Chapter 1 - Rescue at Rivenroar

[LeadPal]

The party was no more sure how to continue than they, and so the silence dragged on. Slowly, everyone's eyes turned to Ieza; she was, after all, the first to aid them.

She shivered abruptly, prompting Laban to coil tightly next to her. "I, um--suppose you'd prefer if we closed the doors?"

Once someone had done so, she forced a laugh. It was weak, but took some of the tension out of the air. "With that out of the way... Call me Ieza. I'm a... an adventurer, I suppose. What do you call yourselves?"

[Black Plauge]

"The magic needs time to recharge," the one who hadn't spoken earlier replies dismissively to the suggestion to close the doors, clearly proud to know this little factoid before realizing that he spoken aloud and again relapsing into silence and starting the silent negotiation with his partner over who would respond to the question.

"Is it safe now?" Sertanian's voice asks from the shadows as Lorien moves to close the doors to the north, reminding the whole party of the former prisoner's presence. "Have you killed some more hobos?"

Hearing Sertanian's voice, seems to resolve the dispute between two creatures with the first to speak apparently having been 'elected' spokesman, "We are Kieran. You searching for prisoners?"

[zachol]

Ril paused. "...yes. We're, uh, recovering them. We'd like to leave as soon as possible."

[treehouse]

Lorien regarded the creepers coldly. He might make an exception for a friendly minotaur, but in general he had no use for monstrous folk, and he greatly mistrusted the looks of these two. He held his silence for the moment, though.

[Black Plauge]

"Recover? Leave? You will take the prisoners away?" Kieran replies. "The Red Hand will not like that. How do you convince them?"

"Kill every last one of them," Sertanian replies, walking into the room, having apparently decided that if the party is talking with someone then the danger must be over. "We routed the Red Hand out of the Elsir Vale a couple of decades ago and we'll do it again if necessary. And this time we won't leave a single hobgoblin left alive to spread the tale again."

Looking confused, the two Kieran (it's not clear whether "Kieran" is a name or a species) look around for someone to confirm or deny Sertanian's assertion.

[zachol]

"One step at a time. First we make sure the prisoners are safe. Then we can work out further plans. Hobbs that happen to be in the way we kill, but otherwise let's not go looking for trouble."

[treehouse]

Lorien abruptly slapped Sertanian on the back, sending the man staggering a step in the process.

"That's the spirit! No mercy for the hobbos!"

[Black Plauge]

Sertanian is clearly staggered by Lorien's friendly slap, a not too subtle reminder of the man's age and recent captivity.

Nodding his head as if in agreement with the sentiments just expressed, the Kieran spokesman says, "We can show you the prisoners. Hobgoblins are not very secretive about where they keep them."

Something about the Kieran's offer of help, however, strikes Ieza and Ril as insincere. He's not lying directly, but he isn't exactly telling them everything either.

[LeadPal]

"That... would be helpful. Most likely." Ieza spoke deliberately, eyes constantly shifting back to Ril. She could tell that he didn't trust them, either. Still, neither of them seemed up to the task of wheedling more information out of the creepers, so trusting them was probably the best option for now.

[Black Plauge]

"We take you to loud dwarf first. Hobgoblins treat him very badly."

Leading the way back through the complex, the Kieran retrace the party's steps to this point, taking them all the way back to the first room with it's moving braziers. From there, they take the East door, opposite the one the party had taken. This corridor starts as a mirror image of the west one, but after turning the corner heads up a long set of stairs, where an ominous glow emanates from the top.

[OOC: I'm having some problems with my CC3 installation (I'm having to recreate it on a new computer) and need to work them out so that I have access to my maps again. I'll continue this update once I get that worked out.]

[Black Plauge]

Reaching the top of the stairs, the lead Kieran pauses to allow the party to catch up, giving them a chance to view the room before entering.

[Black Plauge]

Crossing under a lintel inscribed "Von Jallach Family Tomb" the light from the party's sunrods begins to overwhelm the glow they had seen from the stairs, but not before the first ones into the room (Taraka and Lorien) notice the source: a set of ruins glowing on the floor.

Across the room from the stairs, Taraka's eyes are drawn to two nests which appear to be the homes of some needlefang drakes, a diminutive cousin of the guard drake that the hobgoblins had with them earlier.

Turning the corner at the immediate top of the stairs, the Kieran coos softly at the needlefang drakes sending those roused by the party's approach back into their nest. "Pets," he declares proudly. "Bring big bads down to our level."

Rather clumsily disguised in the cooing, however, the Kieran is passing a message to someone. The message is in Elven, enabling several party members to understand it: "Powerful hobgoblin enemies. No key."

"Avoid runes," the Kieran continues in a normal voice in Common, "Old magic like fire guardians. Runes hurt those who step."

Put on the alert by the message, Ril glances nervously around the room, getting the feeling that there is someone there that he can't see. Oddly, however, the room seems to lack anyplace for someone to hide. All the alcoves, save for the two which contain the nests for the needlefang drakes, are empty, providing evidence that the crypt was never used.

[zachol]

Ril stifled his initial urge to panic, and casually waved at the others not to react, assuming they'd picked up on something suspicious happening.
He did, however, become very interested in the room, peering into the various shadowy areas, though he masked it as "keeping an eye out for runes."

[Active spot checks? Can I do that? I'm assuming you'll roll them anyway.]

[Mercutio]

Taraka recognized the message in the Kieran's cooing but did not immediately react. He focused on not stepping on the runes. He kept glancing about, doing his best to take in everything so that when the shoe dropped he was ready.

[Active Spot Checks, too.]

[Black Plauge]

Put on edge by the overheard message and the sense of an unseen presence, Ril glances around the room in what he hopes is a surreptitious manner, but cannot confirm or deny his earlier feeling.

"Runes only in center of floor," the Kieran remarks to Ril's peering. "They glow too. Very hard to miss."

Opening the door, the Kieran continues to lead the party into the next room, from which the party can hear the sound of flowing water as soon as the door is opened.

Taking a final glance around the room, Taraka gets the same strong sense of an unseen presence that Ril got earlier, but also cannot pin point a source for that feeling.

As the party's lights flood into the adjacent room, the first thing that catches the eye is a fountain of clean water, a groan and a voice from the far end of the room, however, soon draws the attention away from this sight.

"Back for some more," the weak but clearly resilient voice declares. "Beat me all you want, I still say you're nothing more than dirt and stupid to boot."

Looking to the far end of the room, the party sees a badly beaten dwarf shackled to the wall. His face is a mess of bruises, swelling his eyes shut, and he dangles from arms in a similar state. His left ankle swells ominously and his right knee is bent at an awkward angle. He clearly has had a very rough time of it.

[zachol]

Merde.

Ril raised a hand to the group, stopping them from doing anything hasty.
He glared at the nearest Kieran and snapped off in elven, "Someone is going to have to explain this now before problems start."

[Black Plauge]

"Hobgoblins not nice to dwarf," the Kieran responds in elven, "We tell you before."

Confusion, fear, surprise, offense, and several other emotions play across the Kieran's face as he finishes, apparently realizing for the first time what language the exchange had taken place in.

"Heh?" the dwarf groans, "Elven? You're not hobgoblins. Who are you?"

[zachol]

Ril thought for a second. What.
He grumbled back, now in common (why had he spoken in elven?), "Yes, but why is the hobgoblin prisoner in your... home? I assumed we were being taken to the Hobgoblin's 'jail' as it were."
He glanced at the dwarf, then added in broken dwarven, "We're from Brindol. We're here to get you out. What do you know of the dark-skinned things?"

[Black Plauge]

"Kieran not live with dead," Kieran replies, reverting back to common and making a face at the thought, "and especially not with not-dead. Hobgoblins split prisoners up. Make them easier to handle."

"From Brindol, eh?" the dwarf asks, "Then how about a drink of some of that water I can hear. The hobgoblins haven't given me anything since they captured me and the others and it's been pure torture having to listen to that fountain for hours without a drink."

After getting a drink, the dwarf continues: "Your accent is worse than an elven beer," he says, wincing in mockery, "but I haven't seen any dark-skinned things, unless you're referring to the undead they keep threatening us with. Not that I've seen those either. I'm just not inclined to discount those threats given our location."

[zachol]

Ril continued to grumble in dwarven as he moved to the dwarf. "Eheh funny. 'Dark skin' I mean the... almost goblin like creeping things."
He pulled a flask, offering it to the dwarf. "You know the elven speaking things just behind me with the small dragons and such. I'm trying to understand whose side they're on."

[Black Plauge]

"Son, my eyes are so swollen shut that I can barely see you standing next to me," the dwarf responds, "The only goblins I saw before that happened, however, have had the usual greenish-yellow skin and spoke their own guttural language or common. The hobgoblins did have a couple of riding drakes and a guard one, though, if that's what you mean by `small dragons.'"

"Now how about getting me out of these chains. As much as I might enjoy talking to you, right now I have the choice between pain in my legs or my arms. I'd much prefer to lie down."

[LeadPal]

Ieza hustles to the dwarf almost on instinct, but hesitates about ten feet before him. "...Right. Ril, can you pick the lock on his shackles?" She tries to focus her attention on the dwarf, but constantly checks back to see what the creepers are doing. Laban is even more focused, coiled and swaying its head as it watches the one near the fountain.

[Mercutio]

Taraka didn't know much about magic, or indoor plumbing, for that matter, but it struck him as odd that the fountain would be here and that the water would be quite as clean as it was. His attention shifted back to the dwarf as Ieza and Ril discussed opening the shackles. Sometimes the ranger wished he had the ability to pick locks, but traveling through the forests meant that his exposure to things like shackles was limited.

[zachol]

Ril slipped back into common, mumbling under his breath. "You know it's not really like I pick locks all the time you know. Not really my thing."
He pulled out a couple metal rods, just springy enough to be used for picking locks.
"I mean look at these things. Not proper tools, because I'm not a proper lockpick. Can be put away for carrying those things. Not proper at all. We could be here all day since I don't know what I'm doing."

[Thievery checks [roll0][roll1][roll2][roll3][roll4] then take 20 or whatever]

[Black Plauge]

While Ril's first attempt at picking the locks does well to prove his muttering true, he must have gotten lucky with his second attempt as the old locks spring open without much fuss.

Sighing in relief, the dwarf grabs at Ril's arm and uses it to support some of his weight as he slumps to the floor.

"Much better," he says in common, "I'm Adronsius, by the way. Could I have the pleasure of your names? Have you rescued anyone else yet?"

Meanwhile, the Kieran watch passively, mildly interested in what is going on, but making no moves to interfere or interject.

[zachol]

Ril grinned as the lock clicked, then helped to bring the dwarf up.
"Ril. We've rescued just one so far, Sertanian. He's in much better shape than you. We should get you to him, we left him at the exit."
Ril tried to casually eye the Kieran as he brought Adronsius to the group.
"Not to pry on a, uh, sensitive subject, but can you hazard a guess as to why the hobs focused on you? We've been working on the assumption that they mean to sacrifice the prisoners to this... undead thing, and beatings don't quite fit in with what I'd worked out to be their methods of operation."
He paused. "I mean if there's a reason other than they're just evil bastards."

[Black Plauge]

Fighting off Ril's attempt to help him move, Adronsius remains stubbornly against the wall where he fell, "I couldn't understand more than a handful of the things that the hobgoblins were saying, but I got the feeling that they ran afoul of some other dwarves recently. I just happened to be a convenient outlet for their frustrations."

"You found Sertanian then? I imagine he's got quite the scarab in his boots over being captured by hobgoblins. He hasn't had much love for them since the last war. Still, there were seven of us taken altogether. You've still got a ways to go to rescue us all."

"But you just left Sertanian at the exit? Are you not afraid that the hobgoblins might come in behind you and get him again?"

[LeadPal]

"We have a rearguard," says Ieza. "Not a considerable one, but sufficient."

[Black Plauge]

"Ah, an obvious precaution. So what are your plans then? I assume I get to go hang out with your rearguard while you continue looking for the other prisoners?"

[LeadPal]

Ieza nods. "Until we find them all, or we're driven back to the surface."

[Black Plauge]

"Hopefully the former and not the latter. I may have been blindfolded when they dragged me here, but I know Jallissa is down the stairs, straight across the entry chamber, turning left in the room that smelled of goblin, then left again in the room with the crackling sound, around two right corners, then through a room that smelled of the dead, then up the stairs to a room with a sticky floor, left and up another set of stairs, then through a dusty room and left through a door. Now, how about getting me to the surface so that you can rescue the others?"

[zachol]

Ril blinked. Down, straight left right... wait, left? Left right left dead stairs... more stairs... uh... right. Sure.
"Ye... yes, of course."

[Black Plauge]

"Another trip to surface then?" the Kieran ask. When the party confirms this, they then lead the way back to the entry chamber, but do not accompany the party to the surface. "We wait here for you," they answer when asked.

[Black Plauge]

Taking Adronsius in hand, Karon and Taraka carefully carry the dwarf back to the surface. With two of the rescued prisoners there now, and neither one in much shape to fight or flee should it come to that, Karon elects to stay on the surface with Cutter and Balam in order to keep them safe. Despite his own arcane studies, the minotaur doesn't quite seem convinced that Balam, who has eschewed weapons training entirely, makes a capable guard.

"Cutter here was telling me some of the relics from the Hall of Great Valor were stolen, but that you don't know exactly what," Sertanian says as Taraka is about to head back into the crypt. "I've been taking care of those relics for decades now and know them all like the back of my hand. When you get the chance, bring out anything that the goblins might have stolen and I'll help you identify the relics. I'd hate to think those symbols of our victory over the Red Hand are being sullied by hobo hands."

[Black Plauge]

Down below, Ril, Lorien, and Ieza pass a dozen or so minutes with their strange allies who spend the time rifling through the possessions of the hobgoblins and goblins that the party defeated in this room earlier, picking especially through the bows and arrows that the goblins were carrying and outfitting themselves with what they apparently think are the best of the lot.

[Black Plauge]

As the light from Taraka's sunrod announces his return, the Kieran look up from bickering over the last of the arrows.

"You follow dwarf directions now?" one asks, "Or we show you way to old lady?"

[LeadPal]

"Are the dwarf's direction correct? And which path is less dangerous?"

[Black Plauge]

Shrugging, the Kieran responds, "Do not know. Who is Jallissa? Hobgoblins take some prisoners upstairs, but we do not know names or where."

"As for danger, what scare you more? Poison mushrooms and magical barriers or ogre family?"

[LeadPal]

"I don't know how we would deal with poison or barriers, but I do think that we could slay a few ogres. Leaving us a smaller number to fight later." Ieza stands straight from a slouch against the wall, and looks in the eyes of each of the party members in turn. "But I'm not comfortable going out of my way to murder anyone, even kidnappers. If you agree I'd like to take the other route, whichever it may be."

[zachol]

"Hmm... wonder if the ogres speak the common tongue."
He shrugged, mostly mumbling to himself. "Could talk it out, if that doesn't work go back for the mushrooms instead..."

[Black Plauge]

After some debate, the party elects to go with their guides, rather than Adronsius's somewhat confusing directions, and the Kieran lead the way by opening the one door in the entry way which the party hasn't gone through yet. Through the door is a long staircase which the party descends to find another which has a faint glow around the edges. Once the door is open, the source of the glow is apparent: the exposed room is in far worse shape than the rest of the dungeon with structural debris and dirt all over the place. Even worse, the room smells like a stable and there are mushrooms all over the place. Some of those mushrooms are phosphorescent and form the source of the glow. A quick glance around, however, reveals a much larger variety of mushrooms all around.

"Some mushrooms dangerous," Kieran warns, "We do not know which are which. Do not like mushrooms."

The lead Kieran stands at the door, waiting for the party to go first (and maybe pick a clear path?).

[LeadPal]

Ieza steps forward and scans each patch of mushrooms, trying to distinguish between types. "I'll send Laban in first, and see if anything happens. But, which direction..."

[Perception [roll0], Nature [roll1], Dungeoneering [roll2]]

[LeadPal]

The wild tangle of fungi is too much for Ieza to take in at once, so she crouches down to squint at the more immediate patches. Before doing so, however, she spots the outline of two broad, ragged holes in the left hand corners of the ceiling.

"Kieran? Where do those holes lead?"

[Scanning... I11 and J11? Perception [roll0] and [roll1]]

[Black Plauge]

Scanning over the room, Ieza's first impression is of the variety of mushrooms. Besides the phosphorescent variety whose presence is unmistakable, there are simply too many varieties to take it all in at once. So Ieza takes the logical step and narrows here focus to the mushrooms right in front of her. Right around the door, the mushrooms are all small, and there are many broken pieces, giving evidence to the fact that these doors are used occasionally. They are also relatively harmless. Two or three might be poisonous if eaten, but there was no danger from touching or walking on them.

"Holes go to hallway above. Could use ropes to climb up and down, but stairs are safer."

The mention of the holes leading to a hallway rings a bell with the party, and after a quick glance and check of mental maps, those Rill and Ieza are able to connect them with the holes that Karon used to dispose of goblinoid bodies earlier. (http://online-roleplaying.com/forums/showpost.php?p=382150&postcount=191) Indeed, looking closely at the debris below the nearest hole, Ieza can just make out the outlines of what might be a few bodies, though there is something wrong with the shape that she can't quite make out in the dim light at this distance.

[LeadPal]

"Nothing immediately dangerous, but we may need to move quickly. I can see those hobgoblin bodies from here, and I think they might be half-eaten. Hopefully whatever ate them is gone, or had its fill."

[Ieza will summon Laban in P19, then move into J11. For the four unidentified adjacent squares: Perception [roll0] [roll1] [roll2] [roll3]]

[zachol]

Ril follows just behind. He really has no idea what to look for, but he tries to infer what is safe and what isn't from Ieza's actions.
Or maybe he'll notice something.

[Perception [roll0] [roll1] [roll2], Nature [roll3], Dungeoneering [roll4]]

[Black Plauge]

Stepping cautiously into the room, Ieza takes the time to study just the area around her, and while most of that area contains more of the same kind of mushrooms that she saw around the door, she also spots some cloudspores. These brown mushrooms practically explode into clouds of spores when touched (hence the name). Said clouds aren't harmful, per se, but could hamper the party's vision completely. Upon summoning Laban, another variety of mushrooms is revealed as a veritable chorus of shrieking suddenly fills the room. Clearly Laban has stumbled across some shrieker mushrooms.

Following behind Ieza, Ril sees the same evidence of mushrooms that Ieza saw and is able to arrive at the same conclusions about those mushrooms closest to the doors.

Dungeoneering rolls for Ieza: [roll0] [roll1] [roll2] [roll3]
Note that the shriekers which Laban tripped are the white fungi in his area. The cloudspores that Ieza spotted are the brown mushrooms close to her. I'm only marking the special mushrooms as you discover them.

[zachol]

"Hmm. Why aren't we just torching all of this?"

[LeadPal]

Ieza couldn't understand hear Ril over the mad squealing of the mushrooms. She immediately summoned Laban back to her side and motioned for everyone to withdraw, hoping they could wait the noise out, and perhaps hide from anything drawn to it.

[Black Plauge]

As the doors close, the noise of the shrieking mushrooms dies away to nothing, providing a poignant and generous reminder of their sound dampening qualities. Unable to hear the shrieking through the doors, however, the party is forced to crack them a couple of times to check if it has ended. Once it is finally ended, however, the party can hear the distinct sound of a couple of large, restless, and probably irritated, creatures in the room, though they can't see them through the small crack in the door they used to check on the shriekers.

[LeadPal]

"If we want to torch the room, now is the time. But it might be safer to take them from the stairwell." Ieza leans in close to the door, very gently pushing closed, but freezes at a sudden crunch behind it. After a few seconds of tense silence, the creature moves on, and Ieza continues. "Certainly much safer than fighting in there. We'll have the high ground, and I can summon Laban behind them when they move in."

[Black Plauge]

Nodding in agreement with Ieza's plan, the party backs away from the doors while Ieza dismisses Laban and the Kieran retreat to the top of the stairs. Once everyone is in position, Ieza opens the doors again, before retreating behind the relative safety of Lorien and Taraka.

Several tense moments pass as everyone waits for whatever was in the other room to come through the door. Finally, an outline crosses the doorway and Taraka is able to identify the beast before it continues on past: it's a rage drake. Highly trainable, rage drakes make excellent mounts, being hardier and more dangerous than your average war horse. They seldom attack unprovoked or unordered, however, provided that one avoids threatening their nest.