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Book 2 - Night of Frozen Shadows
Part One: Into the North

Much discussion is made of what to do now.

Well, to be fair, there wasn't much choice of what to do at this point. The caravan was going to make its way to Kalsgard. Where it would go from there was a matter of debate. Sandru's argument was that once the sword that was revealed in Ameiko's (and your group's) vision was found, the caravan should return to Sandpoint. Ameiko, on the other hand, was of the mind that destiny lay in a path over the Crown of the World and on to Minkai. Sandru was clearly skeptical of this idea, but was a smart enough man to not directly contradict the willful bard.

But in either case, Kalsgard was the next point of travel. A path, by the caravan leader's experienced mind was a trip of some four hundred and fifty miles. In his estimation, it would take about two weeks. By suplimenting the caravan's supplies with freshly caught game, it shouldn't be a hardship.

The debate regarding what would happen once they reached the northern city having reached an impasse, the next step at least was clear: Kalsgard.

---

The route the caravan takes from Brinewall to Kalsgard passes through the Nolands and enters the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, where it joins an existing trade route between the dwaven mine at Kopparberget and the city of Jol before continuing north into the Grungir Forest The caravan road crosses the eastern neck of the Grungir until it reaches the bridge at Losthome, at which point the route follows the western back of the Thundering River as it meanders north, connecting the many small settlements and steadings that stand upon the river's banks. At the confluence of the Thundering and Rimeflow rivers, the trade route brances again, with one trail crossing the Skalsbridge and heading northeast toward Trollheim while the other continues along the Rimeflow to Kalsgard.

The trip is largely uneventful save for the occasional glimpse of some of the larger predators of the region, such as bears and mountain lions shadowing the caravan for a mile or so before losing interest and searching elsewhere for easier prey. The ravens and seabirds are plentiful overhead.

During the journey ...

~~~~~~

With the chests as your prize, you make your way back up to daylight. Scattered clouds cover the sky and spatters of raindrops accompany your trip back down through the ruins of the village with Kelda and Spivey following.

"Spivey would like ..." the celestial begins, her eyes drawn to the cemetery she's called home for an unknown time. "Spivey would like to join you," she finishes. "But first there's something that ... ten minutes, please?"

True to her word, ten minutes later Spivey reappears from the cemetery. Her face is red, but her cheeks are drawn up into a smile. "Now we save your friend, yes?"

It's only a couple of hours later when you reach the caravan. Sandru greets you with relief that replaces the concern on his face.

"You made it," he says, the weight of worry lifting significantly from his shoulders. "Ameiko said that you were okay, but we ..." He shrugs. "Yes, she's awake and she's been going on about Kalsgard and some damn sword." He glances down at the chests you carry. "Is that the ... No, nevermind. I don't want to know." He shakes his head and holds up his hands.

From behind one of the wagons steps the woman in question with one of Koya's colorful shawls around her shoulders. In the couple of days that you've been gone she seems to have aged a decade.

"You found it," she says with a glance down at what you carry. "I knew you would. I know you saw the same things that I saw. We have much to discuss. But first we rest." She gives each of you a firm hug before returning to Koya's wagon.

As Cailyn steps forward the figure looks as if he's going to respond with violence, but at the mention of his name he stops. His eyes bulge and he freezes motionless. A moment later and he lowers his sword.

"I ... know ... this ... name ..." he says in heavily accented Taldane. Raising his arms, his sword vanishes and he cries out mournfully. The spectre shimmers and shifts. Reforming with some effort he faces you all with tears streaming down his spectral cheeks.

"Take the seal away from here. Take it to my child. It is no longer safe here ... and I am no longer worthy of guarding it."

His incorporeal hand waves towards a side wall, away from the empty vaults and you can see, cleverly concealed, the traces of a secret door.

"I am not worthy," he repeats, shaking his head sadly before fading back to dust.

It doesn't take much effort to open the hidden chamber to reveal ... an empty room. Determined now, though, moments later you find another secret door inside this small room that leads to another chamber. This chamber appears to be only half-excavated - the eastern portion of the room remains a rough cavern wall. Three identical darkwood chests bound with bronze sit against the base of this rough wall.

Each chest is securely locked, but at your touch, one of the locks snaps open as if by magic. Inside this chest is a red-laquered wooden box decorated with scenes of a spiralling tian-style dragon. The box radiates strong abjuration magic to Flori's tuned senses.

Opening the wooden box reveals a stone statuette of a dragon with a carved glyph on the bottom of the square base. As your fingers touch the cold stone, the world shifts ...

An army of terrible fiends — with burning skin, glaring eyes, and sharp tusks, wearing strange armor and wielding exotic weapons—emerge in a storm from a vast forest, then descend upon a nation populated by Tian people.

Your vision shifts ...

A young man dressed in royal robes stands over a simple well, a friend at his side. Suddenly, the friend grows nearly three times in size and is sheathed in a frightening suit of jade armor. The jade warrior draws a sword and strikes down his royal friend, then holds the bloody sword aloft in triumph.

Another shift ...

A young Tian man handing a beautiful sword to a richly dressed Ulfen man in exchange for a bag of gold.

Changing visions again ...

Ameiko wakes from her deep sleep, but she is dressed in the finery of an empress. She rises from sleep not in a humble Varisian caravan, but from a resting spot within the arms of a jade throne.

The visions ceases and you're back in the small vault with the jade seal in your hand. You're left with not only the visions themselves, but knowledge of what they depicted.

You know that the land you saw invaded by fiends was Minkai. The man you saw murdered by the jade warrior was Emperor Shigure of Minkai. You know that Ameiko Kaijitsu's true family name is Amatatsu, one of the five royal families of Minkai - indeed, the last surviving royal family. The young man with the sword was Ameiko's grandfather, Rokuro Kaijitsu, formerly Amatatsu Tsutoku, selling the family's legendary sword Suishen to the Ulfen merchant Fynn Snaevald in the city of Kalsgard to finance his family's flight and exile. You know that Suishen is intelligent and can impart much more knowledge of the Amatatsu's family legacy if recovered.

You also get a sense of the magical capabilities of both the seal and the box it was stored in, as well as the risk you've exposed yourself to by opening the box. Unless kept stored in the box, the seal can be magically detected even from the other side of the world. Powerful evil forces strongly desire to find and destroy the seal as well as those in possession of it.

Warding Box
Amatatsu Seal

Find nothing else resembling a vault in any of the passages or rooms in the lower level you've been exploring (and the shifter growing more and more dour), you head back up to the main floor.

Moving from room to room in the ground level, you find, in the area to the north of the great hall, a set of offices that by all indications were occupied by the military command of the castle. There's nothing of immediate value, but Cailyn discovers part of a letter that mentions an attack on Brinewall Castle. It describes the attack as a night assault by men dressed in dark robes. The letter is unfinished and contains no further information.

In the offices you also discover another spiral stair that descends into the stone below the castle.

Descending down, you find the way forward barred by an iron portcullis with no latch, lever, or hinges. In the wall on each side of the thick iron bars is a five inch diameter circular depression - one with the etching of a sun and the other, the moon.

Placing the discovered darkwood and silver disks into the recesses causes the iron bars to slowly sink into the floor with a low grinding noise.

The walls of the room beyond the portcullis are of smooth stone, spattered with ancient bloodstains and deep, violent gouges. Deep drifts of dust lie on the floor, while immense stone doors hang open to the southwest, revealing empty vaults beyond.

As the iron bars vanish below the stone floor, the dust in the room begins swirling up to form the figure of an old but handsome Tian man. The spirit adopts a defensive pose, his katana held before him menacingly.

Descending into the lower part of the caverns and checking the body, you find a wand and a magical circlet.

a wand of scorching ray (30 charges), a circlet of persuasion.

Searching the area you discover a flat rock set up as some kind of altar. Upon the flat rock are various items of value given as offerings to the creature. Among these items is a darkwood-and-silver disk decorated with an intricate etching of Brinewall under the midnight moon. The design and art style matches the disk found on Kikonu. There is also a stone statuette of what Cailyn identifies as Pazuzu that radiates unidentified magic.

Other items of interest: a +1 light fortification light steel shield that bears the image of Castle Brinewall. A +1 returning starknife, a pearl of power (1st level), a ring of the ram with 10 charges, a wayfinder, 1320 gp, and 800 gp in jewelry and gems.

Near the improvised altar are the strangely pulsating remains of a large, leathery egg. Perhaps the origin of the creature?

You spend more time searching among the various branches of the cavern for anything resembling a vault, but come up empty handed. With the exception of a collapsed tunnel that looks to descend deeper into the darkness of the depths, there are no other exits.

We'll be here.

Flori's eagles rend and bite with divine righteousness, sending gobbets of the creature's flesh raining down below. In awe of the avian display Cailyn's owl's attacks are lackluster at best and fail to add to the damage done. Kelda throws the last of her javelins, but her attack misses as well.

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Round 3

Vigny, Orchid, and Shunsen miss with their ranged attacks and fall back to make the climb up to the crypt.

The creature struggles against the feathered attackers, crying out, "Tată! Ajutor! Taaaaatttăăăăăă! Pazuzu!"

The cry accomplishes nothing, however, as the feathered attackers continue thier assault and the abomination falls to land on the stone floor at the bottom of the cavern with a sickeningly wet sound.

Combat Ends!

In spite of the dibilitating effects of the vile magic, Flori begins summoning something that values freedom over friendship. Cailyn's owl seems only to be giving a half-hearted effort as the occultist passes off her crossbow to Orchid. Another javelin flies from Kelda's strong hand, but it does minimal damage.

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Round 2

Both Orchid's crossbow bolt and Vigny's arrow miss the flying creature by a large margin. Shunsen switches her falchion out for her shortbow. Her arrow hits the beast, but doesn't penetrate the thick skin.

A wand appears in one of the tentacles and a bolt of fire blasts out at Vigny, just missing the war priest.

Flori is sickened.
Flori and Cailyn are up! Then Orchid, Vigny, and Shunsen for round 3.

Orchid flings her spear. Vigny stabs with her longsword. Shunsen slashes with her falchion. All hit the abomination. Although its tough hide absorbs some of the damage.

The flying tentacle monster slides back and up in the air, away from those wielding implements of destruction and weaves its tentacles in a magical display. At the conclusion of its gesturing, a cold, cloying miasma of greasy darkness settles upon the stone shelf, inflicting pain and sickness to all those there.

unholy blight
Good creatures: 19 points of damage - DC 16 Will Save for half damage and to avoid being sickened for 4 rounds.
Neutral creatures: 9 points of damage - DC 16 Will Save for half damage.

Spivey cries out in plain and sinks almost to the ground, clutching her chest. Her wings continue to flutter, though.

Kelda steps forward and sends a javelin flying through the air that falls short of the creature.

Flori and Cailyn are up! Then Orchid, Vigny, and Shunsen for round 2.

"Apoi mori și devii hrană pentru cei drepți!" the creature shouts out and its tentacles begin gesticulating - it's casting a spell!

Combat Begins!

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Round 1

Shunsen, Orchid, and Vigny are up!
Note that the creature is hovering in the air 15' above the lower floor. It's currently in melee range if one were to stand right at the edge of the drop-off to the lower floor.

Orchid moves forward to the edge of the drop-off. Beyond the sense of moisture and mildew, she detects ... something else. Not something she can identify, though. Vigny doesn't notice anything in the dimly illuminated space, but has a sense of being watched.

The group easily traverses down the rough slope to the mid-level of the cavern. They can see that the wall paintings continue on down into the lower portions of the cave. As they move closer to the second drop-off, a nightmarish figure descends from the shadows of the ceiling. An octopus-like creature with spread wings and a hideously monstrous face with pale, milky eyes.

"Înclină-te în fața alesului din Pazuzu și ți se va arăta milă," it intones in a voice thick and gravelly.

Spivey nods at Orchid's offer and passes the garment over to the shifter. Cailyn looks through the piled gear, but doesn't find anything more of value. It seems that Kelda is now wearing everything that could be useful.

"Can you not ask me yourself? Or am I beneath you so that you will not deign to speak to me?" Kelda snaps at Flori. "Are you not ...?"

Before she can finish, there's a flash of wings and Spivey is fluttering before the woman's eyes, her wings buzzing angrily.

"Hlustaðu nú, stór og sterk! Þetta ótrúlega fólk hefði bara getað látið þig sitja og svelta í þínu eigin auði! Þau börðust við tröllið! Þú skuldar þeim líf þitt og frelsi! Þú munt sýna þeim virðingu eða þú munt þola þá kvöl sem aðeins einn eins og ég getur veitt. Er það ljóst?!" she rattles off in the woman's language, shaking her tiny finger in Kelda's face. "Biðstu nú afsökunar!" she adds, pointing at Flori.

Kelda stares back and for a moment the two disparate wills lock. The woman finally blinks and her proud stance relaxes just a bit. She turns and nods her head at Flori.

"Fyrirgefðu," she says. "I'm sorry. Imprisonment has taken my manners. I owe you all for my freedom. " She glances at Spivey, who glares at her, arms crossed. "I know nothing of any 'vault'," she continues. "I entered the castle and fought against feathered beasts and was overcome. I awoke here."

She turns to Vigny. "They fed me, but it was food I could not bring myself to eat. Thank you for this." She looks back at the celestial.

Spivey nods, apparently satisfied. She flutters back to hover near Orchid and Cailyn, muttering under her breath about rude big folk and wiping at her eyes.

----

With no new information, you continue on through the only door still available that isn't heavily secured. Heading north from the prison, you enter a tunnel that's been roughly carved from the natural stone. One branch leads to the other side of the secured door, the other branch leads to a crypt.

An intricate iron screen blocks further progress into this large chamber, although a wooden door painted with the image of a tall, beautiful blue-skinned woman sitting on a throne stands in the middle of the screen. Beyond, the room stretches dozens of feet to the east, supported by stone pillars and with deep funerary alcoves to the north and south.

The far end of the room seems to have partially collapsed into a large cavern in which faintly glowing motes of light swirl and dance in the air.

The gate is locked, you try the large key that the ogre carried and find that it's too large. The key from the lighthouse, though, fits perfectly and the lock releases. Beyond the gate you discover the niches now only contain despoiled sarcophagi. Not even bones remain.

Farther in to the crypt, you can see more of the cavern that opens up to the east. The floor of this vast cavern descends in two twenty-foot drops into a large, eerie grotto. The walls drip with moisture and bear strange and disturbing cave paintings of towering four-winged humanoid shapes. Tiny motes of glowing light drift and bob in the air, giving the place an almost nauseating feeling, as if the cavern is viewed through a dreamlike haze.

"Is this the 'vault' that you seek?" Kelda questions with a frown.

Spivey nods wordlessly to Cailyn's first question as she attempts to pull the remainder of the tabard from the soiled pile. The garment is clearly too big for the tiny celestial to carry, but she seems determined to try, gathering it into a huge bundle for her small arms. At the occultist's offer, the woman pales and wipes at her tears. "N-no," she stammers out. "I'm ... I'm not strong enough."

In short order, Kelda has finished gearing up and turns to Vigny.

Where to, Sister?" she asks in heavily accented Taldane as she tests the edge of her longsword against her arm.

Vigny tries the large brass key in the prisoner's cell and the lock opens with a squeal and a grind. The woman strides out and faces Vigny.

"Ég er þér í skuld, systir. Það er ljóst að þú ræður hér og ég legg mig fram við þig. Ég heiti Kelda Oxgutter," she pronounces and then bows to the warpriestess.

Assuming you open the cell with the gear in it ...

The woman digs through the piled gear, pulling out various pieces that look reasonably fresh - a scale mail hauberk, a steel shield, a longsword, some javelins. As she's moving items aside, a metal medallion tumbles out of the pile and clinks against the stained stones.

"Aiiieee!"

The cry comes from Spivey, who flutters forward to grasp the item. Looking closer, you can see that it's a heavily stained butterfly on a simple chain - a Desnan holy symbol. Spying something else, the celestial reaches out and pulls from the pile a tattered, torn, and blood-marred tabard bearing the same symbol. She buries her face in it as tears begin to flow.

The warrior woman shrugs her shoulders at Spivey's display and begins donning the hauberk.

The woman gives Flori a cold glare before gesturing towards the ogres body.

"Hann er með lykilinn. Búnaðurinn minn er í hinu búrinu. Ég get hjálpað þér," she says and then points towards the northern cell.

Searching the ogre's cooling corpse, you find in a ratty pouch that looks to have been made out of some creature's stomach some shiny rocks, a few dead turtles, a bronze key, 77 gold coins, an absolutely filthy masterwork dagger, and the ogre's lucky rock.

The rocks presents a magical aura. (earth elemental gem)

Using the bronze key, you open the northern cell. In it is a collection of equipment gathered from prisoners.

Cailyn's spectral owl rends ogre-flesh, showing Orchid how claws are meant to be used. Flori sends a blob of acid to sizzle against beast's skin. Shunsen shows that her blade is not one to be ignored, slashing through the ogre's thigh and Vigny's sword finishes off the hulking creature. It falls to the floor with a resounding thud that echoes through the chamber.

Combat Ends!

As you're catching your breath, a voice calls out from one of the southern cells.

"Systir! Guði sé lof! Vinsamlegast skildu mig ekki eftir hér!"

The speaker is a heavily-muscled woman wearing the ragged remains of rough clothes. Her hair is braided but dirty and her hands grip the bars in desperation. Her blue eyes are locked on Vigny.

"Oh, it's the yellow-haired woman that braved the castle a week ago," Spivey pipes up. "Her companions all died fighting the beast in the bay, but she still went inside all by herself." She shakes her head. "Not very wise."

With the impatient shifter leading the way, the group descends the rough stone steps down into the depths beneath the castle into ... a kitchen.

Stone pillars support the ceiling over this large chamber — although the fire pits, tables, and pantries here look like they haven’t been used in decades. Thick layers of dust cover everything in the room. Quite a few doors lead off from here.

The eastern-most door is locked and you're unable to pick the lock or force it, so you move on. The northern door leads to a natural chamber and then to a narrow tunnel that extends out into the darkness as far as you can see. Orchid gets the scent of salt water wafting back down the tunnel. This is most likely a secret exit tunnel.

The next door leads to a foul-smelling chamber dripping with moisture that culminates in thick tangles of nasty-looking fungus. Three washing bins in the walls are clogged with heaps of even more repulsive molds and mushrooms, some of which have grown to prodigious size, like the large mound of green mold sprouting dozens of purple-capped mushrooms in the center of the room.

Moving on to the southwestern double doors you discover a section of the area that has been given over to more troglodytes. A mess hall, an armory, and what appears to be an arena are quickly cleared of the smelly-but-incompetent foes.

Spivey offers what healing she has and you move on to the last set of double doors that exit the kitchen area. Leading first to a large circular room that shares the same shape as the ballroom above, you continue out the doors on the other side.

Not quite a torture chamber, this dungeon features three cells made of iron bars - one to the north and two to the south. A filthy, nestlike bed lies in the middle of the room, heaped around a central stone pillar next to what can only be a half-eaten giant centipede the size of a small horse. Rising up from the bed clutching an uprooted sapling as a weapon, is an ogre.

Combat Begins!

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Round 1

Everyone is up!

Opening the large double doors reveals a ballroom. This large circular room features a ring of pillars that support a balcony just over fifteen feet above. A flight of stairs winds up to the balcony along the southern wall. Faded paintings of dancing elves decorate the walls, spattered here and there with ancient bloodstains.

Flori and Vigny note that at least one of the aggressors in the fight possessed prodigious strength, judging from the deep gouges in the walls near the largest bloodstains - possibly an enormous axe or something similar.

There are large double doors mirroring the ones you entered the room from on the eastern wall, as well as a small side door that's partially ajar. Through the partially open small door, you see stone steps leading down.

"Riddles and puzzles are not things that Spivey is good at," the tiny woman replies with a shrug of her small shoulders. "When we came here before, we didn't get far before ..." Her words trail off at the memory. "We didn't get far," she finishes with a frown.

It seems that reliving some of the events have turned the celestials mood somber.

"We're sorry. We're not much good for anything these days. We don't know about riddles or where vaults and seals and grandfathers and keys are hidden."

She flutters up to Vigny. "We're sorry." She pulls a tiny scroll from a bag and touches the war priestess's arm. Vigny feels the warmth of healing flow through her. "We probably shouldn't have come here."

Vigny heals 14 HP.
One vote for the double doors. Do I hear a second? Or would someone prefer a different path?

Spivey looks around and her tiny brow furrows. "Down? Don't know," she replies. "Must be stairs somewhere, right?"

"Yes, nasty vile vicious feathered pretty-face bird woman was a worshipper of King of Wind Demons," Spivey says with a nod to Caiyn's query. "Killing her is a benefit for all flying things."

The tiny lyrakien flutters around the occultist as she collects her lethal ammunition. The small woman seems torn as to whether she wants to spit on the cooling corpse. "Revenge is done," she agrees. "Big people need to find a vault? Where would vault be?"

From here there are quite a few options. There are three normal sized doors leading out of the great hall at various points, as well as a large pair of double doors and a set of broad stairs leading to the second floor. There are also two doors back in the dining area that haven't been explored.

Vigny makes the harpy pay for her choice of ranged weapon in melee with a vicious stab and the oracle stumbles but doesn't fall. Orchid dances around the corby between her and Shunsen, distracting the creature. Vigny heals some of her own wounds and waves her weapon around. Flori's spell burns another hole in another tapestry.

Shunsen takes advantage of Orchid's distraction by lopping off the corby's head.

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Round 5

Cailyn repeats her proficient use of the heavy crossbow by planting a bolt in Zaiobe's chest. The harpy collapses to the stone floor.

The last remaining dire corby slashes ineffectively against Orchid, seemingly knowing that its time on this plane is coming to an end.

With only one opponent remaining, the battle is a foregone conclusion and in only moments it's over.

Combat Ends!

Checking Zaiobe's remains, you find two more magical arrows (+1 flaming arrows), two potions of healing (cure moderate wounds), a chain shirt, and a magical composite longbow (+1).

Shunsen's blade slashes through empty air. Orchid takes advantage of the distraction to do some slashing of her own. Vigny closes on the harpy, her weapon assaulting the mute oracle with divine fury. The equine princess dodges and weaves, drawing the harpy's attention. Flori's acid flies through the air and burns a searing hole in one of the tapestries.

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Round 4

Cailyn's crossbow continues to prove invaluable as another bolt strikes home.

"... the 'point' is the same?" Spivey questions with a frown. "Are puns really appropriate in the middle of poke, poke, stab, stab, claw, claw?"

Zaiobe's rage is evident on her face even if she's unable to give it voice. In spite of Vigny's being within blade range, the harpy turns and directs two arrows at the war priest - both of which sink deep.

The dire corby between Shunsen and Orchid is staggering and on its last legs, but it still manages to catch the rogue with a razor-sharp talon. It's partner, while uninjured is unable to draw blood on the nimble shifter.

Vigny takes 16 points of piercing damage and gets an AoO against Zaiobe. Shunsen takes 5 points of slashing damage.
Flori, Shunsen, Orchid, and Vigny are up. Then Cailyn is up for round 5.

Orchid draws more blood with her claws as Vigny slips by the corbies, intent on taking down the harpy. Her venture doesn't go unnoticed and one of the bird-men catches her with his claw as she moves by. Flori's spell of acid sizzles against dark feathers, adding an odor to the lingering troglodyte stink that's ... unique. Zaiobe manages to avoid the hooves of Flori's summoned bastion of friendship.

Whichever gods are watching down upon the melee seem to have it in for Shunsen as her blade falls short of its target.

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Round 3

Cailyn's bolt strikes true and would undoubtably raise a cry of pain ... if the harpy could speak.

Zaiobe steps back and goes through the motions of casting a silent spell at the summoned equine princess. The princess manages to stave off the majority of the effects, but seems slightly shaken.

The northeastern dire corby misses Orchid, but its southern brother raises another line of blood on Shunsen's arm.

Vigny takes 2 points of slashing damage. Shunsen takes 5 points of slashing damage. PG III is shaken for 1 round (-2 on attacks, saves, skill checks, and ability checks).
Flori, Shunsen, Orchid, and Vigny are up. Then Cailyn is up for round 4.

Orchid slashes one of the corbies, sending blood and feathers flying. Shunsen takes a flanking position and tests the waters with a practice strike. Vigny moves in and inflicts more damage on Orchid's target. Flori begins the summoning of head-stomping friendship.

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Round 2

In the middle of her sharing the secrets of the bathroom habits of the nobility, Cailyn leans around the doorway and finishes off the damage corbie with a well-placed crossbow bolt.

Spivey shakes her head in response to Cailyn's revelation. "Big people are weird," she comments. "Why not just find a bush?"

In response to Vigny's challenge, Zaiobe readies her bow and draws a bead on the war priest, loosing two arrows, one after the other. The first arrow strikes true.

Orchid is missed by feathered claws. Shunsen's practice target turns and slashes at her with its claws, clearly not following the practice-first protocol.

Vigny takes 5 points of piercing damage. Shunsen takes 2 points of slashing damage.
Flori, Shunsen, Orchid, and Vigny are up. Then Cailyn is up for round 3.

"Oh? Feathered vile ugly smelly woman is no longer a pretty face?" a high-pitched voice comments with a verbal smirk. Turning, Cailyn sees Spivey fluttering in the air next to her. "Do big people actually have bags for their arses? They must be big big because ... you know ..." She gestures with her hands outlining something significantly larger than herself. She giggles.

Zaiobe gestures, casting a spell upon herself. The dire corbies leap to their feet and following Zaiobe's even more frantic gestures, they race forward towards Orchid.

Flori, Shunsen, Orchid, and Vigny are up. Then Cailyn is up for round 2.

That is the way of the world, unfortunately.

Attempting to escape the horrendous smell, Orchid makes a hasty exit through the southeastern door.

Rotting, faded banners hang from the walls of this long hall, depicting a stylized castle sitting on a seaside cliff. Thick stone pillars support the ceiling, while at the far end of the hall sits an old wooden throne, its back carved to resemble the towers of a castle wrapped in the coils of a serpentine dragon.

Sitting on the throne and looking up with a start is Zaiobe. Three dire corbies lounge at her feet. She grabs the shoulder of one of them and points in your direction, silently gesturing dramatically.

Combat Begins!

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Round 1

Cailyn is up before the enemies get to act.
The game effect of the troglodyte stench has expired.

Unfortunately for Orchid, the stench doesn't abate when she passes through the northeastern door. The revealed room was once a small barracks by the evidence of several ruined beds. The moldy mattresses are piled into a filthy heap against the northern wall.

The almost-overpowering odor is maintained by the presence of three more troglodytes rising from their rest upon said mattresses. The battle is quick, but brutal and at the end the group is standing and the troglodytes are not. The winner, however, is clearly the ever-present scent of troglodyte.

Braving the repulsive mattresses produces their stashed treasure - a bejeweled silk gown set with pearls (450 gp) that's in surprisingly good condition considering where it was sequestered.

There are no other exits from the barracks so you head back to the dining room.

Orchid sends a crossbow quarrel into the back of one of the troglodytes. Cailyn's owl, not to be shown up by something else with feathers outdoing her in battle, slashes one of her talons across the same figure's throat. Blood sprays out as it drops to the floor. Shunsen's dagger skitters harmlessly across the floor. Vigny's longsword finishes off the last of the foes, leaving you regretting having to draw deep breaths in the foul-smelling room.

Combat Ends!

A quick perusal of the room produces nothing of any monetary value. Cailyn and Vigny notice, however, that the various despoiled documents scattered around the room carry information pertaining to the night that Brinewall fell.

Piecing together various notes and logs indicates that the guards here at the castle believed that the citizens of the village below were rioting and that several of the buildings had caught on fire. The last notes show that they were preparing to mount an expedition to investigate and bring order, but there's nothing to indicate the results.

From here there's a single door to the northeast, a single door to the southwest, and two doors in the southwestern corner of the room - many avenues to explore.

While her mistress fights a battle to retain her breakfast, Cailyn's owl manages to tear a chunk of scales off one of the troglodytes. Orchid does Cailyn's crossbow justice and plants a bolt dead-center in one of Vigny's opponents. Shunsen shifts her position and takes down one of the foes with a nasty slash from her falchion.

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Round 2

Flori's acid contributes to the general sense of chaos within the room, but fails to inflict any damage. The troglodytes continue to demonstrate why they've been relegated to the second-fiddle category of villains by missing Vigny entirely.

Shusen, Orchid, Cailyn, and Vigny are up. Then Flori is up for round 3.

Orchid borrows Cailyn's crossbow which the occultist hands over with some reluctance. Flore sends a splash of acid which misses her chosen target. Vigny and Shunsen advance to surround the enemy. Shunsen steels herself against the stench, but Vigny feels almost overwhelmed by the odor.

Vigny is sickened.

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Round 1

Flori coats the stone floor with magical grease causing two of them to lose their footing and fall to the floor with an explosion of snarling. The fallen troglodytes barely manage to regain their footing and avoid Shunsen and Vigny's slashing swords in the process. To demonstrate that they're not entirely incompetent, they swing their clubs around ineffectively.

Still inhibited by the creatures' stench, Vigny misses with her blade.

Cailyn, Orchid, and Shunsen are up. Then Flori is up for Round 2.

And combat it is!

Combat Begins!

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Surprise Round

Leaving diplomacy for those that would actually respect and appreciate it, Shunsen immediately advances and engages with the bickering lizardfolk. Unfortunately, her blade is turned aside by their scaly hide.

Cailyn, Flori, Orchid, and Vigny are up for their surprise actions. Then Flori is up again for Round 1.

A quick trip upstairs proves Cailyn's magical foresight to be accurate - no sign of Zaiobe.

The group then makes their way down the curving stairs. It doesn't take Orchid's heightened olfactory sense to notice the quite pungent aroma that emanates from the room below. You also hear the sounds of vicious squabbling in a strange language. Making the last turn in the stairs reveals a meeting or briefing room.

A large table lies in shambles in the middle of the room, while crumbled suits of armor bearing decorations of dragons twisting around castle towers lie in heaps along the walls. The air in this room feels stuffy and carries an eye-watering reptilian stink. The stink comes from three reptilian humanoids on the other side of the ruined table, snarling and snapping at each other in some sort of argument. The argument is intense enough that they appear to be oblivious to your entrance.

If you wish to engage in combat, you'll get one round of surprise.
Anyone that comes within 30' of any of the smelly folk (the entire room) will need to make a DC 13 Fortitude Save or be sickened for 10 rounds, taking -2 on all attack rolls, damage rolls, saves, skill checks, and ability checks.

The harpy's scent is strong from above, but Orchid is unable to determine if the scent is recent.

Spivey nods her head and then considers for a moment. "Okay, be ready. You'll know when to go," she says finally. The outsider then flutters off in a sparkle of colored lights towards the eastern wall.

It's less then five minutes later and the group hears the sound of breaking glass and over the top of the eastern wall you see flashes of colored lights. The black-feathered figures that were leisurely pacing along the wall stop for a moment before racing towards the sound.

Seeing your opportunity, you race up to the gatehouse doors. It only takes a moment to open them and slip inside. Thankfully, there are no corbies guarding the gatehouse from inside. You ascend the stairs and then make your way quickly around to the northern guardhouse topped by the gaining catapult. You find the tower door unlocked and slip inside.

The room is mostly as you left it before. Although the papers that were spread across the central table have been torn into tiny shreds. Stairs go up to the room where you met Zaiobe previously. Stairs also descend from here and there's a door in the southern wall.

Moonday, 5th of Sarenith, 4711 AR (day 20)
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The others make their way out to where Spivey is explaining the signs as she sees them.

"Mother Moon has given us a sign today," she exclaims excitedly. "Not only is today Moonday, up there is her blessing on the day's task." She waves her hand across the scattered morning clouds towards the faint coloring of a rainbow.

What small rations of food you have are shared and preparations are quickly made at the impatient prompting of the extra-planer woman.

She leads you back up through the scattered trees along the road to the castle. Peering out beneath the wet leaves, Shunsen and Vigny quickly notice that the wall carries more activity than it did yesterday. They note three of the large bird-folk walking along the wall of the castle over the gatehouse. It would be surprising if killing four of the residents and the reputed castle commander wouldn't have some effect on the remaining residents sense of self-preservation.

"If you're planning on going through the gatehouse, Spivey can make a distraction somewhere else," the small woman offers with a pensive look towards the wary defenders. "Either over there," she points to the eastern side of the castle. "If you're going back up on the wall and through the upstairs tower door. Or over there," she indicates the western wall. "If the big doors in the courtyard are preferrable." She shrugs her small shoulders. "If you big folk could fly this wouldn't be anywhere near as complicated," she mutters in a tiny voice.

Spivey doesn't respond immediately. Sitting on a stone gravemarker, she ponders. "Spivey made a promise," she finally says. "We promised Lady Rosetti that we would stay. Stay to see it finished." She looks up towards the castle. "Stay to see nasty vicious bitey bird folk be cleansed from this place."

There's silence again, but for the dripping of water from the leaves of trees. The rain having stopped sometime during the night.

"Oh, OH!, OH!" the small woman exclaims and flitters up into the air. "Look. Look!" Pointing to the east, amid the breaking clouds and the rising sun is the tiniest arc of a rainbow. "See? See?!" She flutters higher up into the air and seems to bask in the presence of the aerial phenomenon.

"The big folk must wake!" she declares. "It's a sign! Time to stab stab bite bite slash slash!"

"She was ... my friend," Spivey responds after a moment. "And her name was Lady Jilia Rosetti." She doesn't say anything for a bit and the silence stretches out. "And we would rather tell her story at another time," she concludes, her voice softer than normal.

As the rain continues to fall outside, music echoes out from Spivey's niche. It seems the small woman has produced a small harp and is singing a somber melody. Cailyn recognizes the language as Celestial. Spivey serenades you until the light begins to fail as the sun sets.

"Rest well, big folk," she says finally. "Much stabbing and slashing ahead of you tomorrow."

"Spivey wouldn't be much help against nasty vile vicious bird-folk," the small woman responds to Orchid's suggestion. "But ... maybe."

With the group wanting to take a moment out to rest, Spivey suggests that she has a place she can offer.

"It might be a little crowded with all you big folks, though," she warns.

Heading back to the gatehouse, down the ladders, and out the main door of the castle, Spivey leads you back down the overgrown road into the village, muttering all the while about how noisy big folk are. The rain has picked up and you're all looking forward to finding shelter, so you're a little surprised when she leads you to the partially open gate to the quiet little graveyard.

Flitting through it, she chuckles. "Nasty bird-folk don't come here. They think it has ghosts." She laughs again. "Stupid stupid. Don't know why they'd think that."

Leading you through the neatly tended graves, she takes a moment to point out a marble statue of Desna that holds a copper bowl in its hands. Flitting up, she indicates the collected rainwater in the bowl. "Mother Moon blesses the water in this bowl once a day. You're welcome to use it if you think it will be helpful."

Once per day, water placed in the bowl becomes holy water.

Next to the statue is a small wooden marker. Unlike the other gravestones in the cemetery, this one is fashioned crudely of wood and looks to be fairly recently placed. It's also leaning slightly. Fluttering down to the marker and muttering to herself, Spivey carefully straightens the marker and bows her head whispering a quiet prayer.

Once she's finished, she leads up the hill at the rear of the cemetery to a stone crypt. The door is partially ajar and with a little force, it's easily pushed open enough to allow the more normal-sized members of the group entry. It's not a large space inside, but it's dry and while cramped, there's enough space for you all.

Only one of the niches is occupied and the plaque reads Admiral Mercatio Kiameleu, Founder.

"You can rest here," Spivey declares, fluttering up to an empty niche where she's made an apparent home.

"We're from Elysium," Spivey explains. "It's no surprise that you haven't heard of it or us. Most big folk haven't. We were summoned here by ... a friend." The pained look returns to the small woman's face and she quickly shakes it off. "But our story is for another time once the evil nasty viciousfeatheredsharpcutting...." her voice trails off again growing higher and higher pitched.

When she finally concludes her stream of invective, she crosses her arms and looks from Cailyn to Vigny and then to the others.

"Why are you standing around talking to me? Go slash slash stab stab!"

"We've given what advice we have," Spivey replies, her stern face softening somewhat. "Our way is not conquest or battle and we know almost nothing of it. But we've seen many come here and be cut to pieces ... stabbed and ... "

She turns away, hiding her small face. A moment later, her emotions mastered, she turns back. "You have skill with sharp and pointy things and you've managed to cut down the nastiest of the bird folk, so perhaps you have what it takes to finish the job." She meets Cailyn's eyes and her lip curls up into a smirk. "As long as you don't fall for any more pretty faces."

"Spivey doesn't make suggestions about what the big folk should do. Big folk never listen to us anyways. Big folk are always yell, yell, yell, stab, stab, stab, shoot, shoot, shoot. They never appreciate what's around them. And they easily fall for pretty faces. But Spivey knows that pretty faces don't mean pretty insides." She turns to glare up a the tower and sparkles of light shimmer from her wings. Turning back, she looks up at Vigny defiantly. "Spivey's only suggestion is don't be like all the other stupid big folk."

She places her hands on her hips again.

"And are you always stupid, stupid when faced with a pretty face?" the woman queries, her hands on her hips. She turns as the others arrive and flits through the air to put the occultist between her and the rest of the group.

"You big folk need to be more careful. There are more bird beasts inside and if you wish to defeat them all, you need to be smart like Spivey and not go all stupid, stupid for a pretty face."

Shunsen's arrow misses, but Vigny's manages to clip the harpy before she vanishes around the other side of the tower's roof.

She has no immediate spells of fire, but assuming acid would be just as effective and finding her voice having returned to her, Flori proceeds to splash Kikonu with gouts of acid.

Combat Ends!

A quick check by those below of the tengu's body produces a leather pouch with several vials of ink, five shiny pearls (100 gp ea), and a darkwood-and-silver disc decorated with an intricate etching of Brinewall under the noonday sun which radiates a faint aura of transmutation magic. The weapon he was wielding is magical as well - Dancing Wasp

The grisly business below having been dealt with, the majority of the group begins trudging back up to where Cailyn lingers, staggered, on the castle wall.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," Cailyn hears a high pitched voice mutter as she leans dizzily against the parapet. She's not sure if she's now hallucinating because appearing from behind one of the cut stone merlons is a tiny figure with butterfly wings. At most, a foot tall, the diminutive woman has pointed ears and long green hair.

"Why are big folk so stupid?" she repeats as she closes on the confused occultist. The woman reaches out a hand and Cailyn feels warmth spread from the touch. "Smart enough to kill nasty bird beasts, but stupid, stupid, stupid, to trust feathered firebowwielding ...." The voice grows faster and higher pitched until Cailyn can no longer understand what the tiny woman is saying. The trilling quickly finishes and the woman flutters in the air staring at Cailyn.

"Well? What do you have to say for yourself?"

Cailyn recovers 4 HP from CLW

As the nature of their enemy reveals itself to the studious Miss Vanderale, Vigny's blade brings an apparent end to the would-be playwright.

Zaiobe spins around in what seems to Cailyn to be a victory celebration before turning towards her and drawing and firing a flaming arrow directly at the occultist. The arrow slams into her side filling her with fiery pain. The harpy then leaps into the air, her wings spreading as she flaps for the top of the tower.

Cailyn takes 8 points of piercing damage and 3 points of fire damage.
Orchid, Shunsen, and Flori are up!

Concealment - 20%: 1d100 ⇒ 28
Concealment - 20%: 1d100 ⇒ 55

While able to dance, Shunsen still manages to miss with her falchion as does Flori's summoned pony. Orchid rakes him with her claws. Flori attempts to wrack her brain, but something about this figure puts it outside anything she's familiar with.

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Round 2

"Oh, no, no, No!" Kikonu protests, turning to Flori. "There will be no more walk-ons! You will follow the script!" With that he spins away from Shunsen and closes on the young mage. Thrusting himself into her personal space, his teeth snap at her arm. The bite is superficial, but when Flore attempts to shout in protest, she finds that she has no voice.

"Now you sit and be a good girl and play your part," the man orders ... in Flori's voice. He's stolen her voice!

Flore takes 2 points of piercing damage and can't use her voice in casting spells or using command-word activated magical items.
Vigny and Cailyn are up!

Between their banter, both Cailyn and Vigny draw copious amounts of blood from the man who seems to grow even angrier. Zaiobe pulls an arrow from her quiver and nocks it to the bow. As she releases it, the arrow bursts into flames. The arrow misses and she immediately draws and fires a second one that also misses.

Orchid, Shunsen, and Flori are up!