The dwarf ducks down lower holding his crossbow tight and whispers, "By my grandfather's dusty beard what have we walked into, Donner have you seen those banners before I don't recognize them."
"We should march right down and offer salutations. You think the dragon came from there?"
"What should we do? I want to go to the ships, explore the area under the town here, and chase down the army all at once!"
Hu'tonkton eyes the ships far below, then looks at the lift. "Mayhap we send the kender down for a look? He will be the lightest, and easiest to haul back up if he encounters danger."
Rumal looks at Hu as if he had just asked 'What is a Tree?' "Haf yu nod ever shpoke wif a Kender? Lidest? Haul back if deres danzher? Trap here will nod be back anytime soon wif all the shtuff to see on tha shipsh. Ehvun worsh, if deres danzher he will fine it shporting an make a calmam.. *hic* a clamat.. *hic* a ruckus." He shakes his head in disbelief, stopping soon after due to making himself dizzy.
|
Know Nobility
I think that to send anyone yonder might induce too much noise for us to get a better look without being detected. The banner is that of a Red Dragon, creatures we now knoweth first hand might exist along with the darkness we hath already seen.
I'm happy that little brother has found a faith to believe in, I am, but with what we saw whilst leaving Solace, and now this, perhaps another army, I fear we have fled the start of a war we might have made a real difference in. We need to warn people of what is coming, if it hasn't already reached them. We should travel to Solomnia. The knights there can fight these armies.
"You really think the ships are full of things!"
starts jumping up and down......
None of the checks help you recognize the owners of the Red Dragon sigil. Considering they united goblin-kind, tribalistic humans, and dragons in some sort of army, they may be from the far east.
The army has cleared out- for how long, you're not sure. It would be a safe bet that the dragon is not the sole occupant of the caverns beneath the ruined city.
The hound archon waits patiently for you to proceed, having returned to his mastiff form with impatience.
"Hey look a slobbery dog!"
"Alright, trap you and me will sneak in and check things out. Now Trap you will not leave me sight or I will cut off your top knot!" The dwarf bellows in a whisper as only a dwarf can. Then starts moving down towards the ships.
Stealth
"I have a spare topknot dwarf!"
The diminutive companions wrap their arms around the chain, and slide as quietly as possible down past the cave opening on the landing, and to the sandy beach. A number of rowboats have been left abandoned under the protection of the ledge.
The cave has a few points of light,deep in the distance. You can tell by the breeze of stale air, that the cavern is huge, and full of stagnant water.
Trusting the dwarves ability to lead, Trap grabs ahold of his back belt-loop, allowing the dwarf to lead the way.
Durom moves closer to the row boats looking for tracks in the sand, "Bwa, let me know if you hear anybody. We can't let any scouts find us since we don't know how close the army is."
So it looks like the bulk of army landed, milled around on the beach, and moved out- some across the thin band of beach moving south, and some to the landing where the winch hoisted them up.
Your check tells you that most of the tracks are over a week old. 3 or 4 pairs of fresh tracks lead back to the water.
"I had a dream last night, if I place my hands on the ship and pray I can see through the hull or a door and into the ship"
Hu watches the two little men safely make the sand beach below. He draws his bow and readies an arrow, but then looks toward the strange dog-man.
"This other entrance, in the cliff face - what do you know of it? And of these others, who have entered here?"
He felt only slightly silly addressing a dog.
"Sure go ahead Trap and look through the boat." He says mockingly.
"Likely I will just see darkness! Maybe on a door later on."
"Shall we board one?"
The hound speaks in a gravely voice I have been trapped here for nearly 300 years. I feel the disks and the dragon below us. I can feel that the dragon takes flight out of the cave to hunt. Unfortunately I do not know the layout below us. You will have to find your path yourself. The crypts below this temple lead further down, but outside of the protection of the temple there may be just as many dangers as scaling the side of the cliff.
"Dangers! How exciting! Sign me up."
Throws hands over mouth...
"Was that too loud?"
Hu'tonkton nods in response to the dog-man. He couldn't imagine how this creature had spent the long years, alone and holed away in a dusty temple. Waiting for someone to stumble upon this place. Did he ever lose faith, when the winds howled in the deep of the night?
Shading his eyes against the sun, he squints down at their companions. "Do they intend on searching out some information, or standing around until they are found out?"
The dwarf and kender decide to board one of the ships hopefully remaining unnoticed in the meantime.....
The dwarf concurs.
"I don't see anyone, good stuff should be in the captains cabin!"
Heads for the door....
"Agreed.....did I just agree with Trap, oh brother I am loosing it in my old age. Not thinking treasure myself but maps or war journals to find out more of this dragon army." Durom barks back to the kender.
The ships sway in waves, anchored so that they do not drift far or into each other. The deck you climb up to on the closest ship is wells scrubbed, and mostly empty.
Durom misses whatever it is.
Perception
To over-hear conversations
"We agree dour dwarf, maps are treasures!"
Holds his finger to his lips and the dwarf...
"I hear the secrets that you keep when your talking in your sleep."
points to the coil of ropes.
AVASTTT YEEE! screams a small green goblin who leaps from his hiding spot among coils of rope for the rigging. He wears a jaunty black hat, and wields a cutlass almost twice his size. Apparently this is the guard left to mind the ship!
"Yee A VAST Yerself!" With that the dwarf drops his crossbow letting the sling catch it and draws his hammer, tries to crush the goblins skull.
Initiative
"You are outmatched goblin!"
Shortsword attack , Damage
-Stab and grab....sleight of hand
The goblin scratches at the kender with his saber, but finds a short sword has pierced his heart. He falls squealing to the deck, awash in blood.
The deck returns to eerie silence, with the waves lapping against the hull.
"The cabin then."
Heads to the door and using his door sight ability looks through the door to the cabin beyond......
Durom nods to the Kender and moves to the cabin door warhammer in hand.
The cabin door flies open, revealing a dusty and cluttered mess.
You notice the piles of clothes and rags turned into a makeshift nest under the captain's desk. It is apparent that the goblin left to guard the ship found the leftover stash of rum and settled in to the best digs on the ship.
"At least we ended his life quickly, the captain would have done far worse before killing him."
Perception
Automatic perception check within 10 of a trap
The room is disheveled, and most of the belongings from the previous occupant have been removed. What stands out, strikingly among the mess, is a series of nautical maps predating the cataclysm. In the sequence, tacked to the wall, is the current location and what apparently is the route that the ships sailed to Xak Tsaroth. However, some of the maps in the sequence are missing- removed from the wall.
The origin of the fleet, the route that they took, is from the east. However the first (or maybe first several) maps are not present.
Other than the mess from the goblin's nest, you find a sextant and compass useful for navigation at sea.
Trap rolls up the maps and grabs the sextant and compass.....
"Look treasures abound!"
"Maybe we should get tha others on board?"
"Wouldn't hurt, maybe they'll see something were missing."
The dwarf and kender return to gather the others to explore/sink the ships.....
Sink the ship you're on first, or search the ships first?
"Now where did we leave them others....You don't think they wandered oft do you?"
Hu'tonkton watches as the dwarf and kender return. "Did you find anything out of value? What of the passage into the cliffs? Should we follow that path, or return to the broken stairs?"