"I agree William. Let us make haste. We will hopefully be able to catch our quarry and put a stop to the unnaturalness. Then repay the favor and kindness of saviors."
The party gathers its gear and heads out, two akaara hunters leading the way. The birdmen immediately take to the air, allowing them to scout the area as you move. No new snow has fallen, and as the group moves north the sky is clear and the air is chill.
Your first day's travel takes you up into a high pass, where the hunters build a shelter for the night. The embers of your small cookfire are buried under the ground in your shelter for warmth, and as the winds pick up your group huddles together for warmth through the night.
The following day the winds continue to blow, bringing with them leaden gray clouds that threaten more snow.
Fort:
Fort:
Fort:
Survival:
Survival:
Survival:
Fortitude 1:
Fortitude 2:
Fortitude 3:
Fortitude 4:
Fort
Survival
Fortitude 1:
Fortitude 2:
Fortitude 3:
Fortitude 4:
Fort :
Fort :
Fort :
Fort :
The trip is long and arduous, but would likely have taken twice as long without knowing the route the akaara have used, even with your map. Jon and the hunters do their best to keep everyone inured against the cold, but by the end some of you are suffering some early stages of frostbite.
Below you stretches a half-moon shaped valley, covered in snow. The pristine white is visibly disturbed, as you can see trails broken in the snow. They seem to be leading to and away from a low, unusually regular hill rising at the exact center of the valley, flanked by two other smaller hills. Other than the tracks in the snow, you see no other evidence of life.
"Baal's breath... well, let's at least see if we can find a clue on where they're headed next. Then we'll fulfill our debt to our friends here."
Before descending into the valley, Auric takes a good look around- wary of being caught off guard.
Perception:
William sighs heavily, "Well it looks as though our fears have been realized. I hope we do find a clue or two Auric, just so long as they haven't left any more of their bloody creations behind this time."
William slips in behind Auric as they proceed warily down into the valley.
Perception :
The party descends into the valley, finding the floor of it topped with about four inches of snow. You head toward the largest of the three hills, at the center of the vale. Eventually, your path crosses one of the trails already here. They appear to have been made by shod feet, smaller than human, a fairly sizeable group, or a small group retreading the same ground over again. William manages to find at least two sets of man-sized prints. Upon comparison, Auric finds that one set leaves prints larger than his own. Whoever owns them must be a beast of a fellow.
"Whoa, look at that one!", Auric exclaims, looking at the biggest tracks, "What d'you think, guys? Orc? Ogre? Ogrillon? Some kind of giant dwarf?"
William looks at the tracks carefully, "Well if these smaller tracks belong to the goblins our prey seem to have contracted, perhaps the larger belong to a great hobgoblin or even a bugbear? Either way, it's bad news. We should keep going, the longer we take to look for clues here, the farther we fall behind."
It seems th-that, b-based on the jou-jour-n-nal infor..infor-ma-mation we've f-f-found, and th-th-these t-t-tracks, tha-tha-that ha-haste is n-n-needed.
My words come out in a studder as I shiver in the cold, despite the extra protection afforded the cold weater gear.
As you follow the tracks, they lead you to the southern end of the largest hill. Here you find that the hillside has been excavated, with a large tunnel dug some ten feet into the earth of the hillside. A few discarded tools lie amid the mounds of displaced earth and rock. The excavation has revealed stonework, including a large slab some eight feet tall and five feet wide. The stone has been pried loose from its place, revealing a dark entrance into the hillside. Oddly, someone has attempted to replace the stone, and it stands leaning against the opening, mostly covering it. There is enough of a gap at the bottom for a medium sized person to squeeze in if they so desired.
Auric lights his lantern.
"I'll head in first- I can see pretty well without a lot of light."
He then tries to squeeze his bulk into the opening, using Baal's gifts to feel for any evil presences on the other side.
Jon squeezes through the crack, inhaling sharply to fit through.
I do a short search around the area, seeing if anyone or thing moved off in a different direction from here before entering the cave behind Jon or William.
Perception
Aside from the other tracks already noted, which go to and from the western end of the valley, you note nothing else of interest out here.
Jon notes that the beams of wood have actually petrified with age, leaving pillars of wood-grained stone supporting the tunnel.
Auric draws his hammer and readies his shield, setting the lantern on the floor.
"They left us a surprise, Jon.", he whispers.
"Hmm. How wonderful for us." Jon drawls, holding his newly acquired scythe across his body, ready for action.
William slips quietly under the slab behind Jon. At Auric's mention of surprises, he quickly unslings his bow and knocks an arrow, "Just our luck, I could go ahead and check it out?"
William slips quietly under the slab behind Jon. At Auric's mention of surprises, he quickly unslings his bow and knocks an arrow, "Just our luck, I could go ahead and check it out?"
"Just be careful, eh? Whatever's in there left a seriously bad taste in my mouth."
Not seeing anything else, I follow William into the cave. Upon hearing Jon's assessment that a surprise has been left for us and a bad taste in his mouth, I take a few moments to load the crossbow.
"It may be best to stick together as a group. Whatever may lurk ahead may have already gotten wind of our arrival."
"Good idea, let's do that."
Auric picks up the lantern in his shield hand and heads down the passage.
The four of you advance down the hall reaching the entrance to a room that appears to be a sort of great hall. Rods on the wall hold tattered remnants of banners or tapestries. In the center of the room is a long table, now petrified like the support beams. Shadowed arches are set into the other three walls, leading to other parts of the barrow. A circular stone seal is set into the floor before you, containing an inscription. The seal, however, is fractured into several pieces.
"Broken seals usually mean bad things. Brace yourselves!"
"I'm guessing your right Jon, lets shed a little light into those alcoves, see what's waiting for us..."
William quietly conjurs four balls of glowing light in front of the party before sending them out, first to skim along the roof of the great hall and then to hover, in turn at the entrance to each of the arches leading out.
While William works his sorcery to create more light, I study the seal and inscription, hoping that it will shed some light as to what may have been interned here.
[ooc]I am fluent in dwarven.
Knowledge: History
Knowledge: Religion
Gendo crouches to examine the cracked seal and finds that the inscription is in the Common tongue, though it is a much older version. Still, he is able to puzzle out the message.
Gendo recalls enough of his history to know that once humans were self-governed, prior to the Great Wounding. This tomb appears to date back to those days, well beyond them judging by the archaic form of the language.
"Let's hope the curse got them first and there isn't enough curse left to go around..."
Auric lifts his lantern and takes a look at the petrified table and the three archways.
"Which way? Maybe it's best to just pick at random..."
Perception:
The petrified table appears to have been set as a feasting table. Two benches, also turned to stone over time, are slid underneath it. The top of the table is set with stone jugs, and tableware crafted of metal, tarnished black with age.
The two archways to either side appear to lead into smaller side rooms. Just inside the left archway is the body of a small green-gray humanoid with a bulbous head. Judging by its wounds, it was beaten to death.
The larger arch leads to a descending ramp.
Auric nudges the body with his foot to see if it rises.
"Suppose the only way is down, then."
William takes a moment to study the beaten creature and identify it's race and anything else of note.
Knowledge (Whatever is appropriate) :
William shakes his head at Auric's suggestion, "We should check the side rooms first, who knows what could be laying around?"
Re-summoning his floating lights, William quietly slips into the small side room behind the corpse and looks around for anything of interest.
Perception :
It would appear to have been a goblin. Looking in the side room you find an area about fifteen feet wide and twenty feet deep. Stacked in the center of the room are a number of large stone jars, while several chests line the back wall. One of the jars lies broken on the floor next to the brutalized remains of two other goblins. The contents of the jar appear to have crumbled to dust with the passage of time.
William looks back at Auric, "I'm not sure I want to be opening any of these just yet, could you take a look and see if your nose picks up anything unpleasant? I'll try to make sure they're not enchanted."
William checks the room for any lingering magical auras that might represent a nasty surprise or two.
Auric focuses on the objects in the room, using Baal's gifts to sniff out any malign influence.
"Either way, isn't it a good idea to just leave this stuff? Given that these guys were pulverized by something- maybe that big guy, maybe something else- and we aren't sure about the ancient humans' burial customs. Wouldn't want to disrespect anyone I'm distantly related to."
William pauses for a moment, "I suppose you're right. Either way, if there are wards here it might give us some indication of what to expect further inside. I for one am just hoping that breaking the jar isn't what got these goblins killed..."
I take a moment to look through the room, with William and Auric.
It would seem to me that the two brutalized goblings broke the jar for doing just what you suggest we avoid doing - disturbing the remains.
I take a moment to ponder if I can recall anything about ancient human burial rites.
Know: history
William examines the contents of the room. There are five more large stone jars, about four feet tall and capped with stone lids. The chests against the far wall are unopened. They, like the other wooden objects in this place, have calcified over the years, the wood turning to stone.
"Hmph. When I die, leave me in the woods for the beasts to eat. Much less fuss and much less likely to be raised as someone's pet zombie."
"Whatever killed the ankle-biter was bad enough to leave a malignant aura on the body. Let's take a look in the other alcove and leave this stuff alone."
We should be wary. This tomb, if I recall, would have been made for someone of import, going so far as to be buried with all of their worldly possessions - be they valuables or servants. Perhaps we should see if we cannot find something that indicates which direction our quarry has moved.
"It seems curiousity will have to take a back seat to caution today, I have a bad feeling about this place. Lets check the other room and then head down...if we must."
The other room has a number of niches carved into the walls, eight in all. Each one holds the skeletal remains of a humanoid figure clad in deteriorated armor. In the center of the room is a rack of petrified wood, holding ancient weapons. The weapons have been disturbed recently. A spear lies on the floor next to a sword half-pulled from a crumbling scabbard. The blade is of bronze, corroded and green with age.
William gives the weapons a quick once over to see if any are magical in nature . If he finds nothing, he turns back to the others, "Nothing here but large terrifying corpses...I guess we'd better head down and see what brought our friends the necromancers all the way out here? Auric, lead on good sir..."
Though I am loathe for violence, this time, it may be prudent to be the aggressor; force them to react to us rather than the other way around.