"Agreed! I'll take the first. I want to examine the fire, and still get a full night's sleep. You know we wizards need our beauty rest, especially us Half-Orcs!"
"Right, right, your 'beauty rest'..."
"Ugly rest, perhaps then?"
"Wake me for my watch." Nastarok says.
He unrolls his portable hole and pulls a pillow and a collection of blankets out of it. Then goes to sleep.
Grookle spends a few minutes in a rage, his wounds healing over...
He proceeds to then fall on his face, and snores loudly. He looks like a good night's rest will take care of his remaining wounds.
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Wilhaim, this appears to be the same strange mix of divine and arcane magic that you saw previously.
Sleeping for eight hours and taking watches, nothing eventful happens overnight. As each of you wake, fully rested, you feel warm, not uncomfortably, but enough that you don't feel cold whatsoever from the snow around you. The snow has died down, but a small sheet of it covers your beds. You can now see the village below more clearly.
This village is a few miles from the mountainside, a large, disorganized square of buildings and shops. You can see plenty of movement, so it is obvious that people live there. There are some larger buildings, but they are mostly wooden, and none of them seem to be religious buildings.
"Might as well check out the village. "
He yawns as he comes to one. "Hm? Oh, right, the village."
Nastarok rolls up his pillow and blankets and then stows them in his portable hole.
"I'll lead off. Keep a sharp eye out for those goblin cannibals."
He heads off down the path towards the village, keeping watch for trouble.
(+7 for traps)
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You spend a while hiking down the mountainside. It's a few hours before noon when you reach the bottom, and the village is close enough for you to hear commotion. Listening closely, Wilhaim notices what sounds like Draconic being spoken. Nothing happens along your trek, and it is very odd how little wildlife there is. Once at the bottom, you can see for miles, as there are very few trees in any direction. Behind you is a large mountain, the only one you can see. This place almost feels like a white void.
"Is this place unnerving to anyone else? There is enough normalcy to make me slightly complacent...yet something is missing, which in turn sets my nerves on edge. Also, I could have sworn I heard someone speaking in Draconic...."
"Well, there is the fact that this isn't actually outside. This is all part of that wizzer's tricks and games, he made it all... somehow. No offence Wilhaim, but you people scare me sometimes with the crazy s!#% you can do on a whim." He frowns as he looks around, dragging his ax behind him and leaving a trail through the snow.
"Frankly, Grooklepop, powerful wizards scare me as well, largely because I know what wizards are capable of doing."
"Well we better keep our guards up. If it's draconic, I almost assume it to be hostile. "
"This is the Wizzer's tower. Assume everything will probably be hostile."
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As you begin to see the village more clearly, you can see that there are tall wooden walls, basically sharpened poles roped together, running around the edges of it, making it difficult to see inside. There is, however, a gate you can see facing you, and a human in armor standing in front of it. He is at least 500 feet away, but you are all experienced enough to see some details. He seems to be looking in your direction. You can just barely hear him yelling.
"Ποιος είσαι!?"
"Who are you!?"
"Anyone got any idea what that lad is saying?" Nastarok asks the others as he slows to let them catch up with him.
"He is asking who we are. What shall I tell him?"
"Visitors. We mean them no harm. "
"Unless they do something stupid, that is."
"That can be assumed or learned rapidly. "
"I'd be surprised if there are any people here that aren't the wizard's creatures."
"While that is likely true, I'd just as soon slaughter them after they prove hostile than before. "
"Fair, fair... Could be slaves."
"Well, that seems normal. Nothing wrong there."
"It seems like maybe I should have brought this up earlier, but the magic you used to hide us from the wizard wore off a while ago, didn't it?" Nastarok asks Wilhaim.
"The way I cast it allowed for four hours of protection for myself, and five for each of you. I haven't recast it for today, due to it's limited duration, but I'll do so now.
He casts Communal Nondetection on the party.
"You might want to tell him to stop and answer some questions before I make a pincushion of him. "
"O-oi oi, you're gonna wanna stop right there before I slice you in two!" He yells out threatiningly, holding Treefeller in hand.
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The man keeps moving as the both of you talk, but stops, about fifteen feet away from you, before speaking in trance-like Common.
"Greetings. I am Zan-Lee, brother of the wizard you are seeking. I mean you no harm, and I am the one who warned you of the lava, and of the trap, which you opened anyway. My older brother has imprisoned and tortured both me and our younger brother. Unfortunately, such torture, along with rigorous experimentation that even I do not know the extent of, has driven him mad. You met him before, and I thank you for putting him out of his misery.
In my current condition, I am not strong enough to stop my brother. On one of these trials, I am imprisoned. I do not know which, but if you can save me, I promise to help you stop my brother. I have prevented you from being discovered by the guards of this town, and be warned, this place is not what it seems. This is a one-way message."
The man then takes out his sword and stabs himself in the stomach.
"Ok, that was a bit odd. I guess that means the town isn't going to be friendly. Do we avoid it or clear it?"
"Had no idea the wizzer had himself a family... I'd say we just go in and wipe it out, if it's another one of those tricks of his."
"I say we avoid it, not that I like having enemies at our back, but what if they are genuinely innocent people?"
"Wilhaim, do you have any magic that would let you scout the town from here? Omar and I could sneak up and scout around after dark."
"Heck, this is forest and town where I'm plenty sneaky, I can walk up in broad daylight if I wanted to. Of course then I would step on a mouse and alert everyone knowing my luck. "
"Hah, probably. Hmm... Say, Wilhaim, these guys spoke lizard. Maybe that could give a hint on what they really are about."
"We can try bypassing it, but there is the possibility that where we need to go lies amid it. "
"Let's do some reconnaissance then."
He rifles through his spellbook again.
"I can make one of you invisible for over fifteen minutes, and another invisible with a stronger magic, but that will only last for a little over a minute and a half. I can turn myself into a nondescript animal as well. Lastly, we can fly in; most people never look up all day, unless they have cause to do so."
"Maybe a combination of invisibility and flight for someone? That could give a good look at what's going on behind the walls."
"Well either us sneaky types could just go in by ourselves while the rest wait, or the unsneaky types can follow invisible. I'm not sure how well that will work since the one spell is pretty short. The former is probably the better plan. "
"I say one of you two go in flying and invisible, scout about. If you can't touch the ground, you're not even making any noise for them to track! ...This armor would be noisy enough for folk to notice though."
"Okay, here's what we'll do. Omar and Nastarok, you guys scout the area. I'll provide you with whatever spells you like, and if you need us, Grooklepop and I can run in. If you need us to be sneaky, I'll use the remaining spells on he and I to get us safely inside. Pick your poison."
"I think you'll probably need to make him invisible. I can get by since I know this terrain. "
Which translates to I have hide in plain sight in both forest and urban, while he does not.
"Sounds like a plant to me!"
"Okay, Nastarok, prepare to experience what it is like to not see your own hands and feet for a while. It's a rather interesting experience.
Wilhaim walks to Nastarok, and casts invisibility.
"Fascinating" Nastarok says dryly.