Ally flies over carrying Elen's silk rope. She offers it to Ruul and Numair as they deal with the passed-out Sapphire Gargoyle.
Elen and Ally will also study any gear that the gargoyles have, searching for magical weapons and ammunition. In particular, Elen is interested in whether the gargoyles are carrying magical crossbows or magical crossbow bolts.
[dice=Taking 10 on spellcraft to identify magical items]10+12+2
You have identified the following items, found on Bor and Gbudn, respctively:
- +1 flaming heavy repeating crossbow
- +1 corrosive heavy repeating crossbow
The party also finds 8 heavy repeating crossbows of standard make, 24 cartridges used for the crossbows (at 5 bolts/cartridge), and a total of 31 loose bolts between all of the partially expended cartridges.
EDITED
Macavity will retrieve his three arrows and supervise the coup de grace.
Macavity will retrieve his three arrows and supervise the coup de grace.
[dice=arrow retrieval d100]1d100
You have found all of your arrows.
As the chaos of battle dies down, some of the guards start to come out of the trenches, screaming in victory. A few of them head in your direction. Thoughts of ale at the tavern start to come to mind. You look at the dead and wonder if this just the start of things.
There are several guardsmen, mostly in the trenches, who are injured. You see a couple of clerics attending to the wounded, but their magics are rather weak compared to yours.
Elen will report her findings to the team and speculate that the Clanliege might want to buy the crossbows for use by his troops or even himself. When Lavinia goes to speak to the soldiers, she and Ally will join her and talk to them, helping with any healing needed and finding out if any of them know anything more about these attacks, the dragon, or for that matter, about Tsar, the camp, or the caravan.
+any bonus for defeating the gargoyles?
Guards tend to want to talk quite a lot to any naked female, even if she is only a few inches tall. Ally is no exception (perhaps fairie-folk have some kind of reputation...). Most of what she hears is banter and some flirting. She does hear the following though.
- The dragon has been killed here at least three times in the last decade. At first, everyone thought that the dragon were actually dragons (i.e. a family of them), but rumors from up north set that straight. They know that they are dealing with the undead, but no one is brave enough to go through the rest of the Desolation just to find a phylactery. It's not worth it.
- There was in fact a large caravan that moved through here 2, maybe 3 weeks ago. Offloaded from several ships at the docks. They stayed here for the night, and then took the road up to the Camp. It's no wonder they haven't been seen since. Most likely cannibals who reside in the area.
- One heard a tale from Maulf, the tavern-keeper. He was one of the few that has actually seen the gates of Tsar with his own eyes. He never got in, but the guard was told that Maulf saw many creatures manning the walls; human looking, but there was something odd about them. You might want to talk to Maulf about it, if you have the guts, that is. It was a pretty gruesome tale.
If the injured were gathered together in the same area to be tended, Lavinia will channel healing energy over them.
Your divine energies swirl around the wounded guards, healing their cuts, scrapes, and the occasional crossbow bolt. Many of them are quite happy, although the clerics look a little upset, an outsider doing their work and all...
Once Ruul is confident the prisoner is thoroughly bound, he tosses the still unconscious gargoyle over his broad shoulder and leaves to join the others.
"Make sure we make it known we have a prisoner to interrogate when we approach the clanliege," Elen tells Ruul before he heads over to try. "I can use curses and hexes to break down the gargoyle's will as well to get answers out of him. No need for primitive techniques such as torture."
Noticing Ruul's skeptical expression, Elen adds, "We have to reproduce the conditions to make another experiment! How will we know if the Harbinger can reach out and attempt to kill minions like this without making the attempt? We'll check carefully for any signs of poison or explosive devices beforehand, and then we'll see what happens. It will be fascinating!"
You walk into the castle, and after several minutes of cutting through rooms and various halls, you find yourself in the main chamber. You don't realize how extensive this place is, and how well it looks, considering the exterior of the place looks as if it's been around for centuries. You don't realize it at first, but much of the castle is actually built underground. You don't realize it because the initial halls gently sloped downward, and the inside of the castle is built with thick stone and granite. Although there is a bit of chill outside, the inside is very inviting. Thick rugs cover most of the floors and you notice that many of the servants walk around in bare feet.
The room itself is almost oval in shape, although most of the activity is in the middle of the room. There are several men standing around a wooden table to your right, all looking over something. One man, the clanliege, stands slightly back from the rest and, although the men are talking to him, he seems to have an air of ease about him, as if he is no longer concerned about things. The top half of his armor has been taken off and set aside. He is wearing a loose fur robe over a plain cotton shirt, and his legs are still armored, with leather straps coming up and around his shoulders like a harness. Despite the appearance made by his armor, Clanliege Martoss is not overly heavy, with a slight paunch around the mid-section. He is older though, with hair that is so sandy blonde it is almost white, but with an almost completely white beard, cut short. He notices your arrival and walks away from the table, towards you.
"So I take it you are the ones that helped rebuff the raid?" With nods of approval out of the way, he continues. "I noticed that our dragon has a particular interest in your party. Is there any reason that this might be so?"
Noticing Ruul's skeptical expression, Elen adds, "We have to reproduce the conditions to make another experiment! How will we know if the Harbinger can reach out and attempt to kill minions like this without making the attempt? We'll check carefully for any signs of poison or explosive devices beforehand, and then we'll see what happens. It will be fascinating!"
Macavity entered the planning room and slowly padded around the room perimeter like an exploring tom cat. He attempts to get a good look at the object of the men's attention on the table as well as any potential secret doors or features in the room.
Upon Ruul referring to the Harbinger, Macavity clears his throat and offers, "Argonax the Vile, the dragon called him to be precise." He continues his comfortable tour without pause or looking at the Clanliege or Ruul.
|
The Wizard speaks up. We are pleased we could play some small part in driving off your enemies.
When Ruul mentions that he thinks that Argonax is the dragon's master Azaraunt interjects I am not sure that this dragon serves the Harbinger. Intel I was able to gather suggests more of an alliance. I think the dragon serves only himself. He does claim he rules Tsar, stating that it is his to do with as he pleases.
Asking about the plan the elf inquires Is there a place for us in any planned counterstrike?
"I've heard of Argonax. Legend says that he led the forces of Tsar against the First Crusade. Orcus' Grand Corni or something. HE has not been around since they evacuated that city. Something about going to Numeria or some such country. I've never heard of this 'Harbinger' though."
Ally pipes up, "Great Clanliege, your men told us that Malerix has been defeated in the past, only to return. How was such a mighty foe defeated? Were you the one who slew it, however temporary such a victory turned out to be?"
Per the dragon its the same creature. Argonax the Vile, He Who Lives Eternally, the Harbinger; all the same daemon with delusions of godhood. I guess if you live eternally you have to have a hobby. The wizard smiles.
Ally pipes up, "Great Clanliege, your men told us that Malerix has been defeated in the past, only to return. How was such a mighty foe defeated? Were you the one who slew it, however temporary such a victory turned out to be?"
[dice=Diplomacy Aid Another]1d20+11
Martoss sighs. He is not distracted by such pretty little things, although he does give you a wary look. "It is not an easy thing to kill, particularly since it is undead. It's that...gunk that stops us more often than not. With the trenches that we have built, we can attack it from range, where it clumsily wafts about. On the rare occasion that it actually lands, we have managed to chain it down. It worked once, almost a decade ago, its ego got the better of it and it landed, almost exactly where we wanted him to land. We were able to kill it off quickly, before it had a chance to rally. That was the second year in which it tried to pillage our town."
He motions for one of his men to bring him a mug of short beer and he drinks from it. "It's that damned phylactery of his. If only we knew where to find it, and could destroy it, we could be finally rid of that scourge." He pauses a moment, and then looks at your party, as if for inspection. "Perhaps that's where you and your party come in. Again, why is Malerix so interested in you?"
"His master seeks to keep us out of Tsar."
"That would be easy enough to accomplish, as no one has ever been inside the front gates of Tsar, let alone in the city itself. But the dragon singled out your group in particular, when so many have come and gone over the last decade or so. That is the wonder that I seek an answer to."
Ruul shrugs his broad furry shoulders.
"Beyond that, I cannot say what we've done to draw the interest of the daemon and his dragon. With any luck, we'll learn more once we get closer to Tsar. What has the dragon sought when it's attacked in the past?"
Martoss looks around at the people who swear allegiance to him, their fealty. He knows theses people. Some have been with him since the beginning. Too many have died since that point. But he knows that they will stay with him until the end, no matter what.
"Malerix wants only destruction and death. He considers us too close to his 'territory,' and wants nothing more to see us dead. He has already claimed Tsar as his home, so to speak. Since no living ever comes out of there, he doesn't have much competition." Martoss pauses again, looking all of you over. "Do you really think that you can pierce the walls of Tsar, where no one else has been before?"
Martoss pauses again, looking all of you over. "Do you really think that you can pierce the walls of Tsar, where no one else has been before?"
Macavity stops his tour of the room and leans against the wall. He folds his arms across his chest and replies with quiet conviction, "Yes."
"In all my years of existence, I have never seen a group like this one assembled," says Ally brightly. "I do not know if you are familiar with celestials, esteemed Clanliege, but I am an azata, and my people make a habit of studying heroes. This band of pathfinders attracts attention because they have the makings of heroes. My goddess sent me to travel with Elen because it was written in the stars that she and those she walked with would find her steps leading along the path of greatness."
She pauses and looks over the company of travelers, and continues, "Several of us here already consider this creature an eternal enemy, for no other reason than our faith or our history. Now that it has attacked us, it is as much our hated foe as yours. Difficult though it may be, if we find the opportunity to destroy his phylactery, we promise you that it will be done."
Macavity entered the planning room and slowly padded around the room perimeter like an exploring tom cat. He attempts to get a good look at the object of the men's attention on the table as well as any potential secret doors or features in the room.
[dice=Perception]1d20 +15
Upon Ruul referring to the Harbinger, Macavity clears his throat and offers, "Argonax the Vile, the dragon called him to be precise." He continues his comfortable tour without pause or looking at the Clanliege or Ruul.
You look over and see that they are looking at a map of the region. It is expansive, covering Gundrun to the south all the way up the road to Tsar. The marker indicating the camp is little more than a dot. There is a path behind the throne, not so much secret, just well disguised; it looks like just a large tapestry hanging there.