Turn 155

    Back of Temple:
    Ibn Hassan coughs, then mutters, "So much for a quiet entrance." He peers around, trying to figure out what he missed about the trap setup. "Wonder how much it'll cost for them to get all that replaced."
    After a moment of silence, the other sounds resume, now identifiable as voices. They're coming from the left.
    Valarin, invisible, raises his eyebrows and murmurs, "Right?" The voices to the left, which fell silent for a moment after all the ruckus, sound like conversation, not any sort of ritual.
    Very carefully, ibn Hassan makes for the right-hand passage, and when Valarin has joined him starts almost as carefully down it.
    It goes down, soon turning into a tight spiral, old brick walls and steps corkscrewing down into ancient depths, cutting off the sound behind them. It does not go down very far, perhaps thirty feet, before opening and ending in a small room. It contains a table, on which sits a candelabrum and neatly stacked writing supplies, a chair, and two small ironbound boxes, about two feet square, on slats to keep them away from any damp that might seep up from the floor.
    The room appears untrapped, which makes sense if it is used with some frequency for, it would appear, some sort of record-keeping. The same cannot be said for the boxes; too much fiddling with the locks and something will happen, certainly magical and most likely unpleasant.

    Upstairs:
    The goblins spend a moment gaping in astonishment, drop their cleaning implements, and flee toward the high, partly open doors barely visible at the far end of the Hall, gibbering at the top of their lungs.
    Not willing to let these minions escape & raise the alarm elsewhere Lynden charges after them hoping to engage them before they reach the exit.
    Barrend is completely stunned by the sudden events. "What in Dumathoin's name is he doing!?" he tells himself.
    The young man gets up from where he has fallen and scrabbles at his belt for an age-darkened ivory cylinder, removing a narrow scroll. His hands steady as he begins to read; a line of intense light begins to form between the stone floor and the shadow-haunted roof high above.
    Emmett buries the hook in his arm and pulls sharply, sending the youth spinning again so that his head meets the door, this time with a pronounced thud; he sinks to the floor, unconscious.
    Pham glides over to the youth and plucks the scroll from the motionless hand. After a moment of study, his eyebrows rise sharply and he comments to Emmett, "If he had managed to get this one off, we might have been in some trouble. I doubt he has any business using a spell of this power."
    "Just as well he no longer has it, then. Why don't you bind this guy up and I'll go help Lynden." With that the Half-man galumphs across the floor, his steel shod peg making an ominous echo in the large hall and his leather whip snaking across the floor after him, prepared to drag the fleeing goblins down should their pace slacken.
    Barrend hesitates just a moment before rushing in the direction the goblins went. "Blast it!"
    Yelling back at the group, "This better not be how you usually conduct business!" Barrend tries to hurry since goblins are quick for their size, quicker than he is.
    They pursue the fleeing slaves down the length of the Hall of Awe and through the doors into the temple proper. Another large, imposing, and dimly-lit room, bare of any decoration.
    Emmett snags one of the goblins with his whip; the other hurtles headlong through a modest doorway to the right of the altar and from the sound of it falls down some stairs.
    Behind, Pham finishes binding the wounded prisoner and looks around the otherwise-empty room apprehensively.

     Elsewhere:
    "Perhaps half of what you've asked would be a more appropriate price? And we'll sacrifice to Gond every time we have to use this thing in battle."
    She scowls at him for a moment, then relents with a grin. "Very well, my young Giff. Fifteen hundred for ten, and mind you remember the sacrifice. The shot is on the temple."
    [OOC: So then Yestin's entire share would only purchase enough smoke powder to fire the cannon once? The common funds, if Val could be persuaded to use them, would make for only a second shot? Yikes. Better make them count then.]
    [It's pricey stuff. The list price in the Spelljammer sourcebooks is considerably higher, actually -- one of, oh a few thousand places where their economy breaks down -- but you're in a good sphere. It does make practicing a bit problematic, until you can get your hands on some more money.]
    Yestin grins, pleased to have won the negotiations -- or at least, gotten her to drop her price to what he was asking. He had no skill at haggling and, for all he knew, was probably still paying too much.
    The giff's grin fades as he makes a few quick calculations in his head and realizes that he would only be able to afford enough smoke powder for a single shot or two. Sighing, he replies, "I am indebted to you for your generosity, I will arrange the transfer of funds as soon as I have spoken to my captain.
    "I wonder, are you familiar with this type of weapon? If so, might your order be able to provide us with some, ah, 'tips' on its proper usage? And if not, would you care to inspect it?"
    "I'm afraid my skills lie in other areas," she demurs. "But if Gond has indeed put this thing in your path for your use against this growing evil, then I think that when the time is right you will find the knowledge you require, as well."
    Once his business is concluded, Yestin bows to his hostess. "Once more, I thank you. Now, if you will excuse me, I'm off to the market before I see my captain. I must procure a sword, or perhaps a heavy mace, suitable to one of my dimensions. Good day."
    [OOC: How far along would the work to mount the cannon be at this point? When I mentioned discussing it with Three Trees, I was assuming that conversation would have taken place on the first day in town, when Val, et. al., visited the home office.]
    [A few more hours. They're almost done reinforcing the deck, actually placing the cannon is the easy part.]

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