The carpentress tapped her chin while thinking. The others did have good points. "I am no house-builder... or even very much of a table-maker, but as a siege engineer apprentice, I know my way around woodworking tools in case repairs need to be made, so maybe, with time and materials, some damages may be alleviated - Since I concur that the cellar is a little bit too small for all of us, considering diseases and all, I will join the majority vote and be in favour of that house the human suggested." Nodding after her little monologue was finished as if to give it a sense of officiality, she turned her eyes towards the rest of the group. Terrinel was glad that the group's desires coincided with her own wishes - that only meant it'd be more likely she'd get her way.
''Alright, the house it is. Let's go,'' Daveth said. With Branner tracking ahead, and several of the others helping the weaker of the group, the prisoners soon arrived at the abandoned house. It wasn't much to look at, a ramshackle building, with a slightly wonky roof--which lacked several of its slates. The building's wood was in relatively good condition in most places, though some of the wall had been eaten away by the elements. The house lacked any glass, and the windows were instead boarded up. Daveth pushed against the front door, which ground against the floor as it moved inward. His eyes darted about the darkness within, scanning for any possible threat. Experience had long since taught him that only a fool rushes in. ''Looks clear,'' Daveth said. ''Let's move in.'' @WanderingJester, @Loldoom ''Branner, Jurg, I need you two to check the upstairs out.'' @Vulpas @Casavay ''Wolfker, Terrinel, you're in the basement.'' ''The rest of you, get yourselves comfortable. Look around for any food, or medicine, or anything of any use at all.'' _____ GM note: I have opened up, and updated, the city map to reflect the chosen base, and the information gathered thus far. To remind, the map will be filled in as we go along.
Branner nodded at the Daveth, and the older man, and the walked into the house. Several cracks in the walls and boarded up windows gave some ambient light inside, but overall it was still really dark. The young hunter gave a few minutes for his eyes to adjust to the low light, then began creeping forward up the stairs, keeping his body low and small while his eyes peeled for any threats there may be upstairs. OOC: Playing Witcher 3 really gets me hyped for this RP ^_^
Following after the young one, Jürg whispered to him: "If you have a look inside the rooms, I'll stay outside in the hallway and make sure nothing surprises us." Not the worst plan he hoped, the country fellow would probably have a much better chance against any vagrants, plus the courtier himself could always run in and help him if it was serious. OOC: Having to watch it as a let's play, need to upgrade my potato
Branner nodded, since neither of them seems like a fighter, this appeared to be the best plan. He got to the second story. "Stay close," he mouthed to Jürg before heading to one of the rooms, and as quietly and cautiously as he could, poked his head inside, scouting the place.
(@Vulpas ) The redheaded Elf nodded towards the man Daveth assigned to her. "Shall we, then?", she inquired tiredly yet with as much positivity as she could muster, given the situation. There was little reason for her to resist the command, since, as the Druchi figured, the sooner she and the human would check the downstairs, the faster she could get a night of relatively safe sleep. Not even the lightheadedness borne out of hunger, thirst, exhaustion and the gruesome stench clinging to the group would keep her from this, but the urge to just lie down was very powerful.
@WanderingJester, @Loldoom The upstairs was quiet, and poorly lit. Ragged curtains lined each window, and there was no furniture left to speak of. The floor was uneven and, in places, missing a board of wood or two. The last room in the place that the pair came to was locked. They would have to figure out a way to open it, if they wanted to see what was inside. @Vulpas, @Casavay The basement wasn't any brighter than the upstairs. Thick, bare stone lined the place, with an almost empty floor--safe for the odd bit of trash, or a scurrying rat here or there. A few sacks lay in one corner, and a couple of half broken crates in another.
Branner looked at the locked door then at Jürg, and said, "You said you'll keep a lookout at the hallway right? Stay here and try to get some light here going. I'll go get the others and see if we can't get this door open." With that the young man went back down stairs and looked for Daveth. When he found the bearded man, Bran reported what they had found. "A few ragged curtains, nothing else up there. We'll have to fix up the floors to make sure the structure doesn't collapse while we live here. There's also a locked room, the other guy's up there now trying to get the place more light and I figured we could use more help with the door. Do you have any ideas on how to open it? And can you spare anyone else to come and help us?"
Wolfker- "It seems safe here good enough to rest in here. Just need something to help keep warm in here. That and something to catch the rats." Wolfker said as he looked about the place. "Wonder whats in those sacks and what was in those crates." Wolfker said as he slowly approached them. "Think you could aid me if anything jumped out from them?" Wolfker asked half jokingly trying to lighten the situation as he looked at the crate and sacks.
"Not really, human. I barely know how to wield a spear, nevermind defend myself unarmed. But in the sense of two being better than one while fighting giant rats? Sure." Terrinel shrugged as she inspected the room, kicking a sack with desinterest. "The room seems structurally sound, by my assessment; assuming the construction of the ceiling was not skimped on, this place may be the safest. Quite chilly though." Thankful for her enhanced ability to see in the dark, being a denizen of Naggarond, she made a mental note that they would only have to clean up the litter and put a stop to the rats appearing (maybe the Skaven accompanying them might help with that?) in order to make the basement almost inhabitable. "I wonder what the rest of the house is like", she said to Wolfker.
