Fortunately, the only thing barring the cage is a simply hook on a latch that merely takes the lift of a finger to undo. The door to the iron cage creaks as it swings open and the owl anxiously pulls itself free, half-falling onto the table as it stretches its wings and gets its bearings. Then, it flaps around the room, hooting you assume happily, making a few passes before it lights down upon Cara's shoulder. The bird looks at the elf, blinking a few times, inclines its head this way and that, and hoots, then hops onto her other shoulder and does the same thing. After a second hoot, the owl nestles down on her shoulder like a cozy bough and preens its feathers.
As it does so, you notice a small silver band around the owl's left foot. Engraved upon the band is elven script. Strange, as elves are not known to reside in Irrisen.
Fortunately, the owl does not seem injured whatsoever, and its time in the cage was spent in discomfort rather than pain.
"It seems to like you, Cara. Will it allow you to read what's on the band around its foot?"
Asgrid moves over to where Grugkt is making short work of what's left of the spriggan. He's busy pulling out Cara's arrows from the corpse, and seems to be dismembering the body. "Grugkt put that down! You don't know where that gnome's been." He makes a disgruntled hoot but puts down the pieces.
Asgrid also casts an eye over the meat the spriggan had been chopping up. [b] "Hmm, Geedra, maybe you'd like some of this instead?"
-
No worries. Other than kitchen tools and a few stockpiles of grain, potatoes, turnips, and hard cheese, there isn't much left to this room. On a tray near the cauldron is a dozen recently baked pastries in the shape of beasts - dragons, yetis, oxen, and the like.
Geedra will empty the veggies and the pasties into her satchel. "Will get hungry later. Geedra am not like hungry feeling!
Cara flashes a warm smile to the owl as it makes itself at home on her shoulder, "I think we're going to be fast friends."
After a moment, she takes a look at the tag written in Elven. "It says 'Aran.' That is an old word for 'King' in Elven. It would seem that his majestic quality comes naturally to him. I believe I will keep him, he's obviously already attached to me." She then begins to assist the bird as it preens, beaming happily at her newfound companion.
"Shall we check the door to the main room?" Cara asks after a few moments, still clearly distracted by her new companion.
Geedra nods. It was time to get on with it.
With a new friend in tow, you head back into the dining hall, leaving the corpse of the spriggan behind in the kitchen. The hallway from which Meirul launched her spellwork at yous stretches a bit further into area down the center, another pair of ice-sculpted dryads flanking the corridor. As you pass by the hall, you see that it ends after about 20 feet at a set of double doors, and the left and right walls each also have a set of double doors. First, however, you decide to investigate the southernmost door, mirror to the one that lead to the kitchen.
Kronek leads the way through that portal, and opening it reveals another door immediately to the right, as well as a short two-stair flight that steps down to the rest of the hallway, a narrow seven foot wide corridor that curves gradually to the left out of sight. Another door is set in the left wall just after the steps. Likewise, the right wall that the other door is set into curves as well, so this, you figure, must be an exterior wall of the tower.
Asgrid agrees with Geedra and Cara's plans - they each had a good head for strategy. "Right. Let's clear this gods-forsaken place! I'm with you, Geedra will we alternate taking turns to cast Detect Magic as we go?"
Cara steps out into the hall and investigates the door to your immediate right. Holding up a finger to ask for silence, she listens at the door for a moment, but doesn't hear anything coming from the other side. Likewise, Geedra works a cantrip, flexing her magical knack to investigate the door or the room beyond for any noticeable magical auras, but likewise finds nothing.
Kronek opens the door, and beyond it you see a small, circular bedchamber. About fifteen feet in diameter, the room houses a bed, small desk and chair, and a storage footlocker, as well as a large, full body mirror. Two windows in the walls look out at the snowy plain around the tower. The bed itself is slightly messy, perhaps indicating that it was recently used.
Slightly further down the hall, down the short flight of steps, you check out the next door on the left. Again Cara listens closely, and this time she notices something very faintly in the room beyond. It sounds much like the shuffle of papers and the closing of books, the occasional scrape of a chair across the floor.
If Geedra notices the funky footlocker, she will run to it. "Cara, know how to open chest? Look neat. Maybe magic in chest!". She casts Detect Magic on the chest.
No magic is detected within the chest, and alas, it is locked! A keyhole set in an iron latch guards the way inside.
Cara eyes the chest for a moment, shake her head 'no' to Geedra's question, then looks to Kronek, "Could you just break it open? It appears we are lacking in a thief's skills. It might break something fragile inside, but I am willing to take that chance."
Geedra looks around for a key, but without one, she stepped back to let Kronek try to pop the lock.
Kronek bashes the chest a few times, managing to get it open after hacking down into the wood near the lock. Within, you find mostly clothing in different shades of blue - feminine garments, it appears. A few dresses, a scarf, a shawl, and a pair of slippers. In the bottom you do find a fine looking silver wristband set with a sapphire.
Geedra puts the silver bracelet on. "Look nice on Geedra. Can sell later to buy magic for group."
"Could one of you examine the objects for magical auras?" Cara requests as she looks over the items.
"Oh, sorry, I must have missed you doing that earlier. Let's move on." Cara says apologetically as she moves to the next door.
Moving onward to the next door, Cara listens and hears the faint shuffling of papers and closing of books from beyond the barrier She quietly warns the rest of the group about the possibility of something hostile, and Kronek shoulders up to the door to open it. The kellid nods to everyone and grips the haft of his spear as he pushes the portal wide.
Beyond, floor to ceiling bookshelves line the walls of a sprawling chamber. An ornate wooden table, covered with open texts and lit candles, and six chairs sit in the middle of the room. A massive mirror hands on the western wall.
Standing beside the table is an Ulfen woman with long, curly blonde hair tied into multiple braids. Her pale face wears a scowl, though she is rather comely despite it. Dressed in a azure overcoat with white fur cuffs, a green peasant dress beneath, and a brown cloak, she looks rather like a farmer's wife. That is, until she lifts the greatsword off of the table next to her with very strong looking hands. She slams a book shut as she does so and eyes you aggressively.
She takes a step forward, cracking her neck as she holds her blade aloft. Despite her lack of fear, you can't help but think that this fight will be a bit one sided just by your numbers.
Initiative:
Cara 21
Hestrig 21
Kronek 13
Geedra 11
Asgrid 10
Cara
Geedra
Asgrid
kronek
Hestrig
Keeping Aran the owl back for the moment, Cara fires an arrow in the direction of the fierce, flat-footed blonde woman.
Seeing the woman who looks to have hostile intentions, Asgrid casts an eye at Grugkt, who already looks ready to leap into action. Before he can do so she slaps a hand onto his shoulder, channeling divine energy into the eidolon. "Go get 'em!" Grugkt leaps forward, brandishing his claws and arms that look even brawnier than before. He tries to angle around the left side of the table, helping Kronek to flank the enemy.
Cara reacts first to this adversary, snapping off an arrow at her from the hallway. The projectile doesn't seem to connect, however, and almost looks as though it glances off of some invisible force just around the woman's form.
The woman smirks and takes one hand off of the hilt of her greatsword and moves it in the air in small circles. The air around her open hand swirls and coalesces in a cool mist, condensing until it becomes a sphere of snow and ice. She thrusts her hand towards Kronek and the orb speeds off, leaving a blue haze behind it. The spell detonates upon the bloodrager in a frigid burst, pelting the kellid with supernatural cold.
Kronek himself whips up his bloodrage and bounds forward with his boar spear, sidling up next to a bookcase and thrusting forward. The woman is obviously made of sterner stuff than the other rabble you fought below, for she easily parries the jab with her blade.
Meanwhile, Asgrid lays her hand upon Grugkt's burly arm and grants him some magical augmentation. The eidolon leaps forward around the other side of the table to catch the enemy from behind, but his blow too is avoided by this sword-wielding mage.
Kronek HP: 10/20, temp 8.
Geedra casts Bless, giving everyone a +1 to their attack rolls. She also moves up, keeping Kronek between she and the sword wielding mage, so she could heal him next round.
Sighing with minor irritation after her first arrow misses, Cara follows it up with two more at the blonde woman.
Geedra invokes her arcane prowess, utilizing her magic to grant herself and her allies heightened accuracy and bolstered resolve. The spell flows through everyone with a mystical warmth, emboldening their efforts.
Cara makes grand use of this eldritch boon, lining up two shots in rapid succession. Both projectiles neatly find their mark, biting through the invisible armor on the warrior woman to inflict damage upon her. She lets out a groan of surprise and pain, glancing down at the wounds.
The woman does not let her guard fall. Her muscles tighten as she grips the hilt of the greatsword with both hands and turns to swing at Grugkt, narrowing her eyes in a furious furrow as she brings the blade to bare, drawing a ragged gash on the eidolon. You notice her blow seems to be guarded, however, as even as she slashes she remains in a balanced defense, so her blow doesn't look as strong as it could have been.
Kronek takes the opportunity of a turned back to line up another strike. Despite the woman's defensive stance, he runs her through with the boar spear, punching a savage hole into her back and Grugk't witnesses the long tip of the weapon emerge from her front. The woman gasps and looks down at the steel emerging from her and lets go of her sword and it clatters to the ground.
[Greatsword
Spear
Asgrid's impressed with the speed at which Cara and Kronek managed to take down the warrior woman. Noting the party's wounds, she heads over to Kronek and channels a Cure Light Wounds blessing on him, and bestows a lesser Rejuvenate Eidolon on Grugkt.
Afterwards, she looks down at the woman, considering. "Hmm. I say we tie her up. Maybe she can give us some helpful information as well. Speaking of which, she was dead keen on this book here, I wonder what it's about." Asgrid has a look at the book open on the table.
Geedra plods into the library and casts Detect Magic. She kicks the woman as she walks by. "Woman not so tough," she says as she kicks her a second time.
Yes, it would be a good idea for Kronek or Grugkt to bind her." Cara says in agreement with Asgrid's suggestion as she works to disarm the woman and lay out her items for Geedra magic detection spell.
"I suppose it would be too much to hope for future adversaries in this accursed place to be as easy to defeat."
Kronek thanks Asgrid for the healing, and agrees that binding the woman would be a good idea. He sets about doing so as Cara unburdens her, Geedra scans the area for magical auras, and Asgrid investigates the tomes on the table.
Other than her greatsword, she has a throwing axe on her belt with a fine ash handle and wickedly sharp edge, as well as a dagger tucked into a sheath hanging from the strap of her bag. She also carries three flasks in her satchel, two of clear glass containing a bluish liquid, and the third is made of pewter, somewhat ornate with a stopper that looks like a dragon's head. Her brown cloak looks to be of treated skins, likely an elk or deer, and is well made - sturdy yet supple with gold threadwork along the hems. You also find a silver key, and a small blue crystalline orb like the one you found on the female guard downstairs that hums softly.
Geedra detects magic on all of the items, and focuses in on auras around the greatsword, the cloak, all three flasks, and the orb.
The orb's aura is identical to the previous orb, emitting teleportation magic.
On the table, the tomes in the immediate vicinity where you suspect the woman was sitting deal with draconic history of Irrisen. The specific tome that she closed as you entered is entitled "Known Dragons of the North - White Wyrms of Irrisen"
At the other end of the table are a stack of books having to do with Taldor - encyclopedias, histories, and other such works.
The books on the shelves cover a wider range of topics, dealing with Golarian history for nearly every nation, the Great Beyond, bestiaries of fey, magical beasts, and giants, and more.
Spellcraft
Spellcraft
Spellcraft
Spellcraft
Geedra checks the items in order. She tells the properties of the sword and the glassmflaskw to the group.
Asgrid thanks Kronek for tying the woman up. She casts her eye over pewter flask and cloak as well, but is not able to offer any additional insights. Instead, she wanders over to the book and opens it at random. "This looks interesting. Geedra, do you like reading? Cara? If we manage to clear the witches out of this place, I'd love to come back here for a closer look."
pewter flask
cloak
Cara nods in agreement with Asgrid as she looks through the volumes present in the room. She stops at one of the fey bestiaries and leafs through it, "I believe I'll take this along with me and read it at my leisure. These creatures have been constant pests throughout this ordeal."
You take stock of the room and the woman's possessions, investigating the tomes on the table and helping yourself to a few of the volumes present for some future research. As you mull over the contents of the library, you hear a moan from the corner of the room, and turning to it you see that the woman herself has lurched groggily back to consciousness.
She looks up at you, paled by the loss of blood, and spits a bit of crimson out between her cracked lips.
"You bind me as a butchered cow. Grant me the honor of death, outsiders. You have already humiliated today, damn it be, but do not dishonor me in the eyes of my ancestors."
Cara waits for a translation, then sighs, "I should spend some time learning this human tongue of the north, it might make things easier. I will not murder her now, perhaps we could see if she'll fight for us if she considers her life forfeit anyway."
The elf looks over at the woman in case she understood any of her words.
"Want Geedra to kill human woman? Geedra not bothered," she says, staring at the woman.
"I think we should see if we can get her to assist us first since we don't know anything about her. Perhaps she was tricked or controlled."
When the woman groans herself awake, Kronek seems to be on edge and is suddenly facing her, Old Man Dansby's dagger in his hand. He eyes the woman coldly before shifting his gaze back to the rest of you. You have seen the kellid's easy in dispatching prisoners before, and there is no doubt that he would have no qualms about removing this new adversary from the equation either.
Geedra also seems to be for ridding the group of her, by Cara and Asgrid have different opinions, at least for now. For herself, the woman seems to accept death stoically, narrowing her gaze at the dagger in Kronek's hand as the rest of the group murmur about what to do.
"Do it then, kellid." Her voice is icy cool, yet soft at the same time. "I'll not plead, nor beg if that's what your after. I will not be brought to such shame." Her eyes move slowly over the the rest of the group as Asgrid shakes her head to the goblin. "Oh ho, a hostage you'll make of me, eh? Don't expect Radosek to offer you anything for me. Every moment you tarry here, you grant him the advantage anyway."
Despite her words, you decide to try and press her for some information anyway, at least who she is.
"Fine, I will grant you that. I would not rob you of the honor that comes with knowing who you've defeated. I am Hestrig. The rabble downstairs were under my command, but if you've made it this far I suspect they are dead. I don't know why you have come here, but I wager it has something to do with Radosek or Nazhena. Luckily for you, Nazhena is away...otherwise you'd all be in an icy tomb." She snorts a short laugh and adjusts herself in the ropes. For all her talk of an honorable death, she also seems to be at least somewhat willing to forestall it with conversation.