"I guess we're back at the citadel, but I don't think we visited these chambers. Maybe they're another section that got cut off by one of the blocked tunnels?" Jonagher replies as he too ventures into the room, bow drawn as he covers Highness and looks around for any potential threats or hazards. At some point, he looks back at the rest of the team. "You guys coming? If Voz visited this place, there must have been a reason..." His eyes also catch Alak's. "Do you recognize anything here?"
Bending his head over the scuffling marks in the dust on the floor, Highness is able to piece together the movements of whoever left the tracks: they entered the same way the party just came, from the small storage room at the end of the long tunnel from Breachill, and moved to the table in the center of the room. As the goblin follows in the mysterious stranger's footprints, he sees that the dust is disturbed around a pile of ashes and a few melted candles on the tabletop. From that point, the visitor headed for the door in the western wall and seems, from the patterns in the dust, to have opened the door and peered in. At that point, the tracks retreat to the storage area and the tunnel; from the distance between the prints, the goblin can tell that whoever left the tracks was running during this final leg of the triangle.
His eyes also catch Alak's. "Do you recognize anything here?"
"If we're under the citadel...," Alak muses as he retrieves the citadel blueprints. "We must be near the burial vaults. This would have been a storage room for valuables." He looks around at the lockboxes and cabinets. "It should have been emptied when the Hellknights moved out ... but if my uncle's ring was left behind, it might well have been left behind here. At least it doesn't look like there have been any recent looters."
"Well, no time like the present to have a look around. Let's just be quiet about it in case there's any more lurking monsters about..." Jonagher says, putting away his bow and arrow so he has both hands free to help search the cabinets and lockboxes.
"SHHHHHHHH!" Highness hisses at the longshanks forcefully, waving his arms at them. Once they shut up, Highness waved them back over to the tunnel entrance where he whispered his findings to them.
"Whoever came here ahead of us spent some time in this room, judging by the candles and whatever that pile of ashes is on the table, then I am guessing they heard something, went over to check out the other door, and then ran out of here like there was a slavering mad dragon on their tail." he whispered.
"So whatever it is, could be as close as the next room. Be ready for anything." he said, then with the mad courage of a goblin King, he skulked his way across the room to the opposite door and investigated.
Darla looks a bit put off about being shushed by a goblin but nods her head and readies her rapier for whatever lies ahead. (Hopefully not a slavering mad dragon.)
"Whatever's on the other side of the door," Alak argues, albeit in a more hushed tone, "it didn't come in here and chase after Voz or whoever it was, right? Perhaps we can just have a quick look around for my ring and not open the door to find something that can kill us."
Highness finds no sign of traps on the door, and if there's a slavering mad dragon on the other side, he hears no sound of it; the space on the other side of the door seems totally silent and still.
"Quiet as a church mouse..." Jonagher agrees, "Watch the door, Highness. Let us know if you hear anything while we work the room." He looks to Ragna quizzically as if to ask her to also supervise the goblin lest he go charging into the next room alone. Then, he starts helping Alak go thru the cabinets and lockers.
Alak and Jonagher begin searching the room. It quickly becomes apparent that the various boxes and cabinets were emptied when the Hellknights vacated the citadel; nothing is locked, and the interiors mostly reveal nothing more than dust and cobwebs. One shelf, however, sports a sheaf of yellowing papers held down with a tarnished silver paperweight. Jonagher picks it up and leafs through the papers. Most are brittle and crumble at his touch, but at the bottom are four papers lettered with runes. Jonagher recognizes three of them as scrolls of darkness, darkvision, and magic missile.
In the meantime, Shaserai gets distracted by the candle and ashes on the table. "You said we're near the burial vaults?" he asks Alak. "This looks like the remains of a necromantic ritual -- someone attempting to commune with the spirits of the dead."
Highness cracked open the door and looked out on what lay beyond.
In the meantime, Shaserai gets distracted by the candle and ashes on the table. "You said we're near the burial vaults?" he asks Alak. "This looks like the remains of a necromantic ritual -- someone attempting to commune with the spirits of the dead."
"Asking ancestors about the ring, or some other treasures?" Highness muttered, thinking aloud as he watched for trouble through the sliver of open door.
"Could Voz be a practitioner of magic?" Jonagher asks aloud as he retrieves and stows the magic scrolls he found, "Or more specifically, necromancy?"
He gestures towards the footprints in the dust. "It seems likely she...or maybe Calmont...ventured here from the bookstore. I doubt these tracks belong to anyone else. So, one of them must have conducted the ritual. Calmont doesn't strike me as a likely candidate. But a long-lived elf running a bookstore? Seems like Voz could have the insight and book learning for it. And she sure seemed interested in this place. Even Calmont said so, right? So, maybe she was trying to consult with the dead Hellknights buried here? Trying to get information about the citadel from the time they lived within these walls...but what kind of information?"
He looks back at Highness waiting by the far door. "Someone left this place in a hurry, though, right? So, either she got what she was seeking...or, maybe her magic triggered some kind of defensive response from the Hellknights or drew attention from those frog-men and monkey-men, and she knew she was overmatched and had to flee? It doesn't look like she came back this way. So, I'm guessing she probably got what she needed. I doubt we can duplicate whatever ritual she performed, though. So, I don't how we'll learn it unless we follow that map of hers..."
"Either way, Breachill's council still wants us to complete our Call by finding Alak's ring. If it's not here, the only place we haven't searched is beyond that door...right into whatever Voz may have triggered or disturbed," he frowns, "And if she did awaken something, it could pose a danger to the goblins. Probably best if we deal with it to make things safe again. Does that sound reasonable to everyone?"
Darla appears both incredulous and troubled. A necromancer?! Operating out of Breachill?! It seemed borderline ridiculous. Still, she had to admit that she'd never gotten to know Voz or Calmont well....
After finishing scanning the room for magic emanations, the bard gives a quick, possibly nervous, nod at Jonagher's final words and mentally prepares herself to face whatever horror might await beyond the door.
Alak has been moving around the room, peering into the corners of cabinets and picking up and shaking the empty lockboxes. At last, he discovers one with a rattle. "What's this?" he mutters to himself, probing inside with his fingers. "Could be a false bottom...?"
"Someone left this place in a hurry, though, right? So, either she got what she was seeking...or, maybe her magic triggered some kind of defensive response from the Hellknights or drew attention from those frog-men and monkey-men, and she knew she was overmatched and had to flee?"
Jonagher's musings draw Alak's attention away from the box he is examining. "Necromancy in the vaults? I've heard that some Hellknight orders used to put a ward on their burial grounds to protect the dead from opportunistic necromancers. Certain members volunteered during their lifetimes to serve past death, if called upon. It's not done anymore, of course, but it's possible there could have been potential guardians buried here in the early days of the citadel. If a necromantic spell were cast in the vicinity, they would have risen to defend the fallen."
Highness peers out the crack in the door into a long stone vault, fifteen feet wide, which extends eastward as far as he can see through the darkness. Some of the stones of the floor are displaced, and six skeletal figures stand silently. As the goblin looks into the room, six skulls turn empty eye sockets toward him.
"Do you think Hellknight zombies will put up more of a fight than everything else we've found?" Ragna asks, spinning her battle-axe. "What do you see, Highness?"
Highness quietly shut the door and turned around toward the group. "Well, the good news is that I have confirmed that longshanks over there is right...there are a bunch of bony guardian type things in the next room. The bad news...they were looking right at me when I was peeking through the door. Not sure if they are on their way over to check us out, or just hanging out in the hallway."
"Just thought you might want to know that we may have some visitors shortly." Highness finished with a nonchalant air.
Alak prises up the bottom of the box by wedging his fingertips between it and the sides and utters a triumphant "Aha!" as he retrieves a dusty ring. "This must have been Great-Uncle Alceister's lockbox. Either the ring slipped through the cracks by accident or he hid it on purpose to keep it safe, but when they emptied the box of his belongings after his death, they missed the hidden ring. But there it is! Looks like you lot are official Heroes after all, now!"
"Do you think Hellknight zombies will put up more of a fight than everything else we've found?" Ragna asks, spinning her battle-axe.
Alak frowns. "Look, those Hellknights out there volunteered for this duty to protect the graves of their comrades from desecration. If you destroy them, you're wasting their sacrifice and leaving the dead vulnerable. We've found my ring and have a safe tunnel back to town; there's no reason to take on an unnecessary fight."
"True," Jonagher muses, "A ring in the hand is worth more than...umm...whatever lies beyond that door?" He gestures in the direction of the seeming undead horde awaiting them. "That said, do you suppose those awakened Hellknights will go dormant again anytime soon? Or would they venture beyond these crypts? And, is there any guarantee the goblins or those kobolds we met won't stumble across these guardians. At a minimum, we should warn them, right? And, if necessary, perhaps we should come back and lay these undead to their final rest as well? If the practice has been discontinued...and if we take the proper steps to secure the crypts so the remaining bodies aren't desecrated in any way, we'll have done right by them, I think."
"What say you, Alak?" He turns to the Hellknight. "Maybe we retreat for now. End our charter with the council. See if they want us to investigate Voz. And, if not, maybe we see if the goblins would like us to clean this place up a bit so it doesn't pose so much of a danger to everyone..."
Darla purses her lips but remains silent. The assigned task has apparently been completed, and that means her new comrades have earned the right to be honored as true Heroes at a town ceremony. Also, the tunnel has piqued her interest in Voz; a little investigating back in town might go a long way toward exposing the half-elf's secrets.
"Yes, I think we should return to town. The elders may have some wisdom as to how to proceed with the Hellknight guardians or Voz. They might even want us to check on the other party of heroes as well."
While the group debates, there is no sign that anything is about to come through the door from the next room.
"The guardians shouldn't attack anyone who doesn't trespass in the burial vaults," Alak assures the party. "For all that Voz, or whoever it was, took off out of here and braced the door behind her, it doesn't appear that she was followed at all. Their job is to stay and protect the dead, not get drawn into a chase and leave the graves unprotected. Shall we go?"
"If that's the case, we only need to warn the goblins to stay away from this part of the vaults then. But, we'll need to go thru the tunnel back to town and then overland here to the citadel again to get to them without disturbing the guardians. Hopefully, none of the tribe ventures down here from the other side in our absence...or, if they do, that they'll have the commonsense to retreat and tell those kobolds to do the same."
Jonagher claps a hand on the Hellknight's shoulder. "I'm glad we helped you retrieve the ring...though, honestly, it was you who found it. I'm not sure we would have stumbled across it on our own since it was hidden so well. And thank you for fighting by our side and giving us so much insight into the citadel and its former inhabitants. Without that knowledge, I'm not sure we'd have done nearly as well." He then gestures to Ragna and Highness and Shaserai back towards the tunnel. "Shall we?"
As the party begins to depart, he also pauses to thank Darla. "You must be our lucky charm," he smiles encouragingly, "We completed our mission to become full Heroes of Breachill, and now we've uncovered a much deeper mystery with all this business involving Voz. Please help us convince the council to look into that, too. I think it's important. And I fear what may have happened here with that necromantic ritual and whatever she's after..."
Darla's initially a bit disappointed when Jonagher doesn't seem to include her as a member of the party when he suggests heading back to town. When he subsequently singles her out and calls her the group's 'lucky charm,' she's so taken aback that she blushes and is rendered speechless for a few moments.
"Of course," she replies eventually. "I'd be honored to speak on your behalf to the council and maybe even have a part in the ceremony when you're all declared true Heroes of Breachill. This mystery with Voz has me baffled and needs to be solved. Plus, I'm worried about Neven Deckard's team that went off to investigate the alleged bandits massing near Guardian's Way--there's more going on around Breachill than meets the eye! Neven may be...a bit of a jerk at times, but he's still one of us--a Hero of Breachill!"
"Yeah...a Hero...a braggart...and sometimes a jerk," Jonagher agrees, "But if he and his team are in trouble, we can always take the high ground and show him that Heroes look out for one another, in addition to Breachill. Maybe he'll learn a lesson from that. Assuming the bandits haven't done him in..."
As the group quietly retreats toward the tunnel, Shaserai notices the paperweight under which Jonagher discovered the scrolls. "That's a holy symbol of Alseta, an elven goddess," he remarks with surprise. "What was it doing in a Hellknight citadel?"
Jonagher pauses and goes back to examine the item alongside Shaserai. "Alseta?" he asks...
"I can't say I've run across much about her in elven culture, even during my time in Kyonin. She's more of a lesser goddess, I think. Or, at least, not widely worshipped among the elves like some of the other deities. From what I remember of her religious myths and legends, I think she had something to do with doorways and transitions of time...like the changing of one year to another...something like that. And my father used to have this same symbol carved into the lintels of certain doors in his house. I assumed they were just decorative. I doubt he was a follower of her, but maybe I can contact him and ask more about it?"
He hefts the paperweight in his hand. "Seems like an interesting artifact, nonetheless." He looks to Alak. "With your permission, I'd like to take this back with me to Breachill to study it further? It seems out of place and I doubt it holds any meaningful significance to your restless brethren guarding the crypts, no?"
Alak barely gives the artifact a glance as he shrugs. "I can't imagine what it was doing there in the first place. No elves or elf-worshippers in the Order of the Nail, no offense. Perhaps someone just found it somewhere and kept it for the value of the silver? As far as I'm concerned, it's yours for the taking."
"Much obliged," Jonagher nods and then gestures for everyone to exit back the way they came. "When we get back to Voz's bookstore, we should probably barricade the door again, just in case..."
Darla nods numbly, stunned by how many secrets some of the villagers in her hometown apparently kept.
Highness watched the proceedings with a sense of odd detachment. The longshanks were all excited about their finding...which meant that they would soon be done with the goblins, and the citadel.
"I think I need to get back to the tribe and let them know about these skeletons in the basement. We need to block the way to the crypt somehow so nobody goes and disturbs them. No reason to let them out, either." Highness said, half to himself.
"Are you all going to leave the town after you turn in the ring?" he asked the group, concerned about their future plans.
"I think I need to get back to the tribe and let them know about these skeletons in the basement. We need to block the way to the crypt somehow so nobody goes and disturbs them. No reason to let them out, either." Highness said, half to himself.
Jonagher glances at their goblin companion with a softer, understanding gaze as they walk down the tunnel together, waiting to see if Ragna or anyone else has further thoughts on the idea. Inwardly, he agrees with Highness.
"Are you all going to leave the town after you turn in the ring?" he asked the group, concerned about their future plans.
"Perhaps," Jonagher offers aloud, "I mean, if we can convince them to let us look into Guardian's Way, I think we should do that...both to follow up on whatever Voz's map is supposed to mean, and also to determine the condition of Neven's Heroes which the town council already sent there. They might need some help..."
"But, you know, maybe we can swing by the citadel to warn the goblins on our way? I'd be open to that..."
Darla nods distractedly at the conversation between Highness and Jonagher. "The council might very well give us marching orders once we tell them all we've discovered."
After a pause, the Breachill native opts to think for herself a bit. "But I agree: Warning the goblins of the undead Hellknights and checking on Neven's band seem to be the two most urgent items on our To-Do list at the moment."
Shaserai nods in agreement with the conversation about the goblins. "The Bumblebrashers must certainly be warned not to enter the vaults. I suppose Warbal must still be in Breachill; she ought to go back with the messenger to ensure that her people understand their danger. Perhaps she herself could petition the Council to appoint Heroes?"
"Good idea, Shaserai! Let's look for Warbal as soon as we're back in Breachill so we can explain the situation to her."
Highness nodded agreement with the group's decision as they moved up the tunnel and back to town.
"I think there may be other things threatening the tribe other than the undead...and we may have to face them to get down to where the undead are, so we can block off the passage to their tomb. I don't get the sense the Citadel is safe yet." he finished.
"I agree with you, Highness. It probably isn't fully safe yet," Jonagher replies as they walk along, "But I think it's probably no less safe than when we first ventured there. I mean, collectively, we've done a lot for the goblin tribe already. And, there's no immediate threat to them...that we know of, of course. If Alak says those undead will stay in place to guard the crypt, I believe him. So, we really just need to ask the goblins to stay away from there until we can return and safely deal with it. Hopefully, Warbal can convince them to do so, and those kobold friends of theirs to do the same."
"In the meantime, the more immediate threat now...to Breachill, at least...could be whatever's attracted Voz's interest at Guardian's Way. Some of the town's other Heroes haven't been heard from in awhile, and they could be in danger there. Quite honestly, I think all of us make a really good team, and we're probably the best suited to look into it. That includes you. And I think the Council should retroactively approve and authorize you as a Hero of Breachill, too," Jonagher says in all earnestness.
"You know, when we first met, we all agreed to help you help the goblin tribe in Citadel Altaerin, right? Well now, I feel like we need you to also help us help Breachill...even if that means delaying addressing any further dangers that might be at the citadel for a little while. That's what a Hero would do. So, can we count on you to come with us?"
The party finally arrives back in the basement of the Reliant Book Company, where the makeshift barricade against the door now makes some sense to them. "I imagine it would be hard to sleep upstairs," Shaserai comments, "wondering if the unquiet dead were beneath the floorboards. Perhaps the trap was meant for anything trying to climb up and into the room rather than anyone opening the trap door from above. Still, if her discovery were accidental and innocent, one presumes she would have alerted the town authorities rather than try to cover up her explorations."
"Very true," Darla comments. "Well, let's make our report to the council and get you folks rightfully honored as heroes. Then I'll get to work asking around and digging into Voz's past in town. Chances are someone here knows something that might shed a bit more light on the mystery."
"You might want to start with Calmont. That halfling apparently spent more time with her than anyone else in town..." Jonagher offers.
"...even if that means delaying addressing any further dangers that might be at the citadel for a little while. That's what a Hero would do. So, can we count on you to come with us?"
Highness's eyes narrowed at Jonagher's suggestion as they walked along the tunnel.
"I am not a Heeero. We are a King. And We need to ensure the safety of my people!" he hissed with anger. "We will ensure that the Bumblebrashers do not go deep and stay quiet and sneaky until we return."
Highness lept forward, spinning dramatically in the corridor, purple wrappings sweeping around him, as he stood, feet spread, pointing a finger at the group.
"We will go with you to Voz's way because We want to and We find it necessary. Not because we are beholden to longshanks of Breachill. I know that there is something sneaky and dangerous there that stopped the other longshanks from coming back. I want this area to be safe for goblin-kind. No more sewers, no more grubbing! This whole area will be safe when We are done! I will punch, and bite all the bad monsters and people into submission!" he finished, near panting with excitement and energy. He spun, and with the mad energy of goblin-kind, pelted away up the tunnel.
One of Darla's eyebrows arched as Highness gave his speech. Once the goblin was out of earshot, she whispers to the others, "Is he really a king? Or just plain crazy?"
"Does it have to be one or the other?" Alak murmurs back with a quirked eyebrow.
"He's a king in his own mind...mostly of what remains of it or ever really existed," Jonagher adds, "But don't let him hear you say that. He's quick to take offense. And just as quick to bite or pummel you. Best we keep that energy directed at our mutual enemies, no?"
"Good points...both of you."
The party uses the ladder to climb, one by one, back up into Voz's cramped bedroom. Ren is nowhere to be seen, having presumably gone to update the council, as previously agreed. It is still dark outside, dawn still being a few hours away.
Before leaving the store, Jonagher peruses the bookshelves one more time to see if he can find any written works on elven deities in general, and Alseta in particular. Once he's satisfied with his search, he looks around to make sure the store isn't too disturbed and that they're leaving everything mostly how they found it. He even checks to see if he can reset the trap after cleaning it off, and relock the door on their way out.
"Okay...we've got multiple things to chase down," he recommends once they've gathered outside, "We should probably find Warbal so we can ask her to warn the goblin tribe about the undead in the crypt. We should also find Ren to update him and the council on what we discovered. If we want to interrogate Calmont on anything more he knows about Voz and her whereabouts, maybe we can do that. And lastly, I guess we need to show off Alak's ring and see about that Hero ceremony before we petition the council to look into Guardian's Way. Does that sound about right? Did I leave anything out?"
Jonagher takes another look at the books on Voz Lirayne's shelves, but if she ever had any writings about Alseta or other elven deities, she must have taken them with her.
"You didn't forget anything on your list of tasks."Highness replied as they milled around outside the store.
"I have to ask, do we know anything about this Guardian's Way? Are there any songs about it...foes that would be nearby? If other longshanks got snatched up when they went there, sneaky caution may be better than bold boasts."
"If there are enemies around, letting them know we are going a certain way before we do is asking for ambush." Highness remarked.
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"It's a commonly used area by bandits," Jonagher shares, "Ren told us it used to be an Isgeri military outpost to guard against incursions or something back during the Goblinblood War. But, with it abandoned since then, bandits and other ne'er-do-wells often find it an easier defensive place to hide, I guess? That's why the council sent Neven's Heroes to check it out...though they were actually just looking into some farmer's missing chickens and equipment. Regardless, the council was worried that there's been an uptick of activity in that area. So, they awarded Neven's team the assignment right after they gave us ours to help Alak find his family ring in Citadel Altaerin. So, in your words, Highness...I suspect we may encounter other 'longshanks' at Guardian's Way...possibly bandits...probably Neven's team and some missing chickens...and maybe even Voz if she ventured there in search of whatever she's seeking..."