Two horsemen ride up to a tavern...

"So be it, give him his blade and he can face me. Or if you prefer I will give you a quick death." Kaed nods, happy with the suggestion from Kou. "Do you object Cal, or can we finish this now? The challenge in his voice is there, as if daring his companion to argue.

That's what the marks are for then, Thrandimir thinks to himself, standing and beckoning to Katrin. "I have a notion," he tells her quietly. "I suspect that Gesrik is finding his bandits by the marks that he has placed upon them. If we keep one with us and alive, he may come to us ."

Katrin raises an eyebrow. "Hmm, not a bad idea." She cocks her head to the side and looks at the almost-garroted man.  "Any particular reason you and your friends decided to camp here?"

He warily scratches the mark on his chest, looking uncomfortable at the notion. "We use caves for shelter all the time. This one just happened to have something in it." 

Katrin smiles disarmingly. "Just curious." She looks from Thrandimir to Ascian. "So if we're not killing him. Thrandimir, I have something that requires your attention." She gestures to the large doorway. "There are some words carved into the stone, guessing in Old Tollanian. Got a way to read them?"

Cal sighs heavily at the barbarian's strong headed challenge and leans over towards the bandit, "As I said mister, your time would be short once my companions returned. I will do as I said, and for your sake I would hope you were being honest about what ya knew."  He takes a step closer to the proud warrior, and as he approaches it becomes clear how much he towers over Kaed. The firbolg leans down and gives a nod, "Kaed, you are astute as always. These men committed a real bad crime. They deserve to face justice. And we can make sure they do! I would nevertheless ask you to consider waiting just a little bit longer for that. Consider this: that man you proudly cut down over there," he says, pointing to the corpse of Uriah, "was the leader of this group. He'd already surrendered, and as Kou said, he - as much as anyone - deserved a chance to go down fighting. Anyway that's neither here nor there, whether you abide by a code of honor isn't my point, it's what this here fella said. Uriah knew their leader, and was the one who introduced everyone here to him, and got them this nasty magical mark. If Uriah were still alive, we could've asked him all sorts of questions about their leader and how to find him and whatnot, dontchaknow?" He gives a shrug and lets out a deep breath, "Anyway my point is if you stop to think more long term before letting the anger take over, you could arguably increase  the amount of justice you get to deal out, y'know? As this man is now one of the only links we know of to the leader, and we know this leader is in charge of not just this group but those other bandits we fought and likely more, would it be better to cut that link apart now  or see if we can't make do with what's left to cut the head off the snake, rather than its tail?" Cal smiles down at the man and takes a step to the side, gesturing towards the bandit, "Choice is yours, friend. Do you value a small amount of justice now , or do you want to get justice for Miss Fliek and Mister Flimm and all others victimized by this hobgoblin and his men?"

Curious himself, Thrandimir takes out his spellbook and settles down on a nearby rock to weave a ritual of translation. MITTO TIBI NAVEM PRORA PVPPIQVE CARENTEM The letters remain constant, but the divination unveils new meaning to the wizard. I send you a ship lacking stern and bow. N AVE M s hi p "Aha!" Thrandimir declares. "It's a pass phrase riddle, Katrin, in old Tollanian. Would you like me to open the door? Or should we wait for the others?"

Katrin smiles at the wizards quick thinking and enthusiasm. "Perhaps we should wait. Who knows what's waiting on the other side." Caution. Caution is what is required here.

"What justice will he face, when this is done? What lengths will you go to drag this dead man walking around to avoid the unpleasantness of executing him? I do not care whether you agree with my choices, I killed the other man because he fought me, he fought until he knew he was beaten. He was a bully, who wouldn't back down until somebody showed him he wasn't strong enough, not because he was sorry for his choices. If I have to kill a hundred like him to make the world a better place then I will, happily."  " Have this one as your pet, if you wish, keep him fed and watered, nurse him to health, and become his friend if you wish. When he has served his usefulness he is dead. I hope you understand me."  Kaed turns and walks away back to searching the body of Uriah, having sheathed his sword on the way. 

As the barbarian storms off after seemingly completely missing the point of what he’d said, Cal turns to Kou and chuckles, “I fear our friend’s immense pride may have clogged his ears. Anyway, what is the situation in that cave? Shall we go to them or will they be returning here?”

Kaed hears Cal's comments as he rifles through the pockets of the bandit, his anger still clouding his mind, he was finding it harder and harder to concentrate, turning he stared into the campfire as it crackled low. He felt the strange swell in his chest that had preceded the magical barrier he had created, it was almost the same but then again he could feel different strands of energy and as he collected them with his mind the clearing got darker and darker, just in time he realised he was extinguishing the fire, a few embers remained and he quickly reversed the flow of energy allowing the flames to pick up again. Another gift. Whatever had been brought out of him, he seemed to have a number oc very useful skills. He squatted down staring at the blaze as it jumped about erratically while it regained its proper balance, he felt its warmth and distracted himself with the colours shifting. He knew he would not see eye to eye with Cal, it mattered relatively little to him, but he couldn't find the energy to continue arguing with the smug firbolg.  " They are busy torturing the wounded one in there, hopefully they wont make too much of a mess and we can have somewhere warm to sleep when they are done." Kaed replies to Cal, his voice flat. "I came out to secure the horses and make sure you didn't get into any trouble on your own."

Responding to Cal with a shrug, his tone weary  "I understand his desire for justice, this man is an accomplice at best a murderer at worst. Letting him go unpunished is an offense to his victims. But you're right, I would prefer to hook the big fish and deal with the minnow afterwards. But to be clear this is just a reprieve,  Tempus' justice will find him." Looking back to the cave as Kaed mentions the torture "And depending on what the pair leaves behind, it may be sooner rather than later." With a deep sigh, clearly reluctant to go back into the cavern "Let us see what type of mess our companions have made." And begins to walk back into the cave.

"Hmm, I'm sorry Mister Kou, I suppose I might not have said it as clearly as I wanted to in my head but I swear I was trying to be pretty clear that this man can, should, and will face justice - likely from Kaed over there, even - I just was hoping to help him understand that we can achieve more by holding off for now, y'know?"  He helps the bound man up to his feet, despite the ropes, and aids in walking him back with them into the caves towards their other companions.

Kou, Kaed, Callahan and the bandit make their way into the open area of the cave. The bandit restrained by Ascian, Terry, yelps as he sees the other. "Bo!" he shouts.  "Terry," Cal's bandit says as he's set down next to the other one. "You okay?" Terry just glares, the garrote around his throat highlighting the obvious answer.

" Looks like they are just getting started Bo, keep watching, it may very well be like looking into the future for you." Kaed moves about the room handing out a heath potion to everyone from the collected loot. " Having a nice time Terry? Wishing you had made different choices in your life right about now I guess..." Kaed asks quietly as he passes the injured man. He then stands under the inscription looking, for the first time at the writing.

The scene that awaited Kou was less than expected but yet still more than his current mood would allow for. And sitting through another round of torture, would do little to improve it. Taking the potion from Kaed he says "I'm going to gather the merchants, the last thing we need is another group of bandit's or a monster to come across them in the night. I'm taking their horse and cart, with Tempus' grace I should be back soon." Leaving the cave he prepares the cart for travel, and ties his own horse to it as well. Kou then does a quick inspection of the cart before preparing to leave.

Following the cleric from the cave Kaed calls after him "Kou, do you want some company? You never know." Kaed looks back at the rest of the group and the two captives, " They seem to have pretty much everything under control here."

Smiling at Kaed he says his mood brightening a bit "Thank you my friend, an extra pair hands & eyes would be a blessing."

" Good, let us hope the catfolk have kept out of trouble." Kaed takes his own horse as Kou prepares to take the cart, "I'll ride separately in case we need to call on the others quickly, not that we should have much to worry about. How many bandits can there be working these lands, they'd be robbing each other after a day or two."

Looking in the back he finds the open chests, and after a quick examination finds that the bandit's had used a false bottom to hide some of stolen loot. Kou unloads the chests bringing them into the cavern with the rest of the party. He then sets off with Kaed to gather the Tabaxi merchants.

As Kou and Kaed approach the wagon and horses, they find the two tabaxi sitting on the back of the cart, smoking something fragrant. Fliek turns to the two. "Ah, you're alive," she says. "That's good."

Back in the cave, Cal winces at the sight of the garrote around a man's neck. He swallows down a response as he brings Bo into the cave and recounts the information he learned himself. "...Basically it sounds like there's a real mean ol' hobgoblin out there running his own little - but, er, not so little I suppose  - gang of bandits. The fellas we met on the road, these guys here tonight that attacked poor Miss Fliek and Mister Flimm... I think we-" his train of thought comes to a sudden halt as he spots the mystical door Thrandimir and the others are near, "Ohhh, what's that! Whaddya thinks in there Mister Thrandimir?"  He sprints over to examine it himself, noting the ancient scripture and carvings as he runs a hand along it.

Katrin raises an eyebrow at Cal. "It's a door, Cal. To that Retreat we're looking for. And Thrandimir figured out how to open it." She pats the old stone lovingly. "Something's on the other side, according to our garroted friend over there."

"Well I know it's a door, Lady Katrin, but it's no ordinary door." Turning to the wizard, he inquires further,  "What exactly's on the other side? Mystic power? Arcane relics? The stolen items?"

Katrin laughs. "Try something that's moving around. Possibly alive. Terry here says they've been hearing noises."

"Something alive? You mean, there's someone locked in there? Or..."  he takes a cautious step back,  "...some thing  that's been locked out  of here..." 

"Precisely," Thrandimir remarks with a smirk. "It could be some kind of arcane defence mechanism. A defender from a bygone age. Regardless, yes, I believe that I could open the door. As for the hobgoblin, his name is Gesrik . Our new friend here was very forthcoming. Nevertheless, I'm glad to hear that your information aligns with our own. I'd hate to think what I might have to do if young Terry here was a liar ."

Kou smiles at the Tabaxi, "We survived and brought the bandits Tempus' justice." Dismounting he begins to untie his horse from the wagon, speaking as he works "We found a cave to hole up in for the night, and didn't feel right leaving you out here alone for the night.  We found this on the bandit's, but it's yours now. Lets move"

"I'm not a liar!" Terry says, wincing as the garrote bites into his throat. "Can you let me go now? I can't even walk." Fliek nods, and hops up into the cart. She opens the false-bottomed chest and checks it. "Good," she says, grinning at Flimm. "They were too dumb to find it."  Flimm laughs, and takes Kou's spot on the wagon, preparing to drive it. He nods to Kou and Kaed. "Lead the way." The group arrives back at the cave entrance. Leaving the carts and horses tied nearby, they all head into the cave.

Cal looks to Thrand and Ash at Terry's plea, "Hey I think we can ease up on him now, yea? I doubt he or Bo are gonna run nowhere, and we already got lots of useful information from them both, y'know?"

Ascian had been quiet through the interrogation but looks up at Cal's request, and then to Thrandimir expectantly. 

"Cal might have a point", says Kaed unexpectedly, " We could definitely use one of them to check how dangerous whatever is on the other side of that door is. Good thinking." He nods to Cal as he walks past into the main area. " As we have a spare now, one is expendable."

Bo and Terry's eyes both go wide and their jaws hang open. "What?"  Terry says. "You don't know what's in there! That's just cruel!"

Striding into the room with the Tibaxi in tow, just  in time to hear the bandits mewling. Kou's voice thunders out "cruel!! Cruelty is taking a  mans  life for no other reason than greed. Look at those you tormented and ask them if our judgment is cruel!"  Eyes flickering with lightning he says " though between their cowardice and intellect I fear they would fare poorly even as guinea pigs. Their as likely to turn tail and hide than report back"

Katrin blinks at the sheer volume of Kou's voice echoing around the chamber. She looks at the two bandits. "I believe what he's trying to say is that you've both made very poor choices, and you've left yourselves with very few options. And none of them are good."

The two bandits seem to shrink away from the monk's ire, as much as they can, at least. His voice echoes around the chamber, leaving an eerie silence as it fades. In the silence, Thrandimir hears a faint sound coming from the other side of the door. At first, it sounds like a weird echo from the water dripping into the pool. But as it gets closer, he can hear footsteps. Many footsteps.  There's a dull thud against the stone door. And then another. And another. Soft, repeated blows -- almost like knocking.

sansasnark said: Ascian had been quiet through the interrogation but looks up at Cal's request, and then to Thrandimir expectantly. Thrandimir nods almost imperceptibly to Ascian when the rogue looks the wizard's way, as though to say ' do as he says... for now '. In truth, the old man's attention is is still focussed on the old Tollanian door. Tip, tap, tip, tap. CLOP. Thrandimir's eyes narrow and he steps closer to the door, tipping his staff forwards to reply with a simple knock knock .

The blows don't falter as Thrandimir knocks. Rather, they increase with intensity. Many impacts hit the stone. Thud. Thud thud thud thud. Thud thud. Thudthudthud thud thudthud thud thud thud. Thud thud....

Thrandimir strains his ears and taps again on the stone. Knock, knock, knock, knock.

" What are you doing, ancient one? Whar can you hear,are you trying to communicate with something?" Kaed whispers as he moves to stand close to Thrandimir, alert for any danger.

At Thrandimir's assertion, Ascian slowly unwinds the wire from Terry's neck, absently noting the deep red impressions indented into the bandit's skin as quick fingers simultaneously filch a dagger from the man's belt. For a moment he looks down at the man, considering tying him, but the wounded leg, Kou's proven speed, and Ascian's bow at his fingertips make it feel a wasted effort. "If he tries to run, I'll shoot,"  he says simply to Cal as he looks to Kaed and Thrandimir and trades his wire for his bow, the words as much for Terry's benefit as for Callahan's.

As Thrandimir begins tapping back, a thought crosses her mind. What if....? Katrin steps close to the stone door, pressing her palm flat to the stone. Her shield hand closes around the flaming sword, and whispers, "Wahrheit."  She waits a moment. But there's nothing. She pulls back her hand, and glances over at Thrandimir and Kaed, a worried look crossing her face for the first time that day. "Whatever is in there, it's not anything I can sense."

"Something or someone is on the other side," Thrandimir explains to Kaed absentmindedly. "I could open it... but we don't know what we will face."  The wizard glances over at Katrin, familiar with her spell. "It's not celestial, fey, fiend or undead, but that still leaves a lot of possibilities."

Katrins frown deepens. "No, it's not just that. It's like.....my magic can't get beyond the door. Somehow it's... … shielded."

"Hmmm," Thrandimir muses. "I would counsel patience. We should tackle this at full strength."

Agreeing with Thrandimir's words, the group decides to settle down and gather themselves for whatever may lie beyond the stone threshold. Cal spends the next hour alone in thought, sitting quietly in the corner of the room, staring intently into the glowing, star-projecting visage of the small orb he carries. There is an earnestness and air of solemnity to the oft-easygoing Firbolg that, were anyone paying attention to him, would stand out as unordinary. Periodically he looks up with wistful eyes to the rest of the group and the men bound before them, but never for long. By the end of the hour, he looks to the others once more and, sensing the group seemed rather rested and raring to go, softly calls out, "Before we do this, if it isn't too much trouble, I'd like to just check in with the stars... see if it is in fact the wise choice." He pauses, looks down, then hurriedly jolts his gaze back upwards, "Uh, that is to say, I do really want to see inside, but if it is dangerous, I'll just ask them to make sure it's worth the risk." With that he centers himself, sitting cross-legged on the uncomfortably cold, hard floor, and closes his eyes, opening them up within himself to the blinding darkness of the starry sky. The small crystal orb hovers up in front of his face, casting a luminous glow of twinkling twilight around itself as it starts to rotate in place. For the first few minutes, the stars seem to almost darken and disperse, one-by-one, until only a singly bright star remains. Cal's face is one of consternation and worry as he scrunches his brow. But then that last star is joined once more by another, and another and another, until once more the crystal is awash in its own heavenly glow. Finally, the orb lowers back into Cal's lap, and he opens his eyes to meet the group's gaze once more. Exhaling deeply, he stands up and starts to walk towards the door, lifting his staff beside him and balancing it from one side to another as if testing the weight, before proclaiming, "Whatever lies in wait for us will undoubtedly prove challenging. But the stars say not to worry! Our course of action will not be in vain! So, when you feel ready, I know we can take this on together! Mister Thrandimir, do you still hear active movement coming from the other side?"

Thrandimir has been absorbed in his spellbook for the past hour and looks up at Callahan absentmindedly when his name is called out. "Hm? The other side? No, the knocking stopped some time ago. Whatever it was went dormant or moved away from the entrance."

"Do you think that means whatever it was went away? Or maybe went to sleep?" He lowers his staff, "maybe I don't need to feel too worried after all then? Well, uh, either way I'm ready whenever you fellas are!"