how useful that will be." he says with a shrug.  "What am I suppose to be looking for?  things in the water? Well those things will have me for dinner well before I will notice them, as I am fairly useless in water."

Davian let's his human form return. The swirl of mist around him now familiar to his travelling companions. "I take it that we are resting before heading down the river." He states more than enquires. Turning to Kethra - "Your plan is solid, but for the swimming. I fear my splashing would be quite pronounced as I, like Rubin, am not the strongest in the water. My wolf form may be more useful, but it will leave me quite exposed if someone was to spot us." He drops his head "but sadly I do not have a better plan. If you wish Lady, I will swim ahead."

((He takes the short rest while trying to think of an alternative. And apologies for my absence))

(Anyone who wants to can roll hit dice.  Once you're done with that I'll continue, with the assumption that Rubin and Davian scout ahead.)

Ready to move onward.

Short rest: 14

Quote from DragonDenn >>

Rubin glances to the water warily.  He was not a water person, the swim into the keep was one of the few times he had ever swam in his entire life.  He sighs as it becomes obvious they are doing this though.

"I can help scout, but not sure how useful that will be." he says with a shrug.  "What am I suppose to be looking for?  things in the water? Well those things will have me for dinner well before I will notice them, as I am fairly useless in water."

"Swimming? But you're a natural! And you did so much better than me earlier. Anyways, just keep an eye out, and get the jump on anything that tries to attack. Since I'm going to be paddling so I'm going to be at the front of the big boat of light as a target to draw them away so you better take good care of us, alright?"

(OOC: So just to make things scotch...scotch tape clear, Kethra is trying to accommodate Rubin's complaint to have more time in the spotlight err, have a chance to shine I mean, have his moment in the darkness. ^^)

(Kethra has no reason to believe there are things hidden in the water. But she is expecting guards. Underwater or not, what hopefully the torchlight will likely get the attention of any guards down here, letting Rubin and Davian get the jump on whatever.)

Quote from LordShadowthorn >>

(I mean—legitimate as far as you can get with a couple of wooden signs and a hole in a rock.  And no disease.)

(lol, good point)

(Will update tonight.)

Kethra organizes the group, and Rubin and Davian both prepare to swim ahead.  The rest get into the boat, and start rowing towards the inky blackness.

Rolling Jairus's usual perception check: 18

(Anyone else who would like to roll can do so.  If you don't have darkvision it'll be at disadvantage (Jairus's should have been but it doesn't matter anyways).)