Missteps V. 2

Chapter Nine – Bowl Hunt

The next morning dawned grey and damp. The storm had blown over during the night, but heavy clouds still hung in the sky. Everyone took their time getting ready for the new day.

“Should we do something about these guys?” Elaine nodded towards the Owlbears in the entrance as the group assembled outside the cave. “It seems wasteful to just leave them here, and they’re starting to stink.”

“We could try to skin and butcher them. Having fresh meat sounds like a great idea.” Carric answered as he dug out a small skinning knife from his pack. “Do we have anything to put the meat in?”

“I don’t, but surely there’s something in one of the buildings around here. People did live here.” Elaine reached into her pack and pulled out her own knife.

“How about we go and check it out, while a couple of people stay here and work on the owlbears?” Jun suggested.

“Sounds good, I’ll stay and-” Carric was interrupted by Elaine moving past him to the smaller of the two bears. She wasted no time in beginning the process of skinning the hide. He raised an eyebrow in surprise as he watched her flawless technique. “Done this before?”

“A few times,” Elaine’s mouth was a thin line as she cut around the bone joints, trying to keep the hide in as much of a single piece as she could.

“The temple back home makes sure that their clerics know some basic survival skills.” Kerri explained as everyone took a moment to just watch the dark-skinned woman delicately work the carcass.

“Carric, do you want to stay behind and help her?” Jun asked.

The ranger shook his head. “I don’t really think she needs any help.” He said.

“I wouldn’t complain about having an extra set of hands, actually.” Elaine grunted.

Iados dropped his pack. “I’ll stay and help.” Lia nodded as well.

Carric clapped his hands. “Alright then, let’s go see if we can find any bowls in this place.” The rest of the group followed him as they set of into the settlement. Like the previous day most of the buildings seemed to be in various states of ruin. Eventually they came across a group of four that seemed stable. Their roofs were in one piece, and they didn’t have large holes in the walls. Jun commented that these four were the furthest away from the cliffs than any other building. Three of the buildings were single-story, while the fourth was two.

They headed to the two-story. There was a faded sign written in Dwarvish above the door. The double-doors were broken, and all it took was a slight push to open them. Inside was a large room with two doors along the back wall. To their left was a raised platform reminiscent of a stage. On the right was the remains of a collapsed staircase. The ceiling went up about 6-ft, and nearly brushed the top of the heads of some of the group. Chairs and a couple of tables were scattered about the room. Some were in one piece, while others were broken.

Jun went to take a step into the room. He immediately pulled his foot back as the floorboard crumbled under his weight. Carric knelt and cleared the debris. He gave a sigh of relief when he discovered only hard-packed dirt underneath and not a straight shot to some cellar.

Carric stood up and pulled out his quarterstaff. “Follow me,” Carefully he used the staff to test the floor as they went across. He marked an ‘x’ in the dirt and dust whenever he found questionable footing. The further they went into the room the more the air smelled of mildew and decay.

“What do you think this place was? A tavern?” Kerri asked as she followed along behind Jun.

The berserker shook his head. “I don’t think so, no bar.”

Finally the group made it across the room. Carric looked back over his shoulder and pointed at the two doors in front of them. “Which one first?”

“Does it really matter?” Said Kerri. "They’re both getting searched.”

Carric rolled the eyes and headed to the door on the right. The door opened creakily into a small room with a fireplace on the left-hand wall. Shelves lined the right-hand wall, while a couple of chairs sat atop a rug in the middle. The opposite side of the room held another wooden door. Ander immediately went to inspect the shelves, with Kerri right on his heels. Jun and Carric stopped for a moment at the fireplace to do a quick inspection, but quickly moved on to the other door.

The door led outside to a small barn. Carric did a cursory glance around, but anything that was usable had long ago rotted.

Inside, Ander and Kerri found an assortment of little Dwarven knick-knacks. There were a few smooth stones with Dwarven writing on them, a couple of sculpted bears, and a bird carved out of an opaque gem. They each pocketed half the stash. Jun came back into the room and checked underneath the rug but found only rotted wood.

Carric came back from the barn.

“Find anything?” Jun asked.

"A dead mule, or at least I think it was a mule.” The ranger scratched the back of his head. “I found some tack, but only enough for one animal. There are at least three stalls there, and with a mining operation like this I don’t think they’d be lacking in draft animals.”

“Well, we know of at least two who survived the initial attack. Perhaps they took the rest of it?” Jun headed back out into the main room. “It’s been a hundred years, so I don’t think there’s much we can do about horse thieves.”

“Anyone in here?” A voice called out from the main doors. Iados stood there with Elaine and Lia.

“Be careful of the floor!” Carric called back. “I’ve made marks in the floor where you shouldn’t walk.” Carefully the three made their way over, guided by Carric. “You done already?”

Elaine shook her head. “We got to the point where we really needed the bowls, so we came to help find some.”

After the trio crossed over, everyone headed into the second room. Unlike the right, the left room didn’t have another door. The fireplace was on the right-hand wall, with another rug in front of it. Shelves once again lined the wall, but this one held the remnants of a few books. A large desk sat in front of the shelves, its chair broken on the ground behind it.

“I hadn’t counted on this place being so empty.” Kerri ran a hand over the mostly empty shelves.

Behind her, Ander tried to open the desk drawers. “The survivors might have taken it all, or this place could have been a badly run operation.”

“Hey Lia, did you see what the sign over the main doors say?” Kerri asked as she picked up one of the book remnants.

“‘Town Hall’.” Lia explained as she crossed the room to Ander with the drawer. The recent rainfall had made the old wood swell up. Together they two of them grasped the handle and pulled. With a pop it opened, and sprawled the two of them into the wall.

“You okay?” Iados called as he and Carric moved the rug out of the way. It was a well-made rug, and heavy. If they hadn't seen the large mold patches growing, they might have considered taking it with them.

“We’re good.” Lia rubbed the back of her head. She crawled forward next to Ander and peered into the drawer. “Anything?”

Ander held up a stack of parchment with large green and black patches all over them. “Paperwork, I think.” He dropped the bundle back in the drawer and slammed it shut.

Kerri walked over and handed a book to Lia. “Any idea what this says?” It was the only book that hadn’t crumbled in their hands as she and Elaine had searched the shelves.

Lia took the small leather-bound book and began to rifle through the pages. She sat down on top of the desk as Ander worked to open the drawer on the other side.

Under the rug, Carric found a trapdoor. It took a few minutes to find the hidden latch, but soon he had it open. A strong earthen smell emanated out as Jun and Carric lifted the door. The hole dropped down for about five feet, before tunneling out towards the east.

Jun grinned and took a step back. “Well, after you.”

The half-elf stared warily down into the darkness. “Why not you?”

“Me and tight spaces don’t really go together.” The berserker flexed his arm. Carric and Jun were practically the same height, with only an inch or so difference. At a glance, the two of them even seemed to weigh similarly, but Jun’s weight was distributed heavily into his muscles and it left him with a bulkier build. Meanwhile, Carric’s frame was lankier and leaner.

“Fine,” Carric dropped down into the hole and made his way down the tunnel. His half-elven eyes got him about halfway down the tunnel before the lack of proper light started to impede him.

“I need more light down here!” Carric called back. A couple of moments later, Elaine dropped down, a glowing piece of chair held in her hand. She clanked her way down the tunnel to Carric, and together they made it another ten feet before it opened into a larger room.

The room was only comparatively larger than the tunnel. It was about five feet by ten feet, and sparsely packed. Elaine and Carric still had to crouch down as they surveyed the room. Along the back wall was a couple of wooden crates. Sitting against the wall next to the crates, was a small skeleton.

Elaine knelt down next to the body, while Carric peered into the crates.

“Well whoever that was, they didn’t live long enough to eat these supplies.” Carric quickly closed the crate lids against the unpleasant smell that had wafted out.

“Judging by these fractures, he might have been hurt when he came down here.” Elaine pointed out some broken bones. “If I had to guess, this was probably an adult male dwarf.”

Carric knelt down next to her. “How do you know it’s a ‘he’?”

“The pelvis. Females usually have a wider one to make childbirth easier.” Elaine moved her to attention to the skull. “Of course, I’m not that familiar with Dwarven skeletons so I could be wrong.”

“Sounds like a fair assessment to me.” Carric reached out and pulled a ring off the bony finger.

“Hey, while we’re alone, can I say something?” Elaine asked.

He shrugged, “Go ahead,”

“Kerri told me how she met you on the road to Rocklyn, and how you looked after her after that. Thanks.” She sat back against the wall. “She’s never been outside Crystaliron before, and I worry about her.”

Carric followed suit. “You’re welcome, but judging by the way she can use that rapier, I think she can handle her own.”

Elaine sighed. “It’s not her fighting ability I’m concerned about. It’s only been a couple of weeks since she was exiled, and I’m not sure how she’s doing with it. She hasn’t really talked about it with me.”

“Was it really as simple as her getting caught in a closet with the Prince?”

Elaine snorted. “If all the stories she’s told me are true, then her and Maron had been caught in much worse places doing a lot more. You know, she and Maron dated for nearly a year, the longest she’s ever been with anyone.”

Carric raised an eyebrow. “Then what happened?”

“I have no idea.” She sighed. “All I know is that one morning I woken up by one of the acolytes at the Temple. He gave me a message from Maron. It gave the name of a ship that was leaving at noon, and it said Kerri was in trouble. So I packed a bag and got to the ship. I was already on board when she was escorted onto it by two Palace guards. All she would tell me was that she’d been effectively exiled by the Queen and ordered to never see the Prince again. She was a mess.”

“What do you think happened?” Carric asked, his curiosity piqued.

“I don’t know. I know that the Queen didn’t approve of Kerri and Maron’s relationship, but I’m not sure why. The closer that Kerri got to Maron, the less she and I hung out. I was hurt by it, so I focused more on my cleric studies.”

Jun’s voice bellowed down the tunnel. “Everything alright?”

“We’re good. On our way back!” Carric yelled back. He looked back at Elaine. “We’ll talk more later.”

“What took so long?” Jun asked as he helped the two of them out.

“We found a corpse down there and Elaine wanted to examine it.” Carric explained.

“He seems to have died in the attack.” Elaine dusted off her armor. “Carric found a ring on him.”

Carric handed the ring to Jun. It was a simple metallic band, with a design printed on its small surface. “What’d you guys find up here?”

Lia and the others wandered over. The elf had a couple of books tucked under her arm. “We found a Dwarven general’s biography, and then in the desk there was a communal journal from the town leaders.”

“Anything useful in the journal?” Elaine asked as Jun handed the ring down to Ander.

"Maybe,” Lia pulled the journal out. “It seems to have been handed down from leader to leader if the handwriting is anything to go by. I only skimmed the beginning till I jumped to the back. In the last few pages, it talks about Janel, a Dwarven cleric coming to town with two apprentices and a group of humans. It’s suggested that the humans were servants to Janel and the apprentices. In addition to the mine renovation, they also ordered the construction of the mausoleum and cemetery, but the reason isn’t given. The journal ends with an entry about how cold it was beginning to get, and how many people were making plans to leave town.”

“If people were already leaving, then that explains why this place is so empty.” Kerri shivered. “I wonder how many of the inhabitants made it out?”

“Two at the very least.” Jun nudged Ander. “Got anything on that?”

Ander shook his head. “I think this might be an Office Ring, but I’m not sure. The design seems similar to some others that I’ve seen.” Iados reached out for the ring and Ander handed it over.

“Hmm, it’s pretty plain.” He turned and headed towards the main room. As he did he dropped the ring into one of his pockets. “What do you guys think is upstairs?”

“Want to toss Ander up there to find out?” Jun suggested as they all followed the akudaem out of the room.

Iados shrugged. “Why not? What’s the worst that can happen?”

Ander pushed his way forward to the two of them. “I could fall.”

The berserker rolled their eyes. “It’s six feet, not enough to kill you. Besides, if you fall through the floor, then we’ll be ready down here to catch you. Ander seemed to consider this for a moment. Jun crouched down next to the halfling. “Besides, everyone knows that the good stuff is always hidden upstairs in places like this.”

Ander’s eyes widened and he nodded. He took off his pack and allowed Jun to lift him.

Jun underestimated the halfling’s weight, so it was more of a light toss than a lift up. As soon as Ander’s feet hit the floor, it caved underneath him. Iados and Jun, not expecting the floor to break so soon, reached out too late to try to catch the halfling. Ander hit the ground with a loud thud as moldy wood rained down softly on him.

“Sorry,” Jun and Iados said in unison as they helped the wizard up.

Kerri chuckled and stepped forward. Behind her Lia and Elaine were trying not to laugh as they watched Ander squirm his way to standing with the two men trying to help. Carric had had to turn to face the wall to hide his laughter.

“Before you try that again, how about we tie a rope around his waist, so that we can catch him if he falls?” She suggested.

Jun agreed and pulled out a length of rope. Iados held out a hand and tied a sailors knot around the halfling’s waist.

Jun picked up Ander. “You ready?”

The small wizard nodded. Elaine handed him the still glowing bit of chair leg, and Jun carefully lifted him up. Before Ander let his feet touch the floor, he used the chair leg to test it. He found two more spots that just sagged under the leg. After a moment of searching, he finally found a stable place, and he walked onto the upper floor.

Looking around, the whole second floor seemed to be just a single room and was almost completely bare save for one corner. From where he stood, the corner seemed to consist of a few cots and more wooden crates. Carefully, he made his way over to the cots, still using the chair leg to test the floor in front of him. About halfway down, he came to a section that sagged no matter where he tested. Seeing that he’d come this far, Ander decided to risk it, and very carefully crossed the section.

He got a couple of steps in before the floor caved in underneath him. The rope tightened around his waist, and the sudden force caused the air to leave his lungs. He hit his head on the edge of the floor as he careened down towards the first floor.

On the ground floor, the party had tried to track the halfling’s movements as he headed across the room. They listened to the tap of the chair leg and listened as he moved. Their movements were restricted though as Carric found more places in the floor that were too dangerous. Even though most of the floor seemed to just be built on packed dirt, they didn’t want to take a chance.

Suddenly, Ander burst down out of the ceiling a few feet ahead of them. Jun grunted behind them as he strengthened his hold on the rope. Ander flailed as he tried to find purchase, his breath coming in gasps. Iados and Carric were the first to reach him.

“Calm down, you’re ok.” Iados reassured the flailing halfling as Carric grabbed his waist. The ranger motioned to Jun to give them a little slack.

“I hate this place.” Ander spat out as hung in the air supported by Carric’s hands. “I really don’t think there’s anything up there, so just untie me.”

“Are you sure?” Iados met Ander’s gaze. “What did you see?”

“Just a few cots and some crates.”

“Did you get to the crates?” Iados asked, and Ander shook his head.

“I fell before I reached them. They’re over there.” The wizard pointed to a place about fifteen feet away above them.

The former pirate scoffed. “That’s nothing, you can make it over easily.”

“Then how about we tie a rope on you and let you go?” Ander grumbled.

Iados shook his head. “I don’t think we want to waste time for all that. Besides, aren’t you curious about what’s in the crates?”

Ander looked up at the ceiling again, his lips pursed. “Fine, I’ll try again, but if I fall one more time, that’s it.” He said as he jabbed Iados in the chest.

The akudaem clapped Ander on the shoulder. “That’s the spirit!” Together he and Carric gently raised Ander back up to the second floor. Kerri came up and handed them the chair leg that he’d dropped.

Ander was able to cross the rest of the room without any problems. He didn’t bother with the cots and went straight for the crates.

They were empty, save for a few bits of rotten food stuffs that had congealed in the corners.

Gloomily he made his way back to the hole, and had Carric and Iados help him down. As they undid the rope from around him, he filled them on his discovery.

Jun headed towards the door, as he rolled up his rope. “I think that’s it for this place, let’s see what the other buildings have to offer.”

Across the street was a dilapidated tavern with a sign that Lia translated as The Falling Rock. The single-story structure was just as moldy and decrepitate from age as the Town Hall. Iados and Carric went around the back of the structure, while everyone else headed inside.

“Should we really be wasting time checking all this out?” Iados asked. “If there’s anything of value around here, it’s probably in the mine and not in some abandoned tavern.”

“True, but it’s not like we’re on any sort of timetable, so why not be thorough?” Carric advised as he kept his eyes peeled on their surroundings.

The two of them rounded a corner to the back of the tavern. A few yards from a back door was a large pile of bones. Carric went in for a closer look, while Iados went inside. A minute later Elaine emerged and joined Carric as they examined the bones. As far as the two of them could tell, it was the remains of at least three or four Dwarves, and a large owlbear.

“Well, at least some of them put up a fight.” Elaine picked up the remains of a femur bone. “We should bury them.”

“Maybe we should throw the bones in the fire pit?” Carric suggested. “At the very least they’ll be in the pit with their breathen and not out here.” Carric stood up and headed inside through the door they’d found in the back wall.

Stepping inside, he walked into a kitchen that was currently being rummaged in by Ander and Lia. A trapdoor next to the back door was open. Both Kerri and Iados were bent over the side.

“Are they all busted?” Iados asked loudly.

“Looks like it,” Jun’s voice said from the cellar. “There’s one that looks intact, but the vinegar smell coming off of it is strong.”

Kerri pouted. “Anything else down there?”

“Just another skeleton,” Jun called out. There was a small pause. “There’s nothing on it.”

Carric grinned as Iados and Kerri sighed heavily. The ranger walked across the room to where Lia sat on a small stool as she flipped through a few books. “You guys find anything?”

Ander sighed. “Just a lot of bowls and pots. The main room was empty save for a ton of broken furniture.” He pointed towards the trapdoor. “We were hoping there was some ale or something left, but it doesn’t seem like it.”

Lia pointed to the book in her lap. “Judging by this dog-eared cookbook, Stews and Such, I’d wager that this place specialized in stews and soups.” She stowed the cookbook in her pack. “Iados said you guys found bones?”

“Yeah, seems like the locals took down at least one owlbear. Elaine and I figured we could put the dwarf bones in that fire pit we found before.” Carric walked over to an open cupboard and pulled out a few of the biggest bowls and pots he could find. He took them outside where he and Elaine loaded them up with bones.

They waited for Jun to emerge out of the cellar, and then led the way back to the Dwarven cemetery. With a few words from Elaine (that was translated into Dwarvish by Lia), the bones were placed in the pit.

“I wish we could do more.” Lia said as the group headed down the road to the other two buildings that were left.

"We can make sure their story is told." Kerri looked wistfully around the dilapidated settlement. "I'll write a song about what happened here, and sing it in every tavern I come to."

Ander stood up straighter, a determined look in his eyes. “Whatever we find here is going into my report to the Circle. We need to find out what the Janel guy was doing here.”

Iados nodded. “I think we can all agree that he didn’t come here to spread good cheer.”

The final two buildings were both homes. They were able to find some tools that could be used for the owlbear meat and hide, but nothing else really usable. With everyone helping, the group was able to get the meat separated and the hide set up for drying. After a light lunch, they were ready for the mine.