William smiles as he sees the dragon and lizard fall. "Good job all! Gorum would be proud of you Grum! We should let the others know the dragon is dead and the tower is secure. We have some fallen hobgoblins outside we need to check on and see if their gear is useful and we need to fully explore the fort for any more threats. We may want to pull up the bridges to secure us here."
"Well done, all!"
Benedict knows he never struck a blow on the dragon, but he hopes his tactics helped his allies bring down the beast.
"We should head back to the forge. See if Winter can heal us any, and then we can try clearing the rest of the fort. See if those who were imprisoned here know about the other threats.
We could wait until tomorrow, especially if we lift the bridges and post watches so any remaining enemies can't escape and warn the Legion."
There are two buildings not explored and an overgrown garden in between the forge and one of the unexplored buildings.
Inside the building, it's original use is readily apparent. It once served as an armory, but its hooks and weapon racks are empty and its long tables now hold boxes of soil sprouting several varieties of mushrooms and molds. One box at the rear of the room is covered with a sheet of canvas held down with bricks. A sour, earthy smell fills the air. One door leads out to the courtyard, while the other leads to the overgrown garden.
William looks at the bundle of sticks and says "That looks like a makeshift symbol of Cyth-V'sug, demon lord of fungus. I would have expected him to be more into swamps. Maybe there are some notes somewhere in the fort."
William laughs at Grum's words, "Maybe you should WEAR the dragon. No need for them to find the corpse. Though tossing it in the courtyard before clearing the rest of the fort may demoralize anyone left."
Amkarang kneels by the dragon and produces his fish-gutting knife. With a bit of work, he procures dragon scales for each of the party members, ”So friends, what do you say we make ourselves new accessories?”
"I've not spent a lot of time on the subject, but I've heard tell that the body of a dragon can be a gold mine for those daring enough to harvest from it. Mages and such might pay top dollar for spell components."
In the 'greenhouse', Aerel wrinkles his nose. "Can't say as I'm surprised to find a lot of toadstools in a fort with an effigy to a demon lord of fungus. Be wary, my friends - some of these might be more like that huge bush that attacked us than the average mushroom."
Aerel finds a journal written in Goblin by Jang the hobgoblin druid, though it's in a sort of shorthand that makes reading it difficult.
This journal lists a variety of fungal concoctions that Ibzairiak has requested along with Jang's theories. She has concluded that the dragon has become fascinated with an area of the forest he calls "the Blight" far to the north.
The tarp covering the box is showing telltale signs of yellow mold, a dangerous kind of fungus that can kill a person in short order. Fire destroyes yellow mold and sunlight renders it dormant.
Aerel also spots a necklace sitting beside the box with the tarp. It appears to be a fine gem dangling from a long, silver chain.
"Let me take a look."
"The dragon became fascinated with the Blight. The affected part of the Fangwood must have been where it went on its excursions. Remember those larger mold-covered dragon scales we saw? Well it mentioned a beloved Naphexi... maybe another dragon, this one corrupted by the Blight. Something to beware of."
"Yellow mold. Stay clear. Maybe hit it with fire from a distance. We don't want to destroy whatever is in the box, but we do want to kill the mold."
"Can anyone manipulate something from afar? I had a friend that could float things from his desk over to his chair because of magic. He never would teach me the trick. Might be able to drag the tarp out of the room - or is the tarp the mold? Also, there's a chain with a gem near the tarp that we might want to recover - if you can pick it up from afar, the mold's not a concern, right?"
William thinks for a moment and says to Aerel, "Yes, I can do that. I don't know if it will disturb the mold though. What about a torch to kill the mold and I then move the tarp while it burns?"
"Can you use the torch with that magic from here? That seems wise. As Benedict says, we don't want to damage whatever the tarp is covering, of course."
However you do it, either with a torch ready or with mage hand, the box is revealed. All there is beneath it is more yellow mold which is handily dealt with by the torch.
"I am glad that is dealt with. Let's call it a day and go check in with the others. I could use the healing power of Cayden Cailean if Aubrin has any more to spare.
And perhaps Aubrin, Rhyna, and Yangvit can figure out what the other items are."
William holds up a hand, "I believe there are a couple areas to check yet. Do we want to do that first or heal and then investigate. That way we can rest tonight knowing there are no threats inside the walls?"
"I am badly wounded and do not wish to use up all of our healing potions unless I have to.
Let's see what the freed Rangers know about the remaining building and that overgrown garden. They have been here the whole time, they may know something.
We can post guards and then if any threats present themselves we can deal with them. If there is an urgent threat that we know of, then yes, we can deal with it right away."
The former captives of the hobgoblins are all overjoyed at news of the dragon's defeat and the destruction of the Ironfang Legion's forces. The militia proudly report having killed the pairs of hobgoblins who were standing guard at the other bridges while the heroes were dragon-slaying.
The militia had moved to the barracks, which stinks of hobgoblin but is the most livable structure other than the tower. They have started to tend to and care for the rescued prisoners, all of whom look to be able to make a full recovery.
Cobb, Ageep and Milla mention two remaining threats still lurking within the fort. There's some beast in the overgrown garden between the forge and the armory, but it's fenced in and should be contained for the moment. The other threat is more concerning. They don't know exactly what lurks within the old kennel, but Eygara sent several hobgoblins in there to deal with whatever it was. After some screams that went silent, Eygara just chained up the doors and padlocked them shut.
The militia also takes a few minutes to identify the other objects retrieved from the tower and the fallen hobgoblins.
Amulet: natural armor +2.
Vest: druid's vestment
Figurine: variant bronze griffon figurine of wondrous power (same as the bronze griffon, but looks like a horse-sized dragon when activated. It's currently spent and needs about five days to recharge).
Warpriest: feather token (whip), alchemist's fire (5), +1 scale mail, mwk buckler, mwk light flail, bottle of whiskey (20 gp), silver unholy symbol of Hadregash (25 gp), adamantine chain necklace (100 gp)
Captain: mwk two-bladed sword, mwk javelins (5), oils of magic weapon (4), potion of bear's endurance, potion of bull's strength, potion of cure moderate wounds, potion of invisibility, alchemist's fire (4), +1 breastplate, cloak of resistance +1.
Ironwings: +1 chain shirts (3), composite longbow (+3 Str) (3), 48 arrows, mwk light picks (3), mwk longswords (3), cloak of resistance +1 (3), trail rations (15), thunderstones (6), 33 gp.
Soldiers: potions of cure moderate wounds (9), mwk breastplate (9), mwk light steel shield (9), composite longbow (+2 Str) (9), 163 arrows, mwk battleaxe (9), cloak of resistance +1 (9), glaive (9).
Barghest: lidless charm bracelet. Slot: Wrist. CL 9th. Price: 10,000 gp. Aura: moderate abjuration. This bronze, serpentine bracelet has five dangling charms, each depicting an open and staring eye. Once per day as a standard action, the wearer can touch the bracelet to a creature with a gaze attack (requiring a successful touch attack for unwilling creatures) and become immune to natural gaze attacks from all creatures of that kind for the next 24 hours. This ability does not grant immunity to gaze attacks from spells or magic items. For the duration of this immunity, the charms on the bracelet each appear to be closed eyes.
When the wearer fails a save against a gaze attack, she can expend a charm from the bracelet as an immediate action to reroll that saving throw, butt must take the second result even if it is worse. An expended charm crumbles to dust. When the last charm is expended, the lidless charm bracelet loses all magical properties.
After the yellow mold has been dealt with, Aerel retrieves the chain with the jewel pendant
"No Grum, let's wait until the morning. The kennels are locked and the other beast seems confined to the garden.
It has been a very successful day, let's not push our luck. Whatever was in the kennels was too much for the hobgoblins to deal with."
The next morning, the heroes decide to deal with the remaining threats inside the fort. Starting with the gardens first, they move into the overgrown space between the armory and the forge. The garden contains a profusion of vegetable plant, small fruit trees, and climbing vines.
Roughly a third of the plants in this garden are infested with some sort of fungus, rendering them inedible.
You spot the yellow eyes of a hunting cat in the dense undergrowth.
William eyes the foods and tsks, "About a third of these are covered in fungus and are not edible."
"Good eyes, William. I wouldn't have caught that. More of this obsession with the Blight."
"Something there. Lion or panther maybe."
"If it's been living in here, it's probably affected by that fungus. Otherwise, I'd be tempted to try to coax it back into the woods where it belongs. How do you want to approach this? The tales told about it make it sound dangerous..."
"I think we should kill it. Having it loose in the woods around here, it would kill one of our foragers sooner or later. But if we wound it badly enough that it runs off, I wouldn't see a need to chase it; most animals can take a hint and move out when an apex predator moves in.
William, Aerel... I would say fire when ready. Or the melee line can move in."
William shakes his head, "I can't see it. Until it makes itself more known I won't be able to fire at it."
With a snarl, the Fangwood cougar leaps from the underbrush, charging straight at Amkarang!
The cougar is a flurry of tooth and claw, ripping and clawing into the warrior from the east.
Benedict thinks it strange that he continues to use the troglodyte's stone warhammer, but it has served him well so far.
The cougar dies, being wounded by Benedict and its head lopped off by Grum.
William laughs "Guess you didn't need me to shoot at it after all!" He then takes a better look around the area before heading to the kennels.
William finds nothing else of note in the garden.
Moving to the kennel, the padlock is unlocked using one of the keys on the hobgoblin lieutenant's ring.
The doors open, letting out stale air stinking of death. A dozen cages line the western and northeastern walls of the wedge-shaped room, their doors bent and their floors crusted with dried blood. Several dead hobgoblins lie on the dirt floor, their faces frozen in terror.
At first, the place seems empty. Then the tinkling of chains reaches your ears. After a moment where an unnatural chill runs up and down you spines, a translucent, ghostly figure rises up from the floor. It's human-like face is twisted in rage and anguish, and it is bound to the kennel's cages with ethereal collars and chains. It still has mobility in the space of the kennel, and lunges at you with its spectral hand!
This is a spectre, a malevolent spirit that drains life force with its touch!
"Back up!"
Benedict moves out of the kennel (Withdraw action), leaving the doors open.
"If it is confined there by those chains... Aerel, William, destroy it."
"If it retreats somewhere the archers can't hit it, then you can enchant your sword and go after it maybe."
"Yes, stay back. You won't enjoy the battle so much against a ghost, anyway, Grum. Save your energy for things that bleed, eh?"
Aerel keeps his distance (30'), trying to put arrow after arrow through the spectre, but the situation has him a bit spooked and his aim is worse than usual.