"Make your purchases and as soon as you're done, I'll have my wizard send you there." Gavirk looks relieved that you're taking this mission on and eager to see it over with.
Gavirk brings you a room where a stern looking older human woman waits, wearing robes of faded blue. She looks you over, seems to find you acceptable and instructs you to stand together, each person touching another. As soon as she nods, Gavirk bids you good luck and suddenly the world drops away...
The forest thins out ahead, revealing a wide river valley cleared of trees. The path descends for a quarter mile to a single stone bridge that spans the river, and then continues up a small hill. Atop this barren hill sits a small, two-story fort surrounded by a thick, partially collapsed outer wall. Slipping close to the fort, you can see a bit more.
The land immediately around Fangwood Keep is predominantly low grass and bushes that slope up with the terrain’s steady grade, and all foliage and obstructions appear to have been cleared from the hill long ago. Countless shallow pits have been dug into the dark river valley soil. More alarming, however, are the signs of recent combat all around—dozens of corpses are littered throughout the courtyard, most human, but some of hobgoblins as well, and all bear signs of an intense battle. The human bodies have been stripped of their equipment, and if not for the broken swords and bows lying about, one might be inclined to think that the dead soldiers fought with the shovels and pickaxes leaning against the inside of the outer wall.
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Ferabras grimaces in silent horror at the body-strewn battlefield, grieving the loss of life for a moment. As he and his companions reach the side of the tower, he scans their surroundings, looking for the secret door they've been told about, but his mind is clearly elsewhere.
He shrugs and pulls out a small vial of liquid, holding it where the others can see and pantomiming drinking it.
Creeping closer you can barely make out the outlines of the secret door you were told about by Gavirk, though it's only obvious now that you know what to look for. You keep to the trees and approach the secret door from a direct route, confident you've not been seen yet. It takes a little work to open the sod-covered trap door and it's clear it's not been opened in some time. Once inside you can see a narrow, rickety ladder that descends 20 feet straight down and connects to an equally narrow dirt tunnel that slips under the keep’s wall. The sides and roof
of the earthen passage are supported by regular wooden braces that were kept in good repair by the Nirmathi occupants of Fangwood Keep before Vos’s incursion.
The tunnel leads to another rickety 20-foot ladder and an exit obstructed by a locked trap door.
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Ferabras drinks down his draught of sneaking about and takes a few experimental steps, pleased that his new armor seems to clank and clang less than usual.
After helping to pry open the hidden door, he joins the others in the tunnel, then steps back and waits for Mikail to sort out the lock on the trap door.
It takes Mikail a couple tries, but he finally pops the old rusted lock. He listens for a moment, but while he can hear the distant, muffled sounds of movement, he can hear nothing that sounds like alert.
You open the trapdoor into a narrow corridor that seems to extend around the keep, within the walls! Dust and cobwebs show that it's mostly disused, but there does seem to be some recently disturbed areas. Through the wall you can hear muffled voices speaking a deep, gruff language.
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Mikail takes a quick peek around the area, moving up to the junction of the halls. He listens carefully to determine which direction the voices are coming from before turning to Hoshiko and whispering "Fight. We need to clear the area.. and I would rather not do it with goblins at my back." While waiting for the others to decide, he drinks one of the potions of Elixir of Hiding.
Moving slowly to the right, you can determine that you're inside the outer wall of the tower! You follow it around, outlining the tower itself. As you reach the south branch you see two things that give you pause: 1, there is the outline of a secret door in the north wall, clearly visible from this side, but presumably hidden from the other; and 2, a man in Molthuni uniform is curled up on the floor, sleeping. He looks dirty and bloodied and as if he's been sleeping rough for a few days.
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Ferabras moves quietly up to the sleeping soldier, studying him a moment. He then kneels by the man's side, lays a clawed hand over his mouth and gently shakes him awake. "Make no noise, friend," the fearsome tiefling says, making an effort to hide his sharp, black teeth, "you look to have had a rough time of it, perhaps we can help. We mean you no harm, but I do wonder who you are and why you are sleeping in this hidden hall, injured as you are."
He lifts his hand off the soldier's mouth ever so slightly, giving the man room to breathe and speak, but ready to silence him should the need arise.
The man's eyes open with a start and he starts to fight, but Ferabras' words cause him to slump. Judging by the fresh bloodstains that appear when he briefly struggled, he's pretty wounded. He nods tensely.
"Hail strangers. My name is Akre Belring, soldier of Molthune. May I ask who you swear allegiance to?" He asks in a low, quiet voice.
The man nods slowly. "Because we followed the orders of a madman, sir. Because we believed our commanding officer's claims."
He tells you that he served under a Lieutenant Vos, a commissioned officer in Molthune's army. Vos lead them to Fangwood Keep, telling them that an ancient cache of weapons was buried here that would turn the tide of the war. They took the Keep, killing its defenders. He set his men to search for a hidden underground entrance to the weapons' vault, but when they found a hidden staircase it held nothing but death. Several soldiers went down and died there, their bloody screams echoing up. Vos ordered more men down, but they refused and mutinied. However, Vos' woman had somehow hired hobgoblin mercenaries, who fell upon the troops and slaughtered them.
"I fought, but they wounded me grievously. I fled into a secret door I found while we were looking for the hidden chamber. The hobs knew nothing of it, and I've been hiding here, sneaking out to steal food and strike against them as best I could. I believe all my fellow Molthuni soldiers are dead. Vos still sends them down into the hole. Clearly he seeks whatever weapon lies below, but I no longer believe he does so for the glory of Molthune. I think he's gone mad, eager to spend as much blood and treasure as he can to get whatever is buried there. May the devils take him for his treachery."
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Ferabras moves back from the man, giving him space and no longer appearing so menacing. "That explains a great deal," he says, reaching into his belt pouch and drawing out a wand, "as we were sent here to find out why a Molthuni commander had gone rogue - and eliminate him. It's still not clear why he's done it, but it's clear he deserves his fate, if he's in league with hobgoblins and using them to kill troops under his own command."
Reaching toward the wounded man with the wand, Fera says, "I am Ferabras. May I heal you? And then, perhaps we can help each other. Anything you can tell us about where the soldiers are, defenses in place, and so on, will be very helpful."
The man nods, grateful for the help. "Please. I can't tell you much, as the Hobs have re-deployed. But I know a bit from my sorties into the Fort since the mutiny. I'll be happy to help you in any way I can."
The man looks healthier after the healing and stands, moving a lot easier. "Unknown. I know Vos is somewhere on the second floor, and his woman, Elessia, is somewhere around. Aside from that, the hobs came in with Elessia and slaughtered my friends. They're professionals."
"Vos is.. well he was a good commander. Obsessed, but driven. Elessia.. I don't know much. She's the commander's woman, so she was off-limits. Smart. Seemed like she knew some magic. Pretty... On the other side here? A storeroom. It's usually empty of anyone. Beyond there are patrols or individuals, who come and go. Without a window, I'm afraid I don't have much idea of time in here."
Mikail emerges into a dusty storeroom. Tall, empty shelves line the walls of this small storage chamber, reaching almost to the ceiling. Two barrels that must have once contained pickles lie on their sides, brine puddles still pooled beneath them. Numerous empty meat hooks dangle from the ceiling.
From the door to the north he can hear the sounds of bubbling, fire crackling and a low-tuneless humming. The smell of meat cooking wafts through the cracks in the closed door.
Most of the stores are old, but Zolarus does see a masterwork hand crossbow and 10 bolts stuffed behind some canisters.
Mikail sees a hallways, and directly across the hall is another door, which is the source of the noise and smells.