Sword Coast Rambling

"Thankyou Sir Serak. I believe fate has brought you all to me this day. Fortune favours the bold, and I wish you luck" She bids the half-elf a quick quick goodbye and prepares herself for any further questions from the others.

Making his way across the street, Serak gestures to the two empty headed storehands minding the equally empty cart. Ander jumps from the cart seat and calls over to the bard as he approaches. Serak has to admit despite not being particularly bright the young lads enthusiasm for work is clear.  "Hi there Sirk. Mr Elmar told us to meet you and your men here with the cart. Have you got much to load? We can help you with the heavy stuff." Thistle stands a short distance away, watching a cat sleeping on a nearby roof and absent mindedly picking his nose.

Serak: Pretending he knows what he's doing, Serak checks over the cart while he waits for the party. Finally, he says, "That is Mr. Sirk to you. We will be taking the Eastern road up to the Manor. Mostly crates and general building supplies. I think they meant to rebuild the Manor house. Prepare to leave as soon as my friends arrive."

Serak jumps into the back of the wagon and lights his pipe as he waits, thinking about what it would be like to live with his new friends in a Manor on a hill - with a neat dungeon underneath.

Beetle heads over to the wagon where Serak is ready to go get the over weapons and supplies.

Syna, hoping to get back to nature resolves to follow a little behind and enjoy a little solitude.  Once we get close (a mile of so), however, he will consider other action.

Brots is going to meet everyone by the wagon. He'll hop on the back with Serak and sit in the back corner, looking out behind the cart.

Zyltris will go ahead of the cart to keep an eye out

Leaving the shrine behind, the party approaches the cart one by one. "Hello fellows!" Ander calls out while he tightens the straps around the oxen, "Mr. Sirk here has already briefed us on what we're fetching. If this is everyone, lets hop to it!" Brots hops into the back with Serak as the cart begins to pull away from the town square. "Hey stupid, you coming?" Thistle suddenly becomes aware of whats going on, flicks his dirty finger against his thumb and leaps into the front seat beside his colleague.

Zyltris leads the way as the cart trundles slowly along the east road. Buildings gradually become dirtier, people fade from the streets the road slowly becomes bumpier and less maintainted. Within a few hundred feet the town has become a derelict wasteland. The streets empty, enclosed on both sides with barely standing buildings overgrown with weeds and ivy. The old houses and shops with fading decor, relics from a more prosperous age. The only building with any sort of life about it stands on the north side of the road. A faint orange light flickers in a window, but no sound emanates from inside. A cobwebbed wooden sign hangs over the roadside from a single bent hinge. On it a picture of a giant, dozing peacefully beneath a bridge, an elven maiden clad in white grasped tightly in his left hand. Scrawled along the bottom of the scene in barely legible text, the letters "Sleeping Giant Inn". The road winds on, following the road out of the town and up a steep embankment to the top of the hill.

Up ahead Zyltris spots the manor house over the crest of the hill. The grand old manor has seen better days. The blue tiled roof has largely collapsed decades before, exposing the rotting wooden rafters beneath. A tall oak tree grows out of the front window of the building, blocking light from touching the left facade. The rich wooden double doors still stand at the properties entrance. The plateau is quiet. A flock of crows caw loudly as they fly overhead.

Beetle will go up to the doors, listen for any sounds, look for traps, if all seems fine open the doors and slowly move in.

Perception: 9

Standing beside the old wooden doors, Beetle notices they have a musty damp smell to them. The paladin examines the door carefully and listens out for any movement within. Satisfied that all is safe, he pushes the heavy door and steps inside. The manor is deserted. The damp patchwork of the wood ceiling breaks occasionally revealing the clouded sky high above. Making his way inside, Beetles steps crunch gently through a patch of crumbled slate tiles littering the floor. A sliver of ivy grasps at his ankles but snaps as he pushes through the wide empty room. A wide set of tracks lead from the front door, through a crumbled doorway and into the large ruined kitchen area beyond. The kitchen is mostly destroyed, a small pile of rusted pans rest on a collapsing wooden cupboard. The tracks end at the top of a long stone staircase leading towards the basement. A set of iron pipes lead from the roof above, trickling water downwards into the floor below.

21

Syna will suggest, "Perhaps I should change form and investigate?"

Beetle replies, "You can but there might not be much here since we already cleaned out the basement."  He keeps moving through the mansion to make sure it is clear then looks for the way into the basement where all the supplies are.

Leaving Ander and Thistle with the cart the party carefully follows Beetle through the manor. The ruins are quiet as they enter the kitchen and make their way down the narrow stairway. Beetle leads on, opens the unlocked wooden door at the bottom of the stairs and steps onto a narrow five foot wide landing, fifteen feet above a large cellar. The landing splits in two, with matching flights of stone steps leading down into the cistern room below. The trickling of water echoes through the room as the party descends the stairway. Otherwise the basement continues to be silent as they make their way through the crevasse and towards the northern storeroom. The barrels and crates remain as they were. There is no sign of any activity since the party had left earlier that day.

<<OCC: I kinda meant BEFORE we entered the mansion...  guess I missed it, and isn't needed now. >>

Syna will slowly and carefully, check floor and wall for secret panels, as well as the furniture.

Brots is going to also going to keep an eye out in corners and dark areas for anyone or anything that might be hiding while we walk through the mansion. Perception: 8

Serak: Approaching the supplies, Serak says, "Gentleman, I've been thinking... This BlackSpider's plans involved Phandalin and this Manor. He likely planned to use this place as a seat of power fromwhich to oppress the town while reaping the rewards from Gundren's mine. What if instead of selling them, we use these supplies to rebuild the Manor? I've always wanted a country manor and Sildar and Gundren can use it to bring freedom and prosperity to Phandalin once again."

Examining the supplies closely, he attempts to determine if there are enough building materials to rebuild the Manor.

Investigation: 13

"I like that idea, I'm up for it."

Serak: Smoothing his mustache, he continues, "If what we've learned about this mine is true, this town will be the epicenter of rapid growth and change very soon. Rebuilding this Manor will also give us greater influence in town. We can likely hire men in town to do the work."

Serak examines the documents he collected from Iarno, looking for the deed to the Manor. He also looks for any clue to why Halia wants them and any names he recognizes.

Investigation: 8

Syna, considers the environs.  "Certainly the area needs care, and could be a place from which to bring nature's health back.  How would one go about claiming this place as our den?"

Syna Perception Check: 17

Brots and Syna check around carefully as the party make their way through the manor and down into the basement. Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary as they follow Beetle and Zyltris towards the supply room. The party stand in the supplies room, surrounded by crates and boxes. While Serak investigates the contents of the containers, Beetle and Zyltris carry the weapons stash out from the next room.

Checking out the room, Serak finds a stack of wood in a tidy pile, along with a variety of nails and tools. Not enough to rebuild the manor but certainly enough to make a start in the right hands. 

Serak: Returning to the cart with a handful of weapons, Serak says to Barthen's men, "There has been a... slight change of plan. Follow me." 

Serak leads the two men down the stairs and as he enters the cistern room he says, "Right, so this place is dangerous. Do not enter this northern door. In that room you'll find three bodies. Be good chaps and carry them up to your cart. Careful, they are fresh, but they've likely released their bowels by now. Oh, and there are eight more bodies, three bugbear corpses, and one creature that I think I'll burn. Chop chop men! Get to it!"