"Shouldn't be a problem with company." helena says with a glance towards the gate to the village. "My owl would have warned us of any company coming down the road, or arriving at the gate." She glances around to see if her owl is flying back towards her yet.

"Good eye, Bramble." Ryndar replies, "The bridge to the keep should provide us at least a small amount of security, it being the only way in." He thinks for a moment. "Well, we can post someone here to keep an eye on whatever is happening there, or continue to explore as a group. Thoughts?"

As the others explore the gatehouses and barracks, Daerthe finds some shadows and feels like she is pretty well hidden. It would be better if it were not such an unpleasantly sunny day.

When Bramble alerts the group of the person on the watchtower, the others think back to when they raised the drawbridge the night before. It definitely required two people: one in each watchtower to turn each of the two winches. Helena doesn’t see any sign of her owl returning to her, so she feels confident that no one has been seen on the road.

(What would you all like to do?)

"I vote we continue on here." Helena says with a look to the others.

Essie stares back at the watch tower, her brow furrowing as she thinks. "The tower is most likely a wonderful vantage point," she muses. But she shakes herself after staring aimlessly at the tower for another moment longer. Glancing at the others, that airy smile comes back to her face, and she nods. "If the bridge is indeed the only way to us, I think we should be safe enough to continue exploring this location as a group. Would you like me to go in first?"

Daerthe will keep to the shadows but move closer to the group, clearly on edge as she has her shortbow drawn with an arrow already knocked and ready to fire.

Ryndar nods, "Yes, we should probably continue. Let us know quickly if your owl discovers anything, Helena." Replying to Essies, "After you, then. I'm be right behind you." He returns his longbow to its holster, before drawing two long, curved blades, one of which is much more well-cared for than then other in preparation for close-quarters combat.

Giving Ryndar a little nod, Essie presses through the doors ahead of them toward the rest of the keep. Under her breath, she mutters a little prayer in Celestial yet again, this time casting Guidance on herself as she moves onward. You never know when it might come in handy, and she's slowly learning it's definitely best to be prepared.

Essie leads the way as you all enter the bailey, the yard around the stone keep. You all can see that this area was heavily bombarded by the giants: there are many more boulders strewn about here than in the main part of the village. From the inside, you can see that there are ramps to the east and west that lead up onto a 8-foot high stone walkway inside the thick wooden wall. In keeping with the abandoned nature of the village, there are no guards on duty on the walkway. Looking at the keep itself, the tower to the west is badly damaged by a boulder, the tower to the east is intact, and there is a door immediately before you. You could explore more of the bailey around the keep, try to enter the keep through the door, or climb over rubble to enter the western tower.

(What would you like to do?)

(Edited to correct my east and west.)

“I think we should enter the keep right away to see if there are any survivors. If there are, they’ve been trapped in here since the bridge was taken out.” Bramble will suggest.

"I think that we should see what is of use first. If the attackers return I would much rather be well armed." Daerthe says as she joins them finally, keeping her hood pulled low to keep the light out of her eyes.

Bramble was the last to enter the bailey and upon D’s words spins around and quickly returns and opens the door to the eastern guardhouse to investigate for survivors or useful items for the party.

Investigation: 13

Upon entering the eastern side of the gatehouse, Bramble sees six sets of bunk beds and a dozen footlockers. Looking within a few, he finds clothes and other personal belongings of little use for defense. This is clearly a barracks for the guards who are so strangely absent.

(What next?)

Bramble returns to the group, “Nobody in the other barracks and a quick search turned up just some personal belongings, no weapons or useful items.”

Bramble eyes the ramps to the causeway that circles with the walls. “Do you want me to make a quick circuit of the top of the wall to see if there’s anything up there?”

Now Essie frowns again. "Where is everyone?" she asks, almost to herself. She does a slow turn, hands on her hips as she studies the area around them. But when Bramble speaks again, she turns back to him. "That sounds good. I'll take the other side, if you want to split the work?"

“Sure, let’s do this. I’ll go up the east ramp, if you’ll take the west ramp. We’ll meet up in the far south and then return. We will also get a good look at the rest of the bailey while we’re up there.”

Bramble addresses everyone else. “Hang tight. Essie and I will return in a couple of minutes. If our return is delayed, please come and rescue us.”

Helena moves to the main doors, seeing if they are unlocked so they can enter the keep directly.

Essie and Bramble each walk up one of the ramps onto the stone walkway that lines the wooden palisade. The sturdy wooden planks rises well above the walkway. Shuttered openings are spaced regularly along the wall, presumably for archers. Looking down within the bailey, they see more boulders. A couple of these seem to rest on the remains of victims of the attack. There is a third ramp on the south end that leads down from the walkway back to the ground level. The southwest tower is intact, but the southeast tower is even more thoroughly destroyed than the one they had seen in the northwest corner.

Meanwhile, Helena approaches the front door which she finds to be unlocked.

(Will she wait until Essie and Bramble return or go ahead and open it?)

Helena will go ahead and open the door.

As Essie and Bramble are checking the rampart and bailey, Helena opens the front door to the keep. It reveals a great hall that stretches along the east side of the keep. The back half of it is buried under rubble. There is a door to the west that probably leads to whatever room was at the bottom of the northwest tower before it was destroyed. Past the door, there are stairs that lead up and then another door on the west wall that Helena assumes leads to whatever room is in the bottom of the southwest tower.

In the undamaged section of the great hall that is closer to Helena, there are four humans arguing around a damaged table atop which lies an unmoving body: a richly-dressed female human. A half-elf stands back a bit watching the discussion.

(Sphyboe, would you please describe the half-elf that Helena sees?)

(Ryndar and Daerthe, you can decide if you followed Helena or waited outside for Essie and Bramble.)