Ramona - A Guard in Ashford House Colours, Bigsby - A Thoughtful Looking Young Man in Nondescript Clothing, 2 Ashford Archer, 1 Ashford Scout arrive, following Lisebet.

Ramona - A Guard in Ashford House Colours, Bigsby - A Thoughtful Looking Young Man in Nondescript Clothing, 2 Ashford Archer, 1 Ashford Scout leave, following Lisebet.

Glimmer, a snow white dove arrives, following Delia.

Ramona - A Guard in Ashford House Colours, Bigsby - A Thoughtful Looking Young Man in Nondescript Clothing, 2 Ashford Archer, 1 Ashford Scout arrive, following Lisebet.

Ico arrives, following Vandorean.

Glimmer, a snow white dove have been dismissed.

Alejandro, a gravely sober middle-aged Torean arrives, following Aconite.

2 Blackwood trained guards arrives, following Cillian.

Aconite puts Milk and Honey, a scented lotion and Dragon's Tears, an ancient, esoteric scent in Whisper's backpack with bedroll.

As was announced a few weeks ago, some of the foundations of Artshall have already been laid. However, the problem with cities is that many other foundations still need to be laid too for all of the shops, outbuildings, and other places that people need to use within them. That's where those who volunteered themselves are now, deep within Artshall, close to where the castle is being built, but not specifically at the castle itself. There's wood, stone, and other necessary tools and supplies nearby. There's also plants and flowers of all sorts, so the city can be beautified as it is being built. And, this is where the foreman sent the group to start working.

It's a bit of an eerie site, seeing only partial walls of a once large and thriving city. Those who know it well find it hard to recognize where landmarks used to be, as everything had been leveled after it was razed to the ground. The workers have been finding there are still pockets of unstable areas, so they have urged caution for those working. Part of one of the walls they can help with is already started, while others are working on digging up the earth to plant some of those flowers.

Jan checks perception and survival at normal. Jan marginally fails.

Cillian checks perception and survival at normal. Cillian marginally fails.

Vandorean checks perception and survival at normal. Vandorean is successful.

Delia checks perception and survival at normal. Delia is successful.

Aconite checks perception and streetwise at normal. Aconite is successful.

Lisebet checks perception and survival at normal. Lisebet is successful.

Lord Vandorean Laurent had come to see what was left of his ancestral homeland. The castle he remembered well and the town he had spent so much time in was now destroyed. The knight had hoped to seek out old friends and verify who was alive and who perished in flames, but Van hadn't gotten to that yet. Instead, he is here with the other volunteers to try and help rebuild as much as possible. To that end, he also brought along Delia Whisper, whose side he has lingered at most of the day. His silver and black wolf-like dog, named Ico, can be seen wandering around the area.

Jan makes her way to one of the less stable structures and purses her lips. Resisting the urge to suggest it be brought down she toddles on over to where the foreman directs with a shovel and begins shoveling debris out of the way, starting a pile to collect into a wheelbarrow later.

The petite duchess Lisebet Ashford has been to this castle a time or two, visiting and for events. She's not as familiar with it as some others, but it still hits hard seeing it as it is currently. But she's had a few minutes to brace herself, and to think how much worse it must be for those who live here. Those who grew up here. And now she's here and able to help. So that's what she's doing. Strength is not her strong suit ... pun unintended ... but she is doing what she can, digging up the earth near the wall in order to plant - well, whatever those more gardeny decide to plant. At least Lisebet can dig up dirt.

Aconite is here to help people stay on track and to help where she can. Dressed in leather armor that's supple enough that it lets her work and get her hands dirty should she need to. Alejandro has come along to lend a hand as well and to keep an eye on the Radiant Whisper as she attempts to introduce herself to as many pople as possible as she works. He works a shovel with gives the Torean Champion the ability to stay ready.

Delia is here alongside Vandorean for both morale support and to help sort though the debris. Presently, she's crouched near the fallen entry to what was once a home. She's using a stick to poke around in the debris. "I thought I saw something shining here," says she to no one in particular, picking out pieces of rubble to set in a pile off to one side, dressed impractically in a deep purple dress with matchig slippers.

Cillian had never been to the city but he did vow to a friend that he would help raise it back up again, so when the time comes he shows. He is not good at building things, but he brought Akkar with him (He is just not here I forgot to grab him) tp help move wood and supplies about to area's that need it. The Northern lord is dressed in leathers, with his sword at hip and bow on his back. He lets one of his guard move the caribou about when he hears someone said they saw something, he is a scout at heart and in nature and moves to see what was found a curious look in his hazel eyes.

Van reaches down into a pile of rocks and muck, spying something shiny, and pulls out a silver hair brush. "Well, I'm not sure who this might even belong to, rest their soul." He wipes it off and examines the brush for any indications of who might have owned it, whether there be some symbol or initials on the metal. "Ah, Delia, let me help with that." He hands her the brush and then leans in to help her move the rubble, obviously showing off how much and how quickly he can move it.

Delia reaches into the dirt to pull something free. She brushes the debris free from it, looking at it sadly. She cradles a little metal horse in her hand before cupping her hands over it protectively and holding it over her heart. She closes her eyes for a moment lost in thought before stepping back to let Vandorean help. "Do you knew who lives .. lived here?" she wonders softly, accepting the brush from the Lord Laurent to put it into a bag next to the toy.

Jan checks dexterity and athletics at normal. Jan is successful.

Cosimo shows up with a bit of a wobble in his step, no doubt unaccustomed to the plate armor he's wearing. Crossbow in hand and faceplate up on his helm, somnolent eyes cast a grave look about their surroundings. Having promised neighborly assistance to the Laurents, he comes with a small work crew who are immediately waved over to start looking useful at some debris pile. "Greetings. Ah, Lady Jan! A face I recognize. Pray tell, who is in charge here that I ought to report to, if anyone?"

Aco pauses in getting some of the crumbling mortarwork from a spot where a tree is meant to be planted. She oh's softly and leans back and looks around. Seeing no one searching nearby her she tosses a few larger stones aside and pulls forth from the disturbed earth some ahirpins. She pulls her glove off so that she can use bare fingers to brush the earth away. "Interesting." She looks over the hairpins in her hand. She looks to those around her then to Alejandro, "If you find anything, let me know. These might be important to someone." She rolls the hairpins in her hand and sets them aside in a little satchel where she's keeping gardening tools turning her attention towards Delia and Vandorean and tilts her head curiously.

Jan is busy scooping up debris when suddenly she gives a sudden back-pedal and then flings herself backwards onto her ass with a soft thud punctuated by a grunt as her rump makes solid contact "Watch out! there's sink holes or something in some places!" She looks up and ahhs "Lord Cosimo, Hello, that'd be the foreman..." she looks around "Just...sit tight for a moment, some spots may not be safe yet.."

Cillian checks dexterity and athletics at normal. Cillian is successful.

Lisebet puts herself to work with a will, volunteering her time here to help out. She digs along, humming to herself easily. Her voice is at least acceptable, for the most part, though she's not trying to perform anything - just singing along to herself as she moves dirt from one spot to another. In the middle of this, her humming stops as her shovel hits something that does not sound like dirt. Or rock. She pauses to put the shovel down and moves to use her hands to pull out what she's just found. Gentle brush of the dirt to clear it off, and Lisebet pauses to stare. It's small enough she can hold it in her hands, square and big enough that it's obvious a painting of some sort. "This is beautiful," she says, gaze on the picturesque scene of Artshall she's found. "This might help someone?" She promptly moves to find the foreman to give them the portrait.

Vandorean shakes his head and gets to work, putting his back into it. It isn't the easiest thing to do while wearing full Rubicund Plate Armor, but he'd somewhat be prepared than comfortable. "Everything has been knocked down and melted; who knows exactly where this stuff came from. It could be from the castle, in which case I might know them." When Jan calls out a warning, he glances back, reminding himself to avoid said sinkholes in the future. "Need any help?

Cillian was moving about to see what was found when his footing starts to slip and he is able to quickly move out of where he was standing when the ground gives way and debris falls into a hole. He frowns looking at it as if it was a monster that had tried to grab him, he looks over to Jan and nods his head, he starts to watch his footing a bit better as he does about to try and help start to pick things up.

The foreman is off managing other projects, after setting volunteers to work. So there doesn't seem to be one specific person anyone is reporting to. Most people know their jobs, help with the building or help with the planting. It seems some folk are finding small treasures and momentos that somehow survived the great fires. There's usually pockets of these in every type of ruin, even those that have burned completely down to the ground, places that were protected somehow before they are found again when people go poking around.

SThere are, indeed, some unsteady spots in the area. The area where Jan was headed suddenly opens up beneath her, showing a place where a basement used to be, hidden by dirt and soot. Jan is able to get away. It looks like the basement has a few closed chests within it. Likewise, the same happens to Cillian, and he's able to get out of the way in time. This time a root cellar is revealed, showing a small cache of vegetables that survived the fires. Whether those vegetables are still good is anyone's guess.

Delia looks over to Lisebet and her discovery. "Oh! What a good find. Lord Vandorean .. is this the art district that your cousin, Lady Mabelle was speaking about? She was very worried about it. A painting from it would be a welcomed bit of hope and reassurance that all is not yet lost." Forewarned of sinkholes, Delia is careful to stay close to where she was in hopes of avoiding one, still holding a sac with the few things they've uncovered tucked within.

Jan gets to her feet carefully and peers down, "Should we fetch the items and put them somewhere safe for the original owners or leave them be?" she frowns gently "Don't want anyone walking off with property that's not theirs..." a grubby hand lifts to rub the back of her neck.

Cosimo checks perception and survival at normal. Cosimo is successful.

Aconite stands to move over and peer into the basement, "I think if some items could be returned to the survivors it might like to have their trinkets back. Are any of the vegetables viable to re-plant?" She wonders of the others near the Basement.

"I don't know how we'd know who owns items," Lisebet says to Jan, thoughtfully. She delicately shrugs though, not sure what the best course of action might be. As she realizes the foreman is busy, she turns instead to Delia and Vandorean, making her way there carefully with the painting. "In that case, I shall deposit this in your hands," she says, passing it over to Delia. "And I will go get back to digging, before my back lets me know I have spent too much time of late in research rather than exploring." Once the painting is safe, she heads back to her spot to dig.

Van looks about and notes all the findings. "We should gather everything and then turn it over to the Laurent's, er my family and they can figure out who goes to who. That's my thought, at least." He moves over to where Jan opened the ground and looks down at the chest. "Well, I'd be happy to go down and look, but I don't have a rope or anything. Did anyone come more prepared than I?" The knight gives Lisebet a smile and a slight incline of his head as she hands over the painting. "Much appreciated; Mabelle will enjoy seeing some of these items restored."

Cosimo With the foreman busy, Cosimo takes matters into his own gauntleted hands with his hired work crew and orders them to dig as he stares into the widening gap, then peers into the basement with a clap. "Lovely. I imagine these would be quite appreciated back in their owner's hands. Lord Vandorean, do these look familiar? Some old family keepsakes stuffed in the basement, perhaps?" Jan's rearwards fall is given a concerned frown. "Be careful, Lady Jan. Commanding troops with bruises sounds like painful work - not that I'd know."

Cillian looks into the root basement, he hmms and looks to Aconite, "I was just thinking the same." he moves to starts to carefully lower himself down into the food storage to see what he can find. "If we can gather the seeds from them, they can be saved to help regrow for the city."

Cosimo reaches over one of his crew's shoulders to pluck out a diminutive statue made of metal, brushing off the dust and dirt. "Hello, who do we have here?" Squinting at it more closely with a hum and his thumb brushing over an engraving, asking Vandorean, "Ever hear of a Jonathan Baseborn fellow?"

Jan looks up to one of the idle hands near the wheelbarrow and points, "Bring the rope over...." She frowns and looks around and finds a standing chimney that looks sturdy enough to tie the rope around giving it a testing yank before offering it to Valerean "Be careful, walls might be looser that a drunk sailor's gait." She grins at Cosimo "I'm a general not a peach, I'll be fine."

Aconite smiles at Cillian and nods, "Much like the personal treasures we've found I think lecacy cropsmight offer some comfort to those who've lost so much all ready. We should be able to tell if their viable.. we'd have to get a closer look though." Aconite chews the inside of her cheek for a moment.

Vandorean checks dexterity and athletics at normal. Vandorean marginally fails.

Delia considers, "We can gather everything we find here and return it to the Laurents. Perhaps they will have a better idea of who may belong to whom based of maps or general location." She accepts the painting, pausing to look at it. Smiling sadly, she leans it carefully up against the wall next to her. She sets the sack down as well, leaving it there for others to fill with whatver treasures can be reclaimed from the wreckage around them. "Be careful, Lord Vandorean," she calls to the rubicund-clad Lord as he goes off to study the basement, "Maybe there are stairs in a building nearby that we've yet to uncover."

Van nods to Cosimo. "I do not recognize them right off, but they could be important or just boxes of junk. I would like to check it out; anything would be better than looters getting ahold of it." He looks for rope and ties it to something sturdy, a tree, or a fixed placement. "I will be careful, Delia." He says with a warm smile to the Whisper, though his footing isn't the best as he begins to lower himself.

Cillian checks dexterity and athletics at normal. Cillian fails.

Cosimo watches as Vandorean and Cillian both go plummeting into the basement hole and peeks down, then steps away with a shake of his head. "I know my limits and climbing into ruined basements is certainly past them." Carefully swaddling the metal statue in some fabric and placing it in his adventuring sack, he murmurs to Jan with a smile, "Quite right, Lady Jan. I am the one unaccustomed to bruises."

Cillian starts down into the rubble nodding to Aconite, moving down the rope the Northern lord is trying to be to careful. Is there such a thing? There must me cause there is a "Shit!" that is heard and then a thud and a groan, there seems to be some Northern shav mumbled, if anyone understands its a few choice curse words.

Jan smiles toward Cosimo "Just watch your step and don't lean on anything, yeah?" she winces then and bellow "Cillian! You dead?"

Aconite winces as the ropes don't prove sufficient enough to keep those descending on their feet. She calls to Cillian with concern, "All is well?" She calls down to the root cellar, "We could move some of the rubble to create a incline that might be easier to traverse and make the climb shorter." She taps her cheek with a gloved finger.

The rebuilding and the replanting seem to be moving along without any other real mishaps. That is, of course, until Cillian attempts to make his way into the root cellar. It all starts out fine until his hands become a bit unsteady on the ropes. There's an obvious hard thud as he makes his landing in the cellar below. A puff of dirt blasts up into the air, but that's also not the only thing coming out of the cellar. Rats. Lots and lots of rats. They climb over Cillian to make their escape. Likely, he disturbed something they were munching on or resting in when he made his landing. They're all over the place, scrambling everywhere, aiming for everyone!

Vandorean slips just a bit as he slides down the rope, his footing all over the place, but he quickly manages to find a foothold and slow his descent. Finally, he descends to the basement floor and warily looks around. All tainted ones should be dead now, but there is always a chance something is still around in this basement. Cautiously he begins to walk over to a chest, leaning in and checking to see if there is anything unusual about it before opening it.

Jan checks strength at normal. Jan is successful.

Carefully, Delia approaches the sinkhole that's opened up into the basement storage just in time to see Cillian vanish through the other sinkhole. Eyes widening, she looks over to Jan, concerned then to Aconite. It puts her at east to see the other Whisper not overly concerned with Cillian's decent. With that thuoght put to rest, she looks down into the basement Vandorean went into. "You okay down there too? Would you like me to lower down a lanter.. what is that noise?" She turns, tracking the strange sound to the root cellar. She picks her way over in that direction. "Everything okay down there?" she calls.

Vandorean checks dexterity and brawl at normal. Vandorean marginally fails.

Several rats come pouring over the edge in Delia's direction as she makes her way to the cellar.

Jan grimaces "Aw, turdwaffles, ah right." She sighs and steps to the side and stoops suddenly scooping one arm under Cosimo's legs the other behind his back under his arm, "Relax, it'll be fine." she tells her trusty rent-a-nerd as she hefts him up easily as one would expect for a woman of such broad shoulders, "Hold fast so I can draw if need be, yeah?"

The sound of a thud and what sounds like it might be cussing has Lisebet turn to look towards the basement sinkholes. There's a moment as she stares , seeing something moving, hearing a sound that seems like one she doesn't like. As the rats pour out, it takes her a moment to identify what they are. Rats! Lisebet squawks! She scrambles back to try to get out of the way of the incoming rodents. "Rats!" she exclaims, alarmed and unhappy and also, trying to get out of their way. "Who let the rats out?" she mutters, not quite sure where to go. Surely there's a chair somewhere she can climb up on top of.

"Rats!" Not Delia's favorite creature with their little squinty eyes, wriggling noses, and all that fur. Shr scampers back, lifting her skirts and looking around for something to stand on. She nips at her lower lip, hoping that distance between her and them will be enough to encourage them to find somewhere else to go, someone else to bite.

Cillian yells out, "I'm not dead yet!" he calls up but then he is yelling down in the root cellar, "RATS!" the pulls his sword and starts to try and get them off of him! Yeah anything else coming from him is lots of yelling and cursing in Northern shav!

Cillian wields Blade of stories.

"You're right, Lady Jan. I won't lean on-" Cosimo begins before that odd squeaking and squealing noise begins, then some of his workers begin to shriek and run for safety. "What in the Abyss is their problem? What - oh good Gods, rats!" Trying to avoid them by shuffle-stomping awkwardly in steel armor away from the furry horde, he suddenly finds himself swept up by Jan and goes limp. "Lady Jan! Yes, hold fast, I'll do that!" Although for now he remains in a floppy state, crossbow dangling from one hand while breathing in wheezes.

Aconitestands watching the rats appear with a look akin to horror. "Careful." She warns Delia and her mouth pulls into a worried grimace. She doesn't seem concerned about standing where she is, perhaps being too confident in her armor. "Just grab them off you and throw them.. if you can. There are too many."

Well, Van should be up there protecting Delia and the others, but instead, he is down here. Apparently, most of the rats were in the other basement. He calls up as he unsheathes his sword. "Everything alright up there, I hear ..oh, Rats. They are more scared of you than you are of them, do not worry about them." He doesn't know the number of rats in the other basement. Instead, he focuses on trying to smash this lock with his sword.

Vandorean checks dexterity and medium wpn at normal. Vandorean is successful.

Jan checks strength and brawl at normal. Jan fails.

Jan grumbles and is forced to hold onto Cosimo "Lord cosimo! Hold onto me you excitement wheezebag!" she barks irritably, stomping and kicking at rats until she's confident she can free her sword arm without dropping him.

There are several sturdy piles of rock and supplies for folk to stand on. It's not much, but it's something and gets them out of the way of the rats. One starts attempting to climb up Jan's leg, while another leaps into the air and lands on Aconite's skirts. Another yet tries to find purchase in Lisebet's garments, to find a place to hide. Cosimo is spared the rat problem, whilst in Jan's arms. Cillian has a few to contend with. Meanwhile....

Vandorean is able to break the lock open on the chest he was investigating. He finds a large sum of coins as well as several gems. There's even some honeysilk safely tucked in the chest.

Delia finds a fallen bit of wall to stand upon, hands fisted in her skirts as she goes perfectly still like the rats may mistake her for a statue and just ignore her. Wishful thinking, most likely, but she's at a loss as to what else she can do. "There are so many of them! Where are they all coming from?"

Cillian yells out, "They have giant fangs you know!" ha the Hunter is freaking out as the rats swarm him, "Stop that!" he yells, there is a lot of yelling coming from the root cellar. He grabs one and chucks it, oh look who knew rats could fly as one comes up and out of the hole Cillian went down.

"Underneeee." Aconite tries to tell Delia before she holds up her hands and does a little 'ick' dance because there's a rodent on her. She grabs the supple leather skirting of her armor and gives it a violent shake. "eeee.." She continues on as she attempts to dislodge the creature. Alejandro moves towards the Radiant Whisper to attempt pest removal.

Cillian checks perception and survival at normal. Botch! Cillian fails completely.

Van makes a momentary inventory of what is in the chest but doesn't reach out to touch any of it. Instead, he closes it and looks to see other chests or anything else of note in this room. If not, he will tie the rope to the trunk the climb out. Does this room branch out into anything else? "Hang tight, Delia; I will be up in a moment."

Lisebet finds a sturdy pile of rock to clamber up, but as she does so, a rat tries to climb up the leather of her boots and leggings. "Nooo! Ack! Go away!" Lisebet screams, as she reaches to try to grab the wriggling bitey little thing. Or is it a big thing? It's getting bigger and bigger in her head by the second. She manages to get at least enough of a hold on it to throw the thing. She's not even sure where she's throwing it, just off of her! "Get out, get out!" And then, "Oh, gods! I touched it!" She sounds more horrified by that, than anything.

Vandorean can see what might have been a set of stairs that could have gone to a room above, however those stairs are burned to the ground. There's no other rooms in the basement. Cillian, however, is too distracted by rats to make any special note of his surroundings.

Cosimo gets ahold of himself and holds tightly to Jan with one arm, the other trying to aim his crossbow at the nearest rat trying to climb upon them. "Alright Lady Jan, watch this! I'm going to take one out like an archer from above! It's going to be very impressive, mark my words!" Taking aim at one of the vermin, he fires!

Delia drops her skirts and steps towards the edge of her rubble, holding her hands out to Aconite. "There's more room .. come on up here." She steps to the side, turning sharply at Lisebet's screams. "Oh no! At least it didn't bite you. Surely they'll stop coming soon and .. disperse." She bites at her lower lip, trying to avoid drawing any of the rats her way.

Cosimo checks dexterity and archery at normal. Cosimo is successful.

Jan grunts and shakes and kicks off her leg cussing under her breath and holding onto Cosimo for the moment. She lifts her chin so she's not bellowing in Cosimo's ear "Cillian! what's your status?!" She yelps "Cosimo! be careful! you're gonna shoot some poor sod in in the ass!" she moves to set him down so she doesn't throw off his aim.

Aconite is saved by Alejandro who tosses the rat off the Whisper, though curiously he doesn't kill it. Aco regains her composure rather quickly and she calls down to Cillian, "Do you need us to come down?" She offers. "Thankfully it's hard to bite through layers of leather." She tells Delia as the armored Whisper waits to see if she or Alejandro need to go down and help Cillian out.

Van carefully scales the walls with the help of the rope tied at one end to the trunk and the other to something solid above. It isn't a quick process, and nothing is easy to do when wearing Rubicund armor. "Be up in a, moment!" He calls out between grunts, hoping Delia isn't devoured by rats by the time he ascends.

Cillian yells as he seems to have backed himself into a corner as there are a lot of angry rats on him, around him! He is trying to stab them with his sword, "THERE TRYING TO EAT ME! HOW DO YOU THINK I AM DOING!" you thought he spoke with a thick accent before, its even thicker as he yells!

Eventually, as Delia predicted, the rats do stop coming out of the hole and Cillian is mostly unscathed physically, aside from the bruises he got from his fall. It takes a few minutes for the creatures to fully disperses. The one that Lisebet threw screeches at her angrily before it runs off.

Jan siiighs and looks skywards "Mangotta's tits, man! you've taken shits bigger than those furry turds! Get a fucking grip!" she pauses "but not if you see turds, leave that shit alone." She moves towards the edge of the hole Cillian is in and peers in cautiously.

Cosimo raises his crossbow into the air triumphantly after his whole one shot rat. But Jan putting him back down brings an end to his triumphant celebration. "No Jan, I can keep shooting from aloft, I don't want to be eaten by rats!" However, when the vermin beat a retreat he exhales in relief, reloading the bolt thrower with as much efficiency as he can muster.

Delia takes a slow breath as the rats start to disperse. She remains safely on her fallen wall. "Well. That was something," she says, not quite yet ready to step down from her safe little haven. "Are you okay? Aside from touching one of those filthy creatures?" she calls to Lisebet.

Van finally makes it up and then looks around, noting the disarray of specific individuals and the extreme lack of rats. "Well, where did they all go?" The knight walks over to Delia and offers to help her down. "Come on, they seem to be gone now. I found money, gems, and some silk, but I have no idea who it belongs to. We can turn it in with the rest of the stuff. "He looks over the area again, trying to place what this was before the dragon's fire wreaked havoc. Could this be part of the old castle?

"I'm okay, yes," Lisebet calls back to Delia. She too is wearing leather, thankfully, which may have bite marks. But she doesn't. She glares at the departing rat that screeched at her on its way out. But it's gone, and that's a good thing. She can start to breathe a bit easier.

Cillian breaths deeply as the rats leave, he breaths heavily sword in hand. "I'm good, I'm okay!" he calls up to Jan as she looks over. He looks around now that he does not have natures land puranas trying to eat him.

Aconite checks dexterity and athletics at normal. Critical Success! Aconite is spectacularly successful.

Jan looks over at Cosimo, "You'll be fine, Lord Cosimo." She looks down at Cillian and doesn't say anything but he gets a dry look and just a slow, gentle shake of her head. She then looks up to Vandorean "I'll set some guards on it and I am sure Lady Mabelle will have an interest in them."

Aco and Alejandro use the rope to repel down into the basement. Alejandro nods to Cillian and moves to make sure there aren't any more rodents to interrupt. Aco glances over Cillian to ensure he's not injured too badly, "Shall we check to see if any of these vegetables are viable? Even if they're half eaten if their eyes or stalks are not terribly damaged we could still succeed/

Aconite checks perception at easy. Aconite is successful.

Cillian checks perception at easy. Cillian is successful.

Vandorean checks strength at easy. Vandorean is successful.

Delia slides her hand into Vandorean's as she hops down from the rubble, skirts secured in one hand to keep them from being a tripping hazard. "You missed it. There were hundreds of them," she says to him before shaking her skirts free. "I guess they weren't very pleased when we disturbed their little haven. With all that food, they were set for a long time. I guess they didn't much take to us crashing their storehouse."

Cosimo slings his crossbow back up over a shoulder and gives Jan a sheepish chuckle before returning to ordering his crew of diggers to dig. "Of course Lady Jan, I'll be fine. I've rarely had to worry about being overwhelmed by rats before. Never, really." Concerned, he fixes his half-sleepy look on Lisebet. "Duchess Lisebet Ashford, yes? Are you alright? The rat did not bite you before that masterful throw?"

Vandorean looks to the others as well, making sure no one else needs help before excusing himself. Recluctantly he pulls his hand from Delia's, which he may hold onto a bit longer than is necessary. "Ah yes let me get the chest up." He begins to haul the large box up and it only takes a few tugs before it's topside. Once here he opens it up again for the others to see. "Not a bad find, maybe some of the money from this can go towards the rebuilding. I know we are working on hard on fundraising and other things to help pay for it, so every little bit helps."

Lisebet turns as she hears her name, smile showing a slight dimple. "Indeed, that's me," she acknowledges easily. "And ou are Lord Cosimo Tessere, yes? I think we may have crossed paths previously, but only briefly." She checks down her armour, the blue and white of it slightly well worn, comfortable by now, but solid - no holes anywhere. "I am unbitten and hale," she reports. "And I think that was a lucky throw, more than anything."

Cillian nods to Aconite as she and her assistant come down into the root cellar, he gives Jan a look before he starts to see what they can find, he offers his leather helm to put whatever they find into so it can be brought up with out beging to damaged."Yes, I hope we can find some that can be saved."

With the rats gone, Vandorean is able to concentrate on bringing the chest up. Checking the line, he finds it secure enough to pull up. None of the contents spill out of the chest.

Aconite and Cillian can find a number of a variety of root stock plants in the cellar. Carrots, onions, potatoes, and sweet potatoes are plentiful. They also find a few heirloom Artshall varieties of vegetables and a small stash of well-preserved vegetable seeds.

Cosimo checks perception and survival at normal. Cosimo is successful.

Aconite is probably -too- excited at the find of the heirlooms and the seeds, gushing at poor Cillian and Alejandro about how nice it will be to see the legacy crops returned to the land. Alejandro seems to take this with a grain of salt and only just hides his dry amusmenet as he's loaded with items to carry up out of the cellar.

Cillian smiles at Aconite nodding his head, "At least they can have a little piece of what was before everything happened." he is happy they founds what they did." he tucks as much as he can into his helm then his quiver. "We can go back up when you are ready." he tells her.

Jan says, "Anyone need a hand up?"

With a nod to Vandorean, Delia moves over to peer down into the root cellar. "Find anything of use down there?" she wonders, somewhat cautious. This is where all the rats came from after all. "Lord Vandorean, I think you're right. These will hep greatly with the rebuilding, though if they are still owened then they should go to their owners. Perhaps with some maps we can figure out if this was just castle storage or private property."

"Let's go!" She agrees with Cillian. Alejandro climbs out easily enough. This seems fairly typical but Aconite calls up to the question, "Oh, yes please and thank you. Up is always harder." The tall Whisper agrees with getting assitance out of the root cellar. "I've some hairpins to add to the recovered items as well."

Cosimo listens to Delia and nods in agreement while keeping an eye on his workers digging around. "You're right, Duchess. I am indeed he," Cosimo confirms with a rat-free smile and a dip of his chin. "I believe we have crossed paths, and I think I remember why now, although perhaps something for a future discussion. I am glad to see the vermin took no chunks out of you and your armor remains sturdy."

Vandorean happily assists anyone else in getting things together and then he secures the chest. He seems quiet for now, slowly moving over to the other room so he can peer down where all the rats were.

Lisebet smiles, nodding briefly. "It's good armour from my days in house Farshaw. Funny enough I've not got any Ashford armour yet, but that's quite alright. This does seem to work quite well." She dusts her hands off, and then says, "I feel I should continue to dig though, for a while. I don't think I've quite completed my assigned task."

Jan tilts her head "what's your assigned task, Duchess? Do you require assistance?"

Cillian nods his head, "I could use a hand, we found a bunch stuff down here." he says up to Jan, he holds out his helm first, "Careful, please they are delicate." once his helm is taken, he will gladly take a hand to help him up out of the hole. Once out he fixes his leathers and ahems, he knows they all heard him. He smiles at them all, "Well, that was fun."

"Just digging," Lisebet says with a laugh. "I think I might have assigned it to myself, honestly."

The rest of the time is spent bringing up the seeds and going through the items they found. Its a good haul and in the meantime they also manage to get some of the regular work done. The foreman soon calls the signal to the end of the work, allowing those who volunteered to had in for a well earned rest.

Jan mutters "Let's hope it's just half as delicate as you are, Rat-hostage."

Cillian looks at Jan and smirks moving to shoulder check her. "I see you." he smiles at her for whatever that means.

Cosimo hands Vandorean the Jonathan Baseborn statue, "This belongs to your family I believe, and I don't know what it means." Looking to Lisebet, "Duchess, have you heard of Jonathan Baseborn? That does look like good, solid armor. I don't have my own armor either, I'm wearing my cousin's. Never thought I'd need any, to be honest."

Jan flashes a lopsided grin and claps his shoulder companionably.

Jan is overheard praising Cillian.

Aconite smiles at the banter around the cellars. Quickly enough Aco and Alejandro make sure that their finds, including the hairpins, are put with the salvaged items. After the foreman calls it Aco and Alejandro head off a bit but don't make preperations to leave. They'll stay for a day or two to assist in planting.