"Be careful Harlan." Parity keeps his sword at the ready.
Harlan will move forward and take her hand.
"You know what to do if she changes shape."
Malnival shakes his head and mutters.
What, watch her flyaway with you?"
Harlan touches the harpy's outstretched hand. She smiles.
Oh, she adds, my name is Zaiobe.
Nice to meet you Zaiobe. Why are you helping us? Is Kikonu the King of the Dire Corbies? Can you help us make it to the roof and keep us safe up there?
"She says her name is Zaiobe and she wants to help us."
Maeve frowns as she watches the whole encounter, looking a little woozy and trying to form a coherent thought about how to react to this.
Zaiobe appears to chuckle, though no sound of a laugh comes out.
I cannot hide you or your friends in the tower - Kikonu would surely find you there. If you need to rest, that place you were headed is secure enough, if you move quietly. When you are done, you can climb the stairs there and find me atop the tower.
"So find out what else we are up against and didn't we hear a female.voice earlier? Guess it wasn't winged silence here, sowho was it?"y
"She says we'll be safe where we were headed, and that we should climb the stairs and find her at the top of the tower when we're rested. She says Kikonu is the leader, and that he stole her voice. She also says there is something down below. We should rest now and find her when we're ready to have her help us take out the evil here. I think the thing below must be what's hurting Ameiko."
Thank you Zaiobe. We'll find you in the morning.
"We should hurry."
Zaiobe breaks contact with Harlan and runs to the doors at the far end of the hall.
Malnival kicks a rock near his foot and slams his scimitar into it's sheath.
Bird people, orgers, and fish. What's next, a minitour? We need a beef section I guess.
"She said the female voice was a prisoner taken from the village a week ago."
After Zaiobe leaves, you retreat to the old donjon and officer's quarters, locking the door to the throne room carefully behind you. The officer's chambers are dusty, and the furniture all but unusuable, but you find plenty of dry floor to camp out. In the windowless dark, you cannot tell the exact time of day, though you know it should be afternoon passing into evening.
Your rest is uninterrupted, although you hear unintelligble voices echoing vaguely from the throne room a couple of times. They do not approach the door, and none try to open it. Mostly, it remains deathly silent. As the night falls outside, you rise refreshed and ready to continue your foray into Brinewall Castle.
Maeve sits up from her deep sleep looking better, if still a bit pale. Rubbing a bit of sleep out of her eyes, she stretches out. "So, do we actually take the harpy seriously or just continue on our own way?" she asks. "Assuming I wasn't hallucinating, I've heard that can happen from blood loss, but I've never had it happen to me. Maybe I can try it some time. But not now, it would be a little dangerous."
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Heng stretches from his morning meditation as he considers Maeve's words. "Harpies are nothing but treacherous murderers. We should count our blessings that we were spared her devious call if her voice has been truly lost. Of course, madness seems to be a common condition for all the bird people we've seen so far."
"The voice isn't a big deal," Maeve shrugs. "Just takes a certain cadence to counter it."
Harlan wakes up, his hair disheveled, and begins to rub his leg. Seeing Maeve's continued injuried, he whips out his wand and limps towards her.
"I think we should trust the harpy. Even if she plans to betray us, we could use her help against the birdmen. We should go to the tower, find her, then head to the dungeon and locate the prisoner. After that we deal with this king and find out what is hurting Ameiko."
"Wow, thanks Harlan." Maeve grins as color returns to her face and a bit of a smile creeps up. "Sure, why not. We can just keep the inevitable betrayal in the back of our minds so when it happens we're not surprised."
Malnival looks up from his spell book and frowns."Considering we did not get murdered, it would seem the damnable harpy was telling the truth. It seems I would agree with Harlan, the tower then rescue the prisoner."
After preparations are complete, you proceed up the tower stairs. The feeling of unease that pervades the castle is strong here. On the first landing, you enter a guard post. Judging by the dark stains on the floor and gouges marring the walls, a terrific battle once took place here. As you look around, ghostly faces animate on the walls, emitting low moans of pain. The haunting fades as you retreat further up the stairs.
On the next level up, you find Zaiobe's lair. The walls of this semicircular room are lined with bookshelves, although the majority of the books lie in disorganized pile on the floor. A large, filthy nest of grass, branches and strips of cloth is tucked into the northeast corner of the room, while a wooden door to the north leads to a balcony. Zaiobe stands there, looking over the cliffs beneath the castle.
She turns to greet you with a smile and nod of the head, holding out her hand to communicate.
"See guys, books! And it's pretty clean."
Harlan moves forward and takes Zaiobe's hand.
"See guys, books! And it's pretty clean."
Harlan moves forward and takes Zaiobe's hand.
"Doesn't smell that way."
Manival's hand strays to the hilt of his scimitar as he looks around the room.
Parity's comment wipes away the smile on Zaiobe's face, but then she looks at Harlan as they touch.
Where do we start? Where is Kikonu now? We want to rescue the prisoner first. Ignore Parity, he uses his tongue to make up for his eyes but he's a good person.
Zaiobe laughs silently.
I'd like to get Kikonu before you return to the dungeons. If he finds you, we'll lose the element of surprise. Besides, the stinking reptiles will have probably eaten her by now.
Ok, let's go to a nice ambush spot and you can call him. Tell him you found us or something that will get him to come alone. Then we go save the woman if we can!
"Ok guys, she's going to lead us to a good ambush spot and then lure them to us, then we go rescue the woman in the dungeon. Sound good?"
Parity yawns and unlimbers his sword... "Finally then, where's the best place to catch him? Somewhere we can surround him. Any way we can rig a trap? How about the haunted room we rested in ... will that affect the liz people?"
"She doesn't really want to help us as much as she wants revenge on Kikonu for whatever he did to her."
Right?
Zaiobe nods.
The hawk lets out a low cry, then flies from its nest into Malnival's open hand. It is small still, a young adult.
Malnival smiles, the first one that has crossed his face since the leaving Sandpoint. "Valwen. That is your name little one. In the ancient tounge it meant Power Maiden. I think it is fitting. Come with me and together we shall have a grand adventure."
"Where did you find her Malnival?"
Harlan nods grimly at Zaiobe.
"Ok guys, let's pick a spot to ambush these turkeys and finish them."
Malnival smiles, the first one that has crossed his face since the leaving Sandpoint. "Valwen. That is your name little one. In the ancient tounge it meant Power Maiden. I think it is fitting. Come with me and together we shall have a grand adventure."
Valwen looses a cry, like a cheer of victory, then hops up to your shoulder and nestles comfortably.
"The throne room seems best. I don't wanna go near that creepy room again ever!" Maeve leans against the door frame, mostly listening in. "Unless there's somewhere with better hiding places to spring the ambush from?"
"The throne room seems just fine. And appropriate. I'm not sure what else is left Heng, probably a few corbies and troglodytes plus Kikonu, who is the mad poet."
With that Harlan turns to Zaiobe.
Can you lure him to the throne room?
"Do we have any defensive or stealth magic available?"
"Where did you find her Malnival?"
Malnival grins and looks at the hawk. "I think she found me actually."
"Do we have any defensive or stealth magic available?"
"I have a shield spell ready, but no stealth spells."
Malnival turns to the harpy, "Do you know which entrance he will come in? That will help considerably I should think."
Malnival turns to the harpy, "Do you know which entrance he will come in? That will help considerably I should think."
She shrugs, pointing to both the stairs and doorway on the east side. She also makes a gesture with her hands, indicating he could appear out of nowhere.
"Oh right, forgot about his dimension door. Well, how about Zaiobe and I set up by the throne to provide ranged support while the rest of you set up?"
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She shrugs, pointing to both the stairs and doorway on the east side. She also makes a gesture with her hands, indicating he could appear out of nowhere.
Heng notes, "The poet seems able to teleport anywhere, but the rest will need to walk. We have not gone beyond the eastern double doors. Do we want to take a look first?"
Assuming we don't explore, Parity will hide against the wall on the west side of the staircase, trying to catch someone coming down the stairs or through the eastern door unaware.