Still badly injured, Jonagher moves back, following Ren in order to make room for Alak to join the front line. He's heartened to see that Highness and Ragna have trimmed the enemy's numbers in half, so he sheathes his weapons and readies his shortbow again to cover them.
Ragna drops her axe to better deal with the skeletons. She swings her shield in a flat arc over Highness' head, catching one of the remaining skeletons in the chest with the edge of her shield and pushing it into the wall. Throwing a powerful followup hook, she crushes the skeletons skull between her gauntleted fist and the stone wall like steel between hammer and anvil.
Ragna's shield skitters off the skeleton's rib cage, but her bare fist crushes its skull against the stone wall.
Alak manages to get closer to the front line but has to wait his turn behind Highness and Ragna.
The last skeleton claws fruitlessly at Highness, who easily dodges the bony fingers.
The goblin king tries twice to dive between the bony legs of the skeleton and leave space for another attacker, but twice the dexterous skeleton moves to block his passage. Infuriated by its effrontery, Highness strikes out, his fist hitting nothing but air but the follow-up kick shattering the skeleton into its constituent bones.
When the sounds of battle finally die down and the last of the brittle bones hit the floor, Jonagher puts his bow away and wipes a bit of blood from his brow. "Whew! That was a close call," he notes, "I thought they had me for a second. Thanks for all of you charging into the fray...especially our hammer-fisted goblin friend here. You really did a number on those things, Highness."
As the last skeleton hits the floor in pieces, Shaserai lets out a sigh of relief. "Yeah, thanks Highness, that was impressive. Also you Ragna, we're lucky to have the both of you with us." He then approaches Jonagher, taking out his healing supplies. "Let me see that arm, those skeletons did a number on you."
"Oh, sure...sure...I don't think it's too bad," Jonagher states, trying to put on a brave face lest anyone think he's less vital to the overall team. "They just took us all by surprise there...and I happened to be the unlucky one within reach, you know?"
"This palace is ridiculous." Ragna breaths, exasperated. She puts her free hand on Highness's shoulder and tries to nudge him away from the entrance to the row of cells. While the little monk had managed to dispatch most of the skeletons practically before she herself realized what was going on, his childlike stature still left her worrying for him. "Are you alright? I'm going to check the cells and see if there are any more surprises."
Ragna investigates the cells. Each contains a low bench and a chamber pot. There are no more remains, animate or otherwise.
The lockers Jonagher opened are more lucrative. The first contains a low-grade silver flail, a tiny jade talisman carved in the shape of a cat, and a stoppered vial; the second contains a low-grade silver mace, a fluorite crystal talisman, and a stoppered vial; the third contains a low-grade silver morningstar, a scroll, and a stoppered vial. (One locker remains closed, as Jonagher was unable to pick the lock.)
"Ridiculous? But why? Is it because of the creatures using corpses as bait? The talking wolf-beast? Undead? I will grant you, it does appear to be an... interesting ecosystem," Irenaeus remarks in a tone that seems to be equal parts genuine curiosity and annoyance mixed in with a bit of sarcasm for good measure.
"Go ahead, Ragna. I will be right behind you, just in case there are indeed surprises. Particularly of the walking and clawing kind..."
"Well, at least our trials haven't gone unrewarded," Jonagher notes as he observes the silver weapons and assorted trinkets, "It's a shame we didn't find Alak's ring in one of them...but I suppose it could be in that other locker. The lock's a bit rustier than the others, unfortunately, or I would've had that one open, too. Maybe we can use a bit of oil to loosen the gears on it, so I can give it another go?"
"Ren? Shaserai? Either of you want to look over this stuff? I'm not sure what these vials or that scroll might do, but I wouldn't be surprised if they're magical in nature..."
"Hmm? Certainly," the Chelish mage replies, intrigued at the prospect of magical items. Taking one last look at Ragna to make sure she is not attacked by anything nasty, he moves to join the half-elf. Casting a simple spell of detection, Irenaeus' eyes briefly glow with a soft silvery light as he takes a look at the items Jonagher has uncovered.
Ren can sense the presence of unfamiliar magic. The feline talisman he immediately recognizes as a jade cat, but he is unable to identify the fluorite crystal. The stoppered vials are labeled in Infernal: darkvision (lesser). He recognizes the spell on the scroll as magic missile.
"Stay still now" chides the priest as he takes the healing supplies out of his bandolier. "I'm going to treat your arm now. I'll look at that after I'm done with you."
Shaserai gets to work on Jonagher, trying to get him in fighting shape, but the distraction of the magic items makes him a little sloppy, achieving no progress.
"Sorry" he says bandaging Jonagher's arm "This is all I can do for now, let's try again later."
He stashes his healing supplies away and takes the crystal that Ren couldn't identify, trying to do it himself.
"I could kind of understand the wolf and turtles." Ragna grumbles back at Irenaeus from the last empty cell. "But unless Hellknights are in the habit of leaving undead in their prison when they abandon it, someone else put these things here. Undead don't just come out of nowhere, right?" She addresses the question towards Shaserai as she emerges from the row of cells, carelessly clapping the cleric on the shoulder while he works on Jonagher. The matters of undeath seem like something a priest would be familiar with.
"Ow! Are you done?" Jonagher asks Shaserai as the priest moves off to examine the treasure, "It doesn't really feel any better...but maybe it takes time for your poultice to work, yeah?"
The half-elf hovers over everyone's shoulders as they start assessing the various trinkets. "Hey, I recognize that jade cat thing!" he announces, "I saw crystals like that in Kyonin among the elves. They can only be used once, but if you affix it to a weapon, it'll enhance it somehow." He looks around at the scholarly spellcasters, proud to have contributed to the evaluation effort.
"Ah...I mean the crystal...not the cat thing." Jonagher amends his previous statement, "The crystal can attach to a weapon and lend it a bit of magical power. But it lasts only for a brief moment from when you activate it."
He moves around everyone as they continue examining the trinkets and retrieves his lockpicks from where they became scattered across the floor when the skeletons attacked. "While you guys figure out what that stuff does, I'll give this last locker another try..." He uses a file to scrape at the rust among the inner tumblers as best he can, and then blows the filings away to clear room for the picks again. He also retrieves a bit of oil cloth from his pack that he usually uses to take care of his blades, and rubs it along the metal lock, hoping it might help grease things a bit, as well. "Anyone have any actual lamp oil?" he asks, adding that to the gears if someone offers assistance.
Trying his picks once more, he takes his time, applying pressure strategically to the sections he suspects of still being corroded.
I'm used to treating my patients at the church infirmary, so this isn't my best work. I can't treat you further without risking injury, so we'll let the poultices act and try again later. he says apologetically to Jonagher.
Shaserai ponders Ragna's question for a moment. "There doesn't seem to be anything of value here, apart for the trinkets in the lockers and the skeletons weren't very powerful." He muses "If the Hellknights left some prisoners behind when they left and they died in their cells I wouldn't rule out their restless spirits animating their remains."
At Jonagher's request he shakes his head "I don't need artificial light most of the time, and when I do I use magic, sorry."
Even without the oil, Jonagher's meticulous new approach to the lock successfully springs the deteriorated mechanism. The final locker contains a light low-grade silver hammer and two stoppered vials, both labeled in Infernal. Ren interprets the contents as another lesser darkvision elixir and a lesser cheetah's elixir.
"Well, oil or no oil, how 'bout that?" Jonagher smiles as the lock finally gives way to his practiced skill. "To the victor go the spoils, as they say..." He passes the vials over to Ren and Shaserai for safe-keeping, then examines the hammer. "I wonder why they had so many silvered weapons in this place? Is that a big thing for Hellknights in combating demons or devils? Kind of makes you wonder what they were doing in this citadel for all those years? Should we arm ourselves with these? Do you think they might be useful in dealing with that guardian thing the records mentioned?"
"I wonder why they had so many silvered weapons in this place? Is that a big thing for Hellknights in combating demons or devils? "
Alak nods. "Silver overcomes devils' inherent resistance to physical weapons. Why they were left behind, I've no idea. Perhaps the keys to the lockers were misplaced, or the contingency crew left behind to close the place up wasn't aware they hadn't been emptied when the main body of Hellknights decamped to Varisia."
"I wonder why they had so many silvered weapons in this place? Is that a big thing for Hellknights in combating demons or devils? "Alak nods. "Silver overcomes devils' inherent resistance to physical weapons. Why they were left behind, I've no idea. Perhaps the keys to the lockers were misplaced, or the contingency crew left behind to close the place up wasn't aware they hadn't been emptied when the main body of Hellknights decamped to Varisia."
Highness had been uncharacteristically quiet for a few moments, staring at the bones he had smashed, but Alek's words stirred his mind.
"They left faster than they wanted too. Left these people behind in the prison, left slick silvered weapons. Good for us with all these bits and bobs...maybe bad for us because there are too many bits and bobs. Makes me think the stories the knights were telling about why they left were goblin stories, bits of bright truth tangled up in a knotty yarn." Highness says, then shrugs. He looked around and spied Shaserai, his eyes narrowed for a brief second, before he started making his way over.
"Cough, cough." he coughed, moaning while stooped over, clutching his side and dragging his left leg a bit while he made his way over to the cleric. "Skeleton caught me...in the side." he gasped.
Shaserai smiles at the goblin's antics and leads him to the jail's entrance. "Sit here" He says, pointing to the desk. "We'll have you in top shape in no time."
The priest readies again his healing supplies and with a small prayer to Torag for guidance he gets to work on the worst of Highness' injuries. Once he's finished and the goblins wounds are securely bandaged Shaserai gives a satisfied nod. "Be careful now. I've mended you pretty well, but don't be reckless and undo my work."
After he's finished with Highness he sets to clean everything so he can treat Jonagher's arm again. As he does so, he says "I still have the sack with the Council's reward, so I could put the potions and such in there to sort out later. As for the weapons I think the martial types should take one each for now, so you can use them if we encounter any creature that warrants their use."
When he has all the instruments clean again, he beckons Jonagher over and as with Highness makes him sit on the desk. He sutures the wound and after applying a cataplasm to numb and help heal he bandages the half-elf's arm. "There, it should feel better already."
When Shaserai is finished, Jonagher works his arm, bending it at the elbow and flexing his hand as if throwing an imaginary dagger or drawing his bow. "Yeah, that feels a lot better actually," he admires the priest's handiwork, "Almost no discomfort or pain in moving it now. I'm sure it'll still hurt if I get hit there again, but I should be a bit more handy if we get into another fight." He pauses and looks around at the rest of the team. "Of course, I'm not saying we should seek one again. Seems like everything here is attacking us and this citadel's got more monsters than we can shake one of those silver weapons at..."
When Shaserai suggests divvying up the Hellknight stash and arming themselves with their weapons, the half-elf nods and motions toward the mace. "I can probably use that a bit better than the flail or hammer. Not my preferred choice, of course. I'm usually more of a blade-man. I can spin a light mace better than these bigger ones, but at least I know how to use it."
"At the very least all this fighting has led us to some interesting finds," Irenaeus remarks with a shrug, referring to the silver weapons and the scrolls and potions. "Still no ring though, but I suppose it is not surprising it has not been easy to find," he notes as he looks around while Shaserai is tending to the others' wounds.
"I must admit though, I do hope we do not find any actual devils in here," he adds, almost instinctively glancing about for any such creatures. "It is not a test I wish to put those weapons to..."
"So, where to now?"
When Shaserai suggests divvying up the Hellknight stash and arming themselves with their weapons, the half-elf nods and motions toward the mace. "I can probably use that a bit better than the flail or hammer. Not my preferred choice, of course. I'm usually more of a blade-man. I can spin a light mace better than these bigger ones, but at least I know how to use it."
"I doubt any of these are anyone's first choice," Alak remarks, mentally comparing the low-grade silver-plated weapons with his massive greatsword and finding them wanting, "but if we were to run into any devils, they'd come in handy. This place may have been empty for years, but I've never known a Hellknight facility without an imp hidden away in an attic or a closet or a basement somewhere. Active facilities summon them at least twice a year to test armigers for membership; one or two of the wretched little things generally manage to escape and hide."
"I can use any of these in a pinch. If anyone has a preference, please choose first."
Ragna gives a wordless grunt of agreement with Alak's assessment of the silver weapons followed by an amused eye-roll as he continues with the Hellknight's less-than-exemplary record of not losing demons. She stoops to retrieve her axe, scattering a few of the disenchanted bits of bone that had fallen over her weapon. "I wonder who these people were." She ponders aloud, feeling a pang of sorrow for those that had been left behind to die.
Highness pats Sherasai on the arm. "We thank you for your excellent help." he says formally.
Imagining himself wielding silvered weapons in each hand and the flail in his teeth, Highness sidled over towards where the weapons sat next to the lockers. He quickly realized that the weapons were far too large for him to wield with any great skill, and he would likely end up scrunched on the floor if he tried to carry all three simultaneously.
"I want to try and run up the wall and then on the ceiling then fall onto something from above and kick it in the head, I need the running potion." Highness said, spying the potion next to the weapons, than paused at the incredulity from the other party members, "Not now...in a fight! Although the library would be a great place to try it..." he said, his high voice trailing off, eyes distant.
Ragna covers her mouth to stifle a giggle at the goblins flight of fancy. He's awfully reckless for one so small. Reminds me of a cat.
Jonagher hops down from the table and retrieves the silvered mace from the Hellknight weapons. "Devils or not, this could still sell for a decent price back in Breachill, yeah? So, we might as well carry them out with us after we find the ring."
The half-elf waits until everyone else has gathered their things. Like Ragna, he ventures down the row of cells, taking one last look to see if there's anything else of interest...or any further clues as to the identity of the former prisoners who arose as undead.
Once satisfied there's nothing more to do in the room, he looks around at the rest of the team. "Onward then? Where to next?"
"I wonder who these people were." She ponders aloud, feeling a pang of sorrow for those that had been left behind to die.
"The Order wouldn't have left prisoners behind," Alak insists. "That's barbarity. They wouldn't hesitate to execute a prisoner if necessary, but they wouldn't leave them to die. Whoever these men were, they came here since the last Hellknights left."
Jonagher investigates the cells for himself. In the last one on the right, he notices some scratch marks on the wall near the bench. Examining them more closely, he can just make out some words: Trevon betrayed me ... rat bastard ... can't ... out ... Urgathoa ... have my revenge.
"You're welcome Highness." Shaserai gathers his healing supplies and puts them back in his bandolier.
"If you say so it must be true." he placates Alak "You are the one here that knows how the Hellknights work."
At the question of where to go next, he recalls the citadel floor plans they have studied before.
"We've searched roughly half of the northern wing of the citadel. We could finish this wing and then move on to the courtyard. However, I have no restorative magic left." he cautions "Although we do have some healing potions from the council's reward."
Highness was fairly bouncing in place at this point, the goblin almost buzzing with energy after the multiple fights. "The room south of here didn't have any noises coming from it when I listened earlier. Could be more skeletons to break, or simply nothing there. Either way, let's go!" the goblin said excitedly before dashing off to the southern door in the library. Belying his haste, he cautiously opened the door a few inches, peered through looking for danger and then skulked in, staying low and looking for places to hide.
"Considering how irrationally dangerous this place has proven to be so far," Ragna says to Shaserai "I think we'd have to go back to Breachill if we want to rest. I wouldn't feel right leaving all these terrible monsters here to prey on passers-by. I think we can go on a little longer, at least." She concludes, not-so-bouncily following the king.
"Just have those potions ready..." Jonagher mumbles so only the priest can hear him as he follows after Ragna and Highness. More loudly for everyone else's benefit, he says, "Yeah. Alright. Let's find some more terrible monsters to put down and make this place safer."
Before leaving thru the doorway, he makes one more mental check to ensure he has his lockpicks secure again, his blades sheathed, and an arrow nocked and ready in his bow. Ordinarily, he had expected to lead the party thru the citadel so he could check for traps or unsafe conditions, but with their new goblin king so eager, and with Jonagher already having suffered his fair share of wounds, he's fine with covering everyone from a distance.
Walking next to Ren and Alak, he looks over and catches the Hellknight's eye, nodding back at the jail. "Not sure you noticed, but I saw a message scratched on one of the cell walls back there. Seems a prisoner blamed somebody named Trevon for locking them up. Said something about being betrayed. I don't suppose that name means anything to you? Do you think it might be listed in the Order's records? Or do you think it was someone who came after the Hellknights abandoned the citadel altogether?"
"We could check the records," Alak suggests. "If this Trevon was a member of the Order, he should be listed. But my coin's on looters or squatters, people who came in after the citadel was abandoned to strip anything of value or take advantage of the empty building. The other petitioner at the town meeting spoke of bandits in an unused fort; I'd surmise that the old citadel has been put to similar use from time to time since it was decommissioned."
A strong, musty smell is the first notable thing about the next room. Rows of desks are bolted to the floor, though many of the cramped work spaces have been smashed to pieces or otherwise defaced. Wooden chairs have been thrown aside like discarded playthings. While the walls here are intact, a hole in the western ceiling lets in some of the late afternoon light. On the dim, shadowy eastern end of the room are two doors, one leading east and the other south.
"Yeah, that makes sense..." Jonagher agrees with Alak's theory, "No use examining the records for now. If we've got time later, we could double-check just to make sure..."
Sniffing the air, Jonagher makes a sour face as they come upon the shadow-filled chamber. He notices Ren similarly assessing the scent that permeates the air and nods in acknowledgement.
"Bats," he informs everyone, "Might want to tread carefully here. Odds are a bunch of them found their way in and made a nest, probably thru that hole in the roof. They're likely sleeping since it's still daytime outside, but that doesn't mean they won't get riled up if we disturb them. If they do, it could be useful to have a few torches ready to defend ourselves and hold them at bay."
"Ah yes," Irenaeus remarks drily as he too sniffs the air. "One of my least... favorite spell components."
The mage nods and smiles as Jonagher mentions the torches. "I much prefer magical light myself, but I do have several torches in my backpack. It does not hurt to have mundane alternatives as well. Just in case."
Highness nodded sagely at Jonagher's warning. "Good, good. Bats taste pretty good, so we can come back here later with a net and gather them up. But for now..." he says quietly, then ends by making a motion for silence.
Highness scurried carefully across the floor, watching for loose boards or other noise-causing hazards as he moved up to he east door, where he pressed his ear to the crack near the floor.
"We could throw something at the bats and close the door. Spook them so they fly away." Ragna starts to suggest, but Highness was already gone. "Or we could try to quietly sneak past animals famed for their hearing."
"Or come back to search the room for my ring after dark when they're out hunting," Alak follows up Ragna's suggestion wryly. "Or just shut the door and let the goblin deal with whatever he stirs up...."
As Highness sneaks stealthily over to the east side of the room, the smell grows more intense. He crouches down to listen under the crack of the door.
At that moment, a shadow in the rafters suddenly but silently expands and drops, revealing itself to be a massive bat. It rips with razor-sharp fangs at the goblin, hovering above him.
The small monk leaps in the air in a backflip, each foot kicking at the bat overhead as he flips, but the agile bat dodges. The goblin lands and punches straight up at the furry body but again fails to connect. Using the desks as cover, he retreats back toward the door by which he came in, leaving a trail of blood behind him.
"We should have done what I said!" Ragna shouts, rushing into the room to defend Highness from the bat.
Ragna hurries to Highness's defense.