The hobgoblin whistles again, two notes this time, and the giant bovine pauses and pricks up its ears.
"O-okay...you've seriously wounded my heat exhausted friend and intern. And my defenceless puppy mount. There's nobody left. You win. If you would let me drag my unconscious companions outside we'll leave you alone to your weird haunted castle in the middle of nowhere."
Nesica moves a little further back after she says this, as she politely asks the winds to blow in a different direction.
The hobgoblin squints at where the sound was coming from, then lowers her bow and whistles again. The buffalo raises its horns into a less threatening position, then starts trudging into its stable. "I've got no clue what an intern is. And I wouldn't call something with that many teeth 'defenseless.' But you can leave in peace. On the off chance you weren't sent here to assassinate me."
"Ha, yeah, funny that...we came here to find some assassins. Of our friends. Because we have assassins after us. Different assassins, but assassins never the less. And we're kind of scared? Anyway, um...nice...meeting you?! And...sorry about your buffalo? I'll leave my healing wand for the burns once I'm finished? Maybe to say sorry?"
Nesica trudges over to Whimsy and attempts to use the wand of cure light wounds.
"And you sure they're not in league with Baskach?" the hobgoblin calls down before she disappears from the window. "That slimy excrement had schemes in Freehold, New Krane, even as far north as Crown's End, when I left. Surely he's only strengthened his hold over the tribe."
Nesica manages to staunch Whimsy's bleeding, though the dog does not waken.
"Is he a hobgoblin? The only hobgoblins I know was a scouting party that almost entirely was eaten by trolls. I think you and them are the first hobgoblins I've ever met."
Nesica thinks for a moment. "Wait...isn't this castle New Krane? The one the hellknights held? That's why we're here. To find out where they went."
Nesica pulls Adi over to where Whimsy is lying and tries to resuscitate her.
Nesica whinces. She really should learn how to use this thing better...
After about half a minute Nesica sees the barn door close with a bang. The hobgoblin's voice issues from the hole left by the buffalo."Yes, he's a hobgoblin. Were they of the Bandusiha tribe? Who was their officer? And no, New Krane is a human settlement down by the coast. This is the original."
"Yes, that's the one. The one who spoke the most said her name was...Saarlan? Does that sound familiar? We saved her and one other...so, apparently they'll save 20% of our guild? I think that's rather thoughtful of them." Nesica pulls Juno to the friend pile and stops for a moment.
"I'm Nesica by the way. Nesica Basti."
Juno Heals
Adi Heals
Juno sits up, seething in anger but using a calming mantra her father taught her to control it, bottle it up to be unleashed on the next poor soul to incur her wrath. She is exhausted, injured, hot, far from civilisation, and is fighting the desire for beefburgers. Instead, she pulls her last potion of cure light wounds from her pack and chugs it to get herself in better shape.
The voice continues to issue from the hole in the door. "Saarlan . . . axis' might, she was just a child when I left. But yes, I know her. Always a little too trusting, but my mother cared for her, so I hope she has not fallen under Baskach's influence."
There's a sound of shuffling behind the door, followed by a bellowed groan you assume to be from the buffalo. The voice is a little more distant. "My name is Arlut of the Bandusiha. Perhaps I have something to learn from Saarlan about trust. If you three are searching for information about the humans who once lived here, you may continue to search the ruins, leaving my home apart from your inspection. I do not know any details about the Hellknights which you city-dwellers would not already know, but I can warn you to carry no metal as you search, and to avoid the northwest tower."
Nesica looks at Juno and Adi's weapons and whinces.
"Thank you, Arlut. Should you find yourself in Eleder, look for the Explorer's Guild. We double as a hospice and safe house from assassins."
Nesica pauses and considers how much magical power she's drawn for the day. She thinks she is nearly ar her limit, so she continues, "We are...pretty exhausted. We might try and hunker down for the day somewhere close. Any reason we shouldn't carry metal? Or avoid the tower. Also...do you need my wand? Can you use it?"
"The creatures wandering the grounds devour metal wherever they find it. And the tower is inhabited by a great dragon."
"Hobgoblins don't use magic. Got no clue how, and no desire to learn."
"Dragon? You said dragon, right?" Juno looks down at her musket and shakes her head. "We're going to need some bigger guns if we want to take something like that on. All I have is this, and if it gets eaten by metalvores or whatever, that's me done, good only as a distraction or meatshield."
"A dragon," Arlut confirms. The buffalo bellows again as if also confirming.
Nesica tugs on Juno's pants leg, "I remember Ilisa saying she spotted a dragon flying over the Bandu Hills about 8 months ago. You suppose it is one and the same?"
She asks Arlut, "Have you seen the dragon? What did it look like?"
"And regardless, we'll need to recuperate before we go further. While I don't like our chances with a dragon, we might yet find information nearby. Until next time, Arlut."
Nesica asks for some help moving Whimsy, and suggests the party set up camp down the trail. She also asks what Adi knows about dragons.
"It's surprisingly stealthy. But I've seen dark red wings 50 feet long, and a cruel, intelligent face. It brings back cows and humans, but never hobgoblins, for some reason."
Juno slings her musket across her bulging pack, and scoops Whimsy into her arms as she mentally runs over what she knows about red dragons, and the size Arlut is implying.
She looks down at Nesica. "We're tired, battered, I'm low on ammo, we could do with some more healing and firepower. My vote is that we head back to Eleder, round up some rookie Guild Members ready to strut their stuff, and come back to kick its ass en masse."
Actually, taking Whimsy in her arms will bring Juno up to heavy encumberance. So she's going to immediately realise her mistake, hand the dog to Adi, and grimace, putting a hand to her back and growl "We need a gods-damn cart for this. I can't keep lugging all this stuff around myself."
Nesica scratches her nose, 'Maybe we should look into some kind of magical solution...'
'I do have to wonder if we really have the manpower to pull off facing a dragon. Most of our recruits, while spirited, are more used to fighting rotting corpses, oversized fauna and people than they are dragons. But I suppose if we bring enough people we'll be able to..maybe...overwhelm it with numbers.'
"Oh no, I FULLY expect us to be losing people. But that's what happens when you go adventuring, you risk your life for potential rewards. We've got a shapeshifter back home, we've got a big hulking orc guy, probably a few fighters and spellcasters and healers around town we could rope into fighting a dragon for a share of whatever treasure it has. Hell, we could try to angle for a bounty from Eleder to get rid of what has to be a pretty troublesome aerial pest taking cattle and people. At the very least, the more targets it has to divide its attention between, the less likely it is that we'll be the ones who bite the dust."
In between pained grunts from the buffalo, Arlut speaks through the hole. "That's similar to an old practice, since outlawed, wherein the Bandusiha sent monkey goblins ahead of warbands to soften up Bas'o camps. But goblins have a much faster rate of reproduction than even orcs, don't they?"
"Orcs are also tougher to kill," Juno retorts. "But it's nice to see the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Goblins is having an effect."
Arlut's voice takes on a tinge of annoyance. "Hobgoblins are also tougher to kill, but we don't enter combat unless absolutely necessary. Do you need to fight this dragon? If you sorely wound it but fail to kill it before yourselves dying, it may express its pain on the buildings here."
"A good point. More than likely we simply lack the capabilities to fight it at all, even in numbers. We should probably investigate the fort, then leave, rather than risk a battle we cannot win on current resources."
Juno hangs back a bit, dragging Whimsy behind her and puffing quietly.
Nesica kicks a rusted helmet into the wall.
The party noisily crosses the courtyard, passing a decrepit well and the stumps of trees felled long ago. They come to the strange building with the dome and four spires. It is one of the most scarred by fire, and the ornate spires and metal roof are melted in places from the apparently immense heat. The building has a sort of roofed veranda all the way around, but in places this roof is melted through, and in many places the wooden floor has burned to ash. The walls are built of stone, which has been scorched beyond all recognition. There is one double door, and one very narrow hole in the wall on the southern side of the building.
Juno has a bad feeling as they approach. If could be her gut trying to warn her, or it could just be the strain of her pack combined with imminent exhaustion.
Adi explains that the building is reminiscent of a temple of Aroden in the basic architectural style, but also oddly mimics an Asmodean aesthetic.
Juno suggests "Let's at least have a look before we go blundering on in. It seems like a big building, there's a lot of fire damage, this could be the damn dragon's lair." She will take cover on the right side of the larger door, and peer around carefully.
Juno approaches the building's only door, which is closed. She doesn't hear anything inside the building. Peering around, she sees that some of the hinges near the top of the door have melted together.
Nesica is going to wait on Juno's okay, though she is beginning to wonder if maybe she should have had Juno leave behind her musket. And her gunpowder...
Juno looks around, one last time at her comrades. [B"Are we SURE we want to do this?"[/B]
Nesica makes a slicing motion across her neck and points towards the gate out.
"Okay. We know the place, we know the knights aren't here, if we ever want to kill a dragon we know where to find one and probably loot its hoard. But we don't have to stay."
And Juno will lead the way out, to find somewhere outside the fort where they can set up camp for the night.
Juno is able to find an appropriate campsite - that cave with the wind instrument that Nesica discovered some hours ago makes a fine shelter from the ascending sun's heat and would doubtless be tactically defensible should the party stay until nightfall. It is also only about fifteen minutes from the entrance of the fortress.
Juno still has three days worth of food, so she suggests they camp for a couple of days to recover and then head on or back.
The party rests through the hottest part of the day without issue. The soil dries back into granular ash very quickly, soaking up most of the heat as it does so, and the wind helps convect heat away from the party's skin. Whimsy does not awaken all day - it's still seriously injured, though at least the internal bleeding seems to have been stopped by Nesica's wand.
Juno tends to the wounds of Whimsy, the only competent member of this team.
Juno takes over boiling water and ripping rags to bind Nesica's dog's wounds.
Juno will also try to nurse the rest of the group to better health.
Juno then begins binding her and Nesica's wounds. Unfortunately, she botches the job of sewing up the hole in Adi's leg, and the stitches come out within a couple hours.