Aelar leads you upstairs along a richly decorated landing with a beautifully carved spiral staircase, which opens up into a corridor dotted with eight bedchambers, and the landing itself houses suits of armor, fine tapestries and weapons that hang from the walls. From there, the hallway connects to eight woode-paneled bedchambers, each of which contains a luxurious bed, a bookshelf, a writing desk, a wardrobe and a long trunk.
These eight rooms are each subtly different, distinguished by the different cushions on the bed, the contents of the trunks and wardrobes, the tapestries hanging on the paneling or the number of beds. Although you do not see any kobolds in this area, it's apparent that they found their way up here. In some of the rooms, the bedclothes have been pulled off of each of the beds and have been made into a nest in the corner, and the trunks have been looted through, with clothing and other personal items strewn about on the floor.
As you search the room in the bedchambers, you certainly find signs that some of the kobolds were indeed here, but they're not here now. Upon realizing this, Aelar leads you back downstairs and up into one of the guard towers. Each of the forty-five foot tall stone towers rises up on the sides of the keep, with a view of the glade below and the surrounding terrain. They're obviously used as fortifications, but as he tells you, also as place of respite. This is clear from the things you find in here, such as discarded books, playing cards and other mundane items, as well as archery targets and spare arrows.
Moving from one to the next, you walk the battlements that run along the walls of the keep. These stone ramparts allow defenders of the keep to fire down upon assailants, without risking injury to themselves. Of course you already know this, having fought the small group of kobolds who were perched up here yesterday. You find the corpses of the ones you killed when they attacked you halfway across on the front side of the keep. With a series of easy shoves, Aelar hurls each of the bodies over the edge before moving on.
When you have circled the entire keep, you return to the first guard tower and descend back into the main entry hall of the keep, before making a quick trip up to the Raven's Council, which is where you fought Duskbringer. Aelar is dismayed by the extensive damage to the roof and to the table, but both of those can be repaired. Inside this room, you find the body of the fallen kobold, and next to him, the wand that he used to ensnare some of you in the magical web.
Aelar says, "We have searched the entire keep, and there are thankfully no kobolds who remain. We can now return to the others and tell them that it is safe once again inside our home, and that the terror of this episode has finally passed. However, before we do that, I would still like for you to show me this secret stairway that you found behind the waterfall."
With that, the copper haired elf leads you back out of the keep and over to the edge of the butte, where you all being descending the Sky's Ascend. Along the way, he complements you on your repairs that you made on the damaged stairway.
Lumen makes sure to grab the wand - not in a possessive manner but to make sure the party gets it. If no one else wants it he is happy to see what it does (assume web!)!
He helps others down the climb and then shows Aelar the stairway.
"Hopefully the rest of the Keep will be good as new in time." Nym tried to say optimistically to Aelar as they descended down. "We should try and be quiet as we approach. There were rather large spiders dwelling down there." As the drow mentions trying to be quiet, she gives herself a pat on the shoulder to give herself Guidance.
Descending all the way back down to the bottom of the butte, you show Aelar where the hidden staircase is located behind the waterfall. Traversing around the edge of the massive cascade that's dropped down from the top, you find the small unnatural looking crevice and squeeze through the narrow gap. With he copper haired elf in the lead, you slowly begin climbing up the stairway, retracing your steps from yesterday along the dusty, cobweb-filled passageway.
You notice once again that the walls reflect light, mimicking a night full of stars. Chrys recognizes this as flecks of citrine that's interspersed within the stone. Aelar is quite intrigued by the magnificent view, but his his sense of marvel is cut short when you suddenly begin hearing the sound of faint clanging that's coming from further up the stairs.
All this talk of a tunnel filled with spiders, this was not something Silver was familiar with. She had not discovered this tunnel on the way up, and initially she was glad she had not. It was admittedly a little strange that Aelar had not heard of this tunnel despite having lived here for so long, but Silver doubted that she knew every nook in the Vale. But then, the Vale was a much larger place.
However, having now entered the tunnel, she was in awe - nature's beauty, a rocky tapestry of the sky hidden behind a waterfall, it was the stuff of poems.
"I am admittedly not an expert," Silver whispers, as they hear the clanging, "but that does not sound like spiders to me."
Tearing her eyes away from the beauty of the starry rocks, Nym paused to concentrate on the un-spider-like clanging. "Perhaps this is where our kobolds have gone. Either just loud or fighting the spiders themselves." Glancing at Lumen at his offer to cast Invisibility, the drow shook her head for herself before saying, "If the kobolds and spiders are fighting we might not even need to be quite that stealthy. I say we just go further, see what we see, and do whatever must be done."Which would likely be simply to put an end to any remaining spiders and kobolds unless she was entirely wrong.
Lumen nods, still suspicious, but intent on finding out what was there. He inspires whoever leads the way, or if that’s him, then whoever is nearest the front.
With Chrys leading out front and Aelar right behind, you continue to make your way up the narrow stairway as it leads further up into the rock of the massive butte below the keep. You aren't especially quiet, at least not all of you, but that hardly matters, as the increasingly loud clanging sounds that get louder in intensity easily mask any sounds you might make as your shields, hammers and swords occasionally bash against the stone.
Just up ahead, the passage opens up into what looks like a small chamber. Stopping just before the entrance, you can hear the sound of growling, shuffling and banging from within. It sounds like some kind of creature is thrashing at the bars of the cage, barking and howling like a rabid dog.
Pausing to listen to the sounds, Nym then looks straight at Aelar. "Are you sure that all of your Clan is accounted for?"She couldn't think of a reason as to why one of them would be down here, other than perhaps if they had lost control. The drow pauses a moment to gain Vigilant's Blessing before praying to Eilistraee for Guidance even as she drew out her longsword. Stepping forward to directly behind Chrys, Nym murmurs, "I have a spell that might be able to force whoever it is to shift to their original form if they're a shapechanger. It will hurt them though." As soon as everyone is braced, the cleric is going in to investigate.
Lumen is right next to Nym, offering words of encouragement to her (inspiration to Nym!). He casts invisibility on himself and then walks ahead, looking for any traps lying in wait or anything of note.
Aelar responds to Nym and Aelar and whispers back, "Let's just see what it is that we're dealing with here... And yes... as far as I know. It's just me, Lia and Fivin, and the children, of course. The rest of our clan in our battle with the dragon."
Lumen
As you turn invisible and walk into this small room, you immediately notice the source of the growling. Trapped in a silver cage is a ferocious half-elf, half-wolf hybrid. As if sensing that it’s being watched, the insane beast starts thrashing at the bars of the cage, barking and howling like a rabid dog. Looking around, you see a what appears to be a variety of arcane and alchemical implements cover a workbench and a stack of wooden shelves.
Lumen looks around and if there are papers or a book that perhaps was recently worked on or looked at, he picks it up, and brings it back to the group. Speaking quietly, he says, "there is an elven werewolf in a cage. In a sort of laboratory workstation. Aelar, this seems to be your business but, let us know how we can help."He hands the book over to Aelar, and stands ready to go back in, or give Aelar time, or whatever he says.
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Lumen repeats his suggestion of upstairs.
Aelar leads you upstairs along a richly decorated landing with a beautifully carved spiral staircase, which opens up into a corridor dotted with eight bedchambers, and the landing itself houses suits of armor, fine tapestries and weapons that hang from the walls. From there, the hallway connects to eight woode-paneled bedchambers, each of which contains a luxurious bed, a bookshelf, a writing desk, a wardrobe and a long trunk.
These eight rooms are each subtly different, distinguished by the different cushions on the bed, the contents of the trunks and wardrobes, the tapestries hanging on the paneling or the number of beds. Although you do not see any kobolds in this area, it's apparent that they found their way up here. In some of the rooms, the bedclothes have been pulled off of each of the beds and have been made into a nest in the corner, and the trunks have been looted through, with clothing and other personal items strewn about on the floor.
Silver will watch out for any sign that kobolds are still in hiding in these rooms.
Perception: 22
DM - Storm King's Thunder
DM - Torosevia (WIP homebrew world)
Kelytha Meliamne - Matti Silverstorm - Silver - Star-Setting-In-The-East - Tor Baltos
Silver will watch out for any sign that kobolds are still in hiding in these rooms.
Perception: 22
DM - Storm King's Thunder
DM - Torosevia (WIP homebrew world)
Kelytha Meliamne - Matti Silverstorm - Silver - Star-Setting-In-The-East - Tor Baltos
Silver will watch out for any sign that kobolds are still in hiding in these rooms.
Perception: 22
DM - Storm King's Thunder
DM - Torosevia (WIP homebrew world)
Kelytha Meliamne - Matti Silverstorm - Silver - Star-Setting-In-The-East - Tor Baltos
(Speeding things up a little bit.)
As you search the room in the bedchambers, you certainly find signs that some of the kobolds were indeed here, but they're not here now. Upon realizing this, Aelar leads you back downstairs and up into one of the guard towers. Each of the forty-five foot tall stone towers rises up on the sides of the keep, with a view of the glade below and the surrounding terrain. They're obviously used as fortifications, but as he tells you, also as place of respite. This is clear from the things you find in here, such as discarded books, playing cards and other mundane items, as well as archery targets and spare arrows.
Moving from one to the next, you walk the battlements that run along the walls of the keep. These stone ramparts allow defenders of the keep to fire down upon assailants, without risking injury to themselves. Of course you already know this, having fought the small group of kobolds who were perched up here yesterday. You find the corpses of the ones you killed when they attacked you halfway across on the front side of the keep. With a series of easy shoves, Aelar hurls each of the bodies over the edge before moving on.
When you have circled the entire keep, you return to the first guard tower and descend back into the main entry hall of the keep, before making a quick trip up to the Raven's Council, which is where you fought Duskbringer. Aelar is dismayed by the extensive damage to the roof and to the table, but both of those can be repaired. Inside this room, you find the body of the fallen kobold, and next to him, the wand that he used to ensnare some of you in the magical web.
Aelar says, "We have searched the entire keep, and there are thankfully no kobolds who remain. We can now return to the others and tell them that it is safe once again inside our home, and that the terror of this episode has finally passed. However, before we do that, I would still like for you to show me this secret stairway that you found behind the waterfall."
With that, the copper haired elf leads you back out of the keep and over to the edge of the butte, where you all being descending the Sky's Ascend. Along the way, he complements you on your repairs that you made on the damaged stairway.
Lumen makes sure to grab the wand - not in a possessive manner but to make sure the party gets it. If no one else wants it he is happy to see what it does (assume web!)!
He helps others down the climb and then shows Aelar the stairway.
"Hopefully the rest of the Keep will be good as new in time." Nym tried to say optimistically to Aelar as they descended down. "We should try and be quiet as we approach. There were rather large spiders dwelling down there." As the drow mentions trying to be quiet, she gives herself a pat on the shoulder to give herself Guidance.
Stealth: 3+4= 7
Nym Durnodel - Aspiring Heroes of Faerûn // Danica Amastacia - Red Dead Annihilation
Descending all the way back down to the bottom of the butte, you show Aelar where the hidden staircase is located behind the waterfall. Traversing around the edge of the massive cascade that's dropped down from the top, you find the small unnatural looking crevice and squeeze through the narrow gap. With he copper haired elf in the lead, you slowly begin climbing up the stairway, retracing your steps from yesterday along the dusty, cobweb-filled passageway.
You notice once again that the walls reflect light, mimicking a night full of stars. Chrys recognizes this as flecks of citrine that's interspersed within the stone. Aelar is quite intrigued by the magnificent view, but his his sense of marvel is cut short when you suddenly begin hearing the sound of faint clanging that's coming from further up the stairs.
Did we hear clanging before?
Lumen looks up and then offers to make anyone who wishes (anyone else, or himself) invisible.
All this talk of a tunnel filled with spiders, this was not something Silver was familiar with. She had not discovered this tunnel on the way up, and initially she was glad she had not. It was admittedly a little strange that Aelar had not heard of this tunnel despite having lived here for so long, but Silver doubted that she knew every nook in the Vale. But then, the Vale was a much larger place.
However, having now entered the tunnel, she was in awe - nature's beauty, a rocky tapestry of the sky hidden behind a waterfall, it was the stuff of poems.
"I am admittedly not an expert," Silver whispers, as they hear the clanging, "but that does not sound like spiders to me."
DM - Storm King's Thunder
DM - Torosevia (WIP homebrew world)
Kelytha Meliamne - Matti Silverstorm - Silver - Star-Setting-In-The-East - Tor Baltos
((You did not hear clanging before, during your previous foray into this passageway.))
Tearing her eyes away from the beauty of the starry rocks, Nym paused to concentrate on the un-spider-like clanging. "Perhaps this is where our kobolds have gone. Either just loud or fighting the spiders themselves." Glancing at Lumen at his offer to cast Invisibility, the drow shook her head for herself before saying, "If the kobolds and spiders are fighting we might not even need to be quite that stealthy. I say we just go further, see what we see, and do whatever must be done." Which would likely be simply to put an end to any remaining spiders and kobolds unless she was entirely wrong.
Nym Durnodel - Aspiring Heroes of Faerûn // Danica Amastacia - Red Dead Annihilation
Lumen nods, still suspicious, but intent on finding out what was there. He inspires whoever leads the way, or if that’s him, then whoever is nearest the front.
With Chrys leading out front and Aelar right behind, you continue to make your way up the narrow stairway as it leads further up into the rock of the massive butte below the keep. You aren't especially quiet, at least not all of you, but that hardly matters, as the increasingly loud clanging sounds that get louder in intensity easily mask any sounds you might make as your shields, hammers and swords occasionally bash against the stone.
Just up ahead, the passage opens up into what looks like a small chamber. Stopping just before the entrance, you can hear the sound of growling, shuffling and banging from within. It sounds like some kind of creature is thrashing at the bars of the cage, barking and howling like a rabid dog.
Pausing to listen to the sounds, Nym then looks straight at Aelar. "Are you sure that all of your Clan is accounted for?" She couldn't think of a reason as to why one of them would be down here, other than perhaps if they had lost control. The drow pauses a moment to gain Vigilant's Blessing before praying to Eilistraee for Guidance even as she drew out her longsword.
Stepping forward to directly behind Chrys, Nym murmurs, "I have a spell that might be able to force whoever it is to shift to their original form if they're a shapechanger. It will hurt them though."
As soon as everyone is braced, the cleric is going in to investigate.
Nym Durnodel - Aspiring Heroes of Faerûn // Danica Amastacia - Red Dead Annihilation
Lumen is right next to Nym, offering words of encouragement to her (inspiration to Nym!). He casts invisibility on himself and then walks ahead, looking for any traps lying in wait or anything of note.
"It does make a certain amount of sense for this to be a shape changer, considering where we are," whispers Silver.
She grips her ice shard crystal as they make their way forward to see what awaits them.
DM - Storm King's Thunder
DM - Torosevia (WIP homebrew world)
Kelytha Meliamne - Matti Silverstorm - Silver - Star-Setting-In-The-East - Tor Baltos
Aelar responds to Nym and Aelar and whispers back, "Let's just see what it is that we're dealing with here... And yes... as far as I know. It's just me, Lia and Fivin, and the children, of course. The rest of our clan in our battle with the dragon."
Lumen
As you turn invisible and walk into this small room, you immediately notice the source of the growling. Trapped in a silver cage is a ferocious half-elf, half-wolf hybrid. As if sensing that it’s being watched, the insane beast starts thrashing at the bars of the cage, barking and howling like a rabid dog. Looking around, you see a what appears to be a variety of arcane and alchemical implements cover a workbench and a stack of wooden shelves.
Lumen looks around and if there are papers or a book that perhaps was recently worked on or looked at, he picks it up, and brings it back to the group. Speaking quietly, he says, "there is an elven werewolf in a cage. In a sort of laboratory workstation. Aelar, this seems to be your business but, let us know how we can help." He hands the book over to Aelar, and stands ready to go back in, or give Aelar time, or whatever he says.