Norwin slowly nods. "I guess the preservation guard sort of qualifies for that. We mostly just keep poachers and monsters out of the forest. Occasionally we find injured critters that need to be cared for."
The group begins to split up and explore. With nothing else that seems to distract them beyond the fact there is a dragon recovering from fatal wounds blocking the Hall of Doors at this time. She seems out of it and desperately needs rest so moving her could be dangerous to her recovery. Unless an active attempt is made to awake her she is fast asleep at this time. She seems to have a steady breath as she sleep which is a good sign that she is recovering.
This provides time for folks to explore and find out more about this place called sanctuary. The first thing they might find is that the main gate leading into the courtyard is locked or at least sealed shut in someway as its not like the main gate which is gargantuan in size has a keyhole. No, the most folks can determine is that there is some mechanism or magic that causes it to open and close. There is a a lot of tall grass in the courtyard but there is signs this massive court was once trimmed and clean looking. There are signs that small pools of water were on the edges with brickwork to hold the water in but they have dried up. There is the path that leads to the bridge that goes over the ocean cliff to the raised island holding the portal, the west tower, the castle, and the main gate cutting through the tall grass.
A quick inspection of the west tower shows that it goes both up and down. A spiral staircase seeming to accommodate travel in both directions. Oddly, you do not see a resizing glyph for the door to the west tower. It seems that medium is the size of the door and the way the entire interior has been fashioned. There is a massive forge when one first enters this wet tower however, it is very damaged and needs repair. Behind the forge area is the spiral stairs going up and down. When one goes down they find there was a collapse after going down a good 30 feet. Rocks, dirt and more completely block going down further. Going up they find the highest point on the island. A large observation room at the top of the tower that seems to have a stack of 100 different styled telescopes all prompt up on one side of the observation room. Why so many is anyone's guess. You can get an amazing view of the entire island as well as the silhouette of the massive jellyfish like creature that seems to have this entire island on it's back! You confirm this is an island and it is moving. What ocean this is is another question.
In the castle proper you find much of what was found before on the first floor. Resizing doors are everywhere on the first floor. The first floor only has a few rooms to get to if a creature was huge sized though. The entry hall, the fountain room, and the court room. The fountain room now has enough water in it to make a medium sized globe. It appears to be making a watery version of the world of Vas at this time as it slowly rotates in place just above the fountain. Water dripped down onto the fountain and then floating back up into the medium sized globe. It appears more water can be added and it'll make the water globe bigger if someone does so.
The first floor seems to be in three major sections. The Kitchen and utility rooms, the court and office rooms, the fountain room. The fountain room is by far the biggest and the Kitchen and utility rooms are a little bit stocked but you could all definitely fit way more supplies into the various storages and closet found in this section. There is even a laundry room to clean linens and bedsheets. However, the only sheets you have are the ones brought by Lady Hoppington. The courtrooms are similarly lacking supplies however you do all find a desk with plenty of blank paper, pens and ink. Looks like the desk was used to hold extra supplies and got forgotten. The supplies here shows signs of having just sat around for many years. past the court room and offices is a single huge door. It has runes of magic carved on it as well as some kind of locking mechanism. A feeling of dangerous magical power emanates from this door.
The second floor appears to be living spaces and in order to be up here one need to be medium or smaller to fit. Although a large creature could squeeze through. The hallways and stairs leading to the second floor does not seem to accommodate larger creatures. There is a set of sizing doors just before going upstairs though. Once upstairs there is three major sections. One, is a bunch of normal rooms. They all seem to have the same setup. A bed frame and mattress with no linens but there is a pillow. A dresser for clothes. A table with two chairs and an unused candle. It is certainly nothing special but a lot could be added to each of these small guest rooms to make them more personable. They all need blankets and sheets though.
The other two sections are a bit more fantastical. One section seems to be a set of doors all with a resizing glyph that opens onto huge rooms that seem to defy logic. They rooms inside are far larger they would normally fit inside the area. Each one seems to be a theme of environment. One is a massive forest, another a swamp, one is a literally volcano (This room deals 1 fire damage per round you are in it), one seems to be a set of bushes and shrubs, another a mushroom forest, yet another is underwater and you brace yourself for the water to fall out of the room but it doesn't. Each room is far larger then any other room. When you go inside you quickly learn it is still an inside room but the walls and ceiling are enchanted to be like the actual environment. Each room is roughly 1,000 feet by 1,000 feet with just as high a ceiling. In total there are 20 different biome rooms that you have access too. Forest, Grassland, woodland caves, mushroom, bushes, jungle, underwater, volcano, tundra, icy north, rocky canyon, glowing cave, swamp, desert, mountain top, lake shore, winter forest, tar pits, dark caves, dark forest.
The last section on the second floor seem entirely devoted to rest, relaxation and cleaning. There are living rooms, fire places, large lounges, and many big spaces for folks to be in. There appears to be a set of balconies here as well with large landings likely for flying creatures of some kind. There are individual bathing rooms as well as a massive shared hotspring that seems to gather water from somewhere and place it in the massive pool that converts into a low water bathing area. One could easily infer this magically made hot spring is so big to accommodate creatures of all sizes and races. Right now it seems like a small lake inside the castle devoid of activity but there is water running through it at least.
On the third floor is found six major rooms or perhaps its more accurate to say set of living spaces. Each of these six sections seems to be set up similar. A large central room with a bathing room attached to one side, a massive balcony facing outwards and another large room that is unmistakably a bedroom. It has a huge bed that once linens are on you could all easy fit on just one of the beds. There is a mattress on each of them that is extremely comfortable and one suspects a bit of magic placed on them to make them so comfortable. Easily one of the fluffiest mattresses any of you have ever sat or laid on. The balcony seems to extend from the large central room to the bedroom. However the bedroom way to the balcony has a sizing door where as it is more an open air balcony to the central room.
Lastly there is an observatory tower that you can go further up into to get a view around the island. Not quite as high as the West tower but enough to see everything down in the courtyard. There is also a ladder to go further up into a very large aerie that is semi-enclosed and perfect for huge or smaller flying creatures to land in. The castle lacks most things needed for it to be fully supplied and there certainly isn't enough wooden sentries to act as servants despite that is what they are being used for.
Will, you spend a lot of time getting undrunk which you manage. Delightfully the drink leave no after affect and as sudden as the feeling of warm drunkenness' came it also disappears with no hangover at all. Kitchen however, is a tyrant and has already threatened you with knifes floating in the air multiple times if you don't pay attention to its lessons on the various "correct" ways to cut meat. The kitchen having spent the last hour berating you with tips and techniques on cutting meat. To be fair, Kitchen is through in teaching you and will go back multiple times to make sure you have down whatever they teach before moving onto the next one but you get a sense this will be a lot of work. If you spend an extended amount of time learning with Kitchen you get the sense you will get tired out quickly (In future a CON save will be needed when taking lessons with Kitchen. You will learn faster but might gain levels of exhaustion)
You are all free to do as you like for now. You are trapped until you move the dragon but she is likely to recover enough by the next morning to be roused awake without risk of harm to her. The magical healing is definitely helping her recover a bit faster but nothing quite beats a long rest for a creature so obviously exhausted and pushed way past their limits. With the healing in place as well as some good rest in the morning she should be good to talk when she awakens. The magical energy of the dragon working to heal their body over a longer period of time. There doesn't seem to be a solution for their missing wing or their broken leg but the rest of their injuries seem to be mending over time and with magical help that speed up the process significantly. Ulmuur figures out that one thing they are lacking in is an infirmary as well as basic healing supplies in their quest to help the dragon heal. However, with some cobbled sheets and clever planning they at least covered the wounds of the dragon.
As Wil heads to the Kitchen, Ulmuur will say to him. "Good job with the food. We'll go to see what else there is. Manira, How about you take the left side, I'll take the right, then we go floor by floor?"
As they go through the castle looking for an infirmary, Ulmuur gets disheartened that he don't find one, he's amazed by what he did see. He stops off in some of the forest rooms to collect some herbs that he could use to improve the healing process. He will comment to Manira as he get's his herbalism kit out "I've read of the medicinal properties of some of these herbs, but they do not grow where I am from. They might be useful."
As they finish there search, Ulmuur says "I'm going to take a look at the other tower, do you want to come with? Perhaps the infirmary is in there?"
He isn't very interested in the forge. While curious about what could be below, he makes his way up the tower. When he gets to the top, he stops and blinks in amazement. All the telescopes. Some types he's used before. There are others that he only read about. And other's that look completely foreign to him. He gets a bit lost looking at them before he notices the view of the island. It was amazing! "Oh my. Is that a Jellyfish!"
He goes back down. "My goodness, I recommend going up the tower, spectacular views. But for now, there is no Infirmary. There are some planks, we might be able to make a splint for her leg." He will bring more sheets and some planks out to make a splint, with the help of the others. Then, he will set himself up a place to sleep for the night outside, near the Dragon.
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Manira happily joins Ulmuur in the search of the castle. She is constantly put in a state of awe as she moves from one section to the next. How was any of this even possible? She keeps taking peeks at the key she now has in her possession, the key that has put her in this place. And now thinking about the beautiful, yet terrifying dragon, she realizes she is momentarily stuck in this place.
No bother, she thinks to herself. Not like her family will really miss her anyways. This makes her pause, Xander and Jed will definitely notice her absence. And as she runs into Ulmuur once again, she asks him, "Do you think time flows the same here as back home or differently? Will you be missed since we are all staying at least one night here. I mean, I don't think any of us expected to stay once we went through our respective doors." If anyone else is around them, she includes them in the conversation.
As they move into the West Tower, she stops short. Maybe she was the one that was supposed to get this key after all, she thinks to herself with a huge grin on her face. As Ulmuur moves on, she stays right at the forge. She can tell right away it is very damaged and in need of repair. She just hopes the needed material for it they have on hand.
Ulmuur manages to find some supplies to splint the dragon's leg. However, there is one major problem. How does one set a huge dragon's leg? There is no way around the fact that it is quite large and with the twisted angle it's possible to make it worse. Ulmuur can just put the splint around the injured leg to prevent it moving and causing more pain but it''ll require some ingenuity to set the bone back in place before placing a split to help that leg begin to heal. If Ulmuur can find a way to gain enough strength to pop the leg back into place it'll be a task to shift it back into place. She will very likely awaken from the pain this will cause as well. If Ulmuur wants to continue then they need to find a way to increase their lifting capacity to 600 pounds. If they can do this they will need to make a medicine check DC 15 to set the bone properly. A higher DC of 20 to minimize the pain and complete quickly enough to not rouse them awake.
Manira finds the forge in complete disrepair... in fact, she is fairly sure this massive forge and most of the tools were purposely destroyed or sabotaged for some reason. She find what looks like hammer blows that were repeatedly impacted on the main kiln and firepit. Many tools are damaged or broken. She does find some tools though. In fact, enough to put together another set of Smith's Tools (You can add to inventory) if she wants to take them with her. The damage to the forge though is quite bad. It will require a lot of gold and time to repair it. Much of the forge seems to be of special materials and design too. It'll be expensive as well. She is confident it can be fixed but they will need a supply of materials to repair and it looks like she will need at least a couple thousand gold to get it operational again.
Norwin and Rudy explore the massive environment rooms. They mirror the terrain they are modeled after perfectly. She does find one room so cold that she takes 1 point of cold damage while in it and decides she will need special gear to be in that frozen winter landscape room. She wisely avoids the volcano room as well as it would likely damage her with the heat it throws off just from opening the door. There is vegetation but not much. The rooms are not wildly overgrown but she finds in the shrubs and bushes room a lot of raspberry bushes.
Ulmuur manages to find some supplies to splint the dragon's leg. However, there is one major problem. How does one set a huge dragon's leg? There is no way around the fact that it is quite large and with the twisted angle it's possible to make it worse. Ulmuur can just put the splint around the injured leg to prevent it moving and causing more pain but it''ll require some ingenuity to set the bone back in place before placing a split to help that leg begin to heal. If Ulmuur can find a way to gain enough strength to pop the leg back into place it'll be a task to shift it back into place. She will very likely awaken from the pain this will cause as well. If Ulmuur wants to continue then they need to find a way to increase their lifting capacity to 600 pounds. If they can do this they will need to make a medicine check DC 15 to set the bone properly. A higher DC of 20 to minimize the pain and complete quickly enough to not rouse them awake.
Ulmuur will not attempt to set the leg while she rests. He will just place the splints in a way so more damage won't be caused.
Ulmuur ponders Manira's question. "I do not know if time moves differently here. If we were in the hall of doors, we could check. The sun seems to be moving normally. When the stars come out, I can try to determine where we are. All though, we appear to be moving on the back of a jellyfish, so it will only be where we are right now, and maybe where we are going. As for if I will be missed... Probably not for just one night away. I was in the Observatory, down in the basement. I have been known to spend nights down there looking at old scrolls and such. It's hard to tell what the Snow Maiden notices, though. Hmmm, she actually might know of this place. Perhaps I should ask her about it when I get back."
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After sweating though the booze and fianlly returning to a somewhat sober state under the tyrannical direction of the kitchen, Wil attempts to put something together for their newly formed party for dinner, as well as preparing more meat for their sleeping injured guest in the courtyard.
"Thank you for your...exacting instruction.", he says to the kitchen. "I look forward to continuing my training. For now, I need to inform the others that there a meal - of sorts - to eat, and figure out where I can find a place here to rest my head. But rest assured, I will be back to continue learning, and keeping us fed!" Will says, taking the food on platters out to find the others. WIl flies upstairs (out a window, if need be) to find a common space large enough to feed eveyone in a communal meal, then delivers the platters (perhaps learning how to get the wooden automotons to assist), before sending Luna out with little scraps of paper rolled up to drop on each of the others as she and Will seek out the others exploring the castle; each piece of paper simply says, scrawled in Common, Dinner is served in the ____ room on the ___ floor (wherever he finds a suitable place.)
Then, Wil will claim a sleeping quarter on the 3rd floor for his own, after resizing himself back down to his normal small size, looking around all the nooks and crannies; being already a fascinating castle, he won't be able to help himself in looking for any hidden doorways, rooms or passages, as well. This place is amazing; I wonder what other secrets it hides...?He thinks, flitting behind a tapestry to check a wall.
picks a bunch of berries turning a scrap if sheet she had left over from bandaging into a bundle. when she gets the dinner invite she and Rudy go to the location and set the berries down by the platters for the group.
Disappointed by the terrible way the forge was left in, Manira looks it over with loving hands. How was this deliberately done? and Why?? She wonders about the last caretakers and what has happened in the past here. She picks up the tools that are worth using and after estimating what will be needed, she leaves it now with a heavy heart to go and seek out others.
When she gets the note for dinner, she didn't even realize she was hungry and her dwarven stomach rumbles loudly. "I hope there is some good ale." she wonders aloud.
Ulmuur, while curious of what this place is, will try to stay close to the injured Dragon. He goes back up to the telescope room for a while, but keeps coming down to fret over the Dragon. He gets Wil's message while on his way back down from the West tower for the 5th time. "Hmm, eating is probably a good idea." He goes to the head of the Dragon and whispers in Draconic.
"Don't worry, Auntie*. We are close by. You are safe." *The word he uses is an honorific for a revered elder, not necessarily a blood relation.
He meets up with the others and sits for the meal. "Wow, Wil, this is really good! You are getting better with cooking! Good job! Now, what do you all think of our situation. It appears we were somehow chosen to be the caretakers of this place."
picking at food with a frown on her face. "I think Mama is going to have my hide for skipping out on supper with the new carter tonight, since I don't think we're going home with the dragon blocking the door."
Roland nods as Norwin explains her belonging to the Preservation Guard and a little of what her order does, but the feeling of being overwhelmed by his new surroundings really begins to set in as everyone slowly decides to let the dragon rest and starts exploring the grounds. He can't help but marvel at the huge building and how nice it is; he hasn't been somewhere this nice since he was a boy, since before Walter brought his whole world crashing down around him. He gathers up his belt, his gun, his effects, and begins to wander.
He shakes his head and presses the heel of his hands to his eyes and pushes, trying to force the thought away with mechanical pressure. Not tonight. Just one night for a decent rest, Roland. Just one.
It's the lush living chambers that he finally stops in. After snagging some of Will's food, he heads upstairs, exploring for a place where he can eat in private, and finds one of the large rooms and its fireplace, and slowly begins to stuff wood and kindling into the fireplace before sparking it alight and feeding himself. He takes a little time to be alone. To decompress, to relax; this new place has him on edge, and he didn't realize how tense he was; like a one pound trigger with a half pound pull already on it.
Although there is no tapestries hanging at this time there are indeed walls and checking them you find a odd pattern in the walls. There is the typical stone work lain throughout all of the castle you as you check the wall more closely you notice there is something more specifically designed into the wall. Perfect cubes that seem about a foot in length seem to be spaced at regular intervals throughout every wall in the castle. You first noticed in the room on the third floor but you soon notice that this cube like thing is repeated on every wall. Feeling it, you note it's not even stone but instead some kind of grey stone colored metal. You poke and prod these cubes but they don't seem to do anything however it is something of note in the stone work. They are far too frequent to be some kind of hidden door, alcove or anything of that like but they were definitely placed with deliberate care into the workings of this castle. You see no markings on them like they were designed to be hidden or perhaps just to not clash with the stonework designs of the castle itself. If they serve a function you are not aware of what.
"Thank you for your...exacting instruction.", he says to the kitchen. "I look forward to continuing my training. For now, I need to inform the others that there a meal - of worts - to eat, and figure out where I can find a place here to rest my head. But rest assured, I will be back to continue learning, and keeping us fed!" Will says, taking the food on platters out to find the others. WIl flies upstairs (out a window, if need be) to find a common space large enough to feed eveyone in a communal meal, then delivers the platters (perhaps learning how to get the wooden automotons to assist), before sending Luna out with little scraps of paper rolled up to drop on each of the others as she and Will seek out the others exploring the castle; each piece of paper simply says, scrawled in Common, Dinner is served in the ____ room on the ___ floor (wherever he finds a suitable place.)
Kitchen is a bit gruff but says "Eh, ya'll do at least. Last cook I had started by thinkin' ta make bread puddin' meant add water to a batch of bread and stuff it all in a jar. As long as ya follow my instructions ya won' make bad food at least. Just respect me and the food an' we'll get along dandy."
THere are dining areas near Kitchen. Some designed for large gatherings like a mess hall and others smaller and more private like a dining room for six. Will sets up food in the smaller room. He had to gather some chairs for it but it was manageable. Especially if he asked one of the wooden sentries to gather them as they seem to know where things are in the castle. The automatons seem to follow his orders precisely and efficiently. There is almost a sense of wanting to impress coming from them.
The dining room is private with a single door to go in or out of and the food is okay. The ale served is quite good though. Whatever ale Lady Hoppington brought you all seems to have a nice flavor to it. Something sweet based but not honey as far as you all can tell. This is a good time for the new keepers to get to know each other, strangers brought from all over the world and some from others. They might be a bit stuck at the moment as the dragon recovers but as night begins to fall they might find this place is much further from home then any of them thought. Stars do not show in the open sky. Although there is something similar to a sun providing light in the day and a moon like structure appears overhead for night there are no stars but instead a nebulous cloud of shifting muted rainbow colors. It's almost as if the glow of the giant jellyfish is reflecting off of something high in the sky.
Norwin tosses Rudy the last of her meat and takes up a handful of raspberries. "I suppose it can't be helped. Best to be the disappointment right away anyway. " She grins. "At least I'm off rotation so the captain won't be asking any questions for a couple days. What about the rest of you?
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Ulmuur looks to Norwin. "I was in the middle of some work at the observatory. I can get a bit obsessed. I doubt anyone will start looking for me after one night. Two nights, and then my uncle Vuaxoc will probably start getting concerned. Mostly, he'll think I have been trapped under a pile of books and scrolls.... It has happened before, but not for a very long time!"
He'll look out and say "OH, it is starting to get dark. I have my Starmap we can use as a guide, so we can see where we are! Oh, watch this, my friend made this for me." He will take off his amulet and go to one of the torches on the wall. He holds up his amulet to the flame. The shadow of the amulet shows up on the wall; but the tiny, barely perceivable, pin holes allow the light to shine through, making a a map of the night sky. The pin holes are even different sizes, allowing them to show the varying brightness of the stars. "Amazing, yes? The night sky, always with me. Does anyone wish to look at the stars with me? It looks like the sun will be setting soon."
With that, he gets up and heads outside. He decides to stay in the courtyard for now. As dusk falls, he looks to the sky. "Okay, the first stars should come out a little after the sun sets fully... There some light left, but we should start seeing the stars soon... Umm, maybe that rainbow cloud is blocking them... Oh, oh my. Okay. There are no stars. There should be stars if we were on Vas, but there are no stars. So we aren't on Vas. Okay, okay okay...." With that, Ulmuur goes to the west tower, up to the telescope room. Using one of the telescopes, he looks out at the moon, the rainbow cloud, and the jelly fish.
Manira takes a long pull of the ale, thoroughly enjoying it. Taking a few bites of the food, she listens to the others. "Me? Not sure many of my family will even notice my absence. We're all kind of in and out of the family house or church at all different kinds of hours. Though I bet Xander would notice if I don't show up at the blacksmith shop at some point tomorrow." She looks into her mug, watching the ale move around a bit as she thinks of back home. "Funny, part of me is enjoying the space away from the family for a bit. There are quite a few of us after all. I mean... getting my own room for the night? Even knowing that it is happening sounds too good to be true. I've never slept in a room by myself before."
When Ulmuur brings out his star map, she is completely enthralled with it. "It is beautiful. That is a model of our night sky? Really? Wow..." She immediately follows him outside to the courtyard. Sitting crosslegged in the long grass... she takes some time to pound some of the grass down so it doesn't tickle her. She watches Ulmuur as the realization is made about the fact they are not on Vas. She watches him head to the West tower, but she stays there trying to understand how this was all possible.
With that, Ulmuur goes to the west tower, up to the telescope room. Using one of the telescopes, he looks out at the moon, the rainbow cloud, and the jelly fish.
Looking through the telescope you get a spectacular view of the jellyfish like being that currently houses you all on it's back. It gently swim along the water a wake far in the distance in front of it seems to carve the water out of it's way and behind you see the water change in color like there is some massive effect from this jellyfish affecting the water around it for miles. Without the telescope and the height of the west tower it would of never been noticeable. You don't know how the jellyfish is affecting the water around it but you unmistakably see there is some kind of affect.
When looking up at the sky it becomes a lot more confusing to you. You still do not see stars. Instead just a diffused collection of rainbow like clouds shifting and morphing in the sky. However, with the help of the telescope you begin to see bubbles in the distant skies. They appear to shimmer and glow in the sky and they seem to radiate a small amount of light that further sheds colors and light making the rainbow like sky even more wild and fantastic. Whatever is going on up there it is definitely not a typical sky.
Norwin slowly nods. "I guess the preservation guard sort of qualifies for that. We mostly just keep poachers and monsters out of the forest. Occasionally we find injured critters that need to be cared for."
The group begins to split up and explore. With nothing else that seems to distract them beyond the fact there is a dragon recovering from fatal wounds blocking the Hall of Doors at this time. She seems out of it and desperately needs rest so moving her could be dangerous to her recovery. Unless an active attempt is made to awake her she is fast asleep at this time. She seems to have a steady breath as she sleep which is a good sign that she is recovering.
This provides time for folks to explore and find out more about this place called sanctuary. The first thing they might find is that the main gate leading into the courtyard is locked or at least sealed shut in someway as its not like the main gate which is gargantuan in size has a keyhole. No, the most folks can determine is that there is some mechanism or magic that causes it to open and close. There is a a lot of tall grass in the courtyard but there is signs this massive court was once trimmed and clean looking. There are signs that small pools of water were on the edges with brickwork to hold the water in but they have dried up. There is the path that leads to the bridge that goes over the ocean cliff to the raised island holding the portal, the west tower, the castle, and the main gate cutting through the tall grass.
A quick inspection of the west tower shows that it goes both up and down. A spiral staircase seeming to accommodate travel in both directions. Oddly, you do not see a resizing glyph for the door to the west tower. It seems that medium is the size of the door and the way the entire interior has been fashioned. There is a massive forge when one first enters this wet tower however, it is very damaged and needs repair. Behind the forge area is the spiral stairs going up and down. When one goes down they find there was a collapse after going down a good 30 feet. Rocks, dirt and more completely block going down further. Going up they find the highest point on the island. A large observation room at the top of the tower that seems to have a stack of 100 different styled telescopes all prompt up on one side of the observation room. Why so many is anyone's guess. You can get an amazing view of the entire island as well as the silhouette of the massive jellyfish like creature that seems to have this entire island on it's back! You confirm this is an island and it is moving. What ocean this is is another question.
In the castle proper you find much of what was found before on the first floor. Resizing doors are everywhere on the first floor. The first floor only has a few rooms to get to if a creature was huge sized though. The entry hall, the fountain room, and the court room. The fountain room now has enough water in it to make a medium sized globe. It appears to be making a watery version of the world of Vas at this time as it slowly rotates in place just above the fountain. Water dripped down onto the fountain and then floating back up into the medium sized globe. It appears more water can be added and it'll make the water globe bigger if someone does so.
The first floor seems to be in three major sections. The Kitchen and utility rooms, the court and office rooms, the fountain room. The fountain room is by far the biggest and the Kitchen and utility rooms are a little bit stocked but you could all definitely fit way more supplies into the various storages and closet found in this section. There is even a laundry room to clean linens and bedsheets. However, the only sheets you have are the ones brought by Lady Hoppington. The courtrooms are similarly lacking supplies however you do all find a desk with plenty of blank paper, pens and ink. Looks like the desk was used to hold extra supplies and got forgotten. The supplies here shows signs of having just sat around for many years. past the court room and offices is a single huge door. It has runes of magic carved on it as well as some kind of locking mechanism. A feeling of dangerous magical power emanates from this door.
The second floor appears to be living spaces and in order to be up here one need to be medium or smaller to fit. Although a large creature could squeeze through. The hallways and stairs leading to the second floor does not seem to accommodate larger creatures. There is a set of sizing doors just before going upstairs though. Once upstairs there is three major sections. One, is a bunch of normal rooms. They all seem to have the same setup. A bed frame and mattress with no linens but there is a pillow. A dresser for clothes. A table with two chairs and an unused candle. It is certainly nothing special but a lot could be added to each of these small guest rooms to make them more personable. They all need blankets and sheets though.
The other two sections are a bit more fantastical. One section seems to be a set of doors all with a resizing glyph that opens onto huge rooms that seem to defy logic. They rooms inside are far larger they would normally fit inside the area. Each one seems to be a theme of environment. One is a massive forest, another a swamp, one is a literally volcano (This room deals 1 fire damage per round you are in it), one seems to be a set of bushes and shrubs, another a mushroom forest, yet another is underwater and you brace yourself for the water to fall out of the room but it doesn't. Each room is far larger then any other room. When you go inside you quickly learn it is still an inside room but the walls and ceiling are enchanted to be like the actual environment. Each room is roughly 1,000 feet by 1,000 feet with just as high a ceiling. In total there are 20 different biome rooms that you have access too. Forest, Grassland, woodland caves, mushroom, bushes, jungle, underwater, volcano, tundra, icy north, rocky canyon, glowing cave, swamp, desert, mountain top, lake shore, winter forest, tar pits, dark caves, dark forest.
The last section on the second floor seem entirely devoted to rest, relaxation and cleaning. There are living rooms, fire places, large lounges, and many big spaces for folks to be in. There appears to be a set of balconies here as well with large landings likely for flying creatures of some kind. There are individual bathing rooms as well as a massive shared hotspring that seems to gather water from somewhere and place it in the massive pool that converts into a low water bathing area. One could easily infer this magically made hot spring is so big to accommodate creatures of all sizes and races. Right now it seems like a small lake inside the castle devoid of activity but there is water running through it at least.
On the third floor is found six major rooms or perhaps its more accurate to say set of living spaces. Each of these six sections seems to be set up similar. A large central room with a bathing room attached to one side, a massive balcony facing outwards and another large room that is unmistakably a bedroom. It has a huge bed that once linens are on you could all easy fit on just one of the beds. There is a mattress on each of them that is extremely comfortable and one suspects a bit of magic placed on them to make them so comfortable. Easily one of the fluffiest mattresses any of you have ever sat or laid on. The balcony seems to extend from the large central room to the bedroom. However the bedroom way to the balcony has a sizing door where as it is more an open air balcony to the central room.
Lastly there is an observatory tower that you can go further up into to get a view around the island. Not quite as high as the West tower but enough to see everything down in the courtyard. There is also a ladder to go further up into a very large aerie that is semi-enclosed and perfect for huge or smaller flying creatures to land in. The castle lacks most things needed for it to be fully supplied and there certainly isn't enough wooden sentries to act as servants despite that is what they are being used for.
Will, you spend a lot of time getting undrunk which you manage. Delightfully the drink leave no after affect and as sudden as the feeling of warm drunkenness' came it also disappears with no hangover at all. Kitchen however, is a tyrant and has already threatened you with knifes floating in the air multiple times if you don't pay attention to its lessons on the various "correct" ways to cut meat. The kitchen having spent the last hour berating you with tips and techniques on cutting meat. To be fair, Kitchen is through in teaching you and will go back multiple times to make sure you have down whatever they teach before moving onto the next one but you get a sense this will be a lot of work. If you spend an extended amount of time learning with Kitchen you get the sense you will get tired out quickly (In future a CON save will be needed when taking lessons with Kitchen. You will learn faster but might gain levels of exhaustion)
You are all free to do as you like for now. You are trapped until you move the dragon but she is likely to recover enough by the next morning to be roused awake without risk of harm to her. The magical healing is definitely helping her recover a bit faster but nothing quite beats a long rest for a creature so obviously exhausted and pushed way past their limits. With the healing in place as well as some good rest in the morning she should be good to talk when she awakens. The magical energy of the dragon working to heal their body over a longer period of time. There doesn't seem to be a solution for their missing wing or their broken leg but the rest of their injuries seem to be mending over time and with magical help that speed up the process significantly. Ulmuur figures out that one thing they are lacking in is an infirmary as well as basic healing supplies in their quest to help the dragon heal. However, with some cobbled sheets and clever planning they at least covered the wounds of the dragon.
Nature check with Herbalism Kit and Guidance 24
As Wil heads to the Kitchen, Ulmuur will say to him. "Good job with the food. We'll go to see what else there is. Manira, How about you take the left side, I'll take the right, then we go floor by floor?"
As they go through the castle looking for an infirmary, Ulmuur gets disheartened that he don't find one, he's amazed by what he did see. He stops off in some of the forest rooms to collect some herbs that he could use to improve the healing process. He will comment to Manira as he get's his herbalism kit out "I've read of the medicinal properties of some of these herbs, but they do not grow where I am from. They might be useful."
As they finish there search, Ulmuur says "I'm going to take a look at the other tower, do you want to come with? Perhaps the infirmary is in there?"
He isn't very interested in the forge. While curious about what could be below, he makes his way up the tower. When he gets to the top, he stops and blinks in amazement. All the telescopes. Some types he's used before. There are others that he only read about. And other's that look completely foreign to him. He gets a bit lost looking at them before he notices the view of the island. It was amazing! "Oh my. Is that a Jellyfish!"
He goes back down. "My goodness, I recommend going up the tower, spectacular views. But for now, there is no Infirmary. There are some planks, we might be able to make a splint for her leg." He will bring more sheets and some planks out to make a splint, with the help of the others. Then, he will set himself up a place to sleep for the night outside, near the Dragon.
Manira happily joins Ulmuur in the search of the castle. She is constantly put in a state of awe as she moves from one section to the next. How was any of this even possible? She keeps taking peeks at the key she now has in her possession, the key that has put her in this place. And now thinking about the beautiful, yet terrifying dragon, she realizes she is momentarily stuck in this place.
No bother, she thinks to herself. Not like her family will really miss her anyways. This makes her pause, Xander and Jed will definitely notice her absence. And as she runs into Ulmuur once again, she asks him, "Do you think time flows the same here as back home or differently? Will you be missed since we are all staying at least one night here. I mean, I don't think any of us expected to stay once we went through our respective doors." If anyone else is around them, she includes them in the conversation.
As they move into the West Tower, she stops short. Maybe she was the one that was supposed to get this key after all, she thinks to herself with a huge grin on her face. As Ulmuur moves on, she stays right at the forge. She can tell right away it is very damaged and in need of repair. She just hopes the needed material for it they have on hand.
Investigation on the forge 18
Norwin and Rudy will explore the terrain rooms except volcano room. then wander to kitchen and grab some fruit for self and scraps for the fox.
Ulmuur manages to find some supplies to splint the dragon's leg. However, there is one major problem. How does one set a huge dragon's leg? There is no way around the fact that it is quite large and with the twisted angle it's possible to make it worse. Ulmuur can just put the splint around the injured leg to prevent it moving and causing more pain but it''ll require some ingenuity to set the bone back in place before placing a split to help that leg begin to heal. If Ulmuur can find a way to gain enough strength to pop the leg back into place it'll be a task to shift it back into place. She will very likely awaken from the pain this will cause as well. If Ulmuur wants to continue then they need to find a way to increase their lifting capacity to 600 pounds. If they can do this they will need to make a medicine check DC 15 to set the bone properly. A higher DC of 20 to minimize the pain and complete quickly enough to not rouse them awake.
Manira finds the forge in complete disrepair... in fact, she is fairly sure this massive forge and most of the tools were purposely destroyed or sabotaged for some reason. She find what looks like hammer blows that were repeatedly impacted on the main kiln and firepit. Many tools are damaged or broken. She does find some tools though. In fact, enough to put together another set of Smith's Tools (You can add to inventory) if she wants to take them with her. The damage to the forge though is quite bad. It will require a lot of gold and time to repair it. Much of the forge seems to be of special materials and design too. It'll be expensive as well. She is confident it can be fixed but they will need a supply of materials to repair and it looks like she will need at least a couple thousand gold to get it operational again.
Norwin and Rudy explore the massive environment rooms. They mirror the terrain they are modeled after perfectly. She does find one room so cold that she takes 1 point of cold damage while in it and decides she will need special gear to be in that frozen winter landscape room. She wisely avoids the volcano room as well as it would likely damage her with the heat it throws off just from opening the door. There is vegetation but not much. The rooms are not wildly overgrown but she finds in the shrubs and bushes room a lot of raspberry bushes.
Ulmuur will not attempt to set the leg while she rests. He will just place the splints in a way so more damage won't be caused.
Ulmuur ponders Manira's question. "I do not know if time moves differently here. If we were in the hall of doors, we could check. The sun seems to be moving normally. When the stars come out, I can try to determine where we are. All though, we appear to be moving on the back of a jellyfish, so it will only be where we are right now, and maybe where we are going. As for if I will be missed... Probably not for just one night away. I was in the Observatory, down in the basement. I have been known to spend nights down there looking at old scrolls and such. It's hard to tell what the Snow Maiden notices, though. Hmmm, she actually might know of this place. Perhaps I should ask her about it when I get back."
After sweating though the booze and fianlly returning to a somewhat sober state under the tyrannical direction of the kitchen, Wil attempts to put something together for their newly formed party for dinner, as well as preparing more meat for their sleeping injured guest in the courtyard.
"Thank you for your...exacting instruction.", he says to the kitchen. "I look forward to continuing my training. For now, I need to inform the others that there a meal - of sorts - to eat, and figure out where I can find a place here to rest my head. But rest assured, I will be back to continue learning, and keeping us fed!" Will says, taking the food on platters out to find the others. WIl flies upstairs (out a window, if need be) to find a common space large enough to feed eveyone in a communal meal, then delivers the platters (perhaps learning how to get the wooden automotons to assist), before sending Luna out with little scraps of paper rolled up to drop on each of the others as she and Will seek out the others exploring the castle; each piece of paper simply says, scrawled in Common, Dinner is served in the ____ room on the ___ floor (wherever he finds a suitable place.)
Then, Wil will claim a sleeping quarter on the 3rd floor for his own, after resizing himself back down to his normal small size, looking around all the nooks and crannies; being already a fascinating castle, he won't be able to help himself in looking for any hidden doorways, rooms or passages, as well. This place is amazing; I wonder what other secrets it hides...? He thinks, flitting behind a tapestry to check a wall.
Investigation check: 18
If your boyfriend asks you to join his game, he really likes you ... and also, he needs a healer.
picks a bunch of berries turning a scrap if sheet she had left over from bandaging into a bundle. when she gets the dinner invite she and Rudy go to the location and set the berries down by the platters for the group.
Disappointed by the terrible way the forge was left in, Manira looks it over with loving hands. How was this deliberately done? and Why?? She wonders about the last caretakers and what has happened in the past here. She picks up the tools that are worth using and after estimating what will be needed, she leaves it now with a heavy heart to go and seek out others.
When she gets the note for dinner, she didn't even realize she was hungry and her dwarven stomach rumbles loudly. "I hope there is some good ale." she wonders aloud.
Ulmuur, while curious of what this place is, will try to stay close to the injured Dragon. He goes back up to the telescope room for a while, but keeps coming down to fret over the Dragon. He gets Wil's message while on his way back down from the West tower for the 5th time. "Hmm, eating is probably a good idea." He goes to the head of the Dragon and whispers in Draconic.
"Don't worry, Auntie*. We are close by. You are safe." *The word he uses is an honorific for a revered elder, not necessarily a blood relation.
He meets up with the others and sits for the meal. "Wow, Wil, this is really good! You are getting better with cooking! Good job! Now, what do you all think of our situation. It appears we were somehow chosen to be the caretakers of this place."
picking at food with a frown on her face. "I think Mama is going to have my hide for skipping out on supper with the new carter tonight, since I don't think we're going home with the dragon blocking the door."
Roland nods as Norwin explains her belonging to the Preservation Guard and a little of what her order does, but the feeling of being overwhelmed by his new surroundings really begins to set in as everyone slowly decides to let the dragon rest and starts exploring the grounds. He can't help but marvel at the huge building and how nice it is; he hasn't been somewhere this nice since he was a boy, since before Walter brought his whole world crashing down around him. He gathers up his belt, his gun, his effects, and begins to wander.
He shakes his head and presses the heel of his hands to his eyes and pushes, trying to force the thought away with mechanical pressure. Not tonight. Just one night for a decent rest, Roland. Just one.
It's the lush living chambers that he finally stops in. After snagging some of Will's food, he heads upstairs, exploring for a place where he can eat in private, and finds one of the large rooms and its fireplace, and slowly begins to stuff wood and kindling into the fireplace before sparking it alight and feeding himself. He takes a little time to be alone. To decompress, to relax; this new place has him on edge, and he didn't realize how tense he was; like a one pound trigger with a half pound pull already on it.
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
Although there is no tapestries hanging at this time there are indeed walls and checking them you find a odd pattern in the walls. There is the typical stone work lain throughout all of the castle you as you check the wall more closely you notice there is something more specifically designed into the wall. Perfect cubes that seem about a foot in length seem to be spaced at regular intervals throughout every wall in the castle. You first noticed in the room on the third floor but you soon notice that this cube like thing is repeated on every wall. Feeling it, you note it's not even stone but instead some kind of grey stone colored metal. You poke and prod these cubes but they don't seem to do anything however it is something of note in the stone work. They are far too frequent to be some kind of hidden door, alcove or anything of that like but they were definitely placed with deliberate care into the workings of this castle. You see no markings on them like they were designed to be hidden or perhaps just to not clash with the stonework designs of the castle itself. If they serve a function you are not aware of what.
Kitchen is a bit gruff but says "Eh, ya'll do at least. Last cook I had started by thinkin' ta make bread puddin' meant add water to a batch of bread and stuff it all in a jar. As long as ya follow my instructions ya won' make bad food at least. Just respect me and the food an' we'll get along dandy."
THere are dining areas near Kitchen. Some designed for large gatherings like a mess hall and others smaller and more private like a dining room for six. Will sets up food in the smaller room. He had to gather some chairs for it but it was manageable. Especially if he asked one of the wooden sentries to gather them as they seem to know where things are in the castle. The automatons seem to follow his orders precisely and efficiently. There is almost a sense of wanting to impress coming from them.
The dining room is private with a single door to go in or out of and the food is okay. The ale served is quite good though. Whatever ale Lady Hoppington brought you all seems to have a nice flavor to it. Something sweet based but not honey as far as you all can tell. This is a good time for the new keepers to get to know each other, strangers brought from all over the world and some from others. They might be a bit stuck at the moment as the dragon recovers but as night begins to fall they might find this place is much further from home then any of them thought. Stars do not show in the open sky. Although there is something similar to a sun providing light in the day and a moon like structure appears overhead for night there are no stars but instead a nebulous cloud of shifting muted rainbow colors. It's almost as if the glow of the giant jellyfish is reflecting off of something high in the sky.
Norwin tosses Rudy the last of her meat and takes up a handful of raspberries. "I suppose it can't be helped. Best to be the disappointment right away anyway. " She grins. "At least I'm off rotation so the captain won't be asking any questions for a couple days. What about the rest of you?
Ulmuur looks to Norwin. "I was in the middle of some work at the observatory. I can get a bit obsessed. I doubt anyone will start looking for me after one night. Two nights, and then my uncle Vuaxoc will probably start getting concerned. Mostly, he'll think I have been trapped under a pile of books and scrolls.... It has happened before, but not for a very long time!"
He'll look out and say "OH, it is starting to get dark. I have my Starmap we can use as a guide, so we can see where we are! Oh, watch this, my friend made this for me." He will take off his amulet and go to one of the torches on the wall. He holds up his amulet to the flame. The shadow of the amulet shows up on the wall; but the tiny, barely perceivable, pin holes allow the light to shine through, making a a map of the night sky. The pin holes are even different sizes, allowing them to show the varying brightness of the stars. "Amazing, yes? The night sky, always with me. Does anyone wish to look at the stars with me? It looks like the sun will be setting soon."
With that, he gets up and heads outside. He decides to stay in the courtyard for now. As dusk falls, he looks to the sky. "Okay, the first stars should come out a little after the sun sets fully... There some light left, but we should start seeing the stars soon... Umm, maybe that rainbow cloud is blocking them... Oh, oh my. Okay. There are no stars. There should be stars if we were on Vas, but there are no stars. So we aren't on Vas. Okay, okay okay...." With that, Ulmuur goes to the west tower, up to the telescope room. Using one of the telescopes, he looks out at the moon, the rainbow cloud, and the jelly fish.
Perception 11 If advantage with the telescope: 14
Manira takes a long pull of the ale, thoroughly enjoying it. Taking a few bites of the food, she listens to the others. "Me? Not sure many of my family will even notice my absence. We're all kind of in and out of the family house or church at all different kinds of hours. Though I bet Xander would notice if I don't show up at the blacksmith shop at some point tomorrow." She looks into her mug, watching the ale move around a bit as she thinks of back home. "Funny, part of me is enjoying the space away from the family for a bit. There are quite a few of us after all. I mean... getting my own room for the night? Even knowing that it is happening sounds too good to be true. I've never slept in a room by myself before."
When Ulmuur brings out his star map, she is completely enthralled with it. "It is beautiful. That is a model of our night sky? Really? Wow..." She immediately follows him outside to the courtyard. Sitting crosslegged in the long grass... she takes some time to pound some of the grass down so it doesn't tickle her. She watches Ulmuur as the realization is made about the fact they are not on Vas. She watches him head to the West tower, but she stays there trying to understand how this was all possible.
Looking through the telescope you get a spectacular view of the jellyfish like being that currently houses you all on it's back. It gently swim along the water a wake far in the distance in front of it seems to carve the water out of it's way and behind you see the water change in color like there is some massive effect from this jellyfish affecting the water around it for miles. Without the telescope and the height of the west tower it would of never been noticeable. You don't know how the jellyfish is affecting the water around it but you unmistakably see there is some kind of affect.
When looking up at the sky it becomes a lot more confusing to you. You still do not see stars. Instead just a diffused collection of rainbow like clouds shifting and morphing in the sky. However, with the help of the telescope you begin to see bubbles in the distant skies. They appear to shimmer and glow in the sky and they seem to radiate a small amount of light that further sheds colors and light making the rainbow like sky even more wild and fantastic. Whatever is going on up there it is definitely not a typical sky.
with everyone dispersing, Norwin makes her way toward the sleeping quarters.