The first 48 hours are a bit of a scramble. The castle is letting in refugees but is also under siege by undead. Prince Raffolk has been slain by six unlikely heroes, or maybe villains. Prince Oron and Princess Breschka are now trying to take hold of the castle and its staff, all the while save the citizens of Dravens (and foreign nationals) who happened to be in Dravens’ Port for the event. Suffice to say things are chaotic. While the heavy rain has stopped, a light rainfall continues through the night and into the morning. Most people have little time to rest or sleep. Much of the castle is abandoned and hasn’t been used in decades. In some rooms, critters or even squatters have taken up residence. Events begin after a discussion with Oron and Breschka in their new den. The party then goes back to the study to finish divvying up the loot and getting things in order. After finishing, they all trickle out of the study one by one to begin their individual individuals. The party splits up over the next few days, but they all see each other on a regular basis. While they all step into different niches in the castle, the ongoing investigation about the undead, the dark goblin, the scrolls, and the mystery of the gargoyle continues. As the investigation continues, so does the rain and armies of undead. They say things get worst before they get better, and the next 48 hours are particularly terrible for guards, soldiers and defenders. The undead assault the city, the people, and the castle 24 hours a day. Meanwhile, scouts, priests, and militia members continue to bring refugees into the castle regularly. While the castle was nearly abandoned when they first arrived, now new areas are starting to be opened up and used as the main areas begin filling up with too many refugees. Ailekk Ailekk has a conversation with Oron and Brescka at his first opportunity, he finds Breschka leaving the den where Oron is talking to Swell. Oron and Swell leave together and Breschka invites Ailekk to enter while she runs some errands, explaining that Oron will meet with her and Ailekk in a few minutes. [Ailekk notices that Oron and Breschka seem extremely well coordinated for a couple of people who never seem to speak directly to each other.] Once Oron and Breschka are back, Ailekk begins. Brescka sits down on a couch and listens patiently as Ailekk explains. She nods and seems genuinely interested in his tale. Oron paces as Ailekk talks, occasionally snapping his fingers and fidgeting. He seems distracted, but Ailekk isn’t sure if it is his story, current events, or both. After Ailekk is finished, Oron scratches the headband he is wearing and turns to Ailekk, “So I suppose you have questions.” Breschka just sits there quietly, with both a concerned, but calm expression on her face. Ailekk asks ”What can you tell me of the gargoyles on this plane? Do they have any history in your kingdoms?” Oron turns to him, “Gargoyles were carved into the stone of ancient structures here in Dravens. Legends say they were used as magical guardians of the land. In our history, gargoyles are not evil, at least not innately. If they have turned to evil, that is become something has turned them. There are other places where you might find them aside from the castle: ancient ruins, the old towers and dungeons, even the ancient cities of Dravens such as Kytt, Sewett, Mansett, Elfsett, Halfsett, Dwarfsett and Orcsett might have such carvings. I’ll have to visit the library to find out more.” As he speaks, Brescka listens as though she is also hearing this information for the first time. She seems interested in his reply. Ailekk asks, “Do you have any suspicions about who could be behind the undead? Even unofficial speculations about who could be capable of such a thing. Perhaps some connection can be found there.” When you ask that question Brescka raises an eyebrow and keeps her eyes on her brother, she seems curious about his response but also ready to interject if necessary. Oron sighs, “Unfortunately, unofficial speculations could be damaging to us right now. The first suspect of course is Dree. Queen Lightcrown could be making her first power grab, trying to take over Dravens, they already control much of the former Kiernard. However, it was a very beneficial event for Brescka and myself, and also convenient our allies from Thrinegrove and Bonehammer were so nearby at the time so they could swoop in and ‘save the day.’ If I were an outsider looking in, my first suspect would be us.” Brescka speaks up, “This is why we need the help of you and your allies Ailekk. We need this mystery solved not only to prevent future loss of life, but also to help clear our names.” Oron grunts, “Or we could just string up anyone who falsely accuses us.” “Brother, tyranny might be in your veins but do not let it control your actions.” Brescka quickly quips. Oron sighs, “Such dreary work. We are off topic. Next question.” turning back to Ailekk. Ailekk then asks, “Are there any wizards, scholars, or historians that you could task to take a look at the gargoyle faces emerging from the walls to possibly gather more information?” “Naturally,” Oron responds, “Although unfortunately we don’t have much of a support staff yet. I shall look into the matter personally. My sister will help as she can, but she is busy leading this rabble, so I’ll take care of this myself. We are still trying to find and gather scholars who might help us. We can easily convince Raffolk’s guard to take up arms with us, but convincing his higher level staff to work with us is proving more difficult.” Breschka nods in agreement. Ailekk: “My brother Kaska may have more information on the gargoyles, but I have not been able to find him. Can you offer any help in locating him? The most recent information I have is that he has been seen in the city since the undead attack.” Oron says, “I’m afraid I’ve only heard of your brother, I know little of him. Both my sister and I have been helping the people of Dravens from our own lands, Thrinegrove and Bonehammer respectively. We don’t know near as many of the locals as we’d like. That’s why we need the help of you and your allies.” When there are no more questionsOron responds, “I must be off, I shall begin researching as soon as I can. In the meantime, I ask that you keep your eyes open.” He leaves but Breschka is still sitting there looking at Ailekk inquisitively. After Oron walks off brusquely she says, “Ailekk, would you tell me more about your people and their feud with the gargoyles?” If he accepts, she will continue to ask him questions about his nest here in the realms, his brother, the monastery in the plane of air, the deities and elementals he is aware of, and everything else she can think to ask. If he humors her, she will continue to ask him questions for a couple of hours. Occasionally the captain of the guard or a servant will pop in and ask her a few questions, she deals with the quickly while apologizing for their interruption, then she goes back to listening. After some time, when Ailekk is finally tired of talking or Breschka has run out of questions to ask, she will thank him for indulging her. Ailekk notices that she is quite meticulous in her attention to detail and leaves few stones unturned in his accounts. After they are finished she turns to him and says, “Ailekk, thank you for sharing your stories of your life and peoples. I am privileged to be a bearer of your knowledge. In return, I offer you this. I have only heard rumors and stories about your brother, so I hate to speak without being able to validate those accounts. I believe you have a good heart Ailekk, untethered and more passionate than you would have the rest of us believe, but a good heart nonetheless. I do not believe the same holds true for your brother. Even if but one of a dozen stories of him I heard are true, that one story would not speak well of his character. I would be cautious when you finally find him.” Ailekk asks Breschka to tell him some of the stories she has heard about his brother. Breschka simply responds, “I cannot repeat stories I do not know to be true, it is both disrespectful and dishonorable. If you’d like to hear unverified gossip, I’d suggest the castle tavern. It was previously called Raffolk’s Wench, but I hear they are in the process of renaming it as we speak.” Breschka thanks Ailekk both for his time, but also for bringing the information to him. She asks that he share any information they might find about the talismans to her as soon as possible. Ailekk Finds Anna Anna doesn’t stick around for long, she comes to say farewell to Ailekk before leaving. While they are burdensome, she has decided she must make her way back into the city to both check on her parents and help rescue more refugees as needed. This time, she does have a backpack on but it is mostly full of food, blankets, and medical supplies. Ailekk asks, “Are you okay? Did you make it through the chaos safely? Is there anything that you need my help with?” “I am fine. Not at the moment, keep your eyes open, help Brescka as she asks. She is a good person. I don’t trust Oron, but there’s little I can do about that right now. Mira has disappeared in the chaos, but the orphans are in the hands of capable monks, but you might go visit them as you get a chance.” Ailekk asks, “Do you know anything about gargoyles?” “Not much, just rumors. They say in the ancient places stone gargoyles can come to life. They usually protect treasures of some kind, in the service of a greater evil. That kind of stuff.” Ailekk asks, “Can you help me find Kaska? Do you have any ideas where or how I might find him?” “Not at the moment, I have little idea where he might be. If I had to guess I’d say he’s underground with other members of the Thieves’ Guild, laying low.” Ailekk asks, “Can you tell me about Kaska? What does he do? Where does he live? Etc?” It is obvious she doesn’t want to answer Ailekk’s questions, but she does understand how much he needs the answers. She responds in Auran, “I can tell you this Ailekk, I have tried very hard over the last couple of years to look out for him. I travel much, so I’m not around as often as I like. Your brother has found his calling in the world of ground-walkers. Unfortunately, I don’t think he is a better soul for it. He has his moments, like with the orphans. But where you are searching for your brother, locals of this land fear his name, because it means their death. I told him you were here, he dismissed my words as tales or lies. He has become cynical Ailekk. Seek his as you must, just as I must leave now to go check on my pretentious, hedonistic, and self-absorbed parents. Do not set too lofty an expectation for what you will find. Good luck.” Ailekk’s Activities After his conversations with Oron, Brescka, and Anna, Ailekk spends the first evening transcribing the scrolls in the study. He then retreats back to the dungeon, which is still safe at the moment and begins going at one of the gargoyle head with a hammer and chisel (he manage to find them in a room of the jail with a large table with wheels on it and rope). In an office next to that room was Behyla, Urd’s brother who seemed to be setting up shop. A soldier warned him that soon the secret passageway to Raffolk’s study would be closed off for security reasons on Oron’s orders. While doing so, some occasional patrols and groups of refugees come past. No one really questions what he is doing, but a few people do look at him rather funny. He manages, through the evening to eventually chip the entire face off without it moving, animating, or otherwise coming to life. Curious. The next day Ailekk spends his time looking for a historian. He finds out that Swell, Urd, and others have been having similar issues. While Raffolk’s guards easily switched side and are now loyal (so they say) to Breschka and Oron, Raffolk’s senior staff have not been so easily swayed. They have been taken by guards to a prison in an untold location in the castle. Until the castle and nearby parts of the city have been retaken, almost everyone is either fighting, helping the wounded, or attending to refugees. When Ailekk visits the castle library, it is silent and empty. And… it does have very high cielings. In fact, it’s quite possible the first “room” Ailekk has ever been in that doesn’t make him feel claustrophobic. The large is a large 3 storied room, it is not a perfect rectangle, as it is built onto the party of the castle where guest quarters reside, and is not to far from the den and the siblings’ rooms. Wooden banisters go up the sides of the walls to reach taller books. In one corner, slightly about the platform at the 3rd level, is a “crows nest” reading area with a couple of cushioned couches, some end-tables, and places for setting books. After searching around [I made a perception roll for Ailekk in Roll20, you can see it in the chat log. He got a very good score.] Ailekk discovers some maps in the library, including a map of the castle [I may or may not have time to draw this out]. There he locates the royal alchemist’s laboratory. He visits the lab, with his gargoyle face. The lab is dusty and looks like it hasn’t been used in years. It looks as though the alchemist returning with Prince Raffolk started to have it cleaned but only got as far as a table by the door, everything else is filthy. He does, however, find several crates of alchemy supplies behind the door that were apparently brought in with the Raffolk’s alchemist. The ingredients into crates are packed, and fresh. Ailekk spends through days looking for signs of the gargoyles, cleaning the Alchemy Lab, and occasionally going outside to help Cassius when him and his unit look like they are in trouble. Fortunately the lab is in a tower and Ailekk has a pretty good viewpoint from the window. He does notice over the first three days that Cassius is not only fighting a lot, but doesn’t seem to be sleeping maybe as much as he should. While no expert on ground-walker appearance, even less so with whatever type of ground-walker Cassius is, he’s looking a bit less red than usual and more pinkish. The Orphans Ailekk manages to find the orphans staying in the castle. Some of the monks of Tamara have been taking care of them, but Mira is no where to be found. The monks inform him that during the journey to the castle she was separated from the rest. She saw a Dragon Knight walking around with a bewildered look, holding a book of some kind. He was surrounded by skeletons. Mira told the monks to go ahead with the children and went off to check out the situation. She never returned. In the mean time, Ailekk watches over the children when he has a chance, even letting visiting the one who gave him the necklace, a small boy named "Newt". Newt is on the younger side, with dark brown hair and tan skin. He seems both bright and brave, if not a little over enthusiastic and quite naive. The children are used to polishing weapons and happily polish Ailekk's new javelin. Newt especially seems happy to do it, and also seems to know there is something special about it.