"Good idea on getting the tribe to help, we can only hope that Mazmord is ready to let Highness take over, or alternatively, is amenable to grant us their help."
As they get to the courtyard the priest looks up and gives a little wave to the goblins, but for the moment says nothing, letting Highness take the lead in this matter.
Highness looked at the stairs and realized that without a boost, it was a bit too far for him to jump by himself...certainly not the image of a famous warrior poet noble king who was amazingly dashing, dexterous and proficient in all things.
Highness moved over to the rope and started to scurry up to the waiting tribe above.
The goblin-king shimmies expertly up the dangling rope. His arrival atop the battlements is greeted with excitement by the waiting Bumblebrashers.
"Did you find Big Bumble?" Warbal asks eagerly.
Jonagher slings his bow and then starts climbing up behind the nimble goblin-king.
Once he reaches the top and overhears Warbal's question, he nods. "Yeah, we found the bear. He pauses to catch his breath. "We set him free and showed him the way out of the lower vaults. The big guy went running off into the meadow, though...probably to hunt something better to eat than whatever his captors had been feeding him."
Highness turned around and glared at Jonagher for a moment before turning back to the assembled Brumblebrashers.
"మేము బిగ్ బంబుల్కు కొంచెం ఆహారం ఇచ్చాము, కానీ అతనికి ఇంకా ఎక్కువ కావాలి మరియు ఎలుగుబంట్లు ఎక్కువ కావాలనుకున్నప్పుడు ఎలా వస్తాయో మీకు తెలుసు. అతను అడవుల్లోకి చాలా దూరం వెళ్లాడని నాకు అనుమానం ఉంది, సమీపంలోని రాక్షసుల నుండి తెగను రక్షించడంలో సహాయపడటానికి అతను కోట సమీపంలో ఉండాలనుకుంటున్నాడు." he gestured generally towards the woods. "అతను సిద్ధంగా ఉన్నప్పుడు అతను తన ఇంటికి తిరిగి వస్తాడు, బహుశా అతను నిద్రించడానికి సిద్ధంగా ఉన్నప్పుడు." Highness finished, with far more confidence than he felt.
Warbal looks a little worried at Jonagher's words, but the rest of the assembled Bumblebrashers nod eagerly at Highness's explanation; a few raise a tentative cheer.
"And the rest of the tribe?" Warbal asks anxiously.
"Down here!" Alak shouts, waving his arm and pointing toward the rescued Bumblebrashers. "I don't intend to climb up there again if I don't have to," he mutters. "Hadn't they better bring them down here?"
"Okay! Yeah..." Jonagher waves towards Alak at the bottom of the rope and the other goblins they've rescued. "As our big friend down there said, your tribemates are safe. Highness here made sure of that. The rest of us helped, too, of course. And now, we really should be getting all of you to safety, as well. If you'd be so kind as to take hold of the rope, I can help lower you down...and then, it'll all be one happy reunion, right?"
Between them, Warbal and Highness convey Jonagher's meaning to the gathered Bumblebrashers, and the goblins form a sort of nervous cluster around the tied-off rope to be lowered into the courtyard.
"Is it safe to go home again now?" Warbal asks. "And what about Pib and Zarf? Are they all right?"
"Pib and Zarf? The little 'dragon' kobold fellas? Yeah, they're fine!" Jonagher answers, "Said they preferred not to abandon their 'lair' so they're keeping an eye on things down there until we can head back down. After all, we've got a bit more exploring to do if we're going to get to the root of this monkeyman-frogman invasion. We killed a bunch of them, but we want to find out how they got here...and why..."
"Speaking of which..." he nudges Highness, "Tell them about Calmont and the charau-ka we captured. We need the tribe to make sure they stay in that jail until we're ready to head back to Breachill..."
Highness whipped around and glared at the human for a moment, red eyes near slits. "Do. Not. Touch me!" he hissed under his breath, before turning back to the Brumblebrashers, a large pointy toothed grin plastered on his face.
"చెరసాలలో బంధించబడిన సగం జంతువు మరియు కోతి-ప్రాణులు ప్రమాదకరమైనవి, నమ్మదగినవి కావు, విలువైనవి అని మీరు గ్రహించలేరని తెలివితక్కువ మానవుడు అనుకుంటాడు. కాల్మోంట్, గమ్మత్తైన హాఫ్లింగ్ అతనిని బయటకు పంపే విధంగా మీలో మాట్లాడటానికి ప్రయత్నిస్తాడు... ఆపై అతను చాలా సేపు బ్రంబుల్బ్రాషర్స్ని చూసి నవ్వుతూ, చావడిలలో మరియు సర్కస్లు మరియు మార్కెట్లలో తెలివితక్కువ గోబ్లిన్ తెగ గురించి కథలు చెబుతాడు. కాదు...కాల్మోంట్ గోబ్లిన్లను మోసగించకుండా ఉండడం నేర్చుకోవాలి..." Highness words trailed off dramatically as he spun out the future story for the Brumblebrashers to see.
The stupid human thinks that you wouldn't realize that the halfling and the monkey-creature that are locked up in the prison are dangerous, not to be trusted, but are valuable...they might be traded to the town for something interesting. Calmont, the tricky halfling will likely try to talk his way into you letting him out...and then he will be laughing at the Brumblebrashers for a long time, telling stories about the stupid goblin tribe in taverns, and circusses and the markets. No...Calmont needs to learn to not try and trick goblins...
The Bumblebrashers look outraged at Highness's words. As they are lowered into the courtyard, they clamor for the privilege of guarding the tricky halfling.
Highness glanced smugly at Jonagher before proceeding regally forth to the rope and sliding back down to the courtyard, following the goblin tribe.
"Well, we have wrapped up the need to watch the halfling. The Brumblebrashers will take care of it." he announced with a toothy grin. "Lets go to town!" he said excitedly, the hand on a chain floating above his head and pointing like a signpost in the general direction of the town.
"Um...Highness?" Jonagher interjects, "Aren't you forgetting that we still need to retrieve Calmont and the monkeyman from the lower level so we can jail them up here under the watchful eyes of the goblin tribe? And, weren't we going to check back on the kobolds and determine what else we could learn from them about the lower level? I mean, don't get me wrong...I'm all for returning to town and giving the Council an idea of what we found here...but Calmont might escape if we don't get that miscreant locked up more securely."
Having escorted the Bumblebrashers to the holding cells, the party returns to the vaults to retrieve the prisoners. The injured charau-ka is mere cargo, but Calmont protests his treatment. "You can't leave me alone with goblins! They're savage little monsters! They'll kill and eat me!"
Highness sulked along after realizing the party had no intention of heading of to the town immediately.
"You can't leave me alone with goblins! They're savage little monsters! They'll kill and eat me!"
"Ahhhh...quit your whining!" Jonagher retorts, "I'd wager those goblins are a lot more civilized than you!"
Once the prisoners are secure in the holding cells, Jonagher double-checks the locks, hinges, and bars just to assure himself there'll be no easy escapes. He also searches Calmont for any hidden lockpicks, weapons, or other tools that might be used to create one. When satisfied the goblins have everything in hand, he readies his pack and bow. "Back to the lower vaults?" he asks.
"Don't fret, we are not leaving you with them," Shaserai addresses the halfling, "Yet."
After having settled the charau-ka and checked that the magically induced unconsciousness hadn't had a visibly negative effect.
"Don't be hasty my friend, our warriors are injured and I cannot channel more of Torag's divine healing for today. We should rest and tomorrow finish up exploring the basement, hopefully finding Alak's ring in the process."
The priest settles in and takes out his rations, and saving a little for the next day, offers to share the rest with the goblins, if they need.
"I'm up for taking first watch, once we're ready to rest."
"I agree with the priest," Alak says, sitting down heavily. "Standing on a chair shooting a bow, you may be fresh as a daisy, but those of us on the front lines have taken some hard knocks today."
"Sure, sure..." Jonagher ignores the slight and nods along. "Maybe while everyone rests, I'll do a walk around the outer wall of the citadel just to see if our bear-friend has ventured back or if he's headed into the wilds by now. And, if I pick up signs of anything else skulking around...you know, more monkeymen or frogmen or halfling troublemakers...I'll report back."
"After that, I'd like to consult with Ren a bit more on our shared interest in spellcraft. Maybe I can start mastering some of the basics and contribute a bit more than with bow, arrow, and my quick wit, yeah?"
The party sets up camp in a cleared room of the citadel, and the Bumblebrashers promise both to watch over them while they sleep and not to make a noise that might wake them, an unlikely pairing.
Jonagher makes another circuit of Bloodmarch Hill to make sure no new arrivals may threaten the party as they rest. He easily finds the tracks left by Big Bumble as the bear made an eager escape from the cramped vaults and headed back into the forest. Apart from that, no one else seems to have come and gone since the party's arrival.
Ragnhild is not as fragile as the delicate boys she accompanies, but if they want to stop for the night she may as well, too. She sets out her rations to share with the goblins and asks Warbal to tell her more about her tribe.
After making his way back to the citadel, Jonagher slips thru the corridors on his way back to the Hellknight jail. He notes the cobwebs, dirt, and myriad rubble and decay, but all in all he starts to wonder what the place might look like if it were fixed up a bit nicer. Considering the goblin tribe would no longer have their mascot to dissuade any would-be interlopers, it might help if the keep could be better fortified and made more livable.
He arrives back at the makeshift camp just in time to hear Ragna asking Warbal to share more about the tribe. Somewhat curious himself, he simply settles down along the wall to listen in.
Warbal cheerfully relates a long and rather convoluted tale of generations of Bumblebrashers and their exploits, all of which seem both unnecessarily violent and tactically pointless. "Bumblebrashers used to live outside, in caves in the hill in the forest," she confides. "It was Helba who led us into the longshanks' castle. And now Helba is dead, and many Bumblebrashers are dead, and we have no one to lead us," she ends dejectedly.
"Why can't you lead the tribe? You can speak common to talk with outsiders. Seems like that makes you the most qualified."
"No, no, no!" Warbal wags her head so vigorously the tips of her ears touch her face. "Leaders must do great and mighty deeds. Talking is not great and mighty."
"Nor is it conducive to rest," Alak puts in pointedly, if not unkindly. "Perhaps we should continue this conversation once our healer has rested and communed with Torag?"
"Alak makes a good point. Maybe we should get some rest and talk more in the morning? And while we're down in the lower vaults tomorrow, Warbal and the rest of the tribe could start refortifying the citadel by repairing a bit of the damage those beasts caused? At the very least, we could all benefit from having a more secure base to operate from in case anything else unexpected shows up."
Warbal creeps away with exaggerating caution, holding a long finger to her wide mouth and shushing nearby Bumblebrashers so the heroes can rest.
--------------------
The party rises the next day, refreshed and ready to complete their search of the citadel vault and -- hopefully -- find Alak's ring. The Hellknight holding cells, in coordination with the best efforts of the Bumblebrashers, have kept the charau-ka and halfling contained, though neither are happy about their present circumstances.
"Well...I don't know about the rest of you, but I slept well. Fresh as a daisy this morning!" Jonagher announces to no one's care. "The air's a bit fresher up here than down in those vaults. And with all the dead bodies we left down there, I imagine it's going to be a lot worse when we go back. So, might as well enjoy it up here while we can..." He strings his bow and tests the pull before shrugging into his pack and slinging his quiver across his shoulder. "You think we've got much more to explore down there? The schematics didn't look all that elaborate. I figure we cleared at least half or more by now, don't you think?"
"Today is the day I get my draco-lizard." Ragnhild says, running a honing stone over her axe blades. She attaches her shield to her pack, opting to carry two axes into combat. "Supposedly there's a whole other continent through that ring. Hopefully the ring we're looking for isn't on the other side."
Highness was awake and silent when the dawn broke, standing and staring into the remnant embers of the evening fire.
"I have something to say. Something that I think you may have been wondering. Why did Highness not put himself forward to lead the Brumblebrashers?" he said, his voice like low gravel, not the usual squeak.
"I do not have any interest in being Chief or Boss of the Brumblebrashers. I have no interest in being the Chief or Boss of any tribe. What I am is the KING." he said, his last word a hard hiss.
"I care not who eats what, who sleeps with who, who sat on who's pet toad before throwing it against the wall. That matters to the chief, not to the King. Its my job to direct the tribes, to give them purpose, meaning, bind them together and make them greater than a few scrabbling together in a ruined fortress." he finished, pointing at the walls in a sweeping manner. Then, resolution flaring in his red eyes, he turned back to the group.
"Let's find that ring. I need to think of a way to install a smart and stable chief that will keep this tribe alive, and I can't do it here."
"You think we've got much more to explore down there? The schematics didn't look all that elaborate. I figure we cleared at least half or more by now, don't you think?"
Alak nods as he retrieves the blueprints. "We've been through all these northern chambers that were used as living quarters," he points out, "as well as the central war room. That leaves the chambers around the war room, which were probably storage areas and meeting rooms, and the southern vaults, which appear to be burial chambers."
"Supposedly there's a whole other continent through that ring. Hopefully the ring we're looking for isn't on the other side."
Alak's brow creases with concern. "I hadn't considered that. If one of these interlopers found the ring and carried it away with them, I doubt we'll ever be able to locate it."
"Let's find that ring. I need to think of a way to install a smart and stable chief that will keep this tribe alive, and I can't do it here."
"Sure thing..." Jonagher notes aloud, and then leans in close to whisper just to Ragna, "Someone might want to tell him it's the Bumblebrashers, right? Not the Brumblebrashers..."
"We've been through all these northern chambers that were used as living quarters," he points out, "as well as the central war room. That leaves the chambers around the war room, which were probably storage areas and meeting rooms, and the southern vaults, which appear to be burial chambers."
Jonagher suppresses a shiver. "Uggghhh...burial chambers," he mutters, "With our luck, we'll rouse some kind of undead horror down there."
"...If one of these interlopers found the ring and carried it away with them, I doubt we'll ever be able to locate it."
"What's so special about this ring of yours again?" Jonagher asks, "I mean...does it hold some kind of power? Or is it just more of an heirloom with sentimental value? It doesn't matter either way. We'll help you find it. That's what we committed to doing at the Heroes' Call. I'm just asking in case there's something about its nature that might aid us in finding it..."
"As I told the halfing," Alak replies, "it's just a family signet ring. I'm sure I've spent more than it's worth just in traveling here to look for it; it has purely sentimental value."
"Something tells me it's going to wind up being somewhere in the burial chambers," Jonagher surmises, "It only makes sense, right? It's the only place we haven't checked. And odds are pretty good they could've put it with someone they laid to rest there...even if by accident..." He makes a point of thanking the goblins once again for keeping an eye on the prisoners. "We promise we'll come straight back once we're done. Just keep them here for us..."
The Bumblebrashers promise enthusiastically to watch over the villains until the heroes' return. The party once again exits the citadel to tramp around to the hidden door in the hill that leads into the vaultway.
"We're gonna have to crack open a lot of tombs if it's in one of them. Let's finish with the storage rooms since we've already been to that area."
"Makes sense," Jonagher agrees. "Maybe they just stored the ring with some other artifacts from the citadel's previous inhabitants? But if it's not in the storerooms and not in the crypt, I fear someone must have just walked off with it and we're on a wild goose chase here." He looks apologetically at Alak.
"Give me a moment to go and listen at the doors." Highness commanded before smoothly merging with the shadows of the corridor that Ragna pointed too.
As he moved away from the group he grimaced.
"Someone might want to tell him it's the Bumblebrashers, right? Not the Brumblebrashers..."
Jonagher's words echoed in his mind, and he cursed silently. I KNOW what the name of the tribe is...was...it needs to change, they need to change and be better than a bunch of bumble.
Highness moves quietly up to the doors at the end of the vaultway, pressing an ear to the crack around one and then the other. He hears no sounds from beyond either.
"After you, Ragna..." Jonagher calls from behind with his bow readied, "If any dragon-lizards await, we'll follow your lead." As the group prepares to move along, he keeps a sharp eye out for anything of interest.
Highness called quietly back to the group. "No sounds from the door, and it doesn't look trapped."
"Are there elephants in the Mwangi Expanse? I've never seen an elephant. Maybe there's an elephant in here somewhere." Ragna wonders aloud before going through the door.
Ragna opens the door and lets the light spill into a dilapidated waiting room. Sagging and broken benches line the walls beneath moth-eaten tapestries and mildew-dappled paintings depicting Hellknights gaining the upper hand in clashes with bandits, opposing armies, and terrible monsters. A door in the southeastern wall presumably leads into the central war room; there is another door in the far eastern wall.
Ragna shrugs over the empty room. The ring might be hiding behind one of the rotten tapestries, but she is more interested in the exotic monsters stalking about the semi-abandoned fortress.
"Alak? Do any of these tapestries mean anything specific to you? Or, are they just more records of the Hellknight Order?" Jonagher asks as he pokes about, peeking behind each one in case they might be hiding something...treasure...concealed doors...horrifying monsters...the usual for the rundown citadel.
"Recruitment posters, most likely," Alak muses. "Good for morale."
"Morale...hmmm..." Jonagher muses as he continues looking over the tapestries and the spaces behind them. "Can't say that I see anything resembling a ring back here. Shall we try one of the doors?"
Alak checks the door in the southeastern wall. "Back into the war room where we fought the toy soldier," he confirms for the group before he nods to Ragna his readiness for her to open the door to the east.