Beryl grips her quarterstaff tightly, wondering what might happen this time. "Dial it in!"

Aranor nods his head. "Do it. My mind is my own again thankfully. I just hope there's no more gas this time." 

Pru dials the last ruin to spell out the word Family. There's dead silence. No smell of a gaseous cloud, no waiver in the still air at all.

Suddenly there's a sound of metal on metal grinding. The room feels like it's shaking a bit, the tapestries shake a bit. The floor beneath Pru starts to shift. Out of nowhere, the stone flooring slides away in a mechanical clock like movement, revealing a narrow passage with a ladder. As it jars to a full stop, the wall behind you starts to open back into the room where you first entered.

"Great job, Pru!" the high elf exclaims as the secret ladder is revealed. "I'll take the lead."

With a resolute look to his face, Aranor starts to descend the ladder into the depths below.

Pru claps her hands together once the passage opens and the ladder down is revealed. 

"Careful, Ari," she says as the knight goes down the ladder.

Once his head drops below the level of the floor, Pru swings her short legs over the edge and quickly follows.

Beryl grins and follows Aranor and Pru down the ladder. "Family. Much better than Dragon!" she whispers.

I wonder what Shadow would have done, she muses to herself.

As Aranor makes his way to the bottom of the shaft, he makes way  for everyone. A large wooden chest with iron bands and a large lock, sits against the far wall. The room is approx 10x10. As everyone gathers in the small room, the chest is the only thing there. The air here is chilled. It almost smells like the medicinal ointments.

Aranor wrinkles his nose at the smell. "Oh great, probably another puzzle," he grouses. "We probably shouldn't touch the chest right  away."

As the others join him in the room, he looks down at Pru with a quizzical look and says, "Did you call me Ari?" He looks puzzled by this as if no one has ever given him a nickname before.

Pru ducks under Aranor's arm and kneels down beside the chest.

She looks back over her shoulder.

"Yes. Aranor is very noble and all and makes you sound very important, but really takes forever to say," Pru says. "Now give me some room, Ari."

She brings the Dancing Lights back up and positions them around the chest, providing as much light as possible, as she examines the seems and lock for any sign of traps.

Perception: 22  

No traps detected.

Pru looks back up at the others.

"I don't think there are any traps on the chest," she says her nose wrinkling still at the odors from the gas from the room above. Then she looks at the lock and pulls on it a couple of times.

"I've tinkered with locks now and again," Pru says with a large smile. "But I don't have any tools on me."

She pulls a small knife from a pocket.

"I could try this, but," she pauses and nods at the large blades the warriors carry, "a good whack with one of those might do the trick better."

The high elf's face seems torn between indignation and pleased at Pru's explanation. "I...well, I've never had a nickname before...thank you," he manages to say rather awkwardly. 

Aranor nods at Pru's suggestion. "Stand back," he says. Once the chest is clear he brings down his longsword upon the lock.

The lock breaks free and tumbles to the floor with an unusual louder than normal clang. Lifting the lid, the big iron bands give a creak. The hinges feel a bit stiff, not knowing how long the chest has been here exactly here.

Inside the chest are 5 volumes of books, pristine ceremonial garb and a handful of other things. Looking through the books, one stands out above the others is a family history of the Bridgehill family. Quickly thumbing through you can see that the Bridgehill family goes back at least 5 generations. Some of the distant relatives names sort of ring a bell. Names like Vell and Daanaath. On the last page of the tree are the names of Yvonne and Jasper Bridgehill and their daughter Janeka and granddaughter Elise.  It seems as if someone has been watching over the family long after Yvonne and Jasper had passed.

Pulling out the ceremonial garb, it seems as though it were just made and put away. The deep purple and teal colors are accented in a crimson red laced trim. Under the garb sites a handful of what looks like family heirlooms. Small ivory and marble statues. A small finely crafted, etched silver hand mirror. A few other precious ornaments and jewelry sit in smaller boxes.

OOC: All of the heirlooms, if taken, are worth about 200GP

Pru peers around Aranor and looks at the contents of the chest.

"We shouldn't leave these here," Pru says, as she runs her hands over the small mirror and the other heirlooms. "Someone might nick them."

She turns her attention to the robe, looking at it carefully.

"Think this could be a wizardy, necromancery robe?" she asks the others.

Arcana? to see if there's anything 'special' about the robe: 16 

"yeah, we should nick em before they get to it"

Aranor glances at the robes and shakes his head. "I'm afraid I'm not much help on such matters but perhaps," he offers. He is more entranced by the heirlooms, especially the hand mirror. It's exquisite, even finer than his own back home. He resists the urge to take the mirror and glance at his reflection. "Let's take this treasure and continue our search for the kidnapped children, though I'm becoming increasingly disheartened at the lack of any signs of their presence here."

Quote from Thoradin_Orcbender >>

Pru peers around Aranor and looks at the contents of the chest.

"We shouldn't leave these here," Pru says, as she runs her hands over the small mirror and the other heirlooms. "Someone might nick them."

She turns her attention to the robe, looking at it carefully.

"Think this could be a wizardy, necromancery robe?" she asks the others.

Arcana? to see if there's anything 'special' about the robe: 16 

The garb is a high end ritualistic adornment. Nothing really "special" about it other than the fine silks it's made of.

Pru looks around the small room some more.

”Seems like a lot of security for a few books and a couple of baubles.” Pru says.

She slips the book with the family tree into her pack, along with the heirlooms for safe keeping and then walks around the edges of the room, running her hand along the stone, looking for concealed doorways or nooks.

Perception: 14  

Looks like the only way out is back up the ladder.

"Back up, I guess." Beryl sighs. "Interesting information, but no closer to finding anyone."