And the back of the large room where we fought so many goblins?
Well that room too we haven't been there either.
As Cindy removes the labels from the bales of cotton to take with her she says Lets complete our exploration of the large room where we fought so many goblins. There could be valuables among the dead there. And from that room I'd like to look down that side passage heading north. Unless there is strong descent Cindy will head that direction.
Sure thing
Cormick trudges along, as the rememberance of fresh air mixed with the spray of clear water seems to haunt him.
Moving back to the the first cavern of goblins you find a smaller cave off of the larger one with several short passages ending in sparesly furnished sleeping areas. One contains a crude alchemist lab and half a dozen vials of liquid. Others contain crude chests. Searching through them reveals sacks of mixed coins and low quality gems.
Cindy casts Detect Magic and helps to pack up the valuables. Lets look for secret doors and other hidden things around here as well.
After the search and the gathering of valuables Cindy moves to explore the northern passage off this large room.
Of course
to locate any secret door
No hidden doors.
The north passage goes up a flight of stairs then turns right. Another 10' flight of stairs up leads to a closed door.
Weapon in hand Aerin open the door when everyone is ready
Cormick will check the door for traps, disable any, and then step back behind Aerin weapon drawn.
Once Cormick give the All clear signal Aerin will open the door
Cormick gives Aerin a nod and she pushes the door open. It is heavy and she has to put some weight behind it. As it opens the light of day stings your eyes and you find yourself in a small narrow side canyon off of the main pass. From the outside the door is made of the rough rock of the canyon wall.
We found the official Entry door for this place.
It would be easier to get those bulk goods out this way as well. Cindy notes as she ponders options. I say we check that last north passage and the exit this way to head back to the caravan.
Sounds like a plan Cindy.
Works for me
"Ahhhh!!! Fresh air... what a wonderful smell. And look at the light.
"What? You want to go back in so soon?
Moving to the other nearby northern passage the hallway runs for about 60' then opens into a 15' wide and 80' long room. Several broken gears and levers are strewn about the floor along with a thick layer of loose dirt. Along each of the side walls are six beams of metal rising up and into the ceiling. Each beam has a pair of gears next to it, one small and one large. Attached to the gears is a wheel or pulley with a rope looped around it, which also rises into the ceiling.
At the far wall are a dozen more interlocking gears, a lever, and a large crank wheel.
The metal and ropes of the entire contraption show very little signs of aging.
Some dwarven work? cindy Ponders.
Probably, but really no idea what it would do. Should be leave it alone?
Cindy ponders the gears and pulleys for a moment. Lets sketch this room. Maybe someone back at the guild will know what it all is. She pulls out parchment and a pen and does so.
Alright. I am ready to get back to the caravan.
The mechanism looks to be easy enough to operate. Simply pull the lever the remove a lock latch in the gear system then turn the wheel.
The intended purpose seems quite simple as well. Doing so will lower some portion of the ceiling.
Cindy studies the gears and pulleys for a monument longer. These may be some sort of door set. It seems that pulling the level will lower an area of the ceiling down to us. She looks curiously at the rest of the party. I do wonder what is up there.
"Nothing that can not wait another day. We should contact the caravan, and have them collect the goods that we recovered. Continuing to explore for the sake of exploring is folly in my opinion."
"It would be our luck to stumble on another of those golems."
It should be ok Cormick to me the Golem was patrolling the dwarven halls and the goblins most likely didn't go down there. Or maybe they tried and then decided to give up. So we should encounter a golem in these part of the hall. But i do suspect that we probably clean the whole thing and we can indeed do what you suggested. she says smiling
There are mysteries here aplenty. My call is that we leave them for another day and return to our caravan and our duties. We would be remorse to further endanger either the caravan or ourselves with further exploration at this point. Let us return now with what we can carry.
Your call, after all you guys were tasked with protecting the caravan and Cormick and I was tasked with finding as much info as possible on those who were behind the attacks on this road. So as far as i am concerned we did more than accomplish our mission.
Cindy nods and leads the group out and back to the caravan.
Seeing Cindy leave Wait weren't we going to bring some of the stolen goods with us or are we coming back?
Taking a moment to stow a few smaller items into packs and haversacks, then using the key to lock the storage rooms the group heads back outside.
The long canyon road is quickly found east of the hidden door. Cindy takes to the skies quickly outpacing the rest of the group till she spots the caravan with Sekhmet about a mile and a half ahead, plodding along at the slow pace of the oxen.
Aerin will take a good minute as she seems to commit to memory a bunch of details about the place before leaving. I really wished we explored a bit more. she says.
as cindy leave she will talk and whisper to cormick
Well so what now our mission is complete and normally we would go back to the merchant council halls and report, but if the caravan has to rely on just the the tree of them on top of the regular guards maybe some extra help would be useful? no? she says with a smile
Aima looks relieved to see the group coming up from behind to rejoin the caravan. Seeing some of the pink skin where wounds have been magically healed she comments, "Found more than a few pretty caverns in there I take it?"
a least 110 goblins fighters and their leadership, were using a few caverns as a base of operations, but their are all dead now.
Yes. The primary threats are removed. I am sure that a few goblins survived. We did not rummage through all of their warrens but it will be a long time before they have the leadership to threaten our caravans again. Also we have found and secured quite a bit of cargo belonging to the Guild. It might make sense for us to make this delivery, then come back and collect the cargo here. We could then either make a second delivery or bring that cargo back home. What are your thoughts Aima?
"Probably best to take it back to Coran as we pass back through to return the goods to the rightful owners. Miss Ashin will be pleased to have wares returned for sure. We will need to hire an extra three or four wagons it sounds like, along with drivers, but that cost is pretty negligible."
Turning to Cormick and Aerin, [b]"Will you be joining us on the rest of the journey then? The extra company and guards would be a welcome addition, and for your assistance in the goblen den I'm sure Miss Ashin will compensate you appropriately."
I will let Cormick deiced about is Miss Aima. We were tasked by the council to track and kill if possible those who have been attacking the caravan along this route. she says shrugging her shoulders
But i wouldn't mind escorting you to the city and enjoy a good bed among other things
"I see no reason why we cannot accompany the caravan, and return if needed later to help recover the goods. We should be able to send word back to the guild once reach our destination, and they can either assign us a new mission or leave use to our own clever ideas."
ok boss she says smiling at him
The remainder of the journey to Akleta is uneventful, taking another two weeks. The temperatures grow chilly and Akelta is covered in a thin layer of snow.
Akleta has a population of around 3,000 people in the city proper. A 6' wooden palisade surrounds a couple of square miles of land. Numerous homes, farms, coopers, smiths, wagon makers and so forth lie outside of the palisade. Inside the palisade are nicer homes, shops, inns and the like.
Many in the streets openly stare at Aerin, Vayga, Cindy, and Amon, sour looks upon their faces. Not surprising given the people of Akleta have a reputation for mistrusting non-humans. None interfere with the caravan though.
Aima leads the caravan to a warehouse inside the palisade where unloading begins immediately under the direction of Miss Ashin's representative there, Bursul.
Once the work is underway he asks Aima, "Do you bear any news of Gumlat?"
Aima gives him a puzzled questioning look to which Bursul replies, "Oh, you must of left before it happened then. Gumlat was attacked by the Frans, probably a day after you left. Governer Alding hasn't provided any new information in the three weeks since. Not sure if he is being tight lipped or just hasn't heard anything new." Bursul shifts from one foot to the other uncomfortably. "My niece lives there, and I worry for her."
I will remind everyone that Cindy wears a hat of disguise and travels looking like a male human caravan guard unless otherwise posted. She takes the news in stride.
After her duties are taken care of Cindy will remind her inquisitor friend about the spices they brought to sell as well.
The Frans are a neighboring kingdom nestled along the south edge of the Chaggath Spine, west of Gumlat. They largely export ores and precious gems. Given the size of their kingdom, attacking Gumlat and incurring the wrath of the empire would be a suicide move in a long term offensive campaign.
Very bad news indeed
Hearing the news from Bursul, Cormick is shocked by the news."Attacked by the Frans?! This is very bad news for Gumlat."
Turning to Miss Ashin, "Maybe we should see Governor Alding, to see if he has any more news about the attack."
** spoiler omitted **