Barty's "Princes of the Apocalypse"

Arkun finds a place for meditation, sitting down on the ground opposite of the cage, frequently checking on the status of the prisoner.  He holds his hands on the ground, murmuring under his breath, you can see the tension evaporate from the elf, a calm demeanor comes over his face.  

Atta wanders around for an hour, being utterly restless for a while but eventually finding a spot at the mouth of the cave. Pulling himself inside his shell entirely, having no idea of the need to keep a watch while out on an adventure or dangerous quest. (Shell defense!)

The man puts up only a minor amount of objection as you close him in the cage. With the fire already burning, the defensible clearing proves to be a fine spot to rest, as the humid night gives way to another unseasonably hot and humid morning without interruption.

OOC: The party has gained the benefits of a long rest!

Current Leads:

1. Bandits: Constable Harburk Tuthmarillar had heard rumors of a bandit lair south of town. You investigated and discovered a small crew of bandits who had captured a black bear. Three were slain and one was taken captive. This has not yet been reported to Harburk.
2. Ghost: Pell Mhandyver claims to have spotted a ghost near an old tomb near the hills outside of town. Mangobarl Lorren investigated the area and spotted a goblin.
3. Tricklerock Cave: Albaeri Mellikho pointed you here to rumors of legendary treasure.
   
4. Black Arrow: Endrith Vallivoe overheard someone saying that they saw a skull pinned to a tree with a black arrow, like some kind of dire warning or ill omen.

As much as Rumble wanted to readily agree to Aldric's command for rest, there had been the matter of the dead to tend to before the genasi saw to his own respite. Of course the possibility of the bear or other scavengers seeing to the matter in the night had crossed his mind. But even still, either training or some old habits yet compelled Rumble to set aside at least an hour or so to dig some shallow graves. Any aid from the others would've naturally been welcomed. Yet, as he possessed but one shovel, Rumble hadn't the heart to request his wearier companions to aid in their own way.

When he was finally done, the graves were shallow and set short ways from camp and hardly marked, as was deserving for criminals to his knowledge. Nevertheless, after seeing to their burial, he spent another few minutes praying to Tyr. Not to ask for forgiveness on their behalf, but to give them a chance of redeeming themselves, if any of them should seek it...

While not the most pleasant setting to awaken to the next morning, Rumble grumbled and groaned his way through his usual morning rituals before eventually waking up enough to say, "So, we're headed back to town to drop off chucklehead, yea? Aight, uhm... guess after that, uhh... shoot, uhm... Man, what was the, uhm-..." He snaps his fingers a few times. "Oh! Right, uhh, there was somethin' bout a ghost thing too? And, uh.. some kind of marked tree or somethin'?"

After Arkun has had his rest, he sees Rumble starting to dig and bury the dead bandits.  He stands, brushes himself off, and assists with the task.  He nods in understanding and agreement; it seems right and proper.  

In the morning, Arkun states "Yes, I'd be interested in looking into that.  Sounds strange... worth looking into."

Atta stretches, his tiny bones popping from their internal storage over night. As he awakens, he considers for a moment, to ask the Bandit if he'd heard of his lost herbalist... but then thinks it better for a criminal to not be aware of a dear friend... With that done, him popping a travel ration and chewing as the others stir and speak of next steps. Atta states what he feels should be obvious:

"Well, I should probably interject if only to say that I am unsure if this satisfies out orcish friend. Did he not mention another lead of bandits or was I simply paying too little attention? "

Melek doesn't offer to help bury the bodies... in fact, he probably isn't aware that such an initiative was even commenced. Once satisfied that the area is secured, Melek finds a spot in the cave, makes himself as comfortable as possible, and goes to sleep.

In the morning, he takes pains to brush the dirt and dry leaves off his clothes as much as possible, muttering to himself as he does so about the incivility of sleeping on the ground in a cave like a wild animal.

Responding to Atta, Melek says: If these bandits knew nothing of Rivergard Keep, then it is unlikely to be in this region.

Glancing over at the caged bandit, he adds: Depositing this one in town seems prudent before pursuing other leads to the north. Perhaps some hot breakfast wouldn't go amiss either...

"Mmm~ Breakfast would be nice too~" Rumble admitted while rubbing his belly. "But, uhh, y-yea! I mean, I figured we'd have to go back and get our friend there sorted first of course. But, like, I couldn't remember if -- a-and I'm sorry if I was mistaken sir-..." He said, changing course briefly to look at Aldric with an apologetic look. "But, I couldn't remember if this lead involved finding a marked tree, or if it was a person living out elsewhere. Or, ya know, both!" He finished explaining wearing a sheepish grin. 

Aldric pours water over his head. There is a distinct rasping noise when he rubs one big hand over his stubbly pate and face. After putting his kettle helm back on, the old knight gets to his feet with a groan and a deep sigh.

"I'm hopeful the arrow that was described to me may lead me to the one responsible for the rise in crime in the Valley," he says, glancing around at the others. "However, the sheriff needs my help, and so I'd like to take another day or two to tie up those loose ends first. If you are inclined to help, so be it."

He walks over to the cage. "The first stop needs to be to turn this one in."

OOC: Are we majority agreed on the next stop being Red Larch to turn the captured bandit in to the sheriff, and then investigating the rumored black arrow? I can move us toward both once that's confirmed, just want to make sure before I start moving the party forward.

(Atta is fine with heading back to red larch. his comment on the other lead was likely me seeing two similar leads and thinking they were the same/related)

(Confirming the suggestion to visit the ghost site on the way to the Black Arrow)

Arkun wishes to investigate the ghost site on the way to the Black Arrow, he says such to Aldric.  

Your captive shambles forward at a frustratingly slow pace, seeming to get enjoyment from the headache he causes throughout the morning each time he needs to be hurried along. The absence of wind today makes the heat feel even worse as you hit midday, and by the time Red Larch appears on the horizon, many of you are drenched in sweat and caked in dust from the road.

The smell of blood, salt, and fat hits you as you walk past the butcher shop to the fourth house in the row, the one Constable Harburk had identified as belonging to his trusties. A large bear of a human man is on duty, and grunts an introduction of "Rene" as you hand the prisoner over. "Harburk'll be thrilled," he grunts as you relay your findings. "He'll like you came back with one breathing, too. Means he can ask him things." He hollers something further into the building to another trusty about "tying to a post", and reaffirms that they and the Constable will be eager to hear of anything else that the party learns outside of Red Larch.

The Larch Path is well-defined near Red Larch but your route turns to grass as you leave the path behind to find the tomb that the Mhandyvvers and Mangobarl Lorren directed you toward. The sun is on its way to setting beneath the horizon by the time you reach the site, offering some slight relief from the direct heat, giving you around an hour of light left in the day when you find it: A dark, rectangular hole gapes amid the grass and vines of a nearby hillside, smaller than the imposing and larger hills in the distance beyond it. A stone door can be seen around a hundred feet away, slightly ajar, in the dim depths of the tunnel it opens into. You see chiseled marks on the door that could have once been a name, now worn to time.

OOC: The party has earned "Heroic Inspiration" for returning a bandit alive to Constable Harburk. As a reminder if needed, in 5.5E Inspiration can be used to re-roll a 20 Test, and does not need to be called out in advance like it did in 5E, so just point out if you have used it for a re-roll in your posts going forward!

On the way to Red Larch and the tomb, Aldric removes his kettle helm on a fairly regular basis to wipe sweat from his shaved head. Again, the rasp of stubble is heard by those walking nearby. He is also smelling pretty ripe, not having had a bath since leaving Westbridge, and the temperature so high.

He doesn't say much to Rene, but thanks him for taking the bandit off their hands. He does request his manacles back if they can spare them.

Once the party reaches the tomb, the old knight stops and takes a deep breath. Another cave. Will this one also contain undead? At least there aren't warning signs. He looks again at the marks on the door. At least none they can read.

He lowers his sack to the ground, puts his shield on one arm, and begins a careful march toward the door. "Follow me," he says.

There isn't much time to stop in Red Larch, much to Melek's dismay, but he makes sure they at least get a half-decent meal in town before hitting the road, even if it's no more than another quick visit to the bakery. Plus, Melek will at a minimum take a moment to clean some of the dirt and grime from his outer clothes, face and hair... even if that requires a stop at the horse trough... he has at least a modicum of civilised hygeine to uphold. Those two essentials having been completed, he prepares for another long march, resigning himself to yet another night camping in the wild, with no roof and no pillow... <sigh>

A small shiver of trepidation washes over Melek as they draw near to the site. Despite the differences of this place from Lance Rock, very little time has past since his incarceration at the hands of the necromancer. Still, at that time he had been alone. He only hoped he could be as useful and helpful to these hardy warriors as they had been to him.

Following along behind Aldric, Melek takes the trouble to inspect the site, looking for any signs in the layout or architecture or carvings on the door that might hint at some dedication to any of the common gods or goddesses of the region...

(Religion roll: 10.)

Atta seemed not to mind the lack of bathing. Perhaps it was his upbringing and the things that were simply part of it, or perhaps he simply didn't notice. Regardless, Atta did not feel the need to ask the sherrif or his underhires again about his goal.. if they knew anything they'd have told them when they returned. And thee was no point in asking these folk to detour to the homestead since that was where Atta had learned of their disappearance.

They were breifly in town and out again - apparently with some quickly purchased food by Melek! - and Atta was satisfied with this mediocre amount of comfort. In fact, he seemed too used to lack of creature comforts.  Unlike Melek, when they arrive, Atta only looks to see if the structure looks dwarven or not. Having spent his time around dwarves in his little healy-hole.

Once the business of the hand off had been done, Rumble had meant to be true to his word, in so far as to satisfy the desire for a proper breakfast. And yet, if Aldric gave off any vibes of preferring to be on the move sooner than later, then the novice's own bravery would only extend to him adding any leverage needed to convince others to at least stop at the bakery before heading out. It doesn't even occur to Rumble to try and clean himself up ab it as well until Melek does so, as the earth genasi was quite nose blind to most scents. But even then, the novice only did enough to clean/cool off his neck and face before seeming content to move on with bread in hand.

All the while again forgetting the unidentified wand carefully situated in his backpack the whole time. For unfortunately, despite having meant to see to it after dealing with the bandits, the late hour and late burial assured yet another delay on that front...

Be all as it may, the group eventually arrive at their destination, and not a moment too soon! Though arguably with at best an hour of daylight to work with, Rumble found himself with furrowed brows wondering over whether or not-.... "Follow me" Said Aldric, startling the novice knight from his thoughts. "U-uh, Right sir. Right behind ya, sir." He assured, and with war pick one hand and shield in the other, he fell in line and followed the orc inside.

Arkun walks beside Melek as they are about to enter the tomb, he sees the pause and he starts to examine for any markers of what religion may have been followed by those buried within.  He feels that strange feeling of deja vu, recalling the zombies, skeletons, and scrabbling hands that the so-called Lord of Lance Rock had created.  He shakes this off and continues on, following behind Aldric, not seeing any bear allies here to help in their task.  He holds onto his staff for stability and walks inside.

OOC: Forgot to remove a day's rations for the night on the road so I've done that now.

The door is made of visibly thick stone, and has held up well despite its obvious age, due to its bulk more than its construction; currently ajar, but not enough for anybody to actually squeeze through, as Arkun is quickly able to tell when he intends to walk inside. The stone has shifted over time, and it looks like it will take more than casual force to open it (full action). The markings on the door are too weathered to make out, but up close you can at least tell that the door likely once bore a name, and you see no sign of any religious significance. To Atta's knowledge, this is nowhere near dwarven craftsmanship.