Last episode we left the Adventurers while they were in a spot of bother. A cranky Dwarf and a perturbed Tiefling were being held in the guardhouse for questioning, while Jett was hiding in a tree out the front of the guardhouse. Catsi and Naivara were still in the Inn, Catsi cleaning herself from the mud and rain, and Naivara taking some time to meditate - unaware of what had occurred with Bardryn and Tados. An 'extra': In the weeks that life had interrupted our normal game,an extra mini-game occurred with Catsi. In this mini-episode, she had finished cleaning herself and had come back down to the common room of the Inn to find her new friends had disappeared. Asking Lilith, the Innkeeper, she was told that Bardryn had run out after some guards with Tados following closely and that neither of them had returned. Lilith also mentioned that Jett had gone after them when they did not return and he had also not returned. Knowing the cart was safe and having faith in her new friends to sort themselves out, Catsi asked Lilith to make her some sweetcakes and after receiving them, went out onto the Inn's porch not wanting to go out into the rain again. When the rain had stopped and the village folk came out of thier houses to resume their chores, Catsi watched as the children of the village got together and started playing in the trees of the village centre. Seeing her opportunity, Catsi made her way over to them showing off her feline agillity by fluently climbing the tree and juming from the branches. She soon has the children in awe and surrounding her; none of whom had seen a Tabaxi before. As she fielded questions from the children she soon had them in her thrall and they all sat around her as she told them stories of her homeland. As she was doing this, Catsi began asking the children questions - while sharing her sweetcakes with them - and soon began to find out about heroes and villians of the Empire, as well as some legendary creatures. In a serendipidous happenstance, she also found out that one of the children was a son to a military strategist of the Empire. Seeing this as a prospect to obtain military help against Gareth she asked the child to take her to his father. At the strategists' home, Catsi told the man - Henry - what had happened to her and what she had seen as she fled the caverns of the mountains. This news caused Henry concern and he told her that he would follow up with the Elves of the region and see what they said about the monsters Catsi told him about. The Tabaxi thanked him and also asked if he could help her new friends that were being held in the guardhouse which Henry said he would try. The mini-episode ended with Catsi finding Jett in the tree and joining him in waiting. Main Campaign: Episode 15 began with Bardryn and Tados being confined to cells by the Captain while he conducted further enquiries, and sought Jett and Catsi for more questioning. The Captain sent out two soldiers to search for them, and Jett and Catsi watched them walk around town before Jett used his disguise kit to dress as one the guards and talk to them. This proved difficult, as the patrolling guards did not recognise him and were hesitant to answer his questions. Jett was able to get from them where Bardryn and Tados were being held; however, wisely chose not to enter the guardhouse deeming that the guards were close-knit and knew each other well. As Catsi and Jett waited in the tree for another half hour, footsteps were heard squelching thier way toward the two and, looking in the direction, saw Henry walking down to the guardhouse, and enter it. Fifteen minutes later, he exited, thanking a 'Kev' for his time, then walking back to his house. Jett and Catsi followed and spoke to him at his house, where they were told that though he tried, "Kev, the Captain of the Guardhouse" was a stern man and wanted to speak with them. Henry ended by telling them that they had no option but to "put some steel in your spine and go talk to him to sort this matter out." Mustering thier courage, Jett and Catsi entered the guardhouse and spoke with Kev where they were separated into two separated interview rooms and questioned about thier presence in Ensburn and the Cornog farm as Bardryn and Tados were. After the Captain investigated the information they gave him, all four were brought before the Captain and were finally told they were free to leave. The adventurers left no time to spare as they quickly packed up thier belongings. As they did so, Jett went to check on Naivara. After there was no answer to his knocking, he opened the door and entered her room where he found a note from her informing that she had to leave on a personal errand of importance and hoped to see them in the future. He met back with the others and told them about the message, and they quickly left the village, with thier new cart of treasure in tow. Heading back toward Ealinor, the four travelled without issue where they passed back through the ruined village. As they travelled through the village, Bardryn sppied a male sitting by the side of the road. The male purported to be a noble travelling to Larton whose horse had fled from him earlier in the day. As they spoke he asked to buy one of their horses for 100gp and Bardryn agreed, making a profit from her little pony. Continuing on, they travelled for another 2hrs where they reached clearing where Bardryn 'taste tested' the mushrooms. In the clearing they took a short rest, with Jett farming some of the mushrooms for a later use, before they continued on thier way another hour. At this time, they came across another clearing where they saw an empty campsite that was bloodied. Investigating the area they found a note that appeared like a diary entry that read: "We have reached a clearing near the entrance. The treasure will soon be ours. I know there are others coming but I am sure we are ahead of them and have arrived first.." the letter ends in a trail of blood. A blood trail leads off across the road and into the shrubbery beyond. Being people of good virtue, the four decide that they must see what happened to the people that made the camp and make sure they are okay. They follow the blood through the mud where they enter another clearing a little further into the forest. In this clearing there is a large stone hand and a small structure with stone stairs leading underground. Littered around the clearing are old skeletons and bones. Agreeing to investigate further, the four take the stair underground where the party enter a stone corridor with a dim light at the far end. Taking the corridor to the end they turn right into another longer corridor and find a door on thier left. Opening the door, they are met by two undead skeletons which they quickly eliminate. Finding nothing else in the room, they return to the corridor and go further down to find another door on their right. Opening this door they enter a bedroom with oversized pieces of
furniture. Tados sees a table with some paper on it and inspects; finds a note mostly
written in a language she does not understand, apart from a few words that are
in common – “find treasure”… “Get bones to build structure”…
Bardryn sees a large wooden chest but it is locked. Jett uses his
tools to try pick the lock but fails – the lock is too large for the tools.
Instead he tries to open the lock with his dagger and succeeds. Bardyn uses her
strength (17) to get the lid open and Catsi tries to help but with a low roll (5)
finds the lid too heavy. The lid is made of thick wood with a 4inch steel frame
and is heavy. Bardryn's Constitution is affected by the weight and rolls a 6 – she is barely
holding the lid up. Catsi tries again but still finds the lid too heavy for her
(STR 8), so Jett steps in and with a crit roll to equal 22 on his strength, is easily able
to open the lid the rest of the way.
Inside theyfind 1000gp, gems and stones that equal to 2000gp at max price, a Robe of Stars, and a Shield of Missile Attraction.
Bardryn inspects the dresser that sits on the oppposite side of the room where she finds one large hairbrush with black curly coarse
hair, and one comb with green straight coarse hair.