Unsure of what the lantern might signify, Tal decides to pack it anyway so that the goblins couldn't use it.
She'll also check out the papers on the bugbear's desk to see if anything there looks noteworthy.
Otherwise, she is happy to follow Zelligar.
"I can head on down first, no offense I hope." He lets go an ioun torch and begins to descend down, "Not to mention if its old and falls apart at least I can catch you; I'm just a little heavier you see."
"No offense taken. I will follow."
Tal'ariel doesn't understand the vast majority of the notes, but there's an opened letter on top of the pile that she can read.
It's in Draconic, adressed to "Wyrmlord Koth", a brief message saying that the horde will be ready to march "tomorrow", the same day that the sorcerer is due to recieve the letter. They're supposed to reach the Skull Gorge Bridge in five days, and Koth is to call back his raiders for now, leaving the scouts in the field. It's signed by one Wyrmlord Hravek Kharn, Talon of Tiamat.
Deeper in the pile, there's what looks like drafts for speeches, penned in goblin. Lots of stuff about being the vanguard of the red hand, taking back what rightfully belongs to the goblins, vengeance on the human race, their descendants living in bountiful fields and so on and so forth.
Most of the writings are in a language she doesn't understand. There's also an old-looking leatherbound book, written using the same alphabet.
You make your way down the ladder, clambering down a long, long way until your feet hit solid ground.
You're standing in a short hallway, carved into the rock. The right-hand wall is made up of iron bars, with a gate set into it.
A long-dead man is sitting up against the gate, the rags of his clothes still clinging to his bones. In one skeletal hand he grasps the remains of some kind of sword, rusted away to the point of breaking; the blade lies across his legs. In the other hand, he's carrying what looks like a solid shard of shadow.
His belt appears unaffected by the rot that has taken his clothes and flesh.
The oversized arrow sticking out from his ribs is probably what did him in, ages ago.
Looking beyond the skeletal, beyond the iron bars of the gate, you spot three alcoves, each of them lit by a still flaming torch.
The first one holds three chests. The second holds the remains of a leather chair and a mannequin, dressed a suit of yellow robes reinforced with strangely shimmering mail. The remains of a longbow hangs on the wall behind the robes, but unlike the robe it has not weathered the ravages of time.
The third alcove contains a crudely made, extremely oversized spiked gauntlet, a set of hide robes, and a display cabinet made of glass and wood, the contents of which you cannot make out from here.
"Oooooh."
DETECT MAGIC!!
Zelligar will Take 10 for a 20 Spellcraft on anything.
If there is anything he can't get with a 20, he'll ask Tal'ariel to take a look.
The solid shard of shadow?
His belt?
The torches?
The yellow robe?
The longbow?
The hide robes?
The giant spiked gauntlet?
Anything else?
Slipping the belt off of the corpse, Zelligar takes a good look. It appears to be a belt of incredible dexterity +2. He also grabs the shard of shadow - it looks sharp - and turns it over under his magical vision. Its functions remain a mystery to him.
He'll need to get closer to the rest of the items to get a proper look at them, but there's magical auras lingering around the torches, both pairs of robes, the oversize spiked gauntlet, and a stronger one eminating from something inside the display cabinet.
Experimentally pulling the gate, it's clear that it's locked. You'll need a key, or to force this thing open.
"There's some interesting writings here, a mix of propaganda, battle plans, and a rather large book I can't read." Tal'ariel tries to recognize the language that the unknown text is written in, and perhaps get the gist of what it might be. . But she really doesn't know much.
"Be careful of traps. Whatever felled that man might still be an active trap." Tal'ariel will look for said trap.
Even though she doesn't see it right away, she's willing to keep looking. Unless someone else spots it first or gets impatient.
Tal'ariel finds no traps anywhere in here.
"I think you know all the languages I do and more. But I can prepare a spell to read those texts tomorrow."
Zelligar will search the corpse for a key. Taking 10 for a 24.
"Perhaps we can get this gate open? I'd rather not brute force it..." He gestures to the arrow in the man, "Could be trapped right? Think one of you can use some skill to get this opened? I have an anytool if you need it."
"If that body doesn't have a key, I can try the lock." Tal'ariel will try to pick the lock.
Iris takes the piece of bedding that she is offered. "This is perfect."
Iris follows the others down into the dungeon. She patiently waits and listens to all that the party describes for her. She is about to offer to try to pick the lock when the she-elf does the job.
"The belt sounds like something I could use. Do you think it would go with my outfit?"
"It would, Iris, but Tal'ariel would also benefit from the belt. Let's see what else we find and come up with a fair division of goods.
This place was destroyed by giants long ago? It looks like this man was slain by a giant's arrow, though he must have made it back down here to his vault before dying. I don't think giants could fit in this tunnel."
Zelligar does not relish the thought of having to side with his fellow halfling against his fellow student of the arcane, or vice versa. He is actually quite fond of all his new comrades.
Tal'ariel struggles a little with the lock, but soon has it open.
The gate is in surprisingly good condition, considering how long it must've gone without maintenance. It swings open without a sound.
"Got it!" says the elf after popping the lock open. "Okay, let's see what we have here." Tal'ariel looks for magic and starts looking around for anything interesting.
The three torches, one mounted in each alcove, are all magical.
In the first alcove, there's three chests. None of them radiate magic.
The second alcove contains a leather chair, and a display mannequin up against the wall, dressed in armored yellow robes. These radiate magic. There's also a bow there, nonmagical, but it has been ruined by the passage of time, to the point of uselessness.
The third alcove seems to be dedicated to trophies - there's the giant spiked gauntlet, and the hide robes, both magical. The display cabinet contains a headband made of thorny-looking plants, still green and fresh, several giant's teeth, set on a string, and the skull of a very small dragon. There's also several vials and small containers of liquids here.
The headband radiates magic, as does a single of the containers of liquid, leaving 6 other vials.
"This is quite a treasure trove. We're very fortunate to have found it." Tal will start attempting to identify the items before her.
Bran takes a few steps around, just admiring what has been buried away for so long. He feels the gauntlet and the robe, not knowing what magic lies within but he can clearly tell they are of stunning quality.
He tries to identity the plants, but seems to have no idea. "I have no clue what most of this is doing down here but I'm glad to have found it. Nice job with the lock." He pats her on the back, not heeding if Tal is looking at an item at the time.
Iris stands there smiling and staring blankly, but keeping a mental inventory of the loot.
The armored yellow robes function as a mithral chain shirt +1 with the following enhancement.
Price: +1 bonus
Property: Armor
Caster Level: 5th
Aura: Faint; (DC 17) transmutation
Activation: —
This armor possesses a faint, sunset-colored
sheen.
Armor that has this property is favored by
elves and other characters who mix arcane
magic and melee combat. A suit of twilight
armor reduces the chance of arcane spell
failure by 10%.
Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and
Armor, cat’s grace.
Cost to Create: Varies.
Meanwhile, the hide robes are a set of robes of needles, the thorny headband of living greens is a headband of inspired wisdom +2, and the magical liquid is a salve of the second chance.
The torches are standard Everburning Torches.
Like Zelligar, Tal'ariel is unable to determine exactly what the shard of shadow is supposed to do, other than the fact that it can be wielded as a dagger.
"Quite an amazing find here!
If Nethys grants me the power, I shall cast Speak With Dead tomorrow to ask Isawa if we should use this elixir on him. And I shall try to break the curse on Iris, and read those documents. Perhaps Tal'ariel and I can try again on this shadow-dagger."
Zelligar recalls a fact about samsaarans, such as their recently deceased companion. It's actually highly dubious if he'd at all be able to return from the dead, given that his kind are said to be reborn the same instant they die. There's a good chance that the soul that used to be Isawa is right now inhabiting some babe pulling its first breath somewhere across the world.
Tal'ariel's jaw drops as she begins to identify the various items. "Incredible, whoever was here must have been collecting all of these items as trophies, perhaps from victory in combat." She describes all that she identifies in the third alcove before heading over to the second.
Finding the item unusually familiar, she began staring at it, feeling it between her hands, and even smelling it. "I don't believe it. This is Elven, made of the finest mithral, and imbued with the shimmer of sunset. I lived my entire childhood as a child of a blacksmith and never was I able to touch something so fine. I could only see it from afar. Only the greatest elven spellswords would be found with such armor. Oh, my father would be so jealous, if only he could see this. . . feel this . . ."
She looks to the others, holding it open as if she's ready to wear it before pausing, realizing she was assuming too much. "If you don't mind, of course . . ."
"Please, I have no issue with you trying it on." He raps his knuckles on the breastplate from earlier, "I can't really say nothing." He walks up to the giant gauntlet and just feels around, "I would never want to take a blow from one of these," turning to Zelligar he asks the halfling a question that floats into his mind, "I don't know much about the arcane and divine arts but what can we do with this? Its a little too big for yours truly." He lets out a lighthearted chuckle and immediately tries to lift it for the fun of it.
"Though at some point we need to leave this respite and get back to work; I hate to be the taskmaster here but lives are on the line."
"Let's also look in the chests in the first alcove. Even if not magic, there could still be items of interest.
Iris, the belt of agility is yours. And the robe of needles if you wish.
Tal'ariel, I think that armor is yours. A masterpiece of Elven craftsmanship and arcane prowess.
Bran... I suppose we leave the gauntlet here as a trophy? Or perhaps with Tal'ariel's new spell she could turn you into a giant to use it."
"But I agree, we should finish up here and be on our way."
You rifle through the chests. The first one is filled with money, the second with various documents - most seem to be letters of credit, most likely describing claims held with people long dead. You also find a deed in there though, claiming that the holder of said document is the rightful owner of the Vraath Keep, and some of the lands around it.
You could probably use this to claim the keep for yourself, if it has any interest. Of course, you'd mostly be holding it by dint of having the strength to keep other people out, but this document could still lend you a measure of legitimacy.
The third chest contains books. Cracking one open, you find records pertaining to the keeps, mostly short descriptions of notable events such as harvests and raids, as well as a running ledger of finances. All the other books are the same sort of thing; there's enough tomes to cover a few hundred years of history.
Iris fastens the belt of incredible dexterity around her waist. "Wow! The treasure sounds so wonderful. I wish I could see it." Following the fox's directions, she reaches into the pile of coins and 'splashes' herself with silver and gold.
Satisfied, she then blindly practices drawing and sheathing her rapier as quickly as she can. "I think I am getting the hang of this."
"I'd take a long break with this kind of wealth, if it weren't for the imminent threat of invasion. Can we carry this stuff and still go after the bugbear? If so, let's do it. If not, let's try to keep at least the gold and platinum, as I'm sure we'll need the funds."
Tal'ariel starts gathering the book and papers that she cannot read, figuring they'll be useful in the future. She will carry a bit of the gold too, as long as it doesn't weigh her down.
"We can probably fit the gold and platinum in saddlebags. And the bugbear's documents, and the deed. The silver and the histories can stay here, I think. I don't think the bugbear even knew this vault was here. It's well hidden. We could probably leave all the valuables here, though I understand that could feel risky.
Do we want to use this keep as our base tonight, after our bugbear hunt, or head back to Drellin's Ferry?
We do need to warn them, although Yulai can go warn them first with what we know now. From this keep we are closer to scouting out the bridge and the mustering point."
Iris says, "There's cold beer, hot food, and soft beds in Drellin's Ferry. We could sell our loot and buy shiny new things! The townsfolk won't be in danger for days."
"We can decide where we will base after our bugbear hunt and scouting. Take what we can, seal this place back up and be on our way."
Despite trying to sound businesslike, Tal'ariel can't fully suppress preening at her new robes. She visibly shakes off her distraction.
"Yulai should go back and tell Drellin's Ferry what's happening so they can muster a militia and evacuate civilians. Indeed, she might just tell each of the places on her path so they are forewarned. If we want to do that, we should give Yulai the map of the battle plans so the townspeople can see for themselves. Agreed?"
If they end up giving Yulai the map, Tal'ariel will be sure to take note of the important facts.
"Ha I was just kidding about the gauntlet; it would be pretty if we can get it out of here when things settle down though." He starts packing up the coins for the party, "What can we do with this deed? Think the people of the nearby area would want it? Could very well protect them in the eventual push that will happen."
He finishing tying up a bag, "Drinks, food and bed would be good at some point, but I'm always ready to go if we decide to continue." Bran looks down at Iris, "Though Iris here needs some assistance, I can't imagine what it's like with no sight and I would hate for her to get injured further due to our haste."
Bran hustles up the ladder and back to the horses, saddling them up and ensuring that they're set to go. By the time he returns down to the bottom of the trapdoor, he finds his companions waiting. "Well uh I figured that regardless of what we do, we need to saddle the horses." He flashes a grin, "We don't want to tire them out with all this weight on them so..." He begins to climb back up and gets back to the horses, shocked at himself. A few years back that would be met with branding, chains and worse, guess it will be awhile before it feels natural.
He waits for his allies before marching off with them, soothing his patron's sacred animals until they arrive. He knows that if this recon mission goes poorly they have to flee, and he fastens his gear to ensure it doesn't give him away if he needs to do some scouting.
"Good call Bran," agrees Tal'ariel simply, missing the subtle hint of hesitation and uncertainty. Already packed up, she leads the way back up the ladder, making sure Iris can safely ascend as well.
* * *
Back up in daylight, Tal'ariel hops onto her saddle and takes a deep breath of fresh air. "Let's see what Boots can do after getting a strong scent. But let's not tarry too long. I'd prefer to make it back to Drellin's Ferry by nightfall."
She bids farewell to Yulai. "I am sad for Isawa's passing, but feel better in the confidence that he will come back once more to the lands of the living. Take good care of him and spread the word of this attack to the towns in the Vale. They'll need as much time as possible to prepare for the attack." It occurs to her that she perhaps ought to hug Yulai, but she never felt that comfortable with hugs. Instead, she just nods.
The fox can't follow the trail from here, as while flying, the sorcerer didn't leave much of any scent on the ground.
You'll have to pick up the trail after he landed. You have a few options there. The sorcerer seems to have been headed straight north, at least initially, so if you head straight north through the wilderness for a mile, you might happen upon the place his flight ran out. Trekking through the wilds will slow you down a lot though, so if he's made for the road you'll probably have trouble catching him - especially since you need to slow down to follow the trail.
And there's a pretty good chance he changed course and headed for the road. If he wants to make it to the Skull Gorge Bridge and his nearest allies before nightfall, he'd have to hustle along the main road. If you spurred your horses to their limits, you'd catch up to him before he made it, you're sure.
Of course, if he's not following the road, and hiding out in the wilderness, this will give him more time to conceal his tracks in there, and allow the scent to grow cold.
"If I were running with no allies nearby I think I would do my best to stay on the road, which is what our friend may have done. Putting your chips in with the wild wolves and whatever else might lurk in the bushes seems to be fairly dangerous, even for a powerful mage; and I'm sure he would want to reach his allies sooner rather than later. I guess we should first find out where the spell may have expired." While marching along Bran keeps an eye on the overbrush to see if there is any sign of falling or quick entry into the treeline.
The elf nods at Bran's assessment. "How about this, we travel up the road a ways and see if Boots can catch the bugbear's scent on the road? If so, we ride hard and see if we can catch him. If not, we know he's in the wilderness, and we can decide whether we'll try to find his trail."
"Sounds good to me. But if we do catch his scent, I can give Bran the power of flight. He can close the distance very quickly then, as well as possibly being able to see the bugbear from the air.
If we don't catch him on the road, I wouldn't spend too long traipsing through the woods. There could be other dangers there."
You're ready to go, and will follow the road. Yulai is headed the opposite direction, back to Drellin's Ferry to warn the villagers of the coming horde, and hopefully convince them to evacuate. She'll ride on from there, starting the long journey back east. She takes the map with her, to have something concrete to show the villagers.
She's sewn Isawa's corpse into his cloak, and the body rests across the back hump of her ox as she takes off.
The rest of the party sets out to hunt down the bugbear.
It's a hard ride, and worse for Bran. After the first fifteen minutes or so, you cross the first river. This is about where Koth would have had to land, so you take a brief break to let boots try to find the track.
Sure enough, she seems to recognise the scent from the sheets as being present here as well.
Heartened, you set out once again. It's just a matter of time, now.
More than two hours later, it's looking a little bleak. With how hard you've driven the horses, the bridge can't be far now. At this pace, getting there should take about two and a half hours or so, according to Zelligar's best estimate. The forest around you have gotten a lot more sparse, the fertile ground broken up by bare rock in a lot of places, with pines making up the vast majority of the vegetations. It's a lot hotter up here too, compared to the almost swampy lowlands - it doesn't help that Bran and the mounts are sweating profousely, almost radiating heat.
That's about when you round a bend, and catch your first glimpse of your quarry. He's still quite a way's a way, however, and the fifteen minutes it takes you to run him down and make it clear that he's not going to make it are somewhat nerve-wracking.
Still, he turns to face you, spitting on the ground and fumbling at his belt for his wand.
Exhausted characters can't run or charge, and take a -6 penalty to dex and strength.
Zelligar uses his Deific Obedience boon.
Fly on Bran.
"Iris, he's dead ahead!"
After Zelligar casts his spell, Tal'ariel whips her exhausted horse furiously into range, and then speaks a word of power. "Khelek!" The last of her magics, a freezing ball of ice, flies from her hands.
;
Tal'ariel then draws her sword.
Bran starts floating off the ground and unsteadily tries to move toward the bugbear.
"You're not getting away this time!" The brawler huffs out the threat and locks eyes with the bugbear.
Current Effects:
3 Nonlethal Damage
Exhausted, -6 Strength and Dexterity, cannot run or charge
Challenge, free Grapple check or free Sunder combat maneuver when full-rounding. Doesn't provoke. +1 damage
The snowball takes the bugbear squarely in the chest, sending him staggering backwards.
"Cow-toothed pink-skins," he growls, "You might kill me, but Ozzyrandion will break your bones for marrow. For the Hand!" he talks himself up to muster some magic, and a gout of flames spring from his hands towards Bran. That done, he finally manages to untangle his wand from his belt.
The exhaustion sets in and thinking the bugbear was out of spells, he wasn't ready for the coming inferno.
Encouraged by Tal'ariel and with Boots's guidance, Iris rushes toward the shaman while drawing her bow. She knocks an arrow and looses it in the shaman's general direction, hoping for the best.
(51-100 good)
Although mounted combat was hardly her specialty, Tal's natural dexterity is helpful enough. She guides her horse forward the last 5 feet with her knees, then waits for Bran to flank before swinging her blade downward with the advantage of height.
;
Bran's cestus flies out lightning quick after recovering from the flames, stepping in and trying to put pressure on.
Unfortunately the exhaustion in combination with the unstable footing makes him unable to get any blows in.
Iris' arrow hits his shoulder, Bran grabs onto him, and Tal'ariel opens a long, deep cut in the fur of his back.
Bran feels the bugbear go limp as his strength leaves him.