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"Why? It's shelter, and there's no lingering magic now that we've busted up the animated stove."
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Why? Well, it's, and then there's, and you've got...look at the bones! This isn't a hut, it's a tomb. And I for one don't trust that the next thing to come alive might be the very walls themselves. Why, this place could start devouring us in our sleep.
Caine looked at the wand when it was discovered and handed to him. He'd just barely finished bandaging himself and making an awkward sling for his arm.
"Go figure." he said tapping himself with it.
He chuckled and starting unwrapping his bsndages.
"I don't really care one way or the other about where we end up resting, but if we don't need to sleep right now we should get a move on. Less time is lives saved."
He stretched his arm out, jabbed the air for a second, then shrugged.
"I'm fine. Zir's fine. Any reason not to keep moving?"
Well, you mean other than the fact that it is extraordinarily easy to become lost in a forest in the dark
Belladonna replies to Cain without hesitation: "I'm tired and hungry. Do we have tents to sleep in? I'd hate for it to rain."
"I find your apparent disagreement with sensibility puzzling, Ruhk." Zirren replied to the man with mock concern.
After the others had finished speaking he gave the matter a long moment before responding. "To be fair, Nathaniel, the cauldron was actually radiating transmutation magic when I was checking things earlier. I just didn't recognize what sort of transmutation magic it was. Zilka says the hut doesn't have any more magic showing. It should be safe.
Although, Caine does have a point. I agree with Belladonna and would prefer to rest, but the sooner we get the last ingredient the more lives we can hopefully save.
So we should put this decision to a quick vote. Do we continue traveling tonight, despite the fact that it will be much easier to become lost? Or do we rest the evening? Where we rest only matters if we decide to do so."
"Well, it's not that I have a problem with sensible really, it's just that it's, you know, sensible..."
"Well, the easiest thing to do would be to look outside and see if there is a landmark we can hone in on and walk towards it, hard to get lost that way.
We're going to the mountains, if we can spot them from here...
...
You know what? I don't know enough about navigation to know if it's a good idea or not."
Nathaniel looks to the desiccated corpse, then to Zirren, then back to the corpse.
Riiiight. You are confident that whomever that was, isn't going to suddenly get up and start trying to eat our brains. Well, if you are sure it's safe. Then I believe you. As to finding the landmarks, I don't remember how bright the moon was before we came in here, but I have a feeling we wont see much in the way of landmarks, even if the moon were full. I vote we rest for the night, and set out at first light.
Zirren let out a sigh as his hand smacked into his face.
"It is dark... We're in a forest... There is no landmark we can make out... geh. Never mind. Thank you Nathaniel, let's just wait until morning."
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"What, this thing?" Zilka shakes the "corpse" and pulls a stick that was masquerading as a bone out. "It's a fake. Made of mud and sticks and cloth. A scarecrow, sorta."
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Caine shrugged and broke out his bedroll. "I'll take first watch. Bella, you're second. Zilka takes mid since she can see in the dark. Boote takes last. Zirren and Ruhk get the night off so they can get through their magic stuff in the morning as quick as possible."
One hooded lantern on low is all we should need. Making a fire here might attract attention."
Caine looked sheepish. "Sorry, I forgot. All the orc-blooded folks I've ever known could see in the dark. Became habit to assign them the mid-watch."
Belladonna unpacks her bedroll and lays it out on the floor of the hut as far away from the scary stuff as possible. Once she's done, she immediately passes out due to exhaustion.
As Ruhk gets ready to turn in, he can't help but grin over at Bella, before falling asleep himself, he reaches out and gently tucks her in.
Geez, when did I get so sappy?
The group beds down inside Ulizmila's abandoned hut and wonder... where did the witch get to? And why did she leave behind such a strange guardian? During Caine's watch rotation he stares at the broken remains of the doorway and the cold air seeping into the small building through the open portal and gets an excellent idea. He grabs a blanket, a few old nail he finds in a jar, and makes an impromptu door covering. While it won't stop any predators, it does create a slight barrier against the cold mists hanging around just outside the doorway... and it helps provide a sense of enclosure and security...
The night watch passes slowly, but thankfully uneventfully; however, sometime during Belladonna's watch she hears the distant howling of wolves towards the north, but beyond that all is quiet. Eventually the rose glow of dawn approaches and you wake just before sunrise. The damp chill of the fog and the terribly vivid nightmares that wracked each of your dreams leaves you feeling tired the next morning and a little slow to wake.
The group starts off, recalling what Milon suggested about finding this dwarven monastery. They start off with a fresh sense of purpose, to find at least seven ironbloom mushrooms and then return to town as quickly as possible! Caine seems to have the best head for directions and utilizing his knowledge of the local terrain and Milon's map he starts off in what he believes is the right direction through the thick woods. Unfortunately there is no trail this time to led their way and after nearly two hours of walking you fall finally find yourselves coming to the edge of the forest and see the massive face of the mountains ahead. Once there Caine takes a little time to consult the map and remember that Milon said to head west along the northern borders of the forest... Another two hours later you begin to wonder if perhaps you went the wrong way?
Until suddenly there it is... Sitting squat at the foot of an imposing mountain, a ruined monastery comes into view between ancient gnarled trees. Made of simple stone blocks, worn smooth with the passage of time, the stout building is falling apart. Sections of the slanted shale roof have collapsed and portions of the outer wall have crumbled. Weeds and wild thorn plants run rampant across the field leading up to the place, leaving only the slightest indication of a path that ends at the ruined front doors. Beyond, an overgrown yard sits in shadow.
"I think I know where I'm going, but I don't have any idea what an Ironbloom mushroom looks like." Caine said as he wound his way through the forest toward the edge of thee mountains where the old monastery was supposed to be.
"Nor do I, but if we find ourselves confronted with a lot of different kinds, we'll just grab everything there is.
Because I bet our herbalist does know, so she can sort them out.
We just have to try and find enough of them."
"Careful." Caine said as the approached the monastery. "Places like this are dangerous just to be in. Old walls and roofs falling on you can kill you as quick as anything else."
"Zilka, Bella, why don't you two take point. Boote and Ruhk will be a few steps behind you. I'll be in the back on "make sure Zirren doesn't try to kill himself again" duty."
Ruhk chuckles a little and winks at Bella.
"Today it looks like it will be ME watching YOUR back then eh?"
"Ruhk, I don't think I've watched your back even once so far." Says Belladonna as she walks past him. Listening to Caine, she enters super halfling stealth mode, and sneaks up to the wall to take a peek.
As Belladonna follows the path she spots two old stone statues flanking the dirt path leading further into the monastery. While one of them is little more than a pile of rubble, the other is relatively intact. It stands at 5' and is incredibly worn, but she can still discern that it appears to be a dwarf holding aloft a great stone hammer. Moss and creeper vines cover most of its surface, but she spots a chiseled inscription around the base beneath the moss and vines.
Belladonna peeks around the broken doors into the yard beyond; however, some rotten boards to the west block much of her vision to the left. What she can see is an overgrown yard with grass coming up nearly to her shoulders, a watchtower immediately to her right, and a pile of rubble in the northeast of the yard where a portion of the walls have collapsed in. Nothing moves within...
If I'm not mistaken, this could be the last place mentioned by my brother in his last letter to our family. He said nothing about the ruin, only that he intended to explore it with a group he met.
As the others head toward the front doors, Zirren noticed a pool of water to the west and wandered over that direction.
"G@%!+&nit Zirren, stay the hell with the group!" Caine snapped in a harsh whisper. "You want to go somewhere, you point out what you see, and you let our scouts do their damn job!"
Caine hauled Zirren back into formation by his shoulder. "I want you to imagine that anything that catches your attention is probably trying to kill you. If you're curious, be cautious too, alright?"
Zirren let out a sharp exhalation of pain as Caine grabbed him by the shoulder the animated cauldron had done the same. A moment of anger shot through Zirren as he wanted to shout at the older man. But it instead became an exhaustive sigh. Caine had only been there for the apparent aftermath of the battle with the Fey, and had seen him get taken in by the Cauldron. Both times, Zirren had ended up unconscious.
But that still really hurt!
"I know you mean well, Caine. But can you please refrain from dragging me around? I am not some errant child who will refuse reasonable requests to not wander off. As it happens, I noticed a large pool of water surrounding the western side of the building and wanted to see what was over there..." Zirren said, turning away from the man. "Perhaps we should have the scouts investigate it." he sarcastically ended his phrase pointing west as Caine had said.
And maybe I'll have to learn how to be more stealthy from Belladonna to avoid your gaze, while I'm at it,. he thought to himself.
Ruhk looks over at Greyson and Zirren for a moment, then he quickly looks away and covers his mouth with one hand to stifle a laugh.
Gee, they sounds like my mum and dad.
Ah, but which is which?
"I'll stop dragging you around when you stop needing to be dragged around." Caine grouched.
Belladonna continues her investigation by sneaking away from the entrance, and instead ducks around the corner of the tower.
I can't hide in the square, it's too open.
From his perspective, Zirren can see the water is quite muddy and brown, he is not sure about its depths.
Belladonna glances around the corner and sees the other side of the collapsed wall from the northeast corner of the yard. Further ahead she can see even more rubble to the north, spilling out towards the forest.
"Then I'll just let you lead the way."
"When we're in a ruin like this you'll let her lead the way." Caine said thumbing toward the halfling. "And so will I."
"I don't mean to harp on you, but ruins are some of the most dangerous places in the world. I wasn't kidding when I said you need to treat everything here like it's trying to kill you. If there isn't some kind of old trap or monster here, I'll be real surprised."
"Surviving places like this comes down to knowing your role and not doing anything unexpected."
"You've got two jobs. You look for magic auras, and make noise if you spot one, and you help me guard the rear."
Ruhk grins at Caine's serious demeanour, but then he frowns and adops one himself.
"You're really getting back into things Caine, seems like some fresh air has given you a fresh perspective on things."
As Ruhk turns back to watch Belladonna's back, he nods to himself, quietly impressed in just how different Caine was now, he even LOOKED differently.
Still a surly bugger, but I would be shocked if he wasn't, heh
Belladonna continues sneaking to the collapsed wall.
From Belladonna's new perspective, she can see the rest of the yard. The tall grasses hamper her view a little, but she spots a closed door leading into the tower on the southeast corner. In the southwest corner, she spots the remnants of a stable. Towards the northwest corner, she makes out a stone well. There are two doorways leading into the interior of the monastery, the doors are rotted and in shambles. She cannot see anything inside the darkened interior. She can also see several paths in the grass; one path leading to each door that is accessible from the courtyard (these would be the visible paths on the map).
Can she spot any tracks on the paths?
Not wanting Bella to get too far ahead, Ruhk deploys his own stealth to play catch up.
As he does not want to be TOO close, he narrows the gap by about half.
Belladonna, yes, it looks like the paths are pretty well traveled; however, from this distance you cannot make out any particulars.
Ruhk, if you could move your icon on the map the indicate your current position.
Belladonna sneaks back to Ruhk to report in whispers.
"The paths have been traveled. I think there are people here."
Staying near the others, Zirren more closely examines the structures front gate as they wait for Belladonna and Ruhk to come back. Then a thought occurred to him. "I presume the iron-bloom mushrooms would grow outside, then we shouldn't have to worry about whatever or whoever is inside here, right? Why don't we just move around outside this area until we come across them."
Zilka and Nathaniel both remember that Ironbloom mushrooms grow in dark areas heavy with metals, particularly iron. They are a staple of meals for the dwarves of the Five Kings Mountains due to the propensity of iron-based objects and darkness in dwarven settlements. In that way they are different from traditional mushrooms that typically thrive in wet, temperate locales.
"People?" Ruhk frowns and strokes his stubbly chin.
"That complicates things...
Let's hope they are not going to try and stop us from what we need to do."
The best approach then, in my opinion, is to not appear as though we are breaking in, like bandits or thieves. Instead we need to find what serves as the front door of this place and announce ourselves and explain our intentions. I've never seen these mushrooms before, but other groundskeepers have talked about them. Ha, well, groundskeepers don't talk about very many things other than, well, taking care of the grounds so you pick up a lot of information about plants and animals, but never mind that. I understand that we should look for these mushrooms in dark places, dry, and perhaps heavy with minerals. That, I believe will mean looking under this place, as if it is a dewarven structure there's likely to be a basement, and that is probably where we will find them. Unless, the tracks here indicate that whoever is living here are not the owners, but some other types who have moved in the absence of the original occupants. In that case we should be cautious, but still until we know for sure I don't think it is a good idea to sneak around.
Zilka, do you know any lore or history associated with this place that might help us?