Rise 02 - Decent into Darkness Report
General Summary
So, we are at it again. Our heroes, no friends, ah forget it misfits had just dispatched some unwanted house guests and were now taking stock of their situation. Looking around, it was a nice quaint little place, if you overlooked the goblin bodies that were slowly bleeding what was left of their life force into the ground. Deciding that cleanup was not worth the effort, Talon Windbourne , Alehdra Neverstone retired to the cabin to recoup from the rude interruption that had just transpired. IronLore having nowhere else to go, following them in.
The trio then locked the doors and retired for the night. It was in that quiet darkness that it became very apparent that Ironlore was one loud person, monster, statue, thing, something. His inner workings ticking, and ticking away all night; eventually morning did come. After a brief discussion, it was decided to head for the village of Saltrenhill, maybe they know something more about Ironlore.
hated didn't like most people and decided to handle inevitable conversations with copious amounts of alcohol from the local Inn "Ol’ Boar Inn". Talon on the other hand decided to head to the general store to see what was in stock.
The general store has been managed by Kerowyn, a friendly human who has run the store for many years. She started the store after her husband's death. After walking in and getting the usual awkward questions out of the way (yeah, he's looks like a walking bird), Talon inquired about non general items for sale. Kerowyn informed Talon that he should seek out the local healer, who deals in more of that type of supplies after explaining the supplies here are more suited to village needs and some general wilderness gear that might be of use to Talon. Talon thanked her and headed to meet Alehdra at the inn. On his way out, Talon suddenly realized that Ironlore was not with him.
With no indications of where to go next, Talon took the sky and with the help of his seeing eye frog was able to eventually find several broken pillars jutting from the earth where the ravine widened, about half a mile north of the rest of the group. Two of the pillars stand straight, but most lean atop sloped earth. Others are broken, and several have apparently fallen into the dark depths. A few similar pillars are visible on the opposite side of the ravine. A sturdy, knotted rope was tied to one of the leaning pillars on this side of the ravine.
Talon reported this back to the group who then investigates. The rope is new (about a month) so they suspect this is where the other group came. The group decides to follow and decend into the ravine. The rope ends at a ledge which then has rough stars into the side. As they continue down, a fortress emerges from the darkness. The subterranean citadel, though impressive, seems long forgotten, if the lightless windows,cracked crenellations, and leaning towers are any indication. All is quiet, though a cold breeze blows up from below, bringing with it the scent of dust and a faint trace of rot.
Insert Citidal Pic here...
The group decends all the way and ends up at the door of what must be what everybody calls the Sunless Citidal. Talon lights a torch and they open the door.
Saltrenhill
After about 4 hours, one forded river later, and trudging across farming fields, Saltrenhill came into view. A sleepily little village with about 900 souls (including the surrounding farms that some strangers just uncerimoniously trudged through). Image of Village Having come to some semblance of civilization, Alehdra knowing that sheHuh, wonder where he got off to??
Drinking and Divinity
Meanwhile, Alehdra had made for a beeline directly to the inn, and then directly to the inn's bar. It was easy to find, with it being one of the only two story structures in town, and with a sign with a boar's head and and mug swinging in the breeze. The common room of the inn was occupied by two men sitting at separate tables with mugs in front of them. Their clothes give the impression that they are local patrons that have dropped in for a break from their day's work. Behind the bar was a gruff looking man who's smile belies this great size.Welcome. Welcome to the Boar's Inn, please make yourself at home. I am Garon, the owner of this establishment. Now, what I can I get you? How about my Dog & Goat ale, it's milky and frothy with a coffee-like taste, full head, and toasty scent.
Two. How much?Garon, replies "just a couple silver each" as he plops down two ale. Sensing his customer does not want to chat, he then walks away and back to wiping down various items at the bar. Alehdra quickly grabs the mugs and finds a table in the corner furthest away from the other customers. After she swiftly downs both mugs, Garon, without saying a word, drops off another two mugs and picking up her empties. Four beers later, Talon enters with Ironlore in tow (he was found just standing in the middle of the village just standing there like a statue. Still with the blanket wrapped around his head and shoulder that Alehdra asked him to wear). Alehdra shouts at Talon, runs up and wraps her arms around him like they had not just seen each other about half an hour ago.
Talon!! My good friend Talon, it's good to see you. Garon over there is the guy you want to see for ale.Talon and Alehdra get comfortable at their table, getting drinks (or even more drinks in Aleahdra's case) and a nice meal. Talon explains to Alehdra about going to see "Corkie", the local priest about getting some things, who agrees (and would probably agree to anything right now). After the meal (which came with the unfortuate converation involving the menu, Talon and chickens), the three companions got directions to "Corkie" the priest and headed over. Two interesting things of note were found during conversations with Garon:
- Garon in talking about Gorf; mentions that there was another of his kind with a frog that passed through here about a dozens years ago
- His name was Belak, and he was looking for the Sunless Citadel, an old castle that fell into a ravine a centuries ago.
- Another party looking for Belak came through here about a month ago.
- The church of Pelor is interested in Belak
- The church is willing to pay to find their people
- Belak came through here a dozen years ago looking for the Sunless Citadel
This Missing Adventurers
- Talgen Falgun - Fighter
- Sharwyn Falgun - Mage
- Sir Braford - Paladin of Pelor
- Karakas - Woodsman
At this point you might be wondering why there was so much written about the the activities in town and the interaction with those townsfolk. Well, the simple answer is...I'm the historian here and I can scribe whatever I want! On a more practical note, a lot of time was spent by the group in the town and it was important to showcase that. It is important to record this for the future people of this world.
Decent into Darkness
So our group (we can't really call them heros yet), headed out of town and headed north west: this time using the road instead of farmer's fields. After a couple of hours, as per the directions given to them by Corkie, they veered off the road west back towards the mountains and the river. Another fording of the river Realstream, another couple hours and it was here, at that time at dusk they came upon the ravine.Meep and the deal for the Dragon
Our group enters the citadel and starts to explore. They do not get very far, before they come across a room with a cage that is ripped open from the inside, a small alter on a bench and a large pit that looks like a fire pit. But the strangest thing was finding the Kobold hidding under a bed of blankets wimpering. Talking to the kobold reveals his name is meep and that he is part of a clan of kobolds that have taken up residence at the citadel. They claim to have had a dragon in the cage (so it must have been a SMALL dragon, if it really was one).The clan’s dragon … we lost it. The wretched goblins stole Calcryx, our dragon!Meep then says
Meepo take you to meet Yusdrayl, our leader, if you make nice. Meepo don’t know, but Yusdrayl does.Talon and Alehdra agree to follow Meep. Ironlore shrugs and follows as well. While leading the group deeper into the catidal, Meep randomly screams out "BeeVaaamp" multiple times, then turns and says, "secret password, shh". After a couple of minutes, he leads the group to a long hall, where a double row of relief-carved marble columns march its length. At the end is makeshift throne upon sits another kobold. Around the room are multiple kobold guards. Yusdrayl and the players parley, It seems that the goblins that also are in this citadel have stolen a young dragon from the kobold tribe. It is said that the golbins work for Belak and do his bidding. A deal is struck, with the players agreeing to return their dragon (which allows them to look for the other group) in return for a reward of some seemly random items behind the throne. Meep is offered to the party as a guide in this agreement. Having avoided tryng to fight a whole colony of kobolds, Talon and the group follow Meep to the "back way" into the goblin area.
