"Might I suggest we tread carefully anywhere around the water..." a slight tinge of fear to his voice "I've heard a great deal of stories about the things that dwell in pleasant looking springs in clearings just like thisone--all sorts of fey creatures and the like that lurk within refreshing-looking pools waiting to pull in unwary souls for the sheer pleasure of drowning them."He sets down his pack and undoes a few buttons on his outer travelling gear to let the breeze in, but doesn't stop talking "Particularly watch out for attractive young women. Steer clear of any creepy attractive young women. That's always how it goes..."
Completely ignoring Greis' advice, Corvin wades directly into the water, striding purposefully towards the cave.
Corvin’s cry is followed a few moments later by a splash. Anarath, who has bent to examine the stones, looks up briefly, shakes his head, and then quickly continues with his search of the area. He is somewhat hasty, as he is ready to race over to the pool at a sign of danger, but he feels that something may be learnt from these stones.
Dohlok walks to the edge of the water where Corvin waded in, but doesn't enter the water. He keeps a careful eye on Corvin and the rest of the party.
Anarath; your search reaveals that there are names carved into the stones which resemble grave markers.
It is 15ft to the waterfall and the water is only about a foot deep.
Turns around and faces away from the waterfall and looks back the way they came.
"Anyone bothered to see if there are foot prints over there? Or what kind of print they be?" Shakes his head thinking looking for this crazy old guy might have sent them into the kobold's nest.
Turns around and faces away from the waterfall and looks back the way they came.
"Anyone bothered to see if there are foot prints over there? Or what kind of print they be?" .
"I dunno," replies Corvin, "but it does look like somethin' or someone goes there on a reg'lar basis."
As Anarath had suspected, the stone markers are graves. Tucking his wayward fringe back behind his ear, he leans in closer to see if he can read the names on them - or any other pertinant information - as Midnight settles atop one of the markers with a squawk.
Then names on the the grave stones are weathered away, clearly quite old and barley legible although you can pick out the word 'Maris' on the stone that you are studying followed by something else.
“Maris…” Anarath muses quietly, searching his mind to see if the name rings any bells. He peers more closely at the rest of the words, brushing away dust and grime, trying to make sense of the rest.
You are barely able to make out the words "Grimmbold" after the name Maris and then two dates, which appear to be birth and death dates.
Anarath is dimly aware of Corvin still splashing about in the stream below the waterfall. Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, he searches his memory, going over the scraps of information he was able to glean in his research of the history of Grimmbold Manor. Did Maris Grimmbold – did he or she live before or after the fall of the Manor?
You remember that Maris was the name of the duaghter of Sir Grimmbold, the man who founded the manor.
Anarath stands, brushes the dirt from his knees, and looks up, squinting into the sky. So, these graves dated from before the fall of the Manor. Curious. Why had the family located their family plot in this isolated place so far from the grounds? Fear of restless dead? Or just local or familial custom? Or had the party simply been turned around in the woods, and were in fact closer to the Manor than they thought?
Anarath turns to watch Corvin approaching the waterfall, and begins making his way over to the water, Midnight atop his shoulder. It has occurred to him that the suspected cave behind the waterfall may contain something important to the Grimmbold family – or perhaps an alternate, hidden path to the Manor itself.
Corvin, as you aproach the waterfall you can see that the small area behind the waterfall has a small alcove with some blankets in it, several candles and two battered books. Your foot hits something hard in the stream and you look down. There is a helmet by your foot. As you look around you notice that the stream by the waterfall is full of humanoid bones and old armor.
"This ain't lookin' so good. Everyone stay behind me."
Dohrlok moves up behind Corvin to provide him with support, if necessary.
Anarath quickly folds his coat and lays it on the bank beside the stream, then bends to ensure that his trousers are tucked firmly into his travelling boots, preparing to enter the water if neessary.
"What is it that you've seen Corvin?" he calls.
Greis quickly crosses over to the far side, away from the edge of the pool to a spot on the far side of the waterfall to try and get a clear line into the cave, to cover his associates as they mass at the enterance. He traces his fingers through the air, leaving faint lines of fog, like breath on a cold morning, preparing to send an icy ray at anything that comes charging out of the unknown depths.
There doesn't seem to be anything alive in the cave. You notice that the clearing seems to be suddenly quite, as if waiting for something.
The unnatural silence is finally begin to gnaw at even Anarath’s nerves. Realising that he has been holding his breath waiting to see what Corvin might discover, he drags his eyes away from the stream and lets his senses scan the clearing, lingering particularly on the path by which they arrived and the gravestones he had recently investigated. He is dimly aware of Corvin and Dohrlok in the water nearby. Midnight shifts uneasily on his shoulder, but stays silent.
Grumbling to himself about finding nothing more then dirty kobolds Gawlak moves over to stand with Corvin and Dohrlok. Readys himself to move up to anything that comes out of the caves and attacks. "Kord is with us guys. We have nothing to fear."
"Only the dead have nothing to fear." Obviously, the morbid contents of the cave are getting to Dohrlok.
"There is, of course, the hitherto undiscussed alternative: that we have actually found the abode of the man we seek. Witness; dead kobolds with the unsavory possibility of predation, the funeral markers of the family he felt guilt at abandoning just here nearby, frequent passage in and out--perhaps he lives in this cave we are menacing? I think that is worth consideration. Who knows, perhaps the plans we desire are there amongst his possessions..."
Greis seems less affected by the creepy aura of the place, though whether it is through some special knowledge on his part or simply that he fails to notice it remains unclear.
"I concur. Perhaps we should look for evidence of his whereabouts? I suspect rifling through his possessions will not endear us to him."
Did I mention that the bones are humanoid and kobold?
Anarath, your checks detect nothing
"Is there someone here who can identify the remains?"
Corvin, as he often does when he gets nervous, loses what little sense he has and calls out,
"C'mon out and show yourself, so I can bet ya to a pulp!"
The fighter looks around wildly, fists raised, ready for an attack that may or may not come.
"Oh that's so very nice...thank you Corvin."
He shakes his head and splashes his way through the ankle deep water toward the cave, making his way inside in nondramatic fashion. He glances about the interior looking for any promising hiding places wherein the architect may have hidden his plans.
Anarath shakes his head and rolls his eyes at Corvin’s outburst. Glancing down at the remains under the water’s surface, that Greis is picking his way across on his way behind the waterfall, he absently answers Dohrlok’s question – “kobold I think.”
“Well,” he says, giving a last look around the clearing, “No signs of life. I suggest that at least one of us waits out here to keep watch whilst we explore the cave.” He steps down off the bank into the stream and begins making his way to the space behind the waterfall. “If this is the lair of the architect, I may recognise something of significance.”
Crowding into the cramped alcove alongside Greis, Anarath looks around the cave, taking particular note of the titles (if any) of the books, as Midnight shifts uneasily on his shoulder and caws at Greis’ owl.
Corvin's eyes dart from side to side as he mumbles to himself.
"Why the hell are we just standing around? What the hell is this place, anyway?"
Greis, You don't find anything.
Anarath, you don't see anything out of the ordinary.
The clearing remains silent after Corvin's outburst.
Rifles through the bedding, picks up one of the books and begins flipping through it, skimming its contents.
"Clues, my thick associate...clues. If we can, we hope to find the plans we'd heard the Architect keeps here, and perhaps even some indication of his whereabouts. But keep a stout heart, the time will soon come for you to lodge your sword in the gullet of some creature or another. If you wouldn't mind keeping a lookout for us? Thank you so much."
"Have you found anything Greis?" Anarath asks softly, starting his own search of the small chamber.
Walking over to the books they had noticed earlier, Anarath picks one of them up and blows the dust off the cover. Almost reverently, he opens the cover and begins to scan the contents.
Greis, you don't find anything unusual. The book that you open is a book on architecture. From its yellowed and dusty pages falls a large peice of old paper with the map of a building on it. In elaborate script at the top it is labeled 'Grimmbold Manor, First Floor'.
Corvin, from somewhere in the trees to your left an arrow flys forth and bounces off of your armor. Roll Initiative everyone.
Anarath bends over to pick up the piece of paper that has fallen to the ground – a floor plan! As he is about to announce his find, he suddenly stiffens – what was that noise from outside? Throwing a glance at Greis, he stands and prepares to make towards the opening beside the wall of rushing water.
Curses himself for not seeing the person(s) in the woods. "I knew this was a trap. Damn bastards!" Grips his morning star and lifts his shield up higher ready to spring to action.
Dohlok reacts ponderously as the arrows begin to fly.
"I KNEW IT!" bellows Corvin as he rushes in the direction of the archer.
Another arrow strikes you and finds a weak spot in your armor, dealing 4 points of damage.
Feeing the arrow pierce his flesh, Corvin ducks and rolls to the side, crouching behind one of the standing stones.
Anarath peers out from the cave – to witness a scene of action and confusion outside. The two dwarves and Corvin have scattered, apparently under attack from some unseen source. An arrow lies on the bank near where Corvin had been standing, and looking frantically around Anarath can see the warrior crouched behind one of the headstones at the other side of the clearing, clutching at another arrow embedded through his armour.
As the fog of confusion clears, a sudden thought comes to him. “The architect…” he whispers to himself. Then, half emerging from the cave, he cups his hands around his mouth and yells out “Segwin! We are friends!”
He looks around and sees the dwarves, who are closer to him than Corvin is. “Dohrlok, it may be the architect! Don’t let Corvin kill him!”
He looks frantically around, into the trees, trying to spot the hidden attacker.
Chaneling Greis...
Initiative 6