The Arwich Grinder

[drpete]

Bill the halfling nods. "We'll look over here, then." he says, heading towards the abbatoir. Milo lights his lantern and falls in with Bill, as does Robin. Godwin fingers his holy symbol and adds "Ummmm... Yeah, that sounds, uh.... Good. Let's stay close together, though."

[Raven_Crowking]

You can hear the squeals of the pigs in the darkness as you pause to examine the smokehouse and abattoir.

Not unexpectedly, the smokehouse smells of smoke and meat - there are several curing hams and strings of sausage hanging from the roof.

The abattoir has a floor of bloodsoaked earth. There are many iron hooks on walls and ceiling – pig carcasses drains their blood upon the floor from some, although ceramic vats are placed below each to catch most of the blood. An iron axe rests in a notched wooden block. Iron butcher’s knives hang from places on the wall. There are several sealed ceramic urns in the northeast corner.

(Some of you may know that pig's blood is used to create a dye for fabric and ceramics, and is therefore inherently of some value.)

While you are examining these things, a young sounder comes squealing out of the darkness, running pell-mell towards the forest. The noises from the pig pen continue, indicating that something is disturbing the livestock.

[drpete]

Bill, the chicken butcher, will look around for anything out of the ordinary (searching, I guess... Is it all pig?). Robin will look at the sealed vats, checking what's inside, if they are ready to open. Milo will take the axe from its perch, and Godwin will take a butcher knife.

[MrHemlocks]

"Dang! Did you hear those pigs! Something got them stirred up crazy like." Thulan than turns to the others. "We need to scan over this place and join back with the rest of the towns folk. Now hurry it!"

Pratel, Zorathus, Thulan and Balin will search the smoke house for trap doors an any thing out of ordinary. Than they will gather up outside and head to the toward the pigs.

Zorathus, pulls some smoked meat from one of the pigs and stuffs his mouth with it along with a bit of cheese from his pack.

Thulan Search/Spot [1d20] = 3
Pratel Search/Spot [1d20] = 16
Balin Search/Spot [1d20] = 8
Zorathus Search/Spot [1d20] = 18

[Raven_Crowking]

Nothing unusual is found in the smokehouse.

(For searches, or similar checks where you would have no idea whether you succeeded or failed, I will roll the dice, if a die roll is even needed.)

The vats contain blood, presumably pig's blood. When Robin checks the vats, he notices that the dirt floor is unexpectedly springy - there is a trapdoor here under a very thin layer of dirt.

[MrHemlocks]

Finding nothing of importance, in the smoke house, Pratel, Zorathus, Thulan and Balin head to the well. A large rock is dropped into it and they listen if the rock hits water or solid ground.

[drpete]

Godwin goes back to the entrance to the slaughterhouse. "We found a trapdoor!" he whispers loudly to the others.

Milo and Bill raise their axes, and Robin brushes the dirt off of the trapdoor, exposing it. Can he hear anything beneath it?

[GlassEye]

Rogett and Randow Lammerson wheel their pushcarts right up to the wall of the slaughterhouse when Godwin calls out that they had found a trapdoor. They begin gathering up their gear.

Badr Balik frowns and looks to the front door of the house. "We should knock like civilized people and not scurry about like vagabonds." Nevertheless, he follows the Lammersons.

Abram Cove also looks about uneasily, tucks his sling in his belt, arms himself with his club, and enters the slaughterhouse with the others.

[Raven_Crowking]

A long wooden porch wraps around the front of the house. There is a rocking chair near the door. The porch has a slanted roof, with a gutter designed to channel rainwater into the easternmost of five barrels likes up along the eastern portion of the porch.

The trapdoor looks old, with an iron pull ring. You hear nothing beyond it; just noises coming from the pig pen.

Dropping a stone into the well results is a dry sound - the well does not seem to have water in it, and is maybe 40 feet deep.

[drpete]

Glad for the reinforcements, Robin opens the trapdoor to look beneath. Bill and Milo stand ready for something to pop out.

Godwin wanders out the door, over toward the pig pens to see what is disturbing the pigs.

[Raven_Crowking]

Beneath the trapdoor, a narrow tunnel set with iron rungs disappears into darkness.

Outside, Godwin can see the pig shed - low and walled only where necessary - and a fenced-in area for the pigs. It is dark out (does Godwin have a light?) but the sound of disturbed pigs is easy to hear, and the smell of pig droppings is quite evident.

[MrHemlocks]

Seeing some of the villagers heading over to the pig pen, Pratel, Zorathus, Thulan and Balin do the same. When with the others, near the pig pen, an above the yelping of the pigs, Balin pipes up. "To let you know we tossed a big rock into the well and it hit dry ground. My guess is that there is some sort of tunnel or passage that leads to where we want to go and that is underground!"

[drpete]

Godwin does not have a light, but as the others come over, he tries to make out what is going on with the pigs. Do they have a light? Are the pigs "worried" or does it sound like something is actively harming them?

Bill will climb down into the pit, and try to see if he can see anything with his infravision down the tunnel. Robin and Milo will follow him down (with a lantern) if he doesn't, or pull him up if, say, a pig charges him.

[fireinthedust]

Lady Aelfwyn, Arvandha, Bron, and the trapper arrive at the Curwen farmstead, and as the others head into the abbatoir and smoke house, they follow the sounds of the squealing pigs.

Bron draws his sword, the others have their weapons out, and the Lady Aelfwun peers into the darkness to see what her elven senses can detect before getting closer.


OOC: drat, didn't think to bring torches.

Can Lady Aelfwyn (an elf) see anything off to the left, where the pigs are squeeling? Using her heightened senses as an elf, that is.

Sorry I'm so slow, we're at the cottage and connections are slow, activities are being done, etc.

[Raven_Crowking]

Bill climbs down the narrow passage for 30 feet, holding onto the iron rungs carefully. After 30 feet, the tunnel opens into a larger space, along the east wall of the chamber. Crates are piled to the southeast. Bill can see a narrow passage to the north, and a door to the west. The whole area smells of old stone, yes, but also of smoked meat.

Meanwhile, what is disturbing the pigs becomes apparent - a Very Large Man looms from the darkness, blood and gore dripping from his chin and mouth. In one hand, he clutches a human rib.

[MrHemlocks]

Pratel, Zorathus, Thulan and Balin will approach the pig pen. They notice the other villagers standing around and pointing at a large man-beast and they back away when seeing it for themselves. Gathering up stones and boards they will use them as thrown weapons at the man-beast if he should attack the other party that gathers near the pen.

[drpete]

Bill will examine the crates, trying to figure out their contents while Milo and Robin follow him down.

Godwin recoils from the Very Fat Man, raising his holy symbol and commanding the demon "Begone!" He tries to get back among the relative safety of the others.

[GlassEye]

Rogett and Randow Lammerson, Badr Balik, and Abram Cove follow Bill, Milo, and Robin down the trapdoor. As Bill checks out the crates the others spread out in their own search. Badr Balik goes to the narrow northern passage to stand guard. Rogett and Randow go to the door though they do not open it. Randow puts his ear to it to see if he can hear anything beyond. Abram stand ready in the center of the room should any disturbance break out between the three areas that requires his assistance.

[fireinthedust]

ooc: assuming they can hear the roar...

IC: Bron turns and runs towards the noise, the others following close behind. They move as fast as they can to support their comrades.

[Raven_Crowking]

The tunnel down is very narrow, allowing only one character to pass at a time, and it takes time to traverse. Thus far, only the halfling is down below, prying open a crate while the second character comes down the ladder, and a third starts. Not surprisingly, perhaps, the crate contains smokes sausages.

In the pig pen, the large man-beast begins to lumber towards the party, still holding a broken rib like a dagger in one hand. The thing seems to be unimpressed by Godwin's words and symbol, and in fact seems to be heading directly toward him. The fence for the pig pen is still between you and it, however.

[MrHemlocks]

Pratel, Zorathus, Thulan and Balin will approach the pig pen. They notice the other villagers standing around and pointing at a large man-beast and they back away when seeing it for themselves. Gathering up stones and boards they will use them as thrown weapons at the man-beast if he should attack the other party that gathers near the pen.

[Raven_Crowking]

The man-beast reaches the fence surrounding the pig pen, and drops the rib as he begins to pull at the boards. He makes a mewling sound, but no words. There seems to be a dark line around his neck. His chest is spattered with the gore dripping from his chin.

Now one of the boards is pulled free.

Another one of the squealing pigs runs past you from the darkness. You are at the north end of the pig pen. It appears that the south end has already been breached, allowing the disturbed pigs to escape.

[drpete]

Seeing that the very fat man is blocked by the fence, Godwin rushes over and gives him a wack with his staff. "come on, before he gets it open!"

[1d20-1] = 10 [1d4-1]= 3

Meanwhile, down below, Bill continues to search the room, waiting for his companions to descend.

[GlassEye]

Abram Cove frowns at the time it takes to descend the narrow pit to whatever is waiting below. With Bill, and now Milo, below and Robin beginning his descent the beggar is beginning to think it might be wiser if one of the group went to check on the others. "Badr, we've both torches here and the lantern below. Why don't you go lend your light to the others out by the pigs. They might need it."

Badr Balik was enjoying the relative bit of safety found here at the top of the trapdoor while waiting but Abram's tone didn't really leave room for argument. So he left, following the squeals to the others at the broken pen and the second Very Large Man of the evening. He stays back and lets the more daring deal with the fellow, though.

Rogett and Randow Lammerson bicker between themselves as they wait until Randow goes out and returns munching on a soft tomato. "Can't do that with a rock," he mutters.

OOC: Sorry, Raven Crowking, I mis-comprehended the amount of time it took to descend.

[Raven_Crowking]

As the man-beast reached down to remove another board, Godwin gives him a resounding whack! with his staff, right on the noggin, and the creature falls back into the pig pen.