Nyx says, "We found some duergar scum in there and convinced them to vacate the building. The hole in the wall is their doing. Tracked them here, but then lost them. They were armed and immediately hostile - if I were you I wouldn't walk around alone or even in pairs until they have been found."

James nods agreement with Nyx.

"Yes, the town is in danger until we know these duergar have left completely or have been dealt with. Perhaps we should do a sweep of the town, to try and find them?"

"We are adventurers, we've just travelled here from Targos. We are on a job to try and track down a guide named Keegan who was leading another adventuring group to the slopes of Kelvin’s Cairn. Supposedly they came here on their way through, but they have not returned, except for Boy here, who was one of Keegan's sled dogs."

"My name is James Dekker and these are my friends."

James indicates his friends, letting them introduce themselves.

Hifu agrees and helps James and Nyx, explaining the situation.  "We were trying to find a place to bed down for the night and we were attacked by the duergar, we need to find them before they cause more havoc in your town!  We can work together to find them and defeat them or drive them off.  After we check it out we would like to find a place to sleep and rest..."  Hifu smiles and tries to put his best foot forward.

Gilgin glances between the guards and James, as he leaves space for introductions. “Aye, what he said. I’m Gilgin.” 

After Hifu finishes, he adds on, “You ever seen this lot before? Look like me, if I hadnt seen the sun in generations.” His eyes widen, as if coming to a realisation as he claps his hands together. “Like me mixed with Nyx!” 

Scratching at his beard he wonders, “Say, this place seems half empty. What happened here?”

Roll me a persuasion check with advantage please. Also just like them, you are thickly wrapped up in furs to withstand the cold. They can see your hight, to some extend your body type, but that’s about it.

”Do you even know what time it is? Any search will have till the morning, especially if you are correct and there were duergar there. You will come with us to the Cearn and the speaker will listen to your case in the morning.”

Nyx persuasion check with adv: 23

Gilgin drops to a little curtsy, a coy smile across his face. “Most certainly..” He mimics a thespian, his growly baritone reaching its limits as his voice cracks a bit. “If they’ve got a warm fire and some ale, I’ll be happy to hold off on giving this beatdown.” As herises he grumbles slightly, “Wouldn’t be half bad to find out what in the flaming hammer is going on around here anyhow.”

James nods agreement with Hifu's additional details and nods agreement with the guards.

"Of course, lead the way, but are you certain the townsfolk will be safe?"

James seems to be ignoring Gilgin's somewhat sarcastic and grumpy demeanour, playing it off as "completely normal, please just ignore him", even if he somewhat agrees with him internally.

Kree's upset that he couldn't track down the Duergar is quickly overcame at the realization that that is not what his current mission is. He waits in the back as the others talk it out with the townsfolk, as he runs ideas and thoughts through his head about where his target could be or why his target is doing what they are doing.

I 17

“Well, there wasn’t any trouble recently, so it is unlikely there will be anything tonight. Your dogs made enough noise to wake one of the Militia. In the morning when we got a little twilight, we will try to track them down. Now without a moon, we would only run into an ambush if they mean harm.”

The men lead you up through the village towards the top of the cliff. Nyx is the first one to see a large fortified structure just as you are leaving the village at the top of the cliff.

“As you have seen, our inn is closed at the moment. So the Cear is the only place were you may find shelter for what is left of the night. The speaker is bedridden at the moment, but i am sure, his guards can look after you.”

A sturdy, stone castle devoid of warmth and ostentation squats atop the cliffs overlooking the town and the frozen harbor. Warding the castle entrance are thick, battle-hardened wooden doors. Four cylindrical guard towers have wind-worn flags bearing the town’s heraldry fluttering above their tiled, conical roofs. These towers are connected by icy battlements and parapets. Atop the castle walls and within one of the guard towers a cone of light gets pointed at you. A voice calls from atop one of the watchtowers: “Halt, state your business at this hour?”

The leader of the militia replies: “Sinead here, we got a group of travellers , they said there was a group of druegars hiding in the old inn. We...”

”One moment, someone will open the gate!”

Only a few moments late large gate opens up, wide enough to let James and his dogs in.

A human guard, to young to grow any decent beard yet, opens the gate. He wears chainmail and a longsword hangs on his side.

“Welcome, we were expecting you.” 

He gestures you inside while the militia men exchange puzzled looks. 

Kree gives a nod to the guards as he heads through and begins to scan the castle as they are guided through, making mental notes of the rooms and halls as they do so. "Very much appreciated, thank you." Kree says toward the militia, and again to the castle guards.

Hifu thanks the militia, describes the Duergar to them.  "Thank you for coming along to help us!  Let's sit down and exchange information, we are glad to be behind your gate.  My name is Hifu by the way, pleased to meet you."

“Sorry to wake your sleeping guards.” Gilgin smiles cordially before following along. 

Once reaching the gate, Gilgin puts his hand on the young guards cheek, rubbng it with his course hands. “Aye young lad, ye seem to be about young Hifu’s age. Trust me, time with me ages you. We’re happy to deal with this problem in the morning, so long as you’ve got some ale to hand? Why don’t you join us young lad, will put some hair on your chest...... and yer face.”

Nyx looks back at Gilgin, "It's the weirdest things that make you horny, Gilgin."

As you try to put your gloved hand into the lads face, he takes a step back and looks at you suspiciously, not knowing how he should react to this sudden display of familiarity. “This way please, Sir.?”

First he leads you through the gatehouse, wich is secured with two sturdy sets of ironbound wooden door and two portcullises that are retrackted into the ceiling at the moment. You also see arrowslits in the ceiling.

Once you passed through the gatehouse, he leads you accros a small courtyard to a wooden building that was added to the stone structure of the building. He opens one of the gates and goes inside. “Hey Alassar, get up, there is work for you...” you can hear dogs barking from inside and a moment later the guard and a young boy come back out. “This is Alassar, he will take care of your dogs and sled.” 

The guard goes on towards the main entrance of the keep, expecting you to follow. He tries to put on some semblance of authority. “The Soothsayer was expecting you, and gave us order to bring you straight to her when you arrive.”

He opens the keep door and invites you inside.

Nyx takes a deep breath and walks in first, starting to unbuckle some of the outer layers around her, expecting there to be warmth inside.

Hifu tries to keep the conversation going, “Can you tell us more about the Soothsayer?  We were expected?  Wow, those are amazing skills...”

Gilgin shrugs at Nyx, “Just being friendly to the poor lad. They must be going through a hard time here. No tavern, and the guards are just wee nippers.”

As they approach the keep, Gilgin starts to bob with excitement for the warmth inside. “Soothsayer? Like a fortune teller? Yeah, tell us more, but maybe tell us inside eh?” He charges ahead to get inside, rubbing his grubby hands together.

Kree, unlike the others would not be getting his hopes up on the warmth. Instead he would just keep to himself, his arms crossed, waiting to see what was going to happen with the Soothsayer.

“She got the gift, she can see glimpses of the future and she predicted your arrival. We are very fortunate to have her here with us.”

This once-grand hall is dimly lit by chandeliers that are missing most of their candles. Three long tables stand in the center of the hall. While it isn’t particularly warm at the moment, you can feel some residual heat emanating from the large chimney at the end of the room. A stone staircase ascends to a pair of twenty-foot-high balconies that hug the walls. On the north landing, directly across from the main entrance, hangs a banner depicting the town’s heraldry: a stone watchtower on a dark blue field, with a horizontal red fish facing to the right under the tower.

The guard leads you up the stairs towards the left balcony: “It is already late and the First Knight is sleeping, so i will have to ask you not to make to much noise please.”