Karana says, “I believe we must take the best course of action to survive and succeed. If this creature can get out the other side, we take a risk attacking it. If it cannot escape, attacking is unnecessary.
“I do not care about fairness to this creature. I do not care about putting it out of its misery. I care about the goblins we have come to rescue.”
To Beau, “Yes, if it can be attacked from another direction, that means it can get out. We should know that before we take an action that cannot be reversed.”
Beatrix is watching the beast the entire time the others are talking, marveling at the way it moves with such hungry anger. "We're still too close to town." she says calmly between crashes. "It will have to be dealt with, somehow." looking away finally though she adds "But it doesn't have to be now, and doesn't have to be us. This way?" pointing at the southern most unopened door to the west.
Karana nods. “It can be us.” “Not now.”
She says to Gofran. “I have twenty arrows. Let us see what threats lurk ahead in places that are not blocked by bars. If after our mission, you still believe we must exterminate this creature, my arrows will help.”
The door indicated by Beatrix opens to a short corridor connecting the room they are in to a previously explored area.
"East this time?" Bea indicates the east door to the battlements.
Gofran agrees to postpone the fate of the creature and stashes his sling. To Karana, he adds as he follows the others. "This crreaturre is not frrom herre, se ve can't rrelease it back in the vilds, since it could cause any amount o' unbalance... if it keeps to the vilds, o' courrse. It could verry vell attack trravelerrs and the people o' Brreachill."
"If ve can find a vay to send it somevherre else, ve might not have to kill it, but I'm not optimistic." At Bea's suggestion, he opens the eastern door after Beau checks it.
Alak offers: "I think it's trapped in that courtyard, so if you don't do anything it will probably starve to death. It might be a mercy to kill it."
The eastern door leads to another short corridor, then the south-eastern tower, which is a hollow cylinder of stone with no stairs leading up to the battlements. Two other doors exit the tower, one of them towards the former barracks and Fort Yoletcha, the other giving access into a narrow corridor that stretches around a quarter of the interior courtyard. Here and there, murals of dour-faced Hellknights adorn the walls, and tall, narrow windows let in limited light.
The corridor terminates at the north-eastern tower, where the courtyard wall is half-collapsed and the tower itself is partly in ruin, making further passage a treacherous proposition. Two doors sit in the eastern wall of the corridor.
Alak cranes his neck up to examine the portraits in the faint light, carefully reading the names underneath. At one point he stops in front of one, looking at it for a few moments with fierce intensity. "My grand-grandfather," he explains in a low voice. "He died before I was born." The painting depicts a Hellknight in full plate armour that is painted black, with the symbol of Asmodeus displayed prominently on the breastplate. He doesn't seem any different from the other portraits of stern-looking men and women that served the Order of the Nail.
"If it got there, it can probably get out the way it came in? I doubt it dropped down from the sky ..." Unsure about the details of the how and what, Beau quickly moves on from the topic and gets to the task at hand: finding another way to get to the darned beast!
The way quickly becomes apparent and it takes them past a painting of Alak's grand-grandfather. While the armiger reminisces - if one can reminisce about a person that lived before you were born?! - Beau can't help but get hung up on the fact the man is a proud devotee of Asmodeus. Why willingly follow the teachings, if one can call them that, of an arch-devil?! Whatever the case might be, Alak has shown himself to be a decent person, so maybe there's something Beau is missing. He shrugs in reply to his own thoughts, and then moves on past the painting.
"How do we want to deal with this beast? Have one or two of us move in, pull it to one side, and then have the rest come in and take it down from the back? It doesn't strike me as a creature that will sit back, so I think ... this might work." Sure, it might, but splitting up the party ... what could go wrong?!
Amaya stays out of the conversation of killing. While she is more than willing to protect her life, and those around her, she is not in the habit of planning out such things in advance. Instead, she stands with Alak, looking at the portrait. She is not overly impressed by the image, but appreciates the armiger's familial ties. "Did you know much about him? Told any stories by your parents?"
As Alak mentions his kin, Gofran points out. "If ye vant to, ye could cut the painting and take it vith ye... vith all the disrrepairr and lootin' in this place, it is a mirracle forr ye to find it. Perrhaps a sign frrom yerr ancestorr?"
To Beau he adds. "Have ye forrfotten about the rrecent earrthquake? I bet if got trraped therre by that collapsed vall. If ve have kill it, let us not overrthink, rright? Ve just hit it frrom behind the barrs vherre ve arre safe... perrhaps ve can find some spearrs to help doin' so."
"The life of an 'adventurrerr'..." He says, clearly revealing how he despises the word. "...is dangerrous enough vithout ve takin' unnecessarry rrisks."
Gofran then moves ahead to scout and rests his ear against the closest door to the east.
The armiger looks at the painted plaster doubtfully. "I don't think I can remove this without destroying it, it's painted on the wall itself." He glances at Amaya. "He was one of the original members of the Order, there when this place was built."
Behind the eastern door, Gofran can hear a scuffle and faint animal noises - growling and yipping.
Kyrie has absolutely nothing good to say about the hellknights, save perhaps the Order of the Torrent, but she knows better than to bring that up now. She just stands quietly, her expression fierce and her jaw tight.
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Karana turns to Kyrie. “Remember where your heart is. It is in the right place. Whatever story of hell knights you do not like to tell, you do not have to tell.
“We start a new story for Dame Kyrie!”
She hears an animal! “Dogs, I think. I will meet their eyes. Please excuse me.” She opens the door…
Amaya notices the look on Kyrie's face and watches her new companion with concern. She considers saying something, but Karana beats her to it, which is probably for the best. She was considering asking what was wrong. Instead, she nods in agreement with Karana and provides a warm smile to the warrior woman.
Karana opens the door to a large foyer that leads to the main gate of the fortress. Above the large double doors, a tarnished seal depicting a sunburst made of nails stands out in relief on the keep's stonework. Under the seal runs a worn but clear line of carved text. Dented, rusted and incomplete suits of Hellknight armour line the north and south walls. Broken furniture is scattered about the area, as are what look like the half-chewed carcasses of several small animals. A wide, dirty stretch of black carpet leads to the gate from both smaller doors into the room. Scuffs on the walls indicate where paintings or framed documents once hung. Prominently displayed on each wall is a the same nail sunburst seal carved in relief, with the same line of text running above it.
Two very strange-looking dogs are currently play-fighting on the floor, while a third raises its head off its front paws to look in the direction of the opening door.
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Karana focuses on the one who looks her way.
“You remind me of my Rontu.”
Her tone is not hostile, but it is not the same as the gentleness as when she spoke to Kyrie. It is not the tone of one who is trying to keep a strange dog as a pet. There is an air of respect. Warriors present may understand it as how one warrior talks to another who is not friend, not foe. An equal.
To Karana, the words assist her in setting the tone. She knows the dog cannot understand anything but the heartfelt respect. If the dog listens, it will hear her story and know Karana is not hostile.
“Rontu killed my brother. I went into Rontu’s cave and killed a dog, then another, then another. I came with fire and pointy sticks. I came to kill every dog on the island. My brother was all I had and Rontu took him from me.”
There is no anger, as Karana tells the dog of her past as a mass-dog-killer.
“Rontu came out and saw five of his boys lying dead. Trails of blood led to where the fatally wounded hobbled to. Our eyes met. I loosed my arrow. It protruded from Rontu as he fled.
“I searched for him. Failing to find him, I pushed dry brush to the cave to burn with the magic from my hands. The smoke would kill those who would not brave the flames and die by my spear… but I did not light the brush. There was a mother nursing her pups.
“Like my brother, they needed more years to walk the mortal plane. And when I did find Rontu on his side, whimpering, bleeding, I pointed my arrow to end his misery.
“But I did not loose this arrow. The magic from my hands stabilized him, and I nursed him back to health.”
The creature's ears perk forward as Karana speaks, while the other two cease their tussling and watch attentively. As she finishes her story, the first one yawns, stretches out its front paws and pads over to the elf, still keeping a safe distance of several feet. This close, it looks less like a dog and more like a long-legged, giant rat. It yawns again, sniffing in Karana's direction and licking its chops. It seems more curious than anything as it tilts its head expectantly at the druid.
Karana is not sure the rat-dog will understand, but she points to an unexplored direction.
She speaks the Goblin tongue, in the hope that the linguistic association will help the rat-dog understand the request: to go the its goblin master.
The creature tilts its head in the other direction, looking at Karana's finger, then sits on its haunches. It does not seem to understand the request, although it displays a certain willingness to obey very simple commands.
Karana says to the others, “I may be able to get this creature to find the goblins, but we need a scent first.”
Karana moves down the hall and checks for a goblin scent.
The rat-dog pads after Karana as she moves down the hall, the other two watching the rest of the part warily from a distance. The rays of the setting sun fall through the cracks in the wall, dust motes dancing inside them.
The predominant smells in this area are those of decay and decomposition - the general mustiness of the abandoned keep, the stagnant pool of water in the courtyard, the fetid odour of the grauladon and a whiff of something dead. There are other, weaker scents underneath, but difficult to distinguish and identify.
The rat-dog begins to growl as it approaches the gap in the wall through which sunlight streams in, and Karana can hear the noises of the lizard-dragon outside, scrabbling over rubble.
Karana tells the others of the scents she can sense. “I smell stagnant water, the grauladon—I recognize its scent from when it charged the bars trying to get me—and I smell something dead. Perhaps its kill. I cannot tell from the smell what it killed.”
Karana speaks as of being able to smell these things is a thing any person can do.
"Vell, I smell nothin'... arre ye surre this rrat vill be able to lead us to the goblins? Ve verre doin' vell vithout them. Perrhaps it is saferr forr us, and forr them, to keep them locked in that rroom vhile ve explorre the rrest o' the citadel." Gofran proposes.
Karana thinks about Gofran’s response. “They say animals have a better scent than people. My father once said that he felt the difference when he changed… but he could become a lion.
“Anyway, if I can get the goblin’s scent, the rat-dog might lead the way.”
She pauses.
“If you fear for the animal’s safety, I will send it back. But it is willing and able to help us.” Turning to the rat-dog, she says in a gentle voice, “Are you not?”
Amaya had never seen anything like the exchange going on between Karana and the dog-creature. She doesn't dare interrupt them, but watches (from a safe distance) and looks for an opportunity to help, if she can.
The rat-dog's ears perk up at Karana addressing it and it sits back on its haunches looking at her with its tongue lolling out. After a few moments, it whines.
She pats the rat-dog and smiles warmly.
As they are able to observe them more, Gofran and Karana identify the three creatures as goblin dogs - which is a misnomer, as they are not canines, but rather large rodents. It is inadvisable to pet them, as they have itchy mange and an irritating dander that can cause allergic reactions in nearly all creatures that don't share the goblin dogs' terrible hygiene habits (with the exception, of course, of goblins). They tend to be cowardly creatures, but hunger can make them aggressive.
Uncertain about the necessity of befriending these aggressive rodents, Beau stays the hell away from them. "Like a hedgehog with a nastier demeanor ...", he mutters under his breath.
Karana does not pet the goblin-dog.
“They show signs of domestication. I think the ‘goblin-dog’ is a goblin pet. They are rather cowardly, so I do not worry too much.
“Shall we dare open this door? I do not know if the grauladon will be able to reach us. I can, however, move through this crack and see the other side if you prefer.”
Normally Bea would do a search of the room for anything interestingly quirksome, but going alone in a room with two dogs the size of her seems reckless at best.
Instead she stays in the hall behind the big people, peeks in, and scans the place as best as possible with her arcane senses.
She is also happy to allow Karana scout with her other dog.
Alak braves the presence of the two other goblin dogs in the foyer to examine the suits of armour, righting the stands where they have toppled, here and then turning a pauldron or a gauntlet over in his hands or tracing the lines of a breastplate. He shakes his head slowly. "Not much useful left here, much of what hasn't been takes is too rusty. Probably enough left to put together a full suit, but I wouldn't trust it very far in real combat."
Not wanting to become a snack herself, Karana gives the obedient goblin dog a piece of jerky (from her rations).
She commands <stay> in the Goblin tongue.
While the goblin-dog eats, Karana steps close to the crack, chants in Druidic…
…and in the form of a ladybug, she crawls through the crack to explore the area on the other side.
She hopes she can see plenty from within ten feet of that crack, in case she needs to flee from a larger pest!
Karana thinks she is too tiny to tempt the extremely colossal grauladon. She will not invade its space long enough to learn the hard way. She crawls under the door to the north to see what awaits there.
Ladybug Karana can see that the tower is separated from the courtyard by a big rubble pile. The growling that can be heard from the other side indicates that the grauladon hasn't gone anywhere.
Crawling under the northern door, she sees a hallway extending for some distance before veering to the right and cutting off her view. The light is very dim in the very large room beyond, but she thinks she can make out the outlines of benches.
Karana skitters along, checking under benches (if no person or bug-eating creature is there), and she peeks under the door to the west.
Kyrie moves next to Gofran and points to the wall and the door. ”I think that the wall may collapse if we do not shore it up. I think we should open the door slowly after we do so. I wonder if you agree.”
Beatrix is watching the dogs, in case they decide to eat the smallest person in the room.
Kyrie moves next to Gofran and points to the wall and the door. ”I think that the wall may collapse if we do not shore it up. I think we should open the door slowly after we do so. I wonder if you agree.”
Gofran nods to Kyrie. "I do, I do, though perrhaps ve do not have to rrisk it at all, if therre is anotherr path. If therre is any logic to this constrruction, therre should be a path the courrtyarrd and parrhaps that one isn't collapsed as this."
Karana skitters along, minding the duration of the magic. (She had cast Wild Shape and Wild Morph a lot over the past two suns!)
As long as there is no potential bug-eater or bug-stepper-onner present, she will poke around the room and move to the next. Once she discovers signs of life, Karana will get a good look at who is there, and what the situation appears to be, and then she scurry back to the others!
Kyrie mirrors Gofran's nod. "I agree. I think we should be cautious. 'Discretion is the better part of valor.'"
The large room turns out to be quite large, and Karana-in-bug-form only has time for the most cursory of inspections before moving on. A judge's bench, a witness stand, some tables and the benches are the only remaining indication of this room's previous use - likely some sort of formal courtroom. Through several empty doorways to the north, a large, ragged opening in the citadel's wall is visible - along with what appears to be a corpse wearing silvery armour, lying on a muddy lump in the center of a pool of water that has filled much of the collapsed section.
Moving south-west under another door reveals a smaller chamber, where once-plush crimson curtains hang in tatters on the walls, and discoloured patches mark where paintings once decorated the interior. Trash and rotted food lie in heaps on the floor.
Choosing the north door, which stands open, Karana skitters through to a new area - an open space with a clear view into the courtroom, littered with piles of filthy blankets, half-gnawed bones, and other signs that some sort of creature is squatting here. At this point, bug-Karana feels that the end of her transformation is approaching, and beats a hasty retreat to the rest of the group.
After several minutes, something by the door—a red spotted egg?—expands rapidly! Bare, fleshy baby-sized limbs protrude and grow to child-size. An undefined blob of flesh spouts otters fur and cormorant feathers and long, dark hair. The now adult-sized limbs straighten as yucca fiber unfurls in time to provide modesty. The lean arms form with a shield on the left arm and a spear gripped in the right. The head under the long, dark hair looks up.
Of course it is Karana. She is a bit disoriented from the sudden change.
“Oh… I did some exploring. There is a courtroom ahead. A knight has died. It was like seeing a toppled giant… but I am sure this person was not alive.”
She uses the butt of her spear for support and says, “If you do not object, I would like to rest a bit in the courtroom unless urgency forces us to press quickly.”
Slightly unsettled by Karana's shapeshifting, but slightly less so than when he experienced it for the first time, Beau tries not to gawk. "No, go for it. I can imagine that such a ... metamorphosis ... takes a lot of energy and effort."
"Lets just take a look arround the courrtyarrd, yes? As I and Kyrrie verre discussin', therre could be a way to the courrtrroom that is not as damaged as this one." Gofran offers.
Bea nods at the suggestion, not that many of them spend time looking down so she adds "Falling ceilings are a problem. Heads are important. Unless you happen to be a creature with your brain in another location, or lack one all together."
The group treks around to the gate towards the courtyard. From there, a short passage leads to another tower, and beyond that a corridor very similar to the eastern one that seems to loop around the western part of the courtyard and leads to the north-western tower.
Of the two exits from the tower, one leads to the half crumbled passage that opens to the courtyard, while the other leads to a room that sparks instant recognition in Alak.
"This is where I entered through, the first time I tried exploring this place." He points to the rotting bodies of three giant rats. "These attacked me, but I killed them."
The south-western wall is indeed partially collapsed, opening the room to the outside. Owing to its exposure to the elements, most of the surfaces in this room are covered in moss and vines, including snarls of wild blackberries, which climb over toppled shelves and filing cabinets. Along the room south-eastern wall is a badly decomposed humanoid corpse, the flesh of which has sustained obvious small bite marks. Those who overcome their disgust for long enough to search the body find two small vials in a belt pocket.
The room, once a place to store records and documents, has exits to the north and east.