Chapter 10: Old Stone

Taking hold of the torch, Caedmon is careful to keep it away from the barrels of pitch. He does, however, try to extend the light in such a way that would help Marin to see.

As the night wears on and Rives patrols his portion of the battlements, the dull surroundings and time for self reflection begin to take their toll. He tried hard to think of the last time he'd had been truly, unreservedly happy. As much as he loved working with the horses, he did not like being with the other stable boys. They had only let him be after he bested some of the older ones in staves. That might have been almost enjoyable, except beating Rives at staves (or at least trying) was a sport for the older boys.

No, the last time he had truly been happy was hiding among the piles of laundry in the laundry room when he was still small enough to be with his mother. A small smile crosses his lips as he looks out over the surrounding terrain. It seemed so long ago and far off. He hoped his mother was still all right. He hoped his mother had found some other place to work now that he was gone. He hoped she didn't miss him as much as he missed her. With that thought, tears began to wet his eyes... With a big sigh be bit his lip and gripped his spear tightly, hoping to stave off the flood of tears he felt welling up inside.

Marin hoists herself up the ladder and checks above. Sure enough, there is a trapdoor that swings upward into a dark and cobweb-choked shaft. She can hear muffled voices coming from up there.

Stading as tall as she can without risking her balance, Marin risks opening a bit the trapdoor, just enought to let her hear as clear as she can, and she tilts her head a bit to her left side.

"We should be under the walls here, but better be sure" she thinks grimly.

Dice Roll: 1d20+7
d20 Results: 2 (Total = 9)

listen

The sounds of talking are still pretty muffled, but Marin can smell freshly cooked food nearby. This must be directly under, or quite near, the refectory.

Shaking her head at the mumbled and incomprehensible words, she slowly closes the trapdoor and starts descending. Once down, she takes a moment to dust her clothes before frowning lightly at Caemon

"There's a shaft up there, but it hasn't been used in a long time. I could hear some voices, not enough to understand them, though it smelled like the refectory.

Once back we should find the this entrance there and keep that in mind"

Looking again at the room, she can't resist the curiosity and does a quick search, looking for a better sword than her old one.

just some editing, given that I got inmediate answer

Dice Roll: 1d20+1
d20 Results: 16 (Total = 17)

search

Could Caedmon make the voices out?
Unable to find any characters in game 4972

Nodding at Marin, he then inquires as to what she is looking for then finds a place to set the torch if he can before assisting her in the search.

"Nothing really important, just seeing if I can find a better sowrd than my old one. But let's no delay on this, we have a mission to complete. I can come back later" says Marin taking a last look

"No need to rush, Marin. We should be thorough in our search, anyhow." upon saying this he takes another good look down the hallway before continuing the search.

The weapons in the room are of good quality, but Marin's unusual dwarf-forged sword seems just as good, if not better. Caedmon cannot discern the specific voices any better than Marin, but his careful searching does find a small piece of rolled-up paper that fell underneath one of the weapon racks.