(067) Back Passages

[coffee]

Desmond chuckles, "He's just takin' the mick with you, Dhren. Best man for finding the traps is right here. Believe me, I've found enough of them. Besides, you might do better tucked a little further into the order until we know what's down here."

Desmond takes back the torch he so recently held and begins carefully descending the stairs, checking for traps as he goes.

"With Nezzbit about, nobody leaves sight of someone else in the party, yah? So don't hesitate to follow once I'm a handful of steps down."

Dieter will indeed stay within sight of the little guy(s) -- both to guard against doppelgangers and to provide support should anything attack him.

(Although he is curious as to what a doppelganger would make of a two-headed adventurer -- would it give him a headache? Would he be able to make it work at all?)

[Merctime]

Dhren shrugs, gives up the torch, and falls in line to get down to some exploring.

| Edit: Please don't read my above post as me feeling 'put out'... I don't! My happy face is on! I am just having Dhren fall in line quickly so game pace isn't sacrificed. Fight On, brothers! *salutes* |

[Eris]

Ashtad falls in line with the rear of the group as they left the ring room to explore the spiral staircase.
Ashtad will stay alert and with a bow in hand ready for anything in this strange place.

"Ashtad, move up ahead of me.", Olaf says, If we are set upon from behind, you can fire over my shoulder while I shield us both that way."

[waysoftheearth]

| Okay, Ahstad joins the group.

So the single file marching order is now:

(front)
[p Halfling,leather,short sword,main gauche,9,12/12]Desmond/Mondes[/p]
[p Man,mail+helm,magic sword,shield,9,16/16]Dieter[/p]
[p Elf,leather+helm,bow,silver arrow,12,7/8]Wen[/p]
[66 Elf,cloak,sword,lantern,12,5/5]Hiridren[/66]
[p Old Elf,leather+helm,spear,hand,12,10/10]Highbough[/p]
[p Man,elvish mail+helm,spear,shield,12,11/11]Torben[/p]
[p Dwarf,mail+helm,axe,shield,9,24/24]Dorgan[/p]
[66 Man,mail+helm,dagger, lantern,9,5/5]Helmut[/66]
[6 Woman,leather+helm,longbow,shield,12,5/5]Ashtad[/6]
[p Young Man,leather+helm,sword,shield,12,14/14]Olaf[/p]
(rear) |

[waysoftheearth]

[p Halfling,leather,short sword,main gauche,9,12/12]Desmond/Mondes[/p] leads the way down the stair (too steep to have been made with Hobbits in mind) which curls around to the left.

After a dozen and half treads, the two-headed fellow reaches a cool, stone paved floor; construction of the abbey's vintage. Ahead of him lies a long, 20ft broad chamber. On the left hand side there seem to be a series of three super-large cauldrons, mounted into circular recesses along the wall and fitted above bricked into pits. There are wooden foot ladders before these, as well as a jumble of poles and paddles and stacked wicker baskets and wheeled trolleys all in a disarray about the place. The whole of it has the faint smell of soap...

[ehiker133]

"Er... Must be where they did their laundry, then. Regretfully quite a disappointment, I must say," Desmond mutters quietly to himself, such that only Mondes easily hears him, as one with two heads is apt to do.

Still, after a quick scan for trip wires and traps, Desmond sets about taking in the contents of the room in greater detail. He examines the recesses with the cauldrons, looks under piles of implements that look as if they've lain in the same place for a long time, checks the walls for any secret passages, and so on, until he's quite satisfied there is nothing unusual or amiss about the laundry room.

[waysoftheearth]

Indeed, as the well armed mercenary troop file down into the chamber it becomes apparent that it is a laundry facility.

The great wash pots haven't been used in a good while; there is still soapy bilge in them. Nor has any of the other gear been touched recently.

As the Desmond/Mondes moves further in--allowing the formidable fighting force to follow-- he notes a store of wood for the stoves and, at the far end, a rope and pulley powered elevator that looks like it will lift a box enclosure (loaded with wet laundry?) up an elevator shaft to somewhere above. With sufficient muscle on it, he reckons a Hobbit could--at a squeeze--be lifted.

There are no other exits apparent.

[Condorcet]

"It seems we have successfully captured the laundry", mutters Helmut.

[ehiker133]

Using his knowledge of the above floor, Desmond tries to orient himself with the stairs to see if he can determine where the lift might connect to upstairs, since he doesn't remember anyone coming across such an opening in their exploration of the abbey.

[sully]

Now that there's room for more of the party to enter, Dorgan will cast his practiced Dwarven eye across the stonework and see if he can find anything Des may have missed.