Clay Weatherwax leaves a sheep out to roam as they please through the prairie. When questioned, he explains it is a gift for Kumsar. I wonder what he will make of the woolly coat...
The group arrives at the site of the old mill without incident, traveling at half speed to create an accurate map. As they approach, Clay speaks at length to Maurice,
We will build a tall human-nest above the hole. It will give you a place to hunt from without much worry of predators, friend. Speaking of which, you should see it the voles have recovered since the land was blessed.
Clay recommends they check out the cellar and tunnel while there, advising caution considering their last foray. Perhaps there are passages we missed.
He takes Asala down with him, letting Morr lead the way.
A sheep, lamb, goat, etc can all be acquired for 2gp near the temple of Eruanna.
The grass has started to recover in the last two weeks, shoots and new green leaves coming up amidst the sicker yellow bracken.
The basement looks about how you left it, strewn with huge mounds of midden, piles of damaged metal goods, and sack-sized heaps of copper coins. The mounds of bodies have burnt down, now piles of bone and ash.
Clay Weatherwax We spent a couple days clearing out the nest. I blessed the land afterwards to clear the taint of undeath. We searched these heaps already but there may be more of worth if we spent some time on the task. Otherwise I'll put it all to the torch and map the old riverbed for a bit. We can bring back the copper and split it. Clay works to fill a large sack with coin.
I forgot about the copper. Anyone else have sacks? Clay has one.
I don't know if we'll find more treasure but we could look. Could the thief and halflings check for hidden doors, please? Probably nothing but you never know.
Never one to pass up an opportunity, Bandy takes a turn at searching the refuse for anything of interest or note, keeping in mind the Sage's offer for items of historical significance. If nobody stops him, he will spend one turn doing that in each room.
Bandy has two large sacks, but... 60 lbs for 6gp hardly seems worth the effort. Still, if there is absolutely nothing else to find or recover, he will help load his two sacks with coin and pack them on his pony.
Halfpint likewise searches where he directs, looking for anything that might interest them.
Dandelion - female half-orc beautyqueen in training (The Lone City in the Wildlands) OSRIC Halfpint - female halfling badgirl wannabe (Lab Lord- The North Marches) LL Mark'd - charismatic human fighter (Lab Lord- The North Marches) LL
Clay Weatherwax
Clay uses his staff to thump on different floor stones in the main cellar and larder, listening for hollow sounds.
Sorry to Fingers. I was on my (new) phone last night and the auto correct is... overzealous. I just wanted to be done typing by that point. It's going ot be a long two years.
Bandy, Halfpint, Clay, and Fingers take their time thoroughly inspecting the chambers while Irving stands watch. Alas, they discover that the old mill was indeed just an old mill, and the ghouls were not clever enough to carve secret compartments. It does have some interesting accoutrements as a mill, however. A central shaft is sunk in the center of the round main chamber, a round hole about two feet across and five feet deep, the decayed wood of the mill-shaft still within. This could easily be cleaned out and converted to a hidden compartment by adding a tiled cover, but at the moment only contains punky old wood fragments.
The hand-dug passage leads to a chamber which is now much refreshed since receiving the blessing of Beith. Live roots intertwine with fragrant edible mushrooms along all the wall surfaces. A heady, wholesome scent rises from flowers and buds which pop as delicate shoots from the root lattice, recognizable by Clay as a dark-dwelling relative of the blue tormentil flower.
Halfpint and Bandy take special note of any useful items amidst the four-feet high heaps of bones, rags, and waste of the ghoul hovel. The place seems to have been effectively triaged already, the mounds sorted and items set aside. They find:
- 12 large sacks of copper coins minted with a grinning skull in the main chambers - (Still unbagged)
- ten large sacks full of copper coins minted with a grinning skull in the back chambers - (Still unbagged)
- Three sets of dwarf-sized steel chainmail, heavily damaged
- Ten damaged dwarven battleaxes
Clay takes special care to pace, measure, and map the site including its landmarks, the dry stream bed's course, and bearings to other landmarks.
Dusk soon descends upon them, however, and the slanting sunlight retracts swiftly from the underground rooms. They know they'll need to spend the night before their return tomorrow.
Bandy thinks for a moment. "There is an awful lot of copper coin here still... We'd need at least 20 sacks - and a cart - to haul it all out and we don't have that with us. But what if..."
He eyes the hole in the middle of the floor for a moment. Then he hops in and begins removing the remnants of the wheel axle, cleaning the hole out until it is bare and has a solid floor. Then he uses rock - from building foundations outside the cellar, so it's already pretty well squared up - and makes stacks almost to level with the floor or timber posts to create places they might lay boards across to cover the hole once they fill it with all of the copper coins.
Then he starts putting the copper coins in the hole.
"We can just store it here until we're ready to come back for it. Disguised well enough, it should be safe. And even if someone finds it, they're not likely to have 20 spare sacks and a wagon for hauling the coin back to Gaul. But THIS much copper coin is maybe worth the bother... "
"Isn't there a dwarven smithy near the large lake? I wonder if he might be interested in the dwarven mail and axes. Maybe it is easier for him to mend than to make from scratch? I'd be willing to haul some of it down there to find out, in any case."
So instead of copper coins, Bandy will secure the suits of chainmail to Mitch the next day and will take them down to Idmi d'Dum once they get back to town.
Marullus wrote:Then you have 1,320 lbs of copper you are leaving behind.
"There's gotta be an easier way to make 13 gold pieces than dragging a big pile of copper back to town," objects Fingers. "How about we do that instead?"
I was thinking the same thing. Peck can carry whatever your's cant. But, for now, I 'spect we need to help map.
Dandelion - female half-orc beautyqueen in training (The Lone City in the Wildlands) OSRIC Halfpint - female halfling badgirl wannabe (Lab Lord- The North Marches) LL Mark'd - charismatic human fighter (Lab Lord- The North Marches) LL
Yeah, that's right. 1,320 lbs of coins is 13,200cp. Centuries and centuries of pocket change from victims. That's 132gp worth, and 1,320/60= 22 large sacks of copper.
Marullus wrote:Yeah, that's right. 1,320 lbs of coins is 13,200cp. Centuries and centuries of pocket change from victims. That's 132gp worth, and 1,320/60= 22 large sacks of copper.
OOC: In that quantity, certainly nothing to sneeze at, especially if just a few people want to take the time to pick it up and turn it in.
There are a few days left before the festival. We could go back to town, buy sacks and rent a cart. The grocer had one.
Or a couple of us could stay here and make a sledge while the rest go to town for the sacks. It would be a slow pull, but cheaper. We have three animals to do the work.
I would like to harvest the flowers and mushrooms while here.
Bandy glances at the immense number of copper coins and says, "Might be easier to just come back later with enough bags and a cart than to try and mess with it now..."
The flower can be used to create a tincture that will speed up the healing rate of a creature. I've only seen it done, but I think I can do it correctly.
I think we ought to set up camp here in the cellar for the night. We can burn the piles of trash and any wood here for warmth. I'll burn the rest tomorrow to clean the cellar out.
Clay reminds Bandy and the others that he'll be erecting a structure here in a week or so. Anything they want should get gone before then, so now is the time for the copper or Clay will likely use it to pay for part of the building. A few glass windows would be nice.
As the others cook dinner, Clay retreats to the deeper part of the cave. He washes his feet, hands and face before meditating. When a calm has settled on himself and the space, the young druid harvests the flowers and mushrooms in keeping with the teachings of Beith. When he returns to the group he passes them the mushrooms. These are good raw, but great in soups. He retreats to the cistern to properly dry the flowers for later use.
Halfpint volunteers to be a lookout as the others perform their tasks. She mentions the guard schedule.
I can take any watch, my friends. I think if we can keep the animals in with us, we should be able to watch with one at a time. Any one think otherwise?
Dandelion - female half-orc beautyqueen in training (The Lone City in the Wildlands) OSRIC Halfpint - female halfling badgirl wannabe (Lab Lord- The North Marches) LL Mark'd - charismatic human fighter (Lab Lord- The North Marches) LL
Clay agrees. Morr and Sprinkles are good watch dogs and will help. We can also set up an alarm system (on the stairs) with scrap material again. That worked well last time.
Also, the mushrooms provided 3 man-days of rations to the group.
That's 132gp worth, and 1,320/60= 22 large sacks of copper.