Abishai's Dragons of Icespire Peak

Kithran lights the way with his Will-O-Wisp and aids in the defeat of the western one.

14 to hit: for 11 bludgeoning and 8 fire damage.

After the wisp returns to rest, Kithran walks over to the saddle, grazing his fingers along the top of it. Going west, Kithran swings his maul at the wisp twice, he then stops at each of the sarcophagi reading each of the nameplates.

13 to hit: 13 bludgeoning and 11 fire damage.

20 to hit: 12 bludgeoning and 9 fire damage.

The group easily defeats the Will-o-wisps. Their eerie blue lights snuffed out permanently. Lord Kithran's temporary minion follows its current master closely.

As the group moves to the pile of bones with a saddle resting atop it, the bones begin to vibrate and shake. At this distance, you can tell the saddle is very old and rotting. The bones continue to vibrate and start to knit together, taking the shape of a skeletal horse. Its eyes flare to life with a bright ember light. The rotted saddle resting firmly upon the undead horse's back. It takes a few unsteady steps forward before it gives a respectful bow to the group and taps its left-front hoof against the cobblestone flooring.

As this happens, Tempest's hour on the material plane comes to an end and she returns to the Fey wilds.

 Lord Kithran,

Meira wasn't quite sure what to make of this presumably undead horse bowing to them. "Is this your horse Kithran? It seems to have your... umm... sense of style.  Although he seems a bit more pleasant than you."

"No, this is not my horse." Kithran walks up to the undead steed and runs his fingers down it's jawline. "What keeps you bound to this realm?" The disgraced paladin whispers. He takes his hand away and ponders deeply about the words he read. Could that be what this is? One of their boons?

Lord Kithran leaves the horse for now and searches around the room for more of these boons.

Investigation: 14

The horse snorts and bobs its head up and down at Lord Kithran's touch, while its tail swings back and forth every so often.

Kithran,

You search the area, but find nothing but the ancient sarcophagi.

Zephyros,

You check the 2' wide pathway and determine it connects the eastern room with the southern room. It's hard for you to fit through the passageway but you make it nearly halfway when... Please give me a perception check.

As Meira watches Kithran search around the sarcophogai after reading the inscriptions, she too decides to take a look at them, wondering what he's doing. 

(OOC - Isn't the horse in a different room than the sarcophogai? I'm not sure I understand Kithran's post since it seems he's saying the horse somehow led him to search a completely different room. )

Perception: 17

Watching Kithran interact with the horse, Zephyros simply must ponder after knowing why the grim knight came down here. 'Is he going to lay this steed to rest? What a waste that would be...' Ironheart chuckles like an old man at Meira's remark, though still convinced he isn't old. "This walking pile of bones IS far more pleasant than the dwarf! After all, I can't say I've seen a pleasant dwarf anyway!"

[[OOC: @Meira You're not wrong, but best not to dwell on the little things too much. I blame myself for trying to speed through this content.]]

Zephyros,

... you find a pressure plate trap. This causes you to return the way you came and avoid a potentially nasty surprise.

Meira,

Meira glances from the inscriptions to the undead paladin, piecing together his words. "Their boons would be the items they were buried with.  In the sarcophagai. And before you object, they're being offered to us." She starts to look at the lid to the sarcophagus of Abishai to see if there is an easy way to open it. (Investigation: 8) "Maybe I can get some help with this?"

As her time is about to expire, Maddie would prolong the stay of her friend Tempest. The trio of fae would make a face at the quite scrawny steed and then giggle together at Meira's comment, quickly chatting among themselves in sylvan, looking between Meira and the undead dwarf. With some hesitance they would then join in with the investigation of the sarcophagi.

(Recast summon Fey)

Some perception rolls
Maddie: 9
Willow: 22
Tempest: 20 

Some investigation rolls
Maddie: 16
Willow: 5
Tempest: 6

Gareth has never seen an undead horse before and spends some time examining the strange creature. "Are we taking it with us?" he asks, glancing between the undead horse and the undead dwarf. "At the very least Kithran could ride it. Seems appropriate anyway." The ranger smirks.

In the sarcophagi room, the ranger walks over toward Meira, sparing another glance at the dwarf. He had said that he didn't want to disturb the dead, but if Meira was right, they could be abandoning useful items that would help them in their fight with the dragon. The ranger lends his aid to Meira, helping to shift the heavy stone lid of one of the sarcophagi. 

"Fine, but I will not use the items inside these sarcophagi, nor will I open them. They are sacred, and should be handled accordingly." Kithran grumbles. He makes his displeasure at the matter very obvious. The undead dwarf walks back to the horse, and prepares to lead it outside. Kithran will watch for any undead or foes coming in there direction.

Perception: 21 (Nat 20!)

As the undead dwarf walks back to the scrawny steed, the red-haired fey girl turns into a perfect copy of him and pouts. "Yes, only undead creatures and dragonslayers might be stolen away from this barrow, anything else would definitely be sacrilege." Kithran pouts in his dour tone with his arms crossed over his chest, and then immediately turns back into the fey girl and she giggles along with her fey friends.

(Brief use of Mask of many faces and Minor Illusion)

Maddie and her minions look over the stone sarcophagi and surrounding area. Their continued investigation of the barrow turns up fruitless as Meira and Gareth begin removing the lids of the stone sarcophagi. Inside the sarcophagi labeled Abishai The Hatless, you find a mummified corpse holding onto what appears to be a finely crafted hat. Purple with black accents, a feather protruding from the right side of the hats headband.

In the sarcophagi labeled Flint Fireforge, you find a mummified corpse holding a belt of dwarven make, designs engraved into its bronze reliefs depict fire giants fighting a black dragon.

In the sarcophagi labeled Tarrin Silvertongue, you find a mummified corpse holding an exquisite lute. Mahogany with gold inlaid pattern work and finer strings than Meira has ever seen.

In the sarcophagi labeled Nickt Schluctin, you find a mummified corpse holding a Tome with silver binding, the title of the Tome reads, "Tome of Clear Thought"

Lord Kithran leads the skeletal horse outside. Birds are chirping and a cold breeze is felt coming from the south. The Paladin doesn't see any danger in the area.

Upon opening up the first sarcophagus with Gareth's help, Meira laughs. "Well, how about that! Abishai The Hatless had a hat!"  The second reveals the belt, which she helps remove. "Ok, we seem to be putting together quite the outfit," she mumbles. 

It is the third one though that captivates her attention. "Whoa, that is beautiful," she says with a hint of awe in her voice. She's aware they should move on to the last sarcophagus, but she has to spend just a moment looking at the instrument. She checks out the wood and patterning, running her fingers over it. She then lightly strums the strings, expecting the sound to be a touch out of tomb after being buried here for what has likely been some time.  "I'm not as familiar with lute as I am dulcimer," she comments. "Maybe I could learn it at some point." 

She does finally return to helping Gareth with the last one. The book is a little bit of a surprise, but seeing the title makes her wonder about it. "Some sort of magical book I guess," she comments.

Having retrieved all the items, she looks around at the others. "Well, are we done here then?" There's a pause, then she looks at Gareth. "I suppose putting the lids back on these sarcophagi would be appropriate."  She will help him with that as well.  While doing that, she can't help but think about what these items might be. "I suppose we will have to look into what sort of magic might be involved with these items later." 

While the others keep looting, the fey girl tries on the finely crafted purple hat, showing it to her fae friends who just giggle at her. "Well, I'd say by relieving old Abishai here from this hat we are simply helping him to live up to his name." She says with a playful smile as she keeps trying the hat on, also taking a closer look at the feathers and the headband attached to it.

Zephyros assists the ranger and the rogue in moving the hefty stone lids. Finding the magical contents, Ironheart remarks, "A tome of clear thought, you say? I've heard of those. It's said that the book can make you smarter by arcane means. Though they are extremely rare, and can only be used once for centuries I believe... Intriguing!" The eldritch knight seems to have an interest in this particular item more than the others.

The bearded bear glances in Meira's direction while she studies the glamorous instrument. "That suits your style quite nicely! You should definitely learn how to play that." Zephyros compliments.

Zephyros laughs heartily as the fey mock the gloomy death knight. He grins, "You need to do that more. Maybe it'll fix him!"

'Abishai the Hatless, hm? I'm guessing that wasn't his first hat...' He murmurs.

After all is said and done, Ironheart heads back up to the surface.

Perception: 15

Meira,

You pick up the lute and play a few strings. The instrument is still perfectly tuned, even after centuries of neglect. A miracle by any measure from your understanding. At first glance, you believe the strings to be some kind of horse hair, but these particular strings seem to be of even higher quality than that. You instantly envision a unicorn bounding through the forest, and its hair being used for this instrument but you have no way to know for sure. In fact, all of the items found are in remarkable shape considering their age. All four items seem magically preserved. You suspect this item requires attunement or Identify to determine its usefullness.

Maddie,

Inspecting the purple hat's feather and headband, you recognize the black headband to be made of leather dyed black. The stitch work is exquisite, not a single flaw from what you can tell. The feather is large, likely from an eagle or large hawk and has a beautiful unique layered design with black, gold, and silver alternating patterns. Very stylish, but you suspect this item requires attunement or Identify to determine its usefullness.

Zephyros,

Grabbing the book, you feel the weight of it. It's a heavy tome and would require quite a lot of dedicated time to read the book completely. Moving outside, you find Kithran standing next to his undead steed. The cold air a welcome relief after suffering the oppressive tomb's stale air.

Once outside, Meira takes another look at the lute, then glances over to Maddie. "Very stylish hat there Maddie. I might start to get jealous," she says with a grin. 

She tries to figure out how long they might have been beneath the ground and what time of day it is now. "I think we have a bit more daylight today. What's our next stop? Should we see how far we can get before nightfall?"  

"Be careful what you wish for brave warrior, I have been known to tease men into a fury, and we wouldn't want to see the grumpy dwarf too angry I think." The fey girl says with a wink to the bearded bear of a man. "It can't be easy being among the undead you know, not being able to enjoy the many pleasures of the living." She adds, stepping closer to the large man and briefly placing her hand on his strong arm, giving him a wink and a playful smile.

"Are you saying it looks good on me then milady?" The fey girl says, smiling warmly and tilting her head slightly. "I'm sure you would look even prettier in it." She adds, and unless stopped she would place the hat on Meira's head, looking at her and then adjusting the her slightly before breaking out in a wide warm smile. "Now that is stylish." She exclaims and her fey friends smile and nod approvingly.

"We have an abundance of valour and powerful magic, let's seek out the dragon and test our mettle." Maddie suggests with a wide encouraging smile as she looks around at the others, and her fey friends seem more than willing to do just that.