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"So I suppose there might have been bandits in that chest, yes?" Christopher asks quietly. "I have to ask: why exactly are we here, hmm?"

"If there is no obvious way down to the courtyard, I suppose we shall have to face a faulty staircase."

[OOC:] You would just have to open any of the building's doors to be in the courtyard! And indeed, what have you come into the castle for? To look for an abducted girl, right? Who was reknown for being a good brewer, in case I should have forgotten to mention it. [/OOC]

Taking a broken piece of chest, Eloise offers it to Matthias, waiting for him to light it and illuminate the room.

"The Girl was a brewer... this place smells of beer..." Her brain considering the words, she looks down, slowly coming to a conclusion. "We should open the trap door, I just have a feeling, I don't know what it is, but something tells me we will find something." She looks up at the warriors, "I'll go down first, one of you fighters can come with me, the rest can stay up here?"

Blushing she lowers her head, realising she is giving orders. "Unless someone else has an idea, I mean.... Its not my place to tell you what to do. I just want to help the Girl."

"I suppose it could not hurt to look through the door. If we find the lady in question in there, we will have accomplished the first part of our mission. And once we know her circumstances, we shall know what we need to do next. By all means, proceed."

The trapdoor is large and heavy, but with so many people, it is not difficult to open it. One it rests against the wall, the smell of beer and yeast becomes stronger, and you can hear a faint sound of running water.

"Then I guess... I'll go.." she shudders, "Who is coming with me?" she asks looking in the hole, "Please."

"No need for you to 'go' anywhere." Christopher allows himself a little grin. "We look, we see what we may, then we move on."

"Ohh I'm going!" she pipes up, "You wouldn't even know it was here without me!" taking her dagger from her belt she looks for a ladder.

"Take her along if you do go ahead as a small group," Thelma suggests in a firm voice, "She can help, and you can make sure she stays out of trouble."

Matthias offers his hand-made 'torch' from what debris he could salvage, beckoning someone to hold it while he attempts to strike fire to it with his flint and knife. "I certainly hope the light and smoke from this device does not give away our cover, though undoubtedly whoever abides here either does not expect intrusion or has long since identified us."

The makeshift torch indeed gives up almost more smoke than light, but it suffices to let Eloise see that there is a quite comfortable wooden stair, parallel to the wall, that leads into the cellar. It ends a few feet in front of a brick wall. When she goes down, she sees that the wall would only reach to her waist, and the sound of water is coming from behind it. To her left stretches a room that is at least as deep as the building above it, probably deeper.
The running water creates a slight draught that makes the torch flame flicker.

"I think we have found the stream." She calls up, waiting halfway, swinging the torch round she looks over to the left, trying to check out the room.

Saul coughs lightly and mutters, "I'm returning to the parapet until we again move. I'll keep watch in case the smoke alerts the bandits."

In the basement (Eloise)

The room has a triple barrel vault ceiling, which means there are two rows of three columns each between the wall she now has her back to and the far wall, and a fourth column is part of the low brick wall. It is crammed with barrels, both open and closed. Next to the low brick wall, and not far from where she stands at the foot of the stairs, is a primitive fireplace with a tripod on which a large kettle sits. At the angle between the brick wall and the far wall of the room is a large open vat. Between those two are stone steps that should make it easy to cross the brick wall. When she turns around, she sees a straw mattress under the stairs, about the only place where there is room for it. Along the wall of the room opposite the low brick wall, several rings are set into the wall at her hip height.

On the parapet (Saul)
Once Saul arrives back at the door that leads to the parapet, he realises that he has no chance of keeping watch without people noticing him when they leave the building where the smoke continues to curl up lazily: The door opens to the outside and the railing is made up of just two boards. So either the open door would be seen (when he stays inside), or he would be visible.
As he stands there making up his mind, he notices a strange smell drifting his way: somehow, it's like someone had tried to make gruel but put too little water in, and now the grain is heated dry and begins to char.

Saul's eyes become bright and he turns to go back down the stairs with a huff. As he rejoins the group he states simply, "They're brewing."