"Sure, sure, sure..." Just as Gibson finishes stuffing everything in the bag of holding, his head jerks up, eyes wide. "Excuse me for a moment," he mutters as he high tails it out of the room. A moment later you hear a bunch of clinking glass from a few rooms away as Gibson attempts to fit every single wine bottle in the cellar into the bag of holding.

Gibson -- you manage to find 12 total bottles of wine (worth 1 sp each).

Tul listens as Gibson ransacks the wine cellar. She then looks over at Hugh.

"We may have to carry him if he decides to start drinking all of that," Tul says.

She takes one last look at the corpse on the table and the system it appears connected to. 

"It seems unlikely anyone will accidentally press the runes in the correct order to revive this one."

Tul then moves back to Sanbalet's room to act on her hunch that they missed something in here. She gives the room a more thorough search, intent this time on finding another spell book for Dimma and Gib.

(Perception: 10 )

Tul turns the room over one last time, but unfortunately does not turn up the spellbook.

As the group reconvenes in the barracks, you estimate that right now its about mid-day. A slight sea breeze seems to be coming from the passageway that connects the the cellar to the caverns on the far side of the room, and everything is relatively calm and peaceful, given the relatively intense events of the previous few hours. The supposedly "haunted" house has been cleared.

What do you do?

Tul stomps out of Sanbalet's room, frustrated about not finding anything, looking ready to punch something hard. The smell of the sea and feel of the breeze coming from the open passageway helps calm her down a little.

"We've come this far," she says to the others. "We should at least take a look at what's through there?"

Tul moves quickly across the room and looks into the passage way.

(Map has been updated to add the caverns.)

As you walk into the caverns, you can tell that you are getting nearer and nearer to the Azure Sea. The walls of the cavern are damp with moisture and even the floor seems to be wet. There is a passageway to the east that winds down, definitely towards the sea, but the path seems well-lit by active torches mounted by simple iron brackets bolted all along the wall.

The path westward also winds down, but is very dark -- any creatures without darkvision who go this way will be considered blinded.

"Alright guys, I think we've just about cleaned the place out. What do you say we head back and collect our..." Gibson says while reentering the deserted barracks. "Oh come on!" And he hurries down into the cavern to catch up.

Dimma gives Gibson a pat on the back. "We'll get you back to the tavern in time for your stories one of these days," she says, following the party into the caverns.

As you move through the cavern, Dimma, with your Innate Stonecunning, you know that these caverns are not natural, but rather painstakingly carved through the cliff. It is actually quite impressive, speaking to the scale of the Sea Princes' operation.

Eventually, the passage diverges. The path continues straight ahead of you and looks like it opens into a large room that is warmly lit and inviting.Dimma and Tul -- with your passive perception, you are able to pick up the sound of voices talking in laughing in Common.

The other passage to your right slopes perceptibly downward. There appears to be some coarse matting laid down but the path still seems slippery and would require some sure footing to travel down. The sea breezes seem to be coming from this passageway.

What do you do?

Tul holds her hand up for silence as the sounds of voices reach their ears.

"That they are talking and laughing seems to confirm that no one knows of our presence yet," Tul says. "We could slip down there quietly to get a better idea of how many there are. From what I have noticed as we've moved through this manor and now the caves, Arvastan is the lightest on his feet and would make the least noise."

Looking intently at Arvastan she asks, "would you go ahead to scout? I'm normally fairly quiet when I walk but I fear that my concentration is not what it usually is today."

"Tell me about it. Those clodhoppers have made more noise than the rest of us combined today," Gibson whispers to Dimma at the back of the group.

Dimma nods. "I will hold back," she says, "if I hear fighting I'll come meet you." She holds her hand out to whoever is about to sneak into the next chamber and confers guidance. "May the stone guide your step and keep it silent."

Arvastan nods, "Aye, I'll go take a peek." He thanks Dimma for the guidance and then begins to start down the passage the voices are coming from, moving as quietly and stealthily as possible. 

Stealth - 15

Perception - 18

Arvastan, you slip very silently to the edge of the large cavern opening and subtly peek around the corner.

You see three scouts -- two humans and a dwarf, sitting at a small table playing some sort of card game. All around them are a large number of very large, heavy-looking wooden crates. The crates are stamped with some sort of property mark that you can't quite make out at this distance. The dwarf stands up, lazily scratching his chin and moves over to one of three large casks on the farthest wall and pours himself a long draft of some topaz liquid into a small tin cup. He downs the cup, burps loudly and refills it. All three of them seem to be in some state of intoxication.

(Mobile)

Arvastan quietly returns to the group and relays what he saw.

Tul listens carefully to what Arvastan relays to them.

"If they have been drinking for awhile, they may be slow to react, but they also may be quick to reveal secrets they might otherwise hold dear," Tul says.

She then looks at Gib.

"Someone could pretend to be a new member, recruited by Sanbalet, and get information from them. Bringing a bottle or two of wine might make them even more friendly."

"Took the words right out of my mouth!" Gibson says as a grin creeps over his face.

"These sound like my kind of people! Why don't we just let ol' Gib do his thing and see what kind of information we can get out of them before we have Tul here put her foot through them? Who knows? Maybe they've been searching for some sort of spiritual awakening and didn't even know it! Listen, leave it to me and these poor saps will be helping us carry those crates out of here and telling Young Sir Lordship everything they know about the pirates before sundown."

Dimma gives Gib a pat on the back, conferring guidance on him as he prepares to meet up with the other pirates. "That's the spirit," she says, "We'll be ready to back you up if business goes south."

Gibson carefully removes Sanbalet's jacket, folds it, and places it into the bag of holding. He then removes a bottle of wine and uncorks it. Splashing a few drops in his hand, he dabs a bit on the sides of his neck and behind his ears before taking a mouthful, swishing it around, and spitting it out on the floor of the cavern. "Mmm. Just like dad used to make," he mutters as he runs his tongue over his teeth. After taking another swig and swallowing, he recorks it and puts it back in the bag. Taking a deep breath, he smiles at the group. "Onward to glory and oblivion, eh?" Then he steels himself and begins to walk deeper into the cavern, softly singing a shanty he picked up from spending too much time in this accursed town.

When he sees the trio he shouts, "Oy! You lot! I'm here to help you haul these crates upstairs. Sanbalet's gotten word the city guard is starting to patrol the waters along the cliffs and it's too dangerous to leave everything exposed if they happen to find this place, as unlikely as it may be." His eyes pause on the casks and then widen as he takes in the card game. Eyes glinting in the torchlight, his huge smile absorbs the rest of his face. "But I can see you're currently otherwise occupied and, may I just say, of a similar mind to myself and nothing was said to me about a deadline for this particular job!" He takes out the recorked bottle and one other and holds them up as an offering to the group as he approaches. "Now I've gotta say, I thought this crew would be insufferable but, certain wizards aside, since I was brought on everyone I've met has been downright accommodating! I mean, that cook upstairs... I didn't catch his name... Have you had any of the ham he's cooking up?? Absolutely to die for! Oh! Speaking of: we haven't yet been properly introduced!" Setting the bottles down on the table, Gibson wipes his hands on his vest and grabs their hands in turn to shake them. "The name's Gibson Lemonyellow, high priest of the First Church of Cumian. My friends call be 'Gib' so you can call me 'Gib.' And I know what you're thinking! 'Why in Greyhawk would an old priest be here to help carry heavy crates up the stairs?' and I'll tell you if you'll just let me. This old tiefling's certifiably and constitutionally fortified! The blood boiling through these veins is the stuff of legends. Why, it once brought a dying fairie queen back from the brink of death! But that's a story for another time. You know, I'd carry everything myself but listen, I don't want to make you young fellas look bad in front of the boss." He leans in and winks. "Anyway, all that can wait because I've spotted a game and I'm looking for action!" He jingles his coin purse a bit. Snatching a cup from the table in front of one of the men, Gibson sniffs it and scowls before emptying it on the floor with a toss. Refilling it with wine and placing it back in front of its owner he continues, "So what's your pleasure? I'll tell you, I'm a sucker for a heated game of Three Dragon Ante but I'm willing to play anything if there's coin on the line!" Gibson grabs a chair and sits, putting a fistful of copper and silver coins on the table, giving them the first moment of silence in which to react since he first entered seemingly an eternity ago.