Darla doesn't trust the man. She's got next to no experience with Asmodeans, but from what she's heard they're almost all evil.
"We've come from Breachill," she admits, trying to keep the man talking. "Where are you from? And what exactly do you seek? There have been some other outsiders here, and they haven't been friendly. I'm not convinced we should expect otherwise from you...but we'll hear you out."
"We've come from Breachill," she admits, trying to keep the man talking.
"Then I commend the town's vigilance and concede their right to know what I'm doing here," he replies, getting back on his feet and testing his leg, "though it hardly seems the place is in good repair. Fairly well looted already, I'd say. Bit of closing the barn door after the horse has gone?" He raises an admonitory eyebrow.
"As I said, my name is Alek Stagram, and I'm newly arrived from Varisia. My family served at Altaerein before it was decommissioned. My father decamped with the main force to Citadel Vraid, but my grandfather stayed behind with the skeleton crew. He died in one of the last battles of the Goblinblood Wars. When Altaerein was abandoned entirely, the Order brought his personal effects to my family at Citadel Vraid, but his signet ring was missing."
"This ring is of little monetary value, but it had been passed down from father to son in my family for generations. My father asked my grandfather's comrades about it, and they were fairly certain he had never worn it in skirmishes outside the citadel walls -- didn't want to risk losing a family heirloom as a goblin's trophy -- but they hadn't found it with his possessions, either. My father supposed he had secreted it somewhere secure, where even if the citadel had been taken, it wouldn't have been easily looted, perhaps in the vault. He always thought someday he'd come back and have a good look through the place to try to find it when he had the time, but, well ... he died himself last year without ever making it back here."
He shrugs. "I made the time. The odds are against me, I know, especially after so many years, but I decided I'd rest easier knowing I'd at least tried to locate it rather than giving it up before I even started."
"Would be, if we were here to prevent looters." Aronida's shoulders tense at the revelation that this man is very much affiliated with the Hellknights even if he wasn't one himself. Order of the Nail. Not Order of the Chain. There's a difference.
Maybe.
"We were sent here to help out the local goblin tribe after they were attacked by a couple grauladons. The grauladons are dead now, but they were apparently brought here by a group known as the Cinderclaws and their leader, Malarunk. Who are not dead, and apparently are up to no good down in the basements somewhere." Aronida studies Alek's face closely. "Any of that sound familiar? It just seems like a weird coicidence that you'd show up at the same time as this other group."
Alek's puzzlement seems to grow as Aronida's account progresses. "Goblins I know," he replies, with a nod to Revka. "The rest of those things you said, little lady...." He flicks his hand over his head to convey his failure to comprehend her words. "Something came up from the vaults and attacked goblins?"
As the others speak with Alek, Gellius does as asked and ensures the fallen imps are truly dead. Noting the Asmodean mark on the man’s armor, he turns his attention to the symbol on the floor as he speaks to the newcomer.
“So your father and grandfather were Hellknights.” Gellius remarks casually as he examines the pentagram. “Did you go on to join one of the orders yourself?”
"No. I haven't," he answers shortly.
Darla listens closely to the man's answers, trying not to judge him too harshly. "What does this ring you seek look like?" she asks Alek. "In case we come across it in our exploration. Wait--we haven't found any rings amongst the trinkets we've recovered thus far, have we? My thoughts have been more occupied with dealing with invaders than cataloguing loot."
To Alek she adds, "And please don't kill any goblins. The Bumblebrashers have lived peacefully this close to Breachill for years. We don't want that to end because of the actions of an outsider on a treasure hunt, however noble that hunt may seem. Besides, most goblins think we 'longshanks' all look alike, so let's avoid any misunderstandings, all right?"
"I don't believe we've found any rings." Aronida eyes Alek, still wary despite his confirmation that he never joined the orders. He might not be a Hellknight, and he might not have anything to do with the Cinderclaws, but that didn't make him trustworthy.
Despite her doubts, as Darla explains about the Bumblebrashers she bites her lip and then sighs. "Look, I can't speak for the entire group obviously if they disagree, but I think we should join forces. The more swords we have in the group, or bows or spells or whatever, the less likely anyone gets themselves killed. Thoughts everyone?"
I'd rather have a potential enemy where I can watch him than running around doing Cayden-only-knows-what, and if he isn't an enemy...then leaving him alone out here wouldn't be right.
While the others have been talking, Gethric was engrossed in regarding the fallen creatures - gingerly poking the corpse with the tines of his weapon and musing with squinted eye and pursed mouth. Eventually, either baffled beyond comprehension or curiosity sated, he straightens and tucks his utensil back into his belt-loops.
He picks up on the body language of the rest of the group, noting the wary acceptance but lack of overt trust. Rapid calculations and impulsive decision made in his mind he shrugs slightly and bombles over to the dangerous man and sticks out a hand for the ritual act of shaking "Alek..." gesturing with his other hand t'wards his breast "Gethric, pleasure to make your acquaintance. Can't say my Da suggested poking hell-monkeys together as a reasonable way to start off on the right foot, but also can't say we had many hell-monkeys to worry about around our home-hearth."
Alek shakes Gethric's hand after a bare moment of hesitation.
Darla listens closely to the man's answers, trying not to judge him too harshly. "What does this ring you seek look like?" she asks Alek.
"You understand, I've never seen it," he warns her, "only old imprints it made. But I'm told it was gold set with a red sardonyx. The engraving is a shield marked with a saltire, with an arm holding a dagger extending from the top of it."
Revka has been keeping quiet in the back of the group, letting the longshanks deal with their business. She gives him a critical look now and then, especially at his stubbly beard. He should shave more often. It doesn't look as bad as a real beard, but stil... She nods profusely Darla explains the presence of the Bumblebashers and urges the dark-haired stranger not to kill any.
Something the man said piques her curiosity. "You said the ring might be in the vault? That means the castle has one? Gellius, you know about castles, don't you? And vaults?"
"Gellius, you know about castles, don't you? And vaults?"
And Hellknights! thinks Darla.
“I may be able to find the vault, if we could poke around downstairs for a little while,” Gellius replies to Revka. “I think we’ll be heading back down soon enough. We still haven’t really got to the bottom of what’s going on down there.” He nods in agreement with Aronida’s suggestion.
“As Aronida says, I think it would make sense if you were to accompany us,” he says somewhat formally. “I certainly wouldn’t recommend anyone exploring down there alone and we were planning on a more thorough survey. We’re more interested in the safety of the Humblebrashers and Breachill than in lost jewellery. What say you lend us your sword in our explorations until we’re able to locate your signet ring? That should make our exploration easier and will certainly be safer for you. Be warned though, those of Malarunk’s forces we’ve met so far have been more dangerous than a couple of stray devils.”
Alek sighs. "I suppose that makes sense," he admits. "I certainly owe you a debt for your assistance with the imps, and a united force is more resilient than its separate components. We will move through the citadel together."
Having found the mysterious black-armored visitor, the party heads back to the secret door to the lower level. Immediately they can hear the bustle and chatter of the Bumblebrashers moving back into their warren from the northern corridors.
Aronida wearily waves a hand at the Bumblebrashers. "Hey. We found our mysterious black-armored visitor. His name's Alek, and he'll be staying with us for now if that's okay. He's looking for a fancy ring, if any of you have found something like that?"
She doubts it. If the ring is indeed in the vaults, then it's unlikely the Bumblebrashers, (who seemed to stay upstairs), would have found it. But hey, better to check than to tear the whole place apart only to find out it had been up here all along.
(Although if it was up here, she wouldn't be sorry to see him go. Alex seems like an okay guy, and she doesn't want him to go off and get killed exploring the citadel on his own. But there's a part of her that itches seeing that black armor. It may not belong to a Hellknight Order, but it's close enough to make her jump everytime she sees it in the corner of her eye.)
Warbal stares at Alek, anxiously sucking her fingers. "Oooh, a ring. Maybe Pib and Zarf found it."
"Thanks Warbal, we'll ask them later." Aronida isn't particularly interested in meeting the 'mighty dragons' again, but it's probably worth asking them for the same reason it was worth asking the Bumblebrashers.
Not tonight though.
She finds a relatively clean corner and collapses into it. "Wake me up when it's time for my watch."
The Bumblebrashers make a point of ushering the party into one of their rooms and promising complete silence so they can rest, tiptoeing and whispering their way out. Once they're a few steps away from the closed door, they seem to believe they're far enough away to be inaudible, but the party is tired enough to sleep through more than just goblin chatter in the next room.
When the party is rested, the Bumblebrashers are ready to present the group with the promised rewards. They serve a meal of some sort of cooked poultry, and, via Warbal, Helba passes over a series of small items: a tanglefoot bag, a vial of alchemist's fire, a sack containing a collection of dented coins and bits of precious metals, and two small vials labeled in Infernal.
Darla rests up, awakening to find her magical capacity increased. After some quiet reflection and some stretching exercises, she pronounces herself fit to continue the exploration.
Although she's a decent shot with a hurled item, she assumes there are other members of the party even better than herself, so she leaves the alchemical goodies for her new comrades to distribute amongst themselves.
Musing over the bag of dented coins and sparkly bits, Gethric experimentally spits on a few and tries to use his shirt to enliven the lustre. Musing "If Pib and Zarf do have the ring... mayhap we could do a trade for 'shinies'? See if these can polish up to a shine."
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Darla sees Gethric scrubbing the reward stuff from the Bumblebrashers and offers her help in cleaning them...magically! She sings a little ditty:
"What does 'prestidigitation' mean?
It means those goodies are now clean!"
Aronida is significantly less grumpy the next morning. She even manages to send a smile Alek's way without accidentally turning it into a scowl. (Alhough the armor still makes her jump a little.)
"Thank you Warbal." To be honest she'd mostly forgotten about the promised rewards, but these things do look useful. Most of them, anyway. She picks up the potions, wincing slightly at the language even as she turns them over thoughtfully.
"This one's a 'Comprehension Elixir,' not sure what that means. This other one though is an invisbility potion, no ambiguity there. Definitely useful if we need to do any sneaking around." She offers it to Gethric, (the one she deems most likely to do said sneaking around).
As Darla and Gethric begin shining up the 'shinies,' she grins and jokingly pretends to shield her eyes. "Now that's a fitting tribute for such mighty dragons!" More seriously, she adds, "I doubt they actually have the ring; they didn't seem the type to risk going downstairs. But if they do, I suspect they'll accept a trade."
Taking the proffered potions Gethric wrinkles his brow slightly before adding "I think the comprehensive one's to help the bookish types read up on languages they don't know?"
On the topic of Pib and Zarf "Yeah, but who knows, maybe we'll get lucky? Better the squab in the pie than the thrush in the bush... or something... might've gotten that one mixed up edgewise."
"Huh. Interesting." Aronida studies the elixer with raised eyebrows. "Guess even the really smart ones can't know every language. Makes sense they'd have come up with something to do it for them. Probably won't be much help to us, but maybe someone back in town could use it."
Putting the elixer back into the bag, she makes sure her bow is strung before nodding. "Right. No way to know until we ask them, and if they do have it that would save us a lot of searching. Everyone ready to go?"
Revka is busy translating a seemingly complicated conversation between a Bumblebrasher and a bemused-looking Gellius, so the others leave them there and return lair of the mitey dragons.
"As I recall, the green one--I don't know if that's Pib or Zarf--only spoke Draconic with Revka," Darla thinks aloud. "The red one spoke Common, though--we should speak with that one. Um...anyone want to do the talking or should I give it a shot?"
Gethric gives Darla a wink and begins to talk far too loudly next to the closed portal "Which of these do you think is shinier? The red one or the blue one? Almost too many for us to carry on our own isn't there?" hoping that greed and curiosity will do the job for the group.
There is a scuffling and scratching sound from the other side of the door, followed by vigorous whispering. After a moment, someone on the inside clears his throat and asks hopefully, "Have you brought an offering in exchange for an audience?"
Winking and smirking Gethric continues mock offended "No, our shinies... unless... mighty dragons have something to trade? Boring man-ring, with a shield?"
Darla watches as Gethric plays on the wannabe dragons' greed to find out if they possess Alek's ring or not.
Not the way I would've handled negotiations--better! That Gethric's a smart cookie!
Aronida smothers a laugh behind her hand and gives Gethric a thumbs-up. Nicely done!
There is more whispering from the other side of the door, then a patter of feet, a rattle, a creak, a bit of quiet bickering in Draconic. After a moment, the door opens a crack, and the red kobold stands in the gap, one hand behind his back. "You show us shinies, we show you man-ring, yes?" he bargains shrewdly.
Quickly turning his back to the door and shuffling the shinies into both his hands and closing them into fists Gethric turns back with squinted eye and shrewd suspicion on his face. He holds for a few moments before slowly opening one hand "Some here... now you..." gesturing with his chin to indicate that the second batch of shinies would need to see the man-ring before being displayed.
The kobold's gaze runs hungrily over the trinkets on view before he brings his fist around and opens it. Resting on the scaly red palm is a plain human-sized ring made of iron.
Darla hangs back a ways. She calmly casts a quick detect magic spell and eyeballs the iron ring, just in case the kobold merchants are inadvertently offering a bargain.
"Wow--that looks like it could be worth a trade," Darla says, nodding her head as she speaks, hoping the others know what spell she cast.
Aronida is somewhat disappointed that the ring in question is not actually the ring they seek, but upon hearing Darla's comment she takes another look. "Yes, that looks like a very nice ring indeed." She isn't entirely sure why Darla wants the ring, but is willing to assume she sees something Aronida does not.
Emboldened by the women's approval, the kobold nods emphatically, closing his hand over the ring again. "That's right: it's a very nice ring. Now, other hand." He flicks a talon at Gethric's other fist.
Gethric's hope fades as the ring is clearly shown to be different than that sought... but he stops it showing on his face as Darla's words ring out. Narrowing his eyes to appraise the ring the halfing makes a show of considering before curtly nodding an approval. He opens his left hand to show the second fist of shinies before adding "Two hands... one ring... good trade yes?"
The red kobold consults briefly in Draconic with the green one hovering at his shoulder. "Yeah, all right. Good trade; we'll take it."
The green kobold pushes forward to hold his hands out for the Bumblebrashers' trinkets as the red one relinquishes the iron ring.
Gethric shuffles forward in a measured fashion, emptying his right hand into the cupped hands of the green kobold. He then reaches to retrieve the ring while simultaneously emptying his left.
Assuming the transition takes place without issue he squints at the ring, nodding "Nice ring... mighty dragons seen any other rings? Maybe with red stone?... or is this best and only ring?"
Aronida continues to stand nearby without laughing by a supreme effort of will. Mighty dragons indeed! Considering how Gethric had reacted to calling the kobolds 'mighty dragons' the first time they'd met, she finds the whole situation rather hilarious.
Assuming the transition takes place without issue he squints at the ring, nodding "Nice ring... mighty dragons seen any other rings? Maybe with red stone?... or is this best and only ring?"
Preoccupied by sorting out the best specimens among their new acquisitions, Pib shrugs. "Found it in a big stone box of bones across the vaultway. There may be more. Didn't stay long; it's creepy in there."
Gethric turns the ring over in his hand for a moment before flicking it nonchalantly to Darla, as she had shown interest in it. Adopting a more normal mannerism "Well thank you very much, pleasure doing business." raising an eyebrow to his companions to see if they had further questions or considered the matter settled.
Darla gives Gethric a slight nod and then moves away from the kobolds so they won't be able to overhear.
"This ring is magical!" she tells the others in an excited whisper. "If you can give me a few minutes, I'll try to identify its properties."
"That's not my family ring at all," Alek grumbles when he sees what they've come away with.
Shrugging "Aye, doesn't look like it... but at least we know now. Shall we away and below? - or look to the vaultway?"