Round 3
As you return fire, you hit the ogres again, and the few remaining flee into the wilderness!
Checking the area where they were, yields 2 Cargo units worth 400 gold!
Status: 52/110 HP
After one more day of traveling, the caravan, damaged and bedraggled, but with everyone intact limps into your final destination!
"By the Empress! Are the trades routes always this clocked with violence and villains? It's a wonder anyone leaves their homes!" Jiro huffs as he carries another box of trade goods to the wagons.
As the ruin stronghold of Brinewall came in to view, Rin jumped up and down with joy. "We actually made it. Bandits, and goblins, and ogres couldn't stop us!"
"There's a reason my family settled in a city with nice, big walls," Mitsuru says in response to Jiro. From atop the wagon, she "supervises" as he and the others stow their liberated cargo.
--------
"Well, of course they couldn't stop us! The Red Oni's stew is a tougher enemy than any bunch of dumb ogres could ever hope to be!" she replies, smiling.
As you are coming into Brinewall an oppressive feeling creeps over you. It feels like a weight pressing down on your chest. Ameiko feels it even worse, growing first listless, then by the time you reach Brinewall, she falls into a comatose state. . .
Talios had been ever silent as he focused on patrolling for food, seeing the aftermath of the Ogre attack.
"It is curious, it seems more quiet near Sandpoint. Goblins and bandits are easy enough to handle but ogres...that was a dangerous lot. My apologies for being away." he says deeply bowing in shame.
Talios takes another try and the game, improving greatly but not quite there.
---
As the sense of foreboding washes over them Talios quickly grabs his bow.
"What foul power is awash over this place...can you fe--Ameiko? We must keep watch while seeing what has taken your sister." he calls out.
Kae Kurai tries to help with repairs where he can, but at his size its not easy.
When Ameiko starts feeling listless and weak Jiro steps in, hovering nearby as his eyes warily flicker all around for signs of danger. "We approach a grim place. Whatever secrets your family buries here are likely not pleasant ones." When Ameiko collapses the tengu catches her, carefully helping the others ease her into the wagon while trying to find the cause of the malady.
"Sanduro, can you pull the caravan back? Whatever foul miasma hangs over Brinewall it doesn't appear to affect the rest of us as badly. I fear if we bring her closer the eldest Kaijitsu may perish. Let us go on ahead and investigate while the caravan keeps its distance."
Sanduro nods, and you backtrack a distance- but it does not appear to have any effect. "This seems to be some sort of magical effect."
"Whatever is causing this must be from inside the village or its area-- perhaps if we kept the caravan here and watched her, some of you could go into Brinewall and investigate?" Shelelu adds.
Ameiko seems peacefully sleeping, but pale. . . as she does, you hear her say, “One treasure beyond two seals in the third vault...” but lapse back into silence thereafter.
"So anyway, that should hopefully make the caravan look less appealing to attack. Though I'm not sure the smell will be worth it. What do you think Ameiko? Amiko? AMEIKO!" Rin screamed as she turned to find her sister collapsed to the ground. Wrapping her sister in her arms, Rin called for help.
-----
Ameiko seems peacefully sleeping, but pale. . . as she does, you hear her say, “One treasure beyond two seals in the third vault...” but lapse back into silence thereafter.
"She keeps saying that." Rin said silently as she wiped her sisters head with a damp rag. "It has to be connected to the secret our grandfather referred to. But why am I not effected?" Rin couldn't think straight, her mind too full of worries, too full of concerns.
With a deep breath Rin began to clear her mind. Standing her worrying wouldn't help her sister, and thinking about the questions wouldn't answer them. The path before her was clear. Placing her mask on, Rin turned to the others. "Shelelu is right, we have to investigate Brinewall. Rin said to the others, unconsciously user her Red Oni voice.
Emili pats Shadru on the back before following after the younger Kaijitsu. "Your turn to mind the flock," he teases as he lets his whip fall into his hand, ready for trouble. "Keep an eye out for wolves and whatnot and we'll be back before supper."
As they approach, Mitsuru's body language, best described as "energetic," gradually darkens and turns for the worst. By the time Ameiko collapses, her shoulders are slumped, her feet drag, and she barely speaks. The brief panic brought on by their friend suddenly slipping into a coma restores some of her energy, but her face remains unusually serious as she draws her rapier in preparation for the journey into the abandoned village.
"Let's go," she says simply.
"Should I scout ahead?" Kage Kurai says, as the others head for the area.
You gather together and head to . . . : This stone lighthouse is now little more than an empty shell after its roof caved in many years ago.
"She will be in good hands while we search even if this looks far worse than goblin bites." Talios nods as he heads off with the others, he glances at Rin occasionally before his worry overtakes his tongue.
"Rin...I believe you should be extra cautions in here. As we get closer whatever is affecting Ameiko could come over you as well." he warns.
As they walk through the rubble, a metallic glint catches the samsarans eye. He digs out the lockbox and a key.
"This key may prove useful if it doesn't fall apart in the lock." he says offering it to one of the members leading the party.
"Rin...I believe you should be extra cautions in here. As we get closer whatever is affecting Ameiko could come over you as well." he warns.
Rin smiled behind her mask. "Maybe, but it seems odd that it wouldn't have effected me already if it was going to. I appreciate the concern though, and I'd appreciate a set of eyes watching me for any magical shenanigans."
"This key may prove useful if it doesn't fall apart in the lock." he says offering it to one of the members leading the party.
"It might fall apart if we look at it too hard. Kage or Jiro, do you have any magic that might repair it?"
"Should we head into the town proper?" Mitsuru asks, uncomfortable hanging about the abandoned lighthouse.
"What a gloomy ruin," Jiro says, surveying the ghost town and tumbledown castle solemnly. "What was this place, before?" He nods at Mitsuru's suggestion and turns to walk around the inlet in to the village proper.
Looking across to the village itself, Rin doesn't notice anyone walking immediately. As you leave the lighthouse behind and draw nearer it becomes clearer that the area is primarily deserted. . .
As you reach the area, you come to a fork in the path and can either explore the town area, or veer off towards the cemetary.
”Sweep the outskirts first?” Emili suggests, motioning towards the cemetery.
"I agree with Emili. If we can get any clue of what awaits us then we will be safer and I do not want any harm to befall any of us." Talios agrees keeping a watchful eye out.
"Makes sense," Mitsuru says. "Want me to scout ahead?"
"Makes sense," Mitsuru says. "Want me to scout ahead?"
"Scouting sounds like a good idea, I'll go with you. Something about this place...I don't think its a good idea for anyone to be alone."
Mitsuru nods. To the others, she says "Just come running if you hear any barking." Turning to follow after Rin, her form shifts, blurs, and shrinks, until in her place is a tiny red fox that disappears into the underbrush.
"Everyone wait. There is something near the cemetery...a small humanoid creature with wings? Has anyone ever seen something like that. Perhaps I have begun to fall ill as well." Talios whispers to the others concerned about what he spotted.
"That I can't do." Kage says to Rin, with a shake of his...hood. "What about your fortune teller friend? Is that magic something she might do?"
About to leave with the other scouts, Kage stops and looks around when Talios mentions seeing something.
Talios, you think its some kind of outsider but do not know for sure- whatever it was, it went further into the cemetary.
A rickety wooden fence surrounds the clearing beyond, but the gates here are made of iron and flanked on either side by statues of a beautiful woman with butterfly wings.
From her hiding space, Mitsuru notes the statues and prepares to continue, but not before making a mental prayer to the goddess they honor. Trying to help a friend. Grant me a bit of luck while I'm here?
This clearing consists of a low hill containing nearly two dozen graves. A stone crypt sits atop the hill to the east. The entire graveyard is unusually well tended—the grass appears to be weeded and the gravestones are quite clean. The crypt contains only one
body, that of Admiral Mercatio Kiameleu, Brinewall’s founder.
As you continue throughout the cemetery, what appears at first to be a single grave off the side is instead apparently a shrine to Desna. A copper bowl (worth 25 gold) sits on a marble statue. The bowl is full of water.
Suspicious of the graveyard's immaculate condition, Mitsuru retreats to Rin's position and resumes her human guise. "Someone's taking very good care of the place, but I'm not sure who, or why. Should I go grab the others before we move in?"
"Some type of outsider, there is certainly some magic at work here." Talios muses as he watches the other skulk closer to the gates, he begins to move closer as well unsure Mitsuru caught glimpse of the creature within.
"There is something within the cemetery, a small creature with butterfly wings. That may be the keeper of the grounds." he informs the duo that were scouting, and as he looks at the bowl of water he notices a faint aura.
"The shrine there is converting the rainwater to holy water. This place is blessed by Desna which means we may not need to fear this creature. Perhaps we can try to speak with it." he says with a smile.
Kage Kurai nods silently. He is only vaguely familiar with this "Desna" figure.
"We can try." he says, quietly.
You continue through the graveyard, but do not catch another glimpse of the creature. . .
Moving back into the rest of town (N):
Among the ruined buildings that once composed Brinewall Village, you find barracks, a smithy, several homes, a glassworks (with several architectural designs similar to those of the larger glassworks in Sandpoint owned by Ameiko Kaijitsu), a trading post, and a stable. The two largest ruins are located in the eastern part of town, and consist of a town hall to the north and an almost completely collapsed temple of Desna to the south, near the entrance to the cemetery.
Finally, as you are exploring one of the last buildings again, you see the tiny creature perched on a window across the street as you exit the building. . .
Preoccupied with thoughts of her sister, Rin was quiet the length of the journey. Only speaking up when the apparent caretaker revealed itself. "There, in the window across the street."
Jiro clears his throat softly in the silence. "Have either of you any notion of what dreadful family secret awaits the Kaijitsus? It seems strange to me, that such an oppressive-feeling place would boast a shrine to Desna. She has always struck me as a fiercely kind being, if a bit undisciplined."
"Even the nice pastures turn into bogs if you don't keep your herd from overgrazing," Emili answers softly, hand on his undrawn weapon. "But something tells me we'll find the answer sooner or later. Hopefully without more undead monsters." He frowns. "Though I would have expected to find those in the cemetery, to be honest."
"I don't miss the things," Mitsuru comments. "I'd rather fight goblins again."
Kage Kurai silently glances at Rin as Jiro asks about the Kaijitsus' dark family secrets.
The tiny creature sits on the windowsill and stares at you, inquisitively, for a minute as you talk and decide what to do. . .
After the group talked amongst themselves for a time, Rin grew frustrated. There was an endless list of what ifs and possible dangers, and all the while Ameiko might be running out of time. If there was a foe to fight or a trap to spring, Rin would rather deal with it sooner than later.
"I'm Rin Kaijitsu, and we are here to investigate what happened here and the secrets my family left behind. Also, my older sister succumbed to a magic sleep as we approached. Do you know anything, and can you help us?"
The tiny creature approaches, fluttering her butterfly wings and speaks to you, in a faint but audible common, "The bad stuff is all in the castle- you probably want to investigate there. I have kept the graveyard here for several years, my name is Spivey."
Spivey also explains the Holy Water refilling in the graveyard- you know it will turn any water poured in to holy water 1/day as long as you leave the dish, but you can pour it into empty containers for use (it holds 3 flasks and currently is full).
"Holy water will probably come in handy. I'll take care of that while you're busy talking with our new friend," Mitsuru says, turning to head back toward the graveyard. As she finishes talking, she transforms into her fox shape again and bounds off down the road.
"Greetings, Spivey the graveyard guardian. I am Jiro Fire-Raven," Jiro bows deeply in greeting to the butterfly-winged spirit. "You say that the castle is home to "bad things," could you be more specific? What manner of evil makes that place its home?"
Emili puts his hands on his hips at the sight of the little winged figure, but a smile stretches across his face. "Why have you stayed here? That's an awfully big graveyard for one person to tend to all by themselves."