Merick takes a quick survey of the party during the lull. Is everyone alright? After confining this, he pumps his axe in the air. Yes! That felt good! I'm glad I'm not too rusty after the long rides.
His summoning was interrupted, you do not expect anything to come from his calling.
The gauntlets of the undead dwarves put to rest, have fallen from their wrists. They all appear to have stumps. You hear no sound other than your own voices.
Ta'de-win begins to search the area, keeping an eye out for any traps, tracks or other signs of danger.
Ta'de-win finds no hidden dangers, or tracks other than from the recently destroyed creatures.
There are a few more piles of filth, and quite a few more scribblings on the walls, but nothing more in the near vicinity.
"If the area is clear, we should move on. Once this place is cleared out, we can send in a team or two to map and search this place fully.
Merick? Please take the front again."
"You got it. " Merick, a bit more warily, walks onward, keeping his axe and shield ready. "Say, who's in charge here? I never caught that. "
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Furiel searches the fallen.
"Rogar would want us to collect the weapons. We stopped any further summoning! Good job all!"
"Unless we find something very useful we can spare the looting for a later time, is not like we are going that far for once, we get these tunnels clear and then we can clean up properly. Besides, I think those we have just re-killed were Brarim family, he might want their things back."
"And Merick, that is quite a good question, for now I think we take turns, depending what we are doing."
"So, shall we see if there are other undesired guests hereunder?"
"Right then. I'm not too keen on taking charge. I don't know enough for that. Just tell me what to do and I'll do it."
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You travel on for quite some time. You find little, and gradually less.. until there are again, no signs of passage for years.
It is difficult to tell how far you have gone, but it is well over a mile before you see the wall in front of you. Large stacked oddly-shaped stone which is perfectly placed like a jigsaw puzzle wall blocking the path. There is a single rock missing the size of a fist near the ceiling.
A slight draft seems to come from this hole... and the imperceptible cracks between the stones.
"This looks like a good place to investigate a bit more.
I shall stand guard, and I think Merick will join me while the rest of you search."
"Let us be about this then." Ta begins to search the area as she has many times before, not just for tracks but any other signs of danger. "This underground, it is like a snakes nest. I feel ill at ease down here."
You can smell a bit of fresh air and campfire seeping through this cobblestone wall
Ta'de-win turns to the others. "Beyond the wall, fresh air and campfire. It seems this may be the exit. Ta calls out, expecting Kesten and the others outside.
There is no response.
"Hmmm...the dwarves did not mention a wall did they? If they were the ones who made it, they would surely have done so.
Can we dismantle the wall? I looks pretty sturdy."
Furiel casts until a bird appears on the other side of the wall.
Then he casts a spell on the bird and it lights up as a torch.
With the additional light as Furiel illuminates the bird, you see the wall a little more clearly. Though the rocks fit tightly, there is nothing binding them together. A strong shove should topple it.
"Hey, this wall isn't sturdy at all. It's more of a stack of rocks, really. Can I just shove it over?"
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"Let the rest of us step back first, and make sure you are ready to jump back so you don't get anything on you."
As soon as everyone steps back, The Green Man gives Merick the nod.
Furiel simply directs his lit bird to clear the wall so it will light the area and be out of danger of the falling wall.
"Alright, step back. Here we go."
Merick slings his axe on his back and braces his shield against the wall. With a grunt, he throws his weight behind his shield and jumps back.
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Merick shoves against the wall, but he was a bit too eager to get out of the way. His push did little more than carry him away from the wall. Sheepishly, Merick mumbles and steps back up for another go at it.
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The wall falls... Merick steps back in time to avoid most of what tumbles down, and luck allows the first falling rocks to miss him.
Beyond the wall, the tunnel widens to over twenty feet for about 60 feet before it ends in a walled off alcove. This wall is made of the same stone blocks as the tunnel. A hole has been chipped through which is wide enough for an average human to squeeze through, but beyond are iron bars.
Furiel is likely small enough to fit through both.
You all smell the fresh air and campfire now.
In this chamber are two armored corpses. One dwarven, and one likely human. Both are missing their hands.
You also now notice the rocks which made up the jigsaw wall, are carved on this side with many runes.
On the wall to your left - where the corpses are "seated", there is etching... similar to what you saw before, but ordered and neat. The language appears to be Dwarven.
"Let's go, it may be our companions waiting outside. If it is, then we can ask the dwarves to translate this text for us.
I am wondering if this "wall" was some sort of seal to keep the undead in here?"
The Green Man will advance towards the opening with Merick.
"You, outside! We're coming out!"
This time you hear a response... it takes a few moments, but you hear movement, and a little sliding rubble beyond the last wall. Kesten calls back "Green? Is everyone uninjured? No sign of anything on this end. There is an iron gate. We can probably bust the lock, but there is a wall there too..."
"We will dismantle the wall, but it doesn't need to be now.
Since you have seen everything on your end and we have been through the tunnels, I suggest you retire to the fort again.
In the morning we can make plans for dismantling the wall and replace it with a real door and some camouflage so it cannot be easily found.
We will meet you back at the fort."
Turning to the others, The Gree Man grins.
"We've done well, but I don't think we should dismantle this wall until we have had someone read the runes to us, just in case..."
"I'm not sure how I feel about these dead guys. Or gals, I suppose. I wouldn't know how to tell."
Merick steps toward the corpses and dings one on the head with his axe. Not hard enough to disturb it, but not terribly gently, either.
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The corpses in this room do not stir when prodded.
"Very good sir. Master Broadhammer is anxious to hear what you have found." You then hear him faintly 'Alright... we're off."
Furiel will supervise the recovery of the arms and armor and the preparation of bodies for proper burial.
Brarim meets you at the door to the escape route with "fresh water, and stronger..."
He looks serene... breathing in the dust from your foray into the tunnel turned tomb.
"I'd like to take a team in immediately... we will take care of this for you. We will finish the job." He takes a look inside. "If I should find anything particularly dear to me, I hope you will consider a generous offer... a more than generous offer. For the rest... will we will certainly offer you more than some shady dealer, but you have earned the rights to whatever is found. I find I would rather revel in the moment than hear myself speak."
"Go to master Broadhammer, we will speak after you are done, just record the writing you find for us.
And if you wish, I can perform a ritual to help speed the spirits to their final rest afterwards."
After the group has returned to the fort Norton takes the opportunity to try setting their next moves.
"Guys, I feel like we, pressed by the circumstances, rushed to deal with the stag lord and left behind land exploring. We decided to settle here, and I guess everybody has great plans for the future, but, to be honest, we don't even know where 'here' is."
"I suggest spend our next days exploring the land around here and between here and Oleg's."
Then he seems to remember something.
"Ah, I also took the liberty to send a letter to Oleg's with sir Chawdair, saying the stag lord is no more and people are invited to come here and celebrate on the new moon. So we should also put our mind to that, if we are lucky a few people will show up."
"Yes, I agree, while I technically don't think we HAVE to fulfil that part of the contract after Restov "cutting" their ties with us, WE should still map all of what surrounds us.
Not just the lands we claim but the area around it too.
Eventually we will have claimed all land there is, but it helps to know what that land is.
Maybe we should travel to Olegs, get a lot of supplies and do a methodical zigzagging motion until all land is covered?"
"I think is best first to cover the ground around here, then go back to Oleg's. We should make sure there are no threats nearby. You know: first defend your position. Then we could leave here for a few days."
"Heh, a few days? I think it will take the better part of two months or so to be fully done with it.
But you make sense Ser Ambrosi, better to do the essentials first or risk overreaching."
Hmmm, once this place becomes more lively, maybe one could recruit a scout/mapping party?
Ta' already wants a creature-capturing-team I guess they'll need to explore a lot
"There is much to explore and we do have responsibilities here now to continue. Even a couple months may be a light estimate depending on how nature treats us. I agree we should explore our surroundings first if we plan to settle here. People who come may desire to set up farms, and we do not even know what the threats they may face are."
Brarim returns to report the findings of his team later that evening...
"Remarkable and chilling... The chamber at the end was where my brother, and the Ashmoor's mercenary holed up. Apparently the Nugrah trapped his own man down there with the builders... a madman sorcerer with korred blood... turned nercomancer Maschlosh. When my brother's forces arrived, they were frozen in fear by a skeletal linnorm with a head dripping with maggots. My brother and the sellsword saw through the illusion, but too late to shake his men from their absolute limb-locking terror. The laborers came as zombies with no hands, and tore off theirs with their teeth."
"My brother made the wall to protect them... and covered each stone with a ward from Magrim. He then carved in the wall all which had come to pass, and his visions and words of Magrim during his last days... all this with two stumps of protruding bone. Each stone is a blessed artifact for us, and the words of Magrim... Incredible. We would like to relocate these stones. We will discuss what is to be done with them, but they should not remain where they would be kept from those who would value their worth."
"If you would be willing to provide us land to erect a temple to Magrim, and gift us four of the armors for an honor guard to the temple, we are prepared to offer you a stipend of resources from our clans several holdings."
"Consider the rest of the valuable trappings discovered yours, but we will match what you would get from a merchant."
(4) +1 Ghost touch scale mail armors
(2) +1 Heavy Shields
Runed stones (unknown worth... no known use)
+1 Ghost touch breastplate
+1 Ghost touch studded leather
+1 Shocking Light Hammer
+1 Light Hammer of Return
(2)+1 Greathammers (Earthbreakers)
+1 Feybane Warhammer Urlindagh
+1 Heavy Shield
Ring of Improved Jumping
Bag of Holding type1
Crossbow
Boots
Heavy Shield
Maschlosh Headband
+ Spider Clasp
Wand
Bone Rod
Ioun stone
(2) translucent grey beads
"Tell me, does this lance look familliar to you, it is inscribed with the name of "Firebiter" on it, that was the name you mentioned before was it not?
As for the items you requested, I will need to confer with my companions, but I believe I can already say that you will get them."
"You have great honor Brarim; your offer is generous."
Furiel looks to the others.
"We gain so much by this."
"The tale of your brother is truly inspiring. Such heroics should indeed live long. I agree that we should consider this offer."
Brarim steps over to inspect the lance. "Yes... Firebiter. He was an ally of the Jackdaw Prince Nugrah before he turned evil... The story is that Firebiter and his fellow warriors of the wood charged into a trap. The terrain looked steady, but Nugrah had magicked it into a pool of mud into which the forces charged. They were decimated by lightning and arrow while vulnerable in the muck."
"The one down below - holed up with my brother, was Firebiter's avenging squire... I fear I do not recall his name. We will be sure to divine his identity before he is laid to rest."
Brarim walks with you up to your common room, where Nogmil the Elder builder has blueprints laid out.
"Not sure what all yer lookin for, but you have some room to play around with here... If you wanna keep your costs low, here is what I suggest. We start with three teams working on one... the outer wall. Team two... reinforce foundation, flooring base, and sewer system if yer lookin for it. Want it done right.. right now, if yer gonna do it.
Third team sets out workin on individual rooms in priorities as you see fit."
"This will all take one month if we can get the rest of the clan, and some middlin skill workers."
"Month two... we make sure we already have these rooms where we want em, and build around em. With all three teams repurposed, by the end of month two, we are down to a few finer details to see to ."
Furiel bring his gnome friends to the meeting.
"These clever gnomes can help and will be making clever things as soon as we set them up a workshop. Here is what I need at the back of the castle: a magic repository that leads to a greenhouse with a bath. Eventually a bird hatchery will sit on the roof of the greenhouse. From the magic repository you walk to a printing room that prints up things for the kingdom."
"To keep a place like this running will take a lot of servants, we will need more room to house them, and more bedrooms for us as well.
And storages to keep supplies for that many...
I hope there is enough room to build all of these things..."
"And we will need to have a throneroom built, and probably a trophy room.
It is expected."
"I would suggest saving your grand throne room, and other such things for when we construct your palace. It is certainly up to you, but we strongly suggest you keep the primary purpose of your castle to be one of defense."
"Yes, I can see the sense in that. If so, the storage and the rooms to house the servants should be inside, in case of a siege.
At such a point we need to have everything inside the walls to sustain ourselves."
"On a...personal note, I'd like a word with you in private master Broadhammer...Once we are done here of course."
Furiel examines the large amount of unidentified items. "I have a problem with carrying capacity, so the bag of holding and other ways to make my load lighter are appreciated. The wand that enhanced illusions definitely can be sold--I will never use it."