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Elsie leads you along the waterfront to a point just east of town. Moving down to the waterline, she shows you a small opening in the rocks, just large enough to walk into if you crouch. It's well hidden, and would have been difficult to spot without her help. A small stream of water flows from this opening into the bay. "I think this must be the stream that runs under the well. If you follow it upstream, it should lead you right under Stonehome!"
"Let me light a torch," Bireli says. He removes his pack and retrieves a torch, which he tosses into the entrance before shouldering his pack. He climbs inside the opening and sets down his shield and practice sword before getting a set of flint and steel to light the torch.
Puddins casts a light spell on her Greatsword and follows.
Puddins stows her greatsword and makes the climb.
She lowers a rope to help the others climb up.
Henry reaches up for tthe rope and makes the small ascent. "Thanks, Puddin." He struggles to get up but manages to do so after a few attempts.
Demonica makes her own way up.
Otoro nervously takes a hand up.
"Stables" whispers Otoro "That seems the most likely place for livestock."
"Agreed. And we have a promise to fulfill."
Henry rushes to the stables, the thrill of getting caught fills his body with adrenaline. "Forget the promise. This is just fun."
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These modest stables are in good repair and have two large pens. The smell of hay and animal refuse permeates the air. Kneeling in one of the pens is a large rosethorn ram, clearly ailing.
"Let's administer the medication. Also looks like we could bust through that wall to the north pretty easy if we want to."
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The ram greedily eats the medicated biscuit almost as quickly as you can feed it to her. She seems to recover a bit of her strength almost immediately, and after a few minutes she even rises to her feet, some of the fearsome independence (if not malevolence) common to all goats returning to her eyes.
"Should we take a peek around while we are here or head to the island while we still have time?" Henry asks.
"Well, if there's a wall we can push through, it seems like a good idea to keep looking around here."
Puddins pushes the secret door open.
"We could, but we probably should get the goat back to Elsie like we promised," Bireli says while Puddins tries to push open the wall.
"Ugh, Bireli, why are you so boring? We'll just look around a little, and then we'll bring the goat back."
Demonica tries to climb up.
"Yea Bireli, we just don't get caught. We will only stay for a little bit." Though it will likely be several hours.
He watches Demonica slide down the wall and kneels down. "Climb up my back. See if you can reach higher."
"A knight must keep their promises," Bireli protests futily.
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Demonica just manages to scrabble up to the top of the ramparts. There, she finds a flat space, open to the sky and constructed entirely of stone with a crenelated wall facing outward. A single door leads north, and a hatch set into the floor leads inside the keep. Several discarded arrows litter the floor here, including one marked with the image of deer antlers burned into the shaft.
"This is a cool arrow." Demonica picks it up. "Which way should we go?"
Otoro asks "Unless you see a good way down that chimney, I guess the door is next."
"Come on, let's go through this door up here." Demonica lowers a rope to help her friends and her brother.
"We're going to get into a heap of trouble, Sissa," Bireli says before climbing up the rope she just tossed over for them.
"That seems better than this door down here."
Otoro climbs up the rope.
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As you open the door, you hear the clank of armor as a voice calls out "What the? Who are you!" Three armored figures sit in this room, as if in conversation at the end of the day. They look to be in various states of doffing their armor. For two of them, the full-plate they are in the process of removing is rusted and broken, yet seems to be worn with pride. Sickles lie nearby among their gear. The third's armor still gleams, as does her greatsword. More importantly, her face betrays recognition as you enter, and indeed is familiar to you as well: Sister Vanda, the Gorumite who met you when you first arrived in town, and in whose company you last saw Elder Ordwi! No time for conversation, however, as the nearer man in the rusty armor re-buckles the grieve he was in the process of removing, stands, and picks up his sickle, his intent clear!
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#1
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Otoro
Henry
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Demonica
"Oh! Our sincere apologies!" Bireli says as he pulls the door shut. He then raises his wooden shield and looks to his sister. "Sissa. Step over there and get ready to smack them when they come through the door."
"These two are no Gorumites! Mess around with us, and find out what happens!"
Puddins steps forward and brandishes her greatsword, readying an attack for the first one to step within reach.
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Bireli quickly closes the door to buy a little extra time, while Puddins gets ready to smash the first foe through the door.
"You two!" you hear Sister Vanda call out, her voice muffled by the closed door, "Deal with them!", accompanied with the sound of armor buckles and an unsheathed sword.
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#1
Bireli
Puddins
Vanda
#2
Demonica
Otoro panics not completely understanding what's going on and unleashes their gate as water begins to flow around them.
Following Puddin's lead they ready to blast the first available target with freezing cold water.
Henry looks at Sister Vanda. "Where is my Mom at?" A dire realization dawns on him as the gorumites look intent to kill. "We need to run. Get out of here fast." Henry looks scared but comes up with a half-brained idea. He steps into the shadows only to reappear wearing similar plate armor and looking just like one of the gorumites. "Run out of here I'll distract them while you get over the wall. Hurry!"
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Just as Henry finishes his spell, the door opens. The man inside looks surprised to suddenly see a Gorumite standing among the crowd of outsiders...but not as surprised as he is by the ferocity of Puddin's swing! Her sword leaves a nasty, jagged rift in his rusty plate, biting deep into the flesh beneath. He cries out in pain and manages to dodge Otoro's followup, but is clearly badly wounded.
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#1
Bireli
Puddins
Vanda
Otoro
Henry
#2
Demonica draws her big sword and swings!
She swings again, if needed!
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Demonica quickly finishes what Puddins began, cutting down the man in the rusty armor.
"You'll pay for that!" the other rust-clad man growls, rushing forward and slashing at her with a rusty sickle!
His weapon catches her once, leaving a nasty cut across her shoulder!
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#1
Vanda
Otoro
Henry
Demonica
"Hey! That's my sister!" Bireli says as he tries to slip past the rusty armored Gorumite. Stymied, he steps back into place and thrusts toward the man's gut with the blunt tip of his wooden sword.
"We outnumber you by more than double. Parlay would be wise, so I'm certain you will decline as your wits are likely as dense as your breastplates!" he remarks.
Puddins voices a prayer to Gorum, invoking her Weapon Surge. She then swings at the enemy,
Hero Point!
"In Gorum's name, tell us what is going on here! Who are these outsiders?"
Henry lets the illusion fade. "Where is my Mother Sister Vanda?"
"That was easier than I expected. Can someone patch up these fellows on the floor?" Bireli says before clearing his throat as he sheaths his wooden sword. "We, ah, know that we're trespassing and took an, ah, unconventional route into the keep. My sister bends toward the unconventional. Do you have a sibling? I'm sure you'd understand if you do. You've got to protect them even when they're doing something boneheaded. We came to help out the sick goat in the courtyard and fell victim to curiosity and, well, Henry is worried about his mother."
Otoro kneels down, kicking away swords and providing oceans balm to the fallen.
Mist continues to linger around Otoro.
Demonica rolls her eyes as Bireli mentions her.
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Otoro finds that both warriors seem to have stabilized on their own, though both are badly wounded.
Vanda sighs for a moment. "Things are...bad here. I've been trying to keep my head down and not cause trouble, so I don't end up like Blanton, but...well, you can see for yourself" she says, gesturing to the fallen warriors in rusty armor. "Do they look to you like they're following the way of Gorum?"
"Things have been getting worse and worse, ever since that damn Thassilonian showed up. He talked to Lord Ragnulf for a whole night, and in the morning they declared we were going to bring war to Osprey Cove and subjugate every other settlement in the region, forge an alliance with Xin-Edasseril, things like that. Then Ragnulf started talking about a sickness among our ranks, and that his new friend Meitremar--the Thassilonian--had brough some way to expose it. He opened up some bottle, smelled terrible, and people started doubleing over in pain! Their skin looked like it was rusting away! Ragnulf ordered the rest of us to 'put down the blasphemers'." She pointedly does not say any more about that encounter. "Some time later, the captain of that ship Meitremar came in on showed up telling him it was time to leave...you can find what's left of him up on the roof."
She hangs her head for a moment when Henry asks about his mother. "We took her prisoner as soon as we brought her inside, and handed her over to Meitremar's lieutenant, Azomi." She shudders at the name. "Creepy thing, makes strange noises, always wears his hood pulled low. I don't think he's human, but I don't know what he is. He took her down into the basement but I don't know what became of her after that."
"I...I have a lot to atone for. If you'll let me, I could help you; be your guide." A fierce look comes into her eyes for a moment. "Especially if it means a chance to kill Meitremar or Azomi!"
"Yes?" Bireli says with a shrug and a glance at Puddins when Vanda asks if the defeated warriors look like Gorumites.
After the woman explains the situation to them, he snaps his fingers. "Yes. Yes, you can help us!" he says. "We'll have an easier time finding Elder Ordwi--Henry's mother--with your help. And we can help you oust these Thassilonian trouble makers. They must not be on any official assignment if they killed their own ship's captain!"
Henry looks as angry as a Gorumite. "You better be good on your word. If my Mother is hurt then it will be you head as well." He pulls a dagger with a shaking hand as he had never killed anyone with his own hands before.
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She looks sheepish for a moment--perhaps more ashamed than afraid of Henry's threat. "I'll do everything I can to help you. I just hope Azomi hasn't don't anything terrible to her already."
She thinks for a moment, then walks over to a rack on the wall. "Here. Take this as a sign of good faith." She pulls two scrolls from a rack on the wall, as well as a talisman hanging from a hook. After a moment's consideration, she hands them to Puddins. "Use these, in the name of Our Lord in Iron."