Their timing is perfect, for as the thin double doors of the store room are opened, Hy-Jinx, her chest, shoulders and head just above floor level, having just finished pulling the sacks, as best she can, back beneath the edge of the table, and picking up Madeleine’s mask from where she had balanced it against the wall as she was doing this, quietly closes the trapdoor behind her, and carefully pads down a set of sturdy wooden stairs, making sure to make as little noise as possible. As she descends her nose wrinkles at what is definitely not a nice smell - a kind of weird chemical smell that makes her nose burn. Hood is standing at the bottom of the stairs, his satchel slung over his shoulder, clutching his nose. He half turns, looking over his shoulder at Hy-Jinx, before turning back and pointing.

Hi-Jinx is beginning to get a vague understanding of the magical apparatus she is wearing and realises, as she reaches the bottom of the stairs, and steps onto an earthen floor, that the smell and the natural physical reaction of suspicion and concern that it brings - which would currently explain the dim swirl of colours that Hood is emanating - is dampening her joy and, with that dampening, comes a dimming of her vision. She attempts to smile but plastering a grin onto one’s face does not joy constitute. Considering her attempt, she laughs at herself and the room suddenly and momentarily bursts into rosy brightness, before instantly darkening again, as she recoils in horror at the sight before her. She moves in, closely behind Hood, her face twisting in consternation. “You know Hood, I think I might leave happiness behind me for the rest of the time we’re here,” she says quietly.

Hood continues to stare, brightening the orb and sending it up towards the ceiling to get a full view of what lies before him, shuddering at the sight.

And so dear reader, you may recall several moons ago, during the Battle of the Bell Tower, in which the large barbarian giant Dworf not only fought within the tower but was instrumental in breaking into the tower, used, as he was, with his magically charged bucket helm, as a living breathing battering ram. An action that required not just himself, trussed as he was and horizontally positioned for maximum effect, but a team effort. Now, mention was made at that time of those that did lift the giant Dworf and batter him repeatedly against the doors, indeed we last heard of these muscle bound alpha warriors as they made their way into the fray of the main hall, just as our companions at the time were making their way upstairs. Well, they’re back…in a manner of speaking…well not really, they are definitely NOT speaking, that’s for sure. More, staring really, in a kind of vacantly…well you will see.

As the orb ascends and lights up the underground cellar, Hood gets a good understanding of the space in which he stands. With the stairs behind him running down the wall, it is apparent that the cellar must run the full width and length of the shop above, with another set of steps on the far wall rising, presumably, to another trap door. Even though the shop floor is flagstoned, these flagstones clearly rest on wooden boards which underpin them, for from this vantage point beneath the shop, the ceiling can be seen to be entirely formed of thick wooden planks, themselves held up by lots of thick beamed wooden columns arranged in an orthogonal array throughout the cellar, that rise to brace a network of supporting crossbeams. Between these columns, running the length of the room are two rows of tables one on either side of a central aisle, and upon each row of tables sits a row of ten very large, squat thick glass bottles, each topped with what looks like a glass stopper that has been melted into place. And within each bottle, perplexing as it is as to how they got in there in the first place, is the dead staring head of a barbarian alpha warrior, suspended in some sort of liquid.

“Not…good,” Hood slowly rasps - an understatement he may later live to regret.

“Several minutes ago, I never thought that there might be a moment when I would ever wish I was blind again.” Hy-Jinx says, still standing behind him somewhat, and taking Hood’s hand in hers, her eyes closed tightly just in case the glasses begin to illuminate the scene to her - even slightly. "Hood, could we get out of here as quickly as possible please,” she asks.

Hood nods silently, leading her down the middle of the room between the ranked bottled heads, each sporting a different twist of the face, some baring teeth, some eyes bulging, some squinting, some their lips tightly pressed together, but all conveying the same tortured horrified expression. Hood shudders as he walks…something is not right here…there is more going on than meets the eye…and there are a lot of eyes…Thinking this, Hood stops and looks carefully around: no sign of bodies, though the dirt floor looks suspiciously darkened in places. Hood shudders again, but steals himself and letting go of Hy-Jinx, approaches a bottled head, leaning in closely in an attempt to carefully examine it and see if there is anything unusual…well, more unusual. The curved glass of the bottle warps the features somewhat of the black shaggy haired head held within, perhaps making it appear larger than it was - is - its lips perhaps magnified somewhat, or maybe swollen, slightly parted to reveal large teeth. The face, sporting what looks like a variety of tribal tattoos has a large craggy brow and thick eyebrows, a slightly larger nose than the more refined features of a Kerabian. One eye is half closed and blood shot, the other wide, but it is the irises that draw Hood’s attention, for they are completely black, yet it is as if something is swirling within. Hood peers closer, pressing his face against the bottle to get a better look. There are what appear to be tiny pin points of light dancing and as he focuses on these, the head suddenly bucks and shudders, the mouth opening into a silent scream, the eyes widening and focussing on Hood. The entire bottle shudders and wobbles momentarily. Hood jumps back in shock letting out a startled “Uhh!” glad that his robes are still wet.

“Hood?” Hy-Jinx calls, her free hand feeling out for him and finding him in her darkness, grasping the damp cloth on his shoulders and patting down one of his arms to take his hand again. She can feel him trembling, and as she does so a strange sound begins to rise in the room, a clattering that grows to a slow crescendo.

“Hood what’s going on?”

Hood looks up and down the rows of tables as all the bottles begin to shake and shudder, as the heads all spring to life, before it would seem dying again, emitting a strange muffled sound as if drowning, a sound which seems to hang in the air for an unnaturally long period of time before gradually dissipating.

“What was that?” whispers Hi-Jinx, clearly spooked.

Hood has his suspicions and without a second thought he turns and hurriedly leads Hi-Jinx to the far wall and the other set of steps. His wet robes hanging heavy on him, the evening’s exertions more than beginning to take their toll. He feels like thinly rolled out pastry, and reflecting thus, his mind returns to the kitchen at Pomegranite’s Tower, and Hood realises that all he really wants at this moment is a cup of tea and a slice of cake, and somewhere warm and comfortable to sit. He feels exhausted.

“Steps,” rasps Hood as he guides Hy-Jinx slowly up to a short wooden landing, and then further, to what looks like some sort of external double door hatchway, the doors set as they are at an angle and seemingly lying beyond the limit of the shop’s wall and also above floor level.

Carefully examining the hatchway, the doors are clearly bolted from the inside and so as silently as he can Hood slides the bolt and takes a deep breath. “Stay…go?” Hood asks in his serpentine voice.

“Let’s listen first,” says Hy-Jinx, and so the two just sit, trembling - though whether this is with fear, cold, or exhaustion is unclear - crouched against the hatchway, carefully listening, but hearing only the soft patter of rain on the wooden doors.

“I think we should go,” says Hy-Jinx, “I really don’t want to be in here. The air is foul and I’d like to see again.”

Hood nods silently, a pointless response all things considered, so he squeezes Hy-Jinx’s hand gently in affirmation, dismisses the light orb, and moves to open the hatch.