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<blockquote data-quote="MarauderX" data-source="post: 1718711" data-attributes="member: 9990"><p><strong><span style="font-size: 15px">Session 15: Barricade overcome, Discoveries at the Top</span></strong></p><p></p><p>The group paused at the door to the spiral steps to discuss whether they should continue on or rest. Looking around, the uninjured Thovaas proposed going on which was seconded by nearly everyone. Alex searched the door for anything out of place before popping the lock open to reveal the steps leading only upward. Winding their way up, they saw another door at the top. Listening, they heard whispering voices on the other side and they tried to peer under the door. Thovaas counted silently to the others then burst through the door into the room. </p><p></p><p>Awaiting them on the other side was a semicircular barricade with the stair door at its center. Behind the various heights of the mixed furniture, barrels and boxes were a group of hobgoblins and four goblins stood and kneeled on one of the tables. In the gap across from the stairs stood the heavily armored hobgoblin that they had seen in the lobby below. The hobgoblins pulled back their bows with smiles showing jagged teeth, and the goblins aimed their crossbows just as the party line went decidedly in full reverse. </p><p></p><p>Backing down the stairs, everyone jumbled together before heading down the stone steps. Thovaas stumbled and slid backwards to land on his back at the top of the stair, and several missiles zipped over him to clatter against the stone. Standing and pulling himself out of the line of fire, Thovaas put his back to the wall of the stairs so as not to provide a target. The group fired a few shots in, trading arrows with the hobgoblins, and Thovaas took a hit in the arm through his shield as he timed their reloading. As this occurred the party heard the lumbering sound of shaking armor as the stocky hobgoblin approached the stair door. </p><p></p><p>The figure blocked the doorway first then stepped out onto the platform to face Thovaas a few steps below. He braced his shield in a way to get more leverage with his axe, but before he could strike Thovaas grabbed him around the legs and hauled them both tumbling down the stairs. They crashed down to Jerrin and his companion Tempest, and tempest snapped at the tangled two and struck Thovaas. Thovaas felt the hobgoblin struggling to break free and kept rolling down the stairs taking Tempest with them as Jerrin hopped over them and began casting a spell. They tumbled into Bratton next, but the stout dwarf set his legs firmly and the three bounced against him then continued downward. </p><p></p><p>Thovaas controlled their descent and stopped past Bratton, where again the hobgoblin tried to escape Thovaas, but its armor covered body was held fast by him. The others joined in slashing at the hobgoblin as Thovaas pinned it to the stairs, and Bratton landed a deadly blow to its chest, and Thovaas felt its last breath escape. </p><p></p><p>At the top of the stairs a few of the hobgoblins had gathered to see what had become of their comrade when a celestial wolf appeared next to them and attacked the hobgoblin on the landing overlooking the action below. It mangled the creature’s thigh and Jerrin threw a dagger to pierce its neck and it leaned against the edge of the landing before falling to the stairs below. A hobgoblin attacked it, startled as he was, and another tried to get by him to attack. The wolf bit the hobgoblin’s calf causing it to fall backwards as the wolf dragged him to the floor. Jerrin ascended the stairs and he threw his dagger into its chest as the wolf tore at its other leg when it tried to stand on its good leg. The hobgoblin went limp just as the other tried to pry him to freedom from the wolf’s assault, and it retreated. The wolf jumped on one of the tables a hobgoblin had been using for cover and took several blows before being dispersed. </p><p></p><p>The Yaritza stood was lifted up by Thovaas and stood on his shoulders where she could see one of the goblins standing in anticipation on the table. Each took aim at one another but Yaritza shot first and struck the goblin in the forehead, snapping its head backwards before it fell off the table. Yaritza switched to Bratton’s shoulders to allow Thovaas up the stairs, but it didn’t allow her the height to get a good angle for another crossbow shot. </p><p></p><p>Thovaas charged up the stairs and stopped abruptly at the top beyond the line of sight for the hobgoblins in the room. Peaking out, he acquired the location of one and traded shots as it cowered behind a table. Jerrin led his wolf-hound companion with his knees and they charged into the room, leaping over the table to snap at the hobgoblin. It drew a scimitar, but didn’t land a blow before Jerrin and Tempest brought it down. The others then flooded into the room. </p><p></p><p>Thovaas went for the goblins as they stood on the table opposite and Jerrin guided Tempest to the next hobgoblin behind a stack of crates. Alex made his way into position as Bratton was engaged by a second hobgoblin. Yaritza moved into a flanking position as it stood higher up on the table, and with a piercing blow Alex brought it down. Bratton finished off the other. </p><p></p><p>A lighter-skinned goblin wielding an axe darted away from Jerrin towards the stair door opposite the one the party had come in. Thovaas pointed and Jerrin was already chasing the creature down. Its body lay stretched out reaching for the door, and Tempest spat out the lifeless corpse at Jerrin’s command. </p><p></p><p>Looking around, the group paused to search the room. They saw much of the same refuse as they had below, with most of the beds that had been arranged around the room in disrepair. They tossed away trash as they gathered the valuables from the room, mostly coins that were found in a few footlockers. </p><p></p><p>*****</p><p></p><p>The group decided to rest, and barricaded themselves into the room. Rotating long watches they rested until the following morning as they used spare torches in the room to provide constant light. The next morning Alex opened the door to the stairs and climbed them quietly with Yaritza tagging along silently behind. He felt cloth covering the door at the top of stairs, sealing it tightly to the frame. Alex tugged at the black cloth, listening at the door to hear voices talking occasionally, but their casual tone suggested that they did not hear him or didn’t care. Tearing it all away, Alex could make out that the door was not barricaded, and with Yaritza’s help determined that it might be held fast with magic. </p><p></p><p>Taking this news to the others, the group then discussed an alternate plan. Jerrin would shift his form to that of an eagle to inspect the top of the tower and see if they could enter there. If so, he would take a rope and secure it to the top for the others to climb. Once there they would try to enter from the top to catch their foe in a less hardened direction. From there they hoped to catch the master of the tower by surprise and slay him, then scatter any of his remaining minions before them easily. </p><p></p><p>So they set the plan in motion. Jerrin cast a spell to call forth lightning before the others watched in astonishment as grew feathers and shifted to the form of an eagle. He swiftly took off from the group and circled upward, watching the empty town below for signs of activity. Once he saw the top of the tower he was all at once disgusted and angry. A large symbol that Jerrin did not know still made his bile rise, and he forced himself to focus on the other details at the top. On four sides of this symbol were wooden racks with manacles at each end to hold fast whatever sacrifice that might be part of the dark rituals performed there. Jerrin’s keen eyes focused on them and could tell that they might have been used recently. To the side of them was a pedestal with some parchment strapped or nailed into position. On the opposite side of the symbol were two human skeletons and one looked as if it had been blasted apart by fire as a large scorch mark was centered on its scattered bones. Furthermore a grate was there, likely the flue for the fireplaces, as was a hatch – what Jerrin was hoping for. He swooped down to grab the rope. </p><p></p><p>Alex ascended the slick side of the tower first and pulled himself up onto the tower top. Standing he felt a surge of fear well up in him, a fear that said to be anywhere else but there. Jerrin called down a bolt of lightening upon the pedestal and watched as splinters flew and the parchment on it burned. Startled, Alex fought the feeling of doom and moved around to the other side of the column to allow Thovaas up next. With Thovaas there, Alex felt a little calmer as surely with his knightly training he would know what to do. The others all made it to the top, and the end of the rope was securely tied in a harness around Tempest before hauling him up, much to his protest. </p><p></p><p>At the top they all noticed how from there they could see the entire shallow valley they had crossed through, all along the edge of the crescent-shaped cliff and the whole of the plateau behind them. The group moved to inspect the pedestal and noted the paper on it might have been a diagram of some sort, with notation and other text to the sides. Glancing again at the symbol centered on the top of the tower, they saw it was a 6” trough set into the stone, rough in spots and perfectly smooth in others. The morning sun rose and shone down on the top of the tower to reveal the bottom of the trough was a sickly deep red that looked like dried paint. </p><p></p><p>Quickly they pulled their eyes from it and inspected the hatch in the roof that opened upwards. Alex peered downwards to see an ornate room, empty of anything moving. The others used the rope to lower him down into the room and he landed on top of the large desk below. Carefully moving so as not to disturb the papers on the desk Alex dropped to the floor below and took another look around the room as the others started to come down the rope. </p><p></p><p>The first thing they noticed was four long tapestries covering one of the walls of the octagonal room. Along another and behind the desk was a map of the local area, with several positions marked with points and paths. It was clear that several points were of the goblin lairs, the various homesteads, and several other miscellaneous points. Sukyskin was circled several times, and several lines protruded from Chautauqua towards it. Nearby were several smaller cabinets full of notation and other papers. </p><p></p><p>Across the room near the only door was a large tub full of steaming water, and across from it were a lavish bench and several fur rugs dyed red with ornate markings. The rugs shimmered and seemed to warm and sooth those that stood upon it. The group noticed a patch of fur that had collected towards the fireplace, probably from sleeping in the same spot for some time. Perfumes and costume jewelry was laid about on a well-made cabinet. </p><p></p><p>Alex and the others searched the room for any hidden treasures or secrets and came up with two large locked chests. Alex ran his hands over the edges slowly searching for anything peculiar. Not sensing anything he slipped the lock open with a click and pulled the iron-bound lid open with a slight hiss, and Alex reacted to close the lid again but it was too late and an explosion of icy chill froze everything within reach. Alex pried his frostbitten hands from the top of the chest a kicked the open chest with his foot and noted the pile of frozen coins within. </p><p></p><p>Alex took a few minutes to thaw himself before taking a look at the second. Examining it with great care, he detected three needles bathed with a viscous poison, and they pointed outward from the complicated lock. Tripping the set switch, Alex disarmed the trap and began working to open the lock. After a while he finally opened the box with a wary hand, and it revealed an upper tray of potions and empty vials. Several of them were labeled with crude markings on a leather strap that Alex made out to be a curative potion. A ring shown at the bottom of the chest, as did a second smaller lock box. Alex pulled out the box and did the same inspection on it and realized that it was imbued with a magic that was either a trap or was used to seal the box shut. </p><p></p><p>Then they all heard voices beyond the stair door. They waited for more, but none came, and their guard relaxed after several minutes of silence. Deciding to leave the majority of the treasure behind they looked to open the door and go after whoever resides in the luxurious room.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="MarauderX, post: 1718711, member: 9990"] [B][SIZE=4]Session 15: Barricade overcome, Discoveries at the Top[/SIZE][/B] The group paused at the door to the spiral steps to discuss whether they should continue on or rest. Looking around, the uninjured Thovaas proposed going on which was seconded by nearly everyone. Alex searched the door for anything out of place before popping the lock open to reveal the steps leading only upward. Winding their way up, they saw another door at the top. Listening, they heard whispering voices on the other side and they tried to peer under the door. Thovaas counted silently to the others then burst through the door into the room. Awaiting them on the other side was a semicircular barricade with the stair door at its center. Behind the various heights of the mixed furniture, barrels and boxes were a group of hobgoblins and four goblins stood and kneeled on one of the tables. In the gap across from the stairs stood the heavily armored hobgoblin that they had seen in the lobby below. The hobgoblins pulled back their bows with smiles showing jagged teeth, and the goblins aimed their crossbows just as the party line went decidedly in full reverse. Backing down the stairs, everyone jumbled together before heading down the stone steps. Thovaas stumbled and slid backwards to land on his back at the top of the stair, and several missiles zipped over him to clatter against the stone. Standing and pulling himself out of the line of fire, Thovaas put his back to the wall of the stairs so as not to provide a target. The group fired a few shots in, trading arrows with the hobgoblins, and Thovaas took a hit in the arm through his shield as he timed their reloading. As this occurred the party heard the lumbering sound of shaking armor as the stocky hobgoblin approached the stair door. The figure blocked the doorway first then stepped out onto the platform to face Thovaas a few steps below. He braced his shield in a way to get more leverage with his axe, but before he could strike Thovaas grabbed him around the legs and hauled them both tumbling down the stairs. They crashed down to Jerrin and his companion Tempest, and tempest snapped at the tangled two and struck Thovaas. Thovaas felt the hobgoblin struggling to break free and kept rolling down the stairs taking Tempest with them as Jerrin hopped over them and began casting a spell. They tumbled into Bratton next, but the stout dwarf set his legs firmly and the three bounced against him then continued downward. Thovaas controlled their descent and stopped past Bratton, where again the hobgoblin tried to escape Thovaas, but its armor covered body was held fast by him. The others joined in slashing at the hobgoblin as Thovaas pinned it to the stairs, and Bratton landed a deadly blow to its chest, and Thovaas felt its last breath escape. At the top of the stairs a few of the hobgoblins had gathered to see what had become of their comrade when a celestial wolf appeared next to them and attacked the hobgoblin on the landing overlooking the action below. It mangled the creature’s thigh and Jerrin threw a dagger to pierce its neck and it leaned against the edge of the landing before falling to the stairs below. A hobgoblin attacked it, startled as he was, and another tried to get by him to attack. The wolf bit the hobgoblin’s calf causing it to fall backwards as the wolf dragged him to the floor. Jerrin ascended the stairs and he threw his dagger into its chest as the wolf tore at its other leg when it tried to stand on its good leg. The hobgoblin went limp just as the other tried to pry him to freedom from the wolf’s assault, and it retreated. The wolf jumped on one of the tables a hobgoblin had been using for cover and took several blows before being dispersed. The Yaritza stood was lifted up by Thovaas and stood on his shoulders where she could see one of the goblins standing in anticipation on the table. Each took aim at one another but Yaritza shot first and struck the goblin in the forehead, snapping its head backwards before it fell off the table. Yaritza switched to Bratton’s shoulders to allow Thovaas up the stairs, but it didn’t allow her the height to get a good angle for another crossbow shot. Thovaas charged up the stairs and stopped abruptly at the top beyond the line of sight for the hobgoblins in the room. Peaking out, he acquired the location of one and traded shots as it cowered behind a table. Jerrin led his wolf-hound companion with his knees and they charged into the room, leaping over the table to snap at the hobgoblin. It drew a scimitar, but didn’t land a blow before Jerrin and Tempest brought it down. The others then flooded into the room. Thovaas went for the goblins as they stood on the table opposite and Jerrin guided Tempest to the next hobgoblin behind a stack of crates. Alex made his way into position as Bratton was engaged by a second hobgoblin. Yaritza moved into a flanking position as it stood higher up on the table, and with a piercing blow Alex brought it down. Bratton finished off the other. A lighter-skinned goblin wielding an axe darted away from Jerrin towards the stair door opposite the one the party had come in. Thovaas pointed and Jerrin was already chasing the creature down. Its body lay stretched out reaching for the door, and Tempest spat out the lifeless corpse at Jerrin’s command. Looking around, the group paused to search the room. They saw much of the same refuse as they had below, with most of the beds that had been arranged around the room in disrepair. They tossed away trash as they gathered the valuables from the room, mostly coins that were found in a few footlockers. ***** The group decided to rest, and barricaded themselves into the room. Rotating long watches they rested until the following morning as they used spare torches in the room to provide constant light. The next morning Alex opened the door to the stairs and climbed them quietly with Yaritza tagging along silently behind. He felt cloth covering the door at the top of stairs, sealing it tightly to the frame. Alex tugged at the black cloth, listening at the door to hear voices talking occasionally, but their casual tone suggested that they did not hear him or didn’t care. Tearing it all away, Alex could make out that the door was not barricaded, and with Yaritza’s help determined that it might be held fast with magic. Taking this news to the others, the group then discussed an alternate plan. Jerrin would shift his form to that of an eagle to inspect the top of the tower and see if they could enter there. If so, he would take a rope and secure it to the top for the others to climb. Once there they would try to enter from the top to catch their foe in a less hardened direction. From there they hoped to catch the master of the tower by surprise and slay him, then scatter any of his remaining minions before them easily. So they set the plan in motion. Jerrin cast a spell to call forth lightning before the others watched in astonishment as grew feathers and shifted to the form of an eagle. He swiftly took off from the group and circled upward, watching the empty town below for signs of activity. Once he saw the top of the tower he was all at once disgusted and angry. A large symbol that Jerrin did not know still made his bile rise, and he forced himself to focus on the other details at the top. On four sides of this symbol were wooden racks with manacles at each end to hold fast whatever sacrifice that might be part of the dark rituals performed there. Jerrin’s keen eyes focused on them and could tell that they might have been used recently. To the side of them was a pedestal with some parchment strapped or nailed into position. On the opposite side of the symbol were two human skeletons and one looked as if it had been blasted apart by fire as a large scorch mark was centered on its scattered bones. Furthermore a grate was there, likely the flue for the fireplaces, as was a hatch – what Jerrin was hoping for. He swooped down to grab the rope. Alex ascended the slick side of the tower first and pulled himself up onto the tower top. Standing he felt a surge of fear well up in him, a fear that said to be anywhere else but there. Jerrin called down a bolt of lightening upon the pedestal and watched as splinters flew and the parchment on it burned. Startled, Alex fought the feeling of doom and moved around to the other side of the column to allow Thovaas up next. With Thovaas there, Alex felt a little calmer as surely with his knightly training he would know what to do. The others all made it to the top, and the end of the rope was securely tied in a harness around Tempest before hauling him up, much to his protest. At the top they all noticed how from there they could see the entire shallow valley they had crossed through, all along the edge of the crescent-shaped cliff and the whole of the plateau behind them. The group moved to inspect the pedestal and noted the paper on it might have been a diagram of some sort, with notation and other text to the sides. Glancing again at the symbol centered on the top of the tower, they saw it was a 6” trough set into the stone, rough in spots and perfectly smooth in others. The morning sun rose and shone down on the top of the tower to reveal the bottom of the trough was a sickly deep red that looked like dried paint. Quickly they pulled their eyes from it and inspected the hatch in the roof that opened upwards. Alex peered downwards to see an ornate room, empty of anything moving. The others used the rope to lower him down into the room and he landed on top of the large desk below. Carefully moving so as not to disturb the papers on the desk Alex dropped to the floor below and took another look around the room as the others started to come down the rope. The first thing they noticed was four long tapestries covering one of the walls of the octagonal room. Along another and behind the desk was a map of the local area, with several positions marked with points and paths. It was clear that several points were of the goblin lairs, the various homesteads, and several other miscellaneous points. Sukyskin was circled several times, and several lines protruded from Chautauqua towards it. Nearby were several smaller cabinets full of notation and other papers. Across the room near the only door was a large tub full of steaming water, and across from it were a lavish bench and several fur rugs dyed red with ornate markings. The rugs shimmered and seemed to warm and sooth those that stood upon it. The group noticed a patch of fur that had collected towards the fireplace, probably from sleeping in the same spot for some time. Perfumes and costume jewelry was laid about on a well-made cabinet. Alex and the others searched the room for any hidden treasures or secrets and came up with two large locked chests. Alex ran his hands over the edges slowly searching for anything peculiar. Not sensing anything he slipped the lock open with a click and pulled the iron-bound lid open with a slight hiss, and Alex reacted to close the lid again but it was too late and an explosion of icy chill froze everything within reach. Alex pried his frostbitten hands from the top of the chest a kicked the open chest with his foot and noted the pile of frozen coins within. Alex took a few minutes to thaw himself before taking a look at the second. Examining it with great care, he detected three needles bathed with a viscous poison, and they pointed outward from the complicated lock. Tripping the set switch, Alex disarmed the trap and began working to open the lock. After a while he finally opened the box with a wary hand, and it revealed an upper tray of potions and empty vials. Several of them were labeled with crude markings on a leather strap that Alex made out to be a curative potion. A ring shown at the bottom of the chest, as did a second smaller lock box. Alex pulled out the box and did the same inspection on it and realized that it was imbued with a magic that was either a trap or was used to seal the box shut. Then they all heard voices beyond the stair door. They waited for more, but none came, and their guard relaxed after several minutes of silence. Deciding to leave the majority of the treasure behind they looked to open the door and go after whoever resides in the luxurious room. [/QUOTE]
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