The Wilds - Carp Tarp

In which the party deals with a sprung trap and opens a chest. Carp tarp, is a running joke within my group, referring to an unfortunate typo by a party member when describing how his father, a local fisherman, used to use set crap traps in the local river. He'll never live it down.

Not being interested in poison, Grit backs out of the ogre den, giving Ingvild room to work. He heads over to help Raúguey check out the next room. Maro and Durego remain near the door, but not *too* close. Urúvion studies the tracks leading into and out of the room to see if he can get a feel for where the drag marks lead, but there's been too much traffic through the door. The trail *might* lead toward the exit, but he can't be sure. The rear-guard tightens up, Locky nudges Gorvil, and the two check the dead end cave to be sure there's nothing lurking back in the shadows.

Ingvild studies the chest and surrounding powder for a few long moments, then mutters something about iokane powder, backs out of the room, pulls off his helmet, and fills it at one of the watery pools. Using this crude bucket he rinses the powder away from the area in front of the chest and the chest itself. Durego notes he has a scarf pulled up over his mouth and nose, and decides that's not a bad idea. In short order, most of the green powder is washed away, leaving jade-tinted rivulets trickling away at the southwest corner of the room. The thief kneels in front of the chest and checks the lock. "Looks like a one-shot poison trap. Crude but effective. Let me see if I can get this lock open..."

Meanwhile, Grit and Raúguey, covered by Rawon, move further into the room. Raúguey lights a lantern so they can see more clearly. Aside from the table and two more pools of clear water, there's not much else in this cave. Grit notes that this cave appears almost entirely natural, with no chisel and pick marks indicating it was shaped or dug out. The corner south of the pool smells as if someone or something used it as a latrine, and the exit passage is damp and slick. Rawon takes a look and sees some faint signs of passage, perhaps a kobold or two, but nothing else of interest. The corridor takes a sharp bend to the southeast, and the trio holds position until the others finish messing about.

Locky and Gorvil find that the back of the cave (H) is empty. The large pool here, like the others, is clear and cold. The bottom of the pool is covered by a layer of irregular muck. "Care to go for a swim?" Locky asks Gorvil. The man shakes his head, a gleam of fear in his eyes.

Try as he might, Ingvild can't quite get the tumblers to fall. "Guess it's time for more direct methods. You want to whack this lock with your mace Durego?"

The cleric nods, moves up, aims and swings. WHACK! A solid hit on the floor. "I wasn't ready," mutters Durego as he prepares to swing again. SWISH! This time it's a clean miss.

"Anyone have a prybar?" calls out Ingvild.

"Oh yeah, I do!" Raúguey pulls out a short prybar and tosses it to Dagmarten, who hands it off to his brother.

"Let me try this Durego." Ingvild moves in and inserts the prybar in the loop of the padlock. He strains against the bar, but it's no use. "Give me a hand here." Maro moves up to lend a hand. Finally they manage to twist the lock open, and it falls to the floor with a loud clank.

"You guys aren't done yet?" Nissa asks, bored with watching the barred northern door. She moves up and presses an ear to the iron panel, listening. Silence. Frowning, she stoops and sniffs at the crack beneath the door. "You know, some of this terrible smell is coming from here."

"I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing," mutters Ohwatoo, taking a few steps away from the door.

Durego and Maro take a few steps back, allowing Ingvild a chance to check the chest one last time before he flips open the lid with his sword. Within are several crude leather bags and cloth wrapped bundles. "Mother lode," he whispers, half to himself. Durego and Maro move up and start examining the finds as Ingvild pulls them out.

The trio divides up the loot and then joins the rest of the party. Raúguey, Grit and Rawon lead the way, and in short order the group is headed down the twisty cavern into another natural chamber. Those in front are first to feel it: the chilly air that gives the cave complex its name. The room itself is barren, save for a few scattered bits of junk, a few sheets of moldy and wet parchment scattered on the floor, a patch of blue fungus, a rusty length of iron bar, and a broken clay jar. The east passage is more or less level, and silent, but faint dripping sounds can be heard from the down-sloping west passage.

OOC:

Chest contents:
    3 leather sacks, 640 GP, 1130 SP, 2100 CP
    1 1'x1' maple-framed silver mirror (possibly valuable)
    3 bronze candlesticks (possibly valuable)
    1 iron kettle (???)
Inside the kettle wrapped in a cloth are:
    9 silver arrowheads
    1 battered brass ring
    1 odd-looking amulet
The kobold corpse had a few silver on it, which I've just added to the above.

The chest itself is about 2x2x3, and very solid, but also very heavy. It would take two strong people to carry it.

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