Eron stands up nearly falling over as he places too much weight on his injured right leg.  If Gideon’s rapier is nearby Eron would switch it for his hammer… at least for now.  He will tie Gideon’s arms behind his back.

Searching the bodies and the keep itself, the party uncovers the following:

On Karg's Corpse:

• A two-handed dwarven war axe 
• A sturdy breastplate...  Despite the battle, it looks in fine shape and is covered in hammered dwarven runes
• A coin purse with 72gp and 11sp
• A necklace with a dwarven coat of arms
• A battered notebook
• An iron key ring

On the unconscious Gideon:

• A fine rapier, with a stylized guard
• Studded leather armor
• A silver locket with the portait of a woman inside
• Thieves tools tucked inside one of his boots
• A coin purse with 8gp and 17sp

In Karg's Tower:

• An iron-bound chest.  Inside:
  • 25gp, 155sp and two medium sized gemstones (an amethyst and a garnet)
  • A heavy black pouch full of dry powder
  • A Potion of Healing and a Potion of Heroism
• A small library of books... nothing looks old or valuable... just a lot of common books on war, leadership, dwarven history and birds
• A large, water-damaged folio with drawings of Bale Keep... it bears Keoish markings... likely this is something they salvaged from the ruins, old design books left to moulder here when the keep was abandoned
• Examining the fireplace in his tower, you see bits of burned parchment... It looks like Karg was in the habit of burning his correspondence

The rest of the keep:

• It seems the other denizens of the keep took their valuables with them.  Other than some cots, traveling clothes and other nick nacks, there is nothing of use in the other tower.
• Examining the drawings and walking the keep, you find that the basement/dungeon is unfinished.  It is accessable by a ladder down from the other tower.  A cistern in the middle of the courtyard leads directly to the lair of the otyugh that dwells below.
• There is a trapdoor outside the main gate.  A lever inside the gate releases the trap, which drops down into the otyugh's lair.  

Leo and Zzplorff find no sign of the other's returning.

"We got a bit lucky there in the end, are you all okay?" The young blue-haired half-elf asks Eron and Fane. "We need to decide if we should wait for the rest of the slavers to return or if we should go after them, or if we should go into hiding ourselves until we are fully recuperated. I don't think we can face the others head on like we did with these two. We should try to lure them into a trap, perhaps using the monster in the cellar to our advantage?" She suggests.

Arlynn would leave the valuables but take a closer look at the following
- Go through Karg's notebook.
- Take a careful closer look at that powder.
- Checking the folio for any indications of hidden doors and compartments in the keep.
- Check the library for hidden doors and compartments.
- Check the fireplace to see if any parts of the correspondence can be salvaged.

She suggests Eron and Fane should split the two potions between them.
Finally she would like to have a chat with the prisoner as soon as he wakes up. This would be a priority.

There is time for the party to take a Short Rest.  Anyone seeking to roll hit dice, please do it on your character sheet and post results here in the game thread.

In the hour, there is time for Arlynn to accomplish two of the items from her list above.  What does she want to focus on?

Fireplace and Karg’s notebook.

Eron’s hit dice 3d10+9 result 30hp back to full couple nice stitches…

also Eron will hold onto the Rapier if that’s okay with the party.

OK.  Assuming that is OK with Arlynn as well. 

The party examines the burnt missives in Karg's fireplace.  Up inside the flue, a scrap of parchment paper, carried up and out of the flames, survives partially intact.  The paper is dry and brittle, heat damaged and smelling of char.  The partial message is written in a flowing hand.

Karg Ironvein,

You and your crew were bought for coin, not questions.  Consider this your proving ground.  The fugitives must be recovered swiftly and discreetly.  Your success will speak to your fitness for… broader stewardship in the region.
Bale Keep is well placed.  If it holds under your command, others may follow.  

Don't worry about how we located our quarry.  Just trust that the intelligence is reliable.  The map we provided should lead to their location.  A ship will visit a month hence.  Have the prisoners secured by then or...

The rest of the message is lost at the burnt edge of the page.

Flipping through the thin, battered notebook found on Karg's body, the party gets a glimpse into the mind of the late dwarf leader.  The pages, stained with ale, blood and sweat, are a collection of disconnected notes and thoughts collected over what seems to be months or years.

The first few pages are labeled The Team.  Notes on these pages include:

• Baerdrek talks too much.  Can't tell if he’s running a con or just full of hot air.  Trust his greed to keep him in line, but never his word.  ... In some ways, he's the most dependable.  Its always coin first, god second with him.  No wonder ol' Abbathor took a shine to him.
• Durn doesn’t waste motion or breath.  He's a natural scout and stoneborn killer. ... Don’t give him reason to think he could lead.  If he wanted it, others would follow.  And they might be right, too. ... On the bright side, if he ever sours on me and makes a move, I'll be dead before I know I'm in trouble.
• Mara’s just a knife with a smile.  Good with people, too good.  Needs coin and thrill.  Keep her busy.  Keep her happy.  If she starts to be more trouble than she's worth, I'll have to cut her loose.
• Torch’s fire burns too hot.  She likes the noise, the power — but she's sooner die than put a moment's effort into planning or thinking anything through.  She's too useful to lose but damn if I know what I'm going to do with her.  She's like to burn this whole place down in a drunken fit.
• Silas will challenge me one day.  Too strong and too dumb to understand loyalty.  Beat him in front of the others when the time comes.  Like a big dumb mutt, a good arse-kicking could keep him in line for a few years more.
• Gideon’s clever, but a loner.  Fencer, more a dancer than a fighter.  Thinks he’s better than us.  That’s useful.  A well-timed, earnest sounding compliment goes further than gold with him.  Still, he's the most likely to just be up and gone one day.  Need to make sure he doesn't sneak off with anything valuable if he does leave.

Later, there is a page that seems to be a collection of potential names:

• The Marshbound Blades
• Ironvein’s Fury (no one likes it but me)
• The Oathless
• The Drowned Men (Torch liked it but is too grim?)
• The Hoolhounds
• The Bale Seven

Later pages just have disjointed notes and thoughts scribbled down.

• Saltmarsh was meant to be easy coin, Keoish fools chasing ghosts and paying gold.  Turns it was all lies, and the coin dried up fast.
• No real work, no respect.  Town guard didn’t like our kind.  They said we stirred too many pots.  Maybe we did.  The town needs a good stirring.
• Silas refused to eat rations with the crew last week.  “Don’t share with weaker beasts,” he said.  Need to remind him who feeds him.
• Left Saltmarsh before they threw us in irons.  Found this old keep deep in the muck, overrun with goblins too dumb to hold a wall.  Took it in an hour with no losses.  Ours now.
• The pirate kings are watching us.
• Baerdrek will side with whoever pays.  Durn won’t betray me.
• Keep holds.  Good walls.  North parapet needs reinforcing... Gideon slipped twice.
• No one wants to head out into the marsh to hunt elves.  But the coin... this changes the game for us.
• Must remind them this is my Keep.  My crew. 

Arlynn would inform the others about what she had found out. "It seems there are five slavers out in the marsh looking for escaped elves, sounds to me like they are tough too. Once we've dealt with the slavers we should warn the elves that the slavers somehow know they are there. We still need to make a decision on whether to stay here or to go after the slavers though."

Fane short rest HPs (2 dice): 12 

Also Arcane Recovery to regain a level 1 slot.

She will take Gideon's studded leather armor and put it on during the short rest. She will also cast Detect Magic as a ritual and look around the keep, both at the items they found and elsewhere. Leo will continue to keep aerial watch.

She will collect the Loot! and put the items not in use in their Bag of Holding.

After collecting the Loot! and giving the place a look under her Detect Magic spell, she would want to question Gideon, as well as get Sylraeth's thoughts on him.

Questions for him:

• How long will the others be gone?
• Where did they go, did he see the map?
• Who is the woman in the locket. [Perhaps use this as leverage for answers if she is important to him]
• How long until the ship shows up.
• Anything he can tell about the slavers they work for.

Loot Doc: Loot!

(As mentioned above, Arlynn too would want to interrogate the slaver, and she will use her thought detection magic whilst doing so.)

Those using Detect Magic find an aura of transmutation magic linger over the powder, and abjuration magic over Karg's breastplate.  Arlynn, have examined the dust during her rest, concludes that it is Dust of Dryness.

(Arlynn would suggest Eron taking the magical breastplate but have no opinion on the dust. She otherwise awaits the others' response to her thoughts above.)

Eron will study the Breastplate during their short rest…

arcana 19

Eron finds that the late Karg's armor is in fact enchanted with dwarven runes of protection, making it a magical Breastplate.

Gideon Rusk groans as he comes to, blood crusted at the corner of his mouth and one eye swelling shut.  He blinks at the strangers gathered around him, trying to assess just how dire his situation may be.  His hands are bound, his weapons gone.

Fane sets in with her questions.  "How long will the others be gone?"

Gideon glares up at her, then closes his eyes, feigning a concussion but clearly weighing his options.  "Depends how deep the muck is," he mutters.  "Could be back any time. They took a team of lizardfolk guides.  They know the swamps well... in and out."

Arlynn narrows her eyes and silently scans his surface thoughts.

 "Where did they go?  Did you see the map?" Fane asks next.

Gideon snorts.  "Map?  I didn’t see any map.  Just rumors of ruins to plunder.  They’re chasing ghost stories."

Arlynn again focuses her thoughts.

 Fane steps forward, holding out the locket found on Gideon.  "Who's the woman?  She important to you?"

Gideon's jaw tightens.  His tone turns colder.  "No one you need to worry about.  Just someone from a happier time."

Arlynn:

 Fane tilts her head.  "Does she know you work for slavers?"

That strikes a nerve.  Gideon scoffs, bitterness in his voice.  "I don’t work for slavers.  You've got some bad information, friend.  Is that why you attacked us?"

Arlynn:

 Fane leans back in.  "When does the ship come?  We know you're waiting on one."

Gideon finally gives a bitter laugh.  "What ship?  You're guessing.  Could be tomorrow, could be next week.  Might not be a ship at all.  Doesn’t matter now, if'n there were."

Arlynn:

 Just then he laughs slightly, as if he thought of something funny.

Fane crosses her arms.  "Tell us what you know about the people who hired you."

Gideon looks at her. "Like I said, I don’t work for slavers.  My friends and I are adventurers.  We took this keep from goblins, and planned to use it as a base for thrilling explorations into the marshes.  That was, until you lot busted in and murdered us."

Arlynn:

Arlynn telepathically informs Fane and Eron about what she has seen in Gideon's mind but she shares that she is not sure what else of importance they could get from this slaver right now. Marina could certainly be used later for leverage but right now they needed to decide how to best handle the slavers out in the marsh. Perhaps they could somehow get Granmire's help to locate them.

Eron changes into the breastplate.  “Well this is very fine on land!  Where to next?  And what about Gideon?”

Fane listens to Arlynn recap of Gideon's thoughts. "He lied on every one huh?"

"We can use our arcane knowledge for more then just summoning tentacles and illusions. We can easily tell when we're being lied to. Seeing the map, the lizardfolk, who you work for ... everyone of your answers was a lie. If you ever hope to see Marina again. Tell us something useful, or perhaps we'll feed you to the Otyugh. That one is not an illusion, as you well know. Your next words better be true, or they will be your last."

Intimidation if you want: 7   [boo]

To the group, she will share "What do you think, we could hide here and try and take the group by surprise when they return. Are we up for that fight? If we leave, they'll take the castle back and it will be harder for us to get it back. Perhaps with Karg dead, they will just move on, but I doubt it, someone will want to take his place. Perhaps we can make this place more defensible before they return.

What do you all think?" 

"There is no need for Marina to know about what kind of foul business you have been mixed up in as long as you cooperate with us." The blue-haired half-elf says with a stern look. "You can start with telling us the truth about when your friends in the marsh is expected back to the keep."

Intimidation: 7

"I agree, we should stay and try to make use of the keep. We can't engage them in melee though, at least not until we have severely weakaned them." She says quietly to the others.

"Sylraeth , what magic or skills can do you have that could help us make this place more defensible?"

Gideon shifts where he sits, eyes flicking between Fane and Arlynn.  When Fane speaks Marina’s name aloud, his nostrils flare.  His head tilts slightly, like he’s sizing her up all over again, and something dark simmers behind his eyes.  Still, he shakes his head, saying he knows nothing more.

But Arlynn presses the blade more convincingly.

Gideon’s lip curls, the defiance still there—but now it’s weighed against something else.  His eyes settle on Arlynn longer, jaw tightening as she names the condition.  Gideon exhales through his nose, gaze flicking once to the bloodstained floor where Karg fell.

“They said they'd be back before nightfall,” he mutters at last.  “That was the plan.  Durn doesn’t like to camp out overnight with a crowd.  He’s the one you need to worry about anyway.  He and Karg go way back.  He's not one to let that go,"  he finishes, eyes looking over Karg's corpse.

His thoughts betray the rest: If they’re not back by dusk, it'll mean something’s gone wrong.  But I guess that's not my problem now.  I need to figure out how they're reading me... is it magic?  I don't think I said Marina's name... do I have a concussion?

He adds, finally, looking Arlynn in the eye.  "You can’t expect me to sell out my own so easily.”

Arlynn hears what he doesn't say: I’d already sold them out by taking this damn job in the first place.  Just didn’t think it’d catch up so fast.  Figures... the old Rusk luck strikes again.

Sylraeth has been watching the interrogation with a mixture of awe and discomfort.  When Fane asks about defenses, she looks around quickly, searching for a way to be useful.  "I... I used up most of my energy conjuring those vines.  But I've lived in these swamps for years, and learned a thing or two.  I can be an extra set of eyes on watch."  She looks sheepish, disappointed she can't be of more help than that.

Eron stows his light hammer, sheaths his blades.  Hands Fane back her dagger, “Thank you”  sets his hunting trap just inside the entry and focuses his bullseye lantern nearby as a distraction (maybe disadvantage on the trap save?) then draws his bow and settles in with stealth (11) ready to target whomever once the trap is triggered.  “Sylraeth there’s not much better then willingness and a good set of eyes, thank you for your help.”