The Black Wyrm of Brandonsford

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The Golden Egg -- The Wee Hours

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Some hours later, The Golden Egg is quiet as Sable and his companion sleep in the dimly-lit cellar, as Wren snores softly beneath the table in the dark kitchen, and as Rowan, Gann and Nessa keep watch as best they can.

There's a chill in the air outside, and Rowan has his cloak pulled around him as he watches the rear of the inn. A sound twitches his ears -- someone muttering or mumbling to themselves. He's not able to locate exactly where the sounds comes from, and is surprised when he sees the back door shudder slightly and then quietly swing inward, into the building.

Inside the kitchen, Nessa hears the lock and latch on the back door working before there is a slight creak as the door opens in... then quietly closes. Looking through the cracked pantry door, the young woman sees that no one has come in... but it surely feels like someone has!

When hearing the voice and seeing the activity at the door, Rowan rubs his eyes thinking maybe he was in a state between wake and sleep. As the door closes he realizes he's not imagining/dreaming what he's seen.

As quietly as possible, he approaches the door, grabs the handle and pulls on it for a moment while listening for any activity inside.

Rowan moves quietly to the door, which he then holds fast. Was he hearing things? Seeing things?

It didn't seem like it.

Not wanting to give away the game just yet, Nessa stays put. With nothing to see, she listens intently instead.

Nessa has a perfect view of the trap door that leads to the cellar from her hiding spot, and so her eyes widen when the padlock suddenly jostles and opens, seemingly on its own. Then, lifted free of the hasp it was securing, the bronze lock floats in the air briefly before it appears to be carefully set-aside by some unseen hand.

A sound reaches the young woman’s ears then, a musical humming, quite soft and quite pleasant. There’s a soft grunt as the trap door slowly opens on its hinges as though someone is pulling on it from above — despite the room still looking quite devoid of a booze burglar. The door is of sturdy construction, and thumps when it’s placed in its open position.

Below, Gann hears the brief rattling of the padlock, then watches as the portal above creaks open!

Nessa looks around the pantry for some flour, hoping to throw it at the unseen burglar and reveal them that way. To her dismay she finds the flour bin empty. What a joke of an inn, it deserves to be robbed at this point.

With her plan foiled she sits back down and waits for some one else to make the first move.

Gann watches intently as the trap door opens. He shakes his head slightly to clear the grogginess, but he otherwise sits in silence. He leaves his sword where it is for now, preparing a more hands-on approach. He runs through his plan in his head.

"Okay Gann, whatever it is, you tackle it. You need a win, or you're sleeping outside tomorrow. So focus, alright?" He gives himself a little pep talk in his head, and gets ready to act.

"As soon as their foot hits the ground. No hesitation, just go. Might be some fey, maybe one of the girls from across the street, could be that dragon. Doesn't matter. Keep your head low, and take them down."

Nessa fumes at the sight of the empty flour bin, while down below Gann tenses in the seconds after the trap door opens. He watches and listens for any creak on the old wooden ladder. None comes, but a muttered voice does reach the man's ears.

"I think its time for a drink, oh yes yes yes. What'd it be tonight? Well wine and beer, for I hold both quite dear!"

It's perhaps a man's voice, though there are childlike and altogether strange and unnerving qualities about. It seems to emanate from somewhere in the cellar, but it's hard to tell where!

Gann blinks, unbelieving. "Did I miss it?" he thinks to himself, baffled that someone could sneak past. But then he hears the voice further in the cellar and knows something has.

"Oh hell." Gann improvises a new plan.

He grabs his knives, the unnerving voice having him reach for a lethal option out of caution. He then jumps up from his hiding place and hurtles forward with force, rushing towards the ladder.

"Close it up. Close it Nessa!" his voice booms out, loud enough to wake the dead. He closes the gap and scales partway up, trying to pull the trap door closed from the inside. "We’ve got company, uncle! And it’s a sneaky one too!"

Sable, half-asleep leaning against his cover, almost falls over as Gann shouts and barrels forward. He blinks a few times to remove the sleep from his eyes and sees his nephew wildly running towards the trap door. He whistles for Kittridge to wake up and go after their prey. He pulls the tarp out of his pack and surges forward to the stairs, looking for a solid target to barrel into and wrap up in the tarp.

Grr, should have remembered to set up a trap earlier...

Wren awakens to Gann’s yelling, because indeed.m, she was dead asleep. She immediately rolls out from under the table and dives at the trapdoor, hoping to make it inside before it closes, so she can help with the issue.

Of course, she has no idea what the issue is…

Sable and Nessa hear Gann's shouts easily enough when the man starts bellowing. Wren too, in fact, is woken from her boozy slumber -- and even Rowan, at the back door, hears a ruckus in the cellar.

A second before the man moved to action, a jug of wine had jostled and then floated up into the air... and it now smashes to the ground as the still unseen intruder drops it and screams. It's a shrill, shocking sound, full of panic and hysteria, filling the room!

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Round 1 at the Golden Egg

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Wren pls herself to stand.. but is still wobbly and now a little woozy. It will take her a moment to get her bearings.