And so our tale begins...
After several hours of walking from the small town of Greenbarrow, the unlikely companions approach a strange hill.
Yet another barrow-hill rises ahead in the distance, though this one seems slightly different from the scores of such hills you’ve passed while travelling through this quiet, pastoral region. Crowning the top of this barrow-hill, in a nearly perfect circle, are eight large gray-green standing stones, each about three feet in diameter. Four of the stones barely jut from the ground, and the other four are about the height of a tall man. In the center of these strange stones stands a larger stone, about eight feet in diameter. Unlike the stones that surround it, the central stone is a solid lusterless black, about 12 feet tall, and has faint but obvious markings chiseled into it.
A dwarven woman stands near the back of the group, pausing occasionally to glance back and watch for any threats from behind. A short ponytail swings every time she turns her head; the ragged, uneven ends are clear to see, as if the grooming was done with a dagger and no hint of caution or care. She carries a long bow in one hand, with what appear to be a multitude of hand-carved symbols etched along its entire length. By her side, a dark grey wolf pads almost noiselessly down the path, sniffing the air.
"Well, looks like we could get our fill for a bit of corpse-hunting out here," she mutters softly, running a hand through the wolf's bristly fur. "Keep a weather eye out, pup, and speak up if you see or hear anything. We don't want to get surprised by anything we'd meet among these barrow-hills, would we?" The wolf lets out a short huff.
"Ah, but I forget, the great Conri doesn't ever let anything slip past his notice - except those thieves a few weeks back, eh? Wandered in right past Mr. Grand Scout's nose, with him supposed to be on watch and sleeping like a whelp, and nicked the backpack with most of our supplies before I could even get an arrow on the string." She gives the wolf a playful cuff across the ears. "It's a good thing I kept a pouch with some coin on my belt, or we'd have lost everything. Bad enough having to replace everything we did lose."
As the small knot of people approaches the crowned barrow-hill, Rennai leans toward her nearest companion. "I mislike the feel of these barrow-downs, but I can admit a bit of nice stonework when I see it. I wonder what the markings say?"
The big blonde man beside her smiled and responded, They say something grim and foreboding I'd wager.
He was young but is face had a weather-worn quality that hid much of that youth. He started poking about the base of the hill, looking for signs of the missing girl. Or maybe they say, "Warning, sinkholes ahead, children should be supervised."
He scratched the stubble on his chin then cupped his hands to his mouth and called out, Casiodora!
A tall human woman in a simple travelling dress raises her eyebrow as the half-elf shouts. "I don't believe that she'd be able to hear us, had she fallen in a sinkhole." She removes her cloak's hood, revealing her cold blue eyes. Dismounting from her horse, frowning as she steps in the deep mud, she raises her left arm, on which a snow owl is perching, half-asleep. "Take flight and see what's in the area.", she whispers to the animal, which looks back with its giant eyes and flies away. "I think I can try and see what these markings are. Shall we?", she says in an unquestionable tone as she makes her way towards the top of the cairn.
I wonder what purpose do those serve., she ponders as she stands next to the central stone, beginning to study it, raising an arm to her chin.
Standing ahead of the group upon the barrow-hill, a tall blonde haired elf carefully examines the ground near the stones. A pair of dark lenses shield pale light sensitive eyes. If the girl's weight managed to break through... Be careful Rose. The ground here may yet be unstable.
Clad in various shades of dark blue and weaved of thick cotton, the elf's shirt wraps him like a robe tied at the sides. Embroidered in a slightly lighter shade of blue, just below the back collar is a small circular labyrinth with a solid disc at its center. Similarly weaved pants and soft boots match blue tanned armor. Two swords sit on either side of the elf's waist below numerous daggers resting in slots running parallel down his chest over his armor. Comprised of intricate patterns of leaves, the armor sits perfectly upon Euraphen's frame. The armor creaks softly as he tries to get a better look at the stones and the sink hole.
Oddly, Rennai and Conri find the area devoid of much wildlife around the barrow.
Auric calls out for Casiodora, but only whistles in the wind respond. Dark clouds have been moving in for the past hour, dimming the sun and kicking up wind.
Rose's snow owl take flight, finding nothing different about the forest than that of the last dozen barrows.
Rose approaches the top and takes a look at the writing. The writing on the stone is archaic and foreign to the region. Something like old Hallit, however, the only legible words are: “ward,” “death,” “evil magic,” “flesh-eater,” and “Reaver.”
Rose lets the others know about the writing, allowing Eruaphen to consider the history.
This ancient language is different than the ancient form of the common tongue once widely spoken in the region. It was likely spoken by a race of foreign invaders.
DC 15 This language was once spoken by a tribe of savage warlike humans who raided and ravaged this region some 2,000 years
DC 20 The leader of these raiders was a legendary warrior-chieftain named Caragthax the Reaver. He was said to have been blessed by dark gods and invulnerable in battle.
The gray-green stones are common to the region, but the black central stone is not.
Looking around, the party notices something else:
A ragged, two-foot diameter sinkhole has recently opened next to the large central standing stone. Peering deeply into the dark hole, you feel a light draft of cold air as an unnatural chill runs down your spine.
Rennai peers at the large stone, trying to figure out anything she can about it."It's been a long time since Five Kings," she mutters, "but I think I still remember a few things..."
The black central stone is entirely different than the others. It's not made of earth at all, but of meteorite. It is extremely rare outside of Numeria. Most stones like this are said to have appeared after the Starfall legend. A meteorite of this size so far from Numeria could be worth a fortune, but moving it or cutting it would be near impossible. It's dark black shade and icy touch gives off an eerie feeling.
Rennai lets out a soft gasp. "I've only heard stories of these...I never thought I'd see one..." She turns to the others. "It's a meteorite, a fallen star. I've heard of a place, Numeria, where many of these have landed, but otherwise they're almost unheard of, especially this size."
She turns back to the stone. "I'll never figure out how these symbols were carved, either - meteorite is unimaginably hard, almost impossible to cut. Incredibly heavy, too; it must have landed here and been worked in place. It's a shame; it'd be worth several life fortunes if there was some way to move or cut it..."
After staring a moment longer, she tears her gaze from the stone. "Well, nothing for it but to go down and look; the girl could be in trouble. I'll go down first, take a look around; I don't need the light you do, so I'll not attract as much attention from any baddies that may be hiding." She takes a moment to secure a rope from her gear at the top of the sinkhole, then begins to lower herself in.
"Be careful Rose. The ground here may yet be unstable."
Rose stares at the elf, responding with a smirk. "I am rarely concerned with matters as trivial as gravity. It would appear that this is closely connected to the actual reason we're in this god-forsaken place."
As the dwarf prepares to descend in the sinkhole, she continues, "Rennai, my dear, while it's true that I may have issues seeing in there, the stone did warn about evil magic and wards. I do have certain experience in these matters. It is entirely possible that this place is defended with methods rather more elaborate than simple undead guardians. I'd suggest that we all make our way there, and if, perhaps, the place is infested with such, it'd be wise for us all to go together." She smiles at the dwarf, "I would not disagree if you went in first, however."
As soon as Rennai makes her way down, Rose goes to the edge of the sinkhole and slowly floats down, her cloak waving in the drafty air of the underground.
Reaching the bottom, she takes a quick look around and makes a swift gesture. The darkness in the room appears to funnel in her hand, leaving the place significantly brighter. She then turns to the dwarf, whispering, "I suggest we proceed with caution. I'll watch out for black magics, while Eruaphen can see if they didn't leave any other unpleasant surprises."
A somewhat slight red-haired northerner in heavy scale armor, holding a simple unadorned longspear and buckler, Kalla walks behind, keeping the van safe. She keeps her own counsel on the nature of the limnings and scribblings.
Doom. Death. Dire. Duhn duhn duhn.
And represses a desire to roll her eyes. The sinkhole holds her attention longest, imagining Casiodora here, her fear, or worse. Kalla looms around, hesitant to...drop in. A huff nearby reminds her of something.
"What of your horse Rose?" she calls down helpfully...
Just before descending down, she turns towards her compatriot, "Hm. Well spotted, Kalla. Ah, give me a moment." She closes her eyes for a moment, Come to me. In a moment, her owl flies in, landing on her glove. She looks at the owl and points at the horse, the owl rotating her head almost completely around to look at him as well. "Keep an eye on him. Make sure he doesn't get into any trouble. If anything attacks, run. I'll come and get you." The owl hoots and flies away, landing on the horse and putting her head under her wing.
"That'll do. Shall we?", she says, turning towards the others.
Adding to Rennai's assessment and Rose's translation of the stone, Euraphen remarks, If it landed here, where is the crater? As it is at the top of a hill, I suggest it was moved. Running a hand over the black stone and some of the symbols upon it, the elf reflects, This language is both ancient and quite different than any form of the common tongue once widely spoken here. Nearly 2,000 years ago, there was a race of savage warlike humans who raided and ravaged this place. The leader of these raiders was a legendary warrior-chieftain named Caragthax the Reaver. He was said to have been blessed by dark gods and invulnerable in battle. If this is true, perhaps such a being would have the resources to accomplish such a feat of moving this stone and marking it such.
With Rennai making preparations to descend, Euraphen interrupts her, Rose's advice is prudent, let me go first. Grabbing hold of the rope, Euraphen makes his way into the sink hole. He is careful not to touch the walls along the way as he keen eyes search for anything out of the ordinary.
Well, save the girl and earn the favour of a princess. This day is shaping up.
Auric watches the others descend into the hole then leans over the edge and calls down, Rennai, do you want me to lower Conri down too?
After that is resolved, he gives an "after you wave" to Kella, steadying the rope for her, then heads down himself.
"Yes, please...ah, Auric, is it? Thank you much - if you can find a way to rig a rope to let me take some of the weight, I'll do what I can to assist..."
She raises her voice slightly. "Conri? The man is going to have a rope - he just wants to help you get down to me without hurting yourself, all right? Let him tie it around your middle and soon you'll be down here with me. I'll be right here watching the whole time."
As Conri reaches the bottom, Rennai un-knots the rope and roughly tousles the wolf's thick ruff. "Good job, pup."
Rennai lowers herself down the hole and lands on the stone splashing rainwater and mud around her. A quick glance reveals no dangers.
Rose floats down after Rennai and softly lands on the wet floor. She illuminates the room before casting detect magic. Rose detects the presence of a magical aura.
Eruaphen lowers himself down using Rennai's rope. After entering the illuminated cave he takes a look around for traps, but spots nothing.
Auric helps lower Conri before lowering himself down as well.
The party looks around the ancient man-made chamber. The floor is covered with about a foot of mud and rainwater, and hard-packed earth still clings to the walls and ceiling, ancient stonework is visible in many places. A narrow set of muddy stone stairs is set in the middle of the south wall. They gradually descend into utter darkness.
The stairs descend gradually 30 feet before reaching an ancient oak and iron door. The old stone stairs are slick with mud and look difficult to traverse.
The ancient stone stairs descend sharply before ending in front of an ancient oak door, swollen with age and bound in rusty iron bands. A hopelessly corroded iron padlock is fused to the door. Though it’s obvious the door hasn’t been opened in centuries, the bottom portion of the door has rotted completely away, revealing a small opening and a glimpse into the quiet darkness beyond.
Kalla struggles with the descent, hampered by her armor and little able to stop herself falling here and there. Only Auric's steady hand on the rope keeps her from completely falling...
Once down Kalla takes in the...view.
"Hmm. Nasty. Still, just what one might expect. Everyone else ok?" she asks with a winning smile, almost it seems, in an effort to shadow her own difficulty with the rope....
Everyone looks around the chilling cave, wondering, 'who made this place?', 'what lurks down here?', 'what has befallen Casiodora?' as Kalla slips from the rope and crashes into the pool or water and mud, splashing those around her.
Euraphen removes his goggles and immediately begins searching for signs of Casiodora in the mud. Once Auric has made his descent he asks the ranger, Auric, do you see any sign of the girl? With no obvious signs of the girl, the elf notes the stairs leading down. He carefully begins moving towards the stairs to get a better look, stopping when he notices the door. There is a rotted door at the bottom of these stairs. It is probable she may have crawled under.
Rennai surveys the dismal scene. "Well, keep pressing on toward that door, I suppose," she mutters to herself. "Could that opening be big enough for Casiodora to squeeze through, if she were lookin' for somewhere more protec-?" She is interrupted by the crash of Kalla's fall, and immediately moves back to the fallen woman. "All right, lass?"
After ensuring Kalla is able to continue, she helps Kalla up and begins to look around again. "As the elf said, there's a door down here with a rotted opening. Might be it's big enough for a little girl looking for shelter to slip through. I'll keep a weather eye out for signs of her. Conri, take a sniff."
Auric winces in sympathy as Kella takes the last bit of the descent a bit faster than was healthy, then shimmies down after her. By the time he gets to the bottom the others have already begun searching the area. The wet gloom of the place immediately dampens his sunny mood, and he watches quietly while Rennai and Eruaphen go about the business of securing the chamber.
"AAAAaaaigh....[kersplash]. Great. Wet britches. My favorite!"
Kalla accepts Rennai's aid gratefully. Then, proceeds to readjust her equipment. Deportment restored, and composure as ever even, the notherner looks around in the dim light.
"I can't see gick!"
Rennai, despite the seriousness of the situation, barely stifles a chuckle at Kalla's comment. These humans and their weak eyes.
She briefly describes the scene to Kalla, then raises her voice to include the others. "I see some marks going down the stairs - looks like they could belong to our girl. Seems she may have slipped; there's marks of fingernails scraping along too, like she was trying to slow herself. Let's check it out. Steady as you go, the steps are slick."
"Scrapy fingernail marks, probably from a young girl. Like this place wasn't creepy enough."
Kalla gingerly takes the stairs, taking much care not to fall...but has, if possible, even more difficulty...
Rose's eyes turn jet black, looking at the location of the incoming aura. "Let's wait for a moment, I'm dete..."
Her words are interrupted by Kalla splashing in the mud, getting some on her dress, making the witch frown. Poor thing.
"Ugh. Are you alright, Kalla? Anything broken?", she says, turning her gaze at her. "As I was saying, there is magic in the area. Give me a moment to see what it is, I'd hate to be surprised by a curse."
"No surprises here - I'm obviously curs'd... I'm fine thanks Rose. Nothing broken. Except my pride..." Kalla returns, her smile hidden by the darkness but evident from her voice...
Kalla slips and tumbles down the muddy stairs, he clothes and armor still soiled from her last fall. She crashes into the old door at the bottom with a loud clatter.
Just as she finishes speaking the doughty warrior trips over and tumbles down the stairs, landing squarely against the old door. Which she can barely see.
"Guess that's one way to knock." she mutters under her breath as she checks for scrapes and bruises and tucks a stray lock of hair out of the way.
Relentlessly well mannered, Kalla offers a heartfelt
"Sorry?!?" to her erstwhile companions. She rises quickly, or as quickly as she can, and once again readjusts her equipment.
"As long as there are no more ropes, stairs or doors, we....I....should be fine. Right?"
Amused by Kalla's acrobatics, Euraphen shakes his head and tries to be sympathetic, Sometimes the direct approach is the most effective Kalla. Hold on, we'll be there shortly. As Rose contemplates the meaning of the aura she has detected, Euraphen reaches into one of the larger pockets of his backpack and removes a rope. Form fitting, it's padded blue straps look comfortable. Looking for something to secure the line to, the elf remembers the pitons he'd seen earlier in town. Figures. I just knew I should have...
Rennai stands at the door, looking over the rotted timbers and the frame for any signs of surprises. She is surprised and startled when Kalla goes rolling past, smashing into the timbers six inches from her foot. She tries again to stifle her chuckles. "Er...*snicker*...Eruaphen! Come take a look at this with me; let's make sure there aren't any surprises."
Knowing that Eruaphen is the more skilled with traps, Rennai aids his efforts, concentrating her focus on the stonework of the frame, something she is more familiar with.
Auric patiently waits at the top of the muddy stairs, not wanting to crowd those already at the bottom, and curious to see what Rose is concentrating on.
With two companions already at the bottom of the steps, the elf sighs and stows his rope and thinks to himself, Well, it is probably safe to say the magical aura may not reach to the door.
With little effort, Euraphen reaches the bottom of the stairs and jokes, Look on the bright side Kalla, think of what this will do for your skin's complexion! Smiling the elf gestures politely as he squeezes past the other, Excuse me Rennai. Kneeling down to peer through the rotten half of the door, let's see...hmmm, a bit of an odd angle.
Eruaphen slides to the bottom of the steps with ease. There he and Rennai check the door, but find no traps or hazards.
"And I've already established bumping it won't set off any traps." adds Kalla brightly, a rueful smile accompanying her quip as she finishes stowing javelins, candles and a stray, soggy ration cake.
"Well, nothing for it but to open it, then, I suppose, unless anyone objects?"
Rennai turns toward Auric. "Could you give the door a try? I'm strong, but I fear I won't be up to the task. After all, it's already stood up to the lass's entire weight." She grins good-naturedly at Kalla.
Ayup. Auric slides down the muddy stairs, eager to be of help. He looks at the rusted out padlock and gives the door a tentative shake, then puts his shoulder into it...
As Auric draws near Euraphen reaches into his pack and inquires, What of the magic Rose detected in the area, did she say? Retrieving a crowbar, the elf looks at the wooden door for a sound place to start prying it open.
This could be a futile endeavor, perhaps making the opening at the bottom larger? Dismantle these corroded bands...
Auric attempts to break the door open while Eruaphen helps with a crowbar, but it just won't budge! Upon inspection the old iron and heavy wooden door doesn't look easy to dismantle. It would take a little more elbow grease or a reasonable amount of damage to destroy.
Erph! Auric heaves on the door again with no avail. He eyes the small opening at the bottom dubiously. Well, it would take some work to break it open enough for someone my size. Probably make quite a bit of noise while we're at it too. Everybody okay with that?
"I'd be careful if I were you. There's protective magics in the area. It's alarmed, so either there'll be a loud scream, or, worse, someone powerful will be alerted to our presence. I'll try to give you the location.", she says, replying to Euraphen's query. She walks slowly towards the source of the magic, attempting to pinpoint where it's located. She sighs quietly as the others attempt to break down the door. So much for subtlety..., she thinks, fixing her dress.
"Any other way to get it open? We may not have much of a choice but to try harder to force it...let me see if I can see anything Eruaphen may have missed to make thins easier..."
Kalla hangs off, unsure of how to proceed. "Hang on. If the door is this stuck then perhaps this isn't the usual or most common means of entry to...wherever Casiadora has been taken. I mean, it looks like a lot of work. Maybe we missed something in the initial chamber."
The human woman peers back up the stairs into the inky darkness.
"If you'll permit me to make a small light I'd like to look around again..."
Euraphen shrugs, I see no harm in looking around once more. It will give Rose time to better discern where this protective magic is located.
As Kalla readies a light Euraphen scans the corridor for a hidden passage of some kind.
"Aye, what can it hurt?" Rennai joins the others in searching the first chamber.
The door looks very solid, though worn through time. There don't appear to be any weak points on the door. Looking around the corridor reveals no other passages either. In fact, the muddy walls don't appear to have been touched in ages. A close look does reveal crawling through the mud and into the small passage. A small child would easily crawl through.
Rose locates the alarm spell location. It's set on the entire upper room, where the companions dropped in.