You pass the well in the courtyard, stepping over a cluster of small mammal remains in the tall grass around the well. Zi observes, "This is disappointing, so much for the stories about the alchemist's lush and exotic garden. If it ever existed it has long been pillaged by the local animal denizens."
Gulin motions the party to follow him around the mansion, past the immediate door in front of them. As you circle the mansion the sounds of waves become louder. It is dark and you can barely make out the view, but it doesn't take much imagination to gather why this house was built in this particular spot.
Angus Athletics: 4
You approach a door under a small awning. In the houses heyday this was most likely the front entrance. Angus, without attempting to turn the door-knob, takes a few steps back. Gathers his breathe. And rushes forward shoulder first into the door. There is a loud groan of wood, but the door does not budge. Angus falls to the ground.
Zi steps over his body, "Maybe we should check to see if it is unlocked first?" She reaches out to the door-knob. It easily rotates, and the door creakily swings in.
Light from Zi's shield illuminates the room you enter. The front door opens onto a musty, dirty entrance hall. To your left, a cooidor leads into the west wing of the house. The walls re bare and bits of smashed furniture lie upon the floor. Ahead of you, another corridor leads toward the rear of the house.
A staircase on the eastern wall climbs to the next story, reaching it at a balcony that overlooks the entrance hall along its north and west sides; the stairs appear safe to climb, though the balcony rail is broken in several places. Under the stairs at the north end of the hall, a third corridor leads east.
"I think we should investigate this room closely to see if we find anything that will help us. If we do not find something, perhaps we should venture upstairs and then work our way back to the first floor. Do you agree or is there a better approach to searching surface dwellings? Should we split up, gang?"
This triton learned all she knows about humans from Scooby Doo.
Just before Gulin crosses the mansion's threshold, he points a finger to the edge of the roof. Avalloc swoops down, perching above the doorway and going still, looking like a tiny gargoyle statue in the darkness, watching the exterior.
"Aye. Angus, keep an eye out for any traps... loose floorboards, tripwires, false walls, strange symbols etched were they shouldn't rightly be. Who knows what that mad lad of an alchemist rigged up his house with."
Glancing up at the bright shield of Zi and squinting his eyes, he takes out his hooded lantern, lighting it and raising the hood to provide another bright source of light. He adjusts his hammer strap, keeping the large warhammer secured to his back. He follows Angus, prepared to aid the monk in a look around the room.
30 bright/30 dim light. Help action for perception checks, or I could roll my own Investigation if that is more appropriate.
"Caspia, I think you're right, if we split up now we can cover more ground."
If you are searching a room for hidden compartments / traps, investigation will more likely be the used roll.
Gulin Runehammer Investigation: 17
Gulin searches the room for traps, but does not locate anything that would appear to be a threat to the party. However, whilst he is closely inspecting the floorboards he begins to notice a pattern of areas where the dust has been disturbed. Two sets of humanoid traps appear present. The first leads from the entryway through the northern corridor. The second set of tracks curiously start at the foot of the stairs and lead through the western corridor.
Gulin points out the tracks to the others, shining the light on them.
"Seems like we aren't the first to come here. Should we go down this hallway first?" He motions to the western hallway, beckoning the others to follow.
"Sure, I'll lead the way." Angus says. "Which way are you ladies headed, so we know where to run if we hear trouble or you find some? Also shall we meet back here when we've done our searches and figure out watches for the night so everyone can get some sleep?"
Angus and Gulin walk down the hallway following the westward leading tracks from the stairs. The hallway is dilapidated and damp and the footsteps begin to fade on the moist floorboards. If it weren't for Gulin's sharp eyes in the previous room, it would likely be much harder to spot the tracks now. There are patches of harmless mold everywhere.
Exiting the hallway into a living area, the tracks finally go cold. Angus and Gulin see a door in the north wall leading onto the remains of a small patio. The door is blocked with the remains of destroyed furniture, but you can still see through the windows. The paving of the patio is cracked and overrun with weeds. In the southeast corner of the room lies another pile of refuse. Other than these piles of debris, this living room appears barren.
Back in the entrance hall, Zi turns to Caspia, "So Caspia, are we following them, or should we continue to search for clues? A "surface dwelling" such as this one could take quite a bit of time to cover."
Gulin pokes around the room, looking at the pile of refuse in the corner as well as peering around for any loose floorboards or mismatched wall panels, or other things that seem out of place.
Gulin walks over to northern pile pokes around in it. The refuse mostly consists of rotted furniture and dirt. Termites begin to skitter across the floor as their nests as disturbed. The pile in the southeast looks equally worthless. Even from here Gulin can realize it would be a waste of time. Peering across the rest of the barren room, Gulin spots the faint outline of a wooden hatch. It is centered in the middle of the northern end of the room and blends almost seamlessly with the wooden planks around it. Looks like the search wasn't in vain.
Gulin points out the trapdoor to Angus, and takes out his dagger, scoring the wood near the edge to make it more visible. He replaces the dagger on his belt, just holding the hooded lantern aloft.
"Shall we quickly poke our heads in the two rooms we passed? I don't think we ought to venture down there without the lasses."
Waiting to see if Caspia and Zi want to explore anything in the opposite direction, will probably call them over once we see what are in the rooms we passed.
Gulin and Angus leave the living area and the hatch Gulin has discovered in the ground. Returning down the damp hallway, the pair turn into the room which they had passed on their left.
This room was once a library, with bookshelves around the walls. Most of the shelves are broken, and in many places they have come away from the wall. The few shelves still intact are empty, but a pile of books rests in the southwest corner.
There are fourteen books in the heap--untidily thrown into the corner and covered with cobwebs, vermin droppings, and harmless mold.
All fourteen of the books are partially ruined but still legible. Most of the books cover dull subjects such as histories, collections, romantic poems, etc. Three of the books catch your eye as noteworthy and may be able to fetch a few coins if you could find the right buyer. They are:
The Magical Properties of Gemtones by the arch-mage Tenser
The Magical Properties of Herbs and Flowers by the arch-mage Tenser
The Metaphysics of Mathematics by the mage Nystad.
As you leaf through The Metaphysics of Mathematics you find a piece of parchment torn from a larger sheet, containing a few lines of handwritten text in the Common tongue. Dampness has spoiled the sheet so that only two words are legible: "beyond skeletons"
As Angus begins to leaf through the pages of the Metaphysics of Mathematics, Gulin sets down the lantern and begins to examine the books alongside him.
Investigation - 8 I would have given Angus advantage earlier, but I'll make a new roll now.
Gulin looks for three things in the books, excepting the Metaphysics of Mathematics which Angus has in hand:
Any entries on Cinderpetal in the "Magical Properties of Herbs and Flowers".
Any entries on processing ores in the "Magical Properties of Gemstones," especially on ways to extract gems from ore
Any local Saltmarsh history or stories involving either dwarven royalty or female dwarven adventurers of times long past
By the way, I'm happy to use the Help action on any skill checks you all want to do, assuming Gulin is in a position to Help and it's a skill he'd be of help with.
As Gulin finishes the two Tenser tomes, he opens his pack and places them in. "Could be useful later. I've got a knack for alchemy and reference books are always handy to keep. Perhaps I can mend the bindings."
Zi and Caspia follow the northward leading tracks through a dilapidated hallway. Zi's shield continues to scatter light across the room for a few feet, but their vision past that is iffy. They pass a door on their left, then a small hallway leading to an exterior door on the right. Through a cracked window pane in the door, Zi and Caspia can barely make out the shape of the well. Had they not passed by the well up close, they would most likely not have recognized the well from this distance at night. Behind it lies the small crumbled wall, and the ominous presence of the forest.
The two of them arrive within a room that could only be a kitchen. This kitchen is dirty and damp, with patches of gray mold and cobwebs on the flloor, walls, and ceiling. In the south-west corner is some iron cooking equipment with a chimney above. Next to it, under the window, is a cracked and discolored stone sink, a small closed wooden cupboard is fixed to the wall about five feet above the floor level. Against the far wall, a flight of wooden stairs leads upward from west to east; the woodwark of the staircase is decayed, a few of the treads are missing.
As you survey the room, you catch a glance of large white centipede moving from the cupboard and disappearing into the sink.
The tracks that Gulin alerted the group to within the entry way continue through the kitchen and end at the door on your right below the stairs.
Gulin Runehammer:
Flipping through the books it does not appear that the archmage Tenser ever visited this stretch of coast.
During your brief skimming of the Magical Properties of Gemstones you find multiple entries mentioning the use of gemstones in alchemy. However, due to the hasty nature of your search you are unable to find a way to separate ore from stone. Perhaps if you had a few hours by a nice fire with a full tankard you could conduct a thorough read pf the book, but who knows if it truly holds the knowledge that you seek.
Thankfully as a learned wizard, you have enough sense to check the index of Magical Properties of Herbs and Flowers. There under the section C you find Cinderpetal. Turning to the appropriate page you find a description of the flower. Cinderpetal is a beautiful flower with wavy bright red and orange petals. The petals shimmer when light hits it giving off the appearance of liquid fire dancing across the petals surface. The leaves themselves are a rather unremarkable green. Cinderpetal is commonly used in potions to heal burns and protect users from fire. Once uprooted from the ground, Cinderpetal will quickly wilt if it remains exposed to oxygen for a prolonged time. The flower can be preserved by storing it within an enclosed space where the air has been previously removed.
"Zi, I would like to investigate this room and see if there is an evil presence close by before we venture further. We may have to call to our companions to join us before we follow these footprints further."
Steve, I want to search the room and use divine sense.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Tiffany, just FYI I don't think Divine Sense does the following: "Until the end of your next turn, you can sense anything affected by the hallow spell or know the location of any celestial, fiend, undead within 60 ft. that is not behind total cover. You can use this feature 3 times per long rest." In other words it is useful if you are looking at something but are unsure if it is a celestial, fiend, or undead. In this case Divine Sense would alert you if the centipede was an undead, celestial, or fiend.
Caspia Aspergina Investigation Roll: 17
Zi, "Go for it Caspia, it's not like I'm in a rush now that night has fallen. Not looking forward to trudging back to Saltmarsh in the dark with nothing to show for our efforts."Zi fallssilent and holds her shield forward to illuminate the room as Caspia searches.
Caspia is able to quickly confirm that the tracks discovered in the entrance way lead into a small pantry on the east side of the room. Caspia then moves to the west side of the room and rummages through the cupboard. Shards of glass and clay are all that remain of the contents. Just as turns her back, Zi scream "Look out!" Turning around Caspia sees two Giant Centipedes lunging at her from the sink. Their hidden nest must have been disturbed.
Giant Centipede 1 Attack Roll: 7 Damage Roll: 5
Giant Centipede 2 Attack Roll: 22 Damage Roll: 5
Caspia feels the first Giant Centipede sink it's teeth past her armor and she bats the second one out of the way with her arm! Tiffany you take 6 damage. I'll get the map updated when I get home tonight. It is now your move.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Gulin Perception 18
Assuming that means I don't hear Zi's shout.
Gulin finishes his browsing and closes the book on herbs."Ah, I think we might have part of what we be needin', though that cinderpetal will need some special glassware. Let's check out the other side of the hallway, and then find the girls."
Gulin picks up his lantern, leaves the library, and opens the northern door.
You pass the well in the courtyard, stepping over a cluster of small mammal remains in the tall grass around the well. Zi observes, "This is disappointing, so much for the stories about the alchemist's lush and exotic garden. If it ever existed it has long been pillaged by the local animal denizens."
Gulin motions the party to follow him around the mansion, past the immediate door in front of them. As you circle the mansion the sounds of waves become louder. It is dark and you can barely make out the view, but it doesn't take much imagination to gather why this house was built in this particular spot.
Angus Athletics: 4
You approach a door under a small awning. In the houses heyday this was most likely the front entrance. Angus, without attempting to turn the door-knob, takes a few steps back. Gathers his breathe. And rushes forward shoulder first into the door. There is a loud groan of wood, but the door does not budge. Angus falls to the ground.
Zi steps over his body, "Maybe we should check to see if it is unlocked first?" She reaches out to the door-knob. It easily rotates, and the door creakily swings in.
Light from Zi's shield illuminates the room you enter. The front door opens onto a musty, dirty entrance hall. To your left, a cooidor leads into the west wing of the house. The walls re bare and bits of smashed furniture lie upon the floor. Ahead of you, another corridor leads toward the rear of the house.
A staircase on the eastern wall climbs to the next story, reaching it at a balcony that overlooks the entrance hall along its north and west sides; the stairs appear safe to climb, though the balcony rail is broken in several places. Under the stairs at the north end of the hall, a third corridor leads east.
"Where to now?"
DM for Out of the Abyss | Edvord Reinholdt for Killilli's Waterdeep Dragon Heist | Sergeant Cernan for Viper's Descent
Caspia turns to her companions.
"I think we should investigate this room closely to see if we find anything that will help us. If we do not find something, perhaps we should venture upstairs and then work our way back to the first floor. Do you agree or is there a better approach to searching surface dwellings? Should we split up, gang?"
This triton learned all she knows about humans from Scooby Doo.
Just before Gulin crosses the mansion's threshold, he points a finger to the edge of the roof. Avalloc swoops down, perching above the doorway and going still, looking like a tiny gargoyle statue in the darkness, watching the exterior.
"Aye. Angus, keep an eye out for any traps... loose floorboards, tripwires, false walls, strange symbols etched were they shouldn't rightly be. Who knows what that mad lad of an alchemist rigged up his house with."
Glancing up at the bright shield of Zi and squinting his eyes, he takes out his hooded lantern, lighting it and raising the hood to provide another bright source of light. He adjusts his hammer strap, keeping the large warhammer secured to his back. He follows Angus, prepared to aid the monk in a look around the room.
30 bright/30 dim light. Help action for perception checks, or I could roll my own Investigation if that is more appropriate.
Aldrik Reinholdt in Dragon Heist
Daventry in The Candlekeep Mysteries, and her bag
"Caspia, I think you're right, if we split up now we can cover more ground."
If you are searching a room for hidden compartments / traps, investigation will more likely be the used roll.
Gulin Runehammer Investigation: 17
Gulin searches the room for traps, but does not locate anything that would appear to be a threat to the party. However, whilst he is closely inspecting the floorboards he begins to notice a pattern of areas where the dust has been disturbed. Two sets of humanoid traps appear present. The first leads from the entryway through the northern corridor. The second set of tracks curiously start at the foot of the stairs and lead through the western corridor.
DM for Out of the Abyss | Edvord Reinholdt for Killilli's Waterdeep Dragon Heist | Sergeant Cernan for Viper's Descent
Gulin points out the tracks to the others, shining the light on them.
"Seems like we aren't the first to come here. Should we go down this hallway first?" He motions to the western hallway, beckoning the others to follow.
Aldrik Reinholdt in Dragon Heist
Daventry in The Candlekeep Mysteries, and her bag
"Sure, I'll lead the way." Angus says. "Which way are you ladies headed, so we know where to run if we hear trouble or you find some? Also shall we meet back here when we've done our searches and figure out watches for the night so everyone can get some sleep?"
Angus and Gulin walk down the hallway following the westward leading tracks from the stairs. The hallway is dilapidated and damp and the footsteps begin to fade on the moist floorboards. If it weren't for Gulin's sharp eyes in the previous room, it would likely be much harder to spot the tracks now. There are patches of harmless mold everywhere.
Exiting the hallway into a living area, the tracks finally go cold. Angus and Gulin see a door in the north wall leading onto the remains of a small patio. The door is blocked with the remains of destroyed furniture, but you can still see through the windows. The paving of the patio is cracked and overrun with weeds. In the southeast corner of the room lies another pile of refuse. Other than these piles of debris, this living room appears barren.
Back in the entrance hall, Zi turns to Caspia, "So Caspia, are we following them, or should we continue to search for clues? A "surface dwelling" such as this one could take quite a bit of time to cover."
DM for Out of the Abyss | Edvord Reinholdt for Killilli's Waterdeep Dragon Heist | Sergeant Cernan for Viper's Descent
Gulin pokes around the room, looking at the pile of refuse in the corner as well as peering around for any loose floorboards or mismatched wall panels, or other things that seem out of place.
Investigation 25
Aldrik Reinholdt in Dragon Heist
Daventry in The Candlekeep Mysteries, and her bag
Gulin Runehammer:
Gulin walks over to northern pile pokes around in it. The refuse mostly consists of rotted furniture and dirt. Termites begin to skitter across the floor as their nests as disturbed. The pile in the southeast looks equally worthless. Even from here Gulin can realize it would be a waste of time. Peering across the rest of the barren room, Gulin spots the faint outline of a wooden hatch. It is centered in the middle of the northern end of the room and blends almost seamlessly with the wooden planks around it. Looks like the search wasn't in vain.
DM for Out of the Abyss | Edvord Reinholdt for Killilli's Waterdeep Dragon Heist | Sergeant Cernan for Viper's Descent
Gulin points out the trapdoor to Angus, and takes out his dagger, scoring the wood near the edge to make it more visible. He replaces the dagger on his belt, just holding the hooded lantern aloft.
"Shall we quickly poke our heads in the two rooms we passed? I don't think we ought to venture down there without the lasses."
Waiting to see if Caspia and Zi want to explore anything in the opposite direction, will probably call them over once we see what are in the rooms we passed.
Aldrik Reinholdt in Dragon Heist
Daventry in The Candlekeep Mysteries, and her bag
"Come Gulin, let's go check out the room on the left then"
Try opening the door with the handle
Gulin and Angus leave the living area and the hatch Gulin has discovered in the ground. Returning down the damp hallway, the pair turn into the room which they had passed on their left.
This room was once a library, with bookshelves around the walls. Most of the shelves are broken, and in many places they have come away from the wall. The few shelves still intact are empty, but a pile of books rests in the southwest corner.
There are fourteen books in the heap--untidily thrown into the corner and covered with cobwebs, vermin droppings, and harmless mold.
DM for Out of the Abyss | Edvord Reinholdt for Killilli's Waterdeep Dragon Heist | Sergeant Cernan for Viper's Descent
"This reminds me of home all of a sudden," Angus says laughing. "I wonder if there is anything more exciting to be found in between these pages."
Angus picks up the books and starts flicking the pages.
Investigation roll?
Angus Investigation Roll: 13
All fourteen of the books are partially ruined but still legible. Most of the books cover dull subjects such as histories, collections, romantic poems, etc. Three of the books catch your eye as noteworthy and may be able to fetch a few coins if you could find the right buyer. They are:
The Magical Properties of Gemtones by the arch-mage Tenser
The Magical Properties of Herbs and Flowers by the arch-mage Tenser
The Metaphysics of Mathematics by the mage Nystad.
As you leaf through The Metaphysics of Mathematics you find a piece of parchment torn from a larger sheet, containing a few lines of handwritten text in the Common tongue. Dampness has spoiled the sheet so that only two words are legible: "beyond skeletons"
DM for Out of the Abyss | Edvord Reinholdt for Killilli's Waterdeep Dragon Heist | Sergeant Cernan for Viper's Descent
"Good eye, Angus!"
As Angus begins to leaf through the pages of the Metaphysics of Mathematics, Gulin sets down the lantern and begins to examine the books alongside him.
Investigation - 8 I would have given Angus advantage earlier, but I'll make a new roll now.
Gulin looks for three things in the books, excepting the Metaphysics of Mathematics which Angus has in hand:
By the way, I'm happy to use the Help action on any skill checks you all want to do, assuming Gulin is in a position to Help and it's a skill he'd be of help with.
As Gulin finishes the two Tenser tomes, he opens his pack and places them in. "Could be useful later. I've got a knack for alchemy and reference books are always handy to keep. Perhaps I can mend the bindings."
Mandatory post-roll edit: *throws a table*
Aldrik Reinholdt in Dragon Heist
Daventry in The Candlekeep Mysteries, and her bag
"Come Zi, let us go straight ahead and follow this hallway. We will yell for our companions should we need them."
Caspia and Zi venture forward to the hallway directly in front of them to begin searching through the house.
Zi and Caspia follow the northward leading tracks through a dilapidated hallway. Zi's shield continues to scatter light across the room for a few feet, but their vision past that is iffy. They pass a door on their left, then a small hallway leading to an exterior door on the right. Through a cracked window pane in the door, Zi and Caspia can barely make out the shape of the well. Had they not passed by the well up close, they would most likely not have recognized the well from this distance at night. Behind it lies the small crumbled wall, and the ominous presence of the forest.
The two of them arrive within a room that could only be a kitchen. This kitchen is dirty and damp, with patches of gray mold and cobwebs on the flloor, walls, and ceiling. In the south-west corner is some iron cooking equipment with a chimney above. Next to it, under the window, is a cracked and discolored stone sink, a small closed wooden cupboard is fixed to the wall about five feet above the floor level. Against the far wall, a flight of wooden stairs leads upward from west to east; the woodwark of the staircase is decayed, a few of the treads are missing.
As you survey the room, you catch a glance of large white centipede moving from the cupboard and disappearing into the sink.
The tracks that Gulin alerted the group to within the entry way continue through the kitchen and end at the door on your right below the stairs.
Gulin Runehammer:
Flipping through the books it does not appear that the archmage Tenser ever visited this stretch of coast.
During your brief skimming of the Magical Properties of Gemstones you find multiple entries mentioning the use of gemstones in alchemy. However, due to the hasty nature of your search you are unable to find a way to separate ore from stone. Perhaps if you had a few hours by a nice fire with a full tankard you could conduct a thorough read pf the book, but who knows if it truly holds the knowledge that you seek.
Thankfully as a learned wizard, you have enough sense to check the index of Magical Properties of Herbs and Flowers. There under the section C you find Cinderpetal. Turning to the appropriate page you find a description of the flower. Cinderpetal is a beautiful flower with wavy bright red and orange petals. The petals shimmer when light hits it giving off the appearance of liquid fire dancing across the petals surface. The leaves themselves are a rather unremarkable green. Cinderpetal is commonly used in potions to heal burns and protect users from fire. Once uprooted from the ground, Cinderpetal will quickly wilt if it remains exposed to oxygen for a prolonged time. The flower can be preserved by storing it within an enclosed space where the air has been previously removed.
DM for Out of the Abyss | Edvord Reinholdt for Killilli's Waterdeep Dragon Heist | Sergeant Cernan for Viper's Descent
"Zi, I would like to investigate this room and see if there is an evil presence close by before we venture further. We may have to call to our companions to join us before we follow these footprints further."
Steve, I want to search the room and use divine sense.
Tiffany, just FYI I don't think Divine Sense does the following: "Until the end of your next turn, you can sense anything affected by the hallow spell or know the location of any celestial, fiend, undead within 60 ft. that is not behind total cover. You can use this feature 3 times per long rest." In other words it is useful if you are looking at something but are unsure if it is a celestial, fiend, or undead. In this case Divine Sense would alert you if the centipede was an undead, celestial, or fiend.
Caspia Aspergina Investigation Roll: 17
Zi, "Go for it Caspia, it's not like I'm in a rush now that night has fallen. Not looking forward to trudging back to Saltmarsh in the dark with nothing to show for our efforts." Zi falls silent and holds her shield forward to illuminate the room as Caspia searches.
Caspia is able to quickly confirm that the tracks discovered in the entrance way lead into a small pantry on the east side of the room. Caspia then moves to the west side of the room and rummages through the cupboard. Shards of glass and clay are all that remain of the contents. Just as turns her back, Zi scream "Look out!" Turning around Caspia sees two Giant Centipedes lunging at her from the sink. Their hidden nest must have been disturbed.
Giant Centipede 1 Attack Roll: 7 Damage Roll: 5
Giant Centipede 2 Attack Roll: 22 Damage Roll: 5
Caspia feels the first Giant Centipede sink it's teeth past her armor and she bats the second one out of the way with her arm! Tiffany you take 6 damage. I'll get the map updated when I get home tonight. It is now your move.
DM for Out of the Abyss | Edvord Reinholdt for Killilli's Waterdeep Dragon Heist | Sergeant Cernan for Viper's Descent
Gulin Perception 18
Assuming that means I don't hear Zi's shout.
Gulin finishes his browsing and closes the book on herbs. "Ah, I think we might have part of what we be needin', though that cinderpetal will need some special glassware. Let's check out the other side of the hallway, and then find the girls."
Gulin picks up his lantern, leaves the library, and opens the northern door.
Aldrik Reinholdt in Dragon Heist
Daventry in The Candlekeep Mysteries, and her bag