"I wouldn't worry too much about the lock. The journal said it's just a little extra security. If we really gotta, we could just push a crate in front of the door and bar it."

Standing in the shed behind Thurodim, [Sound of Cork Popping] draws his longsword and holds it with two hands, beads of nervous sweat running down his beak.

Not finding any keys, the patience of the massive blonde bearded warrior quickly runs out, grabbing the chain with both hands to tear it apart.

Str check: 12

Ember hops up and down with excitement over the display of strength. “Big Man, the Steel Render and Breaker of Chains,” she cheers, posing and flexing her own scrawny arms as though she too were capable of such a feat.

The chain is sturdy and looks in relatively good shape. However, when it was made, it didn’t account for a mildly peeved mountain of muscle named Thurodim. 

You grab the chain with both hands and begin pulling on it with all your strength. Your muscles flex under the strain. For a good 10-12 seconds it seems like it’s not going to give, until you hear an audible metallic snap. You look down to see one of the chain links has broken off and is now loose on the ground. You proceed to remove the rest of the chain and padlock from the doors’ handles.

"Ready?" The massive blonde bearded warrior says in his deep firm voice, turning his head to look down at the small but brave adventurers behind him, but without waiting for any replies he opens the door to the cellar, holding forth his torch, ready to grab Skullcrusher with both hands if the shadow with the piercing red eyes should appear.

Perception: 5

Ember, about to offer to send Aggie to scout ahead, eeps as Thurodim blazes the trail. With the torch lighting the way, she extinguishes the candlestick and instead focuses on brightening the larger flame, even as she tucks herself into the shadows it creates. 

((Stealth: Ember 17, Aggie 16))

Ozyre steps into the cellar next to Thurodim. He's holding an axe--the one with the orangey-red runes--in one hand, while his other hand stands ready to grab a second axe at a moment's notice. Interestingly, his non-axe-holding hand is hovering halfway between his second axe and a small metal stick that is barely noticeable. "Whatever's down here has been down here for over 3 months. We probably don't have anything to worry about!"

He blocks his eyes with his palm as Thurodim's torch practically explodes with light. "That's one way to get rid of shadows."

"Sorry!" Ember whispers from her hiding place.

Thurodim flinches as his torch suddenly flares up, almost dropping it, then turning to give Ember a tired look. "Are you trying to rid me of my beard little one?" He says in a half-scolding-half-playful tone before returning his attention to the cellar below.

As they descend into the cellar, the kenku clucks softly.  Then his beak opens.  The voice that emerges is strong and confident, though the acoustics are strange, as though the words were spoken loudly in a vast, echoing chamber.  "The only thing we have to fear is... fear itself."

The cellar doors open to a staircase leading further down into the darkness. With the combination of Thurodim’s torchlight and Ember’s magic, you have no issue seeing the large basement in full details (40 feet of bright light and 40 feet of dim light). The stairs creak under the wait of the party members feet, except maybe Ember who’s featherweight seems to help her and Aggie move silently.

The room is more deep than wide, easily 40-ish feet to the back wall. The ceiling is fairly low, barely eight feet up. Like in the shed, there are crates and sacks containing leftover building materials (mortar, stone, gravel, planks of wood,…). On the right wall, there is large losange shaped shelf supporting a few dozen bottles of wine. On the left, the wall seems to turn left and lead into some sort of alcove. The more unsettling part is that you don’t notice any monsters. The basement looks empty.

However, Thurodim, your keen Hunter’s ears do pick up a sound: like feet dragging on the stone floor of the basement. You don’t see whatever is making that sound.

As he notices the sounds of dragging feet, the massive blonde bearded warrior lets out a low deep growl, backing up slightly to have the child right behind him, his eyes scanning the room for any signs of movement, even dust on the cellar floor being disturbed. "Something is here, it is close, hiding in the light." He says quietly to the others, ready to strike down the unseen adversary as it reveals itself.

Perception: 3

Ozyre cautiously steps deeper into the basement, almost tip-toeing towards the back wall of the cellar. It seems empty of monsters at a first glance, but first glances are often misleading, so Ozyre takes a few more glances at the room. He slowly scans the area, hunting for any shadows that aren't where they should be, or any red eyes that aren't in the standard locations for red eyes.

"I see a little silhouetto of a man..."

Perception: 17 (18 - 1)

The hair along Ember's arms and at the nape of her neck stands on end, her hackles raised at the feeling of something here. She flicks at the torch flames in such a way that they flicker as if blown by wind (away from Thurodim's glorious beard), casting a temporary arc of shadows in the shape of Big Man against the left wall behind him, which she follows to try and hide in the alcove. She smiles smugly to herself, like an ambush predator settling into a particularly good hiding place (or so she thinks).   

Thurodim is too agitated by the sound he heard to perceive anything in the basement. He turns his head left and right, but nothing comes into view.

Meanwhile, Ozyre catches a detail that escaped Thurodim’s senses. While no creature is visible in the strong torchlight, you see shadows with an approximate ressemblance to a humanoid form reflected on the back wall. Though you can’t see the creatures, their shadows are visible. You can count six of them.

That is, until Ember uses her magic to alter the flame momentarily on the left side. For but a fraction of a second, Ozyre, with his gnomish darkvision, sees them. Slowly lumbering toward your group are these tall (slightly taller than Thurodim) emaciated creatures with skin as dark as the night. Their arms are long and thin like tree branches and end with these long sharp claw-like appendages. Their face depict a horrendous visage of unending pain. Their eyes burn red with murderous intents. Once the flame of the torch goes back to its "normal" state, they disappear again.

As Ember begins to move to the left side to make her way to the alcove. You all hear a choral of high-pitched screams that shake you to your core. (Everyone will need to roll a Wisdom save with disadvantage as we begin combat.)

Initiative:

Thurodim: 3

Ozyre: 14

Ember: 14

[Sound of Cork Popping]: 8

Creatures: 13

Thurodim Wis save: 14 :-P

Wisdom Saving Throw: 0 (nat 1 - 1)

Ember WIS save: 2
Aggie: 10+1 11

Save w/disadvantage:  11 (rolled in game log)

An involuntary sound - something like RAWRK! - erupts from the kenku as the horrors stumble into the light.