"Perhaps the wooden soldier is a construct? A golem of sorts? Not what I would choose to make a golem out of, but still...," Irenaeus thinks out loud as he moves to get to the rope and then back to ground level.
Once down, he looks around. "I think clearing out the rest of this level, or at the very least exploring a little more before moving down below is not a bad idea. I would hate for us to be unpleasantly surprised by things with fangs and claws."
"I can't argue with that logic...and I'm in favor of exploring the rest of the citadel, as well. This place is starting to grow on me. There's a charming monster or challenge around every corner," Jonagher laughs, "And, we still need to find Alak's ring. There's no certainty it's in the vaults below, so we should make sure we eliminate any possibilities up here before we venture down there. And, in so doing, who knows what other treasures we might turn up, you know?"
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"Treasures would be fun, but I am hoping for an epic battle between monkeys, lizards and living statues when we get down there." Highness said as he started hauling the rope up from the inside of the fortress to drop over the outside wall.
"And we might have to fight them all off to cross the room to get to the other side where the longshanks wizard is trapped by the metal statue that snatched him when we were sleeping." he started, getting into the spirit.
"Seeing the assembled creatures battling, Ragnhild lets out a battle cry and charges into the fray, tossing squealing lizards through the air, bashing monkeys with her shield while Johnager pincushions leaping lizards out of the air."
The rope was finally up at the battlement, and Highness lifted the coil bodily and walked over to the edge, grunting as he walked. "Then Shaserai lets...loose with a...blast of holy energy...and the dispirited enemies...flee with squeals...and hisses..." Reaching the edge, Highness dumped the loose end of the rope over the edge, securing their exit to the ground below. "As the clanking statue emerges from the back of the room, just in time to trip and fall thundering to the ground, its legs tied together by a heroic goblin warrior that had moved unseen through the chaos."
Highness grinned at the assembled group, then nimbly dropped over the side, climbing hand over hand down the rope to the ground.
Shaserai eyes the rope dubiously before following the mage down to the courtyard.
Once he has both feet firmly on the ground again, the priest approaches Ragna to begin treating her. Luckily, both hers and Highness's injuries are only contusions this time, so he takes his best ointment out of his bandolier and gets to work.
"If I'm not mistaken we've explored both wings of the citadel. The only thing left are the corridors around the courtyard." the priest states as he finishes slathering Ragna's arm and starts bandaging it. "We can search them in no time and let Warbal take us to the secret entrance to the basement."
Shaserai smiles at Highness's flights of fancy. "While we are no slouches, I don't think we are quite that powerful yet. Now come here and let me tend to you." While the damage on the goblin is a little more extensive than on Ragna, it seems the ointment is particularly effective on him, and in no time he's as good as new.
Irenaeus' eyes narrow at the goblin's story of high adventure, but there is the hint of a smile on his lips nevertheless.
"So, I am to play the role of the... wizard-in-distress, as it were, in your little saga, while the rest of you heroically come to my rescue?"
The mage sighs in exasperation, albeit a bit too theatrically perhaps. "I do so hope I do not trip on my robes as you lead me away from the dastardly construct that kidnapped me. I would hate to ruin such an impressive tale by getting squashed by the tripped and falling "clanking statue" at the last moment..."
The goblin sighs as the priest applies his knowledge and expertise to the easing of his wounds. "Thank you." he says simply, his eyes roving the surroundings even while being tended, alert to any new threats.
”Thank you for the healing.” Ragna says to the healer. ”I can believe Jonagher shooting lizards out of the air, hostage wizard or no. Warbal my dear, would you like to come with us while we look at these last hallways on the surface, or are you going to wait somewhere?”
"If the goblins can point us in the right direction, we should be able to handle it ourselves," Jonagher suggests, "We've done pretty good so far. And, we already have one goblin adventurer with us. That right there might be more than enough..." He adds a wink for Highness' benefit. "I'm restocked on arrows. If we're pretty close to clearing out the top level, that should put Warbel and the rest in a much safer situation. And, if we get into any trouble once we do find these underground vaults, hopefully we can retreat back here and seek their support."
"You're welcome." Smiles the priest. Once Shaserai has treated Highness and Ragna he stashes his supplies back in his bandolier.
"Let's clear the courtyard passages and head to the secret entrance. Once in the basement, we have to be careful of the wooden soldier. If indeed it is a golem, it will follow it's creators commands without fault, which will likely mean it will attack us. Luckily for us, wood golems burn beatifuly."
Taking temporary leave of the Bumblebrashers, the party climbs back down the rope and returns to the interior of the citadel. From the room with the double doors that open onto the courtyard, it seems they should be able to access the corridors inside the citadel walls. Indeed, the doors on either side open into narrow, dark, and dusty halls, each of which terminate in another door which opens into a round turret. The one on the east has a door that accesses the barrack where the bugbear had her lair and another which continues inside the interior wall toward the front of the citadel; the one on the west has a door which opens into an empty room and another which continues inside the interior wall toward the rear of the citadel.
"If we consult our maps of the citadel, how much more do we have left to explore here on the ground level?" Jonagher asks, "Seems we should be able to pick our route and check anything we haven't visited so far...while taking all the proper precautions, of course. We've been ambushed and threatened at almost every turn by something. And, knowing there's monkeys, frogs, and dragon-lizards somehow getting into this place, I suppose anything's possible now."
Shining shield held before her, Ragna heads through the east door and into what should be the base of one of the citadel's towers.
Jonagher nocks an arrow and follows after Ragna, ready to launch a shot past her shoulder if anything dangerous appears. He also uses his practiced eye to spot any potential hazards or traps that might lie ahead so he can call a stop, if necessary.
There is a trapdoor in the ceiling of the turret which presumably leads up to the battlements where the Bumblebrashers are. There was probably once a wooden or rope ladder to access it, but it's not here now, removed either by the Hellknights when they decamped or by an opportunistic looter since.
The door to the east opens onto a corridor leading northeast and then turning directly to the north. There are arrow slits in the outer wall in the angled corridor and then two doors on the right in the north-south portion. Carefully cracking one of the doors and peering through reveals the foyer by which the party originally entered the citadel. The corridor they are presently in is the one Highness peeked into after placating the goblin-dogs.
The corridor turns again toward the northwest and terminates in another door which presumably leads into another turret.
"Hmm, no hallway monsters?" Ragna says sarcastically as they are not immediately attacked upon entrance to the hallway. Leaving the goblin dogs as they were in case their loyalties had turned since the day before. She continues on to the next door in the hallway.
"Perhaps our reputation is finally spreading and the monsters now realize they're outmatched?" Jonagher jokes, "Or, we wore them down and anything left has either fled the citadel entirely or moved into the lower levels to await us there?"
Ragna opens the turret door to reveal a pile of rubble and sunlight slanting in from above. This is the side of the courtyard where the grauladons collapsed the stairs. Picking through from this direction would be difficult and dangerous; it would behoove the party to retrace their steps and take the corridor around the back of the citadel to complete the circuit.
"So far, so good," Irenaeus remarks. "Could it be this ruined place has run out of things to throw at us?"
The mage keeps his eyes and ears open nevertheless, not wanting to let himself grow too complacent. Although certainly a welcome change of pace, as Jonagher mentioned as well, there are still creatures to be met and quite possibly fought, if not above ground then surely below it.
”Expected as much.” Ragna says of the blockage. ”This is why I wanted to go this way first. Back the way we came!”
"Just a little more and we'll have searched the whole ground floor of the citadel." Comments the priest as they backtrack. "At least we know where Alak's ring is not."
Returning the way they came, the party explores in the opposite direction. Passing through the southwest turret, Ragna opens the door onto the corridor running through the rear wall of the citadel. The left-hand wall is pierced with arrow slits which let in narrow shafts of light. Shaserai sees no signs in the thick dust and cobwebs that anyone other than themselves has passed this way any time recently.
In the northwestern turret, a door in the eastern wall presumably opens on the rubble collapsed into the northern wall. Another door opens to the northwest, back into the northern wing somewhere.
”This should be the final hall, if the schematics are correct.” Ragna says, opening the eastern door. It was almost certainly empty besides the rubble, but she wanted to check just in case.
Ragna finds herself looking back into the broken turret on the northeast, over the corridor filled with rubble from the collapsed stairs.
"These were the stairs that the Bramblebashers came up right? Let me look for a moment and see if there might be a pathway down, or if the stairs are truly blocked." Highness said, gesturing at the ruined stairs.
"Well, it appears we've satisfied ourselves that the ground level has been made safe for everyone...including us, of course...but the goblins should be particularly relieved." Jonagher watches Highness as the would-be king picks over the ruined stairway. "All that remains..." he tells the rest of the party, "...is to figure out a way into the vaults below, where we can only assume a much greater set of dangers likely await."
"You know, before doing that..." he continues, "Maybe it's best if we spend some time recuperating and better preparing ourselves? I'm sure Highness could negotiate with the goblins to secure a safe spot here within the citadel that we could use as a base camp which we can retreat to, if necessary, from time to time. Likewise, it might be worthwhile to go back to Breachill and resupply. We could also advise the council of our progress..."
Highness's inspection of the damage confirms Jonagher's previous conclusion: The stairway down from the courtyard is filled with the rubble of the fallen citadel wall piled atop the dead body of a second grauladon which was buried in the collapse. Shifting the stone alone would be a long and tiring job, but the reptilian corpse is far too large and heavy to be moved by the party, even with the surviving Bumblebrashers pitching in.
”Hmm. I’m not so sure the little gobbos trapped below have that much time to wait.”
"On the other hand, if we do go down there ill-prepared, the... gobbos may very well remain in the same predicament they are currently in," Irenaeus offers an argument. "Although they may appreciate the fact that they will have some new company, namely us."
"We don't have to commit to exploring the basement level in one go." muses the priest "We can have Warbal show us the way down, look around for a bit and then make up our minds."
"Agreed. Let's see what this other way into the basement entails. Was Warbal going to show us the way or some of the other goblins who ventured there?"
The party returns to the Bumblebrashers, and Warbal eagerly agrees to show them to the secret entrance. She leads them around behind the citadel, where the hill begins to descend again in short, rocky scarps.She scrambles down a rough foot trail for a few meters, then stops.
"Here is the Bumblebrashers' way in," she announces. With a bit of squinting, a well-hidden door can be discerned, covered with rough stone that matches the natural rock of the area and behind tall grass and brush.
"Huh. Well, would you look at that..." Jonagher muses, "What a cleverly concealed door in the adjoining hillside. You say others have used this route, but you haven't heard back from them, right? I guess that implies a bit of danger could lay ahead." He looks around at the rest of the team. "So, now that we've identified the entrance, shall we explore where it goes for a bit? Or do we want to make camp nearby? Or revisit Breachill?"
”I still feel pretty good.” Ragna say, rolling her shoulders. ”We might as well take a look and see what we’re getting in to.”
"Thank you Warbal, I hope we can bring you news of your tribesmates soon."
Shaserai looks at the half-elf as he moves to examine the door. "I retain most of the spells Torag granted me this morning, so I agree with Ragna. We can go a little longer."
He then turns to the secret door and examines it both magically and with mundane senses, looking for traps. "Let's not be careless, I'll try to ascertain the "frogs and monkeys" haven't found this exit and trapped it."
Shaserai finds nothing dangerous on or around the secret door in the hillside.
"Look out for the other Bumblebrashers," Warbal reminds them anxiously. "And for Pib and Zarf. Oh, and for Big Bumble. He may be hungry by now."
”The goblins would probably tell us if they trapped the door.” Ragna says with a chuckle, reaching for the handle and pulling the hidden door open.
"Uh...Big Bumble?" Jonagher asks as Ragna opens the door, "I recall you mentioning Pib and Zarf...but who's this Big Bumble again? Sounds much more ominous if he might be hungry by now..."
"He's our bear," Warbal answers brightly. "We lost a lot of Bumblebrashers getting him in his room, but now we just open the door and throw in food really quick." She thinks a moment. "If the frogs and monkeys opened the door, maybe he ate some of them. That would keep him from being too hungry."
"I should be fine as well," Irenaeus says with a nod in regards to whether rest is needed or not.
"And, if I may ask, how... attached are you to this Big Bumble? Because I am assuming we will be trying to defend ourselves if a bear tries to make a meal out of us? Right?"
Warbal looks shocked. "It's bad luck for a tribe if their pet dies. Rimraz wouldn't like that at all. She'd make trouble for you ... for him, if he wants to be our king." She points at Highness.
Ragna opens the door to reveal a narrow, dark hallway. At the far end is another door.
Irenaeus, not giving voice to his next thought regarding how attached they are to Rimraz, simply smiles a thin little smile and nods.
Jonagher looks aghast at Warbal's statement and exchanges looks with the rest of the team. Once Ragna opens the door (and they've left Warbal behind), he gives voice to what he can only assume might be their shared misgivings. "Seriously?" he whispers in the narrow passageway, "They expect us to subdue a bear?! Why couldn't they have picked a cat or a mouse as their mascot?"
He slides past everyone so he can reach the front. "Give me some room, folks...and I'll scout the way. But if we run into this Big Bumble, be ready to beat a hasty retreat. I don't want to get mauled here at the front of the line. Also, it sounds like our best weapon against a hungry bear might be food. Not me, of course. Rather, I'm suggesting someone keep a bit of salted meat ready to throw his way. If it makes him friendly, great. If not, maybe it buys us enough time to go around him or lead him out so he's no longer a threat barring our way."
"Food worked for the goblin dogs." Ragna says, following after Jonagher.
"I've never even seen a bear in real life, but I can try to calm it down if it comes to that." Shaserai sighs before going in after Ragna. "This job is getting more complicated by the moment."
The priest speaks the incantation to reveal magic as he goes, being on the lookout for any active spells.
The party moves, single file, down the narrow corridor which ends at another door. Jonagher motions for everyone to be quiet, and he listens at the door. For a moment, there is nothing, then he hears some intermittent scratching sounds from somewhere inside, not too near the door, and some quiet ... clucking?
"Okay." Jonagher keeps his voice at a whisper for those behind him. "There's definitely something on the other side of the door. Not sure what. Sounds like an animal. Maybe it's that Bumble bear they mentioned? If someone else would like to lead the way, I'll happily cover you with my bow."
”It is only a bear. How bad could it be?” Ragna asks as she pushes her way to the front of the line and tries the door. ”We already slew a small croco-dragon.”
"It is a potentially hungry bear," Irenaeus corrects Ragna as he mentally goes through his spells, preferring to stay a little farther away from the door. "They are hardly known for their good humor and affinity for cuddles."
"We slew the dragon lizard from a safe distance," Jonagher reminds the warrior as he lets her take the lead, "And that's how I'd prefer to slay a bear, if that's what it comes to..." He pauses for a moment. "Of course, the goblins don't want us to kill it...so, what's our plan for subduing a bear? Anyone got any spells for turning wild beasts docile?"