Detect Thoughts: "And whille I am upstairs would be the perfect time to-"
Knock
Knock
Knock
Mr. Shep looks up in surprise at the knocking from upstairs, followed by the tinkling of the door bell and foot steps just barely heard through the dirt floor. "Aahh, another guest!" he beams. "Busy night tonight, hehe. I'lll be right back, and with those mugs!"
He hurries past everyone on his way to the ladder and begins climbing up.
Marion in the meantime lights a few candles in the room and checks for a trail of some kind coming from the sacs. Seeing nothing, she then regards the stack of chairs and tables. The long shadows cast by the flickering light make it too difficult for her weary eyes to make out any holes in the wall beyond, and she considers whether she has the energy to begin to unstack the cluttered pile.
On the other side of the room, Joren begins examining the wall and looking behind the cots, his half-dwarven eyes more accustomed to the dim lighting.
Upstairs:
Vilus looks around with his hood lowered and sees the neatly kept common room of the inn. Over to the right, he sees the trapdoor to the cellar hanging open. He hears a few muffled voices from downstairs, and some movement above, and then hears the thunk thunk of someone climbing the ladder from below. Jon Shep comes into view with a wide grin and says, "Ah, helllo! Another guest! I was just setting up another group downstairs. We are alll out of rooms, but there are some spare beds down there if you are llooking for a pllace to spend the night, as long as you don't mind a few rats?" He heads behind the bar and grabs a few mugs from underneath. Popping back up, he smiles again, trying to peer under Vilus's hood. (Vilus make a perception check, DC 16)
Vilus feels he his where he is meant to be, though he is unsure of the situation. Is he here for the smiley man? The building? One of the guests? Or something below?
The darkness creeping about the edges of the room, even in the flickering candlelight, does nothing to ease Malachi’s mind, especially as the innkeeper continues to act suspicious. Malachi hesitates, unsure of how much to trust, and share, with his new friends. Then, the innkeeper leaves them and returns upstairs, saving him from a difficult decision for now.
"He's lying. His name is not Jon Shep, I am fairly certain of it and he means to do something while he is upstairs. I don't know what he wants from us, but there is more to this than just rats. Be on your guard."
Malachi, still by the door, reached up to grab the lock and key hanging there, sliding them into his pocket. He is not sure why this door is locked, maybe the rats, but he does not want to become locked inside. He peers in the corners of the room, looking for signs of the rats, or more importantly any restraining devices, debris from previous 'guests', or any other sign this could be a trap.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Perception 10"I don't think I'll be needing a bed, not been able to sleep much recently, I do however want to know about this place, it's history or significance, something important resides within these walls, that's what brought me here" Vilus' voice is rough and gravelly, he clears his throat once he is done speaking but to no avail.
Looking from the smiling man around the bar something seems off, the establishments that Vilus is used to frequenting are sometimes quiet and secretive but never this empty, especially when the man boasts a full house with no vacancies.. this doesn't sit well with Vilus and he keeps himself guarded (insight for determining the intentions and possible next move of the barman. 4)
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Ashley listens to Malachi and a feeling of dread comes over her. They faced and beat those cursed mountains to end up here? And it gave the illusion of a place of rest and recuperation. While the rest start filing into the room with cots, Ashley hangs back and checks out the first room in the basement.
Perception 10
If she sees nothing of note, she looks up at the trap door and listens for a bit to what may be transpiring up there, and she's happy to see that the trap door is still open.
Turning from the pile of tables, chairs and other furniture she was about to begin clearing through, Marion looks at Malachi, her expression stern. "What proof do you have for such an accusation? This man has offered us shelter and rest without asking more of us than to help him with a simple rodent problem, I pray you do not make this claim without reason my friend."
Malachi is surprised and a little taken aback when Marion confronts him. Maybe he is overtired and his mind is playing tricks on him. No, he thinks, I know what I heard. He turns to Marion and puts his hand out in front of him, palm out. “Peace, good knight. I know people and can sense these things, sometimes. Look around you, an inn in the middle of nowhere with no rooms to spare, but no people about. An innkeeper who is a little too excited to lead us to his cellar. Not all is as it appears. I simply urge caution, that is all.”
Samir lapses into silence as the group begins going about their business. He himself begins thinking through what he might be able to do about rats, chastising himself for a moment since in reality he knows nothing about such tasks and is certainly no rat-catcher. He is brought from his reverie,however, by Malachi and Marion's words, his expression becoming troubled.
"W-well, I did hear something from upstairs just vefote I climbed down the ladder, so it would seem that we are not entirely alone. But why would he lie about such a thing?"
Samir's eye drift nervously towards where the innkeeper disappeared, unconsciously adjusting his glasses.
Vilus: Insight for determining the intentions and possible next move of the barman. 20 18
Looking around at the situation, and then at the bartender, a few things occur to Vilus. Being the only building for miles, near the safest place to cross the Shield Mountains, the man seems to be in the perfect position to extort desperate and exhausted travelers with nowhere else to go, and from the bartender's smile, he seems to know it. Vilus sees evidence of recent guests in the skewed chairs and crumbs of cheese at one of the tables, along with some muddy bootprints, but it seems odd to Vilus that the place would see enough business coming through the pass this late in the year to be full up.
Looking at the bartender himself, Vilus doesn't detect any malice or aggression lurking beneath the smile. Nevertheless, his gut tells him to be on guard. There is just something off. Perhaps the accent, which Vilus has never heard. Though Vilus is no stranger to unique accents living in Talmouth, this far inland the people tend to all be locals to Cambria. The man seems caught off guard by Vilus's questions about the building, but he regains his composure quickly. "Welll I am dealling with some patrons right now," he says, holding up the mugs. "But you're free to come allong and I'lll telll you what history I can on our way down. Maybe give you a quick tour." With that, he walks over to the trapdoor and starts stepping down, leaning forward against the ladder to keep balance since his hands are otherwise occupied. "I arrived here a couplle of years ago, the same way many of my customers do, and I decided there needed to be a pllace to stay..." His voice begins to muffle as he disappears out of sight.
Downstairs:
Ashley Perception 3
Ashley and Malachi look around in the dark cellar, worried about what they may find. As they do so, Ashley overhears the gravelly voice of a stranger upstairs talking to the man Malachi says is not Jon. Samir likewise picks up on the exchange. The newcomer says something about the building's history, and makes mention of something about the walls? Not-Jon mentions a tour, and Ashley sees his form darken the opening at the trapdoor as he starts climbing down holding the mugs. "... for the peoplle braving the mountain pass. Now I won't llie to you. I'd never llie. It's not cheap, keeping a business running this far out, but the peoplle are willling to pay welll, and sometimes I llet them do odd jobs for me if their money is tight. I never turn away a guest..."
Malachi Perception: 6.
For Malachi's part, what his search turns up is... boring. Disappointingly so. He finds a couple of rat droppings in a corner that perhaps not-Jon had missed while cleaning. But besides that, not a thing appears out of place. It looks exactly like he would expect an inn cellar to look, except cleaner. Between his fruitless search, his exhaustion, and Marion's confrontation, he nearly starts to second guess himself, but he maintains his suspicions. From what he has heard in the man's thoughts, something definitely feels off to him. Why would he lie about his name? Nevertheless, when Not-Jon descends the ladder, Malachi has yet to find anything suspicious or incriminating. He is perhaps unsure whether to feel frustrated or relieved.
Meanwhile Joren continues his search for the rats. After a brief time, he triumphs. There, in the wall is a hole just large enough for a rat to get through. He had missed it originally, because rather than tunneling into the base of the wall, it was high up in the corner beside the bookshelf. Subtle claw marks where the two walls were just grooved enough to provide purchase for a small rodent were what tipped him off to look up.
Joren: (Perception: 23/23)
Joren begins to turn to the others to point out his discovery when he catches a rat in his peripheral, jumping from the bookshelf at his head. He swings his sword, already unsheathed, at the rat, but it is too unwieldy to strike. The swing does cause the rat to glance off his armour, finding no purchase. It lands on the ground and quickly scurries off down the wide rough stone passageway behind the bookshelf.
Joren shakes himself, realizing it seems he had slipped into another waking dream in his exhaustion. About to grumble to the others about how tired he is, he stops when a detail from his 'dream' sticks in his mind. It's at that moment that the bartender reaches the bottom of the ladder, continuing his spiel for the stranger upstairs.
Joren shakes his head as if to clear it. Am I going mad?
He often lacks the mental sharpness to finesse things at his best, and he's far from his best right now. So he just sticks with what he saw.
"Smrdět! A cheeky krysa, ah... rat. A rat was just jumping at me from that bookshelf in the corner, and then running back along the ground before I could be striking it. Back to the same corner, yet... yet, where I thought I had been seeing the rat hole there high up in the corner with the small claw marks.... when I am looking again at where it went, I am seeing there is a whole blasted stone passageway right there behind the bookshelf. Přísahám! I am swearing it on the honor of my parents."
Joren's speech is degenerating a bit into the foreign words and idioms he is familiar with from back in the Dalmodh Plains due to his exhaustion. He looks around somewhat frantically for support among what he hopes are his new friends.
It is only then that he realizes Shep has returned. And that his own damned echo is dawdling right beside him, sticking out like a sore thumb.
Vilus, flits from nodding in agreement to smiling at the bartender from under his hood "A tour would be quite satisfactory, I'm Silas, by the way" he mentions as they head toward and descend the ladder.
As he enters the cellar Vilus merely lifts a hand in greeting, wordlessly giving a nod of affirmation when looked upon by the group searching the cellar.
While Ashley is trying to hear what is going on upstairs and what she should expect from the newcomer, she hears Joren yelling from the other room. She heads in where the others are just as Not-Jon is heading down the ladder. Listening to the end of Joren's story, she looks at him, confused... "You saw a rat or a passageway? Oh! here he comes, with what Malachi has said, let's just stick with the rat until we are alone. And speaking of alone, he is bringing someone else with him. This should be interesting, normally I would care, but right now I just want sleep."
"...never indeed. After alll, there is allways room for them somewhere, and allways some way they can be usefull. Now as for what's behind the wallls of this pllace, I can't say it's much more than rats, but-" Not-Jon stops as he enters the second room and beholds the situation. All conversation stops as the man looks at each traveler in turn, and they look back at him. The smile does not fade from his face, but rather appears frozen on. His eyes linger a while on the frenzied-looking Joren standing beside the bookshelf, along with his echo image.
Malachi:
Detect Thoughts: Magic? Are there not one but TWO wiellders among them? And does the talll dwarf know about the passage?
"Am I interrupting something? Ahh, and did I perhaps miscount my guests?" He glances down at the mugs in his hands. Setting them down on a shelf nearby and reaching a hand to fiddle with the odd-shaped necklace hidden under his shirt he says, "My pardons, I don't seem to have enough mugs here for everyone. A good host would grab another mug and come down to deall with the alll the guests appropriatelly. If you'lll excuse me..." He turns and begins to head to the ladder.
Malachi:
Detect Thoughts: Come down to deall with alll the guests appropriatelly.
(Everyone make an insight check (DC: 16) or a perception check (DC: 13)) (They are for different things)
It's almost too much for his aching head and struggling body. Samir's thoughts flit from one thing to the next, like a sparrow among spring tree branches. Malachi's insights of their host. Joren's claims about a passage. Another traveler. Rats. Coincidences? No, he does not believe overly in such things. He believes in patterns, and connections, and the rules and flow of causation. His eyes drift to the innkeeper's hand as he once more touches whatever it is that lies beneath the cloth of his shirt. Samir himself adjusts his glasses, all the while trying to make out what it might be that the man was fiddling with, whatever sort of touchstone he may have hidden there. His mouth stays closed, however, as he feels that Ashley's advice is probably best and he does not know that he can trust himself not to say something they don't want shared.
Ashley sees that the smile on Not-Jon's face is frozen in place, it definitely does not reach his eyes. She wonders what he is thinking as he stopped in mid-sentence watching them. She calls out as he starts heading back up the ladder, "Wait! I do not think you miscounted. You are being a good host."
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Insight from Vilus as he wordlessly takes in the scene, he knows not to get involved with established groups and ongoing situations before he has worked out what exactly is happening, he takes a good long look at each humanoid withing his view, 15/6
Malachi gets a short boost of adrenaline, and worry, as he reads the innkeeper, who has returned with another guest. The dice have been cast, no use holding back now.
“Razmus, wait!” Malachi calls in a commanding tone as the man turns to the ladder, hoping that using his real name will unsettle the man enough to gain some small advantage “we have enough mugs. Why don’t you tell us about this hidden passageway and how you mean to ‘deal with us’”
Malachi keeps his eyes on the innkeeper, trying to gauge his intent, and calls out to the others. “Don’t let him go upstairs until we know more.”
Vilus comes down the ladder to see an odd of people, all looking weary and worn with damp clothes, muddy boots, and wind-burnt cheeks. A human and two half-dwarves all clad in heavy looking armour. A half-orc and a half-elf in travelling clothes, and what Vilus can only assume must be one of the Smoking Sands folk.
One of the half-dwarves is rambling in broken Common about a rat and a passageway, and then there is a silence. When the innkeeper makes his declaration and turns to go, the half-elf calls him Razmus and confronts him about a passage. Razmus freezes in place for a moment.
All Vilus can discern is that he has walked into an active situation that seems like it is just about to get complicated.
Samir:
Perception: 10/8
Samir watches the situation intently and silently, trying to fit together the pieces, the innkeeper, the passage, the stranger, the too-clean inn... His mind spins with questions when Malachi calls out the innkeeper.
Ashley:
Insight 18
Ashley senses a change in Not-Jon's demeanor, and feels a sudden tension in the air. A heavy silence. When the man makes his excuse to go upstairs, the words feel wrong. The way he words the sentence feels awkward and out of place. And Ashley, versed in magic, picks up on something hidden under the words. A stirring of power. A command. Is it connected to the hidden necklace he is touching?
Being in the far end of the cellar, under where the stairs on the level above sit, Joren is the first to hear the soft creaking of the stairs from above. One set of feet... two... three... no, six sets of feet. Still feeling a little lost in his fog of exhaustion, Joren thinks for a brief moment that he sees the bookcase flicker in a way that is familiar to him. It looks like his echo. As if for a split second, he is seeing an alternate possibility where the bookcase has been moved away from the wall. Was he really fading in and out of a waking dream, or was it something else? Then he turns back to regard the tense situation unfolding behind him, unsure what will happen now that his echo has been spotted.
Malachi:
Malachi can tell right away that there was something hidden in Razmus's last words. Something not aimed at the travelers. He can also see that the newcomer standing behind him appears entirely lost as to what is happening. When Malachi confronts Razmus, he sees the man stop and turn for a moment, clearly flustered. Malachi can see the conflict in his features and hear the tumbling thoughts in his head as he scrambles to buy time and deflect suspicions. He also hears a thought from someone else, though he hadn't intended to make contact with anyone other than the innkeeper.
Detect Thoughts???? "Passageway? oh!, now that's probably what I'm looking for."
As he wonders about the new thought intruding on his mind, he sees that Razmus has settled on resignation. The smile remains, but the eyes grow hard. He straightens, holds his hands out and takes a deep breathe as if he is about to explain everything, and the he opens his mouth and says one word, once again clutching the front of his tunic and speaking in that commanding other-tone.
"Faster"
He turns tail and sprints for the ladder, trying to brush past Vilus.
Suddenly there is noise from above. No one can miss the sound of light but quick footsteps scurrying across the floor from the stairs to the cellar door. There are mere seconds before they reach the opening.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Vilus, as the man makes a rush for the ladder, tries to slap one large hand on the man's shoulder restraining him from leaving so fast, Vilus is not aware of what is going on and hopes he isn't trapping a victim with this group but the one logical part of his brain sees that the group looks bedraggled and the person who seems to be the bartender is the only one here who posesses the opportunity for mundane manipulation of the situation, he is on his home turf, from what Vilus can gather (athletics STR 6)
Downstairs:
Malachi:
Detect Thoughts: "And whille I am upstairs would be the perfect time to-"
Knock
Knock
Knock
Mr. Shep looks up in surprise at the knocking from upstairs, followed by the tinkling of the door bell and foot steps just barely heard through the dirt floor. "Aahh, another guest!" he beams. "Busy night tonight, hehe. I'lll be right back, and with those mugs!"
He hurries past everyone on his way to the ladder and begins climbing up.
Marion in the meantime lights a few candles in the room and checks for a trail of some kind coming from the sacs. Seeing nothing, she then regards the stack of chairs and tables. The long shadows cast by the flickering light make it too difficult for her weary eyes to make out any holes in the wall beyond, and she considers whether she has the energy to begin to unstack the cluttered pile.
On the other side of the room, Joren begins examining the wall and looking behind the cots, his half-dwarven eyes more accustomed to the dim lighting.
Upstairs:
Vilus looks around with his hood lowered and sees the neatly kept common room of the inn. Over to the right, he sees the trapdoor to the cellar hanging open. He hears a few muffled voices from downstairs, and some movement above, and then hears the thunk thunk of someone climbing the ladder from below. Jon Shep comes into view with a wide grin and says, "Ah, helllo! Another guest! I was just setting up another group downstairs. We are alll out of rooms, but there are some spare beds down there if you are llooking for a pllace to spend the night, as long as you don't mind a few rats?" He heads behind the bar and grabs a few mugs from underneath. Popping back up, he smiles again, trying to peer under Vilus's hood. (Vilus make a perception check, DC 16)
Vilus feels he his where he is meant to be, though he is unsure of the situation. Is he here for the smiley man? The building? One of the guests? Or something below?
The darkness creeping about the edges of the room, even in the flickering candlelight, does nothing to ease Malachi’s mind, especially as the innkeeper continues to act suspicious. Malachi hesitates, unsure of how much to trust, and share, with his new friends. Then, the innkeeper leaves them and returns upstairs, saving him from a difficult decision for now.
"He's lying. His name is not Jon Shep, I am fairly certain of it and he means to do something while he is upstairs. I don't know what he wants from us, but there is more to this than just rats. Be on your guard."
Malachi, still by the door, reached up to grab the lock and key hanging there, sliding them into his pocket. He is not sure why this door is locked, maybe the rats, but he does not want to become locked inside. He peers in the corners of the room, looking for signs of the rats, or more importantly any restraining devices, debris from previous 'guests', or any other sign this could be a trap.
Perception: 6.
Perception 10 "I don't think I'll be needing a bed, not been able to sleep much recently, I do however want to know about this place, it's history or significance, something important resides within these walls, that's what brought me here" Vilus' voice is rough and gravelly, he clears his throat once he is done speaking but to no avail.
Looking from the smiling man around the bar something seems off, the establishments that Vilus is used to frequenting are sometimes quiet and secretive but never this empty, especially when the man boasts a full house with no vacancies.. this doesn't sit well with Vilus and he keeps himself guarded (insight for determining the intentions and possible next move of the barman. 4)
Ashley listens to Malachi and a feeling of dread comes over her. They faced and beat those cursed mountains to end up here? And it gave the illusion of a place of rest and recuperation. While the rest start filing into the room with cots, Ashley hangs back and checks out the first room in the basement.
Perception 10
If she sees nothing of note, she looks up at the trap door and listens for a bit to what may be transpiring up there, and she's happy to see that the trap door is still open.
Turning from the pile of tables, chairs and other furniture she was about to begin clearing through, Marion looks at Malachi, her expression stern. "What proof do you have for such an accusation? This man has offered us shelter and rest without asking more of us than to help him with a simple rodent problem, I pray you do not make this claim without reason my friend."
Malachi is surprised and a little taken aback when Marion confronts him. Maybe he is overtired and his mind is playing tricks on him. No, he thinks, I know what I heard. He turns to Marion and puts his hand out in front of him, palm out. “Peace, good knight. I know people and can sense these things, sometimes. Look around you, an inn in the middle of nowhere with no rooms to spare, but no people about. An innkeeper who is a little too excited to lead us to his cellar. Not all is as it appears. I simply urge caution, that is all.”
"Mr. Shep, then. I am Samir, a pleasure."
Samir lapses into silence as the group begins going about their business. He himself begins thinking through what he might be able to do about rats, chastising himself for a moment since in reality he knows nothing about such tasks and is certainly no rat-catcher. He is brought from his reverie,however, by Malachi and Marion's words, his expression becoming troubled.
"W-well, I did hear something from upstairs just vefote I climbed down the ladder, so it would seem that we are not entirely alone. But why would he lie about such a thing?"
Samir's eye drift nervously towards where the innkeeper disappeared, unconsciously adjusting his glasses.
Upstairs:
Looking around at the situation, and then at the bartender, a few things occur to Vilus. Being the only building for miles, near the safest place to cross the Shield Mountains, the man seems to be in the perfect position to extort desperate and exhausted travelers with nowhere else to go, and from the bartender's smile, he seems to know it. Vilus sees evidence of recent guests in the skewed chairs and crumbs of cheese at one of the tables, along with some muddy bootprints, but it seems odd to Vilus that the place would see enough business coming through the pass this late in the year to be full up.
Looking at the bartender himself, Vilus doesn't detect any malice or aggression lurking beneath the smile. Nevertheless, his gut tells him to be on guard. There is just something off. Perhaps the accent, which Vilus has never heard. Though Vilus is no stranger to unique accents living in Talmouth, this far inland the people tend to all be locals to Cambria. The man seems caught off guard by Vilus's questions about the building, but he regains his composure quickly. "Welll I am dealling with some patrons right now," he says, holding up the mugs. "But you're free to come allong and I'lll telll you what history I can on our way down. Maybe give you a quick tour." With that, he walks over to the trapdoor and starts stepping down, leaning forward against the ladder to keep balance since his hands are otherwise occupied. "I arrived here a couplle of years ago, the same way many of my customers do, and I decided there needed to be a pllace to stay..." His voice begins to muffle as he disappears out of sight.
Downstairs:
Ashley and Malachi look around in the dark cellar, worried about what they may find. As they do so, Ashley overhears the gravelly voice of a stranger upstairs talking to the man Malachi says is not Jon. Samir likewise picks up on the exchange. The newcomer says something about the building's history, and makes mention of something about the walls? Not-Jon mentions a tour, and Ashley sees his form darken the opening at the trapdoor as he starts climbing down holding the mugs. "... for the peoplle braving the mountain pass. Now I won't llie to you. I'd never llie. It's not cheap, keeping a business running this far out, but the peoplle are willling to pay welll, and sometimes I llet them do odd jobs for me if their money is tight. I never turn away a guest..."
For Malachi's part, what his search turns up is... boring. Disappointingly so. He finds a couple of rat droppings in a corner that perhaps not-Jon had missed while cleaning. But besides that, not a thing appears out of place. It looks exactly like he would expect an inn cellar to look, except cleaner. Between his fruitless search, his exhaustion, and Marion's confrontation, he nearly starts to second guess himself, but he maintains his suspicions. From what he has heard in the man's thoughts, something definitely feels off to him. Why would he lie about his name? Nevertheless, when Not-Jon descends the ladder, Malachi has yet to find anything suspicious or incriminating. He is perhaps unsure whether to feel frustrated or relieved.
Meanwhile Joren continues his search for the rats. After a brief time, he triumphs. There, in the wall is a hole just large enough for a rat to get through. He had missed it originally, because rather than tunneling into the base of the wall, it was high up in the corner beside the bookshelf. Subtle claw marks where the two walls were just grooved enough to provide purchase for a small rodent were what tipped him off to look up.
Joren: (Perception: 23/23)
Joren begins to turn to the others to point out his discovery when he catches a rat in his peripheral, jumping from the bookshelf at his head. He swings his sword, already unsheathed, at the rat, but it is too unwieldy to strike. The swing does cause the rat to glance off his armour, finding no purchase. It lands on the ground and quickly scurries off down the wide rough stone passageway behind the bookshelf.
Joren shakes himself, realizing it seems he had slipped into another waking dream in his exhaustion. About to grumble to the others about how tired he is, he stops when a detail from his 'dream' sticks in his mind. It's at that moment that the bartender reaches the bottom of the ladder, continuing his spiel for the stranger upstairs.
Joren shakes his head as if to clear it. Am I going mad?
He often lacks the mental sharpness to finesse things at his best, and he's far from his best right now. So he just sticks with what he saw.
"Smrdět! A cheeky krysa, ah... rat. A rat was just jumping at me from that bookshelf in the corner, and then running back along the ground before I could be striking it. Back to the same corner, yet... yet, where I thought I had been seeing the rat hole there high up in the corner with the small claw marks.... when I am looking again at where it went, I am seeing there is a whole blasted stone passageway right there behind the bookshelf. Přísahám! I am swearing it on the honor of my parents."
Joren's speech is degenerating a bit into the foreign words and idioms he is familiar with from back in the Dalmodh Plains due to his exhaustion. He looks around somewhat frantically for support among what he hopes are his new friends.
It is only then that he realizes Shep has returned. And that his own damned echo is dawdling right beside him, sticking out like a sore thumb.
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
Vilus, flits from nodding in agreement to smiling at the bartender from under his hood "A tour would be quite satisfactory, I'm Silas, by the way" he mentions as they head toward and descend the ladder.
As he enters the cellar Vilus merely lifts a hand in greeting, wordlessly giving a nod of affirmation when looked upon by the group searching the cellar.
While Ashley is trying to hear what is going on upstairs and what she should expect from the newcomer, she hears Joren yelling from the other room. She heads in where the others are just as Not-Jon is heading down the ladder. Listening to the end of Joren's story, she looks at him, confused... "You saw a rat or a passageway? Oh! here he comes, with what Malachi has said, let's just stick with the rat until we are alone. And speaking of alone, he is bringing someone else with him. This should be interesting, normally I would care, but right now I just want sleep."
"...never indeed. After alll, there is allways room for them somewhere, and allways some way they can be usefull. Now as for what's behind the wallls of this pllace, I can't say it's much more than rats, but-" Not-Jon stops as he enters the second room and beholds the situation. All conversation stops as the man looks at each traveler in turn, and they look back at him. The smile does not fade from his face, but rather appears frozen on. His eyes linger a while on the frenzied-looking Joren standing beside the bookshelf, along with his echo image.
Malachi:
Detect Thoughts: Magic? Are there not one but TWO wiellders among them? And does the talll dwarf know about the passage?
"Am I interrupting something? Ahh, and did I perhaps miscount my guests?" He glances down at the mugs in his hands. Setting them down on a shelf nearby and reaching a hand to fiddle with the odd-shaped necklace hidden under his shirt he says, "My pardons, I don't seem to have enough mugs here for everyone. A good host would grab another mug and come down to deall with the alll the guests appropriatelly. If you'lll excuse me..." He turns and begins to head to the ladder.
Malachi:
Detect Thoughts: Come down to deall with alll the guests appropriatelly.
(Everyone make an insight check (DC: 16) or a perception check (DC: 13)) (They are for different things)
It's almost too much for his aching head and struggling body. Samir's thoughts flit from one thing to the next, like a sparrow among spring tree branches. Malachi's insights of their host. Joren's claims about a passage. Another traveler. Rats. Coincidences? No, he does not believe overly in such things. He believes in patterns, and connections, and the rules and flow of causation. His eyes drift to the innkeeper's hand as he once more touches whatever it is that lies beneath the cloth of his shirt. Samir himself adjusts his glasses, all the while trying to make out what it might be that the man was fiddling with, whatever sort of touchstone he may have hidden there. His mouth stays closed, however, as he feels that Ashley's advice is probably best and he does not know that he can trust himself not to say something they don't want shared.
Perception: 10
(Forgot the disadvantage: 8)
Ashley sees that the smile on Not-Jon's face is frozen in place, it definitely does not reach his eyes. She wonders what he is thinking as he stopped in mid-sentence watching them. She calls out as he starts heading back up the ladder, "Wait! I do not think you miscounted. You are being a good host."
Insight 18
Insight from Vilus as he wordlessly takes in the scene, he knows not to get involved with established groups and ongoing situations before he has worked out what exactly is happening, he takes a good long look at each humanoid withing his view, 15/6
Malachi gets a short boost of adrenaline, and worry, as he reads the innkeeper, who has returned with another guest. The dice have been cast, no use holding back now.
“Razmus, wait!” Malachi calls in a commanding tone as the man turns to the ladder, hoping that using his real name will unsettle the man enough to gain some small advantage “we have enough mugs. Why don’t you tell us about this hidden passageway and how you mean to ‘deal with us’”
Malachi keeps his eyes on the innkeeper, trying to gauge his intent, and calls out to the others. “Don’t let him go upstairs until we know more.”
Insight (disadvantage) 7.
Perception (disadvantage) 8.
Joren Perception at disadvantage: 13
Tanis(Ranger1): Shiverquill's Tempest City | Xarian(Fighter2): NioNSwiper's Tyranny of Dragons
Dyson/Eleo(TwilightCleric4): Vos' Beyond the Veil | Soren(ShepherdDruid5): Bartjeebus' Ravenloft | Ophelia(WildMagicSorcerer4): Ashen_Age's Risen from the Sands
Joren(EchoKnightFighter6): NotDrizzt's Simple Request | Sabetha(MercyMonk3): Bedlymn's Murder Court | Seri(NatureCleric3/DivineSoulSorcerer1): Bartjeebus' Greyhawk
Vilus:
Vilus comes down the ladder to see an odd of people, all looking weary and worn with damp clothes, muddy boots, and wind-burnt cheeks. A human and two half-dwarves all clad in heavy looking armour. A half-orc and a half-elf in travelling clothes, and what Vilus can only assume must be one of the Smoking Sands folk.
One of the half-dwarves is rambling in broken Common about a rat and a passageway, and then there is a silence. When the innkeeper makes his declaration and turns to go, the half-elf calls him Razmus and confronts him about a passage. Razmus freezes in place for a moment.
All Vilus can discern is that he has walked into an active situation that seems like it is just about to get complicated.
Samir:
Samir watches the situation intently and silently, trying to fit together the pieces, the innkeeper, the passage, the stranger, the too-clean inn... His mind spins with questions when Malachi calls out the innkeeper.
Ashley:
Ashley senses a change in Not-Jon's demeanor, and feels a sudden tension in the air. A heavy silence. When the man makes his excuse to go upstairs, the words feel wrong. The way he words the sentence feels awkward and out of place. And Ashley, versed in magic, picks up on something hidden under the words. A stirring of power. A command. Is it connected to the hidden necklace he is touching?
Joren:
Being in the far end of the cellar, under where the stairs on the level above sit, Joren is the first to hear the soft creaking of the stairs from above. One set of feet... two... three... no, six sets of feet. Still feeling a little lost in his fog of exhaustion, Joren thinks for a brief moment that he sees the bookcase flicker in a way that is familiar to him. It looks like his echo. As if for a split second, he is seeing an alternate possibility where the bookcase has been moved away from the wall. Was he really fading in and out of a waking dream, or was it something else? Then he turns back to regard the tense situation unfolding behind him, unsure what will happen now that his echo has been spotted.
Malachi:
Malachi can tell right away that there was something hidden in Razmus's last words. Something not aimed at the travelers. He can also see that the newcomer standing behind him appears entirely lost as to what is happening. When Malachi confronts Razmus, he sees the man stop and turn for a moment, clearly flustered. Malachi can see the conflict in his features and hear the tumbling thoughts in his head as he scrambles to buy time and deflect suspicions. He also hears a thought from someone else, though he hadn't intended to make contact with anyone other than the innkeeper.
Detect Thoughts???? "Passageway? oh!, now that's probably what I'm looking for."
As he wonders about the new thought intruding on his mind, he sees that Razmus has settled on resignation. The smile remains, but the eyes grow hard. He straightens, holds his hands out and takes a deep breathe as if he is about to explain everything, and the he opens his mouth and says one word, once again clutching the front of his tunic and speaking in that commanding other-tone.
"Faster"
He turns tail and sprints for the ladder, trying to brush past Vilus.
Suddenly there is noise from above. No one can miss the sound of light but quick footsteps scurrying across the floor from the stairs to the cellar door. There are mere seconds before they reach the opening.
Vilus, as the man makes a rush for the ladder, tries to slap one large hand on the man's shoulder restraining him from leaving so fast, Vilus is not aware of what is going on and hopes he isn't trapping a victim with this group but the one logical part of his brain sees that the group looks bedraggled and the person who seems to be the bartender is the only one here who posesses the opportunity for mundane manipulation of the situation, he is on his home turf, from what Vilus can gather (athletics STR 6)
Athletics contest: 11
Rasmus squirms out of Vilus's grip before he can get a firm hold, and continues forward.