"Should we check out the fort?" John asks.
"Something is definitely off up there. The troops are all gone according to talk around town."
"I'd like to know who is running things up there and if they know what's going on."
"Where are you staying?" Broom asked the painter before cheerfully bidding him farewell as the group departed.
On the path away from the temple she ticked items off her fingers in response to John's question.
"Oh, yes, we should definitely check out the fort. We have the fort to check out, the priestess to investigate, the witch to visit, a tablet with strange carvings to look at and maybe a little shopping to do. We passed through the market, but didn't really stop to have a look at anything. Was there anything else that we needed to do?"
Looking sorry to see them leave, Lelwyn saw the group to the chapel's doors. In response to Broom's question, he pointed at the two small cabins across the road. "Right here. The one on the left is me, if you want to drop by. I'm, uh, I'm always here."
On the path away from the temple she ticked items off her fingers in response to John's question.
"Oh, yes, we should definitely check out the fort. We have the fort to check out, the priestess to investigate, the witch to visit, a tablet with strange carvings to look at and maybe a little shopping to do. We passed through the market, but didn't really stop to have a look at anything. Was there anything else that we needed to do?"
"I believe we'll be kept busy enough with what you've mentioned," Desdemona smiled. "John, were you able to purchase anything useful? Also, does anyone know the way to Iris Hill? Perhaps it lies on the way past where we saw the witch? I suggest we head there, or investigate this priestess, before tackling the fort."
"I got some new weapons and Armor. I sold all our extra and I've we've got a fair bit of gold left over."
He tosses Broom her knapsack back.
"I was looking for another source of healing when I came here."
"The dwarves at the smithy I visited said that all of the guards at the fort took off because they stopped getting paid."
"I can take you to Iris Hill or the fort. I don't remember how I know they way, but I'm sure I do."
"Does anyone else need any equipment?" John asks.
"Well, We need a feather duster, and a maybe a small sewing kit, and We definitely need to buy some more spices. We went through almost all of what We had back at Briarstone!"
Broom pondered for a few more moments "Maybe picking something nice up for dinner so that we don't have to bother the staff if we come back from Halcourt later in the evening. And if we do find the missing people, they probably haven't had anything nice to eat for a while so they might like a tasty bite to cheer them up when we free them."
Reine had been silent since her unexpected outbreak of song. She seemed moody and sunk into her own thoughts, offering no opinions regarding next steps, but merely following along with the others.
She did seem to perk up slightly at Broom's mention of good food.
Desdemona couldn't help but smile at Broom's enthusiasm; if not infectious, it was at least cheering. She nodded at the woman's suggestion, her gaze flicking to the sides to check if the shadow was up to no good. She could still feel the madness of the gibbering blob of mouths and eyes, buried deep where the darkness held sway, and feared what might happen should it be released upon her mind once more. Thus, she made no efforts to curtail the shadow as they went on their way.
For its part, the shadow tagged along like a normal one, radiating smugness.
"Anything besides Broom's list?" John asks.
"I don't know if there's anything in terms of weapons or armor that you might need."
It was a short stroll through the middle of town back to the High Mart. As John had found, the merchants there tended more to the ornamental and ornate rather than the plain and functional. That said, there were enough stalls that everyone was able to find what they wanted in less than an hour.
Once they were done, it was another short but not unpleasant walk to Fort Hailcourse. Built entirely of stone and perched on a hill to watch over the the middle of the town and Iris Hill not far to the west, the fort was well placed to defend Thrushmoor and the count's ancestral home. With 20 foot high walls and towers twice that, the fort was a decent fortification for the town.
The only entrance to the fort was a set of 10-foot-high double doors located on the south side of the large stone building. Heavy, tarnished brass door knockers carved into the shapes of perching birds hung on the doors, and the shuttered hatch for the spyhole peeked out at head height. The doors were closed, as one might expect.
Broom happily browsed the market, delighting in the range of items on display.
Her first purchases were bread, cheese and cured meats. At each of the stalls she examined the goods on sale with a critical eye before making her purchases. She chatted knowledgeably with each of the vendors about the quality of their offerings occasionally interspersed with random questions.
Happy with her food purchases, she carefully wrapped the provisions in cloth bundles and stowed them in her pack. Her next stop was with an herbalist selling spices. Again she spent time meticulously selecting the best the merchant had to offer to replenish her own supplies.
Next up she kept true to her word and purchased a set of new cleaning cloths, a fine feather duster and a variety of polishes for furniture, tableware and leather.
A nice set of kitchen knives was the next thing to catch her eye. Although she did have a multi purpose knife for general kitchen tasks, this was a full set of knives, each one suitable to a specific task. And it came in a nice wooden box as well!
After the household items were purchased, Broom turned her attention to purchases for herself. Thinking back to just the evening before, she bought herself a good waterproof jacket. There was a wide variety to choose from as they were popular with the local fishermen. As she was making her purchase, another item caught her eye. Seeing her interest, the merchant quickly and easily talked her into purchasing a heavy oilskin umbrella as well.
She packed the jacket away in her pack and tied the umbrella to the exterior. She noted with a little dismay that despite the magic of the pack, it seemed to actually be filling up. She would have to start being a little more discerning about what she decided to pack.
Her final purchases were a kit full of bandages, oils and unguents suitable for treating injuries. While she had the surgeon's tools (which she didn't entirely understand how to use yet), the items in the healers kit seemed more applicable to the immediate care of injuries.
Finished with her shopping, Broom packed away the last of the items. As she did so she took a moment to contemplate her new knife set and what was apparently her surgeon's tools. "Isn't it interesting?" she asked out loud holding up a scalpel and a fillet knife "They are all knives, but you just change the shape and size a little and you end up with one meant to remove bones from a fish and the other to help fix things inside of someone."
....
The shopping trip had made Broom exceptionally happy as the party made their way to the fort. She almost forgot the circumstances which brought them here.
So much so that when she stared off as she did when searching for answers in other thoughts it was pleasant thoughts about chatting with customers and cooking fine meals (with only the occasional mind using disturbing ingredients) that she ended up finding. She remained in her happy trance until someone nudged her back to the present. "What? What fort? Oh, right! Uh, no. We weren't able to find anything new.".
John walks up to the gate and knocks loudly with his armored gauntlet.
"Hey in there!"
Broom tugs on John's cloak as he begins to stride forward "Shouldn't we try to sneak in through a window or something? They made the other investigators disappear. We don't think its a good idea to let them make us disappear as well" she whispered as if anyone in the fort could hear her from this distance.
Reine looked over at Broom, then up at the gate.
"They won't be 'disappearing' us any time soon," she reassured Broom, in a soft voice. "Not quietly, or easily, anyway."
A minute passed and no one answered John's knock. Looking up and around while waiting for a response, there were clearly armored sentries standing watch in each of the towers.
Broom kept glancing at the guards with concern as John knocked on the door. When nothing happened after a minute or two she became curious. "You know, if all the guards left then maybe those are just empty suits made to look like guards. If nobody opens the door we should climb up had have a look"
"Or we could just kick the door in," Reine suggested, not really giving the guards much of a look, though her comment was pitched so that it might be audible to the closest of the visible guards.
LOL
LOLOL
Desdemona had stopped at the edge of the shadow the walls threw, and was peering at the guard towers nervously. Her shadow lay flat on the ground behind her, until she glanced back at it; then it moved under her feet, making her jump, and slithered toward the gate.
"I do so hope no one is really in there," she muttered crossly, but all the same, she waited to see if the shadow was able to squeeze under or around the doors. It was impossible to tell, for it had fallen into the shade itself and vanished... but still, she felt she knew where it was. Taunting.
Desdemona swallowed a squeak as it flowed under John's hand, then up across the doorway.
The shadow found that the stout doors were sealed tight, with neither crack nor crevice to squeeze through. There were, however, a pair of arrow loops- one to either side of the door- that it could slither through.
A pair of armored mercenaries flanked the doorway one on either side, both ignoring the banging and shouting from the other side, and a short haired blonde woman in a military uniform stood near the mirror, frowning at the door.
A faint briny smell hung in the air.
To the group: "Something off about those guards .... and the dwarves in town said that all the guards had left. I wonder who those guys are?"
John bangs again.
"Hey in there ... we've got some questions for the constable of the fort!"
Bleh.
The shadow oozed through the arrow loop, and in her mind, unbidden came the knowledge of what it had seen.
"There is someone in there," Desdemona whispered to the others. "A blonde woman and two guards. I think she's wondering what to do about us."
Defense:
20% miss chance in bright light, 50% miss in any other lower level of light (and the fluff says the shadow disappears into the shade). Immunity to death effects, disease, and poison. Evasion. Cold/electric resistance 10.
Offense:
Slam reach 10', bite reach 5', increased by 5' each when Large. Melee attacks affect incorporeal creatures as if it had the ghost touch weapon property. All attacks are treated as magic. Combat reflexes (3 AOOs).
The blonde woman glared at the shadow as it oozed through the arrow slit. Everyone heard the woman's shout through the defensive holes in the wall. "Hey!" As Desdemona's shadow reported back to its mistress, the spyhole hatch slammed to one side. An angry, short haired blonde woman frowned ferociously out at the Briarstone survivors.
"What are you doing, trespassing on the Fort!?"
Broom fidgeted nervously as John kept banging on the door. "This is a really bad idea, the people in the fort don't seem to like visitors. We shouldn't be just walking up and announcing ourselves like this." she thought as she kept glancing at the guards on the walls.
She nearly jumped out of her skin as the the little window slammed open.
Desdemona gulped as she realized what the shadow was perceiving. Touching Broom's shoulder on the way past as she stepped forward, she breathed, "Tell Reine and John - the guards are juju zombies." She wasn't sure how she knew what those blank faces meant, but she did.
Positioning herself at the front of the group, she gave the woman a lofty look. "Don't you know who we are?" she asked, putting a full load of superiority in the words.
Oh well.
LOL
John tries to place the woman and remember who she is.
"Who's is trespassing? We're just back in town and looking to reconnect with people we haven't seen in a while to learn what's been going on."
John recognized the woman as Constable Barawyn Cesyll. She frowned at Desdemona. "Unless you're Count Haserton Lowls IV, you can just turn around and go home. The magistrate ordered the fort closed. I can't do anything about that. Go away."
"I don't know what you think you're doing, but we are associates of the Count, whose authority exceeds that of the magistrate. You will open these doors immediately." Desdemona spoke with confidence she hadn't even known she had... and all the while, the shadow was oozing around the woman, getting behind her...
The thought occurred to Reine that the guards were juju zombies, but that was immediately followed by the thought, "what the hell is a juju zombie, and how do I know the guards are them?"
Then the little window slammed open, and the lady behind it got snooty. Des, as was her wont, got snooty right back. Reine, for her part, debated reaching through the window and poking the woman in the nose, but refrained.
For now.
Instead, she twitched her fingers, and from one of the towers came a man's voice, urgently.
"Are you suicidal, woman? By all the gods, let them in! Let them in now!"
"Come on now Barawyn. There's no reason to be rude. We've fought side by side together in the past. We're just looking to exchange a little information."
In spite of the surprising shout from the tower, in the face of Desdemona's commanding presence and John's appeal to camaraderie- or maybe because of all that, to be honest- the blonde woman shook her head ferociously and slammed the peep hole. "We're closed! No entry!"
John could see the doors were made from especially thick, heavily reinforced wood .
Inside, the shadow was making itself very obvious as it slithered across the floor.
Constable Cesyll noticed the unnatural shadow moving around in the foyer but the guards did not. "What is that thing???"
Defense:
20% miss chance in bright light, 50% miss in any other lower level of light. Immunity to death effects, disease, and poison. Evasion. Cold/electric resistance 10.
Offense:
Slam reach 10', bite reach 5', increased by 5' each when Large. Melee attacks affect incorporeal creatures as if it had the ghost touch weapon property. All attacks are treated as magic. Combat reflexes (3 AOOs).
Desdemona stiffened as she realised the shadow's intent. "Be ready for the doors to open," she whispered to the others urgently.
Inside, the shadow oozed up to the bar holding the gates closed, and lifted it out of its holders, dropping it to the ground.
John’s right hand drops down to Red Destiny’s hilt in case the door opens and trouble starts.
Outside, the survivors heard a heavy thump as the bar hit the floor. They also heard the woman shout. "Kill that thing! Hold the doors! No one comes in!" With eerie alacrity, the guards flanking the doors both swept their weapons at Desdemona's shadow.
The first mercenary slashed at the shadow with his sword.
Whatever else they were, the guards were well trained. The soldier's razor sharp sword sliced through Desdemona's shadow as easily as parting water, hurting the shade.
"We can open the doors now!" Des hissed urgently.
Waiting on Des's action.