"Certainly," Jonagher jokes. He waves his hand towards Ragna's shield. "May the blessings of Sarenrae be upon you..." When no light is forthcoming, he smiles and winks as he chews on another slice of apple.
"And a talking lion or bear at that," Irenaeus quips after Ragna's remark about wild animals.
When Jonagher jokes about the light, the mage simply sighs and approaches the warrior woman and the table. "If I may?" A simple incantation and a quick gesture later and her shield is indeed shining brightly enough. "Not quite a blessing, but I suppose it will do," he says afterwards, perhaps a little more drily than intended.
"As I was tending to your injuries yesterday I noticed some were serious enough to require rest and further treatment." states Shaserai at Ragna's eagerness to continue with the exploration. "It's best if we start the day as hale as possible... we had a couple of scares yesterday that I don't care to repeat."
He takes out his healing supplies and as the others finish breakfast he starts checking their worse wounds and reapplying treatment if needed.
Highness wakes from his rest with a jaunty energy that belies how he actually feels as the other complete their final preparations to move out. "Good Morning!" he squeaks as he rolls out of the cupboard and onto the floor, landing on all fours, then straightening up and stretching out like a misshapen lumpy feline. Out of his backpack he pulls a wadded up roll of twine, rope, yarn and sundry other threads which he feeds through a bone needle and then works on repairing the rents and tears in his clothes, barely looking up as Shaserai tends his wounds.
A few minutes later, and a biscuit ration jammed into his mouth, threads and needle packed away, he is hopping on first one foot then the other, waiting for the party to begin their explorations once more.
"Meeff gmo." he mumbles, pointing to the door, bits of dry biscuit flying out.
Alak still has the blueprints out. "It looks as if there are three rooms left in this wing we haven't explored," he points out, "a large one east of the bat room and these two smaller ones. The southern wing seems to have been used to house the armigers and for training. This is the test arena where they'd summon devils for the Hellknight test." He points to a room with a pentagram. "And look here! There appears to be a secret door to the outside. I wonder if that's where the goblins come and go."
Just as Shaserai is about to caution Highness about his injuries, the goblin hops away and seems eager to start exploring.
"Not so fast." Shaserai shakes his head "You received serious injuries yesterday, severe enough that even a night's rest and my ministrations aren't enough. The next time you get hit may be your last, and we don't want that, do we? So we'll wait a bit and I'll administer further treatment."
He then approaches Alak, and considers the blueprints as the man speaks.
"I'd finish this wing, which hopefully will be empty of threats and then use the secret doors here," he points "to go directly to the summoning chamber. If by chance some conjured creature remains there I'd want to be as fresh as possible if we are to face it. If not, I'd wager we can take any opposition by surprise by not entering through the courtyard or the eastern door."
"I'd finish this wing, which hopefully will be empty of threats and then use the secret doors here," he points "to go directly to the summoning chamber. If by chance some conjured creature remains there I'd want to be as fresh as possible if we are to face it. If not, I'd wager we can take any opposition by surprise by not entering through the courtyard or the eastern door."
Alak nods. "That's presuming we can find the door from the outside and operate it. Knowing there's a secret door is one thing; accessing it is another."
"That's presuming we can find the door from the outside and operate it. Knowing there's a secret door is one thing; accessing it is another."
"Never fear! With my sharp, elven eyes and natural inclination to find the overlooked, I shall endeavor to locate...and operate...said secret door." Jonagher returns. He somehow manages to project an air of sincere optimism and brash overconfidence all at the same time.
The half-elf's eyes dart over to Shaserai still trying to keep the bobbing goblin under control. "So...are we spending another night here? Or, do you think we could at least skirt the edge of the keep and look for this secret entrance?"
Alak looks to Shaserai questioningly. "Seems like we ought to be able to see trouble before stumbling into it from outdoors, and some fresh morning air might be more invigorating than waiting in the holding cells."
Highness looked longingly at the door, wanting to be out of the room and poking into new places, but from deep within, some spark throttled his usual goblin predilections and he became very still and calm. He turned to Shaserai, "You are right, getting killed stupidly is certainly not worth it...none of you are goblins to be able to tell my heroic story properly! he complains.
"So good to see you have your priorities straight," Irenaeus remarks with more than a little sarcasm. "Going outside would provide us with the chance to scout around a little bit better. And presumably, as Alak just said, while having a better chance to spot trouble before it spots us," he continues.
"But if we do so, do we all go? Or just some of us? And if the latter, who?"
"I wouldn't mind stretching my legs a bit," Jonagher volunteers, "And I'm a bit more on the mend, as they say, than his Highness here." He glances at Shaserai as their attending caretaker. "Probably best if the two of you stay behind if we split up," he suggests, "As long as it's safe, of course..."
"Ragna? What're your thoughts? Ren and I could probably scout the exterior and be back here in an hour or less, I'd imagine. You're welcome to come with...unless you'd prefer to stay and protect our friends here."
"A morning walk around the grounds would be nice. Clear some of this musty air from our lungs, and we might stumble on some useful information." Ragna says, extending a hand towards Highness. "We can let the others go first and look out for threats while we wait till Shaserai can treat you again."
"Very well," Alak replies, getting to his feet and closing the schematics. "Let's get packed up and see what the weather's like out there."
Shaserai hesitates for a moment but then nods "It can't hurt, I suppose. As long as you do not rush headfirst into the next creature we encounter." He cautions Highness "And if worse comes to worst I'll try to use Torag's blessings to keep you safe."
He gathers his belongings, and after making sure his bandolier contains all his healing supplies, he is ready to go outside.
The party is pleased to bid farewell to the dark and cramped holding cells. Going back out by the graveshells' puddle, they find a beautiful summer morning, the sun shining, the tall grass alive with buzzing insects and small moths. Turning to the west, they walk around the citadel from the outside, passing the long blank wall that is the outside of the holding cells, then turning south to head around the back. They can just make out the hole in the roof by which the giant bat came and went.
As they continue toward the central structure of the citadel, the group can see that there is another collapsed wall allowing access to the interior. Inside, topped shelves and filing cabinets are visible beneath a riot of moss and vines, including wild blackberries, which have trailed in through the broken wall.
A slightly askew grin spread across Highness' face, "This place has more holes than a packrat's warren. Its a wonder that half the forest isn't living inside." he says, looking at the collapsed wall ahead.
Then a moment later, "Blackberries!" he says as he moves forward, towards the gaping hole, looking to see if the birds have left any fruit behind.
Shaserai walks along the, others admiring the nature around the citadel... which is why he doesn't immediately notice when Highness suddenly disappears from their side, and towards a new hole in the wall. Fearing for his life should any hostile creature call the bushes home he quickly follows the goblin and scans the vegetation and beyond the collapsed wall.
"This place has more holes than a packrat's warren. It's a wonder that half the forest isn't living inside."
"Well, maybe not half, but certainly quite a few creatures seem to be inhabiting the..."
"Blackberries!"
Jonagher's eyes widen as their erstwhile goblin companion has once again taken a notion of going full bore into possible danger. "Hold on!" the half-elf gripes when he sees Shaserai following after him. "Son of a..." He quickly nocks another arrow and draws his bow in case he needs to cover them as they go blackberry exploring. Even as he does so, he scans the ground around the opening in the wall, trying to discern if any tracks of other creatures coming and going might be evident.
"Wait for me, Highness." Ragna calls, following after the goblin. "Remember what happened last time?" She tries to adopt a scolding tone, but she can hardly blame him. Fresh berries sound far more appetizing than the dried out apples she had for breakfast.
Highness can see several plump berries shining in the morning sun, just waiting to be picked and eaten.
"He may very well be the death of us yet," Irenaeus hisses, making little to no attempt to hide either his disapproval or his annoyance at the goblin. As he mentally goes through his spell repertoire in case of an attack, the Chelish mage scans their surroundings, not particularly happy at the thought that any manner of creature may ambush them from behind while they are trying to reign in their companion.
Jonagher relaxes the draw on his bow a little. "Well, it does seem the goblins may have visited this place before..." he announces for Ragna, Alak, and Ren's benefit, unsure if Shaserai and Highness are too far ahead to hear him. "There's sign of their tracks here and there...but nothing all that recent. They probably picked some berries and left. Outside of that, just a few rats or squirrels maybe. Nothing to be too worried about..."
As he's scanning their surroundings Shaserai spies something in the vines. "There's some kind of furred creature in the vegetation." he says in a quiet voice, pointing discreetly. "I can see three of them, but there could be more." He starts to back away, beckoning the others.
Barely sparing a glance over his shoulder, Highness plunged hands deftly into the blackberries with sharp quick motions, shoveling ripe fruit into his mouth, quickly decimating any easily plucked fruit as if a flock of blackbirds had descended.
Then, abruptly, Highness froze as his brain caught up with him.
Oh, not good. I shouldn't have rushed up here...
Highness dove away from the blackberries, rolled along the ground and then sprang back to his feet and ran back to the group. He slowed to a stop in the relative safety of the longshanks, and glanced about, silent, as his mouth was crammed full of berries which he busily and messily chewed. His cheeks puffed out like a hamster and berry juice dripping down his chin.
Seeing the incredulous looks leveled his way, Highness shrugged and mumbled "Blahfberrief." with a sort of finality that implied it explained everything sufficiently.
Ragna lets out a defeated sigh, shaking her head. Letting her shield drop to the grass and pulling her waterskin off her belt. She kneels down in front of Highness, pulling a sleeve over one of her hands and wetting it with water from the waterskin. "What if there was another nocturnal predator nesting in there? It could have grabbed your tiny body and taken off like a flash and we'd never see you again." She wipes the blackberry juice from the goblins chin with the wetted sleeve, trying to suppress a smile so as not to encourage him. "You need to practice more patience. Especially considering your current condition."
"Quite," is the only response Irenaeus can manage as soon as Highness provides them with his one-word "explanation", sarcasm veritably dripping off of the mage's reply much like the blackberry juice off of the goblin's chin. He does complement it though with a rather exaggerated roll of his eyes as Ragna, the fearsome warrior woman, turns positively motherly and fusses over their small companion.
"Perhaps confining him to his quarters next time might help teach him some manners or patience? No going out or playing with the other goblins? That sort of thing?"
To Shaserai's relief, whatever is lurking in the vegetation evinces no interest in venturing out of its cover to attack the goblin.
The party continues around the back of the central courtyard and the southern wing of the building finding neither further trouble nor additional means of access.
At the southwestern corner, the party stops, Alak double-checking the citadel's schematics. "The door should be here somewhere...."
"Let's take a look and see if we can find it then..." Jonagher offers, moving closer to scan the stone for any signs of recent use or less obvious means of entry.
"And somebody keep a leash on our brash friend back there so he doesn't go running straight thru as soon as we manage to open it..."
Shaserai takes a peek at the schematics as Alak is checking them, then approaches the wall.
"I've seen doors like this before." Says the priest "If you look closely you can see it goes from here to here." He points out the dimensions of the door on the wall. "As long as it's not an exit door only, there should be a mechanism nearby that opens it. Unless..." He intones a magical phrase and opens his arms, searching for magic on the wall.
Shaserai detects no magic on the door, but the method of opening it remains unclear.
When the magical pulse he has sent has no answer within the wall the priest seems irritated for a second. "No signs of magic which means I don't have a clue how to open it."
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Jonagher cracks his knuckles and pulls a small satchel of files, picks, mallets, steel wire, and other tools of 'the trade' from his pack. "I believe this is where I come in..." he announces as he approaches the wall. He proceeds to tap a mallet against the outline of the door, pressing his ear against the stone to ascertain what mechanisms might lie behind. Then, he visually scans the areas he suspects might hold any kind of housing for the components that could open it...or prevent anyone from opening it.
"You know...no matter how much people want to keep things hidden..." he talks as he works, "Or keep folks out..." He retrieves a file and begins to scrape away at a bit of rock. "If you've got enough determination..." He taps some more with the mallet, but more forcefully now as he jams a bit of steel wire into crack of the door's outline. "And ingenuity, of course...don't forget the ingenuity..." He grunts as he pushes and scrapes at the stone once more until he hears a satisfying click and smiles, "You can always find a way in, my friends..."
He then secures his tools back in their proper places, rolls them up in a leather binding, and puts them back in the satchel. After regaining his feet, he draws a dagger and points to a section of the stone wall for Shaserai's benefit. "I believe if you push here, there should be enough leverage to pivot the wall for you...and gain entry."
"Locks only exist to keep honest people from getting curious." Ragna suggest, leaning against the mossy wall, one hand on the little goblins shoulder to keep him from running off. "Any door that can be opened can be opened, as our elfin friend has demonstrated." She adds with a smile, her grip on the goblin tightening just a bit with the encouraging click from the hidden doors locking mechanism.
As Jonagher starts to pull tools out of his bags Shaserai gets out of the way and looks on, intrigued. One of his father's friends is a locksmith and although he'd never really paid attention to his work, seeing the half-elf tap here and work there he finds it fascinating.
"That's impressive. I know my way around the forge and I've used some of those same tools in my crafting, but I've never considered using them that way." Shaserai goes to push the spot Jonagher indicates when he remembers the condition Highness is in and stops. "Better wait to go in until I've gotten our goblin friend in fighting shape."
He moves to where Ragna and Highness are standing and takes a blanket form his bedroll, laying it on the ground. He gets down on the blanket and directs Highness to sit as well. The priest takes out his healing supplies, organizing ointments, tonics, bandages, needle and thread and when he's ready he starts to work on Highness. When he's done, he surveys his work and finds that even after multiple treatments the goblin still looks the worse for wear.
"I don't know if it's my inexperience in treating goblins or if you are resistant to any of my poultices." He says to Highness "But we are not getting anywhere like this. Hold still for a moment." He grabs his holy symbol and touches lightly the worse of the goblin's injuries. "By the might and mercy of the Forgefather, become hale and hearty." A light glow bathes Highness and in an instant his wounds close as if they'd never been there.
"Your handiwork seemed to work fine for me," Jonagher responds, "And I've still got a few scratches if you want to treat those, too. The mundane way, of course. No need to spend any more of your magic on us. We may need it further inside."
"Certainly." Shaserai takes one of his poultices and carefully applies it before bandaging the last of Jonagher's wounds. "I hope this does some good."
He carefully stashes his healing supplies in his bandolier and dusts his blanket before putting it away.
"Right, is everyone ready to go on?"
Waiting patiently as Jonagher gets to work, Irenaeus cannot help but sneak a peek or two at what the half-elf is doing. Although locks were far from his forte, in his quite younger days he had entered his fair share of other people's homes and shops. In fact, that was how he started on the path of becoming a mage.
"You know, I might be interested in your showing me how to do that one day," he says simply, curiosity and interest evident in his voice.
The medical care out of the way, Ragna sets her shoulder to the door as Jonagher instructs and shoves. The old stone door opens with surprising ease, and she draws her battleaxe before flashing light from her glowing shield into the new entrance.
The opened door reveals what looks like a long-forgotten storage room. A dust-furred table bears a jumble of ominous accessories: pentagram-covered tomes, heavily-melted candles, and scattered pieces of loose chalk. In one corner is a vat; along one wall is an empty weapon rack; and opposite, moth-eaten ceremonial robes in black and red hang from pegs. There is a door in the northwestern corner and another in the east wall directly opposite the secret entrance.
"Right, is everyone ready to go on?"
"Right as rain..." Jonagher brightly announces. As Shaserai turns away, the half-elf flexes his shoulder and winces before noticing Ren's amused look. Caught in his little white lie, he just grins and shrugs, but the motion causes another twinge and his grin turns into a resigned frown.
"You know, I might be interested in your showing me how to do that one day," he says simply, curiosity and interest evident in his voice.
"Lockpicking? Really?!" Jonagher glances sidelong at the wizard while Ragna prepares to open the door and lead the way inside. "I never took you for the burglary type. Or, is it just a matter of you accidentally locking a few spell components in a chest and forgetting where you put the key? Either way's fine with me..." He offers a reassuring smile. "I don't mind sharing a few 'life skills' with others. Perhaps we could even set up a bit of trade for my troubles? For instance, I've always wanted to learn a bit of magic, too..."
...Ragna sets her shoulder to the door as Jonagher instructs and shoves. The old stone door opens with surprising ease, and she draws her battleaxe before flashing light from her glowing shield into the new entrance.
"Ah! There we are! Let's see where this secret entrance takes us." Jonagher changes the subject as the party prepares to move on. "And let's hope it doesn't lead straight into another monster's lair..."
Shaserai follows Ragna into the citadel, staying alert and ready to defend the human with his magic. He searches the room for signs of any creature passing through and any hiding spots that may contain Alak's family ring or other treasure.
Ragna raises her shield, both to light the way and to protect her from possible attack. Highness slips just ahead of her, his sharp eyes effortlessly piercing the shadows to look for hidden foes. Shaserai intones the syllables of a divine cantrip, but he detects no unexpected magic.
Alak glances around the room from the rear of the group. "These are summoning supplies: what the Order would have used for Hellknight Test formally to induct armigers into the organization. The signifer would summon a devil for the candidate to fight to the death in the arena. Those empty racks would have held silver weapons for the armiger to use; I suppose they were valuable enough to take with them to Varisia, while they didn't bother with the chalk and candles and things."
"Well, it seems they might have left a trap behind to protect something..." Jonagher adds. The half-elf gestures at the floor ahead of Highness. "Don't go stepping there on that loose tile," he advises, "It could be a pressure plate to trigger something...bad. Everyone stay where you are until I can get a better look at it..."
Jonagher slips forward, moving ahead of Ragna and next to Highness, kneeling down closer to the tile. "If they emptied this place of the silver...maybe it's a trap to protect the secret entrance to the keep? But, if so, I'd have thought it would be related to the door we just accessed." He draws a slim dagger and traces the edge of the tile, looking for a better spot to examine the inner workings that lie beneath.
Jonagher is unable to determine exactly what might happen if the tile is depressed, but it's unlikely to be pleasant.
"Well, I can't rightly say what it does...or even if it's still armed to trigger anything..." Jonagher finally sighs and withdraws the dagger from further exploration of the loose floor tile. "Best just to avoid it altogether. Mark it and mind your step..." He looks over his shoulder back at the rest of the party. "Anything else of interest here, or shall we press on?"
"Let's hope they only left behind the supplies and not a more nasty surprise." Shaserai looks around the room as Jonagher tinkers with the trap. "We should avoid that tile then and maybe mark it in some way so we remember not to step on it if we come back."
"We should avoid that tile then and maybe mark it in some way so we remember not to step on it if we come back."
"We could use some of this chalk," Alak suggests.
"A trapped room might have been a safe place to stow valuables," he muses. "Perhaps we should do a quick search for Great-Uncle Alceister's ring."