Aenian moves to flank as requested, stealthily.
Ven appears as he casts his charm and tries to bluff the deep one. The creature pops up from bed, surprised and sputtering words in its alien tongue. Ven's spell has no discernible effect.
It bares claws and lunges at Ven.
;
;
Ven steps back 5', switches to his dark half, and blasts the deep one with a magic missile.
; +1 Bleed
Aenian leaps from the shadows, catching the creature flat footed.
Ven backs up and blasts the deep one with jagged force missiles, then Aenian appears and hacks his blade into the thing's shoulder. It spins, spitting in rage.
;
;
Ven hits the deep one with a another magic missile.
Aenian swings again with the heavy blade, a bit awkwardly.
Ven's missiles hit the deep one again and the wounds bleed, raining black droplets across the floor. Aenian swings his sword clumsily, unused to the heavy blade.
The deep one spits more words and continues to rake claws at Aenian. It steps back, moving towards Ven and the door.
;
;
Aenian is staggered at 0 hps.
He steps back holding his wounds gasping "Who's Xhamen_Dor?
Ven withdraws out of the room and down the stairs. He sprints in the direction of Winter and the others.
Ven runs out of the room and down the stairs, two or three at a time. The thing says something to Aenian before clawing him across the neck.
;
Ven runs across the battlements to the western guard tower. Rushing inside, he finds the others recovering from their own battle. Vaustin and Winter stand over the bodies of three more deep ones, their weapons bloody. Sholn is sitting against the wall, bleeding badly while Trillis does her best to bandage the wounds. The boy's axe is lodged in the skull of the third deep one.
Vaustin snaps to as Ven comes in, but lowers his blade with a sigh of relief. "Where's Aenian?" Winter asks, quickly noticing his absence.
Ven pauses only long enough to summon his allies before racing back to Aenian. "He's in trouble - follow me!"
Ven leads the others back up the stairs. You find the deep one a few paces short of the door, lying face down in a spreading pool of blood. Aenian lies a few feet away, similarly bleeding out.
Leaning over Aenian is a humanoid, featureless and seemingly made of silvery liquid. As you enter, it retreats, running toward a mirror by the bedside -- it jumps into the mirror and disappears.
Trillis hurdles the dying deep on and drops to Aenian's side, applying first aid to stop the bleeding.
Vaustin rushes to the mirror, axe in hand. He inspects it to see if he can see anything.
Ven assists Trillis in helping Aenian and calls for Winter to provide healing. "This is all me fault. Please help him!"
Upon seeing Vaustin examine the mirror he calls out a warning. "Careful Vaustin! That creature probably isn't friendly."
Ven will study the mirror and will detect magic. He also will examine the journal that the deep one was reading when they entered.
The mirror appears normal.
Scanning the room for magic, Ven sees the dead deep one's chain shirt and a wand on its belt radiate magic. "That was mine," Trillis recognizes the wand, picks it up and puts it to use healing Aenian. The deep one carries a ring of keys but nothing else of note.
The journal appears to be the personal log of Magistrate Padgett. It chronicles his thoughts and activities, mostly pertaining to dealing with mundane issues around Thrushmoor, with the occasional sidebar lamenting Count Lowl's mismanagement of his office. The entries end abruptly on a date a few weeks ago -- notably, there is no mention of taking leave of the town for any business.
Ven attempts to identify the chain mail.
He helps Aenian up. "That was completely my fault. I really thought I could charm him and he'd tell us what the hell is going on. Should have known better."
He then picks up the key. "I bet this unlocks the door down the hall. Shall we give it a try?"
"Hold up a minute," Trillis says, walking to Ven and putting the wand to use again.
"Do you make anything of that journal?" she asks as she passes it over Ven's wounds.
Aenian pulls himself off the ground with Ven's help and gets over to the bed, "Don't sweat it ... was worth a shot. It didn't even phase him, though did it? Completely immune to it ... need to be aware of that in the future."
Aenian still sitting on the bed, looks at Trillis, "Here, pass me the journal while Ven inspects that armor. I'll take a look see."
Vaustin watches outside while you recover. He tells you that the three deep ones from the supply vault attacked while you were exploring. They were able to kill them but Sholn was badly wounded.
Aenian will take the chain shirt +1
"Padgett disappeared a few weeks ago. Was that when the mist rolled in on Briarstone? When you came to the asylum, Winter? I'm assuming that's when these deep one clowns showed up ... wonder how they got here without terrifying the city."
Ven wearily eyes the mirror, "We badly need to rest, but I'm not sure it is safe in here. Should we risk it or try to unlock the steward's chambers?"
"No way. Someone is coming looking for this guy at some point. We need to either press and get our gear and figure out what is going on here or hop over the edge and depart the fort. We could rest and return later but we are under a time crunch with this ceremony they have going on soon.
Winter shakes her head. "The troubles in Thrushmoor started before I arrived with Royal Accuser Omari. She sent me to Briarstone just after we got here. We still haven't found any sign of her or her entourage."
Trillis speaks up, "All signs point towards Padgett murdered, along with the rest of the garrison. But you said you spoke with Barawyn Cesyll, the Constable?"
"I'm expended of Pharasma's blessings, but I can heal with this wand until it runs out," Trillis offers. "We killed the deep ones from below, so the basement may be clear. It is possible our gear is locked up down there, near the cells."
"We did speak with her, so she is likely complicit or under duress. She seemed anxious tonget us to leave ... the reason is obvious now. Since she wasnt trying to solicit our help unless I was being particularly obtuse, Inassume it's safe to assume she is on it. I am still curious though about the what and why if this all. Motive and endgame allude me. Bad things are certainly afoot."
He looks at Trillis, "We did pass by that room down there. Let's head back and check it out."
Ven nods and follows the others out. At the steward's chamber he produces the keys from the deep one and tries them in the locked door.
You check the steward's chamber on the way down. One of the keys works to unlock the door. Inside, everything is in disarray. Overturned and broken furniture litters the floor, and sprays of dried blood mark the room’s stone walls. A cracked mirror hangs on the eastern wall at the top of the stairs to this room. The stairs lead down to the kitchen.
You continue down to the cellar pantry, finding it just as messy and ransacked. Only a handful of the food supplies remain unmolested by the deep ones. You find most of your gear in a pair of burlap sacks -- only Red Destiny is missing!
A short hallway runs to a musty water storage room, which contains a dozen wooden kegs, several demijohns, and dozens of empty bottles standing on shelves along the wall. A door leads to another hallway and a circular room built around a water well. The room opens to the sky above at the apex of the ceiling and descends into a shaft at the middle of the floor.
In the steward's chamber will detect magic and will detect psychic significance. He will then search the room.
Aenian gears up and passes his masterwork chain shirt to Vaustin.
"I need to find a rapier of some sort. This damn longsword is too unwieldy. Using the bow for now."
"A quick search is probably worth our time here,"
"Gimme a boost."
Aenian will drink an extract of urban grace and hop up and climb to the top of the well room if able.
Ven picks up no signs of magic in the room, but the broken mirror thrums with some kind of psychic import. Aenian's quick search turns up nothing of interest.
*
Trillis's brows furrow as Aenian prepares to climb. "This well... I remember seeing some engineering diagrams in the town archives. There are tunnels below, underwater of course, that connect to the town's aqueducts."
There are plenty of good hand- and foot-holds, and Aenian easily ascends the well shaft. It emerges fifty feet above in the fort courtyard.
Ven will study the mirror to see if it can be removed. He recalls if the mirror in the previous room could be easily transported. "There is a clue in these mirrors. What do they mean? Perhaps if we can take one with us we could decipher what they are used for."
He studies the broken mirror to see if he can glean any additional information.
Other than that its shattered, there is nothing remarkable about the mirror. Ven can easily collect the shards if he wishes.
Ven carefully retrieves the mirror fragments and then his other gear. He then awaits Aenian to return from the courtyard. "I wonder if the deep ones entered through these aqeuducts?"
Fort Hailcourse is deathly silent. The only sounds you hear are the echoes of your breathing and drip-drop of moisture from the foggy air above.
The investigator comes back down.
"Just the Courtyard. Let's head back up and out. As much as Inwant to keep on, we need to get Trillis and the boy out of here ... and find me a better blade."
He taps his finger on his cheek in thought. "We should rest and then return here and see what we can uncover about Lowls and Iris Hill. Obviously the folks at both location are in cahoots or under duress. Based on their conversations, something bad is going to happen soon and ... regardless of who we were before, I dont feel that I can let that happen without taking action."
Ven nods, "We can't let them turn this town into a nightmare like Briarstone. Besides, Lowls and Hill were likely involved in our amnesia, and may hold the key to restoring our memories."
He follows Aenian out.
Aenian will lead the party out, bow at the ready.
Trillis agrees, "We could use the chance to rest and regroup. They will learn that we escaped soon enough. We must be ready for the next confrontation."
"Perhaps we should go and find Cessadia Wrentz at the Sleepless Agency?" Winter suggests. "She will want to know what's happened to us."
Ven nods at Trillis and leads the way to the Sleepless Agency.
”Sleepless and then sleep. And a trip to the blacksmith. I need a rapier.”
You encounter no one as you make for the gates. A few minutes later, you are free of Fort Hailcourse and moving quickly down the road into town. A steady rain starts to fall as you enter the mist-shrouded streets. It is impossible to say what time of day it is, just that it is daytime and not night.
Cesadia's eyes go wide when she opens the door and sees you. "Where have you... Winter? Trillis, is that you?" She steps into the rain to embrace the cleric warmly. "Come, get off the street. Hurry!" Once inside the Sleepless Agency, Cesadia gives you time to clean up and get a fresh change of clothes while she brews a large carafe of coffee. When you regroup in the lobby, she also has biscuits, fruit and meats on a tray.
"Alright, when you two disappeared a couple days ago, I thought you were the latest to go missing. I'm glad you're okay. And it looks like you found Trillis and Winter. And Sholn... your sister, Holissa, came by looking for you, but like the others, we had no idea what happened to you." She turns to you, "What did you find? Where have you been?"
"Right, it's been an interesting turn of events. We left here for the Temple, discovered Winter never made it anywhere and we counted her among the missing. Helped a painter out in passing and then headed up to Iris Hill. We encountered an unpleasant noble couple in the guest house which was sitting on top of a cave which was populated with horrific flying terrors. No idea what they were or why they were there, but I'm thinking it's related to the rest of our story."
Aenian grabs a cup of coffee before he continues, "We met Melisien at the door and she invited us in and then tested us ... we failed. She and her body guards along with the nobles took us down, captured us and we awoke along with Winter and Trillis and this young man in Fort Hailcourse. No sign of the militia ... looks like they're all murdered and turned into zombies. A few deep ones, and no sign of Omari as far as I could tell. We didn't explore for long, and didn't run into the constable, but it looks like she might've been killed as well."
Aenian looks around, "Anyone else have thoughts on that? No body but the room looked like badness had happened."
"Regardless, we are woefully unprepared to take on Melisien again. We need to find an edge. Perhaps some new gear or hidden power, or if we can solve some of these other issues in town, perhapse a new ally or two. The problem is they are conducting some sort of ceremony soon ... I'm just not sure when. My sense of time is a wreck."
Ven also mentions the strange mirror and the contents of the journal they found. "Considering how abruptly the journal ends, I fear that Magistrate Padgett is dead - likely a victim of the deep ones."
Ven nods, "Perhaps we should investigate the strange graffiti or those rumors of a witch."
"Maybe," Cesadia mutters, then shakes her head after a moment, "but more likely they're either adjacently related to the conspiracy or red herrings. You've discovered that Melisenn is the culprit and highest threat. I'd suggest we focus on taking her down and stop whatever vile thing she's got planned before its too late."
Cesadia sits by the window and thinks for a minute. "A direct assault on Iris Hill is probably doomed, but what if we neutralize Melisenn's henchmen individually?"
"Melisenn's guests are Dalene Spence and Asa Lalith, minor nobles from Caliphas. They arrived a week or so ago -- after the troubles already began, but they are clearly in cahoots with Melisenn somehow. We could probably lure them to some kind of high class event here in town."
"Melisenn's personal guard is Risi Nairgon, a cutthroat from somewhere south who arrived not long after you disappeared. She's got the heart of a snake, and I already suspect her of several robberies and worse about town. She likes to spend nights at The Stain drinking and playing dice."
"Based on what you've described, Fort Hailcourse may also hold some other clues. When you are rested and ready, perhaps a more... aggressive foray to clear it out is in order."
"Any ideas? Or anything else you learned that might work to our advantage?"
Trillis speaks up. "It has been some years since my acolyte training, but I will gladly dust off my armor and lend a hand," she offers.
Ven nods at Trillis, "I would be thankful for your help. I suspect that the foul denizens of Fort Hailcourse will not yield without a fight."
He rummages through his backpack and then presents the mirror shards to Cesadia. "A strange gray creature stepped into a mirror such as this. Any idea what it is?"
Based on your description, Cesadia only shakes her head. "You say it stepped into the mirror?"