Big Bumble lumbers into view on the other side of the doorway. He stops and growls menacingly at Alek.
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With Ragna out the door, the northern end of the room is submerged in darkness. Shaserai can only hear the heavy shuffling of the bear as it moves, followed by a growl.
The bear lowers its head to the meat, seizes it in its powerful jaws, and wolfs it down in a few bites. It grabs the other lizard-steak and growls menacingly at Shaserai and Highness through the raw meat.
There is another heavy thud from the other side of the door, and this time, it slides ajar, the remaining rubble piling up around Highness's and Ragna's ankles. On the other side of the door is a massive grizzly bear, incongruously wearing a battered hat tied over one ear and a filthy tutu fastened around its neck like a collar. It shoves its way through the door, slipping a bit on the loose debris still on the floor, and swipes wildly at Highness. Seeing the bear emerge, Jonagher tosses his cut of meat.
Gellius closes the door behind them to avoid the unnerving gaze of the waiting skeletons, then leads the way into the tunnel. Almost immediately, it starts to turn back on itself as it slopes steadily but not precipitately downward; after a while, however, both the slope and the direction stabilize, and it extends ahead straight and smooth, with no apparent end in sight. The width and height are both constant and ample to walk single-file with no feeling of claustrophobia for the taller members of the party. Drake: You feel pretty sure that this tunnel is heading back in the direction of Breachill to the southwest. In addition, the sides of the tunnel don't look as if they had been dug by hand; they are far too smooth and uniform. You would presume that this tunnel was crafted by some sort of magic.
Alek straightens his shoulders and strides back out among the skeletons. As before, they seem to turn their eyeless sockets to register his passing, but they make no move toward him. When he reaches the far side of the Vault, he gives the party a strained nod across the room and then disappears behind the wall, headed back toward the vaultway and the outside.
Des notices that one of the banners is really heavy; a closer look reveals that it is decorated with shiny golden rings shaped like Order of the Nail insignias that are made from actual gold! That ought to be worth something to someone.
Gellius examines the ash and candles on the table. He is hardly an expert in the arcane, but he has read many books on various subjects and feels certain that a ritual was performed in this room -- and from the lack of dust on the candle stubs, not long ago. Given what Alek has told the party about the skeletal guardians, he is pretty sure that some sort of necromancy was done in here which caused the long-dead Hellknights to rise and defend their comrades' resting place. Judging from the footprints, whoever performed the ritual came and went by the door Drake is now opening. Behind the door is a long narrow space cluttered with storage racks and cabinets; some are empty, though others still contain dusty banners with the Order of the Nail's sunburst insignia, stylized Asmodean paraphernalia, and hooded robes clearly designed for formal funerals. Curiously, a dirt-walled tunnel opens in the eastern wall of the closet and stretches into darkness; a set of tracks leads to and from this tunnel to the door in which Drake is standing.
It takes some persuading, but Darla convinces Alek to squeeze into a far corner with the box while she re-pings the room. She still senses the same source of magic and sets everyone but Alek to going over the room with a fine-toothed comb. Gellius checks through the papers that were under the silver implement and finds four well-preserved scrolls with indecipherable runes on them -- indeciperable to him, anyway. Darla recognizes three as scrolls of magic missile, darkness, and darkvision. Des recognizes the fourth as a scroll of heal, as well as the darkness and darkvision ones.
Darla locates the lockbox marked 'Stagram.' It appears to be empty, but when she tips it, she hears a clink. Upon closer examination, there is a crack between the metal bottom of the box and the stone coffer in which it is set; something small could have slipped in and been trapped between the inner and outer boxes. On a shelf in a dark corner, Gellius finds some decaying sheets of parchment stacked beneath a silver implement depicting the head of a woman in profile; each side of the head has a face. The parchments on top fall to pieces at a touch, but some of the paper toward the bottom appears to be in better condition.
Rows of large metal-and-stone lockboxes line the walls of this storeroom, as do occasional shelves and cabinets. Most of the lockboxes hang ajar, having been opened and emptied long before, most likely when the Order of the Nail departed for Varisia. A set of obvious tracks on the dusty floor suggest someone moved around in here quite recently. They lead from a door in the northern wall, around a low table in the center of the room, to the door Drake just opened and another just to the south. A pile of ashes and a few melted candles stubs lie atop the central table. The skeletons continue to make to no move to attack the party.
Nervously, the party continues into the room. Five skeletons stand motionlessly near their opened graves. Their skulls turn to follow Drake's progression through the room, but they don't move from their spaces. At the end of the hall of graves, a door is set in the eastern wall.
As Drake rounds the corner, followed by Gellius and his light, the shattered bones of the skeleton the party dispatched yesterday come into view scattered on the floor. At the far edge of the light, near one of the open graves, a still-animate skeleton stands. Its sightless eye sockets turn toward the intruders, but it makes no move.
Drake clanks down the hall, trying and mostly failing to keep the spikes on his armor from scraping against the walls in the narrow corridor. Reaching the closed door at the end, he glances back for confirmation and/or encouragement. At Gellius's nod, he opens the door that Darla slammed when the party retreated the previous day. The light that spills in from Gellius's enhanced main-gauche illuminates the sarcophagus with the cracked and broken corner; beyond that, three more sarcophagi are visible in the shadows. Ahead on the left, Drake can see an open archway into another dark room.
The group returns to the entrance to the corridor down which the party ignominiously retreated yesterday.
Drake begins to try to strap on the dilapidated plate. It takes quite a bit of time, even with the help of the others, and when he is done, he feels awkward and off-balance due to the weight of the armor. Moving is more difficult, and every step is accompanied by clanks and scrapes and trailed by a fine powder of rust. When the group heads out of the citadel and around to the secret entrance to the lower level in the slope of the hill, he begins to wish he had waited until he was closer to the guardians he hopes to deceive to don the Hellknight plate.
The party affixes the worn badges to their sleeves.
Des finds something wedged between the wall and floor of the bottom of one of the cabinets: a tarnished silver dagger.
Alek and Gellius lead the group back through the test arena to the door at the far end. Opening it reveals a room about fifteen-foot square, its walls lined with cabinets and drawers, with a table in the middle. Additional doors lead out to the south and east.
Gellius points out that the label, written in Infernal, reads arsenic. Perhaps it was meant for rat poison, though keeping it in the kitchen where the food is prepared seems a bit dangerous.
The wave of weakness that had swept over Des passes. Now that the spiders have abandoned the cupboard, a couple of vials are visible beneath the layers of webs. Their labels bear a skull and crossbones, along with a word in what is probably the same language as the vials from the barracks.
Des squashes every fleeing spider they can reach before the arachnids are out of sight.
Drake shares tactical advice as he retrieves the best option he has for damaging the swarm.
Drake:
You know that swarms of insects are very hard to disperse with edged weapons, unless they're really large and heavy like Alek's greatsword. Hitting them with blunt weapons is slightly better, but spells that affect an area or splash weapons are the most effective ways to defeat them.
Darla begins to chant as she switches to more appropriate weaponry. Des draws a blade and tries to scrape the spiders off them, but as quickly as the spiders are detached, more crawl on from the floor. The dagger seems to be accomplishing nothing.
Des begins looking in the kitchen's cabinets. Opening one of the cabinet doors, they see the interior cloaked in a mass of webs and the webs inhabited by several generations of spiders. Initiative rolls:
Disturbed at the intrusion into their ancestral home, the spiders roil out of the cabinet and swarm over the goblin.
Gellius passes through the kitchen and opens the door on the far side to reveal the training hall where they first heard Alak fighting imps in the adjoining test arena.
Gellius opens the door, and the arcane light on his main-gauche spills into what was once used as the citadel's kitchen. A decrepit stove is wedged into the southwestern corner, while wooden cabinets line the walls and a large dust-covered table takes up the middle of the room. There are doors in the northern and western walls.
Des's words make sense--and not just 'goblin sense'--to Darla, so the young woman makes another quick scan for hidden foes, looking up towards the ceiling, perhaps fearing a giant spider or the like. Darla remembers that this had been the lair of the bugbear until the party killed it. Fortunately, nothing has moved back in to fill the vacuum in the interim. Des begins creeping carefully towards the western door.
Gellius notes the the bottle Drake found is also labeled in Infernal and is able to translate it for the group: healing (minor). Darla is unable to discern the properties of the wolf's tooth.
Opening six of the doors reveals small private bedrooms, apparently for Hellknights of a slightly higher rank than the ones who would have slept in the open barracks. Spoiler:
Des:
In one of the bedrooms, you find a wolf's tooth tied to a leather thong. Drake:
In one of the bedrooms, you find a stoppered vial with a label written in a language you don't know. Gellius:
In one of the bedrooms, you find some kind of alchemical bomb and stoppered vial labeled in Infernal bottled lightning. Darla: Des and Drake both have found items which react to your detect magic cantrip.
The party advances through the narrow corridor around the octagonal center of the keep and through the base of one of the watchtowers, coming out in the dingy barracks into the room where the bugbear had its lair. There are several doors along the walls that the group didn't investigate on their first visit.
With time, the group is able to scrounge up enough rusty pieces to assemble one reasonably complete set of Hellknight armor. It will only fit one of the humans, of course.
Drake moves into the room, keeping his eyes peeled for threats. Gellius recognizes the room he saw from the other side through one of the doors, but the large rodents he saw then are no longer in evidence. He knows that the three doors on the far wall all open onto the corridor surrounding the courtyard. Darla notices no magical auras in the room.
Drake peers through the doors into a large foyer. Dented and rusted remnants of suits of spiked armor lean against the northern and southern walls or lie in piles at their feet. Among the broken furnishings scattered about the room, the half-chewed carcasses of small animals lie rotting. A wide but filthy stretch of black carpet leads to two large doors set in the back wall. Scuffs and bits of nail and old wire on the walls indicate where paintings or tapestries once hung. Prominently displayed on each wall, set into the stone itself so it couldn't be removed or looted, is a seal depicting a sunburst made of nails, identical to the one above the outside doors. Along the northern wall, text like the one outside is engraved; along the southern wall, words in Common read, Savagery must be quelled in the land, home, and mind.
The group delivers Revka's Hero Medallion and demonstrates Drake to the goblins so they recognize him as one of the party. When they have finished, they leave Warbal with the rest of the tribe and head back outside and around to the main entrance. Battered reinforced doors hang slightly ajar at the main entrance to Citadel Altaerein. Above the doorframe, 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. Gellius: The text is Infernal and reads Savagery must be quelled in the land, home, and mind.
Alek's grimace implies that he's not sure even a full suit of armor could convince him a goblin was a Hellknight, but he doesn't press the point. A little short of an hour later, the increasingly-familiar silhouette of Citadel Altaerein atop its hill comes into view.
Alek seems on the verge of conveying some sort of information when a shout is heard from the road behind them. "Gethric! Wait!" A young halfling is running toward the departing group, puffing with effort. "Da says to come back right away, Gethric! It's urgent!" Gethric turns back to exchange a quick word, grimaces, then turns back to the rest of the party. "Go on," he urges them. "I'll catch up when I can. I know where to find you."
Warbal is afraid of stretching her eyes by looking all the way to the stars, but Des braves the observatory, asking many questions of Kellen Carondil. If Trinil is disappointed that Darla is heading back out into danger so soon rather than resting on her newly-won laurels, she has the decency to conceal her feelings rather than be a wet blanket on the celebratory atmosphere in the Wizard's Grace. In the morning, Gellius is displeased but not surprised to see Alek waiting at the muster point; it's his ring they're looking for, after all. He is unhappy when Aronida tells the group, "I've completed the task I signed up for. I think I'll look for my next adventure somewhere else; that citadel doesn't have any attraction for me. But good luck! I'm sure you'll do well."
Gellius takes the time for a bath and to change into clean clothes, but when he arrives to meet Quentino Posandi, he is displeased to discover that Alek Stagram is joining the pair for dinner. While the councilman is nothing but polite, Gellius has a difficult time steering the conversation toward the future of Citadel Altaerein as the other two keep chatting about the keep's past while the Order of the Nail was in residence. Posandi apparently encountered Alek's grandfather on at least one occasion years ago, and the recollection monopolizes the interest of both men. Gellius completes the evening having eaten a better dinner than he has enjoyed in some time but with the vague disappointment of an opportunity potentially lost -- and with an additional sense of grievance toward Alek Stagram.
Darla returns to the Wizard's Grace with a smidgen of trepidation, unsure of how her mother will react to her sudden decision to answer the Call. It's not yet late enough for the tavern to be its busiest, but the locals in residence erupt with excitement to see her enter "If it isn't Darla!" "Did you complete your task, sweetheart?" "Come on, let's see it then!" Behind the bar, Trinil Uskwold stands very still, not quite meeting her daughter's eyes as Darla presents her Hero medallion, a little self-conscious at being the center of attention. When the patrons have finished admiring the circle of metal and congratulating the young woman, Darla approaches the bar, medallion still in hand. "Well," her mother says quietly, smiling a brittle smile. She extends her hand for the medal and takes it, turning the familiar weight to examine front and back. "Well, I never.... 'Course she completed the task," she rebukes the clientele in a louder voice; "she's an Uskwold, isn't she?" Her smile goes a little wobbly as she finally meets Darla's eyes, tearing up a bit. "I'll buy you a drink, my dear, and you can tell us all about it."
Starry-eyed by the surroundings of the bustling Longshanks city, Des is escorted by Aronida and Warbal back past the shiny bronze man, over the river, and to the Great Dreamhouse, where they have promised to deliver a message from Revka to Kellen Carondil, who had shown great hospitality to the wandering goblin during her time in Breachill. Des is astonished to see the size of Desna's temple, its indoor gardens, and its elven head priest, a being the size and color of the humans but with ears almost as long and pointed as a goblin's. Noting Des's wide eyes and shy nature, the priest takes pains to explain or point out anything the young goblin might find interesting without addressing them directly and exacerbating their potential discomfort. He offers Warbal and Des a place to stay in the temple for the night. "After dark, you may come into the observatory to view the stars," he offers, "and Desna always offers restful sleep and pleasant dreams to those who sleep in her temple."
"Certainly, my lad; I'd be pleased to share a meal with a newly-minted Hero, eh?" Posandi chuckles. "You'll find a lot of folk in Breachill ready to buy a drink for someone who can flash one of those medallions."
"Very well then," Greta goes on. "Quentino, will you pay them? Trini, retrieve the medallions." Posandi takes a key from his belt loop and opens a small ironbound lockbox, while the gnome disappears underneath a desk and emerges a few moments later with a flat box which she reverently hands to Greta Gardania. The council president opens the box and takes out five bronze medallions like the one Neven Deckard showed Revka in the Wizard's Grace. On one side the head of Lamond Breachton is engraved in profile; the other side reads The Kindness of Strangers. "Show this coin to any merchant in Breachill," Greta tells them as she hands one each to Aronida, Darla, Gellius, and Gethric, "and you will receive an Adventurer's Discount on any good or service you wish to buy." She hesitates with the last medallion. "Where is the other goblin?" she asks. "Can you give this to her when you return to the citadel?"
Raising a hand, "That would be me, sir! I would be said representative. And also our goblin friend here," he motions to Des. "This crew needs some new blood and we are here to provide that," he declares, nodding. Oh! And this gentleman here - Alek was it? - we'll be going with us as well. But he's not in it to fight dragons, he's in it just to find an heirloom of some type. So stamp whatever you gotta stamp and I'll sign wherever I gotta sign and we can get this show on the road!" he says with obvious excitement. "No, no," Councilor Sendari replies irritably. "You have it exactly wrong. You three are not being certified; it's the Heroes who answered the Call that are being rewarded." "Indeed," Greta Gardania puts in, opening a ledger on her desk. "Let's see, yes, the task was Physical Repulsion of a Dangerous Creature, and the pay was twenty gold coins. Miss Warbal, you will vouch that the task was completed?"
Whatever a trice might be, it doesn't appear to be very long, as the gnome councilor reappears quickly, dragging the older human male along with her. "What is going on?" Quentino Posandi complains. "What is so important that --? Oh, my boy," his tone changes as he sees Gellius in the crowded room, "back already, are you? Was it a tatzlwyrm?"
Greta looks slightly overwhelmed by the various arguments and suggestions converging on her. "Um, right, well, first things first. If the task has been completed, the council has to certify it. Trini, would you run and fetch Quentino? He should be out with the workers taking stock of the damage and planning repairs." "Absolutely!" Trini agrees, leaping to her feet. "We'll be back in a trice!"
"Well, then," Jorsk goes on imperturbably, "it sounds to me as if they've completed their task and this gate is a separate matter." "Are you suggesting we put the task to a new Call?" Greta asks. "If there's a gate open spewing out monsters," the dwarf replies, "next month's Call may be too late. Not only that, but it could pose an active, large-scale threat to Breachill and its citizens." "Then you suggest we turn the matter over to Captain Lavendil?" Melma Ann sniffs. "I'm not saying that either," the dwarf persists. "I'm saying that a group of successful Heroes bumped into a separate danger while completing their task. It might be a task for Heroes, or it might be a job for the town guard. To find out, we send a representative of the guard," his finger points to Drake, "with the Heroes who know where it is and how to get to it," the finger moves on to the party, "in association with representative of the Bumblebrashers." The finger settles on Warbal and Des. "After all, if this gate's an ongoing problem, it'll be a threat to them before it gets down the hill to us. And the whole group of them can report back to us what they find out."
Melma Ann Sendari looks disapproving. "The town guard are not authorized to take part in the Call for Heroes," she points out. "Techincally, Melma Ann," Jorsk Hinterclaw points out, "the task for their Call was Physical Repulsion of a Dangerous Creature, and it seems as if they've done that...."
"Not dragons," Darla informs the gnome. Trini immediately looks intensely disappointed. "Just really big, really dangerous lizards." "Tatzlwyrms?" the dwarf Jorsk Hinterclaw puts in. "And charau-ka--monkeymen from Garund. There seems to be a gate somewhere in the old Hellknight keep." All four councilors are struck dumb by this revelation. "A gate?" Greta Gardania is the first to recover. "A magical gate, you mean? But why? Who put it there?"
The party makes their way past the barricades set up to block off the damaged parts of the building and heads down the corridor to the council office. Inside are Greta Gardania, Melma Ann Sendari, Jorsk Hinterclaw, and Trini Sprizzlegig, along with a member of the town guard. The gnome is the first to notice the group's arrival. "Hello!" she welcomes them happily. "That was quick. Are you done already? Was it really dragons?"
As the group moves through the streets toward the town hall, Des and Warbal attract attention, but it is clearly more curious than alarmed. It seems that Calmont hasn't succeeded in arousing the enmity of the citizens toward the goblins. Alek in his platemail attracts nearly as many passing glances; in return. Approaching the bridge over Breach Creek to Monument Circle, the damage to the back of the town hall buildings is only too evident, but the sad sight is accompanied by the sound of saws and hammers as the local craftsmen are already about the business of making repairs. Inquiries direct the group to the office of the town council in the eastern wing.
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