"Anything helpfull you can tell us gets the job done sooner, and both you and us out of here alive and well. You could be back in Riddleport drinking up a swell in a few days"
He arches an eyebrow and eyeballs Harry before he answers
You're Heavy Harry? Boss Croat's debt collector numero uno, hey, it's pleasure to meet you at this fine place. The manacles are no problem, I'm used to wearing such nice accessories. Nualia's room ist the one at the end of the corridor, but I guess she is as usual on the lowest level of the dungeon, trying to open the secret door full of runes. Yeah I know that sounds like a penny dreadful, but it's really like that.
"I worked for Croat true enough; I work for any employer so long as the coin is on time and the work is mostly honest. I'm now working for the good people of Sandpoint who had the decency to take me in and put honest coins into my pocket. I'm signed on with this crew now, and these Goblins came down and attacked them under the say-so of the devil-woman so now I'm here like any good Riddleport rascal giving a serve back, although now I fly under a letter of marque, I'm respectable and all."
"We will be sure to be letting you go, once this matter is all squared up. When that wench is sent upon her merry way we can all walk out together."
"Mr. Vancaskerkin, I am Celestra Zomesco. I am most sorry that my friends have decided to chain you up like a prisoner. I am glad you are so agreeable with them, but I do look forward to seeing that you are set at liberty. I do hate chains and manacles."
Celestra approaches Harry and speaks to him privately. "Mr. Handsome, you do really fit the role of deputy sheriff very well, but don't you think that this man could be of help to us? What makes you think he is so evil? Don't you think an extra sword in the group could prove useful, especially against Nualia?"
Harry gives Celestra a look of vague disbelief.
"You haven't been to Riddleport have you? Well this man, armed to the teeth and living large in the middle of the Goblin stronghold didn't accidentally confuse the place for a Bed and Breakfast and stop over only to now be told by us it was the den of evil. He will be of help to us, in telling us what we need to know, which he has done so nicely, but would you trust a man who accepted payment off a person and then turn his blade upon that employer a moment later? We haven't even had the good grace to pay him, so I reckon we'd get even less loyalty."
"I think he can deal with the moment of inconvenience, he knows the rules of Riddleport, and his life would be forfeit there; but we are under Sandpoint law - I think he can count all his blessings to be honest"
"One day he and I will have an Ale in a Riddleport bar and this story will be the height of humour, but for now it has to be like this"
"Very well, Handsome, I will trust your judgement. However, I wish you would not give me that look of disbelief just because I have a strong belief in humanity. I may not have been to Riddleport before, but I have seen many good people in this life, and I know if you just give them a chance, they will come around. People want to be respected and be seen in a good light. Just because some of us cherish freedom, doesn't make us evil you know!"
Karlan who had been giving his own look of disbelief frowns. "That's...nice but let's save the talks about being seen in a better light for after we're out of the den of evil goblins that can see in the dark right?"
Karlan turns back to their prisoner. "Well I thank you graciously for the help thus far. Couple more questions and we'll be on our way. First, who will she have with her when we find her? Second, have you seen anythign other than madmen, demon women, and goblins down here?"
Orik nods
Besides me, Tsuto had also hired a wizard, Lyrie is her name. I think she has a crush on me, but she's a heartless b!$!$, so don't expect her to be as nice as me, heh. And there is Bruthazmus, a hobgoblin ranger...a very tough and deadly foe, he just arrived boasting he has at last killed some "elven Sha..Shalale...Shalu, sorry I don't know b*@&*". And besides these, this whole place is creepy enough to host tons of monsters, I wouldn't look into the dark corners if you know what I mean.
"You chose an odd lot to fall in with. I hope that Goblin is lying, either way he's up for a grim finish. I'd ask you to kindly talk me through a map of this floor and anything else you know, and tell us who lives where."
Kanyk pulls out his map slate, flips it over and prepares to sketch the layout of the rooms below Thistletop as their captive describes them.
"Be good if you could point out any traps that you know of too and how to bypass or disable them. I'd rather not drop into a pit full of spikes or zombies or whatever else this gods forsaken place contains."
Orik sits down and begins to draw a quite exact map of the dungeon.
Sorry, but the levels below I cannot draw. I've been there only one or two times and don't recall much of it. And traps? Not on this level, Bruthazmus' dumb goblin whores would otherwise trigger them all the time.
"Mr. Vancaskerin, this is most helpful! Thank you for your assistance. This will surely help!"
Turning to the others, she remarks as she points to the map, "I think it would be wise to clear this level out of any foes before we descend into any lower levels. Perhaps we should start with these rooms right here () and then proceed to these adjacent rooms (). Unless you boys are too tired and need a little rest!"
"Sounds fine to me; I didn't come here for a kip and comfy pillow, and there's no way in the Abyss I'd consider a rest in this place. That woman won't kindly kill herself, which means there's work to be done"
"No, she won't. I'd rather get straight through the heart of this matter...with my sword. But we might learn somethign else. In the meantime Mr. Vancaserkin I suggest to you sir you stay put and if anyone asks...well Harry and Kanyk here can be a very scary men. They'll believe a story of torture."
"Very well, boys. Lead us on! We have work to do!"
Celestra quietly approaches Nieve and talks to him privately as they linger behind the others.
Cautiously you open the door to (D4)
While this bedroom is clean and brightly lit by an everburning torch lying on the nightstand, the room's spartan decor makes it unclear if it's actually lived in.
"After we've checked these rooms we should head through the northern door leading from that first room we came to on this level, looks like the stairs down are in that direction."
Kanyk studies his new map for a few moments before tucking it away and pushing open the next bedroom door.
"Agreed, and push up and around before slicing back to overrun that large chamber."
Harry leads on...
Perception
Stealth
The next door you open is the one to D4
This bedroom has a faint musty odor. The bed is covered with matted gray and black hair, and bloodstains mar the stone floor, while a morbid stack birds' feet lies heaped on the floor by the side of the bed.
Nieve frowns at the sight of stack of birds' feet, and does not enter the room. "I realise this is a goblin stronghold, but... is this exemplary of the madness goblin society contains?"
"I wonder if those bird feet are for some evil ritual of sorts?"
Knowledge Check to determine their purpose. (Not sure which one, but Arcana, Religion, and Spellcraft are all +6)
You most probably think they were snacks...and the feet just didn't taste well.
Celestra will look around rooms D4C and D4B for any evidence of who may have stayed there. She will let the others enter D5 and D4A first.
Perception
By Orik's descriptions, the room with the bird feet might be the habitat of the bugbear, Bruthazmus, the empty room has no signs hinting at anyone.
Karlan heads to the end of the hall where they were told Nualia lives and opens it.
This large chamber (D5) seems to serve a dual purpose. To the north is a fine bed with silken sheets, while to the south, a desk and chair under a hanging lantern make a comfortable looking study.
The room is totally devoid of personal things besides the large luxurious bed.
"This room sure seems comfortable. This is far better than the conditions I lived in on the Dragonfly. Karlan, did you say this was Nualia's chamber? This sure seems neat and clean."
Celestra looks through the desk drawers to see if she can find something of note.
Perception
No, there is nothing to be found, actually the room looks rather uninhabited.
"Well, I suppose we can always come back here if you need to rest and regain some spells. But for now, let's move on. I want us to take advantage of this time we have."
You enter the last of the private bedrooms.
This room is clean and well-organized. A low dresser to the southwest has a stack of papers sitting atop it, weighted down by a large chunk of obsidian, while to the northwest sits a well made bed.
"Nobody home." KArlan says casually looking through the papers. "Think everyone might be downstairs."
"Well lets get that northern area cleared out, then come in for what looks like a temple. The West simply looks more like storage"
"Boys, I just want to say how grateful I am for accepting me into your little band of deputies! I am very excited to be here! This works feels very dangerous, but I feel as if I am making a difference in this world! I am just curious, do you guys still feel the excitement of being alive at a time such as this, or does this type of work make you all very cynical?"
"You are more than welcome Miss Zomesco, a job is a job, and whilst normally they make you feel alive, this one fills me with anger and rage; this one is personal"
For the first time Karlan gives the only "are you serious" look he's ever given in his life. "Um, maybe ask again when we're not about to behead a woman and probably kill everyone we come across because they'll be trying to do that same to us."
Turnign back to Harry. "Right, I suppose we should secure this level as best as possible as you say.. I don't know how many goblins are sitting above of us though which is why I want to get this done quickly and cleanly."
"Too true Sir Karlan, let us push quickly to that northern spur then, and hit any enemies swiftly and silently, whilst we still have the advantage of surprise"
As silently and cautiously as possible you make your way back down the corridor and through the stairs-room past the "temple-room" to the...but what is that?!
The doors to the "temple-room" have caught your eyes, so horrible is their ornamentation.
Embossed on the door are two widespread legs, and the area around the doorknob looks like a vagina out of which gnolls, minotaurs and other monsters crawl. The female legs ar hairy and end in claws and you can't help but be nauseated by the strange depiction of birthgiving...
Even Harry, a hardened Riddleport vagabond, is deeply disgusted. The sooner he cuts this disease out, the better.
"back for that soon enough" he whispers as he pushes North and round to the North West.
Disgusted you press on and enter the small room at the end of the corridor (D13)
The lower four feet of the walls in this empty room are covered with crude drawings in mud, blood and paint. Most of the drawings show goblins engaged in some sort of violence against humans, horses or dogs. One picture on the north wall is at least three times the size and complexity of the other scrwalings. This image shows Thistletop from the side, the goblin stockade perched atop it like a crown. A cave has been drawn into the centre of the image and a looming inside is what appears to be an immense muscular goblin with snake-like eyes and a dogslicer in each taloned hand. If the scale compared to the rest of the drawing is to be believed, this goblin must at least be thirty feet tall.
"I don't know...? If you have done something to offend, I haven't noticed."
Nieve trails after the others, staying mostly quiet. When they approach the temple-room doors, there is a twitch in his eye. "You'd almost think they're overcompensating for something," he says, in utter disbelief. "Do... by the bloody feathers of Shelyn, would anyone worship something like this? Because that's what this is, isn't it? A place of worship?"
"Who could guess at the thoughts that go through their scrambled little minds, I look forward to leaving this place the moment we can"
Harry looks with a mocking disgust at the oversized Goblin picture, and presses forward.
Celestra cringes at the sight of the monstrous sized goblin, but remains silent. She looks around carefully as they pass through the rooms.
Perception
Knowledge Religion
"Well, looks like their god to me. Though I imagine gnolls and minotaurs might have something to say about the imagery." Karlan says before pushing foward.
You open the two doors and move through the small corridor into a room (D14) filled by a large tabe and some chairs. A slateboard to the north is covered with scribblings in chaljk, but the map of Sandpoint that has been carefully inscribed on it leaves no doubt as to the purpose of this room - this is doubtless where the recent raid was planned.
"Just where is everyone?" Karlan frowns. "I don't like this. It was understandable up top but we should be up to our waists in goblin bodies by now."
"I'm hoping its because they lost a lot at Sandpoint, or because the Witch woman doesn't want the grotty things running around her feet, and not because the bastards are lying in ambush."
Harry moves through, and on to the next room...
A large wooden worktable sits in the middle of the room, its surface cluttered with scrolls, book, stone tablets covered with dense, spiky runes and fragments of carving that appear to have been chipped off of statues or bas-reliefs. To the north, a floor-to-ceiling set of wooden shelves sag with picks, shovels, brushes lanterns, and other equipment one might expect to see at an archeological site.
"So, Master Karlan, do you come from a particular order of knights? I was just wondering if you have had any experience with goblins before?"
Celestra looks through the the scrolls and books. She is looking for evidence of plans and some insight into what motivates Nualia.
Perception