Mae is waiting for Valeria to return and give her report. She will keep a look out though for any trouble coming their way though.

(Perception: 15)

Kiersa too keeps out a watch as they await Valeria's return. (Perception: 13) After about a quarter hour, she paces over close to Mae, speaking in almost a whisper to her. "You don't think anything's happened to her, do you? Is it taking too long?' 

Mae turned to look at Kiersa as she came over, putting her arm around her shoulders in a soft hug. "I can feel the magic still working so I think she is probably okay. I haven't heard any screams or sounds from the direction of the Keep. Perhaps she did see something that warranted a closer look before returning." Mae pressed her forehead to Kiersa's for a moment and then relaxed back. "Your friend will be all right." She offered a genuine smile.

The reassuring words helped Kiersa relax a bit. "Well, if you're sure then."  She gave Mae a bit of a silly smile in return. "Thanks," she says as she reaches her own arm around Mae to briefly return her hug.  "You always make me feel better.  I suppose we should keep alert though."  

Iravon is restless, his mind ticking over. To have travelled so far from home among the uncivilised humans, only to return to find that his people have abandoned their gods... Some part of him feels that he could have prevented it, had her stayed. But he remembers General Lokvar, and knows that the rot had already set in long before he was forced to run. Well, these Red Hand would know the power of a true Hobgoblin who honoured his gods and his oaths.

This is visible to the others as constant movement - his head turns towards the keep, then back down the path they came by, then into the foliage either side, while he stalks the path, hands clenching and unclenching on his flail. Hearing that Mae can still feel the spell working is a relief, but he is still worried. "How long will your spell last? If it should fade while she is in the midst of the Red Hand we would not have time to save her."

Not wanting to worry her companions more than necessary, Valeria quickly checks the ruined watchtowers for threats (Areas 4 and 5, unless she already did that) before taking a closer look at the glowing body at the top of the tower, not disturbing anything there quite yet. She can't quite shake the feeling this keep will never see it's former glory again. She was fairly confident though that she had located the Manticore's nest up in the tower and that the winged monster was away hunting for the moment. After these last checks, Valeria returns to her brave companions.

"I am back." She calls out to her escorts from some distance, not wanting to unduly scare them, briefly smiling as she sees Kiersa and Mae together, then returning to her normal stern and strict demeanor. "You might want to let me stay invisible for the time being. I might still do some scouting for us as we enter the keep." She says, coming closer, then throughly describing everything she has picked up during her scouting. "I believe the top of the tower might be the Manticore's roost. I didn't see it though so I assume it is away hunting for the moment. There is a glowing body up there that we might want to investigate further but I would prefer to deal with the present threats first. Iravon, which way should we enter the keep?" She finishes, turning to the hobgoblin warrior for their plan of attack.

Relieved to hear Valeria's voice, Iravon falls back on what he knows - strategy. Visualising everything Valeria has told them about the keep he proposes "I see two options. The first, we enter by the main gate, and draw the Red Hand out into the courtyard. We would lose any element of surprise, but we would gain manoeuvrability, especially for your flight. The other option, we enter by the collapsed south wall, and move directly to the room in which they are gathered. We will catch them unawares, though the battlefield will be tight. Personally I would prefer open battle in the courtyard, an honourable fight."

"I respect your sense of honour Iravon but I fear The Red Hand might not share that with you and could use this to trap us. They have clearly shown that an ambush is not beneath them. I hope we will keep our battlefields such that the enemy will reach neither Mae nor me, leaving you and Kiersa to be our shields." Valeria says after a moment of thought, then looking to Kiaersa and Mae for their thoughts.

Mae blushes slightly at Kiersa's comment, but then turns her attention to Iravon and Valeria and listens to them both before goes deep in thought, stepping away just slightly and gazing up in the direction of the Keep. "So you saw the intruders? Did you happen to see how many of them there were? Any clues suggesting they are working with or in any way controlling the manticore? A fight against them or the beast is one thing, but taking them all on is not a good idea I think. How is the path leading up? Might there be a way to sneak closer and get a better look without exposing ourselves? Iravon, I would agree with your assessment as well, though if it is possible to draw them out slowly, one by one perhaps, that might be ideal. What do you think, Kiersa?"

Kiersa, though relieved after talking with Mae, is definitely glad to hear Valeria's voice. She gives Mae a smile as she asks for her thoughts, and quickly responds. "It does seem like drawing them out slowly would be best. Could we create a sound or illusion or something that might bring just a few out?  If we could ambush them then take on the rest that would be great."  She then pauses before continuing. "It does make sense to try and get closer first to see if we can get any more information.  But I think we should go quickly lest the manticore return." 

Valeria listens to Mae and Kiersa too before speaking again. "I could only spot a few hobgoblin's but there's hard to tell how many there are in there, we should expect more of them on our way down to the vaults. I believe the Red Hand has some kind of alliance with the Manticore but it seems to have its own roost up in the ruined tower so I believe it is fairly independent. We should expect it to return at some point though and when it does we don't want to be caught out in the open. While I'm still invisble I can fly ahead and then come to tell you how to approach without being seen. They didn't seem to have any scouts out at all so that should be the easy part. Perhaps draw them out and set an ambush by the front gate, although if you insist Iravon, I guess you could be the one drawing them out while Kiersa is ready to move by your side, maybe on horseback. Me and Mae will find cover to support you from some distance, although we might want to let me focus on healing and scouting as long as I am invisible, my most destructive magic is spent until next moon anyway." You hear the noblewoman's voice saying. "Anything else before we move on to the keep?"

Unless there are more to discuss, Valeria would try to guide her companions towards the main entrance of the keep, staying at some hieght to be able to spot threats, particularly a Manitocore returning home to it's lair.

Perception: 16

Sorry, hehe, weekends are sometimes hard for me -- ESPECIALLY WHEN I HAVE BEEN SICK 3 WEEKS STRAIGHT... I am finally getting better thank god. I am sorry this isn't a super real update, I need to confirm -- are you on foot:

1. Walking up the path with horses [5 Minutes]
2. Walking up the path without horses [10 Minutes]
3. Walking through the forest with horses [15 Minutes]
4. Walking through the forest without horses [20 Minutes]

(Mae would vote for 3, going through the forest with the horses)

(Kiersa would probably keep to her horse. But definitely want to go through forest not the path.) 

(As Valeria couldn't spot anyone keeping a lookout on the road it should be safe to come that way I think so Valeria would simply suggest 1. 3 sounds okay too though. Not sure Iravon has a mount right now? Or did he resummon it? As Valeria is flying he could use her steed for now though.)

Iravon has not summoned his mount today, so he probably would pragmatically use Valeria's, that makes sense.

(Let's go with option 3 then, mounts through the woods then but with the still invisible Valeria scouting from above as per earlier post. :-)

/---About 4:30 PM, The Twenty-fifth of Ches, 1491 DR, Vraath Keep--/

[Just to be transparent, 15 minutes for Valeria to return, 5 minutes of deliberation/explanation, then 15 minutes travel through the forest. I will do my best to recount the timing of things when I make posts that update you about what time it is.]

The party arrives and all remains as Valeria remembered. There weren't any signs of movement on the road or in the sky. As a reminder of what this scene looks like:

The old keep is in very poor repair. The gatehouse is partially collapsed, as is a section of wall to the south. A small wooden building sits next to the remains of a long-abandoned garden in front of the structure. The walls surrounding the keep are about fifteen feet high, with a two-story tower looking in the southwest corner of the courtyard within. Large boulders lie strewn amid the ruins of the two watch towers, and a massive humanoid skeleton slumps amid the ruins of the northern one. This skeleton still wears tattered fragments of hide armor , and a large club lies next to one of its bony arms.

From the southern section of the keep, you see a thin plume of smoke rising from the southern section of the keep. There is a gap in the ceiling, you realize, from which the smoke is escaping. [Valeria recalls this is because there are hobgoblins with a cooking fire.]

Currently, there is a sickly green glow coming from the tower, which Valeria understands to be the corpse from before.

As the companions draw near the razed entrance to Vraath Keep, Valeria casts a worried glance over at the massive humanoid skeleton, a part of her fearing it may animate at any moment. She descends to her escorts and talks in a lowered voice. "Iravon, the stage is yours, do what you must to draw the Hobgoblins out of there. The rest of us will hide behind the building to your left. As soon as they show their faces Kiersa will ride forth and ride them down while Mae will support the two of you from cover. I will bide my time, being ready to use Selûne's healing light on those who may fall but will aim to not break the invisibility while it may still be of use to us. Now we must also be ready to fall back if we get overwhlemed, we don't know how many servants of the Red Hand might pour out of that place. If the Manticore should turn up you must all hurry to find cover from it's quills. Any questions?" She says firmly, 

Mae shook her head and walked off to the small building on the left giving herself some cover as best she could and gripping her quarterstaff in preparation.