Silthras rubs his eyes, still getting trying to understand what the darkness was. "It was like no darkness I have ever encountered before -- magical or otherwise" he says, still shaken. "And the cold...", he shudders and examines the room one last time, before nodding to Kal.
"Aye. I think a little more caution. Everything at a distance, when possible. And I think Velyra said she might be able to detect such magic."
"It will mean we move more slowly, but we will be a lot safer."
"I can't say I've ever had that pleasant experience before either," Velyra adds, gratefully accepting Kal's aid. With a feeling of warmth restored to her body, she's ready to continue. "Nor amI in a hurry to experience it again."
"It's not something I can do today unfortunately..." She says Silthras, scratching her cheek. "But if we're still at this tomorrow, I'll be sure to be prepared."
"We'll have to make do with our wits for today then." If the others are ready to go, Kal will leave the room and head towards any unexplored area of the first floor. If they've seen everything, he'll stop back at the stairs to the second floor and ask the others if they want to go up, or try the basement door they found earlier.
Usul is staying unusually quiet, after seeing the mutilated corpses, as they continue to search the manor. But he’s keeping his eyes ((6)) (and Dib’s nose ((19))) out for danger.
Leaving the bath room, the party moves back into the hall with Kal in front. With the west wing entirely explored, you head further down the hall and take the split to the right. A door immediately in front of you leads back into the study you had first explored when entering the manor. Another door to the left of it is opened inward into a relatively(compared to the rest of the rooms) bedroom.
Several things are immediately noticeable upon entering the room. A desk to the left of the bed is covered in page after page after page of sketches. The objects seem to have no pattern to them, some are intricate pieces of jewelry, others are of ornate scepters and staves, while others are more like gemstones or rocks, with odd ruins carved in them. Scrawled in the margins of the pages are short notes in dwarven script. A black leather bound journal also sits on the desk. One of the pages in the journal is a roughly drawn map of what at first appears to be a multi-leveled cave system, although you quickly realize it's far too organized to be a natural formation. Down one of the more narrow tunnels of the bottom floor, you see a circle outlined in red ink at the end.
On the other side of the bed is a smaller desk, which has had a mirror propped up against the wall in front of you. A slew of outfits surround this smaller desk on the floor, and on it you see a variety of make up, hair dye, and small prosthetics. Usul would handily recognize this as a disguise kit.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
(( I assume we move, lift an examine things initially very carefully, and bring them one at a time a little closer to us!! ))
As he flips through the journal, Silthras pauses at the map. "Could this be the mine? Or something else do you think? It fits with the earlier description..."
He shows it to Velyria, and they flip through it together, trying to understand what it contains.
Investigation (Adv): 22 (*if* Velyria gives guidance, then +3 -- [no pressure, just an option] ))
"I'll stand outside the room this time if you don't mind." Kal says in a deadpan tone, taking post outside the door. Briefly, he pokes his head in the room."Try not to get sucked into a blank void this time."
“Whose house was this again?” Usul asks as they look through the journal. “A map of the mines definitely makes sense. Though whoever was here also liked to hide their identity it seems.”
Velyra raises an eyebrow as the journal is shown to her, although she does her best to guide and help him, she's uncertain of how much help she can really be. "I don't know dwarven unfortunately. But I think you're right, that does look like a map of the mines. If I remember right, that man you spoke to back at the inn said a friend of his went mad after going down a tunnel on the lower level." She points to the red circle on the map. "Perhaps that's a place of interest we need to visit."
Fortunately this time, no arcane glyph sets off as you begin to investigate the room. The journal itself is written in common, but upon inspection it appears to be nonsense. As you flip through the pages, it would occur to Sylas that journal is most likely not actual gibberish, but encrypted by a cipher. The map is easily recognizable as a map of a mining tunnel system, and fits the vague layout you were given by one of the miners back at the inn.
Kal thinks back to what Paten had said at the inn, poking his head in once more to answer Usul's question. "It was a family called the Redvales. I'm not sure if all this stuff is there's though, they were supposed to have left a few years back."
As you flip through the pages, it would occur to Sylas Silthras that journal is most likely not actual gibberish, but encrypted by a cipher. The map is easily recognizable as a map of a mining tunnel system, and fits the vague layout you were given by one of the miners back at the inn.
Silthras nods in satisfaction, "This is useful: It contains a map of the mine and...some kind of code, I think. We should examine it more closely later when we rest."
He places it in his pack, and gathers up the sheets with diagrams as well, keeping an eye out for anything that might have been used to translate the code...perhaps the diagrams themselves, perhaps a wheel or booklet, or a well thumbed book...
The diagrams do have writing on them, though they are in dwarven script. There's nothing obvious in sight that could be used to decrypt the cipher, but there are three books in a drawer inside the desk. A book seemingly about the calls of various birds titled, 'Azi Tham's Woodland Birdsongs', another following the history a monastic order native to Evanicea titled 'On the History of the Hundred Thoughts', and a novel called 'The King's Eight.' Quickly flipping through them, you see no owner-made markings, nor do any of them seem more worn than the other.
Aware that it may take days to decipher otherwise, Silthras will gather anything he can find that *might* prove useful, and think back to the bodies for anything he saw on them that might help.
"Do you think there might be a secret compartment in here somewhere, or something hidden?" he asks, glancing at Usul, and helping if he searches more thoroughly.
"If we're finding such riddles inside the town, I shudder to think what headaches we may find inside the mines." Velyra glances once more over the encrypted text before Silthras puts it away. "I may be able to help with that. I haven't broken a code like that before, but we've had to puzzle out the meanings behind symbols and glyphs at different sites back at the Astrium before."
Now certain that the room is absent traps of any kind, Usul gives the rest of it a once-over, looking for hidden nooks or the tell-tale sales of secret compartments. After spending about ten minutes going over everything thoroughly, he would find the room clear of any such things.
Silthras examines the bed, and the outfits -- can he determine if they were for a woman or a man?
"How many people were here? And which ones were the owners of that rune...they were probably the one who owns the journal...but even that is unclear. This place is confusing!"
His gaze moves across the bed and the clothing, "Do any of the bodies belong here? Dammit!"
(( I assume Usul's search represents an exhaustive search of the room, so: ))
He shakes his head, and takes one more exasperated look at the room, "Let's move on, and hope we start finding answers soon."
Silthras rubs his eyes, still getting trying to understand what the darkness was. "It was like no darkness I have ever encountered before -- magical or otherwise" he says, still shaken. "And the cold...", he shudders and examines the room one last time, before nodding to Kal.
"Aye. I think a little more caution. Everything at a distance, when possible. And I think Velyra said she might be able to detect such magic."
"It will mean we move more slowly, but we will be a lot safer."
"I can't say I've ever had that pleasant experience before either," Velyra adds, gratefully accepting Kal's aid. With a feeling of warmth restored to her body, she's ready to continue. "Nor am I in a hurry to experience it again."
"It's not something I can do today unfortunately..." She says Silthras, scratching her cheek. "But if we're still at this tomorrow, I'll be sure to be prepared."
@Kal: 8 points, thank you.
"We'll have to make do with our wits for today then." If the others are ready to go, Kal will leave the room and head towards any unexplored area of the first floor. If they've seen everything, he'll stop back at the stairs to the second floor and ask the others if they want to go up, or try the basement door they found earlier.
Silthras nods and follows the others.
Usul is staying unusually quiet, after seeing the mutilated corpses, as they continue to search the manor. But he’s keeping his eyes ((6)) (and Dib’s nose ((19))) out for danger.
PbP 🎲: Tyekanik; Moneo Noree; Korba Muris; & occasional DM:
Leaving the bath room, the party moves back into the hall with Kal in front. With the west wing entirely explored, you head further down the hall and take the split to the right. A door immediately in front of you leads back into the study you had first explored when entering the manor. Another door to the left of it is opened inward into a relatively(compared to the rest of the rooms) bedroom.
Several things are immediately noticeable upon entering the room. A desk to the left of the bed is covered in page after page after page of sketches. The objects seem to have no pattern to them, some are intricate pieces of jewelry, others are of ornate scepters and staves, while others are more like gemstones or rocks, with odd ruins carved in them. Scrawled in the margins of the pages are short notes in dwarven script. A black leather bound journal also sits on the desk. One of the pages in the journal is a roughly drawn map of what at first appears to be a multi-leveled cave system, although you quickly realize it's far too organized to be a natural formation. Down one of the more narrow tunnels of the bottom floor, you see a circle outlined in red ink at the end.
On the other side of the bed is a smaller desk, which has had a mirror propped up against the wall in front of you. A slew of outfits surround this smaller desk on the floor, and on it you see a variety of make up, hair dye, and small prosthetics. Usul would handily recognize this as a disguise kit.
(( I assume we move, lift an examine things initially very carefully, and bring them one at a time a little closer to us!! ))
As he flips through the journal, Silthras pauses at the map. "Could this be the mine? Or something else do you think? It fits with the earlier description..."
He shows it to Velyria, and they flip through it together, trying to understand what it contains.
Investigation (Adv): 22 (*if* Velyria gives guidance, then +3 -- [no pressure, just an option] ))
"I'll stand outside the room this time if you don't mind." Kal says in a deadpan tone, taking post outside the door. Briefly, he pokes his head in the room. "Try not to get sucked into a blank void this time."
Silthras pauses in the doorway at Kal's remark, "I'll keep an eye out for bloody runes carved in dead bodies..."
Dispite his flippancy, he proceeds cautiously.
Perception: 10 ( if help, then another roll 5 ) (passive 12)
“Whose house was this again?” Usul asks as they look through the journal. “A map of the mines definitely makes sense. Though whoever was here also liked to hide their identity it seems.”
PbP 🎲: Tyekanik; Moneo Noree; Korba Muris; & occasional DM:
Velyra raises an eyebrow as the journal is shown to her, although she does her best to guide and help him, she's uncertain of how much help she can really be. "I don't know dwarven unfortunately. But I think you're right, that does look like a map of the mines. If I remember right, that man you spoke to back at the inn said a friend of his went mad after going down a tunnel on the lower level." She points to the red circle on the map. "Perhaps that's a place of interest we need to visit."
Fortunately this time, no arcane glyph sets off as you begin to investigate the room. The journal itself is written in common, but upon inspection it appears to be nonsense. As you flip through the pages, it would occur to Sylas that journal is most likely not actual gibberish, but encrypted by a cipher. The map is easily recognizable as a map of a mining tunnel system, and fits the vague layout you were given by one of the miners back at the inn.
Kal thinks back to what Paten had said at the inn, poking his head in once more to answer Usul's question. "It was a family called the Redvales. I'm not sure if all this stuff is there's though, they were supposed to have left a few years back."
“Ooo a puzzle!” Usul says seeing how the book is written in code. “This could be fun to work on later.”
PbP 🎲: Tyekanik; Moneo Noree; Korba Muris; & occasional DM:
Silthras nods in satisfaction, "This is useful: It contains a map of the mine and...some kind of code, I think. We should examine it more closely later when we rest."
He places it in his pack, and gathers up the sheets with diagrams as well, keeping an eye out for anything that might have been used to translate the code...perhaps the diagrams themselves, perhaps a wheel or booklet, or a well thumbed book...
The diagrams do have writing on them, though they are in dwarven script. There's nothing obvious in sight that could be used to decrypt the cipher, but there are three books in a drawer inside the desk. A book seemingly about the calls of various birds titled, 'Azi Tham's Woodland Birdsongs', another following the history a monastic order native to Evanicea titled 'On the History of the Hundred Thoughts', and a novel called 'The King's Eight.' Quickly flipping through them, you see no owner-made markings, nor do any of them seem more worn than the other.
Aware that it may take days to decipher otherwise, Silthras will gather anything he can find that *might* prove useful, and think back to the bodies for anything he saw on them that might help.
"Do you think there might be a secret compartment in here somewhere, or something hidden?" he asks, glancing at Usul, and helping if he searches more thoroughly.
"If we're finding such riddles inside the town, I shudder to think what headaches we may find inside the mines." Velyra glances once more over the encrypted text before Silthras puts it away. "I may be able to help with that. I haven't broken a code like that before, but we've had to puzzle out the meanings behind symbols and glyphs at different sites back at the Astrium before."
Now certain that the room is absent traps of any kind, Usul gives the rest of it a once-over, looking for hidden nooks or the tell-tale sales of secret compartments. After spending about ten minutes going over everything thoroughly, he would find the room clear of any such things.
Silthras examines the bed, and the outfits -- can he determine if they were for a woman or a man?
"How many people were here? And which ones were the owners of that rune...they were probably the one who owns the journal...but even that is unclear. This place is confusing!"
His gaze moves across the bed and the clothing, "Do any of the bodies belong here? Dammit!"
(( I assume Usul's search represents an exhaustive search of the room, so: ))
He shakes his head, and takes one more exasperated look at the room, "Let's move on, and hope we start finding answers soon."