|
Desynthia tries to buy some time for the escape, first with lenghty words, then if it doesn't work with shiny coins
"Unimaginatively, farfegnugen, floccinaucinihilipilification, sesquipedalianism, antidisestablishmentarianism. Err. Um.... Oh! and supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!" says Colleen to the guard, each word taking up lond seconds of time to fully enunciate.
The Wicked Fork is a weatherworn building marked by a trident with the central tine broken off and run by a talkative proprietor, Neld Havasavu.
Zefiro is anxiously awaiting you there, nervously scanning his surroundings. He becomes slightly more calm when he hears that Mireille got to safety. “Hopefully she will leave here for a while. I fear she has attracted far too much attention.”
He gets out a sheet of paper and slides it to you.
As you are reading it, he explains the history.
“Emberhold was the last remaining stronghold of the Davian house. Duchess Lannavia Davian had the backing of Chelish loyalists and the Sargavan navy, but that was not enough to win against the devil army. The final campaign began about 100 miles north of Corentyn in a small coastal town known as Anglemire. The loyalist fleet emerged from the Orneian Reach seeking a victory beneath the Arch of Aroden. Had they been successful it would have weakened Thrune’s position. Unfortunately Thrune’s diabolists were able to summon too many devils and the attack was thwarted.”
“After that, Thrune laid siege to Emberhold seeking to starve out the last of the Davians. They hunted any clerics sympathetic to the Davian cause and eliminated them.”
“Few know the Davian name. I do not know why they are having you investigate the site. Perhaps it is somehow related to the upcoming Loyalty Day festival?”
“In any case, know that Thrune will likely seek to control any information you find and dispense with anything that does not fit within their agenda.”
|
She glances at the fighter and cleric when they are reunited at the inn, "You should hide those weapons if you plan to keep them."
Once the extra note and information is revealed Nala taps her chin, "I am trying to figure out why we are being sent in there. All I can think of is that they just don't care what is in there, but it seems really odd. Anyone have theories? I'm not good at all this political sneakiness."
“Loyalty Day is a celebration commemorating the date Calistril 19, 4640 AR when House Thrune declared itself the victor in the Chelish Civil War. It is a day of feast as the government and the Church of Asmodeus join in providing a free meal to all citizens as a reminder of the benefits they provide.” His delivery is totally straight faced and lacking in emotion.
|
Korgaar chews his whiskers. "It's all beginning to make sense to me, Nala. In a manner of speaking." He hands off the sap to Theron.
"Thrune must think there's a good chance of something turning up at Emberhold that would be inconvenient to their rule. They also know that our Society has been eager to operate openly in Cheliax for years. They dangle the prospect of access, and offer us Emberhold and a few other places to explore.
Once we come out of there, Thrune will want whatever we find. And they'll tell us that if we don't cooperate then they'll close the door on us again. That Chelish diplomat that Dralneen warned us about - she'll demand that the Society gives her our full reports.
I'm a wizard, not a politician, but I understand the power of knowledge, of information."
|
|
"That is a risk, Reverend. For certain Thrune considers us expendable pawns, or they'd have sent their own agents. We'll have to play their game a while longer if we want to know what they're up to.
Before we leave Emberhold we'll need a plan, an agreement on what we report and to whom.
Provided that whatever we find in there doesn't do us in, of course."
“To my knowledge, no one has gone to Angelmire or Emberhold in a long time. They were both left in ruin. I doubt that you will see any official presence there.”
“In any case, that is the information I have. Should anyone here ask you, do not mention me as the source of your information.”
“Thank you and good night.”
Unless someone has anything more for him, Zefiro gets up and leaves.
|
|
"I don't believe we've been instructed to make any reports to the authorities here. I shall hope that Master Farabellus can deal with the politics and the politicians, and we can make sail for Absalom directly we are done at Emberhold.
But if we are confronted we'll need to be agreed on our story. And we can only do that once we've actually explored Emberhold."
A while after Zefiro has left, Neld comes by and asks “Is there anything further you will be needing tonight? As I understand it, you are the group leaving on an expedition tomorrow?”
Eventually you pack it in for the night. Your rooms are plain but functional.
When you awake the next morning and come down to the main room, you find Cassian already there drinking at the bar. His disheveled clothes, damp hair, and grimy brow suggest he's had an industrious morning—or perhaps just a sleepless night.
After he downs another shot, he informs you “I’m through sneaking around for Zarta!”
“That contact she had me meet? It was the same Tamrin Credence that inspected the ship! I gave him the message, but that might have been a mistake.”
As Cassian is speaking, Neld moves along the bar working over a glass with a dirty dishrag.
Cassian says “Then I come back here and find that rat is an agent for the Aspis Consortium!” Neld leans in and states, “Well, that's what I heard, anyway. His ties go back— way back. But that's how it goes around here. Everyone ties their cart somewhere, you know?”
Cassian says “Couldn’t sleep, worried that Zarta is slipping into old habits too quickly. Needed something to take my mind off all this, so I collected all the supplies early this morning.”
You find everything is packed and ready for your trip to the Eismonts. The crate with the rapier to be delivered is set aside so that it is easy to find.
Pointing to the crate, Cassian says “Don’t know where this is going, but one of you said it needed to be delivered to some noble in town.”
|
|
Korgaar has got a feel for how things work around Cheliax, and he's none too happy about it. Once Cassian starts spouting off in the middle of his morning drinking session he snaps.
"Cassian! What the red Hell are you doing man?! Flapping your mouth off like that, haven't you grasped that everyone's a damn politician in this place? Get back to the ship, before you draw the wrong kind of attention to yourself and to us."
Korgaar frogmarches the drunk out of the door and puts him on the Sea Sylph himself - making sure that the Captain and crew keep him shut below decks till the pathfinder mission returns.
|
|
"Beer it is!" Colleen slaps Des on the back and marches off to their lodgings.
Pointing to the crate, Cassian says “Don’t know where this is going, but one of you said it needed to be delivered to some noble in town.”
"My baby!" says Colleen. She clasps the box to herself like young child rocking her favorite blanket back and forth, or an old, insecure, narcissistic leader might cradle his nation's proud flag while ingratiating himself with his followers.
"Oh, I'm delivering you alright." she says with images of the port authority's torso flashing through her mind's eye.
She would ask about what they had missed from the others but not here. Once they were safely away in some ghastly, haunted dungeon there would be time for such pleasantries.
Korgaar grabs the bottle Cassian was drinking from and the drunk. He takes them both to the ship and tells the human to stay there! The captain tells Korgaar he isn’t some babysitter but has no objection if Cassian stays on the ship.
The rest of you check through the packed supplies and find everything is in order. The weapons you had left on the ship are easily found bundled together near the top of the equipment.
Once Korgaar returns, you leave the city. As soon as you are outside the walls, you retrieve and equip your regular weapons.
You make your way along the western coast to Angelmire. The trip is uneventful.
Little remains of the town of Anglemire. Nature is reclaiming the few sturdy stone buildings still visible from the coastline. Anglemire is home only to flocks of gulls, coastal winds, and the sound of waves crashing on a broken shore.
At the north end of the city, where the Eismont foothills meet with the rocky steps of the Menador Mountains, is a short square tower surrounded by the crumbling walls of Emberhold. Thick curtains of lush, green ivy reach upward from an ocean of waving grass and cling to the cracked stone walls—all that remain of the keep.
Emberhold consists of a few free-standing stone walls and some crumbling staircases.
|
|
"Well that's the best plan we have, Reverend" Korgaar replies. "Besides, after that infernal city, I wouldn't mind meeting a few honest monsters out here."
Korgaar grabs his axe - his large, hefty dwarven axe - and takes comfort in its reassuring weight. A large shield held in his other hand, the wizard is ready for action. He steps inside with the Reverend.
"Do you think it's too much to hope that there might be a few goblins inside? Maybe an ogre?"
|
|
Nala puts a hand on the reverend’s shoulder, ”Hold up. I’m not the tactful one in the group, well if we even have one who is. So I’ll just say it, that is not a good plan. Not having one who can disarm traps is not a reason for idiocy. Many traps can simply be avoided by walking around them or triggering them. So it is smart to at least look for dangers before wandering into them. Please, let me and Theron go first.”
She pulls a wand from her belt, activates it with a flurry and clips it back in place. Then makes sure her shield is secure and moves up with the fighter, watching and looking for dangers.
A fire long ago removed the roof and floors of Emberhold's great hall. Five thick columns still stand amidst a dense gourd patch at the bottom of the large pit that remains. The main doorway on the south side is flanked by two stone staircases that wrap around the interior of the west and east walls, much of which have crumbled to the ground. To the northwest is a square tower that's only partially standing. Weeds have overgrown a doorway on the east wall, which breaks on the northeast corner for a wide set of stairs descending from the ground level. A rusty iron gate still stands at the center of the pit's northern wall, rising from the densest portion of the gourd patch and fencing off a descending set of stairs.
A thriving thicket of vines feed numerous ripe gourds, the largest of which are big enough for a person to hide behind!
|
|
"Oh, NOW who's being hasty?" Korgaar chides, his luxuriant eyebrows dancing across his forehead.
"Remarkably large gourds, these."
"Probably bad for your guts."
"Look, if you're really in a hurry that nice lady back in town gave me some polish that will repel the plants - no effort at all."
Korgaar retrieves the Defoliant Polish from his pack.
While Nala is preparing to cut her way through the vines, Colleen finds a nice ripe melon that she has no problem harvesting. Although he has some problems, Korgaar is also able to harvest a melon.
While Nala is preparing to cut her way through the vines, Colleen moves to the entryway and surveys the patch from above. The vines and melons are quite healthy and there are a couple of different varieties of melon down there. Although they are larger than normal, none of the melons appear to be outside the size that a dedicated gardener could achieve.
Korgaar picks one of the melons and then gets out the defoliant polish and spreads it on his armor before getting his axe ready.
While Nala is preparing to cut her way through the vines, Colleen finds a nice ripe melon that she has no problem harvesting. Although he has some problems, Korgaar is also able to harvest a melon.
Just before they start cutting a path through the vegetation, Korgaar uses the defoliant polish on his armor, causing fumes to surround him.
Korgaar finds he is able to step right into the vines, no need to cut them away. Any that come in contact with his armor shrivel up and die. Keynala finds it would have been nice to have a larger slashing weapon for the task, but is able to make some progress.
Suddenly some of the melons change shape into some sort of plant creatures. They shake their vines at you angrily and call out in a language none of you understand. They try a different language, but none of you know that language either.
They do not seem happy to see your group.
Round 1:
Bolded may act.
Nature to identify the creatures.
Colleen
Keynala
Desynthia
Red Plant
Green Plant
Theron
Red Reverend
Yellow Plant
Korgaar
|
What are those? At least they arent undead, I guess... I'm fed up with the restless dead. Too bad we can't understand each other, maybe we could have reached a peaceful solution
From the safe distance, Desynthia sends a small blob of acid toward one of the creature
Pew! Pew! Pew!
No, you have no clue why the sorceress make these noises.
Neither why her white hair change in a soft, dirty yellow.
What is sure is that her spell doesn't hit her intended target.