Bella drops her axes and kneels beside the fallen Ayle, trying to staunch her wounds. "Come on, luv, stick with me here..."
Quinn remains on his knees, head bowed, silently nodding at Junko's command. He recoils a bit as Spots stands next to him, growling.
We'll drop out of initiative since there are no further opponents you can detect.
Quinn doesn't resist the spell, and becomes friendly to Junko. "I'm Quinn. We been stayin' here with Tavetti fer a few months. He's a genius, Tavetti is - er, was..." he looks over at the bard's fried body next to him.
"He's writin' all about the Goblinblood Wars, in song... when it's done we're going to Elidir with him, and we's gonna be rich..." His smile fades somewhat and he trails off for a minute.
"We only robs the rich folks who can afford it, an' only to eat... we're not gettin' rich here. It's a tough life out here, between goblins and bandits and no law... you gotta fend fer yourself. Stayin' ni the haunted hosue was Tavetti's idea - said it inspired him, but it also inspired most folks ta stay away. Anyone that did come here musta been here to get us, he said."
@Juxian: Bella responds to you, gritting her teeth with the pain of her wounds. "You busted into our house, luv... with weapons drawn. What should we have thought, hey?"
@Ratesh: Bella also responds. "You was askin', luv, but it was a bit hard to hear over the screams of my friends and the thunderbolts. That cat was not askin' questions, and neither was yer friend here," she indicates Konner's blood-drenched falcata.
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"Just because you find an abandoned house and decided to live in it, doesn't make it yours, that's called squatting. Regardless, a simple hello would have been nice, we made plenty of noise coming in and knocking sure didn't make sense with the door all boarded up." Juxian says, trying to remember if they actually tried simply knocking on the door or not.
**Squee? Squeeee?**
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"I'm sorry about your friends, Quinn." Junko briefly glances at Natula before continuing. "And don't mind her, I think she's like this with everyone. But, she is right: we need to know if anyone else is here or if there's any other dangers like the haunt you lured us into. How long has your group been using this as a hideout? Did you ever find any books, documents, things like that?"
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I stated our intentions to investigate and shots were fired. The deaths of your friends are on the conscious of whoever attacked us. Now, you can help us find what we came here to find, and we can leave what's left of you in your haunted mansion, or are you going to continue to hinder us?
With a wave of a hand, the extra images of Ratesh disappear as he dispels his incantation.
The surviving bandits are as helpful as possible. The estate contains no other living beings, other than the mostly-feral cats that occasionally visit, begging for scraps. (Normal house cats.) They describe the layout and point out the areas where the floor is largely rotted through, allowing you to avoid the hazards. You've already met the haunted paintings in the main room, but there's another one in the other wing, a young lady that isn't scary. It's in the room that used to be an office
The stairs lead up to the second story, which is just a burned-out and half-collapsed shell. There are signs of cats and rats, but no larger creatures.
In terms of gear, you recover the following items of interest:
potion of cure light wounds x 8
potion of hide from animals x 4
potion of invisibility
bracers of armor +1
masterwork studded leather x 4
masterwork handaxe x 8
masterwork heavy crossbow x 4
76 bolts
masterwork dagger
300 gp
Tavetti the bard and Ayle are both stable; Quinn and Bella are both conscious. Jaym was savaged by Spots and is very, very dead.
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In terms of gear, you recover the following items of interest:
potion of cure light wounds x 8
potion of hide from animals x 4
potion of invisibility
bracers of armor +1
masterwork studded leather x 4
masterwork handaxe x 8
masterwork heavy crossbow x 4
76 bolts
masterwork dagger
300 gp
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In terms of gear, you recover the following items of interest:
potion of cure light wounds x 8
potion of hide from animals x 4
potion of invisibility
bracers of armor +1
masterwork studded leather x 4
masterwork handaxe x 8
masterwork heavy crossbow x 4
76 bolts
masterwork dagger
300 gp
Natula goes through their prisoners possessions looking for books and journals keeping an eye out for arcane texts she could add to her knowledge. When she's done she heads to the office to see this other mysterious portrait.
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Juxian suggests passing out the remaining cure light potions to the people they just fought, arguing that while he is here, we shouldn't really need healing potions. "Sorry about your friend that Spots took down. He was just defending us from your attacks and its pretty hard to convince him not to go for the throat. As for the rest of you, I can heal you myself or you can use these healing potions if no one objects."
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Juxian suggests passing out the remaining cure light potions to the people they just fought, arguing that while he is here, we shouldn't really need healing potions. "Sorry about your friend that Spots took down. He was just defending us from your attacks and its pretty hard to convince him not to go for the throat. As for the rest of you, I can heal you myself or you can use these healing potions if no one objects."
Natula moves into the portrait room rolling her eyes and praying for something to take her mind off of her fellows or failing that a quick death.
From its perch, the bat looks around too.
You enter the old office that Quinn told you of. Once luxurious, it has been thoroughly ransacked, and goblin vandals have defaced the walls and furniture. A dead crow, relatively fresh but burned and blackened, has been nailed to a plaque on the western wall. A gilded portrait frame over the desk has been covered with paint and blood, partially obscuring the image beneath.
The young woman in the painting seems rather melancholic, staring out past the paint and blood as if through bars on a prison cell. When you enter, the image animates, excitedly jumping up and waving at you.
At Ratehs's question, she holds her hand to her ear as if hard of hearing. "I am Asmodea Irrica, daughter of Rutillo and heir of the House of Irrica," she says, the voice muffled and somewhat hard to understand.
Through repeated questioning, she responds with the same answer each time: "I am Asmodea Irrica, daughter of Rutillo and heir of the House of Irrica.” It seems likely that the damage to the portrait has affected the enchantment, making her unable to communicate more.
You also notice that the burned bird nailed to the wall is a chicken, likely a territorial marker put there by the Scorchfeather goblin tribe, which lives in the nearby Chitterwood forest.
The burnt chicken is nailed in place on a wooden rack that once held something else, something like a rod or weapon with a round haft about an inch in diameter and about three feet long. There was a nameplate on the plaque, but it is missing.
Finally, you notice that the portrait of Asmodea Irrica seems to be somewhat askew from the wall. A little investigation reveals a small packet of paper has been glued to the back of the portrait. Its contents are in the next post.
Paper found hidden behind the portrait of Asmodea Irrica:
Some of the paper is burned and torn away, but the following text is still legible:
"… with the goblin army surrounding us, the fate of my line is in question. The family secret shall not die with us. I trust to more distant relations to take up the Irrica mantle and reconstruct the riddle held jointly by my mace; my grandfather’s signet ring; my niece Althea’s locket; and our family treasure, the Hellfire Rod. These four items I value above all of my holdings, for at our time of greatest need they together commanded our guardian angel — and a savage angel of vengeance she is. I named her once, long ago, but here I shall name her not. I bequeath the four items mentioned above to one of the Irrica line who can read the riddle. Avenge us.
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You enter the old office that Quinn told you of. Once luxurious, it has been thoroughly ransacked, and goblin vandals have defaced the walls and furniture. A dead crow, relatively fresh but burned and blackened, has been nailed to a plaque on the western wall. A gilded portrait frame over the desk has been covered with paint and blood, partially obscuring the image beneath.
The young woman in the painting seems rather melancholic, staring out past the paint and blood as if through bars on a prison cell. When you enter, the image animates, excitedly jumping up and waving at you.
At Ratehs's question, she holds her hand to her ear as if hard of hearing. "I am Asmodea Irrica, daughter of Rutillo and heir of the House of Irrica," she says, the voice muffled and somewhat hard to understand.
Through repeated questioning, she responds with the same answer each time: "I am Asmodea Irrica, daughter of Rutillo and heir of the House of Irrica.” It seems likely that the damage to the portrait has affected the enchantment, making her unable to communicate more.
"Well, that clears that up." Natula says sardonically.
You also notice that the burned bird nailed to the wall is a chicken, likely a territorial marker put there by the Scorchfeather goblin tribe, which lives in the nearby Chitterwood forest.
Junko's magic does remove some of the grime from the painting, but much of the blood has soaked into the canvas and oils. It is probably cleanable, but will require extreme care and a specialist's touch.
The chicken is definitely the sort of thing left behind by the Sorchfeather goblin tribe. It's the most recent item in the room, only being a few months old. They tend to leave such items in place of anything that they steal, either as "trade", or sometimes if they are afraid of the item, as a sacrifice to appease the haunted spirits that may accompany it. (In typical goblin logic.)
The painting would be a bit awkward but not impossible to take. Animated portraits such as this are generally pre-programmed to respond to questions with certain answers, so it's possible that asking the right question would provide information from before the Goblinblood Wars.
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Ratesh moves to the captives and addresses them.
Well, so far we have only found hints of what we came looking for. Have you by chance come across any rings, amulets, maces, or magical rods that appeared particularly valuable? If you can help us find any of these we can let you go back to your business.
And we will be searching your persons for these items before we leave, so if you can tell us about them first, that would go along way to proving your cooperation.
The prisoners report (truthfully) that they don't have any such items... they've only been here a little while, and the Scorchfeather goblins had beaten them here. A careful search reveals nothing else of interest or value.
After you deal with the prisoners as you see fit, you rest and then ride to Elidir to meet with Venture-Captain Brackett. After he hears your report and examines the fragment of Rutillo Irrica's will that you recovered from behind the painting, he closes his eyes in thought.
“A savage angel,” he muses, tented fingers held against his forehead. “And the focus on names… I wonder if if the Irricas managed to discover the true name of a devil, and used that to destroy Vegoran Thrune?"[/b] He looks around the group. "If so, we’d best secure these four items before they fall into the wrong hands and someone uses the name for nefarious purposes. Give me a few days, and I’ll have the locations of the items for you to retrieve.”
He looks up from the will and flashes a rare smile. “Well done, Pathfinders!”
One morning, a letter arrives at the inn for you. Simple and to the point, it reveals your next assignment:
"Pathfinders,
The rather startling calling card you found in the Irrica estate belongs to a band of goblins known as the Scorchfeathers. It is likely that the rod stolen from the estate is still in their possession. I have bought passage for you with a caravan traveling through the eastern Chitterwood toward Citadel Dinyar. The caravan is partly owned by Delara Adnen, a potential ally, so behave yourself on the trip. Yoou're paid as far as the gnomish settlement of Umok. Use that as a base to track down the goblins. The Scorchfeathers roam far, so be prepared to spend some time tramping through the Chitterwood! - Venture-Captain Brackett"
The caravan leave the next day, so you still have some time to provision yourself. Food and water will be covered by your caravan master, Jarkan, a Druman merchant (although not yet a Kalistocrat). There are two Druman Blackjacket mercenaries along as protection, as well.