Catherine joins her companions in the investigation, axe at the ready.

Looking through the door on the other side you see an open area with two wooden tubes at either corner facing the cave entrance. These were probably tubes that held arrows. There is an old rotten wooden chest with a deeply rusted padlock. Along one of the vertical posts are gouged tally marks. Taking a second to count, you reach 24.

"What is this place...." Catherine mutters, looking around the shack in mild confusion. She had expected altars and sigils, complex alchemical equipment, some evidence of magic and necromancy.... not this barren husk. She inspects the only object of interest in the space, the rotted chest, taking hold of its rusted padlock and yanking on it to see if it will give.

You give the lock a quick yank and it snaps off. The lock is still intact, but the two eyelets it wrapped around were so brittle that any amount of force would have done it.

Do you open it?

Arlo is outside the structure, remaining watchful

Happy looks around and says:

”Seems like these are the real ruins. “

"Hmm..."

Catherine eyes the chest suspiciously, then takes a step back and kicks the lid off, as if she expects some kind of demon to hop out and attack her.

The wood creaks and crackles as you kick the lid open. Bracing for something to jump out, you find it to be a ordinary chest. Looking inside are four strange looking coins and something short and thin wrapped in a soggy and deteriorated leather bundle with a leather tie in similar condition. Unfurling the bundle reveals a short stubby iron dagger with an onyx gem imbedded in the blade near the hand guard. Turning it over shows that the gem is large enough to protrude from the other face as well. Given where it was left, it is strange that the dagger has been untouched by the passage of time.

Catherine holds the dagger out to her companions, still as befuddled as ever.

"What do you make of this? Magic?" she asks.

"Let me have a look."

Sieghart focuses his senses on the magical energies surrounding the dagger, using detect magic for the second time of the day.

(OoC: I am out of spell slots after this)

Sieghart:

Sieghart runs his fingers on the flat side of the blade.

"I can sense a faint magical aura. It’s similar to the one the guard had. Dark and twisted."

He brings his hand closer to the onyx gem embedded in the blade.

"It seems to emanate from this stone. I’d be careful with how we handle this. I have a bad feeling about this."

Happy looks at the Dagger interested.

"It may be dangerous, but I say we keep it until we can tell what it does. If you don't want to take it, I could store it for now..."

"You may carry it then, if you wish the risk. It seems foul to me--I will not have it," Catherine says to Happy.

If there is nothing else to be attended inside the shack, she will step back outside to continue exploring the cavern.

Sieghart will follow Catherine, feeling they had seen all there was to see in the shack.

(OoC: Detect magic lasts 10 minutes. If there is something magic 30 feet around Sieghart while we delve in the tunnel, he would see it)

Happy takes a piece of cloth carefully wraps the dagger in it and then stores it in his backpack. 

(I'll keep your magic detection in mind, thank you)

Continuing on from the shack, you all begin to take the curved path. The strange green glow in the cave does not seem to be growing in intensity, almost as if the cave walls themselves eminate the light. As you round the corner, you all see the cave ceiling and left wall open out into a much larger room. The stream continues to flow straight as the path is cut off on your side.

Your progression is not hindered by the stream, for there is an arching, stone bridge about 40 ft ahead. And across that bridge is something some of you all might have been expecting to see. You all stand at the entrance to another town. The collection of buildings appear to be hewn from the mountain itself, and are various in sizes ranging from one to three stories. They are all bland, and appear to run along side the stream as it continues off into the cave. The windows are devoid of glass and are all dark, save for the the green light that permeates the air. There is no perceivable movement and other than the sound of flowing water, it is dead silent.

Catherine inhales sharply, trying to process what they've stumbled upon.

"More hiding places...." she growls, advancing cautiously towards the stone "town."

"Orbid, you fiend! Show yourself! Come and face your judgment!" she calls out as she draws near.

Once they passed the bridge, Sieghart will walk up to the closest building and look inside through one of the open windows.

Catherine belts out her challenge only to hear her echo respond, ringing throughout the open chamber "JUDGMENT... judgment... judgment... judgment..."

No movement. No response.

Peaking your head into the nearest window, Sieghart, you see a ran sacked mess of old, broken, rotten wooden furniture, along with a noticable silt line about a foot off the ground where the stream as swelled and flooded the area. Swinging your torch above your head for a clearer view, you see no discernible tracks on the dirty stone floor, but you do notice that the simple furniture was broken via agressive force.

Standing before the main street you see some old banners that hang along the streets that have been burned or tore down. Gearing your focus towards a safe path, you see the road before you goes off somewhere around 150 ft before it curves right, matching the contour of the cavern wall. There are small side streets you can see heading left toward the cave wall. There is also a street that turns right and is similar in width to the road before you (20ft).

Sieghart make a perception check, please.

(If there is anything else anyone would like to do feel free to say so; i.e. investigate a building or make a check of some sort)