"Well, this might be a good time to tell us about your employer" the ranger prompts Kraag, inquisitively watching his sending stone.
"Who is talking to you with that stone?"

Last edited at 15/04/10(Fri)17:14:07

>>76588
There's him being suspicious again. Insight (26) http://orokos.com/roll/273443

>>76590
>>76591
"...Did you two miss the point? It has to be a public search."

>>76593

"I suppose it can't hurt, although should I have wished to conceal something I would long since have fed it to Apsaumbas."

Myn carefully empties his bag for display after unceremoniously removing and tossing the imp away.

"Not really able to discuss that," Kraag replies gruffly, keeping a firm hold on his sending stone. "If you want, you saw me in the palace with that tiefling. Ask him later. He might be more willing to give you the details of my assignment, but that ain't my place to do so."

Bernkastel: While Kraag is clearly hiding something, he's also being relatively truthful. He does not feel like he is at liberty to reveal the nature of his assignment to you, whether he wanted to or not.

Ramuh shrugs, then empties his bag.

The shaman nods to Ramuh, and addresses the other arcanists. "Mr. Sid and Mr. N, please check everyone's stuff for weird magic. And are sending stones real things? Why don't we have them?"

Then, to the newcomer trio: "Is that everything?" Insight vs. Cragmaul (24), Thelkra (35), Kraag (29). http://orokos.com/roll/273952

Bernkastel: Bernkastel senses no duplicity in the revealing of the items.

As Sid does a cursory glance over the items everyone has dispensed (an in-depth examination of each item would take an inordinate and impractical amount of time), and shakes his head, saying, "Nothing obviously unusual that I can see here! And as for Sending Stones, they're a little on the expensive side. Heck, I'm surprised Kraag here managed to snag one, you can't really find them in markets around here, and there aren't many mages capable of enchanting them!"

Sid: (Arcana) 36 http://orokos.com/roll/273956

>>76598
"I guess it's not that easy. I think we're done for now."

The shaman starts putting her stuff away.

"Hmmm, I'm not liking this Kraag's guy attitude."
While returning his stuff into the bag, the ranger remembers about the magical boots he looted a while ago.
"Oh well. Sid, I found these before in the storage. They might come in handy later" the orc says, giving them to him.

Sid graciously accepts the boots and puts them on as the party and their guests put away the items. There is now the matter of the doors to consider.

"Well, it seems like we've spent enough time diddle-daddling here. Let's meet those dragons again" the ranger says, once everyone seems ready to go. Then he faces the recently appeared stone door and pushes it wide open.
Strength take ten to open door.

It takes a bit of force for Sureiya to push open one of the heavy double doors, and the half-orc strains to do so. As it opens, it becomes apparent why; this door leads outside. A howling wind blows into the keep through the door as the ranger continues to push the door open, and once he finally gets it open enough for the party to egress, he looks upon the scene before him.

It would appear to be a wide bridge leading forward to a tower, the tower you saw standing separate from the keep, nestled in the steep, jagged mountains behind the baileys. The bridge is about forty feet across, and the bridge is raised four feet on either side, tipped with spikes that alternate between five feet high and ten feet high, spaced about two feet apart. The bridge extends forward about two hundred feet before forming into a circular area where the bridge is briefly wider, then continues for another two hundred feet and finally ending at a pair of heavy doors that seem to lead into the tower. Looking over the side, it looks like a sheer drop off the bridge, several hundred feet down. The bridge connects only to the outer walls of the keep and to the tower.

The tower on the other side is quite large, and you can only guess at how big it is, as it seems to be built directly into the mountainside and inaccessible in every way, except from the bridge--there are no windows that you can see. There's no doubt in Sureiya's mind that the Fell King awaits in the tower ahead. Sid follows nervously behind Sureiya, and then Thelkra, Thalwynn Cragmaul, and Kraag follow behind Sid.

>>76603
"Actually, I just remembered... that... I'm the traitor. So I should stay here with the others," suggests the shaman, backing away from the bridge, though the taller spirit blocks her path quickly.

Ramuh frowns at Bernkastel's antics, then eyes Torinn. "I presume our valiant warrior has no qualms with taking the lead?"

"You might as well give a ride to our 'traitor', so she doesn't tries to escape" the ranger adds, turning to the rest of the party with a long smirk in his face.

Thelkra steps out onto the bridge, as if not paying attention to the drama centered on the shaman, and holds out her hand, as if confused. She shakes her head, then says, "Weird. Can't feel the wind at all." That is strange, because you can hear it quite clearly, and Sureiya felt it against the door, and there is some rushing into the room.

Sid hesitantly takes a step out onto the bridge, then looks startled, and nods, "She's right. How very curious!"

Kraag and Thalwynn seem focused on the shaman, as if not sure what to make of her outburst.

>>76607
At the mention of the strangeness, the shaman tries paying more attention to the bridge, but finds it difficult. Perception (21), and in case of illusions, insight (19). http://orokos.com/roll/274468

The shaman senses no illusions, and just by looking and listening from a distance, there seems to be nothing out of the ordinary afoot. If they're telling the truth, there must be some sort of magic at work.

The all-seeing perfect lifeform Myn searches for magic.

Arcana:http://orokos.com/roll/274470

Myn can sense the leylines are present in the lift's chamber extend unseen through the ground and into the tower ahead, converging on a single point. The incredible gale that whips around the tower and the bridge is probably intended to confound any who would attempt to fly to this destination and circumvent navigating the keep, as the bridge offers protection to those exiting from the lift's chamber. There is clearly some sort of powerful latent magic in the bridge itself, and Myn feels the same lingering tendrils of magic that bound the dragon spirits all around, as if this is all connected in some way, part of a pact made between dragon and mortal, with the convergence of the leylines providing the necessary power.

In other words, it's unlikely the Fell King himself possessed enough power to do this, but using the energies of the leyline and the expertise of his bound spirits, he has essentially created a safety bubble for his lair, with only a single point of entry.

Myn describes the magical situation, super impressing everyone and saving the day.

Ramuh is unimpressed by Myn.

"That means it should be pretty safe to use the bridge, right?"
The ranger turns to the shaman and suggests "Perhaps you should close your eyes?"

>>76612
>>76614
"...I guess, if there's no wind..."

The shaman hesitantly follows the others.

Everyone's hero Myn-sama boldly proceeds forward, inspiring confidence with his valorous gait.

Definitely inspired by the warlock's courage, the ranger follows.

When the group enters the circular area that marks the bridge's halfway point, they find themselves surrounded by the four dragon spirits from the keep, which are hovering, two on either side of the bridge.

"Well done. Well done indeed!" the silver dragon-spirit says.

"You've certainly proven yourselves many times over now," the adamantine dragon-spirit confirms.

"And so, we would bequeath unto you the last of our power, so that you may be better prepared to confront the Fell King," the mithral dragon-spirit explains.

And the gold dragon-spirit adds, "The Fell King no longer has a use for us. Should he call us again later, perhaps we shall answer he call, but we believe this is the best course of action."

Without waiting for confirmation, the dragon spirits vanish, and each of you feels completely rejuvenated--as if the past hour or so of exploration and combat did not occur. The party gains the benefit of an extended rest, and action points are reset to 1 each. In addition, you notice two things--even Thalwynn, Thelkra, and Kraag appear to be fully restored and back in action, which miss Cragmaul seems startled by at first, but then she clenches her first in determination. Additionally, the wind storm seems to have calmed considerably, such that there is only a small breeze rippling through the bridge between the keep and tower at this point.

Kraag wanders over to the side of the bridge, and pulls out his sending stone, and holds it up to the side of his head as he says, "If ya got somethin' that can fly, ya can send it to the tower now. The barrier's gone."

"Heh, those bastards helped us after all."
Bidding farewell to the spirits, the ranger almost misses Kraag's actions, but hears the traitor's suspicious words nonetheless.

"You and your patron knew about the barrier in the fortress? Not even us were aware of it" the ranger mutters, on a less than friendly tone.

>>76620
The shaman still looks somewhat nervous on the bridge, but responds to Sureiya anyway. "I think... even our allies should have scouted the keep."

Myn whips the imp at the tower, striking out the batter and winning the game.

Scout etc.

As Myn's imp flies off towards the tower, Kraag turns to face Sureiya and shrugs. "I wasn't privy to the tactical briefin'. I just knew that attackin' the tower directly was unfeasible, despite suspicions that the Fell King himself was there." He pauses for a moment, then adds, "Goin' straight for the keep kept ya out of tha loop, ya'know. Not that I blame ya for seizin' the opportunity."

He pauses for a moment, then looks at his sending stone again, holding it up to his head. Thelkra decides to add, "If it helps, I wasn't aware of it either. I do know we don't have much down there that flies, so launchin' an aerial assault's a bad idea, especially since we know the Fell King's got gargoyles guardin' the keep."

A few moments pass, and Myn's imp returns. (Only Myn can understand its speech.) "Yo, boss. Doesn't look like a door down there so much as a stone gate. Really big and heavy-lookin'. There's a magic symbol on it, looks like that what was on the lift. One of them Dragonsworn deals."

Immediately thereafter, Krag reports, "We've got Halvangh on the way, with Elayne, apparently. They'll be meetin' with us soon if we can wait up a couple of minutes."

"The battle must be going well, then," Ramuh says.

"There appears to be a gate ahead that is again likely to require Miss Thelkra's blood. Perhaps we might ready some juice to keep your reserves healthy."

Thelkra doesn't seem to know what to say to that, but the heavy sound of beating wings interrupts further conversation. Halvangh swoops down from around the front of the keep, with an eladrin on his back. He lands on the center of the circular part of the bridge, and Elayne hops off the back of the silver dragon, announcing, "It seems you've come quite far..." Her eyes focus on Thalwynn Cragmaul at this point.

"Good ta be back," the dwarf replies, slinging her maul over her shoulder. Elayne raises an eyebrow in the direction of Kraag Bloodspire, but elects not to comment, instead turning her gaze towards the tower.

"You mean to confront the Fell King now, correct?" she asks.

"Such seems to be the desire of all involved," Ramuh replies. "Well, I would rather confront in peaceful manner."

The ranger forgets the incident with Kraag for now and directs his attention to the arcanist duo.
"We kind of have a history with him already, so I guess we are. How are the things going outside of the fortress?"

"If a diplomatic solution is possible, I for one am all for it," the eladrin replies, nodding to Ramuh. She then turns to face the half-orc and says, "So far, there's been a lot of posturing and building up our positions, but actual fighting has been limited to light skirmishes. Duke Prestor has been directing reconnaissance and wanted more intelligence before committing to a push towards the keep itself."

Elayne pauses here, then nervously glances back towards the keep, and Halvangh swings his head in that direction as well. Slowly, she turns back and faces the group, "At least, that was the case up until now. We noticed a flight of gargoyles incoming from the keep. At first we thought it was signaling an attack, but they instead went to rendezvous with the Fell King's forces. When Halvangh and I flew in, we saw them at their base camp."

"It looked like they were picking up some shadar-kai and getting ready to head out," Halvangh adds. "It wouldn't make sense to attack our army with such a small force, so they must be going somewhere else... somewhere they need to reach by air. To put it simply, we're concerned they might be on their way here."

"On the other hand, if they're thinning their forces, the duke might order the assault to begin..." Elayne suggests, her voice trailing off. She is suddenly interrupted by Thalwynn Cragmaul stepping forward.

"A'rite, so 'ere's tha deal," the dwarf female suggests, whirling to face Thelkra. "Ye and tha 'venturers get in tha tower and deal wit' tha Fell King. Me, tha orc, Halvangh, and Elayne'll stay out 'ere and watch yer backs."

"Sounds fun," Kraag replies, grinning and gripping his weapon tightly. "And here I was thinkin' the baby-sitting job might get boring."

Sid looks to his adventuring companions, "A-and where did you want me?" Thalwynn nods gruffly, apparently deferring to the judgment of the party.

>>76629
"With the door locked, can they follow us?"

Last edited at 15/04/18(Sat)23:16:14

"If ye wanna count on tha Fell King nae bein' able ta let 'em in anytime he wants..." Thalwynn replies, scowling.

"Or his minions could have another way of gettin' in. Suppose one was a dragonsworn orc," Kraag adds calmly.

Thelkra shakes her head. "The Dragonsworn clan is dead."

"Sure, the traditions're dead. But the bloodlines remain. I am a descendent of the Dragonsworn clan, ya'know," Kraag says, nodding curtly.

Thelkra seems a bit taken aback by this revelation. Elayne cautiously adds, "There were a few shadowborne orcs among the ranks of the shadar-kai..."

Ramuh strokes his mighty beard in contemplation.

"I believe the group out here has sufficient strength in numbers, with a dragon's support... Perhaps it is best you join us."

"All right, then!" Sid replies, nodding and looking rather pumped up. "I am ready to go!"

Elayne and Halvangh move in front of the party, towards the keep, and the eladrin draws forth a shimmering orb from her cloak, and her eyes narrow. "This time, I'm ready to fight."

The shaman and the ranger begin to hear the faint sounds of wings beating in the distance--first a few, then more than a few. "Sounds like it's show time. Get movin', 'venturers!" Thalwynn calls out, gripping her weapon tightly.

Thelkra looks like she really wants to talk to Kraag, but instead turns and begins to move quickly towards the tower.

>>76633
Cragmaul, Elayne, and Halvangh don't really fill the shaman with confidence, but seeing little choice, she follows Thelkra, but only after one last question. "Mr. Halvangh, Ms. Elayne, how did you learn our location?"

"Duke Prestor informed us of the situation," Halvangh replies, looking towards the skies over the keep.

>>76635
That's really ominous.

"That's really ominous."

Having long since gathered his things, Torinn slips his mask back down and takes the vanguard position.

"What? This guy too?" The plot thickens a little too much for Sureiya to keep going, so he gets ready and moves forward.

"Let's share some good mead in a pub when we meet again!" the ranger shouts, wishing good luck to the guys they are leaving behind.

Myn sleepwalks forward.

"Well then, we shall leave our guests to you."

Ramuh exits the the battle as well.

As the group quickly approaches the tower, Thelkra calls back, "I dunno how long that gate's gonna stay open when I activate it! Better get through fast once it's open!"

As she moves, she slices a shallow gouge in her hand and slams it palm-first upon the gate upon reaching her destination. The magical pattern on the stone gate glows, and it slides upwards, allowing the group entry into the tower. Thelkra dashes in first.

Continued >>76641