LogFAQs > #904888822

Entry 10: Above the Laboratory, The Flooded Hall

It was decided, of course, that the group should proceed slowly and to take the supply wagon in with them as far as could safely be done. This would establish a nice center of operations for the full adventuring party once Torin and his group reunited with Punch and Jamison. Whether they'd see Dismas and his crew again was yet to be seen, but... Torin honestly hoped that he would.

Maybe he was old and sentimental, but he had brought those four with him to this place. He felt responsible for their safety, as well. Too many had already died. Torin was just now adjusting to the harsh reality that they likely wouldn't be the last.

Aaron was a bit surprised to hear that Torin was considering the idea of bringing the damaged wagon forward. However, when the logic was explained more clearly, it seemed to make sense to everyone there; This wagon was less able to carry valuable supplies, and it was slower to move. The truth was that if they were forced to abandon the wagon it wouldn't matter how fast it was capable of moving. The most important factor was how much of their supplies they'd be forced to leave behind.

In Torin's mind it was best to have a safe exit strategy possible. They could always retreat to the fully supplied wagon in good repair if they left it on the back line. The only risk to this plan was if brigands wandered into the village and stole it but, well, Enoch laughed out loud at that suggestion.

There was a grand sense of epic drama as the huge, wide doors were pushed open by Aaron and Enoch. The doors moved slowly as if driven by some purpose to drive all mortal things back from these halls. Even the hinges shrieked a warning. Torin didn't listen to it.

The entry hall had a series of side passages that branched off into five separate directions, as well as a double staircase that approached the veranda from two angles. An indoor balcony ran from the veranda across the inner rim of the second floor and gave access to the two upper halls. The condition of the balcony seemed to be less than ideal, and traversing that path might be difficult. Definitely bringing the wagon up the stairs and across those brittle walkways would not be an option.

"Let's go ahead and get the wagon in here," Torin said. "Leone, you and Jen can have a look around. Just don't go too far. This isn't a scouting mission, okay? We should all stick together for safety."

"Sure," Leone replied simply. The two of them went off together. Leone almost seemed to be a bit ambivalent in that moment; likely grateful for not having to help push the wagon but also a bit annoyed at not being asked.

In the lower entry hall, Leone and Jen found a series of odd statues which had been carved in the likeness of estate attendants. Oddly, they had also been placed very casually and yet without much purpose. It almost felt as if they were still here, alive, and at work. It was a bizarre design strategy which Leone had never seen before.

"The use of statues to replicate the feeling of workers in the estate," Leone remarked. A bandaged stump raised to touch the face of a statue wearing a maid's uniform. Instinct would be hard to break. Leone pulled it away and brushed the cheek of the statue with the remaining hand, the one that hadn't been torn off by that insect monster. "I wonder if the real workers were unnerved by this?"

"-I'm- unnerved by this," Jen admitted frankly. "You know it's not too late to turn back, right?"

"There are people counting on me," Leone said. It was unclear if that referred to Torin or to someone else.
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