[1] The Lower Road

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Sep 11, 2023 8:45 pm
"Pull away..." S'sylin said while taking a few steps back...
Sep 11, 2023 10:14 pm
Lash nods in agreement and stands near the NW corner watching for whatever.
Sep 13, 2023 9:43 pm
The southwest lever apparently connects to the eastern door as well, as another lock spins open there. As soon as the lock opens, however, there's a rapid series of clunks that pass overhead, shooting back to the west, and door you came in slams shut!

https://i.imgur.com/xd5CBof.png
Sep 14, 2023 12:06 am
"It's probably fine," Verin announces as she stares intently at the (now closed) door they came in.

Heaving a sigh, she will throw the next lever -- south east.
Sep 19, 2023 1:34 pm
Pulling the southeast lever causes the final lock on the north door to pop free, and the door starts to rise. You're immediately struck by how much dust flies into the air from this door opening. This can't be the route the troglodytes used. It hasn't been opened in decades - maybe centuries. There's a small antechamber directly on the other side of the door, with hallways stretching in either direction. But unlike the rooms you were in before, these hallways are massive, easily four times your height. These must be actual giant-built tunnels, making them far older than the tunnels you have found so far.

Tempting, but is exploring it worth it? Do you really have any other choice?

Sep 19, 2023 1:42 pm
"Well hell... what now?" Verin asks, turning to look at the others. "I think I opened the wrong door."
Sep 19, 2023 2:54 pm
S'Sylin rubbed his scaly chin. He saw an opportunity to find possible forgotten valuables and wealth without having to fight for it.
"So you have. But perhaps it will offer an alternate route... All we would lose is time if it doesn't."
Sep 19, 2023 3:18 pm
"Yeah, maybe," Verin muses. "I feel like it won't help much with the Trog problem... which is what we're supposed to be looking into. This passage is a total shot in the dark though. Could die, could find a backdoor into the Trog den, could end up rich."

She shrugs and draws her rapier. "One way to find out, I guess."
Sep 21, 2023 2:08 pm
"Yes, giants are much more interesting than trogs. And hopefully this old passage has fewer levers and valves." If light is needed, I'll light a torch, then take a few steps into the new passage.
Last edited September 21, 2023 2:10 pm
Sep 22, 2023 4:04 pm
There's tiny slivers of light that are coming from something up above. Perhaps other tunnels criss-cross through the ground underneath Stormreach. The city isn't that old but it sits on the site of at least two previous cities, so it's possible. Lighting a torch will definitely make it easier to see though, so torch in hand, Laaesh leads the way into the giant-sized room. The light only illuminates about two-thirds up the tunnel itself, leaving the ceiling in shadows.

The room itself is about 45 feet wide and 120 feet long. It doesn't take much of an effort to walk it, even being careful, and after a few moments, it's clear that this sort of antechamber is empty, but there are actual cuts that score the walls, as if a battle played out here. More than one of the cuts is still stained with ancient blood, once red but long since turned to black. There's two stone doors, one on either side of the room, and they are also massive, but counterweighted, so that they'll swing open easily if given a good push. The door to the left has seen a bit more use it seems than the one on the right.
Sep 22, 2023 4:24 pm
"If the left door gets used, it's probably the one we should check."

With that, Verin makes her way towards the massive door and pushes carefully.
Sep 22, 2023 7:19 pm
With interest S'Sylin looked at the remnants of the ancient battle. There were no bodies or bones so if something died here, it was taken away. No one bothered to clean afterwards however, meaning the location likely got abandoned after the battle..
"It might serve to check everything at some point. The giants may have left something of value."
Sep 25, 2023 4:13 pm
To be a little more thorough as S'sylin suggests, Lash will cast Dancing Lights and send them up to illuminate the higher parts of the tunnel.
Oct 10, 2023 2:50 pm
Pushing open the left-hand door reveals a long passageway. It was probably a tight squeeze for a giant, but for you it's fairly spacious, fifteen feet or so across, and close to two hundred feet long. There aren't many marking in the section of hallway, but from far above, you can see sunlight filtering down, and water drips slowly down from the hole. It's enough to make the air musty here, but not enough to form puddles bigger than a few inches across. Further down there is water staining on the stones, but nothing on the floor. A broken rope lays half-coiled near the small puddle. That probably explains how the trogodytes got here.

About halfway down on the left is an opening. It leads to a large room full of remnants of over-sized furniture. Most are old and decayed, but on top of a pile of chairs is a glass box, the type used for showcasing valuables at museums. It looks like it's just been thrown up there. You'd have to climb to get it back down.

At the end of the hall is another room, smaller, and it is empty but for the carcass of a dead troglodyte. It's been here long enough that moss has started to grow over it.
Oct 10, 2023 3:27 pm
I'm feeling less worried about traps in this area. After seeing the smaller room at the end, I want to go back to the large room.
"Let's check out the room with the chairs again. I want to use my wand of magic detection there and also see if I can retrieve that glass case with my mage hand."
Oct 10, 2023 7:21 pm
S'sylin didn't mind having a look at the glass case himself. But the fact that the troglodytes, and perhaps others, had found access to this place had dimmed his hopes for finding untouched treasure.
"At least we know we're on the right trail for the troglodytes. They may even lair here.."
Oct 23, 2023 6:46 pm
The glass case is slowly levered out of the pile of chairs, and set down on the floor. Any hopes of finding anything interesting here are dashed, however, as the glass case is empty. There is an indentation, though, in the red velvet that covers the bottom of the case in the shape of a key. Someone's taken the key. It looks like the trogs did find it first, but if they're lairing here, they haven't left much sign of it. From what you know of trogs, even a temporary living space of theirs should carry an identifiable odor.
Oct 24, 2023 5:38 pm
S'sylin grumps at the disappointing discovery. With a sigh he turns around.
"Well, let's get back to it then.. Would be nice to be done before dark.."
Oct 31, 2023 7:47 pm
There's no real way back that you can find, so you continue on down the main passageway a bit, where you come to another room right as the passage turns south(ish). Inside the room is a stench so bad you could be forgiven for believing it was some magical spell, but it's not. It's a dead trog. He looks to have been stabbed to death judging from his wounds, and long enough ago that moss is starting to cover the body, but...

He's holding something, clutching it tight like he was trying to hide it when he was killed. It's hard to tell what it is from the doorway, but it's going to be hard to walk over to investigate too.
OOC:
Whoever wants to investigate, give me a CON save. You'll make it in and out either way, but that's some strong stench, and there might be some side effects.
Oct 31, 2023 8:26 pm
For a moment S'sylin hoped that someone had done the job of killing the troglodyte for him, earning him some easy coin. Then he noticed the state of the body and he knew things would not be that easy. Still, he wondered who competed with the troglodytes for these halls. As he pondered this question he noticed the troglodyte might be holding something. After the previous disappointments he did not hold out hope for something grand, but it warranted investigation nonetheless. And perhaps there would be a clue as to who else roamed these halls.

With a long sigh he took out a piece of cloth to cover his nose, and he stepped inside..

Rolls

Constitution - (1d20+2)

(1) + 2 = 3

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