"Just one. This new armor is rather good at it's job and we were able to kill it before it could do very much. Thank you for looking out for me."

Returning to the tower and discovering Carrhae had won the ring, Strife approached her. “Congratulations! You are the most deserving and I’m very pleased you are triumphant. Oh, I see it nicked you slightly, but that’s something I’m at least somewhat able to rectify.” Strife uses a first level cure spell and then Prestidigitation to restore Carrhae’s armor to its properly gleaming state.

Cure Wounds (1d8+4): 5

"Thank you for your help. You must have some good eyes to see me get hit from where you were."

And because Carrhae is wondering why Strife cares about her now after she went off riding with Savra, Insight:14

 That was trash, lets burn some inspo:10

Mercy wondered the same thing, frowning at Strife. 

Insight: 8

"Well we have our prize, let's see if it can give us a bit of a boon."

And if nothing else happens, Carrhae will invite Mercy and Strife to go back to the room with her while she ritual casts Identify. 

Previously 

In all the confusion and hoopla of the knights jumping in their rides and flying off to attack the manticore, Daewen withered off into shadows (Stealth: 25).

 Time to explore the tower!

“Okay, I’m all for discovering what you won, but maybe we should first entertain our hosts? We said we would and maybe they will be more inclined to assist us afterwards. Also, should we ask them to give us the body? Offer to return the knight as a gesture of goodwill?”

"Oh yes, of course. Silly me, getting overexcited about this ring. I'd love to perform with you and Trini so I can show off what the two of you taught me. Also, I would like to know more about the body we found, especially if it's the one that I've been looking for." As Carrhae looks to the table where the party was seated, she notices that they're down a member. "It appears that Dawn has gone for a bit of a walk about the spire when we left for our contest."

Couple things happen during the celebration.

- The Lord Commander can be approached about the body he was talking about.

- Savra clearly is wondering what your intentions are, Strife.

- The other Knights, during the meal, are anxious to hear stories and be entertained, if you're all offering.

Daewen: As you explore the tower, you notice many things. The interior doors are made of wood banded with iron. Most have no locks. Due to its many windows, Feathergale Spire is brightly lit during the day and dimly lit at night. With the reinforced shutters closed, the light becomes dim during the day and dark at night. Oversized windows on the ground level allow light and air to pass easily into the tower. They stand 3 feet from the ground and are 6 feet tall and 8 feet wide. Smaller windows, about half the size of the larger ones, are on levels 2 and 3. Shutters reinforced with iron bands permit the windows to be shut and barred. You discover a kitchen, the dorms, the armory, even a solarium. 

You notice that as the celebration continues downstairs, you reach the top of the spire. There is a large bloodied altar here, as if some sort of sacrifices are being made here. 

"Now Commander, as I was asking before that business with the manticore began, could you describe that dead body for me? Any notable symbols that may have been on their armor?"

Daewen easily explored the tower before the return of her victorious teammates, and returned back and hid in the small room whence Carrhae, Strife and Mercy appeared.  When Carrhae commented to Strife and Mercy that Dawn appeared to have gone on a walkabout, she suddenly appeared from the shadows of the small room, and wrapped her arms around Strife, startling her and the rest of the group.

After giving Strife a loving embrace, she laid down on the table a map of the entire tower that she had drawn [OOC: CrispyDM - please provide a map of the tower!!], and specifically pointed out the bloodied alter where sacrifices appeared to be recently made.  Underlined multiple times, she wrote the word "EVIL" with an arrow pointing to the alter.  These people are NOT who they appear.

As the bards entertained the group, Mercy started telling stories of past dungeon crawls she’d been hired as an infiltration expert for. She didn’t mention any locations, but she did mention running into a lich’s laboratory, and how a simple apology had allowed her to escape with her life. The stories she told were simple, straightforward and given no embellishments to make them more entertaining or impressive. However, being attacked by bikini-armored women and surviving an encounter with a lich? Such encounters didn’t need an expert storyteller to entertain a group of knights.

Posting map soon

Carrhae: The Lord Commander offers to take you to the top of the spire to show you the body.

Carrhae accepts and motions for Mercy and Strife to come with her.

The Lord Commander takes you to the top of the spire. Here, you can see the most magnificent view of the surrounding land. An altar is in the middle of the floor, covered in a bloody mess. In a box about the size of a coffin lies the headless body of the Samular Knight that was missing from the delegation. 

"This is the Knight I was referring to." Is all he says. "Do you know this man?"

"Not personally, but we heard that a knight matching this man's description had gone missing in the same area that our friends went missing. Is there a reason you're keeping him here?"

"He was just sacrificed recently, we haven't had time to take the usual steps to dispose of the body because of the celebration." The Lord Commander says casually. "He's not a typical sacrifice, we usually just use commoners, so when he was brought to me, naturally, I were curious. You may take him, if you wish, we have no further use for him." 

"By the way," The Lord Commander adds, "You bested my Knights, beat them to the punch, and slew the manticore. You are all well skilled for..what did Savra tell me? "Travelling entertainers"? Perhaps you would consider joining us?"