Against the Cult: Getting Away with It (1.8a)

Each of you remembers the door which Theran suggests leads to the cellar; it faces the street. It is the work of just a few moments more to lug the body through the dark to there, but you find that the cellar door is locked. Theran didn't see that as a spider. How do you want to proceed?

Reptile, glancing around as they stand there in the starlight with the limp body dangling between them, looks back and can see a faint glow among the trees on the north side of the river. The arch of the bridge is blocking direct view, but it looks like someone is approaching with a torch or lantern!

The fighter sets down the dead man's legs gently, not out of concern of the body but as to not make a loud noise. In the middle of the night, every sound seems unnaturally loud. Rummaging in her pack, Myrtha chooses a pair of pliers, a center punch, an oiling rag, and a small hammer. Working with the efficiency of long years of using these tools, Myrtha grabs the bent metal pins in the hinges. She twists the ends to straighten them, then uses the center punch and the hammer with a couple of firm taps to remove the pins, using the rag to muffle the blows. With the pins in hand, Myrtha is able to lift the door off of its hinges, swinging it open with the lock still attached. There is a bit of resistance, which she realizes is a bar on the inside of the door...but there's enough give for Myrtha to pull the top of the door toward her. As soon as the door is clear of the jamb, Myrtha straightens her legs, lifting the door up. Luckily, the brackets holding the bar are open at the top, so the board that is being used to bar the door lifts enough to make a gap wide enough for..."Theran...my sword...!" Myrtha hisses softly, her arms straining. Theran draws her sword and sticks the blade in the gap, levering the bar up and out. As the bar comes free, the door swings wide, and between them, Theran and Reptile catch the board so that it doesn't fall, clattering, down the stairs.

Myrtha sets the door down. A set of steep stairs leads down into darkness. Whiskers chitters very lightly, drawing Myrtha's and Theran's attention to the north. Everyone can see the light approaching. Whoever is carrying the light stops for a moment.

The three adventurers see the approaching light silhouetting the stone bridge, exchanges glances, and have a quick whispered exchange about what to do.
Myrtha sets down the door, which leans slightly, held up by the lock. She stuffs her tools and the hinge pins in her pack, grabs the corpse under the arms, and waits until Theran has the legs. Then the two of them hustle the dead body through the doorway down into the darkness. While they are doing all that, Reptile pulls out his lantern, sets it on the top step after they've entered, and then grabs the door, pulling it shut behind him, resting the hinges in place with a soft clunk. Then he feels around for the lantern in the dark, and lights it, pointing the aperture down the stairs. In the indirect light, he finds the board that was used to bar the door and slides it gently back into its brackets. The door will hold, held up by the board, and no one outside will notice anything amiss with the door unless they inspect it closely or try to open it.
Stone bricks laid across packed earth form the steps leading down into this cool wine cellar. The stairs are steep, and Myrtha is carrying most of the weight, having gone first. She realizes that she's reached the bottom when her boots hit hard-packed dirt rather than stone. It is cool and a little bit moist down here. As Reptile arrives with the lantern, he and Myrtha can see what Theran already knows (and can see) is here: a bunch of casks and barrels. A wooden door opposite the stairway should open onto the rest of the basement. The three consider what to do: they could stash the body here, continue deeper into the basement, listen at the door to see if they can tell who is coming, or some combination of those.