Kicking a Metal Box

As the group entered into the first antechamber, a musky aroma reached them from the carpets. Apparently weather is getting through the roof from the smell. Even with holes, however, there was not enough light to see further than this first room. Rosencrantz takes a few moments to fish out his flint and steel to spark the wick in the lantern after filling it with oil.

A soft yellow light washes over everything revealing a better view of the disrepair of the keep and the decomposition of the furnishings. Looking around, there is a door ahead and an empty doorway to the left and right. They move to the door and find it unlocked.

Passing through the door, the next room has little rubble and trash along the walls but nothing of interest. There was another door ahead of them through here and empty doorways to the left and right. Instead of continuing onward, the group decides to go back and check the other empty doorways they found closer to the entrance.

Turning around and going through the door on their right, they find a sitting room with tables and plush chairs dominated by a fireplace along one wall. Poking into the fireplace shakes out a large, dark shape that immediately takes flight around the room. Swooping around, it manages to land a hard bite on Rowyn’s arm.

Once it took the time to land and bite her, the group could finally make out what it actually was; a very large bat that they must have frightened from its slumber. It takes flight again and the group makes a few wild slashes at the air. Quickly, the bat is cut down and dealt with.

Going across to the other side of the antechamber at the entrance, another similar room is furnished with more chairs than tables and a fireplace to match. Rowyn pokes her blade into the chimney above the fireplace and some loose timbers fall on her. Still reeling from the batterng, Rowyn staggers back while Nanoc checks the rest of the chimney. A loose brick is found and behind it is a small cubby hole with an ornamental silver dagger. The group decides to let Nanoc hold onto it. This room, like the other room with the bat in it, both had one empty doorway leading out to the far side.

Deciding to double back again they checked the room on the far side of the first furnished sitting room. Stepping over broken vases and candelabras, this next chamber is similar in size to the furnished room with one doorway through the wall on the right at the far end of it. This room contains many variously sized metal boxes from as small as a bread box to big enough to store furniture.

Each box was all metal with no obvious hinges or handles. Upon further inspection, they were even void of any openings at all. Soon the group began to tap on the boxes which eventually turned into banging. Suddenly, a voice boomed from a pile of the boxes.

“Who’s there?” a deep voice asked from one of the largest boxes. The group froze.