Balthazar lights the way for the party as they uncover the tunnel that young Carp had pointed them to. It turns into a rough-hewn passage that continues for about a hundred feet. One might imagine this tunnel being used to smuggle things in and out of the manor.
The group reaches the end of the passage and when they do, they see that they've entered a large cavern. A cold breeze fills the large natural cavern, carrying with it the faint scent of decaying flesh. A crevasse, which is 5-10 feet wide and 20 feet deep, divides the cavern and is flanked by two rough stone columns that support the twenty-foot-high ceiling. Two arched wooden bridges span the chasm.
Note: I have placed the first three of the marching order on the map (Bern, Luminmorn, and Ryssa). Lingo and Balthazar are immediately behind them, although not shown.
He nods his appreciation to Balthazar for the light. "But we should be careful with that. We should hide the light from time to time to make sure that there are not 'guards' stationed down here. I am, of course, assuming that the guards would want light too", he added with a grin. We should also try to be as quiet as possible. Any sound will carry and could spoil the surprise."
When they got to the crevasse, he motioned for the others to wait. He wanted to search for 'traps' on the bridges across the crevasse. It was something he would have thought to do.
He moved as quietly as he could for a large dragonborn in heavy armor. He kept his eyes open and great axe out. Trouble was coming even if it was them bringing it.
He showed Bern how you could use the shape of your hand to funnel the light or enclose it in your fist, showing only a reddish fuzzy dim light squeezing out between the fingers.
Arriving at the crevase, he kept an eye on the rear, spell components at hand in his belt pouch.
[[ well since I am up front, I thought that I would give it a go. He should have =some= idea on 'natural' sorts of 'traps' that might be found one this sort of bridge ... if not, then it would probably fall to Lingo to do it. ]] You can do it. Anyone can actually do it. It requires a Perception check. Lingo has extra benefits to it for being a Rogue.
Bern moves ahead and carefully examines the first bridge while the rest of the party waits and watches (OOC - MikeD - Make a Perception check and also an Investigation check).
Now that he is adjacent to the crevasse, he can see that it is between 5 and 10 feet wide and about 20 feet deep. It has very rough walls that would appear to be easily climbed. The bottom contains a jumble of boulders and rubble.
The bridge itself is made of wooden planks and has no rails. It is not attached to the ground and simply lays over the gap.
Bern can also see that there appear to be 4 exits from the room. One immediately to the west and another across the bridge to the east. Up to the north of the room he can barely make out another western exit as well as a larger opening on the northern wall.
As he examines the bridge.........
**I see you......., Bern.... <cackle>..... Feed me....... <whimper> ..... I know you have food....... Tasty.......**
....he hears a voice in his head (only Bern hears this). It seems more than a bit insane.
[[ Bern perception & Investigation MikeD rolled d20+1,d20+0 and got 5, 4 ... have I mentioned how much I dislike this dice roller ... or rather how much it apparently dislikes me <sigh> ]]
<Bern>
He moves forward carefully, looking for trip wires or 'loose stones' that could be pressure triggers on the floor. He is more concerned about the bridges. They are easier to 'rig' and would drop folks into the crevasse.
Then he stands up and looks around for the source of the voice. "Can anyone tell where that voice came from?"
"Lets give each of the 4 a look and then ..." He looked around again. "You didn't hear that?" He considered the voice again and focused more on the message, the tone ... "I don't like the sound of it at all."
The large dragonborn had been on alert and not moving. He knew whatever it was he definitely had not heard it. "I hear nothing beyond us. What are you hearing? What don't you like?" He knew to trust his instincts from situations in the wild.
"Well the 'feed me' part at the end of the message was kind-a creepy", he said. "Beyond that, it mostly seems like someone .... or some THING wants to know why we are ... or I am here."
"Bern. Are you hearing voice again? I knew an old man that used to have entire conversations with himself and even got into fights. I hope that's not happening with you. The town guard took that old man away and he was never heard from again."
"Perhaps it is some magical effect of some sort. But I think that the more important point is that it implies that there is an intelligent being somewhere near by."
[[ Bern has not moved as yet because there are evil demons talking in his head <weg> Once we deal with that I am sure that we will get back to moving around <wink> Can Bern get a sense of direction from the 'voice'? ]]
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