Chilling Adventures in the North

"I think we are still alone," Shad says, "but I can not guarantee it. How does Nildar look? If they did take the goats, do we take them back to town? Bring that sheriff out here?" Shad will send Monty down the hall the other duergar let the room through. He won't be able to see it through Monty's eyes or anything like that, but he listens for the sound of combat he thinks Monty might provoke. Perception 6

"How do we wake Nildar up?"

Qinfaren looks around but does not see any signs of movement.

As Monty heads down the hall to the other room, Shad is unable to hear any signs of combat.

Qinfaren looks over to the cage the zombie ogre was kept in.

“We could put Nildar in the cage until he wakes up. In the meantime we could look around a bit. There were other missing things too.”

"Good idea," Arogna says, starting to drag the unconscious dwarf over by his heels. She makes sure to remove any weapons first. "Where's them goats at?"

Qinfaren looks around the area they're in to get a better feel for the layout. He specifically notes all the exits/entrances.

@DM

"Using the cage is a good idea," Shad says. If Arogna takes the left heel, Shad will take the right. Once they drag Nildar into the cage, he says, "How many were left? Where do you think they have gone?"

He continues to watch the entrances and exits. He will also Investigate the lock to be sure it is functioning well: 10

Qinfaren looks around the place. He indicates the cage where the goats are being kept in the corner. Then notes the passageway to the south, and the north east. There is also the direction that Nildar come through in the room to the back.

After dragging Nildar to the cage, Shad checks the lock and sees that it is in good working condition

Qinfaren motions to the passage way that Nildar came through.

"He talked like he was in charge here," Qinfaren says. "His quarters might be this way. We could check that out before waking him to see why they're stealing things from the town."

Using Speech of Beast and Leaf, Qinfaren talks to the goats and lets them know they're safe now and that once the party is done here, they'll take the goats back to town and they can see their friends again.

Then he starts down the passage way that Nildar came from.

(OOC: Love the map, TheBritGeek!)

Once Nildar is in the cage, Shad asks, "Should we wait for him to wake or should we explore? If they are regrouping and resting, it could be a hard battle."

Qinfaren calls back to Shad as he heads down the passage where Nildar came from.

"If there are more of them, let's find the other missing items and get out of here quickly then," Qinfaren says. "There was the colourful lantern, right? The goats. Was there something else?"

"If he's stayin' in the cage, no harm in explorin'," Arogna says to Shad. "Wait up, Qinfaren, 'case there's more of 'em." She hurries after the Firbolg.

Shad follows Qinfaren and Arogna. He calls Monty back from the hall he went down and stays close behind the others.

“He was indeed in charge, one of the other duergars mentioned it while we were out there.” Clarifies Muharg before adding “Besides the goats and the lantern, there was also the unspecified item from the Northlander warriors. Let’s go and see what we find.” Says as we walks close to his friends.

You all head in through the door that Nildar came through. Opening the door you find a drab room with a stone-carved bed and desk. Atop the desk are several shards of dark crystal, as well as a crumpled-up piece of paper and a burlap sack draped over a glowing object that emits colored light that shifts from blue to green to red.

Shad approaches the desk. He watches for traps: Perception 21

If he sees any, he tries to deactivate them, using Slight of Hand 12

If he does not see any traps, he will uncrumple the piece of paper and try to read it.

"What are these dark crystals," he says. "Have any of you seen anything like them?"

After Shad gives the desk the once over, Qinfaren lifts the sack off the glowing item, his curiosity too great to wait and wonder.

Then he looks more closely at the dark crystals.

17  +3 if Nature appropriate, or +1 if Arcana is more appropriate.

Arogna checks under the bed, and manages to refrain from picking anything up. "'S that stuff magic?"

Shad checks the place for traps, but sees nothing that could be potentially dangerous. When he tries reads to read the message he sees that message is written in a language that he doesn't understand, possibly Dwarvish.

The message in Dwarvish:

Qinfaren lifts the sack to find a lantern casting bright light that shifts from blue to green to red, and back again. However, when he examines the dark crystals he is unable to identify them.

Arogna looks under the bed and finds a small coin purse. When opened she will discover twenty-four gold pieces and seventeen silver pieces.

(OOC: Nice, I thought there might be another duergar, so that's a win)

"Hey," laughs Arogna. "Keepin' their gold under the mattress, look. Maybe them stones are worth somethin' too. Wonder if they stole 'em all? I didn't hear nobody talkin' about no stones though, back in town."

Shad will show the note to Muharg and ask for a translation.

"What do you think?" he says. "What's chardalyn? The first letter doesn't look capitalized to me, so maybe it is not a person. The lantern, the goats . . . Is this rock what the Northern humans lost?" He glances toward the door, worried about enlarged, invisible enemies.Perception 18