Having tended to needs of preparation, you check one last time with Koya to see how Ameiko is doing. Her condition hasn't changed, but she's been continuing to mumble in her magically-induced slumber.
"Something about 'Grandfather waits in the dark, but he knows not who he was' ... or some such," she explains with a shrug. "But my Tien isn't very good, so I could be misunderstanding her."
Heading west from the main road and the caravan, the disused path very quickly trails off into ... nothing. The undergrowth in the forest has overtaken the small road that lead to the village. Following Sandru's directions, though, you continue west through the thick trees.
After about an hour of fighting through the dense foliage, you're relieved to see that it begins to thin out somewhat, allowing easier passage. Through the thinning woods, you can catch a glimpse of the village of Brinewall. You also come across the remains of the road. The road quickly branches, though. One branch heads down to the village to the southwest, while the other direction climbs northwest to what you can see is the ruins of a lighthouse elevated on a promenade of rock, giving it a good vantage point to oversee both the village and the river.
Rain begins to fall.
Knowing Tien much better than Koya, Shunsen spends a few minutes listening to Ameiko's mutterings, to ensure whatever message she is trying to deliver...is delivered properly
Shunsen wipes the sweat and rain from her brow, and scowls to the southwest before then looking up at the lighthouse ruins, "I think we should get the lay of the land from up there, first..." she suggests.
Spending some time listening to Ameiko's somnolent murmurings, Shunsen catches a number of different messages ... riddles? ... warnings?
"Beware the birds who wish to fly but cannot..."
"A key you seek lies in the grip of the ten-handed one — his fear is your greatest ally..."
"Beware the cuckolded cuckoo — it is in his shattered silent love you should seek aid..."
... as well as the phrase Koya passed along and the original message regarding the seals and the vault repeated multiple times.
Orchid doesn't seem overly happy about the proposed diversion, but takes it in good(?) cheer and marches straight up the road towards the lighthouse ruins without pausing. It seems she is determined that this expedition will be one of surpassing efficiency and swiftness.
"Knowing is generally better than doing" Cailyn states as all truly great bibliophiles would, though here she is with a heavy crossbow and a fine chain shirt. "And we should probably go after her. Orchid, we need to stay together, remember the ogres." she is unsure if the other woman heard her and is unwilling to cry out for anything else to hear her.
Following after Orchid, the group soon finds itself on a raised bluff that overlooks the river and the village. The lighthouse itself looks to be an empty shell, the roof having caved in many years ago. Amid the ruins, Orchid and Cailyn discover a partially crushed strongbox. Within it is 93gp and an extremely rusted key with a spiraling knot pattern on the bow.
Even with the rain, the height of the bluff gives you a good view of the village. Most of the buildings in the village-proper show signs of damage as well as the two piers that extend out into the small bay off the river. There are no ships to be seen at the docks save one - a partially sunken longboat which looks much newer than the rest of the ruins.
Farther to the west, you can see Brinewall Keep. While the buildings in the village look to have lost the battle against the ravages of time, the keep itself seems to have weathered the decades with little damage to be seen from here. You see no signs of activity anywhere in the village or the keep.
Vigny shares her thoughts on the ship.
"That ship is from the north, an Ulfen design. It hasn't been there long either. It's an odd place to put in to land. I'd think it would only be because they're up to no good, raiders from one of the Ironbound Isles, or they ran into trouble and had to reach land before they sank. Could be both. Either way, the crew could still be around nearby. We should be wary."
"It looks like we'll need to go through the village to get to the keep. The keep's probably where we'll find anyone, if there's anyone to be found here. As we go, we should use the buildings in the village to stay out of sight of any sentries that might be posted on the walls. We don't want the place all buttoned up with archers on the walls to greet us when we get the the gate."
"Her?" Flori asks, but stops herself quickly as she realises that she probably shouldn't probe right now and Orchid needs her to know the answer to this as her 'big sister'. It would be great if she actually knew the answer from her own experience though, wouldn't it? Well, we can trust on the old addage - do as I say, not as I do.
"Well, for now Orchid, you need to show the other person that you like them. Do something that they like, just for them. Spend some time with them." Flori wished she ever tried to take time to do that with someone special. Or someone had every wanted to do that for her.
She can't help but want to know who Orchid is talking about. Her? Is that Witashta maybe?
-----
Flori nods at Vigny. "This all seems like a sensible plan. Sounds as if you've done this kind of thing before!" She adds, with a smile on her face, probing for any new information on the woman - it would be nice to know anything about her, considering she was so new to Sandpoint. She couldn't help but wonder the woman's motives for joining this expedition.
"It would be unusual to see an Ulfen ship here though, would it not?" Flori muses out loud. "An Ulfen ship here after what we found back near the marshes is just making this whole situation stranger and stranger. There is no reason it would have anything to do with us though I suppose - raiders do seem like the most normal explanation."
Flori looks around at the others to check to see everyone's energy levels look ready to continue, before suggesting they push on.
"Raiding a deserted village... or after the same vault we are after?" Cailyn feels the sudden need to hurry. "What happens to Ameiko if they get to whatever it is first." solemn and frantic stress fills her voice, which she attempt to banish with a tenatice smile "So then, shall we be off?" but she is already moving, doing an Orchid.
"Vigny, dear, about how many raiders fit in a ship like that?" she asks over her shoulder, as she thinks about the number of sailors needed.
"Nope" Vigny answers to Flori. "But I've heard lots of stories and there are some commonalities. Besides, that's really the point of having walls and gates."
"Couldn't tell you" Vigny replies to Cailyn. "My family farmed. We lived south of the Grungir Forest in Southmoor, tiny place that didn't even have a name. Mostly we were all related. The first time I saw the ocean or a ship was in Riddleport."
"There's no upper deck though, so maybe count the number of rowing benches on the ship and figure two per bench I guess. Then add maybe three or four more people on top of that?"
Shunsen feels the same urgency that Orchid exhibits, but as she looks down at the ruins town and surprisingly intact keep, she nods to herself and comments to Orchid, "I want to help Ameiko as much as you do, Orchid, but we have to do this right. Look, now we know what's down there and where to go. You're haste can lead to disaster, not just for us ,but for Ameiko."
She looks at the from the chest, "Hopefully, this will useful later...."
With seemingly nothing else to discover in the ruins of the lighthouse, the group returns back down the bluff, following the path that lead them there. Reaching the point where you exited the forest from the caravan, you continue southwest as the rain grows heavier.
As you reach the edge of the village, the first building you pass is the burned-out remains of a temple to Desna. Opposite the ruin, across the road to the south stand the gates to a small cemetery. While the fence surrounding the cemetery is decaying wood, the gate is metal with a stone arch, flanked with stone figures of the goddess herself. Glancing past the gates reveals the that cemetery seems surprisingly well tended. The grass is short, weeds are almost non-existent, and the gravestones are free from moss.
Shunsen feels the same urgency that Orchid exhibits, but as she looks down at the ruins town and surprisingly intact keep, she nods to herself and comments to Orchid, "I want to help Ameiko as much as you do, Orchid, but we have to do this right. Look, now we know what's down there and where to go. You're haste can lead to disaster, not just for us ,but for Ameiko."
"Right." Orchid says simply. The ship doesn't interest her at all, her eyes remaining fixed on the road through the town to the keep. "Seen. Now go. Quietly."
When the group comes to an abrupt halt in front of yet another stone building Orchid nearly growls aloud but then her eyes catch the well tended grass and she frowns before sniffing deeply. The damp smell of rain drowns out most scents but maybe...
Vigny notices that Orchid notices something odd about the cemetery.
"Strange isn't it? I agree. It's being tended to by someone."
Vigny takes a closer look at the burned out temple as well. She looks for signs that might suggest the Desnan stuff might be newer than the fire.
In spite of Orchid's olfactory abilities, if anything is hiding in the cemetery, the rain is masking its scent. After a cursory examining of the temple ruins, Vigny is pretty sure that the butterfly motif that's pervasive pre-dates any of the damage.
Finding nothing else of interest, the group moves on along the road towards the keep. Passing more ruined buildings you spy the remains of a glassworks. Those of you who have spent any significant amount of time in Sandpoint immediately recognize the decorative similarities between this building and the Kaijitsu glassworks in Sandpoint. Also of note; on the northwest shore of the lagoon you can see the unmoving body of ... something ... large, partially submerged in the water. Even in the rain, the iridescent glimmer of blue-green scales is hard to miss.
It's not that the thing at the edge of the water doesn't raise Vigny's curiosity, it does. But, it also looks fairly convincingly dead and not likely to be up to much in the near future. It could wait until later if need be.
On the other hand, she expects to be able to get a look at the keep's gates from around the far end of the long building. That's the more enticing bit of information for her. She sneaks on up to the edge of the building to peek around and see what she can see.
What does she want to know? First, are the gates present (there might not be any anymore)? If they are present, are they open or closed? Is there any sign of people, things, or whatever at the gates, or of recent activity like repairs or replacements to the structure? Lastly, Vigny thinks she should be able to get a good view of the angle from the keep walls down to the water. She would like to know if the steep bluff is high enough to block line of sight from the keep to the buildings built on the shoreline below it.
If they could go check out the thing in the water without exposing themselves to potential sentries on the walls, she's all for taking a closer look at it.
Moving along the narrow road that curves up the bluff to the keep, Vigny gets a clearer view of the keep while remaining concealed in the thick trees that line it.
Brinewall Castle is a large and intimidating structure. The curtain walls surrounding it are 15' tall with numerous narrow arrowslits in the wall towers. The castle structure itself is constructed of different types of stone - all of them gray - and looks to be two stories tall with a single three-story tower. Large iron-bound double doors control access to the courtyard and those doors are currently closed.
From here, Vigny doesn't see any damage to the structure, nor any figures on the wall. By her estimation, activity below the east side of the bluff would mostly be hidden from view from the castle.
"Castle!" Orchid says when Vigny starts spending too long looking towards the water. "Fish dead. Not go away. Not waste time!" She frowns at the wall and then approaches the gates without any care for sentries.
"Interesting, but I think Orchid is correct, Hurry Hurry Hurry" but while she agrees with one thing the woman says, Cailyn does pause Orchid before she opens the door. "Hurry when we can, slow down when we need. There could be up to twenty sailors from the ship. Opening the door without inspection could lead to them knowing we are coming." she had read about simple measures to produce an alarm, so she looks for them before stepping back and letting the other lady take the lead.
Orchid strides boldly up to the doors with the intention of opening the doors, but Cailyn steps in at the last moment. Examining the doors carefully, she doesn't find any alarms or traps.
The fact of being made clear, Orchid attempts to open the doors, but discovers that they are secured from within. Looking them over from a closer distance indicates that the bands are heavily rusted. It probably wouldn't take a tremendous amount of force to ... force the doors.
Otherwise, another means of entry will need to be found.
"I think..." Cailyn looks through the thin crack between them "there is a bar... oh sugar" the noble lady has pulled out a long thin rod which she tries to lift the obstruction away. "You know I never liked being kept out out things, and the only way I learned to circumvent the sensible Keep Out declarationw was to learn... Oh, I think I have it..."
Rather than a simple bar, Cailyn finds herself tripping a more complex locking mechanism. With a squeal and a squeak of rusted metal, the latch moves. Orchid then pushes the door open enough to slip inside.
The inside of this stone structure has a floor of packed dirt and numerous wooden support beams for the stone ceiling above. A metal banded door mirrors the exterior gate - no doubt allowing access to the inner courtyard. To the northeast and northwest a pair of wooden ladders climb to the roof above. In the northeast portion of the chamber two humanoid figures start from their disturbed slumber.
The figures are similar to muscular human men with bodies completely covered in dark feathers. Their head is that of a raven or a crow. They caw with surprise and move forward to attack.
Combat Begins!
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Round 1
Cailyn is rather pleased with herself, even more so when she sees the humanoids roused from their slumber. "Dire Corbles? nonono Dire Corbies! I've read about their society-Oh goodness, they are attacking!" Cailyn quickly shifts into casting a spell making her crossbow even more heavy and steps back.
Shunsen dashes in to engage with the nearest dire corbie
Once engaged, she nods at Cailyn's observation, "Ware their screech!" . She would say more, but her attention was a bit occupied.
Cailyn prepares with a magical enhancement upon her crossbow and Shunsen dashes into the room to slash at one of the unprepared crow-men, inflicting a grievous wound.
The dire corby Shunsen injured turns and counters at her with its claws and screeches, neither of which has anything other than a cosmetic effect. The other foe leaps across the room to attack Orchid, managing to catch her with one of its claws.
Vigny makes her way through the gate and moves to support Orchid. She two-hands her longsword, slashing at the birdman.
As Vigny cuts Orchid's first foe down, the shifter leaps on the second bird with unnerving focus.
"Hate. Birds!" She declares angrily before showing just how much by taking a huge bite out of the creature!
The heavier heavy crossbow thwacks loudly a split second before the bolt slams into the feathered flesh of the corbie fighting Shunsen.
Flori is not quite quick enough to react and doesn't get time to react when the birds launch their, luckily ineffective attack. She manages to lob a blob of acid in there direction but it achieves nothing.