Check out Liens' lucky find

Liens glared at the spot under the dresser where the bottle had rolled, while standing back up to her feet and dusting the grime of the room off of her dress and apron. "Disgusting. Bottle. You grab it. Filthy. This guy needs a maid. Or a mom. Or a bomb. Whatever it takes to sanitize this place," Liens murmured, sticking her tongue out in disapproval. "The place stinks. It's revolting. I don't want to pick up his trash." She started to bite her glove's thumb, then looked at the floor she'd just put her hand down upon and thought the better of it.

You thought that the one of the two of you wearing heavy-duty gloves ought to be the one rooting through Mertz's trash, but you didn't speak that thought. Instead, you reached down to grab the bottle she'd tripped over, as she requested.

At first, you didn't think much of it-- it had been totally drained well before it was knocked aside. Around the neck, someone had tied a red ribbon. Perhaps this was a gift to Mertz? You inspected the wine bottle more closely and spotted a label: Wiseman Winery. You also noticed it seemed to be the only bottle of this type in the room. There was even evidence in the form of a stub tied to the ribbon that someone had included a message, which had been ripped off and discarded so it wouldn't get in the way during the drinking.

You knew where Wiseman Winery was: just down the road from the checkpoint, actually, before the farms popped up. It might be worth trying to trace the bottle down there. It could be that someone there had gifted it to him, but even if not, they might know who had.

"I'm naturally lucky. Always have been. Even when it doesn't look like it. Or feel like it," Liens grumbled, rubbing her sore knee. "That bottle is probably important. My hunches are usually right. Good intuition. Important for success as an inventor. Dumb luck matters more than you'd think. Anyway. Hand me that bottle. We'd better carry it with us."

You handed her the bottle, which she stuffed into her apron's center pocket. Once it was secured, she looked back to the door, which had begun to shake from the efforts of guards on the other side. "Noticed something else. When I fell. Secret hatch. Under the rug. We should use it... Now."

{if Helmid = True}

Helmid led the way down the hatch first. "I suppose that wine bottle was part of some sordid affair of Mertz's? It is quite clear how much time the man devotes to courtship," she sighed, her eyes lingering once again upon the pink panties she'd tossed aside earlier.

An unfitting smile was playing at the corners of her lips again. She shook her head rapidly to snap herself out of it. "But enough about Mertz. Let us leave this place, immediately!"{endif}{if Amulette = True}

"Descending, down into darkness. Will we wander into the Wiseman Winery? Or will we become breakfast for my bastardly ex-boss's cave-dwelling bats?" Amulette snickered, looking over her shoulder at you a moment longer before plunging straight into the hole. Would she be okay? You hadn't seen her grab the ladder...

... A moment later, you realized she'd transformed into a bat herself.{endif}{if Rosary = True} "After you? I'll go in last, since, erm... It could be... Just a bit awkward if you were to accidentally look up my habit as I was climbing. N-Not that I suspect you would! A-And even if you did, it would be purely an accident! Nothing to blame you for!" she explained at length, waving her hands over-excitedly while waiting for you and the other saintess to climb in first.{endif}{if Belit = True}

"Good find! Maybe while we're at that winery, we can snag a few bottles for ourselves, eh? Preferably full ones, not empty ones like you've got there!" Belit grinned, pantomiming swirling a wine glass in one palm with a pompous gesture. "We deserve a little reward after all the trouble we're going to, don't ya think, Vin?"

You told her to focus on escaping for now. The bludgeoning attacks of the guards against the door were starting to sound more successful, judging by those splintering noises.

"Ha! If those lousy, spit-shined maroons ever managed to catch up to me, then shoot me dead, because I've probably been replaced by a demon doppelganger."

Belit hopped down onto the ladder, gripping the guides with both hands and sliding into the hole.{endif}{if Bangaal = True}

Your djinn companion hopped up from where she was reclining and floated down into the hole. "Last one through is, how do they say it... an empty bottle!" That was, in fact, not how they said it, but it wasn't like you had a chance of being anything other than the last one through regardless. Her movements were way too fast to keep up with, unimpeded by the need to actually use the ladder.{endif}

"Ugh. Great. Ladder. And a cavern too? Long cavern? Leading all the way to the winery? Sucks. Not going. I'll let them capture me. Bail me out of prison later," Liens complained, crossing her arms beneath her heavy bosom.

You moved behind her and began pushing on her-- you found yourself reminded, once again, that she was not light.

"Fine. Going. Don't push. I'll trip again."