My thanks lady
Morgrym stretches and works the kinks out of his back and arms.
Koya's wrinkled face breaks into a smile. "How could I forget your face, Bernard? I'll always recognize the man who was sneaking an extra piece of pie when he thought I wasn't looking." She descends from the wagon and says, "And how do you do, miss?" to the faerie.
The tiny winged woman says, "Pleased to meet you, mistress Koya." She executes an aerial curtsey. "I'm Spivey. I'm also a devotee of Desna. I've come to see if I can help."
Koya says, "We haven't managed to figure out what's wrong, though she isn't getting any worse."
"Well, let's go take a look..." says Spivey, and they head inside the wagon to check up on Ameiko.
Shalelu says, "Food should be ready in a few minutes. Roasted venison and some rabbit, plus wild onions, pine nuts, and some bread from Kenji's stores."
Bernard hands over a letter that reads: Friends - we have continued our research in Galduria, but the academies here are very stratified and not particularly helpful to outsiders. I(Jinda) am looking into becoming a student so that I can access more resources, but it will take some time. Magnauk is continuing to help by working and carrying books. We could really use the assistance of someone with more skill at navigating these bureaucracies. We do, so far, have reason to believe that Ameiko's affliction is magical, and that she is not in immediate danger.
Please send word as soon as possible.
Koan sighs and says, "Someone has to take a message back. I should go. I can probably convince the academy to be more helpful, and I know enough about magic to be useful to Jinda."
Lyreasel nods at Shalelu's assessment. "There are monsters in the fortress. Ogrekin and odd crow people, they probably hunt the nearby woods."
When Bernard begins talking to them, reminiscing about their younger days, she cocks her head, vaguely remembering the man's features.
She smiles at the mention of dinner. "It sounds excellent, and smells even better."
Bernard is confused.
As lovely as that sounds, with Ameiko still bedridden shouldn't we be laying waste to these creatures and combing every square inch of this place looking for clues? Why'd you all come back here?
Her eyes narrowing at the accusatory tone Lyraesel bristles slightly at the implication. "We fought a number of monsters, some of us were near death, many of or spells used. Surrounded by enemies, you overextend yourself,you die. How would that help Ameiko?"
If Bernard is upset by Lyraesel's defensiveness, he doesn't show it.
Oh magic. That makes sense.
One reason I've never been too fond of the stuff.
"And we found an ally who might of had a way to help my sister." Kenji retorts curtly. "I wasn't going to leave any stone unturned."
Vivnick hangs back from the group, watching the unfolding scene quietly, her head tilted to the side. Unsure of the current party dynamics.
Bernard puts his hands up in surrender and doesn't try to argue any more.
The faerie waves and says, "I'm going to check on your friend now." She flits off to the fortune-teller's wagon where Ameiko is in repose.
Kota raps her cane as the group argues and says, "Now stop this! How could Bernard know what you've faced? He just arrived. That's why he is asking questions. Regardless, another attempt must be made. Clearly there is much to the story of this castle and it is connected with Ameiko's distress in some way. Either the castle is assaulted again or we give up and resign ourselves to Ameiko's death, and I for one do not plan to outlive the dear girl."
After an uncomfortable moment, Shalelu starts carving up venison and passing it around quietly. She finally sits down next to Lyraesel and mutters, "Maybe I should come along tomorrow."
Deborah follows, passing out dinner rolls, then she says to Kenji, "How did you defeat the crow-monsters?" which precipitates more conversation about what went on in the castle.
Spivey eventually emerges from the wagon and says, "I think it's a spell, or some kind of magic anyway. But I don't know how to break it, sorry."
The evening is a little tense as people have supper and finish chores.
No, no, it's all right Koya. I wan't trying to imply the things they seem to have taken from my questions, but I probably would have been insulted too. I apologize.
Lyraesel perks up slightly as Shalelu suggests joining them. "I think that would be a good idea. You notice things other people miss and having you there would definitely help in a fight. Has the bow been shooting better since?" she asks glancing sidelong at the ranger.
"With help, we should be able to figure out what's happening to Ameiko." Kenji concludes, eating quickly. "But... I worry that the forces here have been set specifically to thwart us. There would be no reason for such creatures to work together, right? Maybe I'm just being paranoid."
Shalelu says to Lyraesel, "I was able to bring down this stag, so I'd say the bow is doing much better, thank you."
Koan explains about the crow-monsters and says, "I only know a little about the dire corbies, but my understanding is that they tend to flock together and are mostly interested in finding things to eat as they move about from place to place. They usually aren't... organized? They may have some kind of leader."
Koya says to Bernard, "Do you think you could see your way to help a bit? I know it's dangerous, but Ameiko's life is on the line. We've found evidence of her family heritage as well, and some of the missing wealth of the Kaijitsu line."
Spivey flits about and says, "I may not be much help in a fight but I can heal some of your injuries, too. I would rather not be spotted by the monsters in the castle, but I can come along invisibly if you like."
"Spivey, I appreciate your offer. I think you should stay back near Shalelu. That way you two can support us frontliners"
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Of course I'll help. Like I said, I've always liked Ameiko. As for you - Spivey was it? - is there somewhere you could hide where we could retreat to if we got injured? Or can you render yourself invisible indefinitely?
"Well, not completely invisible, but I can make myself very hard to spot if I want," Spivey explains. "And since I'm small and I can fly around it's easy for me to find places to hide."
Well that should suit us excellently. My thanks for the healing.
Morgrym looks at the others Ready when you are.
"We return to it." Kenji states, giving one last worried glance at his sister before moving forward.
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"I'm ready." Lyraesel says quietly.
After having dinner and getting some rest, you are somewhat refreshed. The prospect of exploring Brinewall Castle seems threatening but manageable.
You spend a half hour making your way along the old road to the village and pass the cemetery and the Desnan shrine, with Shalelu and Spivey accompanying you.
As you come up the hill to within view of Brinewall Castle, you spot movement up on the walls. At the towers, like the one where you crossed over on your prior visit, dire corbies are patrolling. Clearly your previous visit has raised some level of alarm.
"Ugh... How many of those things are there?" kenji whispers, frowning.
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Each tower seems to have two or three of them.
This is Bernard's first time seeing the crumbling castle, and as you are hunched down behind a clump of brush, you note that there are still some at the rusty front gate as well. Clearly they are taking precautions.
What do we know about these things? Are they animals?
"Monsters," whispers Shalelu. "They usually live below ground. Very fierce. Somewhat intelligent. Dangerous, tend to go berserk when injured and won't die until they are cut to pieces."
Well, they can't have an infinite supply of them, can we just take out the ones near the gate plus and keep bailing and coming back? The letter said Ameiko's condition was most likely stable, and we are the best chance of getting in and figuring this all out. Maybe a war of attrition is our best chance at success.
Kenji remembers how hard they were to finish off... "Well, luring a few out might be good, or we could climb up the side wall again and sneak up to the ones on the wall to take them out before going to the guardhouse below it."
He looks at Bernard. "Got any experience in sieges?" he asks in dry humor.
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Bernard is skeptical.
Again? You don't think they'll check for that?
"Well they didn't see us last time... If you have a better way of getting in there, I'm listening." Kenji replies, frustrated at his lack of experience in this matter.
No, not really. Guess I'll go first, since none of you look particularly sneaky. Where is this place?
Bernard shakes his shoulders loose and kicks his feet, shaking his thighs and calves.
"Picking them off one at a time leaving and coming back could take days, or even longer. We don't know how many there are." Lyraesel comments. "We don't know that Amieko will stay stable that long. This is a hunt. We need stealth yes but once we strike we don't relent unless completely necessary."
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Shalelu whispers, "If we give them a chance to fall back and call friends, we'll have to face them all. And they might chase us back to the village or track us to camp."
Spivey adds, "They'll definitely chase you. They've come out of the castle after me before."
Shalelu says, "What we need is a way to either finish them off quietly and quickly, or to get over the wall unseen." She points at the various towers along the wall. "The towers are spaced in such a way that it's going to be very hard to find a spot where we can cross... especially since they seem to be patrolling back and forth. Maybe we should see how their shifts change. I presume they have to sleep sometime."
This is probably the longest paragraph that Shalelu has uttered in your entire journey.
Aye, let us observe them for some time, and then take them out.
This seems the most prudent course of action.
Smiling quietly to herself Lyraesel whispers a spell, her vision sharpening noticeably as she studies the patrolling corbies.
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Kenji settles down to wait, trying to see what he's looking for, but doesn't expect to see much himself.
You hunker down to wait and watch for a few hours. It's boring work. Mostly you spend your time huddled in cold grass and bushes partway down the hillside, taking turns watching the corbies. You see them moving along the parapets, patrolling the walls and peering out, and occasionally the pair in the gatehouse will squawk and bicker for a bit.
Right after sunset, as you're straining your eyes to see as best you can, the corbies leave their posts to head deeper into the castle.
"Dangerous chance now," says Shalelu. "Looks like the walls are unguarded, but we don't know for how long. And sunlight has just gone."
"We should take it. While we have the chance."
"I agree.
"Through the gate or over the wall? I think I can fit through the gate but I might not be able to get it open," says Spivey.
"I don't want you to go through there. If you get ambushed we couldn't get there in time to help you. Over the wall I think."
"Best we move as quickly as possible and go over while there's no one there." Lyraesel says getting ready to make a dash for the wall. "I have rope for anyone who needs help"
Spivey, can you find us a spot without too many of them? I'm pretty sure I can get us all up there given the rope and a minute or two, but I'd rather not have to wrestle one of those things at the same time.
"It looks like they're all going inside," says Spivey. "I can fly up to one of the parapets with the rope and tie it off and send the end down to you."
"Yes, lets do that."
Spivey takes the coil of rope - a bit heavy for someone of her size - and makes her way up to the tower where you crossed before. She ties the rope to the crenelations and lowers it to the ground, which makes it an easy climb up, since none of the dire corbies are present to interfere.
Once up on the side of the wall you gather the rope so that it won't give you away.
From the tower you can climb down to the ground floor again. You can see that the dead bodies of the massive humanoids that you killed earlier are gone - moved from the open courtyard in the southeast - but there are still muddy bloodstains in the dirt.
Morgrym lumbers up and climbs the rope.
He then takes a guard spot, looking over the parapet while waiting for the others to acend the wall.
Ok, thank you Spivey, thanks. Let's go along the wall and take out those on the wall here.
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"Better to get to ground before anything resurfaces. The walls aren't being watched right now." Lyraesel says readying to climb down. "There's also stairs."