The Undying Dragons - Campaign Thread

When the hobgoblins arrive, Avaria gets up, pats Hammerdasher on the shoulder giving him a wan smile and heads over to her group of friends.  She is surprised to see Drusus and watches to see what he is going to do, having a seat as he does as to not cause any issues.

When he tells his guards to check the other caverns, she hopes against hope that Haguur had the sense to hide all the stuff his orcs brought out from the dwarves camp.

She then finds it interesting that his focus is on those that met with Dodds and Gertrude the night before and glances over at Xanthe to see if she was the rat.

Marrin will give Drusus a wink.

Two of the hobgoblin guards eventually come out of the orc cavern, empty handed and shake their heads when Drusus looks at them.

Two other guards return shortly after, dragging a whimpering goblin between them. One of the guards holds a dagger, a tinderbox and a waterskin.

Drusus looks at what the one guard has and nods.

The goblin suddenly finds a sword through his stomach and he collapses to the ground, dead before anyone can react.

Drusus calls out to the guards behind the locked door. The door is unlocked and the guards are gone quickly, Drusus with them, and the door is locked behind them.

Jisthelek makes his way past the dead goblin and comes over to the party.

While everyone begins to settle down, in a quiet voice the goblin leader speaks.

"Sometimes you need to sacrifice a little to save a lot," Jisthelek says. "They knew something was up so they had to find something. If they didn't they would have stayed until they found the stash."

Marrin looks down at the dead goblin.

"I appreciate the need and sacrifice, willing or not, but I doubt that satisfied Drusus. We can probably expect a closer watch."

As the hobgoblins leave, Avaria breathes a sigh of relief.  

She then turns to Xanthe.  "Look, I understand you're trying to protect your little herd here, but as my friends have said, you're just delaying the inevitable.  What did you say to the guards while we were in the orc cavern last night?"  She looks at her intently, but tries to keep the frustration out of her voice.

Ethel walks over to Avaria and places a hand on her shoulder, trying to gently turn her away from Xanthe.  "Go easy.  No one is accusing anyone of anything."

At the same time, she watches Xanthe's face for a reaction to the accusation.  Does she look surprised?  Indignant?  Ashamed?

Insight:  23

Xanthe looks confused by Avaria's question.

"No guards came while you were away," Xanthe says. "The first one was the one that brought your visitors last night. Then these ones this morning."

Ethel can't pick up any signs of deception in what Xanthe says.

As she speaks, the remaining goblins scamper in and quickly drag on of the food tubs away, barely paying attention to another one of their comrades dead.

Jisthelek shrugs at Marrin's words.

"Possibly," the goblin says. "Good ole Dru is no dummy. He knows even the best guards will take a bribe now and again if it doesn't cause any real harm. But from what Big Red said last night, it's just as likely the family is watching her."

For the time being it looks like the guards will leave you alone at least for the time it takes to eat some food. The tubs contain the usual food, with plenty of turnips on the edge of beginning to ferment. But there's lots of of food.

Xanthe's back straightens a little, and she looks to have come to some inner conclusion. 

"What can I do to help?"

Ethel is satisfied Xanthe hasn't betrayed them.

But as those involved in their conspiracy continue to grow in number, she recalls an old saying about secrets... that it is easy for three people to keep a secret, as long as one of them is dead.

She ponders the need for the night to come soon as she turns an overripe vegetable over in her hand.  Then something else occurs to her as she looks at it.  She looks up at Xanthe and Ula.  "Are either of you capable of checking this for poison or disease?  I'm feeling remarkably paranoid this morning."

Ula looks down at the food and smiles.

"I can't tell if it is poisoned or not," she says, "but I can make sure it's not."

She waves away those who were coming to get some of the food.

"Give me ten minutes and I'll be sure it's safe."

Those who wait ten minutes before taking any of the food benefit from Ula ritually casting Purify Food And Drink. In the end, the food doesn't look or smell any better, but Ula assures you all that it should be safe now.

Avaria looks relieved to hear the Xanthe had nothing to do with Drusus's suspicions.  She's able to turn her attention to the food now that that was settled.

But she pauses as Xanthe's resolve changes, she puts a hairy hand on the woman's shoulder, "Stick with Jan, she'll need your help."

As Ethel mentions poison, Avaria looks down at the food in a new light and wrinkles her nose, but looks at her friend with a smile, "Well, you were just paralyzed due to poison, I can understand why it is on your mind."  and she waits for Ula to make the food safe before diving in and taking a seat against the wall to eat her turnips, hoping this is her last meal in this awful place.

Once you've had your fill of the food, and almost as if it was timed for that, the door latch open for a moment before slamming shut again and then the entrance door is swung open and a troop of hobgoblin guards enters the cavern. They're moving and not the easiest to count but there must be a dozen here.

One separates and starts pointing at prisoners.

Hammerdasher, Ula, and Jan are pointed out quickly and ordered to leave the cavern. "Go, go, go."

While they wait for you to obey, Jithelek who had the misfortune of walking into the cavern at the same time the door opened is shouted at, and then Avaria and Marrin are told to join the goblin, waiting to the side away from the entry way.

Finally, one of the guards looks at a piece of paper, then up a few times, and looks at several of the prisoners until he finally sees Ethel.

"You come now," the guard says to Ethel, indicating she should come stand by him. 

Marrin stops chewing on a delicious turnip that she has made taste like chocolate cake, along with everything else in the food bin. Too bad she couldn't do anything about that texture.

She stands and waits by Jistelek, walking behind guard with the paper trying to catch a peek if she can while the hob is busy reading.

Perception: 4

Avaria obeys and heads over by Jithelek and then leans down and whispers, "Why do you think there are so many guards here?  And what could possibly be going on?  Do you think this is how they are separating us for the Hargroves security thing?"

She watches as Ethel is singled out and has to bite her tongue to not say anything, this can't be good.

Ethel slowly rises to her feet and stiffly straightens her back.  Stretching a few of her joints until the crack and pop, she buys herself a few extra seconds to think.

We haven't been here long enough to know all the routines... but this is the second new wrinkle the guards have thrown at us today.  Something is going on.  Whether it has anything to do with our own plans, or something unrelated, its a potential problem.  And what do I do with the key?  She holds her spellbook tight.  If they take me away, I might not come back in time to pass it back to Jan.  And most of the co-conspirators are in the same boat as I...

Relinquishing control of her fate fills her with the urge to wretch.  But it can't be helped.  She turns to Xanthe, who not long ago had asked what she could do to help.  As she walks toward the hobgoblin guard, she pressed the thick tome into Xanthe's hands.  "See that you don't let it get wet," she says pointedly.  Then, with a sigh, she proceeds to follow the guard's direction.

Hammerdasher, Ula and Jan quickly find themselves escorted over a route that Ula is familiar with. Five of the guards lead them through the tunnel, the guardpost, doors unlocking and locking behind you, up the stairs that lead to the barracks, then past the tavern, the arena viewing area, down the main passage way, past Dodds’ store and out to the harbor.

The harbor is busier with a few more ships than Ula saw in there before.

The Rose Marie isn’t at the dock it was at before, but as you all look around, wondering what is going on, you notice it coming back into port and sliding into an open berth one pier down from where you stand.

The hobgoblins gesture at the other ship next to you.

“You, unload, fast fast,” one of the hobgoblin’s says to you three. “Wine barrels for feast tonight.”

As you start to go up the gangway, you hear laughter coming from the direction of the Rose Marie. When you look up to the deck, you see familiar faces. Slick, the wiry goblin crew member, and Tammer, the half-orc watch you with big smiles.

“Yes, get to it. Be good cattle.”

Hammerdasher bristles noticeably, but Ula rests a hand on his arm, urging him to stay calm.

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While Marrin gets a good look at the guard's note, it's illegible to her. It looks like a written language but not one she's familiar with. Once Jan, Ula, and Hammerdasher have gone, and the sound of a door closing and locking echoes down the hallway, Avaria, Jisthelek, and Marrin are surrounded by six of the guards and led off through the same set of passages, stairs, corridors and the like, but before you get to where Harry Dodds’s store is, you are lead down another wide corridor that branches off the main one. You pass by several closed doors, on either side of the passage and are lead gradual upwards. You finally come to an iron gate, manned by two more hobgoblin guards.

When they see your group coming, they greet the other hobgoblins. And you soon find the gate opened. Once you’re through, you’re all momentarily stunned by bright light.
You’re outside. A strong wind blows across a high plateau on the island. You can see cliff faces, and the sea stretching in all directions.

The guards hand you three lengths of rope, with lassos tied into them and point at a flock of axe beaks grazing nearby.

“Need to get three.”

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Once the others have all disappeared and there’s no sound coming from further ahead, Ethel and her hobgoblin head down the same route as the others. Ethel’s lead up the side passage that the axe beak hunters went down but the hobgoblin stops at a closed door well before the passage starts climbing to the outside.
The hobgoblin knocks quickly.

“Come” a familiar voice calls from inside.

The hobgoblin opens the door and gestures for Ethel to go inside. Once she does, the hobgoblin quickly closes the door, staying out on the other side.

The room is lit with several lanterns, and a dark robed figure sits at a desk on the far side of the room. But Ethel almost doesn’t register the figure. Instead she sees bookcase after bookcase crammed with books. And then lab equipment; similar to what was downstairs, but cleaner, and more orderly.

“So, you recognized the equipment before, Godrick Hargrove says. “What do you know of raising the dead?”

Jan sighs, knowing she's ill suited to the task of moving barrels. She turns to the hob guard, in a loud stage whisper. 

"They're wasting good wine on this lot? Slick'd rather drink orc piss, he's probably got a taste for it since Tammer's been pissing in his cup when he's not looking. At least that was the rumor I heard."

Deception: 23

Marrin shakes her head slowly,

"Seriously? This is the best way to get them? You grabbed the wrong people. Ethel could have done that without needing to break a sweat."

Taking one of the ropes Marrin shakes it out and starts tying a up a lasso and asks the other two,

"How are you at roping? I have some limited practice from catching our troupe's horses and goats but I'm certainly not a skilled hand at it."

She will then watch to see how the ax-beaks react to them being up here and test to see how they move when she moves towards them.

Animal handling(?): 9

((I was too generous with my modifier of +1 above, that should be an 8 instead.))

Avaria steps out onto the high plateau and as the breeze lifts her hair off her back and shoulders, she closes her eyes, enjoying the fresh, salted air and takes in deep breaths.  Ignoring her situation for a moment, she opens her eyes and looks around at her surroundings, the cursed sea that brought her here, but also brought her the closest friends she has ever had.  She muses about how not too long ago, they fought those sea creatures... though it feels like eons since that happened.

Taking a few steps further, she stoops, something had caught her eye.  On the ground are a few eagle feathers, she scoops them up and tucks them away in the folds of her clothes.  

Hearing Marrin, Ava is brought back to the present, "Roping?  Can't say I ever have?  But guess that's up next."  She shrugs, she'll take her time if she has to, being outside?  This was heaven.  She then whispers to Marrin, "Actually, I could just talk to the beasts... but I don't want the hobgoblins knowing I can do that."

She takes the rope from the hobgoblin and tries her luck..

Animal Handling  22

Before answering, Ethel continues to scan the room with her eyes.  She also tries to clear her mind and identify any spells or wards that may be in place here in Godrick's quarters.

[Does she see any wards or obvious signs of active spells?  Does she feel any probing in her mind to suggest something like detect thoughts is being used on her?  If its not possible to tell, that's fine.  But Ethel is going to do her best to figure that out before she answers anything.]

If relevant, Arcana: 27