"The guards said the prisoner is in the basement of the keep," Wulfram said. "It looks like the revelers aren't paying us much notice. We could try just walking through the double doors, or we could try the door into the southeast tower, and hope that there's a connecting passage into the keep."
He observed the partyers to try to judge the chances of success of what he was suggesting.
Avoiding the carousing korreds should be easy unless you deliberately provoke them, although Wulfram isn't sure what might happen if one did catch sight of you--their severe drunkenness and faerie nature makes them unpredictable.
As he observes them, the shaman overhears bits of conversation in Common. "We need some more hobgoblins to redden up the courtyard rocks. I know Halk let the redcaps in the northeast tower borrow a few, but I don't think they're fool enough to kill 'em against Halk's say-so."
"I found a few scales on the ground; must have been from before we arrived for the revel. Black as blood, I'd swear they were."
"The stable? No, you won’t catch me going near the place. There's iron horseshoes in there, and I don't want to even look at 'em. No one goes there, I tell you that."
"Wha' if we go one at a time inta tha tower? Eustoma an' ah firs', then Karla, Sia, an Nik'o, wi' Wulfram coming in last. Then, we can cover him from tha tower if'n he's seen by tha fey. Or, got ta tha stable. We'd be safe there."
"I suppose going one at a time might be less likely to provoke a reaction from the fey," Wulfram commented. "As for the stable, it sounds like the korreds are afraid to go there. There's probably something nasty inside."
After studying the korreds for a few moments, Wulfram notices that they are currently away from the southeast tower. You move one at a time across the courtyard, careful to avoid the drunken fey. Fortunately, you escape notice and make it through the door without incident.
A stone staircase ascends in the northwestern corner of this room and wooden doors lead out to the north and west. A makeshift forge, long cold, stands against the southern wall. Two badly preserved taxidermied grizzly bears stand against the east and west walls, rearing up in fearsome poses. Tufts of fur line their gruesome bodies, while great lines of stitching crisscross their carcasses.
"The way down to the prison should be through here," Wulfram said in a low voice, indicating the northern door. He had a quick look around the room, then went to the door, listening for signs of obvious activity on the other side. He also looked for any sign of an alarm mechanism on the door.
Wulfram's quick search doesn't reveal anything of value here. Not hearing or seeing anything suspicious on the door, he opens it.
This lofty entry hall contains a set of stairs ascending to the north, a double door to west, and a swinging door to the east. The odor of cooking meat wafts from the eastern door. Angled halls exit to the north and south, ending at stout wooden doors. Thick tapestries depicting forest scenes adorn the walls, but each tapestry is badly torn and stained with blood.
A hulking thing stands under the stairs, a patchwork of rotten cloth and grotesque skin, with stray bits of straw poking out of the seams. It is clothed in tattered green-and-gray Chernasardo Ranger ponchos. When it sees you, it lurches forward to attack!
Wulfram moved into the room and readied to attack the monstrosity when it moved into range.
Eustoma moves into he room and fires her bow at the creature using her cold iron arrows.
Sia moves in and readies an action if the creature comes in range.
Eustoma hits the creature with an arrow, but it doesn't seem to harm the thing much.
Wulfram moves up to ready his spear as the thing lumbers forward. He stabs at it, but it parries the strike with its sword and uses its reach to slash at him! The shaman dodges the clumsy strike.
Rogar pulls the rubble towards him, unleashing it in a furious barrage aimed at the horrific creature.
"What sort of evil sorcery is this?", Wulfram cried. He dropped his spear and drew his mace, stepping forward to batter the abomination.
"Any particular kind of damage for this thing? My arrow didn't do too much damage.
She drops her bow and pulls out her Hafling Slingstaff. She loads and fires it at the horrible creature.
Sia holds.
"I'm afraid I don't know much about this... thing," Wulfram replied to Eustoma. "I'm just trying to bash it as hard as I can!"
Rogar blasts the hulking construct with a torrent of stones. He crushes portions of its body, but fails to push it back.
Eustoma fires a sling bullet wfrim her staff, but it bounces harmlessly off the thing.
Karla conjures a patch of grease beneath the construct, causing it to slip and fall. Nik'o rushes up to bite and tear at the creature's stitching.
Wulfram draws his mace and smashes the thing hard. His strike shatters a wasp nest sewn into its belly, and with a chorus of angry buzzing, thousands of magically conjured wasps emerge into a swarm!
The construct remains prone as it slashes and punches at Wulfram. Meanwhile, the wasps swarm over Nik'o and Wulfram!
"Argh!", Wulfram cried. "That didn't work so well. Fire it is!" He stepped back and unleashed a jet of flame.
Rogar, with a sweeping hand motion, directs a pile of rubble to fly upward, flying at the swarm.
Rogar hurls a pile of rubble at the wasps, smashing the vast majority of them to pulp.
Wulfram steps back and unleashes a cone of flames that incinerates the reamining wasps and setting the construct ablaze. It lies unmoving, smoldering straw spilling out of its split stitches.
Once you have time to look around the room more closely, you notice that a the northern door continually oozes a thin red fluid that puddles on the ground at the base of the door. It smells like wine.
Wulfram cast a spell to heal his wounds.
"We're looking for the way down into the cellar, where the prisoner is being held," he said to the others. He listened at the swinging door, trying to discern if there where creatures in the room beyond.
Wulfram can hear two raised voices coming from beyond the swinging door. They seem to be arguing in Sylvan. Karla understands that they are debating the best way to prepare a meal.
"Have you even worked with this meat before, you horn-headed imbecile?" says one.
"Oh, please! I was frying up delicacies since before you had hair on your dangly bits! I'm telling you, we need to fillet, then saute!" the other says.
"No, no, no! You're supposed to brew 'em and stew 'em!"
Wulfram decided to check the northern door before going into what was presumably the kitchen.
The strange liquid dissipates when Wulfram steps up to the door. Not hearing any noise beyond it, he opens it up. The ceiling in this room is only six feet from the floor, and consists of cracked beams and blocks of stone pressing down from the collapsed tower above. Chunks of wood and stone litter the room, with a particularly large specimen covering half of a once-fine writing desk.
A spectral man sits at the desk, apparently trying to do some calculations. Part of his skull has cracked open, revealing the brain beneath, and he scratches at the exposed organ absentmindedly. "Thirty-six casks times...how much again? No, no, that's not right."
He looks up and notices you. "Ah! Yes, finally!" He phases through the desk and flies towards you!
"Stay back!" Wulfram warned the ghostly figure. "I'd be happy to converse with you, but I'm not comfortable with you coming too close!" He dropped his spear and gripped his mace in both hands, ready to swing.
"No, too brutish!" The ghostly man shakes his head and ignores Wulfram as he moves southwest, phasing through the wall of the keep. He emerges at the back of the group and looks at Karla. "Ah! Now she looks clever!" He tries to merge into her body and possess her!
The man's spiritual body disappears, and Karla blinks and looks around in elation. "Ha ha!" she laughs, her accent sounding like the man's. "Finally, solid hands with which to take notes!"
"Eustoma, I need to get in there to restrain her!", Wulfram shouted. "My magic circle might allow her to break the control!"
The magic circle fails to suppress the possession effect. Karla is a prisoner in her own body, helpless as it dodges away from Wulfram's grasp.
"Hey, hey! Relax, big guy!" the ghost says in Karla's voice. "Your friend can have her body back soon. I just need to finish my calculations to see how much of a loss I can accept on all of that wine. Now that I can take notes, it will be a whole lot easier. There's got to be some way to salvage this debacle..."
Wulfram stopped, considering the situation. He didn't have any further way of forcing the ghost out of Karla, so he needed to convince him to voluntarily leave. He could try to restrain her. or render her unconscious, but perhaps he could strike a deal.
"My name is Wulfram. I'll agree to let you take your notes, as long you do it at the desk in the room you just left," he replied. "You must be finished within ten minutes, and then release her, unharmed. In exchange, I want to know what the relations are between the Ironfang Legion and the fey at this fort; are you aware of what the Ironfang Legion is? I also want to know who else has been attacking the Chernasardo Rangers." It was possible that there was just the Legion attacking the Rangers, but perhaps the fey or someone else was aiding them.
"Ten minutes? Hmm... It might take a little longer. It's kind of hard for me to concentrate for some reason..." Karla rubs her head where the ghost's head wound was.
"Ironfang? Never heard of them. Don't know much about fey, neither. The Rangers invited me here to discuss donations of wine, ale, and other supplies. Silly me, I thought they wanted to buy my wares. Instead, I was asked to part with them out of 'patriotic spirit.' Can you imagine? I lugged all that wine all the way into the middle of the woods for nothing!" The ghost shakes Karla's head. "Anyway, I was trying to figure out a way to salvage some profit from this whole debacle, and then my head started to hurt. I just want to be fairly compensated for my wine! Then, maybe I can get some rest..."
"Dead? Yes... I suppose I am. Still, I can't stand the thought of having this loss weighing over me. I can't go on to the Great Beyond until all this is sorted out!"
"Let's see if we can help you then." Eustoma moves up to Karla.
You present a large sum of gold coins and equipment to the ghost. He uses Karla's body to examine and appraise the goods, eventually nodding in satisfaction once he's reached a fair amount. "Yes, yes, this will do. I will be able to sell this and recoup my losses on the wine. Very good, very good!"
His spiritual form emerges from Karla, leaving the sorceress in control of herself once more. He sweeps over the gold and gear, somehow absorbing all of it into his ectoplasmic body. With a satisfied sigh, he vanishes.
Once he's gone, you are able to search the ruined tower. In a desk drawer with a broken lock, you find a cache of gold--at least you seem to have recouped some of your own losses!
Eustoma rushes over to Karla. "Are you alright?"
I wonder if the tower came down on his head which is why he was stuck here.
"Thank goodness you're free!", Wulfram declared. "Are you OK to continue, or should we fall back and rest?"
After recovering from the spooky encounter, Wulfram casts another pair of spells and leads you to the kitchen. This functional kitchen has heavy, wooden shelves filled with utensils and basic supplies. A large stove occupies the southeastern corner of the room. Opposite it, a narrow set of stairs leads down.
A large bin near the stove contains several human bodies, the corpses still wearing shackles around their wrists and ankles. The two creatures arguing here are handsome men with the furry legs of a goat and a set of curling ram's horns extending from their temples. When they see you, though, they raise their kitchen knives.
"Intruders! More meat for the stew tonight!" the first shouts.
"No, no stew! I said fillet!" the other snarls.
"They're resistant to weapons not of cold iron!", Wulfram advised his teammates. "I'm not interested in being part of either!" he roared at the creatures, trying to stab the nearest one with his spear.
"I really need to get a cold-iron weapon!"