The group stops of at Ramblehouse, where they get an adequate dinner from Cham's stew pot.
Othdan excuses himself after the meal to depart on business of his own.
The group then makes their way to Clamor, and are escorted in by Sara Morninghawk to see Katrezra.
The sword is masterwork, as is the hand crossbow. The case of bolts holds 10 normal, 10 silver, and 10 cold iron.
Ziggy will discuss the above ideas with the rest of the party before seeing Katrezra and if there is no alternative suggestion, then that is what we will do.
Katrezra listens closely to Zigil's tale of the day's events. He seems suitably impressed when he hears of the aasimar's vision of Jingh.
"You are blessed indeed, to have a message and gift from The Inheritor's servant. You must not squander it, but use it wisely."
"Hearing your discoveries, I wonder how the flood troll that Rodrik encountered fits into the situation."
"Are you sure that you have the resources for another excursion?
It sounds like you had a busy day."
On the way to Ketrezra's, "These scrolls I cannot use. This one is barkskin, and this one is ghost dirge bane. Perhaps one of you can use them"
At Katrezra's, knowledge check on this troll.
Eldan knows that Trolls are a sub-species of Giant. They can regenerate any damage done to them, unless they are attacked with fire or acid.
Flood trolls are a smaller version, which only regenerate when they can contact running water or rain.
"Are you sure that you have the resources for another excursion? It sounds like you had a busy day."
"No, but what will they do when they find out that Othdan is gone? Maybe Kurst will loan us a few trusted men to ambush his captors. It would be great if we could get some information about what's going on. We will talk to Kurst first before we decide whether to go back."
To herself, "Hmm.. 'Kurst first'. I should be writing songs...."
"Excuse ma, Katrezra, but please forgive my absentmindedness, but I don't seem to recall you mentioning earlier there was a troll in Rodrik's recent journeys. Also, does that holy symbol mean anything to you?"
"Hmmm... I'm sure that I mentioned it to some of you, but I cannot remember if all of you had gathered yet."
"That is the symbol of Nulgreth, the Orcish Blood God. If you found it on a body, it is extremely unlikely that they were a citizen of Trunau."
"Well, I do not wish to be rude, but if we are done here, perhaps we should continue on as I believe we have at least one stop."
"Eldan's right. If we want to visit Kurst and Brinya before returning to the plague house, we should leave now,"
The group departs Clamor and begins to make their way through Trunau's streets in the darkening evening.
Agreed.
The group makes their way to the Longhouse to see Kurst.
He is not there when they arrive, but he is sent for and joins them a short while afterwards.
"Kurst, we went to the Plague House! Did you know it's haunted? It's haunted! But that's not what we wanted to tell you.
"Rodrik didn't kill himself with his own hopeknife. We found his real hopeknife in the ruins! "
We will show it to him.
"But that's not all. Orcs are getting ready to attack Trunau. We found a tunnel going under the wall! At least it will when is finished. And we rescued Othdan. He said was being held prisoner by orcs in the Plague House! And they were coming back tonight!"
Anyone want to add anything while Ziggy catches his breath?
Surprisingly, Zepfina speaks up.
"Not sure is for tunneling under vall. Vould be a great deal of stone to hide, und long to do vitout many shifts of vorkers."
"Perhaps I should start at the beginning. We found that an unnamed human checked into the room next to your brother and checked out immediately after the incident. Upon searching his room, we found this note." Handing the note to Kurst, Eldan continues, "After we exhausted our search of the rooms we went to speak with Mistress Brinya. She informed us that your brother had lost his hopeknife and that she had commissioned a new one for him with an inscription on it. The knife found with your brother did not contain any inscription. Mistress Brinya also advised us that your brother had a confidant though she did not know who that was."
Pausing, Eldan tries to gage Kursts reaction, and presumably he is interested, so will continue.
"From there we went and spoke with Mistress Morninghawk, however, we were ambushed by some starved wolves that seemed to have been deliberately mistreated and the released into the streets of Trunau."
"Mistress Morninghawk confirmed what Mistress Brinya stated about the knife," producing the receipt and handing it ti Kurst, "and she also confirmed that the knife used to kill you brother was of shoddy quality and done by a smith who has since up and left her emloyment. She then took us into a back room where we met the priest Katrezra. The priest advised us that he was your brother's confidant and that he had been investigating 'something' and that Katrezra started having dreams of doom for Trunau and s rather fearful for his safety so is in hiding with Mistress Morninghawk."
"It was from Katrezra that we learned your brother was intending to investigate the Plague House but was murdered before he could do so. Master-iss Ziggy gave you an overview of what happened at the Plague House, but I think they were looking for something that was buried there, not tunneling into Trunau."
While we do not have a culprit in the murder of your brother, I do feel there is more than enough to indicate there was foul play. Othdan informed us that his captors meet at midnight and we are hoping to ambush the ambushers."
"Wow! You have such a good memory!" Zigil says with admiration.
Kurst listens carefully to Eldan's explanation, but still seems to focus more on what Zigil said.
"An orc attack? When? What size of force? How do you know this?"
Ziggy blinks, and looks from Eldan to Zepfina. "Ummm... " Finally processing what they just said, she looks down at her feet. "I, uh, maybe I jumped to conclusions." Fumbling in her pack, she pulls out the holy symbol of Nulgreth and shows Kurst. "We did find a half orc body with this, in the tunnel. It's a symbol of Nulgreth, the orc blood god."
"And Othdan was being held by a half-orc guard."
Embarrassed, "But I guess the tunnel only goes a few feet." Eyes opening wider, he realizes, "If it kept going in the same direction, it would eventually go under Ivory Hall!"
More quietly, "But that would take a long time. And the tunnel had caved in. That's what killed the half-orc who carried the symbol. So maybe they've decided it's a bad idea after all."
"But even if I'm wrong, Rodrik was still murdered for a reason! Something's going on at the Plague House, and it can't be good for Trunau."
She puts the symbol back in her pack.
Kurst looks relieved.
"I wondered, because our scouts haven't seen any armies massing."
Turning to Eldan he continues, "It certainly sounds like you have proven that my brother did not kill himself, or at least proven it extremely unlikely. I present the information to my father, and we will hold a funeral for Rodrik tomorrow. I'll keep his hopeknife. As you know, it will play a part in the ceremony."
"Meanwhile, why don't you take Sergeant Frum with you to apprehend these conspirators? I believe he was working on his project by the inner gate."
"Thank you! " Ziggy tries to look grateful for the loan of the Sergeant but isn't sure she is convincing. We will head to the inner gate if no one has anything further.
Yes let's go.
After leaving the Longhouse, the party comes across Omast Frum near the inner gate. The Sergeant is sharpening some stakes on a barricade at the top of a slope.
He mumbles, "This'll keep em ugly green beggars out!"
He seems a little more lucid than the last time the group met him, but his slurred speech and his odour make it obvious that his drinking has not stopped.
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Quietly to Eldan and the others, shaking her head in disbelief,
"Ashes to ashes, funk to funky. We know Sergeant Frum's a junkie. ... but drunk out at Trunau's gate, that's hitting an all-time low."
"I'm not sure we should count on him, but we don't know how tough the conspirators will be. Do we have a choice?"
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Frum slides a last board into place, then looks at Zigil and says, "There! I'm happy. Hope you're happy too."
"Whatcha want? Let's go to the Killin Ground!"
"Sergeant Frum, Captain Kurst has asked us to deal with a situation at the Plague House. The conspirators will be meeting shortly and it is extremely important we capture these men. Will you please help us to detain them?"
Frum looks disappointed.
"Conpirastors, huh? Sounds like orcs."
"Let's go get um."
"Yes let's. And I'm not bringing that darned dog so he can forget it. Serves him right."
"Does anybody need any healing before we get to the Plague House?" Zigil looks around at the group.
"And a plan! We should have a plan!"
While the area near Trunau is kept relatively clear of major obstacles, there is the occasional hollow in the ground and some scrub vegetation. As well, there is the Freestone.
On the way out of town, Sergeant Frum asks about what to expect.
"The only thing we know is that there are at least two, and one is a half-orc. But we don't know how many there really are. Do you speak orcish?"
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"I say we jump em." Giles Hawks and spits.
The group scatters around the Plague House, hiding themselves where they can. The less stealthy people hide on the far side of the Freestone, while the others position themselves where they may watch the entrances.
After an hour or two of waiting, Slei spots a hunched figure approaching stealthily towards the ruined chapel. Although it is trying to keep low as it moves forward, it appears to be taller than a tall human, with unnaturally long arms and a hideously protruding lower jaw.
Giles takes10.
Stealth = 10 +0 = 10
The troll suddenly stops and sniffs the air, and its head turns towards where Slei and Frum are hunkered down.
Eldan whispers to Ziggy, "I don't think he has seen us. Let's wait for him to engage the others, then we can swing out and flank him giving us a tactical advantage."
Eldan delays.
"Good idea!" Ziggy whispers.
With surprising speed, the troll lopes forward and looms over Slei in an instant. In the moonlight, she can see its fangs jutting from its slavering mouth, and the wicked claws on its oversized hands.
Zigil lifts her shield (painted with her holy symbol), quietly intones a few words while gesturing with her free hand. The troll begins to glow like a candle, shedding a pale violet flame.
To herself, "I wish that came in more colours. Red or white would be nice."
Sighing, she begins the long process of closing, moving 20' to F4.
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Slei will attack with her longsword.