Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh

Darixa follows the others, cautiously watching where she goes.  She provides light as Esme works on opening the door.  Once it is opened, she peers inside.  

"A rope and a box," she observes. "That doesn't seem too bad. Yet." She tries to look for whether there was an obviously used path through the room. Or signs of the floor being bad. (Perception: 12) "I suppose we check out the box?"

She tries to look for whether there was an obviously used path through the room. Or signs of the floor being bad. (Perception: 12)

The floor is in very bad shape but a path along the left side of the room past the fireplace is passable.  
In the back of the room is a coil of grey [Tooltip Not Found] 100’ and a metal box with a keyhole.

Darixa decides to go ahead and check out the box. She follows the path she sees on the left side of the room past the fireplace.  When she gets to the box, she examines it closely before touching it. (Investigation: 9)

Looks like a legit locked metal ‘safe’ box.

"Didn't we find a key?" Darixa asks. "Maybe if we're lucky it'll open this!" Just in case, she tries to see if it will open without the key. 

You try the lid it’s locked you try the footlocker key it’s the wrong key but as everyone is looking about you notice a key in the hall window and it does work.   In the box is a wicked looking dagger, a coin pouch with 30 sp, and a bone scroll tube sealed with red wax.

Darixa looks closely at the items. "Very interesting. I suppose it would be better to look at these more closely later?" She looks to see whether the scroll case could open without breaking the seal. if she can, she'll peek inside.  Otherwise, she will wait unless others wish to stop and investigate. 

Seri hangs back in the hallway for once, guarding the party's rear.  Hearing talk of a sealed scroll, she ventures:

"Does anyone recognize the seal on the scroll tube?  I may be wrong, but Sanbalet and this Captain Sigurd of the Sea Ghost do not seem the type to use formal seals on their messages.  What do you think, Ned?  And I'm not sure why Makaster would leave all this here.  So it could be someone else."

(Seri provides Guidance to anyone trying to recognize the seal, now or later.)

History DC 20 to recognize the seal.

(Darixa History: 13 + 2 = 15)

As you move back toward the stairs you check the last room in this hall.

This bedroom has no furniture, but rubbish is scattered everywhere, and webs cover the walls and ceiling. From the doorway, you can see a glint of light in the fireplace from a small, highly reflective object.

     Cook needs guidance to even see the seal, he definitely does not recognize it.  (4..  but 7 with guidance!)

     “Possible the others only used the other room occasionally for whatever foulness they got up to that they didn’t want Makaster or Sanbalet or anyone to know about,” Cook opines.  “May have left things here knowing they wouldn’t risk the rotted out floors…”

     Cook then glowers at Ned to see if he wants to say anything about this speculation.

     At the latest room Cook eyes the floor suspiciously and once more opts to stay in the relative sure footing of the hallway.  “Couldn’t you just send the parrot in to pick it up?” He suggests when the shiny object is noted.

((Anybody add the new stuff to party inventory?))

Cook sees the seal and actually thinks it looks like the watermark on his Freedonia Deed!

With no one else recognizing the seal, Seri prays for her own guidance but fairs even more poorly than Cook, as her mind keeps resolving the rorschach-style pattern on the rounded wax to be a ship's helm or a compass or some other circular nautical fixture.

Seri's History plus Guidance:  5 + 1 = 6

It is then, as she finishes squinting at the seal, that she turns to notice the reflective object in the fireplace of the next room, and hears Cook's suggestion.

"Cook."  Seri's unblinking aquamarine gaze turns to the big man whose arm she had just hugged.  "Have you ever seen a parrot?  Or heard one?  I have.  On a pirate ship we chased down and boarded.  I'll simply say it was far more garishly-colored and talkative than Ripple is."

Instead of sending her Familiar, Seri summons her spectral Mage Hand, like a standing wave of ever flowing seawater in the air, then turns to Cook.

"Can you stand next to me by the door to cover me?  You know, in case of more centipedes or the bloodsucking attic-bats you did not see?"  Stepping to the threshold, she extends her Mage Hand up to thirty feet in an attempt to pick up the shiny object out of the fireplace.

As Seri’s mage hand retrieves the shiny bobble, a swarm of spiders floods out of the fireplace sensing nothing living nearby they simply pause en mass covering the brick.

Unless you choose to exterminate the arachnid tenants, Ned guides the party back down the stairs and down the same wing.  End of the hall the door creaks loudly as it resists opening…

Aside from a large amount of plaster that has fallen from the ceiling, this room is bare.

There is a sag in the ceiling.  A door between the rooms here,   A fireplace and three windows boarded up.

The next door also a struggle to open and a sagging ceiling here also.

The only obvious thing of note in this room is a clump of tiny red mushrooms growing around the fireplace in a semicircular formation. Otherwise, the room is bare.

There is two boarded up windows in this room.

The door between the rooms is wide open.

The Attic

Uncharacteristically silent, Brynn faded into the background. Not because they were ignored, far from, but because there was a lot for them to witness, catching themselves admiring Seri and Darixa for their care, compassion and playful whit. The shipwright ended up adopting a familiar sentry role, hovering and following like a proud protective shadow as Darixa cared for and soothed Esme; and Seri investigated and lead the way for paying respects to the remains. Brynn would of course allow the girls to look them over, and their wound. They'd welcome any cleaning of the wound, however would gently pause them from spending any resources on healing for now. They still had some exploring of this mansion to do before they would be in the clear. 

Along with them, Brynn observed, listened, and payed their own respects; made notes of Seri's investigation and their own; tinkered, got distracted and carried away. And before they were done what is it they got busy doing, some, or all, of the others may have moved on.

See the thing about hyper fixation is, one can fall into a rhythm and focus so deeply, they lose track of all sense of time. Just this time, it may not take as long. Seri's actions had sparked something in Brynn. It all started with a tea cup. Then its saucer. Then the set. Next thing they knew, they were building a small casket for the remains. No stranger to working under their lantern light, the shipwright's deft hands crafted efficiently with precision and care. There was a bit of muscle memory in there from having just completed a full sized one for Darixa's sister below. They may have even used some of the left over materials to craft this one.

There's something almost soothing, calming about the pitter patter of rain against the roof... When they're not on a boat in the middle of the ocean during such a storm, that is. Maybe it's more about the natural rhythm of it, paired with the deep reverberating rumbles of the thunder, and the striking flashes of the lighting, in the relative safety of a permanent structure. Regardless, it had Brynn's heart a flutter with adrenaline that kept them going at a steady pace.

"A single greed sows a sea o' ghosts an' leaves wrecks upon these coasts. From broken timber I shape the resting places tides can't hide away, to plank the lost we won't forget an' guard them where they lay. For we will keep their memory whole when flesh an' bone decay."

(Back in the attic, Brynn would have been interested in the short broom, but otherwise would agree to leave behind the rest Seri left with the doll. However, being inspired by Seri's whisper and actions, if anything was cracked or broken, they'd mend it with mending. Then build another casket for the small remains.)
(3 rolls were requested last time, so replicating below)
(Rolls for DMs consideration, which were completed in Campaign Game Log:)
(Planning/Weaving Intelligence Roll: 19 + Proficiency (weaving): 2 = 21)
(Carpentry Strength Roll 1: 16 + Guidance: 2 + Proficiency: 2 = 20)
(Carpentry Strength Roll 2: 21 (nat 20) + Guidance: 4 + Proficiency: 2 = 27)
(Carpentry Strength Roll 3: 12 + Guidance: 2 + Proficiency: 2 = 16)

(Investigation: 12 + Guidance: 4 = 16 for broom/pearl identification)
(Broom and Pearl added to Party Inventory. Tybard/Seri Of course feel free to add the pearl to your inventory if you'd like, if you haven't already.)
(Perception: 10 + Guidance: 4 = 14 to hear crash/find group/follow foot prints)

Bringing themselves to their feet, Brynn wipes their forehead then runs their fingers through their hair. Satisfied with another job well done, their hands find their hips as they admire their work one more time. Then with a nod of approval they finally look up to learn that their only company may be the dead bats and the doll Seri had swaddled in her cloak. Hmm... So between their boot or a piece of scrap, the shipwright would nudge the bat bodies along to be disposed of. Preference being out a window or an opening from the attic, but if they had to kick it down a level to get it out, they would.

The team wasn't necessarily quiet, or hiding their tracks, so Brynn was confident they could eventually find them. They'd continue along, quietly, and preferably without incident or too many distractions. There's literally, so much, to fix... Some of the damage was incredibly fresh, it's like they could even taste the dust in the air! From time to time they may pause to mend something small, or adjust something out of alignment, but they'd argue it barely took a minute.

Now

Eventually their resident fixer does catch up with the group and would casually lean against the sturdy doorframe Cook was standing in as if they've been there the whole time. "Aye Chef, are they them magic shrooms?" With a smirk Brynn juts their chin in the direction of the tiny red mushrooms around the fireplace. "Or one of them fae rings?" The only thing stopping them at that moment was their desire to amuse themselves, otherwise they'd already have sauntered up to take a look at them. Unless someone else investigates with their magical phalanges, they would go take a look.

(Stealth: 21 + Guidance: 1 = 22 to sneak up and stand next to Cook/Ned as if they've been there the whole time.)

(If Brynn eventually gets a glypse of the scroll seal... History: 8 + Guidance: 4 = 12 thus would not recognize)
(Metal "Safe" Box added to party inventory with Wicked Long Dagger, and Sealed Bone Scroll. Cul/D feel free to transfer to your inventory if you would like/haven't already. 30sp added to party coin.)
(Investigation: 6 (nat 1) + Guidance: 1 = 7 for mushrooms)

     “Wait... I know that seal.” Cook says it slowly, almost to himself. His eyes widen a fraction as he reaches toward the scroll. If allowed, he takes it immediately, unrolling it with surprising eagerness and begins to read it immediately.

     “Huh?” Cook glances up distractedly as Seri launches into a detailed comparison of various flying creatures. 

     “Oh. Sorry.” Cook adds. “So Ripple is a drab, depressed parrot?” He nods as though that clears everything up.

(Sorry, something fishy inside Cook just does not like Ripple…)

     Still, when Seri asks him to watch her back, Cook readily obliges. “Can do.”

     He settles into a respectable imitation of a guard dog, keeping an eye on the room while Seri investigates. Though truth be told, he remains somewhat distracted by the wave of seawater retrieving the object. That isn't the sort of thing one sees every day.

     When the spiders suddenly erupt from the fireplace, Cook's face immediately sours. “Ah now...”

     His shoulders tense. His nose wrinkles. But as the creatures remain harmlessly on their side of the room, he leaves them be. Spiders, unlike smugglers, generally have the decency to mind their manners.

     “Oh, hey!” Cook says it louder than necessary as Brynn suddenly appears beside him. “There ya are.”

     Cook pauses a moment. 

     “I thought you were...” His voice trails away as he glances back toward the where they’d come from. Truth be told, between the ghost girl, the collapsing floor, the attic nonsense, and the spiders, he'd lost track of where Brynn had gotten to. The realization earns him a silent scolding from himself.

     “I was just wondering what variety those were myself,” he adds quickly, gesturing toward the mushrooms. “Was thinking Scarlet Waxcap, maybe. Or Scarlet Elf Cup.”

     He squints thoughtfully. “Both edible, though barely worth the bother.”

     He considers for a moment…

     “If they're Brummer's Buttons, though, definitely don't eat them.” Cook nods with the confidence of a man discussing entirely ordinary cooking ingredients.

     “But magical or fae?” He shrugs. “I doubt either, but that's not really my area.”

     Advancing carefully across the room, he tests each section of floor before putting his weight upon it.

     “You looking to take a trip, then?” he asks Brynn with a grin. “Question is, what sort you prefer?” He gestures toward the mushrooms.

     “One kind ends with seeing strange colors and talking to trees. The other ends much the same but with the possibility of never being heard from again…”

(Nature Check to identify Mushrooms?  12.  14 if I get to add prof bonus due to Chef’s Tools proficiency?)     

Brynn sadly creates another masterful coffin from broken oak stair boards left over pieces of Ainura’s coffin and even select pieces of the Birdseye maple making up the attic chest.  There is a presence in the attic while Brynn collects things… (if you have the stone collected from Makaster)

 Nature 14 from Cook.  These are delicate edible garnishes suitable for a high end dish.  Enough for five such uses.

“Wait... I know that seal.” Cook says it slowly, almost to himself. His eyes widen a fraction as he reaches toward the scroll. If allowed, he takes it immediately, unrolling it with surprising eagerness and begins to read it immediately.

Inside are several sheafs of vellum on which are elegantly scripted dated entries, without thoroughly reading each entry the jist is, an undercover someone is manipulating the smugglers into earning cash by selling slaves, a recent deal was struck for weapons & armor, a councilor is being set up as the brains of the operation, and eventually agents from Freedonia will be sent for.

Seri notices Brynn and wonders if the they have been there the whole time or... it matters not.  The Salt-Blessed One comes and goes as they will.

"This bauble from the fireplace appears to be nothing more than a weight, likely one of a set for Makaster's alchemy balancing scale.  Without much value unless we find the others.  Certainly not worth angering an army of arachnids as we would have had we reached in."

Taking a charcoal marker from her Navigator's Tools, Seri marks the door to that room with a rough spider symbol to denote the danger for later.  She also does the same later, putting a mushroom mark on the most recent door.

Being the sort of druid who may wear medium armor such as the Mariner's Scale Mail (Warden) but not the sort to be particularly good at identifying species of animal or plant (Magician), Seri has no specific proficiency with Nature.  She makes no move to inspect the mushrooms, thinking that, as with the fireplace and spiders and mostly worthless alchemist's weight, the risks may outweigh any potential benefit.

"Does anyone wish to take a closer look or shall we move on?"  (If the choice is to move on, she urges Ned to continue the "tour".)

Darixa had followed the others around in exploring the rooms, still contemplating the items she had found. As Bryn appears and speaks about the mushrooms, it isn't until Seri asks about taking a closer look that she really pays attention. "Ah, that's a good question. I should look." She does take a look, trying to recall if she knows anything about these particular mushrooms. (Nature: 12)