MTG Salvation

**Straut's safehouse wasn't difficult to find, and it seemed unlikely that it had ever been intended to be hidden in the first place. Readily accessible from a branching path off of the Great Road, it was a simple, sturdy structure that could be seen from the travelway without any additional effort. Perhaps Straut hadn't ever suspected he would one day have a dead or alive bounty on his head. Or perhaps he was just reckless.**

Hakori - "Maybe we should circle around the safehouse and see if there's a back-door. If there is, we could flank him and each come in a different door. Why kick in only one door when you can kick in two?"

Hakori - "Agreed. You stay here and watch the front, I'll circle around then come back and tell you what I see." Hakori begins to circle the safehouse around the left side trying to be as silent as well, a cat...

**There wasn't a side door, per se, but there was what looked to be double doors leading into a basement around back.**

Hakori circles the safe house and sees what looks to be a basement or cellar door. He comes back around to Maren and recounts his findings. "Do we still try separately or do we want to clear together? We could also try to block the back door or something and clear the upstairs first. What do you think Maren?"

Hakori - "Fair enough. Lets do this. Give me a few seconds to reach the back."

Hakori moves to the back of the safehouse and after a few seconds, reaches down and yanks on the double doors leading to the cellar.

**The doors strained against his pull, apparently locked. It might take a bit more elbow grease.**

Hakori places his fists against the doors where he thinks that a lock or latch might be and braces himself with the majority of his weight against the doors. He activates the hydrolics in his bracers and his hidden blades slam into the doors.

**That did the trick nicely, breaking the lock and causing the doors to crash inwards.**

Blades still naked and no point in sneaking at this point Hakori rushes past the now useless doors.

**Inside, the basement was dark and musty, seemingly underused for quite some time. As Hakori looked around, he quickly noticed the power source from the Mage's Device quietly thrumming in one corner. If he hadn't known what it was and what it looked like, he almost assuredly would have overlooked the plain, squarish device, but armed with the necessary knowledge he picked it out quite easily**

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[**The door shuddered and Maren was sent stumbling backwards from his own force when it did not break. Presumably, the front door of the safehouse was a bit stronger than the door to the basement.**

Hakori inspects the room a bit more, looking for a way upstairs. He also checks to see how heavy (and assesses the size) of the mage's device and wonders briefly if he could fit it into his Void Pack.

**It was rather light, though it was a bit too large to fit into his pouch. It did seem to have a somewhat conspicuous dial on the side, currently spun to 'ON'.**

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**It took a bit of doing, but eventually he was able to smash down the door.**

The device is ON but doesn't look like it's doing anything so Hakori leaves it that way. He sticks the device under one arm and looks again for a way into the house from the basement.

**It absolutely looks like it is doing something. As Hakori recalled from the sketch, the device was used to power the gem from a distance.**

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**He found himself in an almost completely barren living space, little more than floors and walls. It looked like Straut had either never intended to spend much time here, or hadn't had a chance to finish the place. All he could see were stairs leading into the basement and stairs leading up to the next floor.**

Hakori suddenly remembers what the mage's artifact was supposed to do and decides it might be a good idea to switch it off. He turns the knob to the off position and heads up the stairs to the house proper.

**As he switched the device off, Hakori and Maren hear an ear-splitting shriek reverberate throughout the house.**