Confident in both the sunlight to deter the vampire, and in his companions to deal with any foes, the half-elf takes his time trying to fiddle.
Climbing down the 'Stairway of Kings' is much faster than climbing up it. You can easily reach the waterfall before noon if you wish.
Climbing down the 'Stairway of Kings' is much faster than climbing up it. You can easily reach the waterfall before noon if you wish.
"Let's keep a sharp eye out now..." Orlan reminds everyone. Inwardly, he's happy Kamris is coming along with them to the Keep. At least the elflin' had a tendency to spot trouble before it reached them.
"It wouldn't do ta be stumblin' inta an ambush laid by those no-good bounty hunters hidin' behind Lord Kerrigan's authority," he notes aloud.
The journey down the stairs is much less eventful than the journey up. You pass by the area with burnt webbing and find the remains of the spider have been scavenged by whatever else lurks nearby.
When you get to the waterfall Kamris hears a noise above the rush of the water: "Wolves."
"Wolves?" Yin repeats, her tone a little surprised, wolves seemed a little tame after all they'd been through so far. "If they attack are we wanting to save their fur? Their pelts could be tradable, I could try not burning them.." She suggests actually amazed at how easy it was to offer to do something other than burn things.
"Wolves?" Yin repeats, her tone a little surprised, wolves seemed a little tame after all they'd been through so far. "If they attack are we wanting to save their fur? Their pelts could be tradable, I could try not burning them.." She suggests actually amazed at how easy it was to offer to do something other than burn things.
"Nah," Orlan returns, "We be bearin' far more valuable trade goods than wolf pelts would bring. We fend 'em off as best we can. And yer fire n' flame might help do the trick should we face 'em..."
As Kamris creeps a little closer, he is able to see across the waterfall from a position behind the two abandoned guard towers on the group's side of the bridge. He sees half a dozen wolves gnawing at some bodies on the ground.
Sir Manfred turns to Lord Orlan. "What say you Milord? Shall we force our way through these animals?"
Sir Manfred turns to Lord Orlan. "What say you Milord? Shall we force our way through these animals?"
"I be thinkin' there might be a need ta drive 'em off," Orlan suggests, "What be those bodies they be pickin' over? Let's get a little closer an' see if'n we can't take 'em from range, lad."
This particular pack of wolves are not so eager to be driven off of their kill. Not willing to share, they growl at you when you cross the bridge.
This particular pack of wolves are not so eager to be driven off of their kill. Not willing to share, they growl at you when you cross the bridge.
"Go on...git! Yuh mangy curs!" Orlan announces as he tosses a ball of acid at the nearest.
Orlan's ranged touch attack with acid dart... (1d20+4 = 18 to hit, 1d6+1 = 3 damage)
Sir Manfred steps forward and hurls his shortspear;
Thrown Shortspear: (1d20+6=17, 1d8+3=4)
And then draws his sword.
The wolves rethink their stubbornness and quickly scamper away. They leave behind a number of corpses. Cautiously approaching, you see that these are corpses of different species: orc, human, goblin, and one bugbear. They are all emaciated and now chewed on. Arrows stick out of some of the corpses.
Not far behind them are the remains of a camp.
On the way to the camp, Sir Manfred will pause and try to identify the arrows. Are they Barbarian or Civilized?
On the way to the camp, Sir Manfred will pause and try to identify the arrows. Are they Barbarian or Civilized?
They are well made with steel points and the flights are dyed black and red. You see numerous medium sized boot prints around the bodies.
Yin watches on with a frown, her eyes scanning the enviroment around her as though trying to make sense of what happened, and more importantly why. Knowing she's no good at tracking despite her quah being skilled hunters she stays away from the bodies not wanting to disturb any of the footprints there that may halp Orlan and Manfred work out what happened.
They are well made with steel points and the flights are dyed black and red. You see numerous medium sized boot prints around the bodies.
"Hunh!" Orlan offers.
"Looks like there be a new faction in the mountains," he surmises as he examines one of the arrows, "Too well-made fer orcs n' goblinkin. And I don't recall seein' these markin's among the men that came up from Kerrigan's Keep."
"By the look o' those tracks, it seems we're lookin' at man-sized folk," he adds, "I'm no tracker, though." He looks sidelong at Kamris. "I don't s'pose the elflin' can be makin' further sense o' this mess?"
"...And I don't recall seein' these markin's among the men that came up from Kerrigan's Keep."...
Just as Orlan says that he realizes the flag at Kerrigan's Keep is red and black and the flights of their arrows may very well have been. Man-sized foot prints. Emaciated goblins and orcs. As you walk around the site, it becomes clear: this was the band of goblins and other folk that 'Quarrel' led out of the spires at Orlan's behest. That bugbear is 'Quiver', 'Quarrel's' brother. And the people who did this are the men out from Kerrigan's Keep.
Just as Orlan says that he realizes the flag at Kerrigan's Keep is red and black and the flights of their arrows may very well have been. Man-sized foot prints. Emaciated goblins and orcs. As you walk around the site, it becomes clear: this was the band of goblins and other folk that 'Quarrel' led out of the spires at Orlan's behest. That bugbear is 'Quiver', 'Quarrel's' brother. And the people who did this are the men out from Kerrigan's Keep.
"Well, I'll be..." Orlan's voice drops to a whisper.
"Looks like this could be the work o' the Kerrigan's Keep crew," Orlan announces, "And I be recognizin' many o' these bodies now. They be the lot o' unfortunates that fiend Azubal had hangin' in his pantry. I don't be seein' our bugbear friend, Quarrel, among 'em though."
He gives a sigh and places his hands on his hips as he surveys the carnage. "I don't be knowin' their true hearts," he acknowledges, "But they certainly suffered enough in this world. Let's be sendin' 'em down ta Torag's forge 'fore those wolves come back fer dinner."
He shoulders off his pack and unstraps his shield before searching for a shovel amongst his gear. "Manfred? Lend a hand, won'tcha, lad?" he asks, "Let's be buryin' 'em 'fore more scavengers are drawn this way..."
"Of course, Milord." Sir Manfred replies. He goes to fetch (or impovise) a shovel to help bury the dead.
Silently Yin kneels herself beside the bodies and carefully removes the arrows from the poor souls. "And there was me thinking I couldn't dislike that man any more" She grumbles quietly, wanting nothing more to confront the leader of the men who'd trooped out from Kerrigan's Keep.
The wolves do not return while this solemn work is carried out.
The wolves do not return while this solemn work is carried out.
Once the burying is done, Orlan gives a great sigh and intones a prayer to Torag over the mound of freshly turned earth.
"I don't be knowin' what gods these heathen souls may be treatin' with while they yet drew breath, Forgefather," he says, "But I do be knowin' the circumstances under which we came to aid 'em. I only ask that in their death, yuh protect their remains from those that would savage or dishonor 'em. And give 'em peace in the Great Beyond."
Afterward, he squints up at the dying sun, knowing they won't make it much further down the canyon wall until night descends upon them.
"Alright, let's be findin' a safe enough place to camp where those wolves won't be sniffin' around," he suggests, "Have ourselves a hearty meal, give a toast ta the Forgefather, and strengthen ourselves fer the climb down in the mornin'. Manfred? How 'bout yuh take the first watch? The elflin' and I'll take the darkest hours with our nightsight ta aid us. And Yin can guard us as the sun rises..."
"Yes Milord. Do you think Lord Kerrigan actually sent those men?"
"Yes Milord. Do you think Lord Kerrigan actually sent those men?"
"Hard to know, lad," Orlan replies, "Leaders sometimes delegate so much o' their orders that they can send someone without knowin' fully what they're sendin' 'em off ta do. So he may have been duped inta supportin' their mission ta come see what happened ta us, because o' them cannibals attackin' the keep. The opportunity ta try and nab me cousin's elflin' friend might not've been shared with 'im. But we'll find out when we talk with him again..."
You have two possibilities for travel. You can go the Keep by walking along the gorge at river bed level or by walking along the gorge at the top of the gorge. Since you aren't trying to make the trip with horses, both options are open to you.
The river is less rough than it was before. With the winter melt gone, it is warmer and calmer. The side of the gorge now has room to walk -- a bit muddy but stable.
If you go down the ledges to the river bed:
You've been down the ledges before but only to a certain point. On the second ledge from the bottom, half way across the ledge, you see that a crevice in the rock goes quite deep and seems to open up into a cave.
On the wall of the crevice the stone has been polished smooth in a perfect 1'x1' square. On the square are engraved words in dwarvish. Despite a half-hearted effort to deface them, the following words can be made out:
We prot--t this tomb and bones wit-in,
for although they belo-- -- gi--tkin,
we share ------- ----- a love of stone,
and to their art but add our own.
* Def---ders of the F--hammer Spires, 2774
From this angle it is difficult to see clearly within the cave but the crevice is large enough to enter through.
If you enter:
As you cautiously enter the cave, the smell of damp and rot wafts out. Once you get far enough down the passage to peer in, you see bones.
Bones line the wall ... every inch of the wall. Fixed to the wall by some sort of mud or clay, they climb the walls, crawl across the roof, and form a walkway on the floor. Bones from at least twelve species and more than forty skeletons have been used to create what only can be described as a mural of some sort.
Your eye follows from one skeleton to the other as the skeletons copulate with each other, eat each other, and grow out of each other. A skeleton of a pregnant tiger has in its womb the skeleton of a human infant being gnawed at by the skeletons of several rats. A skeletal outline of a bat wears a human skull and has the legs of a great cat.
The focal point of the entire mural is the skeleton of a 12 foot tall figure -- quite recognizably a giant -- that is positioned as if seated on a throne of bones.
The floor is caked with straw and mud out of which grow thousands of red mushrooms with blue dots.
Near one of the walls is a wide hip bone serving as a palette, a straw basket of bones, a bowl of water, and some fairly fresh looking mud near an unfinished section of the wall.
As you travel down the gorge (whether at river level or above):
On the other side of the gorge, you can see the three giants hiking deeper into the Mindspins. They do not pay any attention to you and perhaps have not noticed you.
You have two possibilities for travel.
"Yes; it is a distant hope I know, but I hope Tankard is still there."
You have two possibilities for travel.
There is no sign of your horses. The good news is that you do not see horse bones around the campfire.
There is no sign of your horses. The good news is that you do not see horse bones around the campfire.You have two possibilities for travel.
Slogging through muddy river banks for the next day and a half is not a pleasant time in anyone's life. Better just to forget the lecture's from Manfred to Yin about duty and honour, the grumbling from Orlan about the 'blasted river', Yin's continual offers to warm them both up and the pyromaniacal gleam she gets in here eyes when she says it.
You arrive at Kerrigan's Keep, cold, wet, and tired.
At a bend in the river near the Keep, you see the barge, hauled up on the shore.
The Keep gate is closed as it usually is when no wagons are approaching. Guards watch lazily from the wall.
"Come now friends, it wasn't THAT cold and wet."
Yin shivers a little. "It is that cold and wet" she objects with a small smile "I'm coping but a nice warm place to stay and a good drink would be a godsend."
Fortitude check... (1d20+8=18)
"Cold and wet...Hunh!" Orlan grumbles, "That ain't no condition fer a dwarf ta be travelin' in..."
He spots the guards atop the wall and calls out to them.
"Hey up there! Look lively, lads!" he shouts, "It be Orlan Hammerfoe come ta have a word with yer Lord Kerrigan, if yuh please..."
The guards allow you entrance to the gatehouse, ask your business, and send a runner to Lord Kerrigan saying you've requested a meeting.
You don't recognize any of these guards from the incident at the spires.
The guards allow you entrance to the gatehouse, ask your business, and send a runner to Lord Kerrigan saying you've requested a meeting. You don't recognize any of these guards from the incident at the spires.
"Say, lads," Orlan asks after the runner has been sent, "I don't s'pose any o' yuh might be friendly with Sallem Baddar, Captain of the 3rd Watch, by any chance? Would he be around? We met his men in the mountains and I thought maybe they might have returned by now..."
The guards allow you entrance to the gatehouse, ask your business, and send a runner to Lord Kerrigan saying you've requested a meeting. You don't recognize any of these guards from the incident at the spires."Say, lads," Orlan asks after the runner has been sent, "I don't s'pose any o' yuh might be friendly with Sallem Baddar, Captain of the 3rd Watch, by any chance? Would he be around? We met his men in the mountains and I thought maybe they might have returned by now..."
"Can't say we're his friends ... can't say Badder has friends ... But those members of the Third Watch returned late last night. Probably still in bed. ... I'm sorry, sir, are you his friends? I didn't mean to badmouth him if you are."
"Can't say we're his friends ... can't say Badder has friends ... But those members of the Third Watch returned late last night. Probably still in bed. ... I'm sorry, sir, are you his friends? I didn't mean to badmouth him if you are."
"Hardly, lad," Orlan responds, "We didn't exactly get off on the right foot when we met 'im. That's why I'm askin' his whereabouts in case he's up to no good. And it's the reason we be needin' ta speak with Kerrigan, as well. I'm much obliged fer the information...and if'n yuh can manage ta leave out tellin' Badder we've arrived, I'd be happy ta tip a mug o' ale with yuh and yer friends at the Old Mess Hall...on me...once yer off-duty."
"Can't say we're his friends ... can't say Badder has friends ... But those members of the Third Watch returned late last night. Probably still in bed. ... I'm sorry, sir, are you his friends? I didn't mean to badmouth him if you are.""Hardly, lad," Orlan responds, "We didn't exactly get off on the right foot when we met 'im. That's why I'm askin' his whereabouts in case he's up to no good. And it's the reason we be needin' ta speak with Kerrigan, as well. I'm much obliged fer the information...and if'n yuh can manage ta leave out tellin' Badder we've arrived, I'd be happy ta tip a mug o' ale with yuh and yer friends at the Old Mess Hall...on me...once yer off-duty."
The guard laughs and, without committing one way or the other, says "Lord Kerrigan used to caution his men 'Unless you're willing to pay for it later, never drink with a dwarf and never sleep with a ...'," he stops abruptly as he notices Yin. "Ummm, why don't you go directly to the gatehouse to the inner bailey. That way you don't need to run into anyone you don't want to."