Hazel attempts First Aid on the dying Grippli.
Then she searches this room, as well as the ones she's already passed through.
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It only takes a cursory glance from Hazel to see that the grippli is unconscious but stable.
Kord and Hazel search the watchtower. Outside of the valuables they found on the unconscious grippli, the most interesting thing is the room's lockbox. As it's name implies, it is locked.
Hazel then backtracks to search the areas that she passed through.
The courtyard still has the remains of tiny, chompy dinosaurs. It also has two corpses, one with a spear stuck in its body.
The other corpse fits the description of Quinn Vanicus, the missing acolyte from Pridon's Hearth. The holy symbol of Abadar confirms this.
The well in the courtyard descends 30ft, and Hazel spots a well-made (masterwork) dagger in the bucket attached to a pulley system for bringing up water.
There's also an animal pen adjacent to the courtyard. The mutilated carcasses of a half-dozen animals litter this pen. Bite and claw marks edge a section of the fence that has been shorn away, while the shoulder-high gate remains shut.
There are also two doors that lead off from the courtyard.
Hazel then proceeds to the mess hall, where the centipedes had attacked. In there she sees broken halves of a large table lie askew in the center of this room. Half a dozen four-foot-long spears protrude from one half of the table, and brown bloodstains mar the floor. A basic map of the region covers most of one wall, hanging next to a picture of an austere-looking man.
The large map depicts the coastline and rivers in great detail, but labels little else beyond the fort and Pridon’s Hearth.
The kitchen area, where the centipedes attacked, contains a wooden trunk. The wooden trunk contains a healer’s kit, two bottles of antiplague, two bottles of antitoxin, four bottles of bloodblock, and two sunrods, as well as bandages, wood alcohol, needles, thread, splints, and herbal tinctures worth a total of 100 gp.
Hazel then climbs a ladder from the kitchen to some sort of planning or strategy room. A long wooden table covered in scattered paperwork fills much of this room. A decapitated human corpse is slumped across the mess. Doors exit the room to the south and east, while a ladder
in the southwestern corner descends to the first floor of the fort.
Hazel does find a single footprint left
in the victim’s blood on a piece of scattered paperwork. The footprint is human-sized with clawed toes.
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Knowledge (Local): Can't
Knowledge (Local/Nobility): Can't
Knowledge (Local): Can't
Kord spends time doing the labor of tending to the bodies of the goodly folk. He then collects the supplies, "We're gunna need'em."
He looks about
Hazel also attempts to identify the clear vial with a red liquid and
dark vial with a dark green liquid, taking 10 for 18 for both (using Spellcraft, assuming they're magic).
Dwynnweer has worked diligently to calm Shwyurr down since the grippli fight, and is acutely aware of the wounds his pet now bears.
Nevertheless, he persists. He falls into step behind Kord as the pugilist checks the door. He holds his warhammer at the ready.
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Kord's strength, now well-established, proves itself yet again. When his foot strikes the weak point on the door, it comes off its hinges and slams to the ground!
The room has, or had, a single door. Wood-and-metal racks—their hinges slightly corroded from the tropical humidity—line the walls, each fitted with an assortment of arms and armor.
After a quick search the group sees that this armory contains five short swords, three
longswords, four light crossbows, two heavy crossbows, 60 bolts, four suits of leather armor, two suits of studded leather armor, four heavy wooden shields, and a masterwork breastplate.
A crate in the corner is packed with straw and contains an additional four short swords,
four longswords, and 144 crossbow bolts—the most recent shipment delivered to the fort by Northwind Smithy.
"No wife or girlfriend," the smith says, falling into the trap. "But if you're going to Fort Breakthrough, I can make it worth your while. I sent a shipment to the fort, but haven't got my pay for it. Check on the shipment and either bring back what's owed to me or bring back my shipment and I'll give you a standing discount on any purchases at my shop. Deal?"
"My new boyfriend will need his wares back. Then he can wear ME on HIS back."
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Kord forges ahead in searching the fort, either looking for survivors or to find out just what happened. Or neither.
He opens the door before him and sees more of the parapet leading up to a door. He continues down the hallway, glancing around to see how the rest of the walls all seem to lead to square towers at each corner of the fort.
So far, no dangers have revealed themselves.
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Kord opens the door, the rest of the group at his back.
Two wooden doors to the east and north allow access to this square chamber. A single bench rests before a scene of destruction, with smashed pottery and broken statues dashed on the floor. Two child-sized corpses rest amid the detritus, peppered with arrows, and with blood smeared on the floor and debris around them.
This appears to have been the fort's shrine. Or at least it was until recently.
Dwynnweer stays close. The group has already had one scrape — it seems likely they'll find more.
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Following Kord's lead the group of you move into the room. Kord continues to see that one of the broken statues is vibrating, and when he points it out Hazel and Jareth notice it too... and hear a quiet muttering in Polyglot.
Surprise Round
Dwynnweer: Huh? What?
Kord: Go
Hazel: Go
Jareth: Go
...: TBD
Hazel makes like a bath and delays.
Dwynnweer releases Shwyurr back onto the ground. What do you smell, girl?
Hazel examines the bodies and the smears of blood.
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The bodies are of two halflings, their attire indicating that they are part of an indigenous tribe. They had a number of bolts stuck in their corpses, the number seeming to be a bit excessive. The bolts are from the militia's arsenal, but careful examination seems to tell that they might have been stuck with the bolts after already being dead.
A further glance around the room makes it apparent that it used to be a shrine of some sort, with a number of the broken statues being of assorted gods.
There is nothing of value on the bodies.
Can we identify the gods?
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A quick glance over the statues shows the more common denominations. Abadar, Gozreh, Iomedae, and Shelyn.
There doesn't seem to be anything else of interest in the room, aside from how you can leave it. There are doors to the east and north (where you came from), as well as a ladder that descends into a room below.
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Kord unstoppers the potion, noting that the vial doesn't have much liquid in it. No more than a sip really. He drinks it and only feels marginally better.
With only a few directions available, the group decides to climb down the ladder.
A trio of beds rest against the southern wall of the room, one concealing a lumpy, bloodstained mass within its blankets. A sturdy trunk lies against the northern wall, while an open cabinet stands to the east. A ladder in the northwestern corner leads to the floor above, while a shoddy door exits to the northeast. Drops of blood mark a trail from the ladder to the beds, and three more spears lie on the floor.
It doesn't take much to determine that the bloodstained mass on the bed is a body.
Hazel dangles the other CLW bottle over her head like it's mistletoe.
Dwynnweer confirms Kord's diagnosis, as well as the hinky prospect of kissing Hazel.
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Kord hear's silence on the opposite side of the door, and opens it with ease.
The eastern door of this wooden chamber is caved in, collapsing a makeshift barricade of haphazardly stacked shelves and crates. Three headless human bodies are impaled on the cabinets by crude spears. Flies buzz around the corpses, constantly landing on the crimson morass of gore where the heads were removed.