Enril who was silent till now since Ahiko and Koya seemed to have the situation well in hand speaks "I agree with Shalelu. Besides whatever is affecting Ameiko is coming from Brinewall, so exploring the castle might give us an answer. We need people to guard the caravan tough. Shalelu maybe you stay? Since you are the expert in scouting and all." Enril then realizes his been speaking rather autoritarian way considering his in time in the caravan and shuts his mouth embarassed. Besides if there is something here that would keep Ameiko from Brinewall then I don't think it is a good Idea to alert it and then go away.
Shalelu nods in agreement, "Reconnaissance in force." as she chuckles to herself.
Koya says, Make sure to get back before dark, this doesn't seem to be a place to be traipsing around at night...
The trail leading to Brinewall quickly fades away as it enters the forest, becoming overgrown with bushes and weeds. Jorland is able (by taking 10 on Survival) to keep track of where the trail used to be, however, so you are able to keep moving in the right direction.
It's only about half a mile (although it feels longer because of the foliage) before you burst out of the forest onto an old cobblestone road. Although there are many weeds sticking out from between the stones, the road is nowhere near as overgrown as the trail was and is still quite recognizable as a road. It extends to the north (right) and south (left), curving to the west in both directions. As there are still trees and undergrowth on both sides of the road, you still can't see anything of Brinewall yet.
Kalistrine crouches down at the crossroads and looks for signs of tracks.
Not finding anything interesting, she says, "Right, I think. North. It's as good as anything."
Enril looks around both for tracks in the ground, a sign, or anything that could reveal more about the paths.
"Maybe... but let us check things better before deciding.
Kalistrine regards Enril with an irritated stare, "Fine. If you think you can find something, be my guest." she says.
Kalistrine does actually find evidence of passage along this road. Not surprisingly, there have been small animals, but she also finds evidence of the passage of humanoid creatures. Enrill is able to discern the tracks are a few days old now, and at least one of the individuals wore boots and was travelling northwards. He can't be sure how many individuals there were since weather in the intervening days has erased most of the evidence.
"So do we avoid the people? Or follow their tracks? Well regardless I feel our exploration won't be as safe as I could hope for."
"Let's go North. Better to find out what they're up to, don't you think? It's been a few days though, they may be long gone." Kalistrine says, looking to the others. "Anyone else have another idea?"
Jorland shrugs his shoulders and walks north with gusto, "Amy it'nt have dem time to sit still!"
You follow the road north and around the bend where it turns to the west. Just past the bend, there is a brief gap in the trees to the left. Still water (presumably originating from the Steam River to the north) stretches out to the southwest. Across the water, you can see ruined, crumbling buildings, indicating that heading south on the road might have been the way into the village.
Continuing on down the road, you round another small bend and come out on the western tip of a small peninsula, where an old lighthouse stands. To the north, the Steam River rushes from the east to Bunyip Bay some distance to the west. To the south, a small inlet branches off the river and across the inlet, you can see more of the village of Brinewall, filled with old, ruined buildings.
Just across the inlet, directly to the south, two old piers extend into the water. Tied to the western one is a damaged, half-sunk longship of the style used in the Linnorm Kingdoms. What is surprising about it, however, is that, despite its damage, it looks fairly new. You would need to go closer (which means either swimming or going back along the road and taking the south route) in order to be more certain about the ship.
Across the water to the west, you can just make out the walls and towers of a castle rising above the treetops.
The lighthouse in front of you is made of stone. It looks like its roof caved in ages ago, so now it is little more than some walls and rubble.
Perception DC 15
Ahiko points out the ruins of a strongbox to her companions and moves over to investigate it more thoroughly... When she merely touches it, it collapses into rubble, and she pulls out the coins and key.
"I wonder what this key opens... we should probably take it with us. Does someone want to carry the cash until we have time to divide up whatever we might find?"
Ahiko notices that the key is in bad shape. If she examines it more closely (or gives it to someone else to examine), she can determine that it is liable to break after only a few uses unless it's somehow repaired (either through an appropriate Craft skill, or a mending or make whole spell).
Kalistrine peers out across the bay at the castle and town.
"Doesn't look too lively, but at least someone's visited here in the not too recent past." she says, pointing to the sunken boat. "At least there's a nice view from over here and we get some exercise walking back around."
"The ship doesn't look that old. Do you think it's age corresponds to the age of the tracks you found? Perhaps from survivors of that wreck?"
"I think we should check inside that ship... Seems to be newer than the ruins. Enril approaches the ship cautiously looking for a place to enter it.
"Maybe we should go back and around? I'm not such a good swimmer..."
"Yes, yes of course." It seems as if Enril just now noticed the water, he was completely focused on the ship. He then begins moving towards the village in the road.
You make your way back along the path to where you first exited the forest. From there you head south and into the village itself. The first buildings you encounter have almost completely collapsed, although one partially standing structure looks similar to the old glassworks building in Sandpoint. A little further on, the buildings are a little more intact, but all of them look ready to collapse at any moment. Just to the southeast, there is a wooden fence with an iron gate in the middle (the gate is marked by a little red line on the map). The gate is flanked by a pair of statues of a woman with butterfly wings.
The centre of the village is dominated by an algae-choked lagoon. A bridge crossing the north side of the lagoon has collapsed, but a path around the south end remains intact.
Knowledge (religion) DC 10:
Kalistrine remains wary, but nonchalant at the same time. The ruins are unnerving, and she can't help but feel a sense of forboding, but the silence and the otherwise fine weather has a lulling effect nevertheless. She walks up to the gate and peers in past the bars.
As Kalistrine looks through the rickety wooden fence into the clearing beyond which consists of a low hill
containing nearly two dozen graves. A stone crypt sits
atop the hill to the east. The entire graveyard is unusually
well tended—the grass appears to be weeded and the
gravestones are quite clean. There also ppears to be a gravestone set apart fromthe rest of the graves near the northern edge of the
cemetery.
GM Rolls
DC19 Perception Check
"It doesn't look like anything is here. If something in the area is affecting Ameiko, I'm starting to think it will be towards the castle. I'd rather not waste to much time searching around the town. I want my sister back."
"While I understand your hast, I don't think it is a good idea to rush, we might overlook things we rather have discovered." As Enril talks he take a look at what Kalistrine is looking at. "Uhm the town's cemetery... Wait what is that? Enril nudges Kalistrine and points slightly towards the woman.
Enril
in the employ of deities of travel and natural wonders. You can surmise that she is most likely a follower of Desna
Ahiko looks through the gate and lofts a brow at the sight of the diminutive sparkly figure.
To Takeshi, she says, Enril may be right, we are not alone here and there may be something important to learn."
She turns and addresses the tiny woman.
"Hello there... I'm Ahiko. Who are you? and what is this place?"
to possibly know what the woman is:
Knowledge Planes DC20
in the employ of deities of travel and natural wonders. You can surmise that she is most likely a follower of Desna. They love to explore and visit beautiful places, especially
locations with excellent views of rainbows, moonlight,
and the stars. Whimsical and joyous, they love contests
of song, dance, and knowledge, and keep journeys happy
by distracting their companions from weary feet and
stale food. Mortals who please them with excellent tales
and new songs may be rewarded with elaborate maps,
forgotten shortcuts, or rambling directions to hidden
locations that hold lost magic
Befuddled the small butterfly-esque creature looks in both directions and realizes that she is being addressed and says, "Well, hello Ahiko, my name is Spivey, the six of you may as well come in my home. This is the old cemetery and in the far corner is a shrine to Desna, may she be always praised! She then looks toward the shrine and bows her head and then turns back
" I am sorry for being rude but I wanted to make sure you weren't evil creatures, like those from the castle."
Ahiko tries the gate and opens it if it isn't locked, slipping inside and approaching Spivey if possible. "No, we aren't from the castle, and hopefully not like them either. Though we are on our way to the castle, so we might have to face the evil ones from there. Perhaps you can tell us about them so we may be ready for them and defeat the evil creatures for both our sakes."
She says, "Well there are these things called corbies, I think there is about ten but I could be mistaken, they do look so similar, I have seen ogrekin, and I think another bird creature but it didn't look the same though...
She then flutters amongst all of you as you come into the cemetery, " Few travellers come to Brinewall these days, and most who do are warlike. Just a few days ago, a ship full of warriors arrived intent on plundering lost treasures. But alas their ship has been wrecked."
Flying back over the shrine, she says, "I will do what I can to aid you. Tell me more of your situation."
Kalistrine, once the tiny creature is spotted and begins speaking to the group, she starts to follow Ahiko through the gate, but she hesitates at crossing the threshold, looking at the statues, her eyes narrow.
Ahiko seems untroubled about entering the graveyard, and follows the tiny little lady. "We came here to seek a long lost legacy, but the owner of that legacy fell into a trance when we arrived. Now we seek to free her from that trance as well as recover her legacy. We had thought the castle abandoned, but I guess such places don't stay abandoned long. You say there are inhabitants of the castle - these corbies and ogrekin and bird creatures... I assume they must be the evil creatures you spoke of.. but what of these plundering warriors whose ship was wrecked... what was their fate? Did they survive the wreck? Will we have to face them as well? What else can you tell us that might help us save our friend?"
She stops and listens to your story, pondering your information and questions alike and then says, "The corbies are definitely evil and are very nasty. Most of the warriors were killed in a battle with something that tried to eat their ship, I saw one and followed her to the lighthouse where she made camp and shortly thereafter eight corbies surrounded her and beat her badly and took her in the castle."
She stops for a brief second.
I don't know your friend, legacy hmmm, well, is your friend a relative of Admiral Mercatio Kiameleu because his crypt is over here" she points at the crypt.
"I don't know if she'd be a relation to this Admiral or not. The names are not the same, but that doesn't preclude a relation. What can you tell us about the good Admiral? I'd love to hear his tale and how he came to be buried here."
Ahiko
Spivey looks at Ahiko and says, "All I know is that he was the founder of Brinewall over 250 years ago. In truth I have only been here for about ten years myself. The corbies were here when I arrived I am afraid."
GM Rolls
Thinking aloud Spivey says,"Three of the corbies go hunting every other day in the forest south of here but that was yesterday."
"Now that I think on it a bit, I think perhaps there might be no familial link between our patroness and the good Admiral. Yet somehow some item of legacy links his castle to her. And we must recover this item. It is very good to know that some of the corbies hunt every other day. It might be best if we approach the castle tomorrow then after the three have left, so we have fewer to deal with when we go in."
Ahiko thinks a bit and then asks, "Since you've been here so long, perhaps you might know if this castle has any backways or secret paths into it that might bypass notice from defenders?"
Calling from the entrance to the cemetery, Kalistrine calls out, "Does anyone know what a 'Corbie' is? And I like the idea of ambushing a couple to get some information."
Corby Knowledge Dungeoneering DC15
Ogrekin Knowledge Dungeoneering DC18
GM Rolls
Spivey remembers something and then says, "Well there are two secret entrances, one on the northwest side of the castle on the beach and another in the woods behind the old blacksmith's building, I would suggest that one due to the sentries on the ramparts of the castle. Why is your friend so far away?"
"There are some who fear the places where the dead rest. I am not one of them as such places hold no dread for me. Come Kalistrine... join us, there is nothing to fear here." Ahiko calls out to Kalistrine after answering Spivey.
"Kalistrine is correct though, we might learn something by trying to catch one or more of the corbies in the woods hunting... then we can use the secret entrance in the woods to enter the castle. It means waiting til tomorrow to make any move though, which means finding a good place to hide ourselves until then."
Spivey looks at you and says, "Well do any of you speak Undercommon? If not, then well you may as well go through the passage now..."
"Unfortunately I don't speak that tongue... I will ask my other companions, but if they don't either, I guess we should start our investigations. Thank you so much for your aid, Spivey - the information you've given us is invaluable. Is there anything I can do for you in return?"
Spivey answers, "Please clear out the castle of the evil that has taken root there and if you need any healing or something please come back!"
"Thank you for that offer. We will do our best." Ahiko bows to Spivey and returns back to the gate, repeating the conversation to those who were not privy to it and stayed outside the graveyard.
To her companions, she then asks, "So how do you want to approach this? Shall we search the boat while we wait for the hunting corbies to leave, or go in via the secret entrance in the woods immediately? Or some other plan?"
"So if nobody can speak Undercommon, we can't interrogate them? Well, we can at least thin their numbers and get an idea of what we're dealing with." Kalistrine says. "And I say we search the village and the ship for now since we have time until we will be able to ambush the Corbies."
Jorland coughs a 'Ahem' and says, "We should get in that cassle cuz Amy is sick, and we needs to help her... Waiting fer 2morra isna reall option..."
he then continues " front way or secret entrance is a fine buy mee"
Among the ruined buildings, you are able to discern what
once composed Brinewall Village, you find
an old barracks, a smithy, several homes, a glassworks (with
several architectural designs similar to those of the larger
glassworks in Sandpoint owned by Ameiko Kaijitsu), a
trading post, and a stable. The two largest ruins are located
in the eastern part of town, and consist of a town hall to
the north and an almost completely collapsed temple of
Desna to the south, near the entrance to the cemetery.
Walking north past these buildings you walk by an algae-choked lagoon, where on the lagoon’s northwestern shore, the rotting
carcass of a sea drake lies half submerged in the water.
Larger than a horse, this bright green aquatic reptile has
finned, winglike arms and a draconic visage. It is plain to see that the drake was killed by giant slashes from an edge weapon.
Kalistrine, with axe and shield drawn, approaches the carcass cautiously. She looks at its state of decomposition and tries to judge how long it has been dead.
Ahiko moves forward gingerly, trying to avoid getting too wet, and examines the corpse, trying to determine the same thing (TOD).
You poke around the carcass and determine it has been dead for a couple of days.
R1 v. Ahiko grapple hit, constrict damage poison Fortitude DC13 fail, strength damage.
R2 v. Kalistrine , miss
While poking around the dead sea drake, something from under the water grabs Ahiko's leg and crushes her leg and deals her poison.
At the same time Kalistrine is able to move at the last second to avoid being grabbed.
Initiative: Ahiko, Kalistrine , Enril , Takeshi , Jorland , Liu , Reefclaws
Round 1
Reefclaw 1 attacks with its right claw while grappling with its left against Ahiko , hit
Reefclaw 2 attempts to grapple Kalistrine , success, , constrict , poison DC 13 Fort save pass.
Kalistrine, Jorland, Liu, Takeshi, Enril, Ahiko
With a shriek of surprise and pain, Ahiko tries to break the grapple and move out of the creature's reach...
Kalistrine roars in anger as she is grabbed, trying to pull herself free.
Takeshi moves quickly towards his captured allies and attacks one of the creatures.
HP: 15/15
AC: 17
Kalistrine is able to break free of her assailant.
Seeing Kalistrine separated from the beast, Jorland throws a 2 javs gen the creature with blood-red spines which run the length of that oddly resembles a lobster in the front and an eel in the back hit, and , one javelin strikes home whilst the other one lands in the carcass of the sea drake.
Liu