"Look, we know there are dragons and bugbears and golems about. Let's deal with those things before we start talking about rings within rings and letters and lying halflings."
"I agree, we still have a portion of this floor to search, and presumably Pib and Zarf are still here somewhere." The priest lets Ragna and Jonagher deal with Calmont and starts for the other room. "One of the boggards had some magic on them, I'll go investigate while you finish here."
"Sure, okay..." Jonagher nods to Shaserai and then Ragna. "You're right. We've got more immediate problems to address." He looks back at Calmont and asks, "Say, I don't suppose you saw any goblins down here, as well? Did these frogmen or monkeymen have any other prisoners that you're aware of...and, if so, would you happen to know their whereabouts?"
"Goblins!" Calmont shudders in disgust. "Yes, the basement of this place was crawling with them, but I didn't see much before they shut me in the chest."
Shaserai returns to the previous room and examines the boggards' possessions. In one of their belt pouches, he locates the tiny figurine of a dog carved out of black stone.
Ragna glares at Calmont before hoisting him up again. "Blah blah blah. I've got dragons to kill and you still have to wait in the footlocker until we're done." Ragna stuffs the halfling back into the footlocker and resecures it with the same shard of stone they had found it locked with. She stows her shield on her back and draws her battleaxe and a hatchet. "You!" She barks, backing Jonagher into a corner and prodding his chest with the eye of the battleaxe. "The next dragon or golem or big whatever we find is mine, got it pretty boy?"
Jonagher smiles disarmingly. "Of course. You take the lead and I'll back you up...in case you need any help."
Ragna re-imprisons the halfling in the footlocker.
Leaving Calmont to scuffle and wail inside the footlocker, the party returns to the locked door. On the lower half of the door, someone has drawn what look like crude, childlike drawings of dragons with wide toothy maws and batlike wings; around these drawings are a meandering trail of runes.
Ragnhild inhales deeply, then exhales slowly. "This is where more of those dracolizards are supposed to be." Facing the door, she turns her head and shoots a warning glare at the boys. "I don't need your help with the next one."
Shaserai takes the black stone figurine and stashes it in his sack, to be appraised of it's magical properties at a later time.
As Ragna passes by the priest, he follows the warrior to the decorated door. "Okay, if there's a grauladon in there, it's all yours. Just... please be cautious. I have no more magical healing and your body is still recovering from the last time I had to treat your injuries in a hurry. "
"Judging by the floorplans we have of this place, it seems unlikely there'd be another of those dragon-lizard grauladons in there. I'm not sure it would fit," Jonagher offers. But when Ragna glares once more at them, he concedes the possibility with a wave of his hand. "Yeah, yeah. It's all yours..."
Jonagher glances once more at the childishly-drawn runes on the door. "This also says no goblins allowed, so these monkeymen or frogmen certainly must have encountered some. The only question now is whether they left any of them alive, or took them captive like Calmont." He readies his shortsword and keeps his bow in his offhand, ready to use either weapon to take any non-dragon-lizard invaders.
This door is still locked.
"Ah! Locked is it?" Jonagher approaches the door and sheathes his blade before standing his bow against the wall and retrieving his lockpicks. "Let me have a go at it..."
Highness crept forward through the sea of legs, until he was right next to Jonagher as he picked the lock, his bulbous head nearly blocking Jonagher's light as he worked.
"hmmmmm...interesting. I wonder if you could have done it faster if you twisted right at the end, instead of wiggling." he said pedantically.
While Jonagher works on the lock, Ragnhild pulls out the healing potion
Shaserai had given her earlier and downs it in preparation for her battle with the draco-lizards.
"Well, easy peasy..." Jonagher quips as he puts his lockpicks away and stands up. "Highness, since you're so close at hand, be a dear and open the door for our eager dragonslayer, will you?" The half-elf then moves back out of the alcove and around the sidewall to take cover, drawing an arrow and nocking it in case he needs to shoot anything in the eyes.
Highness opens the door to reveal another abandoned bedroom once inhabited by a ranking Hellknight. A broken bedframe and a smashed desk sit against the far wall; dusty tapestries are draped across some other bits of old furniture to form some sort of makeshift tents. The lower reaches of the walls are covered with chalky drawings and runes which resemble the markings on the bottom of the door.
Highness, Ragna, and Jonagher can all see a goblin trying to hide under the broken desk .
"Oh, thank goodness!" Ragna exhales when she sees the little gobbo, her battle-ready stance instantly gone, her arms dropping to her sides. "I've been looking all over for you! Come out of there, Warbal is worried sick!"
Jonagher relaxes the draw on his bow as he observes and hears Ragna about to fawn over yet another goblin. "So...no dragon-lizards then..." he notes, "But...yay...we saved yet another member of the Bumblebrashers. Between this and that bear, I reckon we're all heroes in their eyes."
Highness, his eyes narrowed to slits at the sight of the cowering goblin, drew himself up to his full regal height and swept into the room, purple tatters flowing and his crown glinting malevolently.
"మీరు, గోబ్, ఇక్కడికి వచ్చి, ఉచ్చులు ఎక్కడ ఉన్నాయో మరియు మిగిలిన బ్రంబుల్బ్రాషర్లు ఎక్కడ దాక్కున్నారో నాకు చెప్పండి. మేము పక్షులు మరియు కప్పలను చంపాము. కోపాన్ని ఆపడానికి మరియు మీరు తెగకు తిరిగి రావడానికి ఇది సమయం." he growled fiercely, motioning the goblin forward to stand before him.
A previously unseen goblin, scraped and bruised, emerges from beneath the broken bed in the corner. "గొప్ప రాజు స్టోన్స్కార్ మమ్మల్ని రక్షించడానికి తిరిగి వచ్చాడా?" he gapes at Highness.
"కప్పలన్నీ చచ్చిపోయాయా?" another goblin quavers, crawling from behind the other side of the desk.
All the frogs are dead?
"So ... we're not fighting, then?" Alak asks. "What about those 'dragons' the door warned about?"
"It doesn't appear there's a fight to be had," Jonagher replies, "Or any 'dragons'..." He looks over to Highness. "Do you think you can ask them about what's happened here? And if there's any more 'dragons' around?"
Ragna drops her weapons and squats down, holding her arms out towards the goblin under the bed. "Come here. Are you hurt?"
Seeing the poor goblins all battered tugs at the priest's healer instincts, so he crouches down beside Ragna and trying to look as nonthreatening as possible he asks Highness for help.
"Can you tell them I can heal them? Nothing scary, just some salves and bandages."
"ఇక్కడ ఏమి జరిగింది? డ్రాగన్లు ఎక్కడ ఉన్నాయి? నేను మంచి ఫైట్ కోసం వెతుకుతున్నాను...ఇప్పుడు నిరాశ చెందాను." Highness said, walking regally into the room.
Suddenly he pointed at the goblin hiding behind the desk. "మీరు డెస్క్ వెనుక! అవును నువ్వే! నేను స్టోన్స్కార్ శ్రేణికి చెందినవాడినని మీకు ఎలా తెలుసు? నేను హైనెస్, డ్రాగట్ కొడుకు, అతను స్టోన్స్కార్ కుమార్తె అయిన చిటికెడు కొడుకు!" he proclaimed.
"నేను బ్రంబుల్బ్రాషర్లను గొప్పతనానికి నడిపించడానికి తిరిగి వచ్చాను! కానీ ప్రస్తుతానికి, మీరు నా ప్రశ్నలకు సమాధానమిచ్చేటప్పుడు మీకు బాధ కలగకుండా చూసుకోవాలని నా మిత్రులు కోరుకుంటున్నారు!" he finished, first pointing to his companions, then rounding back on the goblins, eyes blazing.
Tentatively, four injured goblins emerge from their hiding places around the room.
"స్టోన్స్కార్ గురించి అందరికీ తెలుసు," the goblin answers Highness, "రిమ్రాజ్ మాత్రమే అతని గురించి మాట్లాడనివ్వడు."
"పిబ్ మరియు జార్ఫ్ వారి గుహలలో ఉన్నారు," another goblin replies, pointing to the two small tents against the wall, "కానీ వారు మమ్మల్ని రక్షించి కప్పల నుండి దాచారు."
Pib and Zarf are in their lairs, but they rescued us and hid us from the frogs.
"పిబ్ మరియు జార్ఫ్లకు గుహలు ఉన్నాయా? వారు ఎక్కడ ఉన్నారు?" Highness asked imperiously before turning to his companions.
"I told them that you would be able to heal them, and that we would get them back up to the rest of the tribe. There are 2 other goblins who are missing down here that I think that we should find." he summarized slowly and succinctly.
"పిబ్ మరియు జార్ఫ్? అక్కడ," the goblin replies, pointing to the tapestry-covered tents. "పిబ్ మరియు జార్ఫ్!" he calls. "బయటికి రా! మమ్మల్ని రక్షించడానికి మన రాజు వచ్చాడు!"
The tapestries stir, and a scaly red head peeks out of one of the tents. "ከጦርነት ይልቅ ማዳን ይመስላ," the kobold murmurs. "በእይታ ውስጥ ምንም እንቁራሪቶች ወይም ጦጣዎች የሉም።."
Jonagher immediately draws his bow again when the kobolds emerge, unable to tell from the goblin-chattering if the newcomers are friends or foes. He perks up a bit when one of them says a few words in Draconic, however, and relaxes. "So...no more frogmen or monkeymen. Just goblins and kobolds?" he says aloud in Common. "What do we do with this lot?"
"Ohhh look at the wee kobold!" Ragna squeels, a grin spreading across her face. "እና ከየት መጣህ? ዋርባል ስለ ኮቦልድ አልነገረንም!"
And where did you come from? Warbal didn't tell us about a mighty kobold!
As soon as Highness relays his words to the gathered goblins Shaserai gets to work. He first treats any open wounds he finds, and then applies the appropriate salves and cataplasms.
As he dispenses his remedies, he keeps an ear on the conversation, even if he doesn't really understand anything. The distraction makes him slip as he's cleaning one of the goblin's injuries, but he recovers admirably with some quick bandaging and medication.
When he hears the names "Pib" and "Zarf" as the goblin Highness is interrogating points to the makeshift tents he looks up. "Warbal tolf us Pib and Zarf would be here, are they okay?"
"Ohhh look at the wee kobold!" Ragna squeels, a grin spreading across her face. "እና ከየት መጣህ? ዋርባል ስለ ኮቦልድ አልነገረንም!"
The kobold puffs up his chest. "ይህ የእኛ ጎጆ ነው," he boasts, waving an arm around at the dilapidated bedroom. "ፒብ! ፒብ ፣ ውጣ!" he calls over his shoulder. "አድናቂዎች አሉን።"
A blue kobold peers out of the second tent-like structure. "ስጦታዎች አመጡ?" he asks.
In the meantime, Shaserai tends the wounded goblins with remarkable efficiency. The grateful Bumblebrashers crowd around him fawningly.
Did they bring gifts?
Ragna procures the silver flail and silver hammer they had found earlier, kneeling in front of the kobolds and holding a shiny weapon out to each. "የእርስዎ ጎጆ? እዚህ ምን ያህል ጊዜ ኖረዋል?" Ragna questions the kobold.
The blue kobold's eyes light up at the sight of the silver weapons. "እነዚህ በጥሩ ሁኔታ ይሠራሉ."
"እኛ እዚህ ለዘመናት ቆይተናል," the red kobold replies, "ቡድናችን ምስጦችን በመውረር አሳዛኝ ክስተት ስላጋጠመው። ጉብሊንዶችን ለመቋቋም ቀላል ናቸው."
We've been here for ages ... since our collective had an unfortunate incident with an infestation of mites. The goblins are easier to deal with.
"Well...what's our play then?" Jonagher asks aloud, "We've made a few more friends. We saved the bear. We've rescued some goblins. And we've eliminated most or all of their frogmen/monkeymen invasion. I'd say we're ahead of the game, but we still need to find Alak's ring and figure out what else is under this citadel if we're going to ensure Breachill is safe...not to mention the goblin tribe trying to live here. Should we see this lot to the upper levels where it's safer and then come back to finish our explorations? There's gotta be more down here worth investigating...and that's just going on what we learned from the halfling. Speaking of which, we need to see that miscreant back to town before he escapes that box."
Ragna wants to scoop up both the little kobolds and crush their tiny bodies in a hug, but she resists the urge. "ስለዚህ ቦታ ሊነግሩን የሚችሉት ነገር አለ? አንድ ዓይነት የድንጋይ ሰው እና የድሮ ቀለበት እንፈልጋለን። ካለህ ቀለበቱን ልንነግደው እንችላለን።"
The kobolds confer with one another. "ሃውልት ማለትዎ ነውን? ከድንጋይ የተቀረጹ ሰዎች በአጥንቱ ላይ ተዘርግተው ይገኛሉ። በጓዳችን ውስጥ ምንም ቀለበት የለንም።"
"I'd say we're ahead of the game, but we still need to find Alak's ring and figure out what else is under this citadel if we're going to ensure Breachill is safe...not to mention the goblin tribe trying to live here. Should we see this lot to the upper levels where it's safer and then come back to finish our explorations? There's gotta be more down here worth investigating...and that's just going on what we learned from the halfling. Speaking of which, we need to see that miscreant back to town before he escapes that box."
"Indeed," Ren replies. "It's clear that Calmont has no idea what he was looking for. If we are to learn anything about this 'Alseta's Ring,' it's Voz Lirayne we should be questioning."
As Ragna deals with Pib and Zarf, Shaserai wraps us the healing on the goblins. He turn to the half-elf and listens intently as he cleans up.
"I thinks that's a good plan. We can reunite the tribe and not have to worry about any of those "Cinderclaws" breaking through the collapsed stairs and getting to them. We could finish with the south wing of this basement then take Calmont to the Breachill council and inform them of this "invasion" from the Mwangi Expanse and clear up Voz's involvement in the whole affair."
Shaserai recalls the holding cells the group discovered early in their exploration of the citadel. Now that the undead have been laid to rest, he wonders if the cells might suffice to keep Calmont Trenault and the captive charau-ka secure while the party continues to search for Alak's ring.
Highness informs the rescued goblins that the party will return them to the rest of the tribe on the surface. They are pleased to hear that some of the other Bumblebrashers escaped but downcast at the news that their chief Helba was killed by the invaders.
Pib and Zarf refuse any invitation to join the rest as they go upstairs. "This is our lair," Pib explains loftily. "Dragons don't abandon their lairs ... but we were pleased to rescue the Bumblebrashers from the invaders."
"Come back and visit when you return," Zarf invites. "We can answer any questions you have about the area. We try to keep an eye on things around our realm."
The group goes back out into the vaultway and out the door in the hillside into the open air. From there it is a short hike back around the northern end of the citadel to the collapsed wall and thence to the holding cells.
As the group moves back into the fresh air, Jonagher keeps a sharp eye out for the bear that preceded them. Hopefully, it either wandered off into the wilderness to be a bear again...or, it truly was 'domesticated' enough for the goblins to reclaim their mascot. Jonagher's happy as long as he doesn't get molested by the beast, but he keeps his bow handy just in case.
"So, we get these goblins to safety, then go back for Calmont and the monkeyman?" he asks.
"I suppose they're still up on the battlements," Alak sighs. "Perhaps we should relocate them to one of the rooms on the main floor out of the weather; it would keep us from having to keep climbing up and down a rope."
"Yeah! Maybe the fortified area where we plan on jailing Calmont and the charau-ka? Jonagher suggests, "Maybe they can look after the prisoners while we clean out the lower level for them?"
Ragnhild snaps and holds her hand out towards one of the small gobbos, wiggling her fingers. "Hold my hand so you don't get separated." She advises the adorable bean. "Yes, if the Bumblebrashers can watch the prisoners that would be best."
Having inspected the holding cells and determined that they should suffice to keep the halfling and charau-ka confined, particularly given on-site supervision, the party returns to the citadel's central courtyard to retrieve the Bumblebrashers from the battlements. The goblins on top of the walls point and chatter excitedly at the sight of their rescued tribemates.
Highness marched regally ahead of the party, the goblins in the party forgotten as he paraded across the courtyard floor, making his way over to where the stairs ended.
The diminutive monarch waved triumphantly to the small faces on the battlements as he continued to look about.
I wonder if there is a ladder that could reach up to those stairs...or if a rope could hook up there. Actually...could I just jump up?"