Post by Dead Greyhawk on Apr 22, 2008 21:21:06 GMT -5
Winthrop and Pfiffwin sit idly looking at the charred mass of slug that plugs the tunnel before them. A clear slime exudes from its sagging flesh. "Not going through that. No way," says Winthrop. Pfiffwin nods his agreement. "Shall we try the other hatch?" queries the bane midge, and the gnome leads the way.
Back in the corridor, Samantha continues to stare at the stone block that has sealed the Company in. The company of mercenaries that has freed her from Hanuman and his foul bugbears seems dangerous to be around, perhaps more dangerous than being left alone trapped among the gore and giant weasels! Already they have split in three directions and trapped themselves behind a huge block of stone! "Any ideas on how to get out of here?" she asks the turban-clad mage.
"They'll figure something out," replies Dell, looking over his collection of bone statuettes that his elementalkin has placed in his sack.
Sighing, Samantha turns to see the gnome and a horrifying midget creature stumble out of the circular hatch in the far wall. Squelching a surprised squeak, she watches as the midget creature grabs hold of the wall and opens another circular hatch. The gnome, Pfiffwin, she thinks, twirls his mustaches at her before scampering into the tunnel behind this new hatch. "Definitely unsafe," she mutters.
Pfiffwin and Winthrop hike down the circuitous passage behind the other hatch. It, like the previous two, wends its way along until it comes to a second circular hatch. Winthrop's touch is again all that is needed to cause the hatch to unscrew upwards. Pfiffwin and Winthrop peer cautiously through the open space. Unlike before, no horrible creature lies in wait for them. Instead, the small natural cavern with a pool of water that is revealed seem mercifully empty. A sword hilt protrudes from the water, rising up in the midst of the pool, and the floor of the cavern undulates with humps and hillocks of dirt, each about five feet in length and two feet wide.
"Too quiet," says Winthrop, eying the room. "It's like it begs us to enter and pick up the sword." Pfiffwin nods his agreement, pulling out a handful of Oyt leaves to munch on. Winthrop lowers the hatch again, and the two of them return to the rest of the Company.
A clunking and grinding sound greets them as they return, the stone block being dragged upward by an unseen force. "Told you so," quips Dell to Samantha. A quarter hour later, the rest of the Company, ice and water dripping from them and looking a bit bedraggled, returns. They relate the strange room of water, winches, and stelae and the undead created there.
"Just think, Diego," jibes Raven. "You have a full fledged evil temple and undead factory here in your basement. You could rent it to Nerullites and make a pretty profit." Diego frowns, his enormous pride pricked.
"Only the other two doors are left on my map," Antonus informs the others. The rest of the Company looks surprised at his announcement; all of the doors from the octagonal room are accounted for. "In the teleporting door room, there are two more doors," clarifies Antonus.
Winthrop, who has returned to his normal shape, and Pfiffwin inform the others about their experiences with the giant slug and the other empty cavern. "I think the other doors lead there," concludes Winthrop. "They each were small caverns that had some water in them. It seems like a reasonable pattern." The Company seems relatively convinced, or at least convinced enough to try the doors tomorrow, after a long rest.
The Company hikes back up the long, winding stairs to the Castle above. Releasing the former captives to fend and forage for themselves, the Company holes up on the roof of the keep and takes a long-needed rest. The warriors take turns watching the sky and the trapdoors while the others sleep for hours on end.
The next day finds the Company hard at work providing for the freed captives. With so many mouths to feed and the dubious nature of the bugbear provisions, Hugh and Adrienne are pressed into service summoning clean food and water for the many souls gathered in the keep. For the most part, the freed captives are cooperative, though the Company's reticence toward letting them simply leave the castle riles some of them. Allotting some of the freed captives the responsibility of watching the stairs and the surrounding lands, the Company begins to plan.
"I need to take Grizela to Loftwick and try to get her raised from the dead," opens Winthrop. "The Divine Seven are likely to be amenable, and our relations are the best with them. Any who wish to come with me can, but it will be like on the glacier; mass will be an issue and will be forced to contort their forms first."
The upcoming disappearance of their most powerful mage is a strong impetus to kick the Company into motion. Enchanted items need to be separated from their mundane equivalents, the last of the dungeons searched through, and a destination for the rescued captives identified. "I like lists. This is the kind of well-organized operation we should be running. Assuming the teleport doors are as follows:
X. Rakshasha room with heavy chest of gold.
Y. Giant slug room with acid-pitted treasure.
Z. Barrow-filled room with rusty broadsword in the water," opines Antonus. "Exploring the dungeons is easy enough. It is just a matter of determining which of the two doors lead to which of the caverns. Do you think the barrow-filled room has wights in it? Wights loves barrows."
"I think there were tuffets instead of barrows. So maybe very small wights. There has been a penchant to do nasty things to halflings here," says Otto quietly. The rest of the Company stares at him for a moment, not sure whether or not he has made a joke.
Antonus smiles weakly at him and stutters, "So we'll check them out?" Otto nods and beckons at Perrin, drawing him along as well.
"I need to a visit a temple as well!" shouts Perrin as he heads towards the stairwell. "It's very important!"
"He's not a worshiper of Phyton, is he?" asks Raven darkly.
"Phaulkon," says Hugh, reassuringly. "Church of the Divine Seven again, though I think he is worshiped separately by the elves and humans of Geoff."
"We should send a message to the elves to let them know we've taken the place," asserts Dell. "They can send a force to hold the fort, escort the slaves, I mean freed prisoners, to safety, bring us supplies, things like that. But we shouldn't leave until they get here."
"Well, if we're going to go our separate ways, I will contact Arden and tell him of our success here," says Winthrop. With that, Winthrop climbs up to the roof of the keep and begins to cast a magical sending, broadcasting his words along the winds to Arden Prindive's ears.
Dell and Winthrop begin the long and arduous job of identifying the many magic items that Adrienne and Hugh separate from the various piles of materiel in the courtyard. While they do so, a gore-covered Otto, Perrin, and Antonus return. "I'd like some water in the fountain to bathe in," says Otto, glistening with slime and ooze. "The tuffet cavern had a tentacle-beast in it that weakened with its touch. It had a large mouth with great fangs, but it did not survive Giantslayer and Antonus's magical bolts. Unfortunately, we found the tuffet cavern second. We found ourselves first in the other cavern, where the giant slug had been slain by Winthrop and Pfiffwin. We had to carve our way through the giant slug's corpse to get out of that tunnel. I'll never eat escargot again." Hugh leads the others down to the fountain. Many cubic feet of water later and after many basic cantrips from Antonus, the three of them are fit for polite company again.
Otto and Raven pore over the maps and the notes found within the castle. "We have a treasure trove of information here, lots of dead bodies to interrogate," says Raven. "There is no reason to dash off. I'd assume that there are mercenary camps within a day of Castle Crag, so it's highly possible that one of the lesser groups will try to take the castle for itself."
Otto nods in agreement. "This wound the giant dealt me is healing very slowly, but the half-orc's ring should keep me hale enough. Looking at this map of Geoff I found in the tower, the closest towns are Preston, Orlane and Ravonnar. Roughly two or three days away. I have no idea how big they are. I also noticed that Castle Crag is on the edge of the Rushmoors - a large swamp. One of the notes from the giant mentioned recruiting giants from the swamp. Coincidence? Anyone want to kill some giants?" asks Otto, grinning at the thought.
Raven calls for Perrin, the sole surviving Geoffite in the Company, who looks the maps over. "Preston and Orlane are small towns, no more than villages," he says. "Hochoch is a major city, trading up into the Grand March and into Sterich and Keoland down the Javan. It is that river traffic that this castle was designed to protect and that Hanuman successfully interdicted. If we are to take the freed captives anywhere, Hochoch is likely the most secure. The Rushmoors are generally considered impassable to all but small bands and a place of great danger."
Winthrop comes down from the roof where he had been performing the ritual of identification all day. He tosses the winged helm found in the bugbears' tower into the corner of the room. "Cursed," he grunts. "Makes you as strong as a kobold. Typical luck. I've decided to go to Longspear instead and rely on Cedrus or Arthurus. I've convinced Hugh to accompany me. Is there anything else you'd like me to do?"
"I need a chest," says Dell. "It needs to be a great chest, a special chest able to handle magical enchantment. A chest worthy of my father's abilities. He was a great chestmaker, my father. And when the six-fingered wizard appeared and requested a special chest, my father took the job. He slaved a year before he was done." Dell takes a deep breath before continuing. "The six-fingered man returned and demanded it, but at one-tenth his promised price. My father refused. Without a word, the six-fingered man shot magical bolts through his heart. I loved my father, so, naturally, I challenged his murderer to a duel ... I failed. The six-fingered wizard did leave me alive, but he gave me these scars. I was eleven years old. When I was strong enough, I dedicated my life to the study of magic. So the next time we meet, I will not fail. I will go up to the six-fingered Wizard and say, 'Hello, my name is Dell Morningstar. You killed my father. Prepare to die.'"
Everyone stares uncomfortably at Dell, wondering if this is a true story or not. "Right," says Winthrop. "Chest. Check." Antonus asks for more spell books and ink. Raven points out that they always need more pearls. Winthrop starts writing a long list, cross-referencing costs and needs and what he thinks is in storage at the Hall of the Blue Sun. "I'll need your lucky stone," says Winthrop to Raven. Raven frowns but hands over his lucky stone to Winthrop, knowing that having the wizard return intact is more important than keeping his luck with him. Winthrop bids farewell to the others, saying that he will return to the roof of the keep, having studied it intensely, when he is finished and the Company has returned to it. With a small clap of light and sound, Winthrop, a shrunken Hugh, and the dead Grizela, disappear into the night.
"I'm beat," comments Dell, stifling a yawn. "You need to get to identifying these magic items, Antonus." Dell looks at the dwindling collection of pearls that Winthrop has left behind. Even with the five pearls found among the belongings of the bugbears, the Company has too few pearls to identify all of the items that Hugh and Adrienne found to be magical.
"I can help," says Otto. "It's a simple enough magic that what Winthrop has shown me will do. I thought we were supposed to swallow a carp though?"
"Progress," says Antonus. "Carp's an outdated ritual. Come on; we'll divide the items up into three piles and start on them."
"I can help as well," asserts Samantha, who has been shadowing the Company. "I'll need to look at someone's book, but it is within my range of powers." Dell thinks about it for a moment and then nods. A surge of jealousy goes through Antonus, and his face contorts briefly into a huge scowl.
Adrienne shows them the large pile of magical items, armor, weapons, wands, scrolls and other things. "I've searched them for foul emanations and found only the giant's greatsword to be fundamentally vile. Even the bone figurines taken from the altar are only tainted. They are likely dedicated to an evil power, but they themselves are not inherently evil, carved from sacrificed babies or something horrible like that," reassures Adrienne. "Stay away from the greatsword, and you should be fine. Either Perrin or I will stay nearby, in case something happens to you."
The three mages and Otto spend days identifying the various items while Adrienne and Perrin continue to provide food and drink for the large horde of folks. Diego organizes the freed prisoners into work parties and they, along with the rest of the Company, begin to clear and clean the castle of gore and blood. "This will be a marvelous home," crows Diego. "Look at that tower! I see a perfect space for a temple to Phaulkon in it. Don't you Perrin?"
Adrienne and Raven spend several days interrogating the dead, asking them about the marks on the map and the connections Hanuman had in the area. It is a slow process of asking the same questions to each soul, collating the replies, and cross-referencing the answers. Neither Hanuman nor Hanuman's apparent mate are amenable to the questioning process, their souls not responding to Adrienne's entreaty, but the bugbears lack the will to resist Lydia's blind gaze. A pattern in the responses becomes plain.
Hanuman and another band of mercenaries, the Red Goblins, coordinated with and possibly took direction from a small but powerful group of humans, a mix of warriors and wizards. Hanuman and his band were paid to hold the castle, and the Red Goblins hold another location, an underground network of caverns, to the south in the Stark Mounds. Other groups of mercenaries, smaller and less organized, are strewn throughout the Oytwood area, raiding and preying on any who they cross. Much gold from an unknown source seems to fund these efforts.
Raven summons Al from down below, where he is packaging the thousands of coins that the Company has recovered from the dead. "What types of coinage did the bugbears have?" asks Raven.
"All kinds," replies Al, not seeing where this is going. "Copper, silver, electrum, gold, and platinum in fairly large numbers."
"What mint though?" presses Raven.
"Geoffish and Sterich," says Al, after a moment's thought. "About thrice as much Sterich gold and electrum, but more Geoffish platinum. Sort of odd that. Oh, an odd handful of giant-sized gold, frost giant's mint with the axe, from the dead giant too."
Raven thanks Al and returns to Adrienne, a clearer notion of where the funds for the mercenaries are coming from forming in his head. Adrienne has moved on to asking about the temple, the priests, and the giant found below. They were more recent arrivals. The priests immediately excavated additional space in the catacombs below, using the captives for forced labor and making undead from those that collapsed. The bugbears avoided the priests as much as possible, easy enough done, since the priests were an insular bunch.
The giant, on the other hand, was a gregarious sort and had no troubles speaking the bugbear tongue. Tindamir Palehead, as the giant was called, came and went with regularity, visiting the bugbears and providing alcohol and other victuals. Tindamir would go across the Javan, into the Rushmoors, for long periods of time, hair darkened and wearing his white toga. When the giant returned, he always brought something new to share.
Days of tedium pass, a message from Winthrop saying the Hall of the Blue Sun is undisturbed the only thing to break the back-breaking efforts put in by everyone. Diego, telling Raven that, after Hochoch, he will no longer take employment from the Company, is paid his due. Diego then turns and offers any who wish to take arms with him employment and a grant of land around Castle Diego! Otto rolls his eyes, but keeps his tongue still. Raven mainly does as well, but instead refers to the castle as Castle Crago. Occasionally, far in the distance, a flying creature takes up station and appears to surveil the castle, but it always flees whenever Dell takes to the air, even when invisible. The Company frets about it but decides to ignore it.
Jasper brings welcome news of a troop of elves, a mere handful, approaching from the Oytwood. Jasper has been in and out of the Castle, climbing the wall and dropping down the far side, to visit with Bruinlein and his brothers. The news of the elves approach comes quickly to Jasper, in addition to the fact that others within the Oytwood, the centaurs and pixies, have begun to strike back at the humanoids in the forest. The pollution of the forest has lessened through the efforts of Herbert and Eig at the Tree of Rillifane, and the forest folk have regained some fragile heart.
Arden Prindive leads his half dozen elves to the front of Castle Crag and hollers to be let in. After some recognition that Winthrop's wards are still holding the castle gates shut, Dell and Adrienne work to dispel them and let the elves in. The moment that the gates open, Samantha runs from the castle, free! She sprints to Arden and begins to speak at high speed with Arden. Whatever Arden says to her in return seems to crush her spirits, and she needs to be comforted by one of Arden's guardsmen.
"Well met again! You have done an elf's job, sir!" congratulates Arden, clasping each of the Company individually by the arm. "You seem to have lost some of your comrades, though. What a loss! We grieve with you and will sing their spirits to the Olympian Glades!"
The Company relates most of what has come to pass, explaining the situation with the castle and the temple below. Arden agrees with the Company that the best plan would be to take the freed prisoners to Hochoch, and he offers the aid of his men in escorting them there. Originally, Arden expected that he would have to burn the castle and turn it into a ruin, but with Winthrop returning here and with Diego claiming the castle by force of arms, the situation is changed. Arden, as head of the Oytwood Scouts, agrees to support Diego's claim when it is presented before the Grand Duke in exchange for Diego securing the river and the border of the Oytwood. All is agreed.
With the arrival of the elves, the Company plans to quit the Castle. Otto and Arden plan to head back into the Oytwood, Otto to return the Great Tree, speak with Herbert, and collect the Company's mounts and Arden to help rally the sylvan creatures. Dell and Pfiffwin prioritize heading to Hochoch, while the others make a last sweep of the Castle and secure it.
The Company pores over the magical items identified as well as could be done with limited reagents. Many of them are workmanlike pieces of armor and weaponry of varying enchantment: splintmail, a blue shield with a red stripe and a gold crescent, a scimitar, footman's flail, morning star, and broadsword, each taken from various bugbears. Others are clearly cursed: the helm of kobold strength, glasses of self-petrification, and an iron ring of clumsiness. The remainder are of some interest though.
The three bone statuettes remain mostly a mystery, but the first one appears to contain the spirit of a beast of woe, deadly in the extreme. Dell continues to carefully store them. A mace found in Hanuman's cavern turns out to have special properties in parrying attacks. Combined with Perrin's enchanted chainmail, this makes him almost untouchable when dueling. A stubby wand controls and destroys earth, a particularly fitting weapon for Pfiffwin. A brass ring appears to allow the wearer to swim like a fish, and Raven collects and wears it. Another ring, this one of jade and carved with an eyeball, allows the wearer's vision to penetrate even solid stone. Jasper is given this ring. A small figurine that turns into a stone horse is kept for Hugh, knowing the affinity his god has for summoned creatures. Lastly, the Company agrees that the giant's sword will be sold to a temple or traded to a mage in Hochoch.
The rest of the items are divided among the Company, everyone receiving something, though not necessarily what they want. "I visited Castle Crag and all I got was this lousy mold-crusted metal flask," gripes Antonus, holding a mold-crusted metal flask containing an elixir of wound mending.
"Use some clean cantrips to get a shiny metal flask," snarks Dell to his apprentice. "You've got three drinks worth of healing in there, so don't use it all up at once."
"I don't mean to come across as, um, avaricious..." mumbles Antonus.
Otto stands up from where Pfiffwin has been heatedly whispering to him. "I know we don't normally spread the coinage out because it is easier for Winthrop to carry in his chest or Dell in that box of his, but I'm going to be off for a while," announces Otto. "Pfiffwin is going with the rest of the Company to Hochhoch. He wants to buy some gnomish magic and special components. I've been carrying the fights for a while and I want some of my share of the company funds made available to Pfiffwin while I'm gone." Otto glares down at the beaming gnome, who is unconsciously twirling his mustache. "Make sure he gets receipts for all purchases," intones Otto.
"Magical supplies are a group need, like inks, spell books, and pearls for identification," says Dell. "I'll make sure what he needs gets bought from the company funds. We might even have enough for a personal allotment of a few thousand gold for ale and harlots. And for the visit to the temple the morning after... you know, because of the ...." Adrienne slams Dell on the head with her mailed fist. "That hurts, woman," grouses Dell.
"It's supposed to," replies the priestess.
"Hugh is probably tithing all the gold he can get his hands on at the Hall of the Blue Sun to the temple of Trithereon," comments Otto. "Should we try to tell Winthrop to do the same to Cedrus and Ehlonna?"
"We've already tithed more than enough money to Ehlonna. I think Ehlonna should start tithing back to us," barks Raven. "Winthrop's got enough to spend money on with raising Grizela from the dead, commissioning a chest for Dell, and getting whatever he's going to get in Longspear. He'll probably make some potions with all the various body parts he's been collecting too. Spending our money is not something Winthrop will have a problem with. Let's just hope that he informs someone about the nefarious activities of the Scotti family while he does so."
"I hope he doesn't," says Antonus. "Make potions, that is. I've got an alchemist cousin in Gorna and can get us a deal." Everyone looks at him oddly, again. "What?" asks Antonus. "I'd prefer if Winthrop wrote some scrolls or something instead."
Their meeting breaking down into dickering, the Company heads off to rest, ready to go their separate ways in the morning.
Back in the corridor, Samantha continues to stare at the stone block that has sealed the Company in. The company of mercenaries that has freed her from Hanuman and his foul bugbears seems dangerous to be around, perhaps more dangerous than being left alone trapped among the gore and giant weasels! Already they have split in three directions and trapped themselves behind a huge block of stone! "Any ideas on how to get out of here?" she asks the turban-clad mage.
"They'll figure something out," replies Dell, looking over his collection of bone statuettes that his elementalkin has placed in his sack.
Sighing, Samantha turns to see the gnome and a horrifying midget creature stumble out of the circular hatch in the far wall. Squelching a surprised squeak, she watches as the midget creature grabs hold of the wall and opens another circular hatch. The gnome, Pfiffwin, she thinks, twirls his mustaches at her before scampering into the tunnel behind this new hatch. "Definitely unsafe," she mutters.
Pfiffwin and Winthrop hike down the circuitous passage behind the other hatch. It, like the previous two, wends its way along until it comes to a second circular hatch. Winthrop's touch is again all that is needed to cause the hatch to unscrew upwards. Pfiffwin and Winthrop peer cautiously through the open space. Unlike before, no horrible creature lies in wait for them. Instead, the small natural cavern with a pool of water that is revealed seem mercifully empty. A sword hilt protrudes from the water, rising up in the midst of the pool, and the floor of the cavern undulates with humps and hillocks of dirt, each about five feet in length and two feet wide.
"Too quiet," says Winthrop, eying the room. "It's like it begs us to enter and pick up the sword." Pfiffwin nods his agreement, pulling out a handful of Oyt leaves to munch on. Winthrop lowers the hatch again, and the two of them return to the rest of the Company.
A clunking and grinding sound greets them as they return, the stone block being dragged upward by an unseen force. "Told you so," quips Dell to Samantha. A quarter hour later, the rest of the Company, ice and water dripping from them and looking a bit bedraggled, returns. They relate the strange room of water, winches, and stelae and the undead created there.
"Just think, Diego," jibes Raven. "You have a full fledged evil temple and undead factory here in your basement. You could rent it to Nerullites and make a pretty profit." Diego frowns, his enormous pride pricked.
"Only the other two doors are left on my map," Antonus informs the others. The rest of the Company looks surprised at his announcement; all of the doors from the octagonal room are accounted for. "In the teleporting door room, there are two more doors," clarifies Antonus.
Winthrop, who has returned to his normal shape, and Pfiffwin inform the others about their experiences with the giant slug and the other empty cavern. "I think the other doors lead there," concludes Winthrop. "They each were small caverns that had some water in them. It seems like a reasonable pattern." The Company seems relatively convinced, or at least convinced enough to try the doors tomorrow, after a long rest.
The Company hikes back up the long, winding stairs to the Castle above. Releasing the former captives to fend and forage for themselves, the Company holes up on the roof of the keep and takes a long-needed rest. The warriors take turns watching the sky and the trapdoors while the others sleep for hours on end.
The next day finds the Company hard at work providing for the freed captives. With so many mouths to feed and the dubious nature of the bugbear provisions, Hugh and Adrienne are pressed into service summoning clean food and water for the many souls gathered in the keep. For the most part, the freed captives are cooperative, though the Company's reticence toward letting them simply leave the castle riles some of them. Allotting some of the freed captives the responsibility of watching the stairs and the surrounding lands, the Company begins to plan.
"I need to take Grizela to Loftwick and try to get her raised from the dead," opens Winthrop. "The Divine Seven are likely to be amenable, and our relations are the best with them. Any who wish to come with me can, but it will be like on the glacier; mass will be an issue and will be forced to contort their forms first."
The upcoming disappearance of their most powerful mage is a strong impetus to kick the Company into motion. Enchanted items need to be separated from their mundane equivalents, the last of the dungeons searched through, and a destination for the rescued captives identified. "I like lists. This is the kind of well-organized operation we should be running. Assuming the teleport doors are as follows:
X. Rakshasha room with heavy chest of gold.
Y. Giant slug room with acid-pitted treasure.
Z. Barrow-filled room with rusty broadsword in the water," opines Antonus. "Exploring the dungeons is easy enough. It is just a matter of determining which of the two doors lead to which of the caverns. Do you think the barrow-filled room has wights in it? Wights loves barrows."
"I think there were tuffets instead of barrows. So maybe very small wights. There has been a penchant to do nasty things to halflings here," says Otto quietly. The rest of the Company stares at him for a moment, not sure whether or not he has made a joke.
Antonus smiles weakly at him and stutters, "So we'll check them out?" Otto nods and beckons at Perrin, drawing him along as well.
"I need to a visit a temple as well!" shouts Perrin as he heads towards the stairwell. "It's very important!"
"He's not a worshiper of Phyton, is he?" asks Raven darkly.
"Phaulkon," says Hugh, reassuringly. "Church of the Divine Seven again, though I think he is worshiped separately by the elves and humans of Geoff."
"We should send a message to the elves to let them know we've taken the place," asserts Dell. "They can send a force to hold the fort, escort the slaves, I mean freed prisoners, to safety, bring us supplies, things like that. But we shouldn't leave until they get here."
"Well, if we're going to go our separate ways, I will contact Arden and tell him of our success here," says Winthrop. With that, Winthrop climbs up to the roof of the keep and begins to cast a magical sending, broadcasting his words along the winds to Arden Prindive's ears.
Dell and Winthrop begin the long and arduous job of identifying the many magic items that Adrienne and Hugh separate from the various piles of materiel in the courtyard. While they do so, a gore-covered Otto, Perrin, and Antonus return. "I'd like some water in the fountain to bathe in," says Otto, glistening with slime and ooze. "The tuffet cavern had a tentacle-beast in it that weakened with its touch. It had a large mouth with great fangs, but it did not survive Giantslayer and Antonus's magical bolts. Unfortunately, we found the tuffet cavern second. We found ourselves first in the other cavern, where the giant slug had been slain by Winthrop and Pfiffwin. We had to carve our way through the giant slug's corpse to get out of that tunnel. I'll never eat escargot again." Hugh leads the others down to the fountain. Many cubic feet of water later and after many basic cantrips from Antonus, the three of them are fit for polite company again.
Otto and Raven pore over the maps and the notes found within the castle. "We have a treasure trove of information here, lots of dead bodies to interrogate," says Raven. "There is no reason to dash off. I'd assume that there are mercenary camps within a day of Castle Crag, so it's highly possible that one of the lesser groups will try to take the castle for itself."
Otto nods in agreement. "This wound the giant dealt me is healing very slowly, but the half-orc's ring should keep me hale enough. Looking at this map of Geoff I found in the tower, the closest towns are Preston, Orlane and Ravonnar. Roughly two or three days away. I have no idea how big they are. I also noticed that Castle Crag is on the edge of the Rushmoors - a large swamp. One of the notes from the giant mentioned recruiting giants from the swamp. Coincidence? Anyone want to kill some giants?" asks Otto, grinning at the thought.
Raven calls for Perrin, the sole surviving Geoffite in the Company, who looks the maps over. "Preston and Orlane are small towns, no more than villages," he says. "Hochoch is a major city, trading up into the Grand March and into Sterich and Keoland down the Javan. It is that river traffic that this castle was designed to protect and that Hanuman successfully interdicted. If we are to take the freed captives anywhere, Hochoch is likely the most secure. The Rushmoors are generally considered impassable to all but small bands and a place of great danger."
Winthrop comes down from the roof where he had been performing the ritual of identification all day. He tosses the winged helm found in the bugbears' tower into the corner of the room. "Cursed," he grunts. "Makes you as strong as a kobold. Typical luck. I've decided to go to Longspear instead and rely on Cedrus or Arthurus. I've convinced Hugh to accompany me. Is there anything else you'd like me to do?"
"I need a chest," says Dell. "It needs to be a great chest, a special chest able to handle magical enchantment. A chest worthy of my father's abilities. He was a great chestmaker, my father. And when the six-fingered wizard appeared and requested a special chest, my father took the job. He slaved a year before he was done." Dell takes a deep breath before continuing. "The six-fingered man returned and demanded it, but at one-tenth his promised price. My father refused. Without a word, the six-fingered man shot magical bolts through his heart. I loved my father, so, naturally, I challenged his murderer to a duel ... I failed. The six-fingered wizard did leave me alive, but he gave me these scars. I was eleven years old. When I was strong enough, I dedicated my life to the study of magic. So the next time we meet, I will not fail. I will go up to the six-fingered Wizard and say, 'Hello, my name is Dell Morningstar. You killed my father. Prepare to die.'"
Everyone stares uncomfortably at Dell, wondering if this is a true story or not. "Right," says Winthrop. "Chest. Check." Antonus asks for more spell books and ink. Raven points out that they always need more pearls. Winthrop starts writing a long list, cross-referencing costs and needs and what he thinks is in storage at the Hall of the Blue Sun. "I'll need your lucky stone," says Winthrop to Raven. Raven frowns but hands over his lucky stone to Winthrop, knowing that having the wizard return intact is more important than keeping his luck with him. Winthrop bids farewell to the others, saying that he will return to the roof of the keep, having studied it intensely, when he is finished and the Company has returned to it. With a small clap of light and sound, Winthrop, a shrunken Hugh, and the dead Grizela, disappear into the night.
"I'm beat," comments Dell, stifling a yawn. "You need to get to identifying these magic items, Antonus." Dell looks at the dwindling collection of pearls that Winthrop has left behind. Even with the five pearls found among the belongings of the bugbears, the Company has too few pearls to identify all of the items that Hugh and Adrienne found to be magical.
"I can help," says Otto. "It's a simple enough magic that what Winthrop has shown me will do. I thought we were supposed to swallow a carp though?"
"Progress," says Antonus. "Carp's an outdated ritual. Come on; we'll divide the items up into three piles and start on them."
"I can help as well," asserts Samantha, who has been shadowing the Company. "I'll need to look at someone's book, but it is within my range of powers." Dell thinks about it for a moment and then nods. A surge of jealousy goes through Antonus, and his face contorts briefly into a huge scowl.
Adrienne shows them the large pile of magical items, armor, weapons, wands, scrolls and other things. "I've searched them for foul emanations and found only the giant's greatsword to be fundamentally vile. Even the bone figurines taken from the altar are only tainted. They are likely dedicated to an evil power, but they themselves are not inherently evil, carved from sacrificed babies or something horrible like that," reassures Adrienne. "Stay away from the greatsword, and you should be fine. Either Perrin or I will stay nearby, in case something happens to you."
The three mages and Otto spend days identifying the various items while Adrienne and Perrin continue to provide food and drink for the large horde of folks. Diego organizes the freed prisoners into work parties and they, along with the rest of the Company, begin to clear and clean the castle of gore and blood. "This will be a marvelous home," crows Diego. "Look at that tower! I see a perfect space for a temple to Phaulkon in it. Don't you Perrin?"
Adrienne and Raven spend several days interrogating the dead, asking them about the marks on the map and the connections Hanuman had in the area. It is a slow process of asking the same questions to each soul, collating the replies, and cross-referencing the answers. Neither Hanuman nor Hanuman's apparent mate are amenable to the questioning process, their souls not responding to Adrienne's entreaty, but the bugbears lack the will to resist Lydia's blind gaze. A pattern in the responses becomes plain.
Hanuman and another band of mercenaries, the Red Goblins, coordinated with and possibly took direction from a small but powerful group of humans, a mix of warriors and wizards. Hanuman and his band were paid to hold the castle, and the Red Goblins hold another location, an underground network of caverns, to the south in the Stark Mounds. Other groups of mercenaries, smaller and less organized, are strewn throughout the Oytwood area, raiding and preying on any who they cross. Much gold from an unknown source seems to fund these efforts.
Raven summons Al from down below, where he is packaging the thousands of coins that the Company has recovered from the dead. "What types of coinage did the bugbears have?" asks Raven.
"All kinds," replies Al, not seeing where this is going. "Copper, silver, electrum, gold, and platinum in fairly large numbers."
"What mint though?" presses Raven.
"Geoffish and Sterich," says Al, after a moment's thought. "About thrice as much Sterich gold and electrum, but more Geoffish platinum. Sort of odd that. Oh, an odd handful of giant-sized gold, frost giant's mint with the axe, from the dead giant too."
Raven thanks Al and returns to Adrienne, a clearer notion of where the funds for the mercenaries are coming from forming in his head. Adrienne has moved on to asking about the temple, the priests, and the giant found below. They were more recent arrivals. The priests immediately excavated additional space in the catacombs below, using the captives for forced labor and making undead from those that collapsed. The bugbears avoided the priests as much as possible, easy enough done, since the priests were an insular bunch.
The giant, on the other hand, was a gregarious sort and had no troubles speaking the bugbear tongue. Tindamir Palehead, as the giant was called, came and went with regularity, visiting the bugbears and providing alcohol and other victuals. Tindamir would go across the Javan, into the Rushmoors, for long periods of time, hair darkened and wearing his white toga. When the giant returned, he always brought something new to share.
Days of tedium pass, a message from Winthrop saying the Hall of the Blue Sun is undisturbed the only thing to break the back-breaking efforts put in by everyone. Diego, telling Raven that, after Hochoch, he will no longer take employment from the Company, is paid his due. Diego then turns and offers any who wish to take arms with him employment and a grant of land around Castle Diego! Otto rolls his eyes, but keeps his tongue still. Raven mainly does as well, but instead refers to the castle as Castle Crago. Occasionally, far in the distance, a flying creature takes up station and appears to surveil the castle, but it always flees whenever Dell takes to the air, even when invisible. The Company frets about it but decides to ignore it.
Jasper brings welcome news of a troop of elves, a mere handful, approaching from the Oytwood. Jasper has been in and out of the Castle, climbing the wall and dropping down the far side, to visit with Bruinlein and his brothers. The news of the elves approach comes quickly to Jasper, in addition to the fact that others within the Oytwood, the centaurs and pixies, have begun to strike back at the humanoids in the forest. The pollution of the forest has lessened through the efforts of Herbert and Eig at the Tree of Rillifane, and the forest folk have regained some fragile heart.
Arden Prindive leads his half dozen elves to the front of Castle Crag and hollers to be let in. After some recognition that Winthrop's wards are still holding the castle gates shut, Dell and Adrienne work to dispel them and let the elves in. The moment that the gates open, Samantha runs from the castle, free! She sprints to Arden and begins to speak at high speed with Arden. Whatever Arden says to her in return seems to crush her spirits, and she needs to be comforted by one of Arden's guardsmen.
"Well met again! You have done an elf's job, sir!" congratulates Arden, clasping each of the Company individually by the arm. "You seem to have lost some of your comrades, though. What a loss! We grieve with you and will sing their spirits to the Olympian Glades!"
The Company relates most of what has come to pass, explaining the situation with the castle and the temple below. Arden agrees with the Company that the best plan would be to take the freed prisoners to Hochoch, and he offers the aid of his men in escorting them there. Originally, Arden expected that he would have to burn the castle and turn it into a ruin, but with Winthrop returning here and with Diego claiming the castle by force of arms, the situation is changed. Arden, as head of the Oytwood Scouts, agrees to support Diego's claim when it is presented before the Grand Duke in exchange for Diego securing the river and the border of the Oytwood. All is agreed.
With the arrival of the elves, the Company plans to quit the Castle. Otto and Arden plan to head back into the Oytwood, Otto to return the Great Tree, speak with Herbert, and collect the Company's mounts and Arden to help rally the sylvan creatures. Dell and Pfiffwin prioritize heading to Hochoch, while the others make a last sweep of the Castle and secure it.
The Company pores over the magical items identified as well as could be done with limited reagents. Many of them are workmanlike pieces of armor and weaponry of varying enchantment: splintmail, a blue shield with a red stripe and a gold crescent, a scimitar, footman's flail, morning star, and broadsword, each taken from various bugbears. Others are clearly cursed: the helm of kobold strength, glasses of self-petrification, and an iron ring of clumsiness. The remainder are of some interest though.
The three bone statuettes remain mostly a mystery, but the first one appears to contain the spirit of a beast of woe, deadly in the extreme. Dell continues to carefully store them. A mace found in Hanuman's cavern turns out to have special properties in parrying attacks. Combined with Perrin's enchanted chainmail, this makes him almost untouchable when dueling. A stubby wand controls and destroys earth, a particularly fitting weapon for Pfiffwin. A brass ring appears to allow the wearer to swim like a fish, and Raven collects and wears it. Another ring, this one of jade and carved with an eyeball, allows the wearer's vision to penetrate even solid stone. Jasper is given this ring. A small figurine that turns into a stone horse is kept for Hugh, knowing the affinity his god has for summoned creatures. Lastly, the Company agrees that the giant's sword will be sold to a temple or traded to a mage in Hochoch.
The rest of the items are divided among the Company, everyone receiving something, though not necessarily what they want. "I visited Castle Crag and all I got was this lousy mold-crusted metal flask," gripes Antonus, holding a mold-crusted metal flask containing an elixir of wound mending.
"Use some clean cantrips to get a shiny metal flask," snarks Dell to his apprentice. "You've got three drinks worth of healing in there, so don't use it all up at once."
"I don't mean to come across as, um, avaricious..." mumbles Antonus.
Otto stands up from where Pfiffwin has been heatedly whispering to him. "I know we don't normally spread the coinage out because it is easier for Winthrop to carry in his chest or Dell in that box of his, but I'm going to be off for a while," announces Otto. "Pfiffwin is going with the rest of the Company to Hochhoch. He wants to buy some gnomish magic and special components. I've been carrying the fights for a while and I want some of my share of the company funds made available to Pfiffwin while I'm gone." Otto glares down at the beaming gnome, who is unconsciously twirling his mustache. "Make sure he gets receipts for all purchases," intones Otto.
"Magical supplies are a group need, like inks, spell books, and pearls for identification," says Dell. "I'll make sure what he needs gets bought from the company funds. We might even have enough for a personal allotment of a few thousand gold for ale and harlots. And for the visit to the temple the morning after... you know, because of the ...." Adrienne slams Dell on the head with her mailed fist. "That hurts, woman," grouses Dell.
"It's supposed to," replies the priestess.
"Hugh is probably tithing all the gold he can get his hands on at the Hall of the Blue Sun to the temple of Trithereon," comments Otto. "Should we try to tell Winthrop to do the same to Cedrus and Ehlonna?"
"We've already tithed more than enough money to Ehlonna. I think Ehlonna should start tithing back to us," barks Raven. "Winthrop's got enough to spend money on with raising Grizela from the dead, commissioning a chest for Dell, and getting whatever he's going to get in Longspear. He'll probably make some potions with all the various body parts he's been collecting too. Spending our money is not something Winthrop will have a problem with. Let's just hope that he informs someone about the nefarious activities of the Scotti family while he does so."
"I hope he doesn't," says Antonus. "Make potions, that is. I've got an alchemist cousin in Gorna and can get us a deal." Everyone looks at him oddly, again. "What?" asks Antonus. "I'd prefer if Winthrop wrote some scrolls or something instead."
Their meeting breaking down into dickering, the Company heads off to rest, ready to go their separate ways in the morning.