Moving near the banner she lifts the edge, seeing the black raven emblazoned on a gold field, a mace and sword in either Talon. She returns the corner. "It's the banner of the Raven's Head Company. They were a mercenary company with official sponsorship from the crown, was originally organized to recover the artifacts Raven's Head and Corpselight, two powerful weapons."
Turning towards the group. "The company eventually became part of the forces defending Ustalav's western border, apparently finding their end here."
She looks towards the general, "It would be impractical to try and return their grave items to them now."
Knowing that the keep had been promised to the Burning Hands tribe, she looks towards Bashuk. "But we can see that their rest is no long disturbed."
Bashuk half-turns to Kain to check if he's serious, then grins. "That's very sensible of you Kain. Magic sword isn't doing anyone's dusty bones any good, but it could save the lives of their people in a living warrior's hand." The half-orc gestures vaguely at the tomb. "Lotta dumb stories involve having to retrieve an ancient weapon to defeat a monster. Be a lot easier if those weapons were still held by the living, I say."
When Valda moves to examine the banner/shroud Bashuk chuckles and elbows Kain. "Looks like we convinced her!"
"You are quite right, Valda. It does appear to be the Raven's Head Company's banner. Fascinating, they must've been part of the last defense here within Valorforge." Nikolai murmured, looking at the woman with an appreciative smile at her knowledge.
"Countess, this may be something worthwhile to bring back. This is Ustalavic history here; it belongs in Lepidstadt or a museum in the capital. Such a return could be quite worthwhile for your reputation." Nikolai's hand gently touches the crypts, brushing off the dust that negligence has accumulated for so long now. "Perhaps on the way back, you will join me in practicing rites of respect for the dead. I am sure the Pharasmans would appreciate that."
Once the group was ready, Nikolai would ready himself at the entrance way down into the dark depths. Adjusting his goggles, he would begin to lead the way as long as there was a bit of light behind him to help his goggles focus and be amplified.
Nikolai's exceptional knowledge of history imparts some additional details about the enchanted banner once carried by the now-fallen company. Since it was recognized that their quest for artifacts lost to the legions of the undead would take them near foul, haunted places like Virlych, their banner was woven to steel their soldier's resolve when facing such terrifying abominations.
Backtracking from the crypt, Nikolai scouts the irregular tunnel branching off from the masonry stones of the proper passage. The walls of hewn earth and stone still show the imprecise strokes of the picks and chisels used to carve it - clearly the work of brute force and drudgery as opposed to the measured work of an artisan.
This tunnel slopes down roughly, reaching a natural cavern filled with a still pool of water. While most of the pool looks only knee deep, there are patches of darkness that suggest hidden depths.
Drawing upon little more than a hunch, you strongly suspect some manner of trap. You cannot detect any signs of mechanical devices installed into the walls or ceiling, so you reach the conclusion that some manner of magic is at play - centered upon the message on the far wall.
True. I wager it has to do with those very stories. After all, it makes a much better story if one delves some tomb or ruin to find some artifact, instead of it being handed to them from a treasure room. Despite the common sense in the latter. But Those adventurers do love their quests.
Smiling at the half orc, the same patient smile she would give an eager student who wasn't quite understanding the lesson. "Convincing rarely changes conviction, dear."
Leaving the Banner wrapped around the corpse, Valda nods to Nikolai, "Yes Nikolai, I would like to take the time to rededicate the tomb on our return."
As the General speaks of adventurers Valda considers the social implications of being given a prized family heirloom, contrasted with the pride of gaining one on ones own merit. It would be an interesting discussion. The general's thoughts clearly ran deeper than she had originally assumed. She nods to the general as she heads back to the duchess.
She gestures towards the dark depth. "Shall we continue?" Staying near the Duchess as they head into the deep.
"Something...isn't right." Nikolai murmurs, his eyes scanning the dark and still pool. "Be careful in the pool, there are deeper pockets of water throughout. Step wrongly and the water will take you." Nikolai would then begin to enter into the water, shivering for a moment at its coldness as the frigid water soaked into his travelling clothes. Drawing his rapier, he would make his way across the cavern towards the carved inscription on the wall.
"There is a message here, one written in Orcish." The scholar murmurs, making sure to avoid any of those dark patches of water and advise his comrades of their danger as they approached.
"Orcish? What does it say?" Bashuk steps closer to the indicated lines, intrigued. She conjures a small flame in her hand to read by its light.
It seems Valeska had been considering, Honoring the dead is tradition and the dead are sacred and to be treated with respect.
But, we should not let their loss and sacrifice be for naught. These items seem useful to our current operation. We are securing the borders, are we not?
We can consider memorializing the dead and the artifacts in due time, but for now... we take what we need. These are the gifts of fallen warriors to those that carry on their tradition, their very fight.
What is ours, we may take. What is Orcish in origin, will be returned to the Orcs.
Before Bashuk can share the message's meaning with her comrades, she finds the magical trap hatching out at her. The carved words lift from the stone face and blend together, transforming into the likeness of a large serpent made of smoky shadows. The creature lunges for her.
"'Light of your false...'? Are they talking about the Everli--aahHH!"
Hearing the message was in Orcish, Valda moves forward with Bashuk. As the fire-starter shows interest in the letters, Valda watches as a the carver words lift from the stone and blend together in to the likeness of a large serpent. Watching it attack the half orc, Valda half lifts her sword off of her shoulder calling out. "Bashuk, dear, are you ok?"
Nikolai was walking in the water a bit behind the orc, keeping an eye out around them. When she shouted though, he tripped back and fell somewhat into the water with his own shocked cry of surprise. Rising up out of the water, he sees some sort of shadowy snake that had coalesced into being.
"Th-that must be part of the trap. Back away if you can Bashuk!"
Perhaps speaking the Everlight's name invokes her protection, for Bashuk is graced with the celerity to avoid the shadowy serpent's strike. It's lunge foiled, it offers a frustrated, angry hiss before boiling away to nothingness - its shadowy essence rising towards the ceiling of the cavern and vanishing.
The sudden chaos of the trap's release denies Nikolai the opportunity to properly observe and analyze the magic involved.
The taunting message, from which the serpent emerged, still remains carved upon the cavern wall; however, it no longer bears any trace of magic.
"Ha! You've got to get up pretty early to catch Bashuk!" With a victorious sneer at the vanishing serpent, Bashuk conjures flames in her hand and wipes it across the message--blackening the stonework and obliterating the blasphemous message.
"They took a shot and missed, let's go tell them what we think of it!"
Smiling at Bashuk's spunk, Valda nods, Looking towards Nikolai then the others. "Yes, lets."
"Yes...yes...let us move forward." Nikolai murmurs, flicking his hands to throw the water off of him. He had missed the spell's activation and, by his inaction, missed an opportunity to learn more. He would need to do better. "The path seems to continue on, my friends. Onwards we must go."
Before you can press onward - or even extricate yourselves from the knee-deep pool - you find the way suddenly blocked.
A grating, hissing voice crawls along the stone of the rough tunnel ahead, floating upon the air like greasy smoke.
You can soon place a face, after a fashion, with the voice. A grim, dark figure wrapped in musty robes steps forward to stand silhouetted against the jagged arch of the tunnel leading south. This Caligni carries himself with a power and authority not shared by the ones you have encountered thus far, even more so than the leader of the ambushers you just dispatched. A party of Caligni can be seen lurking in the shadows behind him.
The captive Caligni you keep with you speaks in an awed whisper, offering a name to the new arrival: "Vidods?"
A grating, hissing voice crawls along the stone of the rough tunnel ahead, floating upon the air like greasy smoke.
Heading Nikolai's warning of deeper pockets in the water, Valda Having not yet entered the pool stands on the bank as the drama with the grim dark Vidod unfolds. Knowing that several of the others speak Orc, She chooses not to translate. Instead, taking advantage of her own dark vision and religious training, she studies the figure, Gleaning what she can through magic and the powers of observation.
You have trouble piercing through the veil of this Vidods' words, and his intent remains obscure. Nevertheless, you have ample reason to suspect him because of what your divinely guided eyes see.
Vidods possesses an unmistakable aura of evil, strong enough to be faintly palpable. He stands out clearly from the much weaker auras of the half dozen other Caligni lurking behind him.
However, you notice something else peculiar. Faint auras of evil can be discerned within the water, submerged in the deeper pockets that Nikolai warned against.
"What's to talk about? You attacked my people and took several of them prisoner. Now we have allies, and you're going to pay in blood. Give back my people and I'll consider letting you leave Valorfoe unburnt. If you've killed or maimed them, know that your ashes will decorate these tunnels."
The monk, who's human eyes were the least suited down here was holding a torch in his left hand and now raised it higher. He tried to make out who was standing in front of them. He also tried to not get the torch wet.
Nikolai listened for a moment as the newly arrived Caligni began to speak. They were in a rough situation; stuck in the water while surrounded by dangerous, dark depths while their enemy stood on solid, stable ground before them. Nikolai did not recognize this breed of Caligni but he could recognize the power he held by the murmuring of the one behind them. Moving backwards some, he let Valda, Bashek, and the countess take the helm of the conversation before speaking out loud to translate his words and Bashek's.
Seeing Nikolai maneuver his way from the front, Valda warns him in Celestial.
Kain keeps his eyes moving about, taking stock of the situation. He wondered how well his companions did in ranged combat. He doubted any but their new compatriot counted it among their finest of skills...
Kain lowers his weapon, but not his shield and continues moving forward, making sure to avoid the deep pockets.
orcish Fine, I'll not be said to be a mindless slayer. However I will not talk while standing in knee deep cavern water. Its bad on the armor and the feet.
Vidods raises his pale hand to halt Kain and, in Orcish, commands, "You are intruders upon Olvoro, and you will remain where you are!"
However, Bashuk's words startle the Caligni leader. His hand recoils ever so slightly as he momentarily forgets his position of power.
Replying in Orcish, Vidods states, "In an act of unwarranted mercy, I have risen up from the Quiet Eye to offer your pitiable kin be returned to you. They are not worth the continued sacrifice of our own people as you trespass further into our home. Once you take them, you must withdraw from the fortress above."
Hearing the offer Valda shakes her head. Warning the others "There is something evil deeper in the water in the pits, be ready for attack."
Turning to the one called Vidod she responds in Dark Folk so his people can understand as well. "Underground is your domain. But The fortress above was built by Ustalavic hands and It's possession has been determined by our Ustalavic Duchess and it will not be you. You speak of Mercy, you know not the word. You have sacrificed your people trying to claim something that is not, nor will ever be, part of your domain. Return our people and their possessions and we will end this senseless slaughter of your people. Then we collapse this tunnel that has been dug, sealing our two worlds from each other. You returning to the darkness, we to the light."
Bashuk's eyes flicker to Valda, She said 'our' people... The half-orc's gaze hardens as it moves back to Vidods. "I'm not promising you a damned thing until I've seen them. If you thought you could take us you'd be doing that, so quick screwing around and show my my kin!"
Sasha's roar reverberates in the subterranean space.
In the following silence, Valeska speaks. I fear it is too late, and they are all dead. The enemy gives no evidence to the contrary.
We do not harry them from our domain, we destroy them where they are... such that they trouble beings of light, never again.
Valeska speaks calmly, with measured intent.
Nikolai listens to the Countess's words, his eyes widening as he sees the whole party's demeanor change. He senses it from the other side as well.
"Oh...oh dear..." Nikolai murmurs, quickly reaching into his coat for another small vial of arcane power.
Despite his face coverings obscuring his eyes, the metaphorical daggers that Vidods stares at Valda are quite plain.
"We have been here for hundreds of years. We were here when the human soldiers fell to the orcs. Even before then, our master the Chooser whispered to them and convinced them to dig down and connect our home to the surface. We have been masters of this place, abandoned by both man and orc, ever since."
When the conversation walks the razor's edge, threatening to erupt into violence, Vidods defuses the situation. He commands his Caligni followers behind him to descend to Olvoro and retrieve the prisoners from the Burning Suns tribe so they may be turned over to the party.
As Vidods stands alone at the mouth of the tunnel opening upon the flooded cavern, he offers a word of warning.
"Do not mistake my solitude for vulnerability. Shadows and death are my companions, thus I am never alone. Strike me down, and my master, the Chooser, will avenge himself upon you for the loss of his loyal servant."
Noting the violence in the one named Vidods eyes, Valda smiles and glares back, this was a game she knew well. Only glancing away long enough as the Caligni followers went to retrieve the prisoners, Returning a hard gaze to the commander. She listens as he spelled out how they had ensnared the soldiers all those years ago. Hoping Bashuk is hearing the tale, she makes a note to speak to their orc allies later.
As the Caligni finishes his warning, Valda wonders if he is inferring the ones in the deep would come to us aid. She looks to her companions hoping they would not dishonor themselves by breaking the truce. Having lost her caligni audience she switches back to Orc. "That does not make you masters of this place. You yourself admitted that your lord 'the Chooser' was a parasite on the minds of the humans causing them to dig this tunnel. And afterwards your people scavengers, returning to your home in the darkness not able to stand in the light."
She gestures towards the waters, inferring she understood his imminent threat. "None of us are strangers to Shadow and Death. We just choose to serve the light. I will not break my word. Return our prisoners." Gesturing towards the prisoner. "and we will return this one to you. When our exchange is done we will return to the crypt and destroy this cavern."
She gestures towards Basuk "The Burning Sun Orcs under the guidance of their Chief Mahjra will rule here." She then gestures towards the Duchess, "And Duchess Valeska is their ally. Cross them and you cross us." She glares at the commander for a moment. "But know this. If there is treachery afoot, 'The Chooser' or no, Eventually, I will hunt you down and send you to Pharasma for judgment."
Valeska is not pleased. Why? Why coerce them into doing this? What is so important about the connection... here?
Apologies Valda, but there is no truce... simply a lull in the violence as we negotiate and come to understand one another.
Kain continues to try and find dry ground.
He looks back as he does so and speaks in common to Valda.
No offense to you. But I wouldn't feel comfortable letting anyone remain here knowing these people were still nearby. They will leave this area entirely.... or be removed... that is my suggestion. Nothing good comes from letting enemies strike first. Kain's tone is matter of fact like. With little emotion attached to it, save perhaps a hint of anger, or perhaps, regret?
"If I may..." Nikolai says, speaking up from amid his allies and looking the others over. He moves in closer towards them all, his voice becoming a whisper to try and remain private while speaking with the others. The scholar speaks softly and quietly as he looks to the others.
"I believe we are at an important junction. This..."Chooser" may not be a deity but some other, powerful creature. If it has impacted the minds of the men before and Caligni now, I believe it better to do research and study, learn what we can about this figure, and make a better educated decision." Looking back towards Kain and Countess Valeska, he bows his head differentially. "I believe a ceasefire will be most beneficial for us. We rescue the prisoners, collapse this entryway into the darkness below, and seal off access to basement. Maybe even those whole area for the safety of the orcs. We advise them of the threat of the Caligni and the telepathic control of their "Chooser". Once we are better armed with knowledge, we can make a more effective decision."
"If we are outvoted, I will follow the blessing of the majority. I am, afterall, a simple scholar. I do stress that we do not know what we're delving into though and, should we face an unknown or exceptionally powerful threat, we retreat. All wars were won with knowledge and preparation. I advise us not to blunder in without more knowledge." Nikolai offers before growing silent. He had given his piece and was willing to see what the others wished to do.
Bashuk listens to Nikolai's speech quietly, arms crossing in front of her chest but head cocked to the side. "You speak sense, Nikolai. If they deliver my kin unharmed I would sooner see them to safety and the tunnel sealed behind us. I won't risk their lives just to burn out these bastards."
She turns to give Vidods another flat, hostile stare, but continues speaking with the others in Common. "Maybe they won't have the sense to leave us alone, in which case we'll have to come back and drive them out for good. But I'm eager to see them settled in--the borderlands are not a safe place for my tribe to be wandering about unsheltered."
You are left with Vidods for an uncomfortably long time. There are several moments when you grow paranoid that some treachery is afoot. Occasional ripples in the water become fearful omens, presaging the emergence of some new horror, but these ultimately come to nothing. Finally, his cohorts return, and they are not alone.
Vidods steps aside, and a small throng of disheveled orcs are herded forth by their Caligni guards. The first two prisoners stumble down the ledge and take hard falls into the water that sits between you and the Caligni. They sputter and struggle to regain their footing, but their woven bonds and faded strength make it a difficult task. Their kin behind them surge forth and slide down the ledge, moving to help them up from the water.
Stepping forward, Bashuk helps the first prisoner shuffle along, checking them for signs of injury or magical influence. "Are you well? Did they hurt or use magic on anyone" She asks them, voice tight with relief and concern.
The prisoners' faces brighten upon seeing Bashuk emerge from the party's ranks to help them. They soon crowd around her, trusting in this distinguished member of their tribe.
There are bands of skin upon their wrists, ankles, and necks that have been rubbed raw by the bonds placed upon them. There are no signs of flogging or flaying or physical tortures, which elicits a moment of relief from you. However, they soon confide in you that they have shared terrible nightmares over the days of their captivity, and they are positive that it was an effect wrought by their captors to torment them.
Vidods interrupts the reunion, issuing an edict in Orcish.
Nikolai nods at the appearance of the orcs from the darkness. They looked haggard, fearful, but otherwise in good condition. Their reaction to seeing Bashuk brought a small smile to his face. Yet the dark caller interrupted the happy reunion with his tense words. Nikolai's back straightened up as he cleared his throat.
"As the agreement has been met, I believe the Countess will spare your people any further bloodshed. Do not think us weak; the Orcs of the Hold are infamous for their tenacity and none have survived greater oppression than the Burning Sun tribe. They are alone no longer; the great people of Ustalav have experienced terrible horrors and nightmares you cannot imagine. We have survived them and grown stronger from them. Take your dark rituals elsewhere lest you draw our wretched fury on you and the great Countess Valeska Talanova and her honorable retinue decide to change the agreement." Nikolai speaks with a sudden confidence and a strength of his voice that does not meet his usually shy and somewhat stumbling nature. The scholar remembers the stories of great paladins speaking against the horrors of the Whispering Tyrant, their rallying cries striking fear into the hearts of their enemies and emboldening their allies. Being in the water though feels slightly less noble, however.
Keeping one eye on the Caligni leader, Valda watches as the orc begin to funnel past her to safety. Watching Bashuk's concern, she's pleased to see the attention and affection that the fire starter has for her fellows. It's a good sign that this tribe is all they thought it was.
As the last orc passes over, Valda speaks to their prisoner. "You may pass now." Watching as the prisoner crosses the water, she turns towards the Caligni leader to speak. But is surprised when Nikolai eloquently says more than she could of. Nodding in agreement, she waits until the others pass out of the water behind her into the stone tunnel.
Realizing the one thing she had not considered, she asks the group. "How do we collapse the tunnel?" She looks from the duchess to Bashak, "Does anyone have the ability to do it with magic. Or shall we bring workers down to use picks and shovels?"
"We're not friends, Vidods, but you kept your word so we'll keep ours," Bashuk says softly after watching her people start up the tunnel. "The fortress and surface lands are ours, and you can keep these tunnels. But if you break faith, or act against my people again directly or indirectly...no Chooser will keep you from my flames." The half-orc offers the caligni priest a tight nod them. "Goodbye. May we never meet again." Then she turns and walks up the tunnel after her kin.
Bashuk scratches her head and eyes the stone all around them skeptically. "Umm...maybe someone in the tribe will know about collapsing tunnels without killing yourself? What about you Niko?"
Kain remains quiet, a grimace on his face. He looks back to Valeska and shakes his head.
I do not agree with this course. More so than your choice to deal with the orcs. For the orc clan proved... amiable. These people however...
He sighs and shakes his head again.
I cannot agree. But the decision is yours. Should blood come between us and them again. Then it will be my problem to decide on I suppose. He turns back to regard the tunnel one more time, the scowl returning.
I just hope I can handle that problem when it arises.
Kain turns to the others when talk of collapsing the tunnel comes up.
You could instead turn the tunnel into a great gate. Or series of gates. To be guarded... Perhaps on both sides. At least then, if they break their accord and find other tunnels to the surface. We have an entry to them still that we know of. Perhaps a troupe of dwarven builders? Despite his mildly sour mood he attempts to be helpful.
As the group discusses the options to seal off or guard these tunnel entrances, Nikolai analyzes the caverns themselves as well as the infrastructure of the fortress itself. There were a few points that could be collapsed without devastating the infrastructure of the fortress. He takes various notes down and is already lost in thought, mumbling to himself, about the different costs, benefits, and potential negatives of each approach.
Nikolai recognizes that the watery cavern and the tunnel behind it, from whence Vidods and his cohorts came, are natural formations from the scant water that infiltrates through the stone and soil of the plateau. The walls and ceiling are largely stable for now, although in a few generations it may lead to a sinkhole collapse that damages the section of the fortress above.
The tunnel that connects it with the fortress cellar, however, was carved by unskilled hands with improper tools. If what Vidods said is true, then the one called the Chooser affected some manner of mind control over the old Ustalavic garrison, right before the fall of the Sunwall, and compelled them to carve this passage to connect the cellar with the Caligni's tunnels. Dug through unstable material and not shored up properly, this could be collapsed with either a sufficient concussive force, such as by magic or alchemy, or through the application of raw muscle power over many work hours - perhaps two or three days.
Unfortunately, collapsing this tunnel will weaken the foundation of the basilica above, potentially compromising its structural integrity.
Pleased to see the prisoners returned, Valda nods as Bashuk affirms the tentative peace. As they proceed back the way they came. Valda nears the general, speaking softly. "I understand your concern Kain." "If it were just the six of us I doubt I would have parlayed with the beast." She shudders slightly thinking about the waves of evil that came off of the commander. "But we represent our new state and our allies. As leaders and generals, we must value the lives us those under us dearly, above even our own. Accomplishing our goals with no bloodshed is worth the risk." She rests her hand on the generals shoulders. "If the dark folk break this truce, we shall return together and deal with them."
As they return to the safety of the basement walls, Valda ponders the generals idea of a great gate. "Maybe a think wall with a steel door heavily bolted from this side? Keeping it guarded both day and night would be prudent." She looked at Nikolai, who seemed to be deep in thought. "Nikolai?"
Nikolai was lost in thought as the others talked, moving from the cavern walls to the reinforced and purposefully built basement before the crypt. He jumps at Valda saying his name, looking over with a surprised expression as he looks back at the cavern.
"Proper reinforcements along the walls, aided by thick and heavy doors, could help support the fortress as well as provide levels of protection from the horrors underneath. It would allow us to maintain an avenue of attack if the truce is broken as well. I believe that may be best, the only other safe option would be to fill the tunnel with rocks, boulders, and seal it with mortar. That would take time though, for certain." Two weeks to be precise, barring any unexpected delays or sudden boons. Looking to the others, he nodded.
"Shall we reclaim the banner and return the poor people back to the tribe now? There is still much to explore here in the fortress and I wish to investigate it and diffuse any potential traps that could be awaiting us."
Kain lets out a sigh.
My home thought similar, why seek trouble beyond our land? When that trouble came, it had grown to powerful to withstand. Nothing but ruins remain. I do not wish to see that happen again. After a few moments thought he speaks up again, glancing towards Valeska.
To that end, I will not allow our military... our militia, to grow complacent. If we are to let these threats grow, I must press the need for not only a larger, better equipped militia and guard. But for funds to flow into repairing or building defensive structures. It should be among the top priorities. Alongside food enough to keep everyone fed. As you said, their safety should be a top concern.
As Nikolai speaks up from his thoughts Kain nods.
I think turning it to a gate would be the best idea. And let us take them. They are likely tired, battered and malnourished from their captivity.
Valeska watches as the poisoned wine it returned to it's rightful owner.
Provoking Vidods now, will only see us suffer more losses. Another time, Shadow.
As the group clears the room, she pulls Valda aside. She speaks quietly.
Speak of this to no one else.
Moving to Bashuk, in just as quiet a tone.
She them makes the rounds with Sasha, ensuring all are well enough to travel and assisting where they need help.