Rahaal says, "I think Devan is right that we should check the records. I don't know how likely, but there's a chance that we'll find something there that saves us crucial time. What if a few of us go take an early look at the fissure while the rest of us check the records?
"I'm thinking Devan, Tris, and myself could take a look at the records. Devan, if you send Arend with the fissure crew, can you and he communicate somehow? If we do go that route, please don't go farther than is safe without getting us all together."
"Well, seriously, if there was another way someone in this city would know it, but if you think it's wise to double check, then let's go."
"Esaul be plenty o' aid fer wha' we're lookin intae. An' dunnae worry 'bout granda' Baradorn: reckless is nae a word tha' fits me. Jes' lookin' fer a tunnel. Ah've nary a thought o' spelunkin' without ye lot." Thondrir claps Esaul on the back and gestures towards the climbing gear. "Lessee if ah can manage not t'fall t'me death, aye?"
Tris agrees with the division of teams, and goes along with Rahaal and Devan to have a peek through the old town records. She honestly doubts there'll be much about secret tunnels... but references to the town's past, and this arrangement with the dragon, that they might stumble across might be interesting.
After Dvalin gives two bags holding a tangle of ropes and climbing kits, you leave the collapsed mine entrance and dozens of capable stoneshapers and metalsmiths working hard.
Esaul and Thondrir stay at the enormous fissure that opened outside the inn. The walls are jagged natural stone and loose broken earth that has become mud. In some areas, the water runs freely into the depths of the fissure, creating a spray that is making the rock walls slick. The two Samaritans start untangling the ropes and climbing kits and locating the route the previous team took down the crevasse.
Devan, Rahaal and Tris return through the Town Square and farmer refugees to the Guild Hall . Yes, Miranda is still kneeling vigil over the corpse of Guildmaster Pratt. The bound guard is now conscious and none too happy with your arrival, especially with his dead partner lying nearby in the Hall of Records. While the guard continuously spews vitriol at you, you search the records for another way into the mountain.
"Well, seems there's a map of the mines at least. Sounds like that crypt might be worth checking out after all. There might be an entrance from it to the mines. Lets go meet up with Esaul and Thondrir and let them know. The crypt seems like a less dangerous option than the fissure, and it will likely win us some points with the natives."
"Great work! Yes, let's collect our fellows and then head to the crypt straightaway."
Esaul was still getting prepared with Thondrir when the group returned. "Well, this was really dangerous, I didn't want to take chances. What did you find?"
"There's probably a connection from the crypt we were asked to bury Pratt in and the mines. We figure by burying him we can earn some points with the locals and also possibly gain entrance to the mines there. We also found this map," Devan says holding the map.
Tris was too slow to ferret out knowledge, but as Devan was more than skilled at such, she's happy to simply tag along and squint at dusty tomes and nod sagely at his discoveries.
She purses her lips at the plan to take Pratt's body up the crypt. If there's still a passel of townfolk there when they come out...
She falls into step by Rahaal as they go to collect Esaul and Thondrir and tell them what they found, murmuring quietly to the priestess (and to the others, as well, but primarily Rahaal).
"I dunno if that Regina's told the townsfolk yet that Pratt is dead," she says, "but if she hasn't, then us carrying him out of there might cause some problems. You're the one who's lived here: you think these people will capsize when they realize Pratt's dead? We might want to have some nice words prepared. Better not tell them he offed himself; that gets people thinking there's no hope at all. If it gets out their leader suicided, then any desperate soul in this town will jump ship and join him unless I miss my guess."
When you regroup with Regina (the head of the militia and leading the defense of the gate), she is pleased to hear about some hope with the connection between the crypt and the mine. She offers to find you a cart to carry Pratt's body, but all animals of burden have been pressed into service. So, you will have to push the cart. She can detail some militia to help you load Pratt onto the cart to make it legitimate. Regina is comfortable with Rahaal performing the funeral ceremony.
The entrance to the crypt is at the far back of the town . It runs in a crevasse for some ten miles to the old dwarven crypt. No one has been there in years.
It will take a good hour to get the cart to the Guild Hall and load up Pratt. The hike to the crypt will take another several hours. When are you leaving? Is there anything else you want to prepare and bring with you?
"Ready when you are, folks."
"I'd like to wait until I can summon Arend back. We can get Pratt loaded up now, but lets wait for morning before heading out."
Tris thanks Regina for the offer of the Guildmaster's building. She paces the halls of the building restlessly, understanding the wisdom of waiting til they're at full strength in the morning, but impatient to be off: if it's to be a suicide mission, she'd just as soon get the dyin' over with.
As she walks, she practices rolling a coin over and around between her knuckles. She might be a little claustrophobic and not looking forward to eventual underground travel. Maybe.
As another long day nears it's end, Rahaal's mind wanders toward the Hammerfall. She aches for something to make her smile, and to celebrate life a bit, before another long hard day. "Samaritans, I'm inclined to get a drink at the Hammerfall before I turn in. And before that, I want to check on that ensorcelled guard, if he's regained consciousness. Anyone who wants to join me for either is more than welcome."
"Well, may I mention my point of view? I know how much you miss Arend, Devan, but we should go there today at least to clear the place. I know we're tired an all, but we still have magical resources to use today that won't sum up with tomorrow's. I'm just saying."
The hike to the crypt will take another several hours.
After a hour, you stand before the crevasse entrance heading toward the crypt. Guildmaster Pratt lays underneath a decorated rug on a handcart. The preparation went as smoothly as possible with the detail of militia literally doing the heavy lifting. When the refugees who are settled in the Town Square became aware of Pratt's impeding funeral, they cycled through waves of emotion of shock, grief, and fear. Rahaal assured them that Regina was in charge, and the militia detail supported that claim.
Miranda decided she was too grief-stricken to accompany you to that far away crypt in the middle of the night. She would go later during the day. The guards were also take care of by the militia detail. The dead one was looted for his kit and dropped in a mass grave. The dominated one was taken to the gate for the militia to watch.
On the way, you pass the gardens of Fairhaven. They are surprisingly lush, beautiful and dominate the highest tier of the city. The waterfalls are diverted into two small rivers that feed the flora, all of which is tended to a meticulous degree. While many of the city’s buildings have suffered greatly from the earthquake, the garden’s growth seems unimpeded. A cracked path here and there is all that there is to indicate a calamity ever transpired here. Numerous tents can be found in amidst the flora housing townsfolk who have lost their homes to the earthquake.
The old winding trail snakes its way through the rocky slopes behind Fairhaven’s gardens and leads deeper into the mountains. The trail is rocky and untended and over-looks Ymial's massive army camping in the valley at two points.
About nine miles out of Fairhaven exists the nearly overgrown tomb entrance. It appears that it has been quite some time since anyone has visited the tomb to revere the forgotten dead though. There isn’t much on the outside that betrays the existence of a dwarven crypt, with the old stone arches having weathered down to a shadow of their former glory. The surrounding area is thick with overgrowth, over which the stone wall of the mountain rises. Evidence of the old dwarf door is barely perceptible in the rock face, the impressions of ancient runes having been worn down by centuries of exposure to the elements.
The old stone doors of the crypt were long ago broken from their pivot points. One door yet remains upright, though it is slightly ajar. The other has fallen inward, and is cracked in multiple places. Each door consists of a slab of stone about 5 feet high, 3 feet wide and 6 inches thick, weighing about 1,300 pounds.
There is ample room (40 ft square) in front of the crypt to camp amid some trees, bushes, and two large monoliths.
Already regretting having suggested to come to the crypts this late, Esaul helps to pull the cart, while Light scouts a few feet ahead of the line. Esaul is immediately ahead of the cart, but the wolf is probably the first of the line to scent any foreign smell on the road. When the ambient light is not enough, he uses the Light cantrip on the bottom of the cart, to light the road but not much farther.
He realizes something at the door, and shares his knowledge while looking around for possible threats.
"Watch out, Giant Owls are mighty hunters at dim-lighted places, but if we are finding only pellets, there's probably a bigger predator around."
"Let's check the inside?"
"Those are owlbear droppings, son. Worse than any bird I'd wager. Lets be real careful going in there. If there's an owlbear denned up in this crypt we've got a tough fight ahead of us."
Tris can't see crap. Literally. Between the darkness and her own general lack of woods-savviness, she only looks bemused at the mention of owlbear droppings.
Devan's words don't put her at ease, though. An owlbear. Great. She has never fought one, and doesn't really want to start tonight.
"I'm going to light a torch," she mutters, and gets out her flint and steel to do just that. The warm glow of flame in her left hand makes her feel a bit better about the ominous blackness of the crypt entrance ahead. Magic light's all well and good, but sometimes you want to feel the heat of the flame too.
Not that the view the other direction is much better. The winking campfires of Ymial's army are... too many to easily count from up here. It doesn't inspire personal confidence in their ability to prevail at all.
"Right. So. Who's first, or do we want to chuck in a glowing rock or something?"
"Ah'll be takin' point if ye don' mind. Dunnae reckon any of ye can see what's what inside." Thondrir spares a quick glance around the clearing. "An' if an owlbear's lurkin' atween us an' a mine, best ye 'ave a suit o' armor fer its beak, aye?"
"Thank you, old friend. I'm right hesitant to attempt this with Arend gone and most of my magic used up. But I've still got my bombs."
Place yourselves on the map and tell me what your plan is.
Esaul will follow after the short dwarf at G10, with Light behind him at G11. He has his bow ready.
Try editing now.
Tris sidles up behind 'grandpappy' Thondrir, her torch in one hand and her rapier in the other.
"Ready when you are, old man," she teases, to cover up her current state of nerves. Great. Great. Going into the earth, with tight walls all around you and no fresh air and the knowledge of all that rock pressing in on you from all sides...
By the light of her torch, Tris tries to peer inside and make sure the stone is safe to walk on, and no tripwires or anything set up by some especially fiendish owlbear.
Rahaal falls in at the back, beside Devan. She begins to speak of Justice and Duty in an uplifting, rhythmic cadence:
"Samaritans. The day has been long, but the foes of justice do not tire, nor do the trapped citizens of Fairhaven down in the mine have the luxury of rest. Therefore let us find courage in the rightness of our task."
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