Faerinaa kills the bug on Khaul with a single strike and then brings up a mystical shield.
The wound on Faerinaa bleeds a little.
Round 1:
Blue Bug
Vinny One action left if she wants it
Round 2:
Faerinaa 4 damage, drained 1, 1 persistent bleed damage, One action left if she wants it
Green Bug 22 damage
Red Bug 18 damage
Khaul 1 persistent bleed
Yellow Bug 18 damage attached to Khaul
Bastian
Tess
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Once again the ancestors wrestle for control of Tess during the tumult of battle.
Tess grins, approving of this ancestral choice. "Come here, eager fly. The spider awaits!"
Tess slashes forcefully at the fly, hoping to cut it in half like she did the other.
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◈ If it is still up, she casts Shield.
"Is everyone else alright?" Tess calls down.
Tess kills the last of the bugs with a single cut from her blade. The two sides of the creature float down to the ground.
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Once her ancestors give their permission, Tess has no problems climbing down. The ancestors just wanted that additional moment to take in the view of the valley.
Bastian assists Khaul and manages to stop the bleeding.
Khaul helped Faerinaa and manages to stop the bleeding.
When Bastian heals Faerinaa, her drained condition is removed. She looks like she could still use some healing.
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"Nah, Thanks be to Torag!" smiles Khaul. The fresh air and fight seems to have restored the warriors spirits, and those nearby suspect he eyes on a large meal tonight to make up for the missed lunch.
"Let's go see that tower they were nestin in. I'm doubting there be any other beasties in the area, or them blighters would've drunk them dry."
Then he remembers the gecko. "Or maybe not.."
Hefting his shield, he heads carefully into the tower, pausing at the door to inspect the stone work.
There does not appear to be anything else in that tower of interest.
The keep is 45 feet in height.
The great hall is accessed from the ground level of the courtyard by a spiral stone ramp that is 10 feet across and winds up the outside of the keep to a landing where the front door once was located. The door fell to pieces long ago, and all that is left is an empty doorway that leads into the great hall.
The room inside is covered in broken masonry, pieces of wood, and giant gecko droppings. In the southeastern corner of the great hall is a winding staircase and a set of passageways that leads downwards.
The ceiling of the great hall has a 10-foot-square hole in it, open to the sky, that leads up to the roof. A wooden staircase, long since decayed, once ascended to the upper story. The anchor holes for the staircase can still be seen on three sides of the wall.
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Khaul eyes up the hall dubiously.
"Well, This looks to be where that Gekko calls home. Wonder why the bloddsuckers don't bother it? Could be nocternal, and they like the light?" he shrugs.
The dwarf does look with some interest at the stairs leading downward but then suggests "Shall we look at the other above ground structures before we head into the depths?"
Tess is unable to climb up to the roof on her first try.
Tess falls on her butt when she tries to climb again.
2) The roof!
3) One more glance around the Great Hall, making sure we're not missing anything.
The box contains mostly love letters between what you would guess to be a minor Varisian noble from Ustalav and his Kellid wife. It details many amorous excursions, along with a map of their caches of gold they left behind in Ustalov. Some of the letters are scandalous in their details of the assignations.
The roof is still out of reach. You were able to see there is a large hole in it, but until you clear away the rubble and rebuild the stairs it is hard to determine what else might be needed.
You do not find anything else of interest in the Great Hall.
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"Love letters!" Tess glances through them, amazed. "I think we should read through them thoroughly when we return to the Inn. We might find more of the history of this fort." Tess pauses at one passage, and then turns to Vinny and Faerinaa. "Does that look anatomically possible? I think one would have to be very flexible, though I admit that all my knowledge of this subject is merely theoretical." Reluctantly, she puts away the letters.
She turns back to Khaul. "If we want to explore above ground first, let's go through the barracks before the stairs."
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"Aye lassie. The barracks. Then maybe I'll put me knowledge of stonework to the test and see if I cannie not beat ye ta tha top of tha roof."
He joins the others heading toward the barracks. "Mine ye, may be worth a gander at the well as we go past. But take some care as the stonework looks a might dodgy..."
You go back to the well where you found the love letters and search again. You do not find anything else of interest.
Searching the barracks, you find the walls and furnishings of this former dormitory have been severely damaged from roof leaks. The good news is that the foundations and framing are in good condition. With substantial repairs, it could once again provide a comfortable shelter to the future denizens of the fort.
The hole in the outer wall (not pictured) is rather large. If you can collapse the northeastern tower, the stones from that would be very useful in patching this hole and a few other things.
Looking around on the outside, you don’t see any signs of creatures up on the roof of the keep. The merlons don’t look in great shape and there is the 10’ hole to deal with, but nothing significant seems to be nesting there.
You get your light sources and weapons ready and then venture down the stairs. The stairs have minor amounts of refuse here, but nothing that gets in your way. It doesn’t take long before all outside light is gone.
You hear noises just around the corner.
A lizard comes around the corner and charges up the stairs! It snaps it’s jaws at Khaul, but misses.
Round 1:
Orange Lizard
Tess
Vinny
Faerinaa
Khaul
Bastian
Yellow Lizard
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Vinny tilts her head looking at the letter Tess shows her. "Seems... uncomfortable to me." As they approach the stairs, she pulls a sunrod from her bag and activates it. When she sees the lizard, she takes a flask of alchemist's fire and throws it at the lizard's face. "You nasty lizard, go away!" she shouts. She throws another bomb for good measure.
Vinny misses with the first flask, but hits with the second.
Faerinaa’s first strike against the lizard hits it in the gizzard. The second still hits, but nothing vital. It is still enough to finish off the lizard.
Round 1:
Orange Lizard 35 damage
Tess
Vinny
Faerinaa
Khaul
Bastian
Yellow Lizard
Khaul raises shield and strides forward until he can see another lizard. The lizard’s head snaps as it focuses on the intruding dwarf.
Round 1:
Orange Lizard 37 damage
Tess
Vinny
Faerinaa
Khaul
Bastian
Yellow Lizard
Bastian reflects on if a lizard is smart enough to have regrets as he comes up beside Khaul.
Round 1:
Orange Lizard 37 damage
Tess
Vinny
Faerinaa
Khaul
Bastian
Yellow Lizard
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◈ Tess runs down the stairs, wondering what her ancestors may ask of her.
1=Martial (if moderate curse, your Strikes gain a +1 status bonus to attack rolls and a +2 status bonus to damage.)
2=Skillful (if moderate curse, +1 status bonus to skill checks and perception.)
3=Spellcasting (if moderate curse, non-cantrip spells without a duration gain a status bonus to their damage and healing equal to the spell's level.)
4=Tess’s Choice
Tess smiles, gathers energy into a ball of sound, and tosses a spell at the lizard.
◈◈ Soundburst
Tess releases a ball of energy that causes a thunderclap of sound. The lizard doesn’t like this.
It decides to charge Khaul and bite at him! It barely hits, when Bastian gives it a glimpse of a different way. The beast decides to continue down its initial path rather than try something else. That decision isn’t likely to work well for the lizard, when it snaps it’s jaws again they don’t come close to getting past Khaul’s defenses.
Round 2:
Orange Lizard 37 damage
Tess
Vinny
Faerinaa
Khaul 2 damage
Bastian
Yellow Lizard 7 enfeebled 2
In a flurry of activity, the lizard is killed by the combination of Faerinaa’s, Bastian’s and Tess’s attacks.
Combat over, you find that just beyond where the lizards were nesting the stairs are blocked by debris. You will need to excavate them to find out what is further down here.
You spend much of the rest of the day inspecting the fort and taking notes of what repairs are needed. You have a good idea of the extent of the repairs required in the areas you can access.
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"I think that's it for today. We should head back to Prophet's Rest and start tracking down those craftspeople!" Then she pauses a moment. "About that box of letters... Should we show them to our budding historian patron, Narsen, or keep their secret a little longer? I'll admit that I don't fully trust our hosts."
Along the way, Tess looks for likely wildflowers that she can replant around the Fort to camouflage the planting of the Whispering Lilies.
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"Tis personal communication... and of a very personal nature. But ta lord be long gone.... or is he?"
Khaul looks around. "Are any of you bein scholars in Taldane's murky nobility? Think there be families that even today be scandalised by th' goin's on of their ancestors?"
He sighs "It be a good way to get on side with our patron here, that be th' truth o' it."
You don’t recognize the names of the two people, so you don’t know if they even have family remaining in Ustalov. You would say that if it were a scandal, the Varisians would consider it minor and there are likely some that would thrive in any notoriety it brought.
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"It's been an interesting day. I think we should definitely head back for tonight at least. I think we'll be here for several weeks getting this place fixed up. I'd also like to observe this 'religion' here. I think that Razimir has at least a few of the bad traits of the Runelords and I don't doubt there are a few of his priests in need of redemption. I do not think Milani is fond of this nation's rulers." Bastian looks like he is quite serious about it.
"We should get some beers or wine when we get back."