"It seems like the path does wander in that direction, Quill. I've only been in Trunau a relatively short time; I don't think I'm familiar with it, though..."
"I do not know who would have wanted Rodrik dead, but before he died he left me his journal. I don't know why he thought he had to leave it with me, but I have read it through several times in the last two days. I believe this page is most relevant to you, in your investigation." He handed Vashta the journal, already opened to the appropriate page.
"His hopeknife was missing? The mystery deepens, it would seem. He seems to have thought he had stumbled on some 'dire scheme,' which might explain why he was killed, but this gets us no closer to the answer as to who or what. It would seem the Plague House will have to be our next step. Before we go, though, Katrezas, why did you tell him to give up his investigation, hmm?"
"Is there anything anyone can tell us about the Plague House or your visions?" she asks quietly as she reads over the pages, wishing there to be more, but noting very clearly that there was fear that the beloved half-orc was not on the up and up...
|
"Is there anything anyone can tell us about the Plague House or your visions?"
Quill answers in regards to the Plague House, trying to impress the elders of the group with what he knows.
"Well, I don't know that I've been there, but I've seen it. I mean, who hasn't seen it after you live here for a while, we *all* see it," Quill rubs one of his ears.
"It's that burnt husk, over the wall. It used to be the Church of Iomedae...but now they have that new one. In the old days, they felt Iomedae's power would singularly protect the Church from the orcs...but that didn't last long. A few raids in, the Church fell and was burnt," Quill says, looking apologetically at Katreza.
"About 50 years ago or so, it was rebuilt as a place to hold the plague tainted sick. But that place also burned down. Makes you wonder why they re-built with wood instead of stone, huh?" Quill sidetracks, then gets back on target.
"Today, it's pretty much empty. People say they hear or see things within, but I dunno...not sure I believe that...people also drink a lot."
Storn's bushy eyebrows furrow.
"Hmph. Dark visions, a place called the 'Plague House'. Maybe I'm not so far off the mark about that graffiti. That said, there had better be unspeakable danger for us there to make this worthwhile! How I long to smell the entrails of a fallen foe!"
Molly gives Storn an odd look.
"Did your mother not hug you enough when you were little or something?" she asks.
|
|
If there is nothing else here, Quill will move the party to the Plague House, drawing his bow as soon as they leave the confines of the City.
"I never like being outside the walls. It can be dangerous out here," Quill explains if he others didn't realize they were in orc-infested territory.
When they get to the Plague House, Quill will do a loop of it, looking for tracks and things of interest (about 100' from the building) around the House.
Perception
Survival
Vashta casts a scornful glance at the bow, though she doesn't say anything.
He'd be smarter to rely on magic. Elves are supposed to be good at that, after all...
"Did you find anything?" she asks as he wanders around, casually looking around herself.
The Plague House sits just beyond Trunau's walls. Close enough for easy visitation, yet outside the protection of the walls in times of raids or battle. The walk there is a short one, and the site is known as one where young lovers are known to meet outside of the walls and away from guardian eyes.
When you arrived, Quill did a quick scout around the place to make sure there was nothing awaiting them. He saw no signs of ambush or raiding parties. There were signs of tracks in the ground, but nothing stood out.
The burned husk of the building looked to be in relatively stable shape, though evidence of charring and burnt beams were quite evident. The wooden steps and porch leading up to the main entrance were burned away, leaving the doors sitting about three feet over the ground. The windows flanking the door are broken, but a huge stained glass window dominating the front of the old church was intact, showing a varicolored image of Iomedae holding her sword aloft.
Off to the south of the building were remnants of a firepit, bonfires used by the local youth in their revelries, no doubt.
In addition to the front entrance, there were several holes int eh crumbling walls, torn out by fire and eroded by the elements.
Here's the map
"I was taken from my mother at birth to serve Gorum. Great omens foretold me as a mighty servant of the Lord in Iron," says Storn proudly to Molly. "I knew her well though my people were not many. She was Shuckta the Fierce. Good woman. Could knock out a yak. Not much for hugs. And danger is good for you, Quill! Few things build character more than seeing your own lungs after a bear attack."
Storn stomps noisily along beside the group and looks over the plague house. With a shhhk he draws his enormous greatsword.
"Hmph. Let's see what awaits us. Those of you with keen eyes and ears, tell me what you can find."
"Why would anyone punch a yak?" Molly asks, nonplussed. "A swat on the haunch is usually enough to send them off."
The girl shakes her head, then grins at Storn's description of the benefits of danger.
"Aye, I agree it's good to see your lungs after a bear attack. Every healer should show that to their patients while fixing them. It drives home the message that picking fights with bears is a bad idea."
Molly's bi-coloured eyes narrow as she regards the Plague House.
"I still don't get why they named it this," she says. "It used to be a temple to the sword-lady, after all. Where's the pestilence? So. I'd suggest we don't go in through the door, but through one of the holes in the wall. Little less chance of getting ambushed if there's anything in there."
"If we do not expect there to be trouble...then should we not just go into the front door?" Mariana says to her companions, though she does eye both Storn and Yelena's weapons. "Though, regardless of expectations...we should be ready for such things..."
"It's a temple outside the wall of a town that gets attacked by Orcs on a regular basis, dear," Molly says to Mariana. She unslings her crossbow and fits an arrow into the slot with a loud and decisive 'Clack!' "'Trouble' is basically the ground state of being around here."
"Omens don't always portend what you think they will portend, Storn. Sometimes someone is chosen for great things, but they may not appreciate the definition of great," she replies sternly, no sense of humor in her voice.
She eyes her companions weapons and sighs.
"Danger is everywhere, it would seem, but any danger in there will helpfully get us closer to the truth."
She begins walking forward to the door.
"Storn, be a dear and lift me up, would you?"
|
|
Quill knocks an arrow and follows the man who likes to see his own lungs every once in a while.
Why haven't I ever seen my own lungs?
Is there something wrong with me? Am I a coward? Weak?
Oh wait! I know!
What?
We have something he doesn't have....sanity!
Quill, because of his bow, generous helpings of common sense, & a chunk of self-preservation, is happy to take the rear.
As she approached the burned out former church, Molly began scanning for magical auras. In the broad light of day, her arcane sight showed no magical energies nearby, except for the minor flicker that was Vashta.
Coming close to the front doors, the remains of the steps and porch were an obvious mess, though the disturbed morass of mud below them showed evidnce of years of trespassers, explorers, and illicit lovers. The doorjamb was intact, though, and the doors themselves looked charred but still serviceable.
"Hmm," Molly muses. "If I had a house, I might nick these doors. Good quality timber, this."
"Good enough to make a wagon out of. Maybe going through one of the holes in the wall might be easier..." Vashta says, looking the doors up and down.
"Gorum veita okkur ljós," mutters Storn, and his greatsword begins to glow with a pale light.
Storn wanders up behind Quill, peering into the building.
Mariana slips up to the door, seeing the others looking at it and gives it a good look over, checking for locks or traps.
"Give me a second to look at this, first..."
As Quill and Storn went to check out the northwest corner, Mariana climbed up to look the doors over. She found that they were neither trapped, not locked, and thought they might open fairly easily.
Quill and Stonrn found that most of the wall damage was high up on the Plague House walls, leading to some kind of second story or balcony area. There was a badly damaged area that led to a ground level room, but the entrance looked very dangerous, with crumbling beams and flooring at a height a few feet above the ground.
"Guys...the doors are opened...and accessible. We don't need to sneak in..." she gives a half whisper as she draws a dagger from her belt.
Let's out a sigh and just shakes her head. "Yes...and if we are the itch they intend to scratch...then we are now in for it. Perhaps we need to figure out so signals for the future...to keep our more...vocal members down at times..."
Molly rolls her eyes and mutters something under her breath - and tries to melt into the shadows, taking up supportive sniping position.
Over a large pile of burned rubble, quill can see into what was once a sitting room of some kind. There is a hallway and what might be a staircase in the northeast corner. Getting into the room should be relatively easy, assuming the rubble pile doesn't shift too much as you try and climb it.
At the front door, Mariana was quietly informing the others that the front doors appeared to be open when Yelena took her mighty longhammer and pounded on a support beam. The entire structure seemed to rattle, with bits of masonry and small shards of glass rattling to the ground. At her shout, her companions winced, but there seemed to be no other effect.
Molly tried pressing herself up against the building to hide herself from anyone inside, but came away swatting at various bits of masonry and small bugs that showered down from the structure.
"Cor' bligh me!" Molly sputters as she swats and brushes at the fragments and insects - and even inflicts the power of her Evil Eye on the little critters to stop them from burrowing into her clothes. "Sivannah preserve us from knocking Dwarves," she grumbles.
Storn grins delightedly at Yelena.
"Good attitude."
While Yelena hollers and Molly tries to creep into the shadows, Storn pokes his head after Quill, and casts his light spell into the sitting room.
"Well, that's one way to do it," Vashta notes. "Reminds me of a bull that tried to mate with my uncle's wagon..."
She edges away from the dwarf and joins Quill.
"After you," she gestures to the elf and Storn, giving a small bow as she follows them into the ruins.
Shrugging, Molly and Mariana go to join the others peering through the hole in the northwest corner of the building. The rubble there is dense, spilling down to the ground below and making a treacherous looking, but navigable, ramp into the building's interior. Years of rain and snow have scoured the soot from the burned rubble, cleaning the worst of the detritus away. If you must go in, this way is as good as any.
Mariana moves up to get on the ledge, moving directly forward [k15]so that others...bigger and stronger can lead the way. Before she heads up, she whispers, "If you see a door, let me know...I'll see if it's trapped..."
Vashta moves with lithe, Varisian grace as she makes her way down the ramp, sliding slightly on the slick rubble. She smiles widely as she reaches the bottom safely ... and quietly.
"Check for a spot to tie this off," Molly suggests, tugging at a coil of rope slung around her waist. "It'll make it easier all 'round. Especially for me; I'm really rotten at climbing."
Grumbling, Storn sheathes his sword and does his best to get up the ramp. While Vashta slinks along, silent as a mouse, Storn progresses with the grace of a three-year old banging iron pots together.
Initiatives:
Mariana
Molly
Quill
Storn
Vashta
Yelena
centipedes
As you made your way up the rubble, the pile shifted constantly. The footing was difficult, but there were enough handholds that the climb wasn't terribly difficult. Unfortunately, the rubble wasn't just a convenient entrance. It was also home to a trio of giant centipedes. The shifting rubble parted as the elongated segmented bodies writhed their way to the surface and attacked. Their clashing mandibles banged off armor and weapons without managing to injure anyone.
AC 12, touch 12, flat-footed 10
Fort +2, Ref +2, Will +3
CMD: 11
HP: 9/9
Spells used:
First: 0/2
Effects:
"Ugh," Vashta shudders, backing up so she won't become food for the vermin.
"And let's see if this helps..."
She casts, fingers moving in nimble fashion.