The room appears to be a dining hall, you guess for either the guards or the staff as the one you first visited was more and likely for the lord and ladies. Three rows of long tables and benches are in this room that is fifteen feet wide, and thirty feet long. There are doors on either end of the room (N and S). There are plates, bowls and cups on the tables, however there are signs that whoever was in here, left in a hurry as the benches are pushed back, and meals left on the tables.
Vrox says, "I expect that the stairs by the wine cellar at the other end of the hall lead right up to the chapel or to a room near it. I wonder whether the servants who were eating here fled to the chapel: they may be the ones we found in the massacre there."
It seems that the only paths to continue the exploration of the current level are the doors to the north and south of the dining hall...
Khessa goes to open the south door.
Vrox stows his shield and finally takes out his longbow again. He doesn't really expect to find any demons on this level, but he remains in the servant's dining hall, ready to take cover and support Khessa from a distance.
Tyekanik follows Khessa into the dining hall. The larger space fits his Huge size (still raging) better, but he bumps into the furniture, pushing back chairs even entire tables as he moves through the room. He sees Khessa check the door to the south, and -- eager to confirm that this level is empty and to get back to chopping down demons -- he moves to the north door.
Tyek waits a moment for Khessa to the door to the south. Assuming that she does not immediately find enemies to fight there, he opens the door to the north.
The door to the south opens into the guard's barracks. A corridor goes forward for 15 feet to a spiral staircase going up. To the right is the opening to a bay with 5 rooms per side. Each room has 2 beds with footlockers. The rooms are empty.
The door to the north opens into a room that is 15 by 15, there is another door on the north side, and an opening to the right. The furnishing in this outer room are tables, chairs and a couch. To the right you can see beds in here are slightly better than normal, more and likely quarters for lieutenants. There are four bed sections with footlockers, but no people.
The door on the north end opens into what appears to be the castle's chamberlain's office and room, split in half. It is well organized, neat in appearance, nothing seems out of place, other than there is no one here.
The door on the north end opens into what appears to be the castle's chamberlain's office and room, split in half. It is well organized, neat in appearance, nothing seems out of place, other than there is no one here.
While the others finish confirming that there's nothing in this area, Vrox searches the chamberlain's office. He wonders whether the chamberlain kept any records of what was really going on at the castle or maybe some map or note that shows hidden doors or passageways within the castle. The chamberlain might have his own hidden door for leaving his room without going through the main servant dining hall. If nothing else, maybe the chamberlain's keys are here. (They haven't found any locked doors yet, but it's possible that there are some on the castle's upper levels.)
If the party doesn't find any threats here or any clues that would help them, Vrox is ready to try the stairs on the north of the main hallway, near the wine cellar gate.
If any of the food still looks fresh and unspoiled, Tyekanik has a snack in the servants' dining hall while he waits for the others to finish exploring. "No reason to let good food and drink go to waste."
The lich begins poking around as well (Investigation: 17; passive 21), though apparently he isn't as good a detective as Vrox
Vrox would actually suggest checking out the wine cellar at the other end of the hall. "Nothing attacked us there, and we wanted to clear the rest of the rooms first. But the gate limits the view of that alcove, so a clever servant might hide from the cult there. In fact, if we were in a fey lord's castle, I wouldn't be surprised to find that the casks and barrels of wine are all an illusion that hides what's really in that room."
Khessa takes Vrox's suggestion and goes to check the wine cellar, possibly checking the contents of some barrels and trying to move a few more - but in her heart she supposes that the lord of this castle is anything but a fey - and that therefore the sad reality is that these deserted quarters are nothing more than the natural consequence of the sacrifices and massacres that followed after the Nefarious Duo was able to manifest their influence.
The gate to the wine cellar is unlocked, and opens easily and swings in. The larger casks of wine are on the ends, while the bottles are on shelves set almost like bookshelves parallel to the wall. As you begin your search, you detect as you get towards the south end, human whispers and "shhhh" sounds.
Khessa can hardly believe such an incredibly beautiful prospect as there are survivors - but the whispers give her hope... She, fearing that she might frighten any miserable survivors and induce a dangerous escape, puts away her weapons and, showing the palms of her empty and open hands, says, in a calm and friendly tone: "You can come out, people, there are no more demons left here, on this floor of the castle. Sir Sparhawk, knight of the Pandion Order, and we his friends came to your aid, as soon as we heard what happened. You know Sir Sparhawk, don't you?" and she calls the Pandion, both with her voice and with broad gestures of the arm "Come out. We'll keep you safe".
There are more whispers, then three pages stick their heads out, then seeing it's you, slowly make their way out in the open. "You're real right, not an illusion?" Asks one of the boys, "one of those demons or devils, or whatever they are, trying to take advantage of us like the others?"
Khessa smiles and approaches, always (exceptionally) without weapons in hand: "Touch me, if you are afraid that I am not real..." and indeed, she takes the initiative herself and, advancing slowly so as not to scare them, reaches the pages and embraces them, moved, one by one, kissing them on the cheek.
"I can't imagine how much you have been through, boys..." the blonde arcane warrior tries to comfort them "But you will see, the worst is over, we have come to free this place... and the work is proceeding quickly! After all, could you expect less, from Sir Sparhawk?" she winks, banking on the fame of the legendary local hero to instill courage in them.
"How long have you been hiding here?" the tall adventuress finally tries to find out if the pages may be aware of useful details "Do you by any chance know of other survivors?"
You can see the fear in the boy's eyes. "We have been hiding since those monster things began running through the castle. We were serving at the Duke's special lunch for his new friends, and had come here for more wine, when we heard the call to arms."
He turns and points towards the dining area at the end of the hall. "All of the guardsmen left their meals, to answer the call. They were rushing past us on the stairs when we came here. We were in here when the monsters came and started grabbing everyone and dragging them downstairs."
The other two boys nod in agreement. "Ralphie here ran over and shut the gate, and then we hid back here. Them monsters only looked inside here, never opened the gate."
The boy identified as Ralphie adds, "There was so much screaming, they just grabbed everyone, speaking in a weird language that I couldn't understand."
Khessa has a dark suspicion... "These 'new friends'... Were they a man and a woman? What did they look like? And do you remember their names - what the Duke called them?"
The blonde arcane warrior is momentarily afraid that the Nefarious Duo has managed to physically manifest themselves and get invited to lunch by the Duke... She hopes that the two do not yet have the power to do so... but she cannot help but ask her own question to try to verify.
Granted that Flute warned that they are 'cheating' (and the tall adventuress herself sees nothing wrong with cheating a little herself, when she can), but... well... being able to interfere so deeply, it would be cheating a lot...
While the others finish confirming that there's nothing in this area, Vrox searches the chamberlain's office. He wonders whether the chamberlain kept any records of what was really going on at the castle or maybe some map or note that shows hidden doors or passageways within the castle. The chamberlain might have his own hidden door for leaving his room without going through the main servant dining hall. If nothing else, maybe the chamberlain's keys are here. (They haven't found any locked doors yet, but it's possible that there are some on the castle's upper levels.)
If the party doesn't find any threats here or any clues that would help them, Vrox is ready to try the stairs on the north of the main hallway, near the wine cellar gate.
Once Vrox is done searching the chamberlain's office ⤴ and dealing with anything he finds, he returns to the main hall. He is delighted to see that Khessa has found at least a few survivors. He calls the party's attention back to the hallway and hops over to the east end of the hallway, beaming.
"Khessa, you've found some survivors?! Praise the Summer Queen!", he says as he approaches the gates of the wine cellar. Addressing the pages, he says, "You were very clever to hide here! The smartest mouse knows when to hide! Let the cats pass you by. Soon, the dogs will arrive to deal with them!" He mimics a dog barking and growling, baring his teeth. Then he does a silly sort of caper in a circle.
Vrox doesn't seem to have any point to what he's saying. He's happy that anyone survived the slaughter, and he expresses his joy. If anything, he's trying to amuse and distract the pages after the trauma of their recent experience. Performance23
Khessa smiles at Vtrox's efforts, fully understanding the purpose - and approving: "See, boys? With heroes as fearless as Sir Sparhawk, pages as cunning as you have been... and hounds as fierce as my friend" she winks and pats the other amicably on the flanks, as one would do to compliment a faithful mastiff who has completed his task "you have nothing to fear anymore".
While waiting for the eventual description of the Duke's 'new friends', the blonde arcane warrior uses her her own magical powers to make the survivors' clothes perfectly clean - also making them smell fresh, as if they had just been freshly laundered. It's perhaps not a great thing, but even this can contribute to distracting and gratifying these young exponents of the common folk a little.
Clarac is similarly overjoyed that some people in the castle survived. She addresses the three boys, "We have come to put a stop to this mayhem. Unfortunately, we cannot undo it. You did well to hide; the only way to beat the monsters is to survive." Clarac doesn't explicitly tell them that the demons' goal is some sort of ritual involving mass slaughter. "A certain fey spirit owes me a favor; it will guard you here or lead you out of the castle, if that be your wish." She casts the summoning spell and instructs the fey spirit to protect the boys and, if they leave the wine cellar, to shield their eyes from the horrors the demons left behind with its darkness ability.
OOC:
Persuasion check to help Vrox and Khessa keep the survivors' spirits up: 15
Action: Cast Summon Fey at 3rd level (second 3rd level spell slot used), summoning a Tricksy Fey Spirit
Khessa has a dark suspicion... "These 'new friends'... Were they a man and a woman? What did they look like? And do you remember their names - what the Duke called them?"
The blonde arcane warrior is momentarily afraid that the Nefarious Duo has managed to physically manifest themselves and get invited to lunch by the Duke... She hopes that the two do not yet have the power to do so... but she cannot help but ask her own question to try to verify.
Granted that Flute warned that they are 'cheating' (and the tall adventuress herself sees nothing wrong with cheating a little herself, when she can), but... well... being able to interfere so deeply, it would be cheating a lot...
"Travelers arrived a few days back," the boy recalls, "they must have done something or said something as the Duke threw them in the dungeons. Then he went down there to speak with them, and we didn't see him for a couple of days. When we saw him next, he had changed, a different person. Then yesterday more travelers arrived, but he said they were guests from a far away land, and we were to treat them with all hospitality. A great feast was prepared and what we were serving when all of this nightmare began."
While the others finish confirming that there's nothing in this area, Vrox searches the chamberlain's office. He wonders whether the chamberlain kept any records of what was really going on at the castle or maybe some map or note that shows hidden doors or passageways within the castle. The chamberlain might have his own hidden door for leaving his room without going through the main servant dining hall. If nothing else, maybe the chamberlain's keys are here. (They haven't found any locked doors yet, but it's possible that there are some on the castle's upper levels.)
If the party doesn't find any threats here or any clues that would help them, Vrox is ready to try the stairs on the north of the main hallway, near the wine cellar gate.
Once Vrox is done searching the chamberlain's office ⤴ and dealing with anything he finds, he returns to the main hall. He is delighted to see that Khessa has found at least a few survivors. He calls the party's attention back to the hallway and hops over to the east end of the hallway, beaming.
"Khessa, you've found some survivors?! Praise the Summer Queen!", he says as he approaches the gates of the wine cellar. Addressing the pages, he says, "You were very clever to hide here! The smartest mouse knows when to hide! Let the cats pass you by. Soon, the dogs will arrive to deal with them!" He mimics a dog barking and growling, baring his teeth. Then he does a silly sort of caper in a circle.
Vrox doesn't seem to have any point to what he's saying. He's happy that anyone survived the slaughter, and he expresses his joy. If anything, he's trying to amuse and distract the pages after the trauma of their recent experience. Performance13
You get a weak smile from them, but the shock runs deep
Clarac is similarly overjoyed that some people in the castle survived. She addresses the three boys, "We have come to put a stop to this mayhem. Unfortunately, we cannot undo it. You did well to hide; the only way to beat the monsters is to survive." Clarac doesn't explicitly tell them that the demons' goal is some sort of ritual involving mass slaughter. "A certain fey spirit owes me a favor; it will guard you here or lead you out of the castle, if that be your wish." She casts the summoning spell and instructs the fey spirit to protect the boys and, if they leave the wine cellar, to shield their eyes from the horrors the demons left behind with its darkness ability.
OOC:
Persuasion check to help Vrox and Khessa keep the survivors' spirits up: 15
Action: Cast Summon Fey at 3rd level (second 3rd level spell slot used), summoning a Tricksy Fey Spirit
The boys appear to relax a little, but their experience still weighs heavily on them, what they heard and saw so fresh in their memories
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Vrox says, "I expect that the stairs by the wine cellar at the other end of the hall lead right up to the chapel or to a room near it. I wonder whether the servants who were eating here fled to the chapel: they may be the ones we found in the massacre there."
Vrox stows his shield and finally takes out his longbow again. He doesn't really expect to find any demons on this level, but he remains in the servant's dining hall, ready to take cover and support Khessa from a distance.
Tyekanik follows Khessa into the dining hall. The larger space fits his Huge size (still raging) better, but he bumps into the furniture, pushing back chairs even entire tables as he moves through the room. He sees Khessa check the door to the south, and -- eager to confirm that this level is empty and to get back to chopping down demons -- he moves to the north door.
Tyek waits a moment for Khessa to the door to the south. Assuming that she does not immediately find enemies to fight there, he opens the door to the north.
The door to the south opens into the guard's barracks. A corridor goes forward for 15 feet to a spiral staircase going up. To the right is the opening to a bay with 5 rooms per side. Each room has 2 beds with footlockers. The rooms are empty.
The door to the north opens into a room that is 15 by 15, there is another door on the north side, and an opening to the right. The furnishing in this outer room are tables, chairs and a couch. To the right you can see beds in here are slightly better than normal, more and likely quarters for lieutenants. There are four bed sections with footlockers, but no people.
The door on the north end opens into what appears to be the castle's chamberlain's office and room, split in half. It is well organized, neat in appearance, nothing seems out of place, other than there is no one here.
While the others finish confirming that there's nothing in this area, Vrox searches the chamberlain's office. He wonders whether the chamberlain kept any records of what was really going on at the castle or maybe some map or note that shows hidden doors or passageways within the castle. The chamberlain might have his own hidden door for leaving his room without going through the main servant dining hall. If nothing else, maybe the chamberlain's keys are here. (They haven't found any locked doors yet, but it's possible that there are some on the castle's upper levels.)
Investigation 16
If the party doesn't find any threats here or any clues that would help them, Vrox is ready to try the stairs on the north of the main hallway, near the wine cellar gate.
If any of the food still looks fresh and unspoiled, Tyekanik has a snack in the servants' dining hall while he waits for the others to finish exploring. "No reason to let good food and drink go to waste."
Akkron steps into the dining hall and eyes the meal a bit uncertainly as Tyekanik begins to dig in. But he eventually shrugs.
"Whatever makes you happy," he says with a small chuckle.
The lich begins poking around as well (Investigation: 17; passive 21), though apparently he isn't as good a detective as Vrox
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Vrox would actually suggest checking out the wine cellar at the other end of the hall. "Nothing attacked us there, and we wanted to clear the rest of the rooms first. But the gate limits the view of that alcove, so a clever servant might hide from the cult there. In fact, if we were in a fey lord's castle, I wouldn't be surprised to find that the casks and barrels of wine are all an illusion that hides what's really in that room."
Khessa takes Vrox's suggestion and goes to check the wine cellar, possibly checking the contents of some barrels and trying to move a few more - but in her heart she supposes that the lord of this castle is anything but a fey - and that therefore the sad reality is that these deserted quarters are nothing more than the natural consequence of the sacrifices and massacres that followed after the Nefarious Duo was able to manifest their influence.
The gate to the wine cellar is unlocked, and opens easily and swings in. The larger casks of wine are on the ends, while the bottles are on shelves set almost like bookshelves parallel to the wall. As you begin your search, you detect as you get towards the south end, human whispers and "shhhh" sounds.
Khessa can hardly believe such an incredibly beautiful prospect as there are survivors - but the whispers give her hope... She, fearing that she might frighten any miserable survivors and induce a dangerous escape, puts away her weapons and, showing the palms of her empty and open hands, says, in a calm and friendly tone: "You can come out, people, there are no more demons left here, on this floor of the castle. Sir Sparhawk, knight of the Pandion Order, and we his friends came to your aid, as soon as we heard what happened. You know Sir Sparhawk, don't you?" and she calls the Pandion, both with her voice and with broad gestures of the arm "Come out. We'll keep you safe".
There are more whispers, then three pages stick their heads out, then seeing it's you, slowly make their way out in the open. "You're real right, not an illusion?" Asks one of the boys, "one of those demons or devils, or whatever they are, trying to take advantage of us like the others?"
Khessa smiles and approaches, always (exceptionally) without weapons in hand: "Touch me, if you are afraid that I am not real..." and indeed, she takes the initiative herself and, advancing slowly so as not to scare them, reaches the pages and embraces them, moved, one by one, kissing them on the cheek.
"I can't imagine how much you have been through, boys..." the blonde arcane warrior tries to comfort them "But you will see, the worst is over, we have come to free this place... and the work is proceeding quickly! After all, could you expect less, from Sir Sparhawk?" she winks, banking on the fame of the legendary local hero to instill courage in them.
"How long have you been hiding here?" the tall adventuress finally tries to find out if the pages may be aware of useful details "Do you by any chance know of other survivors?"
You can see the fear in the boy's eyes. "We have been hiding since those monster things began running through the castle. We were serving at the Duke's special lunch for his new friends, and had come here for more wine, when we heard the call to arms."
He turns and points towards the dining area at the end of the hall. "All of the guardsmen left their meals, to answer the call. They were rushing past us on the stairs when we came here. We were in here when the monsters came and started grabbing everyone and dragging them downstairs."
The other two boys nod in agreement. "Ralphie here ran over and shut the gate, and then we hid back here. Them monsters only looked inside here, never opened the gate."
The boy identified as Ralphie adds, "There was so much screaming, they just grabbed everyone, speaking in a weird language that I couldn't understand."
Khessa has a dark suspicion... "These 'new friends'... Were they a man and a woman? What did they look like? And do you remember their names - what the Duke called them?"
The blonde arcane warrior is momentarily afraid that the Nefarious Duo has managed to physically manifest themselves and get invited to lunch by the Duke... She hopes that the two do not yet have the power to do so... but she cannot help but ask her own question to try to verify.
Granted that Flute warned that they are 'cheating' (and the tall adventuress herself sees nothing wrong with cheating a little herself, when she can), but... well... being able to interfere so deeply, it would be cheating a lot...
Once Vrox is done searching the chamberlain's office ⤴ and dealing with anything he finds, he returns to the main hall. He is delighted to see that Khessa has found at least a few survivors. He calls the party's attention back to the hallway and hops over to the east end of the hallway, beaming.
"Khessa, you've found some survivors?! Praise the Summer Queen!", he says as he approaches the gates of the wine cellar. Addressing the pages, he says, "You were very clever to hide here! The smartest mouse knows when to hide! Let the cats pass you by. Soon, the dogs will arrive to deal with them!" He mimics a dog barking and growling, baring his teeth. Then he does a silly sort of caper in a circle.
Vrox doesn't seem to have any point to what he's saying. He's happy that anyone survived the slaughter, and he expresses his joy. If anything, he's trying to amuse and distract the pages after the trauma of their recent experience. Performance 23
Khessa smiles at Vtrox's efforts, fully understanding the purpose - and approving: "See, boys? With heroes as fearless as Sir Sparhawk, pages as cunning as you have been... and hounds as fierce as my friend" she winks and pats the other amicably on the flanks, as one would do to compliment a faithful mastiff who has completed his task "you have nothing to fear anymore".
While waiting for the eventual description of the Duke's 'new friends', the blonde arcane warrior uses her her own magical powers to make the survivors' clothes perfectly clean - also making them smell fresh, as if they had just been freshly laundered. It's perhaps not a great thing, but even this can contribute to distracting and gratifying these young exponents of the common folk a little.
Clarac is similarly overjoyed that some people in the castle survived. She addresses the three boys, "We have come to put a stop to this mayhem. Unfortunately, we cannot undo it. You did well to hide; the only way to beat the monsters is to survive." Clarac doesn't explicitly tell them that the demons' goal is some sort of ritual involving mass slaughter. "A certain fey spirit owes me a favor; it will guard you here or lead you out of the castle, if that be your wish." She casts the summoning spell and instructs the fey spirit to protect the boys and, if they leave the wine cellar, to shield their eyes from the horrors the demons left behind with its darkness ability.
OOC:
Persuasion check to help Vrox and Khessa keep the survivors' spirits up: 15
Action: Cast Summon Fey at 3rd level (second 3rd level spell slot used), summoning a Tricksy Fey Spirit
"Travelers arrived a few days back," the boy recalls, "they must have done something or said something as the Duke threw them in the dungeons. Then he went down there to speak with them, and we didn't see him for a couple of days. When we saw him next, he had changed, a different person. Then yesterday more travelers arrived, but he said they were guests from a far away land, and we were to treat them with all hospitality. A great feast was prepared and what we were serving when all of this nightmare began."
You get a weak smile from them, but the shock runs deep
The boys appear to relax a little, but their experience still weighs heavily on them, what they heard and saw so fresh in their memories