"If we are in need of rest, then this building seems as good as any. Let us heal up before we sleep as well.
Hits off the CLW wand:
Indeed, the hour has grown late; the sun set over an hour ago and Taranis had to finish piecing the map together in the dying twilight. Still, with a little magical help, the search can continue.
The ground floor has six rooms, in addition to the central hallway and stairwell. The two rooms in the southwest corner at the entrance to the blockhouse are purely utilitarian in their purpose, allowing the blockhouse's defenders to rain murderous fire on anyone trying to gain entry.
The room to the west of the main hallway is an armory: a large number of weapons and suits of armor are stored here. The gear seems to have been rifled through but not thoroughly searched.
The room in the northwest corner, contains a bed, a chest of drawers, and a sparring dummy, and seems to have been searched thoroughly.
To the northeast is a bunkhouse that holds bunks for a dozen individuals and has hooks on the wall for their clothing and equipment.
Finally, the room to the southeast houses a small well and several full water barrels to provide a secondary water supply in case the outer stockade falls to attackers. Twenty buckets are stacked against the south wall.
The bunkroom appears largely devoid of valuables. Thoroughly ransacked trunks stand at the end of each bunkbed, containing only clothes and assorted oddments, all in disarray. All twelve beds appear to have seen recent use. There is no sign of any violent struggle: no blood stains, no slashes in the bedsheets, no damage to the timbers on the door. Nothing.
"Zed, go through the room with all the papers everywhere. you're the fastest reader by far."
Taranis heads down one floor. "Bytor, it doesn't look like the armory has been thoroughly searched. Can you scan it for magic and anything of masterwork quality? I also think we're going to need to refresh ammunition."
Taranis takes the bedroom with the dummy and gives it a good search for either magic items, valuables, or writing.
"Marc, Augrym, look over the water room next."
Indeed, the bedroom is devoid of valuables. The chest contains a few rumpled shirts that have been rifled through, but nothing else. The sparring dummy looks stout and well used.
Eager to prove himself valuable, Bytor nods agreement and heads to the armory and casts detect magic. He takes some times some time to go through and see if he can find anything magical or something of value in the chamber.
We stormed into this place pretty distracted. I don't recall whether we noted a basement or ohter rooms off the first floor...?
The armory is actually well-stocked, though mostly with mundane suits of armor and standard-issue weapons. Bytor does find one masterwork breastplate and a +1 morningstar that are higher quality than the rest. Among the ammunition stores he finds 200 arrows and 100 crossbow bolts.
Unrak does not recall seeing a basement of any kind.
Augrym, thinking with his stomach, decides to check the kitchen. Mostly looking for food but will check all of the drawers and cupboards first in order to make sure it's a pretty thorough checking. He will share the food findings and other findings with his brother.
Casting Guidance first.
Because it is also simple to do, he also casts Sift to ensure things are not missed.
Also, after clarifying what Tannis meant by the water room, Augrym will check out this room next. He will be checking under every surface and in every drawer or cupboard. If there's furniture, he will move it as this was an order from his leader and does not want to disappoint.
Casting Guidance first.
The kitchen is well stocked with the usual pots, pans, and foodstuffs. The larder contains a large number of vegetables and grains, most of which has spoiled.
Augrym's search of the well room is more fruitful: he finds a hidden niche in the wall of the well, a few feet above the waterline. Inside are six potions, which Zed identifies as potions of water breathing. It seems Maegar Varn had designed the well to connect to the Kiravoy River down hill, providing an emergency underwater escape route in the event of attack.
Once the fort has been checked, Taranis shuts the door and bars it. "Let us get some sleep. In the morning we'll check the rest of town."
Both the inner and outer doors of the blockhouse have been smashed in, and a gaping hole in the inner wall also provides testament to your forceful entry. Securing the blockhouse for the night will take a bit of work.
Although he is eager for rest, he wants to make sure they are safe. Bytor works to secure the blockhouse.
”I think your forced entry makes it available for anyone to get in now. I’ve made a good effort to secure it, but I’m not feeling confident it will hold against anyone half determined to get in.”
Zed's knowledge of engineering is robust. He just throws a plan together
Marc does not find anything but blood and splinters in the blockhouse entryway.
It takes a couple of hours of work from the whole team, cutting and nailing in fresh timbers, but by the end of it you have a makeshift door obstructing entry into the blockhouse.
The hour is now quite late, and you each curl up in a corner of the building as free from the stench of death as you can find.
Why are you looking here?
Fortunately, nothing disturbs you in the night. Dawn greets a chilly morning over Varnhold on [color=teal]15th Lamashan[/color].
After a full night of rest, Bytor wakes refreshed. ”You’re an early riser.” Bytor acknowledges Marc. ”Do we have a plan yet for day? I’m wondering if we can try and follow up on any leads of Evril Pendrod. I would like to know what has become of him. Hopefully, these spriggans did not find him.”
"Good Morning! Let's see if we can get some answers this day. I don't expect foes, not in the fort anyway. Let's close that gate and begin a search."
Taranis heads towards the Western building.
The western outbuilding is long, low, and composed of logs closely chinked with a mixture of mud and mortar. The interior is stuffed with dried fruits and vegetables, bags of grains, and assorted roots and tubers, as well as many tools and a fair quantity of lumber.
The team scans the warehouse with magical detection, and then makes a reasonably thorough search through the food. Taranis also takes the time to make a guess as to how long the food has been here.
Taranis carefully combs the warehouse, a task which takes hour. The foodstuffs are well dried and stored, allowing the defenders of the fort to resist an extended siege. He finds no trace of poison among the stores, and in fact Maegar Varn appeared to have a high-quality operation for growing, drying, and storing a portion of the what the farms in town produced each season.
The orderly, seasonal procession of drying and storing indicates to Taranis that the operation stopped about three months ago. While there are many spring vegetables and fruits like carrots, cabbage, and rhubarb, there are almost none of the summer seasonals like blueberries, blackberries, and tomatoes.
About a week's worth of venison jerky is missing from the shelves.
|
After a full night of rest, Bytor wakes refreshed. ”You’re an early riser.” Bytor acknowledges Marc. ”Do we have a plan yet for day? I’m wondering if we can try and follow up on any leads of Evril Pendrod. I would like to know what has become of him. Hopefully, these spriggans did not find him.”
"I think the Baron is right. I don't expect any more resistance in the fort. But we still need to figure out what exactly happened here."
Marc moves to the East with Byton...
Marc approaches a small building that has an open front, where a forge and anvil sit unused. On a work bench in the back is partly-finished mithral breastplate. While the quality of the armor is unquestionable, it seems the smith did not have time to finish the work...
With a sigh, Taranis checks the suspected outhouses.
Indeed, the latrines are full of turds.
Marc finds the corral empty save for a number of gnawed and picked bones. The area is surrounded by split-rail fence that, anchored at one end by a rough shed built from logs. Inside the shed are two mostly depleted casks of ale, and two wooden mugs.
Satisfied with the search of the fort, Taranis motions to the party that it's time to head into the town again. He makes his first stop at the large building directly east of the fort.
The sturdy wooden walls of this house have been staved in at several locations, and the heavy door has been battered down. Inside, the place has been thoroughly ransacked; in fact, it appears that someone smashed open many of the walls to look for hidden compartments, containing... something.
"The tools scattered over the floor are those of a gemcutter. Ah, while true Marc, it's important that we both get them back, and help them use this stuff to rebuild."
Before leaving, Marc takes the partially finished breastplate.
"The cost of the material alone can help get this town back on it's feet..."
Unrak rumbles That breastplate is paid for. It's the one I commissioned!
"Is it brother? Seriously? Then wear it with pride!"
"Is it brother? Seriously? Then wear it with pride!"
It's not finished.
|
|
Marc chuckles as the brothers figure out who is right as he packs the unfinished breastplate in his pack and heads down the hill with the rest of the group.
The travel down the hill and continue their search with the two builds on the right that they approach first.
Marc inspects the building for about 10 feet away before opening the door.
Both of these structures turn out to be family homes, and are in a similar state to the ones you entered yesterday. As before, the implements of daily living are still largely set about, as if the owners simply went out for a stroll this morning. Yet the rotted food that still sits on the stove indicates otherwise.
The only meaningful difference between these homes and the ones across the river is that these appear to have been searched more recently.
Three other houses down the road are in similar states of abandonment.
This giant barn has both a cargo door on the front and a smaller door on the side where a lean-to abuts the structure. The strong odor of barley and other grains wafts through the seams in the clapboard walls. A large raven sits atop the barn's entrance, peering at you almost curiously. As you approach, it wings away to land atop the fort's watchtower, where it caws once, then flies westward behind the hill and out of sight.
Taranis and Toth also look about, eager for information....
sniff sniff
Neither Taranis nor Toth uncover anything untoward on the exterior of the structure...
"So why is this place abandoned. Do you folks have any clues at all? Do you think it was those spriggans?"
"Aye, we just don't know. Marc, Augrym, can you do the honors on this door?"
My guess is the spriggans were opportunists & took advantage of the empty town. No way would that number of fey be able to clear out this town--AND neatly dispose of all those bodies.
Everyone nods at Unrak's observation. Marc and Augrym then agree to open the doors on the count of three (both also agreeing to go ON three.)
Bytor draws his bow and notches an arrow as he waits in anticipation of what is beyond the doors.
Bytor nods to his companions to indicate that he is ready.