Ghosts of Saltmarsh

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"who am I? Who the fuck are you? Knocking someone in the head and leaving him tied up. No food no water in this rats nest, you ever hear of cleaning?" He strains against his bonds, trying to wiggle free. In a moment of clarity he stops. Taking a proper look at the heavily armored group for the first time.

"Wait this isn't your house is it?"
 
"Da hell is up with this guy?" Dagger asks, the voice sounding young and elvish. Dagger stared at the man hard trying to decide if the man was being serious or lying.
 
Tobi frowns and puts the gag back in before turning to the rest of the group. "Hey, I think we found out why this guy got tied up. He's a prick." The half elf turns back to the man, making sure that his saber was clearly visible and held up a little closer to the tied up man. "So, shall we try that again? I don't tend to give people second chances but here we go." He goes to take the gag out before looking back to the rest of the group. "You know this reminds me when my father captured a dragonborn pirate off the coast of... nevermind. The guy. Right." He finally takes the gag back out and looks the guy dead in the eye again. "Who are you, who put you here and why should we let you go? Pretty please."
 
The confusion is rampant on the man's face, "look buddy. Names Ned alright? Ned Shakeshaft, I got stuck in that storm last night, came in through the kitchen then bam. Some chicken shit clubs me in the back of the head, steals all my stuff. I wake up here, to some weird arse voice blaring like a claxon, tied up."

He shifts nervously at the blade, not scared anymore, just uncomfortable.
 
Tobi looks from Ned to the group and back to Ned again, before shrugging and putting the gag back in despite the man's struggles. Tobi calls out to the rest of the party, not shouting just loud enough to be heard. "He's telling the truth I feel. No outright lies at least. Either way..." He gives Ned a warm smile and pats him on top of his head lightly, like someone who do to a small child. "Look Ned, here's the thing. We were sent here to do a job and that involves clearing out the house. That's not something that we can do easily when we've got someone who's not trained running around behind in just their underwear. I'm sure you understand right."

He lowers his voice a little so that only the two of them can hear the whisper. "I mean we have ladies with us Ned, I'm not sure you want to be running around with nothing on in front of them right? I mean, maybe you do. I knew a guy who only used to fight in the nude. The Naked Corsair we called him, from up north. Guy got caught up in the rigging during a boarding, nasty scenes." He stops whispering and cracks his neck a little before speaking normally. "Anyway, we would let you go and get you out of the house but there are a lot of angry weasels outside. I know right, the chances? But since we don't want you to become weasel food and you can't come with us whilst we clear through the house you will have to sit tight. We will be back for you, after everything is safe... and hopefully we have found some clothes."
 
Trying to keep an eye on the area, Teshyn let Tobi lead the conversation with the strange man, offering him a sharktooth smile for a moment before reinforcing his statement: "We wille be backe, yes."

Joining the others in the hall she continued, "We knowe there's atte leastte one other here then, and thee loude voice was likelie thee one thatte frightened us before." She looked around, "Shoulde we worke our waie backe down? Check level bie level?"
 
Dagger nodded in agreement and went off to check other rooms, looking for traps, he decided to start as far from the stairs as he could and work his way back
 
Moving carefully and slowly, Dagger proceeded down a hall towards the back. Checking for traps he missed the board and with a loud crack, and an even louder thud, he hit the first floor. Taking a moment to figure out what happen he finally said "Stinking, rat eaten bat dropping..." Before rising and climbing back up the stairs
 
Between the magic spell earlier and a kenku falling through the floor, you feel quite confident that whatever element of surprise you had is now gone.

Ned rolls his eyes, looking intently at his "rescuers" he tries to speak around the gag,. "Mmmmiii canff fought!" He manages to get himself to his feet while still being bound to his ankles. Then proceeded to attempt to hop from the room...

Sil in the meantime, opens the door to what would be another dirty, decaying bedroom without furniture. Even viewed from the doorway, it's evident that the floor in here does not look safe; some of the floorboards are missing, and others are partially dislodged. The window on the far side of the room, looks out onto the ocean.
 
Examining the room, Sil stays away from the part of the floor and walks deeper into the room. Heading towards the window, to look outside and see what the weather is as well as see if having a higher view will give a better view of the grounds and anything else that might be running around outside.
 
Sil entered the room. While it appeared empty, something drew him in. In a way, he wasnt really seeing the room, but his mind was fighting with a puzzle of sorts. He advanced to the window thinking to see if he could see the grounds and out the window and if there might be a clue to the mysteries they had so far.
His hand dropped to the window sill, fingertips brushing the wood. He barely registered the crash as Dagger found a faster way to the floor and the thumps from the next room over with Ned and Tobi.
His eyes looked down at his hand and was surprised. There were clear markings that a lantern had been here, as he turned he could see footprints beyond his own had come into the room...multiple timea because of the way the lantern marks were. He turned his head and looked back out the window. 'Why this room? Why was Ned knocked out on the first floor and drug upstairs. They put him in the other room. Not this one? Yet someone came here multiple times. Room is empty. This would be the perfect spot to dump someone. Why did they leave him alive?' Thinking of the body downstairs in the basement, 'Part of me me wishes I hadnt burnt it, so we could have looked at it better.'
Looking back out the window, he paid attention to the scene from the window. "Someone really likes this room and with no furniture and a bad floor...at night....hence the lantern." Bringing his hand back up to his chin, "I dont think we are dealing with a haunted house. We are dealing with some very clever pirates..." Something was still bothering him, a tickle in the back of his mind that wouldn't go away..."Why leave someone alive....We definitely need to check out the rest of the house...especially that basement"
Coming out of his musings he turned back and suddenly heard the ruckus. Carefully looking at the floor he watched where he stepped. 'Teshyn needs to see this.'
 
Tobi spots Ned trying to hop away and shakes his head. He puts his foot out, tripping the poor man, and after he hits the floor he drags him back into the room and dumps him in the corner. He leans down and shakes his finger at the man but his voice doesn't have any malice in it when he talks. "Look friend, I know you want to get out of here and I know you want to fight but we don't have any spare armour or spare weapons for you and running around in your underwear makes you a pretty easy target." He holds his sword up and shakes his head. "Now stay here and don't make me ask again."
 
Frowning at the man trying to escape from the room, Teshyn winced as he hit the floor. Listening to Tobi she sighed, reaching around to her back, "Honestlie, if he wille be making noise, Ae'd rather have himme with us thanne screaming uppe here." Retrieving her trident she offered it to him, "If Ae lette you borrowe this, andde you attack us with itte," her aquatic eyes stared fixedly at Ned's, "Ae wille kille you. Thatte is a promise."

The triton looked at the others, "Ae'd rather knowe where a dagger is thanne wonder where itte mightte be justte before itte stabs me." Patting Ned's shoulder perhaps a little rougher than she should have she added, "Ande he canne be helpful inne testing rooms, worstte case."
 
Looking between Ned and TBD Tobi just shrugs. "If Teebs thinks you are worth the risk then I will go with her judgment on this." The smuggler reaches behind the mostly naked man and uses his saber to cut away the bindings before looking over to the triton with a grin. "I understand your logic but if he gets hurt I'm not hauling his naked ass out of the house. Last time I had to carry a guy like that he was paralyzed from a stinger swimming on a break after unloading. Let me tell you, you don't want to be lifting a guy up onto the docks when you have nothing to grip on to."

The half elf scratches his chin and looks down to Ned. "No hard feelings right big guy? You managed to convince one of us you've got the guts enough to fight although... I'd maybe try and rustle yourself up a pair of trousers at the earliest opportunity. Just saying." Leaning out of the room slightly he calls out down the corridor. "Any luck finding anything? Or do we have to be looking elsewhere?" He looks back over to Ned with a smile. "You know, this whole going room to room thing reminds me. We were out bringing some trade into a port but we had this really fussy harbourmaster. By the gods we must have moved the boat to every damn pier twice before he was happy with where we were. Almost thought the cargo would go bad."
 
Sil walked back into the hall and hailed Tessyn. “I found footprints and strange markings in this room. Can you take a few and take a look at them? See if you can figure out what I’m missing? Something is off up here. They are coming to a few rooms only. Why? I’m hoping that you can get a different perspective or fill in some of the questions that I keep coming up with?”
Seeing that they had untied Ned and given him a weapon, Sil felt uncertainty and doubt. He didn’t trust Ned. He didn’t know him, and his appearance seemed too convenient….’Time will have to tell. I hope I’m wrong.’
“Since we seem determined to check this place out properly, let's start clearing the rooms.” When Ned had his back to him, Sil nudged Tobi, motioning to keep an eye on Ned.
“Dagger, you okay?” He asked as he looked through the hole in the floor down to the first floor.
 
"That looks like it was a nasty fall? Are you sure you are okay?" Looking around the hallway, Sil tried to look out for weakened floors yet figure out which room to check next.
"So Ned, Why are you in Saltmarsh? I know you aren't from around here."
 
After handing off the trident to Ned, Teshyn followed Sil, trying to pay attention to where he pointed. Idly scratching her face the triton frowned, "Ae am notte thee bestte when itte comes to thee lande. Ae canne do far better inne thee water ..." she looked up at the sil, "... butte if theie're putting lanterns here, would thatte notte be to lette ships see? Signs fromme a distance?"

Thinking for a moment, "Itte would be handie thatte this place is oftenne leftte alone -- if you wanted to do trades, you'd know rarelie wouldde anieone be here?"
 
"Okay dokie." Dagger said with a kids like voice, he then moved towards the hall he was exploring to try again. Seeing the hole he made, he turned back to find the others
 
The now liberated Ned, rubs the raw spots on his wrists, where the ropes had dug in. "I can't imagine my trousers are to far off, they weren't that nice."

Nodding his thanks to TBD for the trident, and Tobi for cutting him loose. Now that the bindings are free, you notice both his forearms are covered in nautical tattoos; most prominent is a large skull with two forearms in handshake underneath.

"I was offered a job, and was on my way to it when the storm forced me to take shelter. Mr Solmor expected me last night." His explaination brief, is not somewhat guarded. It's clear he's thankful to be freed, but unsure given he's outnumbered.

Taking a look out into the hallway at the devestation wrought by the kenku. "By the sea gods beard! Are we trying to demolish the house? There's no way getting around that hole."
Most of the other floor boards hang loose around the hole, which is confirmed after a few pokes with the borrowed trident.

"It's probably best to try the back stairs in the kitchen. I saw them when I came in last night before..." He mimes getting smacked in the head.
 
Tobi looks at the tattoos and recognises them as the markers for some sort of secret society that runs up and down the coast. He has been in plenty of shady places with people before and although he believes Ned's story about being caught in the storm he is still suspicious about a man with those sorts of tattoos and what he could have been doing. Tobi thinks for a second and then shrugs, likely the sorts of things that Tobi does on a daily basis so he can't really judge. It's not like Tobi has any right to take the moral high ground. What he had said about Mr Solmor was very genuine though and the half-elf frowns. "We were sent here by Mr Solmor. Seems like it's your lucky day. Well..." He gestures to the man's lack of clothing. "Maybe not that lucky."

He rallies his caution a bit, thinking that becoming too friendly with the man wouldn't look good if he was some sort of traitorous cur set on betraying them. "Still, I've got an eye on you and I once hunted down and guarded a man who could turn invisible, so don't think I won't notice if you do anything shifty." He steps behind Ned, staying a little too close for personal space comfort and staring at the man any time he thought he was being watched. When he thinks the man's attention is on other things he tries to mime about the tattoos to TBD and Sil so that they notice.
 
Dagger stared at the tattoo, it was beautiful looking to be sure. He began to wonder if they should keep him here. Someone I. A secret Organization could probably keep a secret, and with him being naked and tied up when they got here he wouldn't be much use to them. "Should let...Ned...report to... Wavechasser." Dagger pretended to cover himself as if he was naked then made the same noise the worm things from earlier had as the died while he mimed being run through with a blades. "He can let...know our progress. And get..." Dagger thought a moment then tapped his chest and made a sound like tapping a metal chest plate. He looked Ned in the eyes and tapped his thumb and index finger together, "Please Sir?"
 
Sil caught the motion that Tobi made about something on Ned's arm. He looked at the bare arms and noticed one tattoo that was nicer and more elaborate than the others. While uncertain of the true significance of the tattoo, he felt that Tobi was confirming his gut feeling that something was off about 'Ned'. 'I wish I could talk to Tobi for a few minutes without Ned, but we have to fish with the bait that we have.' Looking around the second floor, and the rooms that had been blocked by Dagger's eventful descent to the first floor. 'Hopefully, he'll be okay. Maybe Amy can spare a spell and heal him up a bit. We're going to have to be careful on this floor. Amazing no one else has crashed through yet.'
"Okay, let's head down to the kitchen so that we can try and find Mr. Ned's missing clothes."
 
Ned nods in agreement making his way downstairs. He moves without hesitation, full of confidence. "Let's attempt to find my pants before I meet my new employer yeah?" He calls over his shoulder, methodically poking the floor for weak spots as he goes.

Walking passed another corridor to the east, he continues to the north hallway. Poking open doors as he goes; they groan in protest but give way to the forceful jabs.
On the western side of the corridor a jab reveals A room where one time a long table stood in the center of this room; now it lies broken on the floor. A broken chair sits against the wall between the windows, and there is a heap of broken dishes in the northwest corner.

A door on the eastern side of the passage hasw two stuffed armchairs standing near the fireplace. The covers of both have been torn and the stuffing has been pulled out, but the wooden frames are intact. A broken table lies on the floor near the north wall.

"Well, looks like we've got a dining room and a... Some sort of drawing room I guess? Still no kitchen or pants." the near naked man stands in the hallway, taking a moment's respite from his mad charge through the house.
 
Trailing along with the group, Teshyn kept an eye on the newcomer, noticing his tattoo but not really understanding what it might be tied to. Maybe Sil was interested in the quality of them? The triton shrugged, walking with her bow in one hand and an arrow in the other in case she needed to draw quickly.

Peering into the new rooms Ned opened, it seemed like the furniture had somehow remained even from when the Alchemist supposedly lived here. Looking into the drawing room, something nagged at her as she stared at one of the bricks then noticed the small bones. Clearing her throat for attention, "Ae thinke there mightte be something to this roome? We've notte seen much, butte there seeme to be some bones, ande another bricke thatte catches mie eie like below."
 
Dagger followed the others pondering if Nee would be let go soon or not. Hearing Teshyn speak about the brick, he moved forward "I'll take a look" a guards voice came from him as he checked the brick for trouble
 
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