So, without warning, the swarm of rats attacked! Gnick threw up a swarm of rocks at them, but the rocks went wide, narrowly missing Guy. But a poison cloud from Clooney dazed the rodents, and Barth was able to kill a truly amazing number with just one swing of his axe. The remaining rats scurried up in his armor, biting and clawing the unfortunate dwarf. In response, Gnick summoned a swarm of insects, which killed the remainder of the rats, but left Barth with a lingering itch. After the fight, the Bartknockers are divided about what to do next. Barth wanted to go underground, but Ash was worried about some enemy burning down the building around them. Baby Bear wanted to finish exploring the first floor, so the party followed the bear.
Around the corner from the ballroom, the group found the winemaker's quarters, where Remi's parents lived. The room was much neater than the rest of the house, with a map of the vineyards on the wall and a bare desk in the corner. The desk is locked and trapped, but Guy is able to untrap it, and Barth, showing more skill than he had with the wagon, sawed off the lock to open the drawer. Inside there was a diary along with 100 gp in jewelry. The diary is in a language no one can read, but Gnick is able to recognize it as abyssal, the language of the demons.
Exploring further, the Bartknockers find the kitchen set up with extra tables and chairs, presumably to serve as a sort of ersatz dining room. Ash went to investigate the dumbwaiter in the corner, but noticed nothing out of the ordinary. Finishing up their search of the ground floor, the group went into the parlor. There the walls were decorated with the heads of animals, and there was a full-sized stuffed bear in the corner. Ash threw a sheet over the bear to spare Baby Bear's tender feelings. On the far wall was a fireplace and in the fireplace was the head of lynx. On entering the room, Clooney noticed it quiver, but couldn't tell what had caused it, so Gnick went in to investigate. Upon getting close, a grayish ooze reached out from the fireplace with a pseudopod, grabbing Gnick and squeezing him tight.
Baby Bear slashed and Bart dealt a mighty blow to the slime, but it held tight and continued to squeeze Gnick. However, Gnick was able to reverse the hold, and Clooney ended the ooze's life with a well-place ball of flame. Barth searched the room, and found a pair of rubies in the head of the lynx. The group went up to the second floor next. In the master bedroom, they found a skeleton with a silver mirror held up over its thin hair and a four-poster bed with three posts missing. The dumbwaiter terminated in this room behind a pair of shutters. Barth walked up behind the skeleton as quietly as a well-armored dwarf can manage, only to find it a true skeleton, held together with wires. Frustrated, he searched the room, and tore the fourth bedpost off the bed, but he found nothing. However, they did find a pair of Boots of Elvenkind behind the desk.
Finally, the group followed the ramp in the ballroom down into the cellar. It led into a small, well-appointed tasting room, and from there into the barrel room. The barrel room still contained dozens of barrels of wine, but Guy warned that if they opened them improperly, they risked vinegaring the wine, and indeed it appeared that many of the barrels had been improperly opened. Behind the barrel room were rooms for gathering and crushing the grapes. Deeper in, the cellar turned into a natural cave, and as the Bartknockers entered this area, they were accosted by 10 zombies covered in an olive slime! Unfortuntely for the undead, they were no match for the party, and Barth's native constitution was enough to throw off the effects of the slime.
Going further down, the party entered a larger cave that seemed to be designed to serve as some sort of amphitheater. The floor was cut roughly into tiers as it descended towards a square platform 30 feet on a side, covered with arcane symbols and a dark script written in a brownish red ink. On the stage stood a gigantic bowl with long rusty chains hanging above it. The Bartknockers skirted the edge of the room and continued downwards.
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