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In the rubble, you find a scroll of darkness, a scroll of darkvision, a scroll of heal, and a scroll of magic missile. A silver religious symbol of the goddess Alseta—two faces in profile—sits atop these scrolls like a paperweight. This religious symbol is non-magical, but finely crafted and worth 8 gp.
Not only does Davian realize that there is a symbol of Alseta on the ruins of the Lotusgate, but that someone found one a while ago. The thing that triggered it was when Aragelda asked why a symbol of an elven goddess would be in a Hellknight keep, and he replied that it was kept as a sort of key to a vault below.
Davian, with shaking hands holds up the silver holy symbol. [b]"We mean no h..harm."[b/] His voice cracks as he is genuinely afraid.
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The door warden (as it were) stands aside.
This plain rectangular room contains several empty chests, old wooden tables, and mostly barren shelves. It may have once been used as a vault or records room, but today, only a few scraps of paper remain.
As you search around, you find a particularly interesting document... the deed to Citadelm Altaerein!
Possession of this deed grants legal rights and ownership of the citadel to the deed’s possessor, by local, national, and Hellknight law.
With this, the adventurers have cleared out everything in and below Citadel Alterein. You quickly discover that the stairs on the south of Alseta's Ring are blocked with rubble, which will take some work to clear our and repair, so you end up going out the long way.
When you get back to town, you run into Alak, who is about to head home to Citadel Vraid. When you show him the deed, he confirms that you are indeed owners of the Citadel, and that the Hellknights are unlikely to challenge your ownership, as his order has little interest in Citadel Altaerein or Isger today, and that it is unlikely to contest the PCs’ claim to the ruined castle. After all, the cost for repairing Citadel Altaerein and maintaining it is not something the Order of the Nail is eager to front.
He offers to inform the leaders of his Order about this development, and will assure them that you will be responsible and trustworthy owners, should you wish to keep it. “It’s best for the citadel to fall into hands capable of restoring and respecting it,” he says. “Far better you own Altaerein than for it to persist in its role as home to monsters and hooligans, I’d say.”
Davian stands in shock. He was barely able to rent a room let alone now was a partial owner in an entire Citadel. "What do we do with it?"
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Helba, leader of the Brumblebrashers says, "Well, we could move in. After all, the Cinderclaws kicked us out. We can move back in to the northern catacombs, where we were before."
Zarf and Pib then approach you. "We MITEY DRAGONs also need place to live. We live in eastern catacombs before getting kicked out by nasty frogs and monkeys. We help much."
You also have Voz's notes that were among her gear. Now that you have a little time you go through the notes. They include her correspondence with the Scarlet Triad. The correspondence doesn’t make it clear exactly what sort of organization the Scarlet Triad is, but the group promises to sponsor Voz’s plans to found an assassination guild and necromancy laboratory in the basement of Citadel Altaerein. Before they’ll initiate this patronage and proved her support, though, the Scarlet Triad correspondent tells Voz that she must first confirm the existence of Alseta’s Ring, find a way to secure it, and then activate as many of the portals as possible. Once she proves to this shadowy group that she’s done this, the Scarlet Triad has promised hefty compensation, more than enough for her to get started setting up her guild and laboratory under Hellknight Hill. Voz signs all of her letters “By Norgorber’s hand.”
This phrase her as a dedicated follower of the Reaper of Reputation.
"Clearly Voz was a follower of the Reaper of Reputation" Edjarha says, shaking his head. "And of course," he says to the goblins and kobolds, "this place is your home more than it is ours. We shall be glad to have you as neighbors."
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"I'm finished!" exclaims Gideon as he puts down his pen and slams the book closed that he's been writing in all this time.
"It's perfect, The Goblin Hellknight, a daring tale of action, adventure and many lunches where in the Goblin Hellknight and his barely competent longshank allies reclaim their long lost fortress from the forces of evil..."
Gideon declares somewhat glumly "I'd offer you all royalties but these things are never very profitable. That said, it's done and it's time for me to move on again in search of new inspiration. Owning a castle and all may be the dream for some like the little Goblin hero of my story but it's not mine. Never could stand housework and there's well rather a lot of it to do here so once I get my stuff together I'll be sneaking off in the middle of night in search of my next muse."
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As you are gathering supplies and starting to clean up, a messenger shows up at the citadel. This person is a catfolk , and he carries a letter that he states is from Brynne Taithe, which is addressed to Aragelda.
Aragelda,
as I am sure that you recall you promised me a small favor in return for curing that pesky rash you got from the goblin dogs.Please come to Cayden's Cup and we can discuss how you can repay that blessing.
Also, the fellow that is carrying this letter may be of use to you in your adventures. He seems a handy sort, though perhaps a little addled at times. I am sure you can lead him towards being a productive member of society.
Yours truly,
Brynne Taithe.P.S. I have a new batch of the dwarven stout ready to tap!
Having never had a home before Davian wasn't very strong with his hands but he does help work on cleaning up the area and clearing the Courtyard. He works up quite the sweat as he drags some of the larger pieces out of the citadel to practice his magic on.
With a pile of broken beds he points his fingers at them and releases stray streaks of scorching rays. Little by little his aim improves. He keeps some of the nicer scraps to carve at night. "This place is too big for just us. We are going to need some help."
Edjarha's next week is a busy one, spent on a variety of tasks. He spends a day organizing and tending to the administrative tasks necessary to establish ownership of the citadel, helps Davian finish cleaning.
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Davian gets the Brumblebrashers to help out clearing the courtyard.
With his lead, they work a frantic pace, and get the job done in half the time!
He then talks to the Brumblebrashers again, happy with their work.
They again work at a breakneck speed,
They spend 7 total days working on the project, completing it on the 12th day.
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Edjarha spends the first day administering the citadel. He keeps the townsfolk happy with the group, and makes sure supplies are coming in when needed.
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Davian organizes labor, and clears the courtyard.
He then organizes again, to dig from courtyard to vault.
While he does that, Edjarha Administers the Citadel (Day 1)
Then, Edjarha spends time cleaning up.
While Edjarha is administering, Aragelda works on getting a labor force for Davian to keep working on the stairs.
She then finds a labor force on day 2 to help with general repairs.
She then starts on General Repairs.
Edjarha takes a day off to administer the citadel. He fails, , so he tries again the next day, and manages to get the citadel administered very well for a month!
Davian then works on the stairs going down to Alseta's Ring.
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Aragelda: Day 17
Davian: Day 17
Edjarha: Day 12
Edjarha then earns income to defer some of the costs, by helping on some research into dragons.
The clank of heavy armor precedes the striking visage of Hellknight armor. Polished to a mirror sheen, the black armor's oppressive aura radiates outward. A bastard sword hangs from the figure's hip with a longbow and arrows across it's back.
The figure moves with an easy gait, the serrated plates moving in harmony. The Hellknight stops on occasion, its horned helmet twisting to and fro, up and down. A slight shrug and the knight starts forward again. Though this time, it whistles an old Varisian folk song.
Stopping a respectful distance from the front gate, the knight removes his helm.
"Hello? Is there any one here?"
An affable smile compliments the young man's Varisian complexion while his dark cinnamon hair gives a clue this man may not be Chelaxian; at least not a full blooded one.
Edjarha looks up from the wobbly table he's commandeered as an administrative desk. Setting down his quill, he strides to the gate, pulling it open against its rusty hinges. "Yes? How can I help you?"
"Ah! Hello there! Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Dunlin Aeronica, Hellknight; Order of the Pike. I believe you are already familiar with Alak? I have come from Breachill; nice little town there. Anyway, my request for entry is two fold; One, I bear a message from one" Dunlin retrieves a scrap of paper, tilts his head back a bit squinting, "Brynne Taithe, a rather off kilter person but she is a bartender; I digress. She has a message for Aragelda who I believe is to be found here at the citadel.
"My second reason has to do with Citadel Altaerein itself. I was sent here by my Order in hopes of securing the deed for the Citadel, long believed to be abandoned. It is our sincere wish to reclaim the Citadel and have it serve as a base of operations for the Order of the Pike. If you are unaware of the tenants of the Pike, I would be most happy to explain our mission in greater detail.
"May we come in?"
Dunlin continues to his goofy affable smile.
Alak clears his throat. "Yes, we may have met once or twice before, in passing." Alak grins as he says that. "I was on my way back to Citadel Vraid when I came across this fellow. Looked a bit lost and bedraggled, so I hired a messenger to send my report back to Citadel Vraid with my findings.
"This fine fellow talked my ear off about 'this old abandoned Hellknight citadel in the middle of the godsdamned wastelands, which was probably overridden with goblins and other vermin.
"Well, it gave me a chuckle to hear that, so I helped him here. We made it in late last night, so stopped at Cayden's Keg for a pint and a bowl, and then we made it here this morning. I introduced him around town a bit, making sure to point out that pesky little goblin, Warble explaining how 'her' Brumblebrashers have infested the citadel. The man got down right agitated until I mentioned that she and her clan were pretty ok.
"Much better than those damned Hell monkeys you all helped me to clear out, and that's a fact!"
He steps up and claps Edjarha on the shoulder. "How are you all doing with the repairs?"
"Alak, I didn't see you there! It's good to meet you Dunlin; my name is Edjarha. Please, come in." Edjarha leads Alak and his new companion into the citadel. "The repairs coming along slowly, but we're making progress. Some see for yourself. Dunlin, Aragelda is within."
"Repairs? The citadel must be in worse shape the the Pike believed. I do have some knowledge regarding the architecture of Hellknight Citadels and a bit about how best to repair them. I can lend a hand if you would like?"
"The letter, Armiger. What about the letter?"
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Edjarha is able to round up Aragelda and Davian at about the same time a frenzy of fur piles through the main gates followed by a goblin in scholars robes. The two very large and rambunctious wolf... no... warg cubs grapple each other in the middle of the courtyard, barreling through anyone in their way. "Happy! Joy! You calm down this instance! Can't you see we have guests?" yells out Warble, completely out of breath.
She looks to Dunlin, "Good day, sir. Warble Brumblebrasher. Are you here to help Heroes of Breachill?"
Davian looks back and forth between the pair. "Alak, are there going to be more Hellknights coming and going?" He holds his hand out to shake Dunlin's hand. "My name is Davian, will you be joining us then?"
Dublin grasps Davian’s hand, ”If you’ll have me. And I believe there shall not be another of the Orders coming to dispute Citadel Altaerein.
”There is the matter of the… free spirited among us, though. Is Aragelda within?”
Dunlin turns his attention to the precocious goblin. ”Happy? Joy? Is that what you have named these good looking pups?”
Dunlop kneels to grab, scritchie, and wrestle and overall love on the caninesque animals in front of him.
”Master Warble, tell me more about these magnificent specimens!”
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”That’s Miss Warble, if you don’t mind, Longshanks” scoffs the goblin. ”Well, from what Davian told me, they rescued these warg cubs, not pups. Doggies are horrible creatures, but wargs are fantastic intelligent companions. ”
She dusts herself off a bit, ”Happy! Joy! Stop your playing and come over here!”
The two bound over and sit themselves in front of the goblin librarian. ”Res, Rwarble?” says the darker of the two.
"Hello Warble! And hello to you too, you two." Edjaraha grins, and turns back to the goblin. "What brings you up this way, Warble?"
Davian kneels down and scratches behind the cubs ears. "You two doing good?" He is delighted to see te pair once more. "You being treated alright?"
Edjarha allows himself to be talked by the springing cubs, laughing as he fends off their mock attacks.
Aragelda comes out, wiping her brow. "I am Aragelda! Thank you for the message."
She reads it carefully.
"It sounds like we need to go pay a visit to our friend Brynne. Never fear, Dunlin, whatever lies ahead for us, it will not be dull!"
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With that, the party takes a trip back to Breachill, where again they are welcomed as heroes. You all meet up with Brynne Taith, proprietor and head priestess of Cayden's Keg.
"Thank you all for coming. I have an exciting proposal for you. A friend of mine, Mierson Berekland of the Gold Falls Inn has recently come into a bit of interesting information that he shared with me out of respect for our adventuring days.
"His letter was brief. In it he tells of what could be the find of a century, a treasure sought after by all Caydenite's. He asked if I knew of any adventurers worthy of the title, ones that could reclaim a lost treasure of the Drunken Hero. Of course, I thought of you, the heroes of Breachill.
"Should you be willing, you will need to travel to the Gold Falls Inn and meet with Berekland. It is a trip of about 120 miles, so I would expect that it would take you about ten days. Pack supplies accordingly.
"Oh, and to help out, I can lend you my type I bag of holding. It is currently packed with food, camping supplies, and other rations." She tosses the bag to Aragelda, obviously assuming that the team will be agreeing to this quest.
"Oh, and here are a couple maps of the area that should help. I'd take the Isger Pass into Andoran, but I would definitely avoid Droskar's Crag itself. Seems there has been a good deal going on up there and I wouldn't want you captured or worse by what's up there."
She smiles to the party as she draws a tankard for each of you.
"I hate to be too mercenary, but...is this Berekland willing to compensate us for our time? Repairing that old citadel is likely to require a fair expenditure."
"And we need to eat." Davian's face grows red as his stomach grumbles. He had given the last of his meat to the worg cubs hours earlier.
"Will there be more treasure there besides the one we are reclaiming for Berekland? That would certainly make this worth it."
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"I am sorry. To be clear, you would be recovering this for me, and not for Berekland. He's just letting me in on a tip. If it is what I suspect it is, I'd like to be able to craft new items based on the original's formula, but we'll see.
"As for treasure, Aragelda, you will be welcome to keep any treasure that you find as a reward. Plus, if you find an item of interest, I will let you keep that bag of holding. I have found it to be of great use when adventuring myself."
Upon hearing Davian's request, she runs to the back and comes back with a loaf of bread and a bowl of hearty bean stew for each of you.
"Apologies for the misunderstanding. That sounds like a reasonable arrangement to me." Edjarha looks to his teammates for agreement.
"Well, then, that sounds most amenable!" Aragelda gestures with her mug of ale, then drinks deeply.
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"I am glad to hear it." says Brynn. "I told you it wouldn't be an onerous favor! The Drunken Hero asks that we keep adventuring, or supporting adventurers. I'd not be wont to send you all on an adventure you couldn't handle!"
She hoists a tankard herself, carefully spilling off the first ounce or so in tribute. "To the Heroes of Breachill and Adventure!"
"Let's pick up a couple basic things on our way out of town."
Dunlin nods at the orderliness of what he at first thought regarded as a rather chaotic bunch.
Davian heads out with the others to pick up some necessities. He hasn't grown accustomed to being hailed and treated as a hero quite yet. "I'll go with you."
Aragelda accepts the compass.
"This might be a fun excursion, after all that work on the citadel!"
After a brief setback on the first day, Aragelda confidently leads the group forward!