Their time with Saventa and Halek too memorable and too long by far, the Caravan guards decide to depart rather than decapitate.
The walk to the Twin Mills Masonry is long by Jace's Stanchion standards.
Nestled between the trifork of the river that Jace’s Stanchion rests the large Twin Mills Masonry. As the group crosses the bridge they turn southeast towards the entrance to the Mill, and its large waterwheel. The door open, over the loud splash of the water wheel, the group can overhear a heated conversation from inside.
”What would your mother say if she saw this sloppy work?” comes a masculine voice.
That is followed quickly by ”If you hadn’t been so awful to her, she’d still be here and we could have asked her right now!” comes a second masculine voice.
As the group walks closer to the door, they can see two men squatting around a tall, hollow cylinder. Both men stand up abruptly from their work.
The slightly shorter man is a solidly built man in his late fifties; years of hard work have left him as solid as the stone he shapes. His thick beard and hair are still a vibrant red, a few strands of silver just creeping into his mustache.
The second man looks much the same, though he is slighter of build and grey has not yet touched his hair.
”Good day. I am Gregor, and this is my son, Falnor. What may we help you with?” the shorter man says as he walks outside to greet the group. He is quickly flanked by his son who stands with him in the doorway.
"A pleasure to meet you sirs. I am Kazushi, and these are Kenax, Aidan and Tio. We arrived guarding a caravan yesterday and are looking for two of our fellow guards, Morris and Simon, who seem missing. Would you have seen two men from out of town, likely armed, in the last 24 hours?" Kazushi replies in pleasant tones.
"Good day it is. We arrived together as caravan guards," adds Aidan.
He then casts another glance at the waterwheel and looks at Gregor and Falnor.
"And don't you have something stuck in your waterwheel?"
The men furrow their brow for a moment, "Now that you mention it, I do remember seeing someone like that, playing with knives mind you, headed toward the mines. Honestly didn't think much of it at the time." comes Gregor’s response.
"What are you saying now? Something stuck in the wheel?" Gregor waves Falnor over. "I don't see anything, you see anything?"
Falnor puts his hand over his eyes to shield them from the afternoon sun. "I can't see anything. Where did you see it mister?"
"There, right in between," he points to the glimmer he saw. "Isn't it dangerous to have something stuck in a place like this? If you don't see it, I can probably get it."
Kenax looks and might with help be able to see it. "If you can direct, this one might be able to find the object. Swift as the wind, it is easier to extract." This knowledge that their friends headed toward the mine give him even more pause, and even more reason to distrust and hopefully murder the guards there.
Both men shake their head. "Still not seeing it, but if you do, that wheel is our life. If something happens to it, not sure we could make it. We'd be mighty grateful if there is something wrong, if you could fix it." responds Gregor as Falnor nods his head in agreement.
Kazushi tries to see what Aidan is pointing at without success, then replies to Gregor:-
"That definitely sounds like Simon and Morris. Do you recall when that was?"
Aidan nods and hops on the wheel, careful not to break anything or fall down.
Gregor is too captivated by Aidan's acrobatic prowess to answer the human woman's question.
The soulknife dexterously leaps onto one of the slowly rotating paddles. Squatting down, he grips the end of the paddle in two hands. The wheel slowly dips below the surface of the chilly water.
Gripping tightly, he quickly comes to the glimmering object. Dislodging it, he grips it tightly in his hands as the wheel churns him back above the water. Completely soaked and dripping water, Aidan looks to see what treasure he has plucked from the wheel.
All the onlookers are astonished to see a wedding ring, still lodged on a finger bone.
Gregor and Falnor both drop to the ground in a blubbering mass of hysteria.
Kazushi waits as the pair grieve, awkwardly, and when the din dies down somewhat says:-
"That is your wedding ring, isn't it Gregor. And your wife's, and mother's, bone."
The pair continue to grieve for a time before Falnor is first to respond. "I don't know whose ring that is . I .... I don't know why I am so saddened by it. It seems ... I just don't know." and he once again begins to weep into his hands, still on his knees.
Gregor claps a fatherly hand on his son's shoulder while wiping a tear from his own eye. "It hurts my heart. It really does. But I don't know why." adds in Gregor.
You suspect something is wrong with both men's memories, but that they are telling you the truth. You have heard that some people can use Psionic powers to effects other people's minds.
"This one knows that minds can not only be taken, but also cleaned. It may be these were mind-cleaned to not know the woman was taken rather than leaving." He looks towards the two. "Your woman companion, what did happen to her? Where went she? Why she went?"
Tio opens his mouth to object, to offer Lagun's services to retrieve the shiny thing, but the soulknife is already well on his way, and so he stays his tongue.
"Cleaned? An odd word; their minds seem to be fuzzier than most, in fact. They've certainly repressed something, the way they're acting... "
"Your woman companion, what did happen to her? Where went she? Why she went?"
Gregor looks to Falnor. "She left. With a caravan guard."
Falnor, wiping snot from his nose, "And not a day goes by that don't blame me!" cries Falnor pointing a finger at Gregor.
"It must've got here from the upstream," Aidan whispers to his companions. "And the river does flow near the mines."
"It becomes more interesting with every minute. We must find a way inside those mines."
"The river does not flow that close to the entrance of the mine. Where the mine goes... we will have to find out. I think the time to do that is at night." Kazushi replies, also in a whisper.
"At night, at night, everything at night. This one was told the time to strike is while the iron is hot, let us bathe our iron in their blood and let it be warmed therefrom." Kenax says, tired of waiting. He doesn't like it here, and he worries daily more and more that they will be subjected to some sort of mental influence.
Tio is pretty apparently disturbed by the iguana's imagery. "I'd like to at least try not to kill anyone who doesn't deserve it. A bloodbath hardly seems fitting, but i think we should definitely check it out."
"The entrance's not close to the river, right," agrees Aidan. "But we don't know what's past the entrance."
"We can try to create a distraction," he suggests. "While we do that, Kenax might have a chance to sneak past the guards."
"Do we go now or after nightfall? I wanted to wait for darkness, Kenax wants to move now, perhaps worried that something will be done to our minds if we wait, which is a valid consideration. I will go with either plan. There is something of interest in that mine without doubt." Kazushi nods in agreement as she speaks.
"This one can sneak during the day as well, the wind goes where it pleases, but at night the rest might accompany this one so that if blood need be shed, this one is not alone while doing so." It was not a coward's weaseling, but an honest statement that four knives cut more throats than one. That and Kenax would be less likely to end up bloody if the rest were there. He's not generally concerned for himself though, as for what he might have to face.
"Seems reasonable to me. Also, if a fracas does break out, there should be less guards around and visibility will be restricted at night. We could continue and explore the General Store, the tailor and Twin Mills Quarry. That should not take all day, maybe we could return to The Absent Eidolon and get some food and rest, before implementing our master plan." Kazushi looks at her companions, hopeful a consensus has been achieved.
Undercover of darkness, the group leave the comfort of the Absent Eidolon Tavern. A firm plan in mind, the intrepid caravan guards prepare for the worst while silently hoping for the best.
The guards at the entrance to the Duarran estate merely give the guards a nod and an admonition to 'Stay the hell away from the house or we'll be putting a crossbow bolt in your arse!'. More bluster than threat, the group merely nods and continues their trek to the mine entrance.
As always, the two guards are grinning idiotically as if some unknown joke has passed between them.
Kenax initiates the stealthy assault, sneaking around the guards toward the mine entrance. His darkvision allows him near perfect sight out to 60', though he has a bow at the ready. His footfalls are near imperceptible, though perhaps these guards are particularly alert. He remains focused in the event he should need to disappear quick.
Tio follows quietly behind the others, ready to summon Lagun at a moment's notice, if they need a distraction. His complete and total lack of darkvision makes for a difficult task of following his companions, though somehow he manages to keep himself relatively quiet and hidden.
Aidan sneaks besides the others, choosing to hide behind the crates near the mines entrance. There is just enough light not to trip over.
"We might need a distraction," he whispers. "To have enough time to deal with the gates."
Kazushi moves up as stealthily as possible and casts colour spray on the 2 guards.
The group tries their best to sneak up on the guard unawares. Unfortunately, the normally unattentive guards are more aware than they have ever been. Kazushi stubs her toe on the crates, Kenax unleashes an untimely sneeze, and Tio is spotted midway between shadows.
Only Aidan is able to sneak completely towards the guards.
Since there's no more point in hiding, Aidan runs up to Kazushi.
Aidan scurries forward to stand next to Kazushi.
Seeing as their sneaking was already doomed, and as male fleshlings have qualms about such things, Kenax draws his bow and fires at the woman. He hopes it hits her right in her smug face, or better her neck.
Kazushi moves up as stealthily as possible and casts colour spray on the 2 guards.
Apologies.
The arrow that Kenax fires breaks off on the guards armor causing her no damage. SHe flashes a grin as if to promise retribution.
The kitsune disguised as a human rushes forward and blasts the guards with her magics.
Both guards fall unconscious, blinded, and stunned for rounds.
Kazushi, looking a little smug, moves over to the fallen guards, asking:-
"Does anyone have any rope?"
She then looks in the direction of the guards at the entrance of the Duarran estate to see if they have noticed.
"I think I have," pitches in Aidan and digs into his backpack.
"Here, let me help with that, " he ties the guards' arms and legs. And gags them of course.
As both guards lay on the ground unconscious, the caravan guards are able to look through their possessions if they desire.
- sap
- short sword
- light crossbow
- 20 bolts
- scalemail
- heavy wooden shield
- 10 gp
With the guards now out of the picture, the caravan guards can see the mine gates are locked with a simple lock and chain.
Furthermore, the caravan guards now have free reign to loot the items around the mine entrance.
- 6
Zerathi chisels* and 3 Zerathi picks* - a dorjes of detect psionics (27 charges)
- a power stone of sensitivity to psychic impressions
- There is also a mining cart containing approximately 400 lbs of phrenoric ore
The foes vanquished, Kenax does not harm them. It'd be unkind to add insult to injury... then he realizes he hasn't quite insulted them yet, so he finds some coal and while they are still unconscious draws a comical moustache on the lady guard. Or hell, even if they wake up first. He must have some form of vengeance and the mere humiliation of defeat was not enough.
Tio hasn't even time to react before the guards are dispatched in a colorful spray of magic. Slightly dazzled, he rubs his eyes. " I suppose we don't have to worry too much about them anym- Kenax...? Well... at least you're not bringing them harm. They certainly seemed livelier than earlier, though..."
Kazushi does a quick search, employing detect magic, saying:-
"Well, we have 20 gold here, not being used by it's current owner. Much more interesting, these are psionically empowered."
Kazushi indicates the dorjes and stone of sensitivity, then points to the picks and chisels, continuing:-
"These seem of excellent manufacture. Things to take obviously. What is this stuff in the mining cart, anyone? And can someone get that door open?"
"I say we also disarm them, just in case. No need to take their weapons with us, just put them in one of the boxes here," suggests Aidan and carries out his suggestion.
"I didn't know you were an artist, Kenax," he smiles when sees what the ophiduan did.
"Just a moment," the soulknife discharges a barrage of attacks at the lock an chain. "Let's see what they hide inside."
"This one did not believe that harm was warranted, an insult for an insult. The world is in balance. It may pass that this one feels the slight deserves more retribution later, but at this time the world is appeased." He nods to Tio and Aidan. "This one has no talent for artistry, but thanks you just the same."
Aidan strikes the lock barring their entrance to the mines. With a few well placed blows, the simple lock falls broken to the ground. Gently pushing the gate makes a barely audibly squeal as they open inward.
The mines beyond the gates are well-maintained and expertly excavated. Wooden beams reinforce the tunnels every 5-10 feet. There are no light sources within the mines, though a full lantern sits near the main gates. The humidity is quite high in the caverns and the odd pool of clean water dots the corridor floor.
Despite the humidity, the temperature is unnaturally even and pleasant in all of the tunnels – characters who prefer cool environments believe it to be cool and refreshing, while characters looking for warmth will feel it most comfortably.
The passage here splits into two exploratory tunnels. Fragments of a marble-like substance still occasionally dot the hewn stone walls.
"Shall we enter the mine and explore the mysteries that lie in its abyssal depths?"
Kazushi stands aside from the door and indicates the way in with an expansive gesture.
I am a bit relieved Kenax is content with drawing on those obnoxious guards. He was certainly very angry with them earlier.
"I think we may need to bring some light with us; I know I can barely tell my foot from the path in the darkness, let alone anything more hostile than an ill-shapen stone."
He grabs the handle of the lantern, lifting, but without the means to light it. "Anyone else able to light it, or would the rest of us rather go without?
Kazushi rummages in her backpack briefly, eventually producing a flint and steel. She then moves over to Tio and lights his lamp, exclaiming:-
"Problem solved."
"Yes, much better," Aidan thanks Kazushi.
"Let's take a look inside this one," he points to the left passage. "It's closer to the exit in case something happens."
Kazushi nods in agreement and the party proceeds into the left passage in the agreed marching order, with Tio and Aidan leading, followed by Kzushi and with Kenax in the rear.