Barty's "Lost Mine of Phandelver"

OOC: I thought by secret door, you meant the secret door in the northern end of the cavern we entered in. I was wanting to go that way.

OOC: Yep, my mistake, I worded that poorly. Fixing soon.

Navigating back to the south, Argos works his way back through the cavern and storeroom without trouble, and re-enters Glasstaff's chambers through the now not-so-secret door. The room looks as it did before, the tidied bed and crimson curtains stained with Glasstaff's blood while his corpse lays cooled on the floor. At the foot of the bed, the chest remains opened, with a number of coins that were left for later.

After a thorough search of the room, beneath the bed, Argos finds an iron key.

Tarok puts his maul in it's sheath, deciding the cell's aren't going to budge.

"Well, that was less successful than I'd hoped. Not to worry, my dwarven associate is very capable. I'm sure he will be back soon. In the meantime, I can't imagine you've been treated particularly well here. Perhaps some you are in need of food?" Tarok says, taking off his backpack and producing some rations to share around.

The older woman refuses, but says, "Please, give them to my children. They need it more. I fear they'll never recover from this."

Despite her calm words, she can't stop glancing toward the door. "You really think your dwarf friend will be back soon?"

"I do ma'am. He is a trustworthy and noble soul. I have enough food to go around." Tarok says, handing out the food but prioritising the children. He looks at the children, attempting to discern the extent of their injuries.

Medicine: 14

Nemean smiles "Don't worry, Argos is very capable he'll find what we need to help get you out of here."

He thinks to himself to, "She is right to be nervous, these thugs are capable of more heinous acts than we had realized... we should be careful venturing out alone in this place..." 

"I'll go and see if he can use a hand, maybe I can help speed things up a bit." Nemean says as he heads out to find and accompany Argos. 

Argos returns to the jails, boasting the key in hand. "Found it. Now let's get these people out of here." Argos unlocks the cells.

Nemean runs into Argos in the hallway, returning from Glasstaff's chambers. The key slides seamlessly into both cell doors, freeing the three humans held captive within. The younger woman and the boy run to each other, sobbing. The older woman nervously wrings her hands as she addresses the group.

"I am eternally grateful. My name is Mirna. I have no money to repay you, but I may know where a valuable heirloom is hidden. When I was a young girl, I fled with my family from the town of Thundertree when it was overrun by undead. My family had an herb and alchemy shop. Inside, a case containing an emerald necklace was hidden beneath a section of storage shelves. I've never dared to return and retrieve it, but maybe it is better off in your hands. The shop was in the southeast part of Thundertree should you find yourselves there," she explains.

Sildar asks, "What is next? I would hate to ask them to remain here and wait for us. Would you like me to escort them back to town?"

Tracking:
Based on your exploration of the hideout, you know of two doors that remain unopened. A door to the north of the crypt, and a door to the west of the cistern.

"That's a good idea, Sildar. You take these good folks back into town." Cinis said.

"I doubt there's much more of interest in here, but might as well see what's in this room." Argos enters the north room in an attempt to discover what lies within.

"I would rather not ask them to shimmy across that pit on the way out in their current state," Sildar says. "I will hold back with them. Let me know if you find a better way out through there."

Argos opens the north door of the crypt to find a small, 15 foot long hallway. A single wooden door with iron handles stands to the east at the end of the hallway.

Argos enters the east doorway.

Argos pulls and pushes on the door, discovering that it is locked.

Argos attempts to open the locked door with the key.

The key also opens this door, revealing a small armory.

Racks of weapons line the walls of this chamber, including spears, swords, crossbows, and bolts. A dozen dirty red cloaks hang from hooks by the door.

Tarok follows Argos into the room and whistles. "Looks like this is where they keep their weapons. Anybody need anything?" he asks.

"Hmm, I still prefer my shortswords, the balance is just right. Looks like that's about all we'll find in here, let's get out of here." Argos heads back to the hole and jumps to the other side, then uses his rope to retrieve the Redbrand. After the Redbrand is up, Argos prepares to go down and get his shortswords and speaks to the Redbrand, "Alright, hold this rope. If you drop me or try to run, my friends here will help me up and I'll hunt you and kill you, got it?" Argos blatantly threatens the Redbrand and shoves the rope into his hands, looking at him menacingly one more time before climbing down and retrieving his shortswords.

Argos returns to the surface, "Looks like we'll need to find a way across this for the kids and woman. I think it would be safest if they climbed down the hole and back up the other side." Argos takes out his rope and tosses one end down the hole. "Someone else throw their rope down and let them climb down, then they can climb up mine to get across."

Tarok takes a longsword from one of the racks and attaches the scabbard to his belt before following Argos out of the room.

Neman purusues the weapons but doesn’t find anything of use. 

He accompanies Argos to the pit. “I can help the freed prisoners climb in and out to make sure they do not get hurt.” He offers as he starts unraveling a rope from his pack.