TheOldTraveller

I am ill. I will post an update for the IC thread after the weekend.

One house inspector may try to boost the other, but if both want to go up, the last one may need to jump high or climb a rope or something.

Roll

I threw up a quick sketch of PART of the upper floor, and a diagram of the attic. To be clear: 1st floor- you can in here and have explored most, but not all, the rooms. second floor- some PCs have gone up and just begun to explore attic- Mellyn got a boost and is taking a peek (following the player's suggestion) And there were stairs down that presumably go into a cellar. No one has checked this. The module uses "ground floor" for the first level and "first floor" for the level above that because it is a TSR UK product. I am using standard North American terms. :)

UPSTAIRS Roland, joining the half-orc and the elfmaid, has the chance to look about on the upper floor of the old house. In the nearest room (#17) he finds a large oak chest under the window, and strewn about the floor between that and the door three broken chairs, two splintered wooden buckets, and a mildewed and lumpy cloth sack. As he steps through the door, wary and ready for action, he spots a loose heap of clothing just to the right, against the wainscotting. The clothes are free of the dust that covers most things in this room. The dun cloak, olive tunic, brown breeches, and undyed hose look tailored for someone no taller than Roland and a good bit slimmer. A small bag lies along the clothes, its drawstring snapped or cut. Bending down and looking closely, he spots a few tiny footprints, much too small to belong the the proper owner of the clothes. The purse or little bag proves to be quite empty. ---- Meanwhile, with Marle'tok giving her a boost, Mellyn hoists herself through the hatchway over the collapsed stairs and into the attic. Looking about as she clambers up into the attic, Mellyn sees a shadowy space shaped like a T (she has come up at the 'bottom.' ) The attic, then, looks to cover the entire area under the roof of this house. If there are windows, she can't see any, but light leaks through scattered small holes in the roof. Heaps of junk, sacks, crates, and oddments rise here and there across the wooden floor and cobwebs hang from the grimy walls and the rafters. Near the walls, including the place where she is now, the ceiling slants low, but it rises to over twice her height in the center.

WHILE VESTAS AND QWINSEA WORK ON THE ALARM Vanilla says the centipede bite feels hot and that she is starting to feel a bit weak. The half-elf suggests that she return to town with the dog to obtain whatever medicine for big nasty bug bites can be had and to rest, as the venom seems to be taking effect. She will come back soon if everything is fine, or stay and rest at the sign of the Kelpie's Kiss if her condition gets worse.

So far, Roland has not found any strong evil here, but he does feel a vague sense of foreboding.

Fang is slobbering a bit more than usual and keep s licking his bite. Vanilla looks a bit pale.

GOING UP The impetuous half-orc climbs the creaky old stairs, stepping high and wide where the treads have rotted away, and soon reaches a landing on the upper floor. Sunlight leaks in through the ivy-clad lattice of a window off to the east. Off at the western corner, a decrepit stairway runs up toward a rectangular opening in the ceiling (presumably into an attic, given the apparent dimensions of the house viewed from outside). Only the bottom six steps remain intact, the rest having collapsed into a heap of timber at the base. A man might be able to climb up--if the steps don't just crumble- and jump for the opening. A blank wall runs across the floor not far from both stairways, terminating in the corner of a corridor that runs along the eastern exterior wall. A glance down this musty hallway shows two doors on the interior side and a T intersection further ahead. A window on the east, outer wall of the corridor, and another way down at the far end past the intersection provide pretty good light. Dust motes swirl in slow circles. Apart from creaking noises underfoot and the wind moving through or over shutters and broken panes, Marle'Tok hears little sound up here.

Muad'Dib examines the stairs going up to the upper floor and declares them climbable....probably. Further investigation of this room, which seems to have once been the kitchen, turns up nothing of value or interest unless you are into mold, broken bowls, and rotted floorboards. The Baklunish man asks his comrades if they would like to finish examining the remaining rooms on this level. There's one nearby, which he peeked into and saw stairs going down.

Chu-thwunk! More floorboard breakage and one very dead creepy-crawler.

Crackle-krak. That rotten floorboard certainly learned its lesson. The last of the venomous vermin speeds toward a far corner of the room, unharmed unless Qwinsea can intercept it.

Slice! One nasty bugger left!

Squoosh! Two left...

Splat! Splat! Three left...

(time noted)

Roll

Okay, more action in the next room. Vanilla (ScaryWizard's PC--player is active but hasn't posted in a while) was nipped by a critter. All PCs may act.

The half-elf woman cries out in pain.

Vanilla is bitten. (10 or better to save) Roll

The mastiff howls as one of the gigantic centipedes slithers up his foreleg and sinks its fangs into his shoulder.

Fang suffers one bite. Saving throw versus poison, plus 4 Roll

(OOC I'm rolling for the big 'pedes and Muad'Dib now, but with a tied initiative, and in this situation everything happens in a jumble of action. All PCs may act freely.) The vermin swarm toward the intruders 1 vs Muad'Dib Roll 1 vs Qwinsea Roll 1 vs Vanilla Roll 2 vs Fang Roll Roll

THE PARTY has ample opportunity to search the other rooms in this part of the house. In the old kitchen (Room #9) Fang barks in time to warn Qwinsea of the several snake-sized myriapods that crawl out from under the sink when one of the group gets near it. INITIATIVE The Party Roll: 1d10 Hundred Legs (5) Roll: 1d10

''I accept.'' Muad'Dib frowns, looking at the chimney where the monstrous spider had laired. ''We have been fortunate thus far, but I feel there is something sinister in this house...the ghostly voice welcomed us to our deaths.... If it is my fate that I should perish here, please return my share of the treasure to the party or give it to some poor orphan. I have no family in this part of the world.''