A5G

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

[GM Post]

Thankfully, the way alcohol worked it'll disperse very quickly in presence of water. Not like Henri could get drunk, but still. Think of the fishes. As for the latest loot, each of them let out sizeable air bubbles as they're opened. Upon closer look there's rubber lining the rims, giving them good waterproofing to last through all these decades submerged.

They're filled with bottles. The first two, according to the label, was whiskey. The next two had differently shaped bottle, labeled vodka. Not like it's readable in the pitch black. Within each box was a piece of paper that was probably receipt or something, now completely drenched by the rushing water.

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

[GM Post]

Some part remained relatively untouched. The bedrolls was still laid out in order on one side. The one cookpot with a layer of moldy something at the bottom was still by its lonesome at the corner after someone kicked it off the spit a few days ago. The face-down corpse and unstrung bow hadn't moved at all from its previous position, near dead center amidst the pool of dried blood and a veritable swarm of flies. And some crows, that took stock of the party for a grand total of three seconds before returning to their feast.

A few things changed. The ash that was gathered by the cooking fire had been dashed against a wall, leaving a white-grey splotch and a few scattered scrap of paper. The rolls of tools have been, well, unrolled to reveal their secret. Empty backpacks piled on one side, its content regurgitated and rearranged in an obsessively neat manner across the floor.

A few adventurous flies were crawling over the recently unveiled preserved food, impertinently rubbing their front legs together like a group of evil masterminds.

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

[GM Post]

An actual door actually barred the cellar entrance, though the once solid wood had rotten soft and the hinges rusted brittle. It detached and slowly fell backward with the slightest push, impacting the ground with a dull thud. There's many objects here - barrels by the dozens lined the walls on both sides, whatever it contained had long since compromised by the rotting wood. There's a sizeable wooden table down at the center, flanked by long benches, equally rotten to the rest of the room. On the far side was what looked like a well, its purpose made obsolete by the sheer amount of water available in the immediate vicinity.

On closer examination, a few chests were stacked at the corner next to the barrels. Rot had started to afflict the wood, but nowhere as severe as the rest of everything in the cellar. Was the wood treated before?

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

[GM Post]

The submerged level was pitch black. Moss grown on just about any surface, while tiny fishes lazily floated around the room without much care to the world. The layout was much the same as the floors above, and equally empty. Seemed that this level wasn't instantly flooded back then, allowing the content to be evacuated before the water took them. The structure itself was relatively well-preserved despite decades sitting underwater, though the great logs holding up the ceiling had shown some signs of rotting by now.

The stairs still continued down, to what must've been the cellar.

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

[GM Post]

The idea was solid, but plain physics dictated that it wasn't a possible outcome. Converting the ashes back into paper was a slow, energy consuming process, but as it went there's clearly something wrong with it. The reproduced paper was based on the remaining corners - ergo, completely blank. Combustion tend to be a one way street after all.

A fly buzzed and landed on the paper. It rubbed its front pair of legs impertinently.

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

"Our man need to sleep somewhere, yeah? Good point though, so we go in fast and hard. You got our exit planned?" This felt kinda rushed, unless Sparky here secretly already kept a plan to assault the target. Wont be too surprising if she did, honestly. The elf had way too many obstructive layer to be just a disposable pawn like the rest of the team. Just what kind of company was she running?

Yvonne took another bite out of her chicken. Whatever company it was, they made some damn good chicken.

"Yeah, nah. Let's just attack them as your initial plan. If it goes well there should be no tangible way to connect it to us." As if any plan ever went well. If it require more than two steps it's less of a plan and more of wishful thinking, but Yvonne just shrug. She'll improvise on the fly if it's necessary, it's nowhere near her first time up shit creek with no paddle. "You sure our target will be there? It's well past midnight in eight hours."

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

"Uh, one question. Wouldn't it be more feasible to grab the man in his mansion? Or better yet, when he's on the way home." No matter how reinforced a carriage was, it wouldn't hold a candle to a properly set up building. Not as many guards too, and reinforcement would be both slow and scarce. Hit it fast, hit it hard, and be gone before anyone can process what happened.

"On a side note, I'm against walking up on their front door. They'll inevitably recognize us, and when it comes to these kind of folks they can hold grudge for a really long time. Unless we completely uproot the entire band in one go." A more troublesome aspect was them going after the people around oneself. Yvonne couldn't care less, Foxxie probably would just disappear, but they wont hesitate burning this place down to hurt Sparky here for one. Dunno if the foreigner have family or acquaintances here, but they too would be a target. No, pretending to be businessmen had more trouble than its worth.

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

[GM Post]

The backpack vomited numerous clothing article of varying stench, from shirt to pants and extra socks and underwears. Alongside was a few more personal articles, notably soaps, towels, a few razor, some water canteen, a compass, two deck of cards, a nail clipper, and small bottle of bug repellant. One bag was particularly loud as it disgorged a number of tin pots, pans, plates and cups alongside the cutlery and two wooden spatula. There's a sack of preserved food, enough to feed half a dozen men for at least two weeks.

The rolls of tools, meanwhile, was categorized by purpose. One looked to be a mix of outdoor tools and horse maintenance. Another was filled with medical kit. Finally, the last seemed to be nothing but torture tools.

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

[NPC Post]

"What the- ah, Ser Cedrick. You're here very early." Anderson reacted just as a normal person would when a bear stampeded straight into their direction, though he remembered soon enough that he did in fact had a bear-man investigator. The squire wasn't sure why Cedrick was naked, but he's disinclined to comment on it. "Your lead brought you to this general area, I assume. Is there any new discovery?"

He spared a glance at the ancient architechture, still steadfast despite gradually losing ground against nature itself.

"I have no idea this place existed."

Sovereign's Will: A Fantasy Roleplaying Game. [CONCLUDED]

[GM Post]

The upper level was somewhat more intact. The yawning hole in the wall from below continued up here, but the collapsed section was decidedly smaller. They layout was roughly the same with the stairs continuing upward toward the battlement and there's better lighting with several holes on the ceiling. A marked difference, however, was the fact that this place showed sign of being lived on. Bedrolls were strewn on one side while several rolls of tools and backpacks sat against the wall next to it. One of the backpacks was on the floor, right next to what seemed to be the spot dedicated for cooking, with its content strewn all over the place. The cookpot had also been summarily kicked aside, where a pile of ashes mixed with tiny scraps of miraculously unburnt paper now sat.

None of the above was the most notable thing in the room, though. A stiff corpse laid face-down in the center amidst a dark pool of dried blood, a feast for flies and several crows. The clothing looked to be some leather tunic, a very common outfit among the peasants, an unstrung bow abandoned not far from the body.