"Hmpfh.  I bet our friend Viggo is here for D'Armes anyway," Ura says to Anaeris, feeling snippy because her attempt to get her coin back was foiled.  "He had those mages and zombie creatures with him.  Anyone working with the undead is throwing in their lot with those Berossus cultists," she says, not really concerned with nuance.  "Black smog... cultists... murderous rangers... might as well lump them together, they're all trying to kill us, and probably destroy the world as we know it anyhow.  I'm getting tired of trying to figure out who's doing what and why, so long as we're always on the receiving end of their wrath."

To Austin, she says "Oh, they're the dwarven brothers, Gnit and Gnat.  That one knocked himself out voluntarily taking down a wall to this garden," Ura explains.  "Looked like something they were used to doing, though it's a bit unfortunate timing right now, if you ask me."

As they walk, Ura looks over at Uthal and Anaeris and points her fingers at them, sending both a whispered message:

Hey! I think something's wrong with Ander.  That's the most I've ever heard him say to me in one go since we met!   Plus he greeted Austin when she introduced herself.  Something must be up!  You think the zombies got to him?

Viilgahan watched the exchanges with mild disinterest until Ura started mentioning oddities. ...Berossus cultists? ...Black smog? ...Destroying the world... His eyes narrowed, the slits sharpening as he focused his intent on her words. ...If they came here chasing someone with the power to raise the dead... ...Oh, is that what you'd like... It smiled as it whispered.

"Don't be foolish." the dragonborn muttered to himself, over his shoulder. "I'm more interested in what else they might have found, tending the dead is ghastly business." The shadows smile grew even wider still. ...You might want to tend to the living then... Blinking, Viilgahan realised he had spoken his thoughts aloud at the end there, muttered that they were. He doubted the few steps in distance would have offered him much in the way of protection from keen ears. He hissed in frustration into his right shoulder, horn colliding with scale as he turned his head. The shadow was just a shadow, nothing more. "I don't think I like this place...you get too much time here." There was no reply.

He moved to join the others. "Shall we get to it then? The sooner this business is put in the ground..." ...the sooner we find it... "...the better."

Uthal grunts in reply and then realizes he can speak back to Ura. "Seems fine too me, just a bit chatty. I liked him quiet." He then hefts his unconscious package and gestures to the doorway. "Who wants to go first? We should probably be checking our path for traps, just in case this archer is smarter than his first attempt to stop us." 

"I could use a little help here," Ura says, still surley and tired.  She raises an eyebrow at Viilgahan, as he seems twitch and prone to mumbling to himself, but to be fair -- after traveling with Dah'Deey, that's pretty tame to her.  As long as he doesn't start chucking fireballs in her direction, she shrugs and lets it slide.  She pulls Anaeris along with her.  "You... either help me, or look for tracks or something.  Everybody's tired, everybody's got a short temper, and if everybody isn't, I don't care, because I am.  So do something."

She checks the path they're walking along for traps:

Investigation: 9  (with disadvantage if no one helps: 7)

"Which direction are we headed?" Austin asks, her emerald eyes sweeping to the hole in the castle wall.  "Through there, or after Viggo?"    She nods back to the archway she entered this area through.  "Viggo is probably long gone, and who knows which passage he might have taken once inside the keep, so I say we don't worry so much about following him directly, I have no doubt he'll show up again sooner or later..."

Anearis pushes Ura’s hand off of him. "I understand that you are tired. I am too. I wish to see this over with as much as you do. But taking your frustration out on me helps no one." The regularly calm elf was gone, replaced by an irritable and foul-mooded one.

With that said, the elf pushes past Ura and heads toward the entrance on the side of the castle and looks for possible traps.

Investigation (with disadvantage): 8

Uthal:
As Austin had mentioned Viggo having gone through a door, into the keep, somewhere south of the garden, Uthal had decided that was the way to go. Seeing the goliath doing so, Nack voiced his decision on where to go as well. “Well since he’s takin’ Nack that way, I’d be a bastard brotha not ta go wit him.” And the conscious dwarf trails off behind him.

Through the archway, Uthal finds an overgrown city of rubble. Mostly single story buildings, or at least the remnants of them, covered in further vines and plant life, like the walls and garden. It’s easy to discern which door Austin had referred to, as it was the only one into the keep from there. Large sturdy wooden doors that appeared to survive the rest of time, stood approximately 15 feet tall, one of which was open enough for him to enter. 

Anearis:

Anearis seemingly perturbed, instead went for the hole on the side of the keep. The wall had partially collapsed, creating a bit of a ramp into the keep, though upon reaching the hole, Anearis saw that further there were two split directions to go. On the ground level, the hole in the wall led straight into a large open room, but only a few feet in, the rubble seemed to descend through a hole in the room’s floor, going down into the further unknown.

As far as he could tell, there were no traps laid on either way forward from the hole.

Ander had watched both members march off in different directions, “It would appear we are splitting up again.” He stood by waiting to see where they remainder of the party decided to go

Uthal looks back over his shoulder and sees that he's only being followed by the dwarf. "Well, it would seem my friends have different priorities and considering what people said about this place I do not think going by ourselves is wise. I think it best we neglect our pursuit for now dwarf and head back with the others." He walks back out the archway. As he goes he places a hand on his chest and gives himself a bit more fight. cure wounds 4

Ura, hearing Ander forecast doom and gloom, stops her search to lean out of the western archway and yell at Ander: "We are NOT splitting up again!  You remember what happened last time?  Banshees and barracks fires?  No way!  I'm thinking if we go into this dungeon, we're gonna run into this Viggo fellow no matter what, so we might as well do what we came here to do: find D'Armes.  Are we all ready to go down this way?"  She points at the archway that Anaeris is still carefully, if irately, checking for traps.

Austin was prepared to follow those heading through the arch, but stopped as they started back through.  "So we are going through the hole there then?"  She asks, glancing between the group as they bicker irritably back and forth.  "Sure we shouldn't take a few minutes here to rest up, you guys look like you could use it."  She raises an eyebrow in question, eyes raking over the group and taking in your tired state.

“Some of us more then others,” Nik said to Austin, beaming a smug smile, having gotten through the previous combat untouched. Now that Uthal returned and the party had decided to instead go through the hole in the wall, Nik walked up to stand next to Anearis, poking his head just beyond the shadow line of the keep’s interior. “Whatcha think? Check out the main floor or goin below?” He said to Anearis, still looking around the large hall, on the ground level. 

Viilgahan stood next to Ser Ander, watching as the others dithered about direction forward. It was his intent to search through the whole of the area anyway so it didn't overly matter much. He was about to give a reply to Anders statement before Ura yelled from across the way. The dragonborn slowly turned his head toward Ander and then back toward the hole in the wall. "Banshee's...barracks fires..." He gave as incredulous a look as a scaled maw could. "Battling undead and destroying military property just to find someone named D'armes." he shrugged. "You are, at the very least, committed to your charges." He snapped his fingers, the lantern dangling from the chain on his waist igniting in preparation for the dark they were all likely to encounter ahead.

As he passed the woman with the runed staff ...Austin... he gave her a wide eyed look and a slight shake of his head as if to impart ...You're learning at the same rate I am... before moving to take a position near the hole in the wall. He glanced down. "Nik, what do your Dwarven eyes see?"

Anearis considered the two directions that were presented to the group. The large room past the hole's entrance seemed as good a place as any to begin the search. The hole, however, reminded the elf of something. Back in Cathaan, this is where this whole story began. In an underground below the Baron's mansion. This is where he met Ura and Ander and Uthal. Somehow, he felt that going down below might also lead to some discoveries...and new horrors. It was dangerous, but this is what they had signed up for.

"Below here," he said. "My instincts tell me that going down will lead us to where we must go." He turned his gaze to the dwarf next to him. "And also probably where more treasure is hidden."

“Yes, committed to the cause...” Ander mumbled, after Viilgahan had mentioned the words. He stared longingly at nothing while he said it, before going back to his normal stance of watching and observing as the rest of the party decided what to do next. 

His head, still inside the hole, next to Anearis, Nik shouted without turning away. “Not much. Buncha wooden benches, buncha rocks. Looks like banners or tapestries or somethin hanging on the walls. Can’t see the ceiling though. Big ole chair at that end, looks like someone might be innit.” He pointed right, towards the North end.

Anearis, while spotting no traps in wait, could confirm what the dwarf was saying. It appeared to be a throne room or great hall. Running north to south it was about 60 feet, and then about 30 feet going east to west. The hole in the wall, was only about 5 or 10 feet from the southern wall. And in the floor, perhaps cracked open by this part of the wall being smashed initially, was passage leading to whatever lay below.

There was a raised platform and throne like chair at the northern end, and a shape was sitting upon it. Smashed wooden pews or benches lined both the east and western walls. And rocks and rubble lay everywhere. And even though there was no light, Anearis’s elvish eyes could not see beyond 20 feet or so, upward towards the ceiling. It was as if a black cloud floated around the room, just over head.

Nik turned to Anearis, “I’m interested in more ‘an juss’ treasure, ya know....but not ta say you don’t have a good point.”

Ura squints as Nik pointed out the figure in the throne at the end of the room.  A sense of dread fills the pit of her stomach as her mind lurches to an automatic conclusion: maybe they've already found D'Armes.  She can't tell from this distance, though.  "Guys...  I think maybe I should have a look at what's on that throne.  It... might be D'Armes... if someone was trying to send some sort of message here."

Sending a message seems like a good idea at this point, so pointing her finger, she whispers a message to the slumped figure in the throne:  Who are you?

There is no response from the figure on the throne. 

Nik is watching Ura, quizzically, unaware of the message or her awaiting any potential word back. He looks at her out pointing finger. “You waitin’ on someone to pull that or...?”

"Looks pretty dark in there, anyone have some light?"  Austin asks as she moves up near the hole in the wall.  She tries to peer inside, but cannot penetrate the darkness very far with her human eyes.

(assuming there is little to no light, so let me know if that is not the case.)

The only light in the grand room comes from what little daylight makes it past that entrance. While some members of the party may be able to see most of the area, Austin and Ander would be at a lost without additional sources Of illumination.

Uthal places a hand on Austin's shoulder. "Here. A blessing from the Goddess." 

(Eyes of Night: Austin now has darkvision without a maximum range for 10 minutes)

Austin starts in surprise as she suddenly is able to pierce the darkness.  A twinkle enters her emerald eyes as she turns back and smiles at Uthal.  "Where have you been all of my life?" She asks in a teasing tone.  "That is a very... nice. trick you have there.  I hope to see more of your tricks..." She gives him a playful wink, then is too interested to try out this new vision of hers to flirt, and steps into the hall she can now see so much of.