Silver Moon
Adventurer
Chinese Take-out
Chapter 86, “A clue to the lost treasure trove”, October 1, 1018:
While exploring the gatehouse, inside of the secondary gate on the castle’s outer wall, Serita finds a secret compartment behind a wall sconce. The compartment contains several rolled up sheets of parchment, which have apparently been hidden for half a millennium, as the cover sheet was written by man who was a spy in the castle back during its occupancy by the Zhentarim.
She calls together the group to examine this pile of papers, and reads the cover sheet, which says:
“If you have indeed deciphered my clues, these are indeed the writings that I spoke of. Know that I have risked all to hide these away, all the while under the watchful eyes of the Arch-Mage Sememmon, who currently controls Darkhold. Never have they suspected that I am anything other than a gifted blacksmith, thus giving me access to most of Darkhold, including this hidden candelabrum area that Kessido Nakamura had notified us of. Unfortunately, the non-curable malady of Yan-Kheu as overtaken me, so I am unable to deliver these as I had originally planned.
From what I have observed, conquest is also high on the Zhentarim agenda, usually using the forces of both here and Zhentil Keep, a partial map of which is with the scrolls. They make extensive use of non-human tribes and mercenaries, with promises to be paid with the spoils of pillage after the battle. The chief intent in battle is to punish enemies or weaken rivals, and it is usually implemented after failure to take over the community from within. More of the Zhentarim is in the scroll by the scribe Aleth nin Taerin, who was slain by Sememmon for writing it.
The attacks on Chempka have ceased now during the reign of Jo-Kwan, a Zhentarim puppet, although the attacks on Pendir Chao have intensified in the years since the death of the great Fin-Wu. Assassination, theft, blackmail, kidnapping, and torture are all acceptable methods to advance Zhentarim goals. Zhentarim have no compunctions about hiding behind aliases or setting up rivals against each other, but usually wish to let their opponents know who is responsible for their downfall.
When these writings are found please see that they are brought to King Azoun VII of Vangerdahast, so that he can make use of them to help end this war against evil that his Great-grandfather had begun. Critical is the page from the Company's party log, which confirms that the Moonsea treasure is still within these walls. It was pure chance that Chief Zu-Shang's horse threw a shoe near the castle gate, and brought to me to fix before the log was taken from the saddlebags. I wish that I could have hidden the entire book, but removing the one page was risky enough. Also hidden are two of the eight scrolls written in his youth by the now Arch-Mage Kaddor on the little known history of this structure. If I am later able to retrieve more of these I will add them as well. I hope that King Azoun can make good use of this information.
Your servant, Sharper Sun-Tin Shing”
The following pages are as listed, a scroll about the Zhentarim, two parts of a map of Zhentil Keep, three scrolls by Kaddor about the Castle History, and finally the page of the Company's party log, which is of great interest due to the reference to treasure at the castle. Mojo reads the scroll, with it telling of the Company’s participation with an army fighting the Zhentarim. Mojo gets to the key paragraph, which reads:
“As the battle was fought one hundred miles to the north, the Company infiltrated Darkhold and rescued Myrmeen Lhal, who was being held prisoner there. She and Chong-tu quickly became close, personal friends. They are also credited with stealing away the Zhentarim's stolen Moonsea wealth, however what the Zhentarim never realized is that the booty never left Darkhold, as An-Chen Ming had shared with them the location within the Castle of a secret wall, where this vast amount of wealth was then secretly hidden away.”
Mojo is in favor of tearing apart the castle until they the hidden treasure. Kim-Sung suggests that, even though more than five centuries have passed, the records of the dwarf An-Chen Ming listed in the document would probably still be either in the Ming archives or in possession of the man’s descendants back in Chunming. Hiroshi says that, with Serita’s assistance, it would probably just take a few days to check and return, which would probably be a more efficient use of time then smashing walls at random. He would also like to let his family know that he and Kim have both survived this dangerous mission.
Hiroshi and Kim get into the bag of holdings, and Serita transforms into a giant white eagle. She picks up the bag, also taking the helm of teleportation and the extra bags of holding (temporarily leaving the shadow people in a dark part of the castle) and files back to Li-Tak’s shrine, where Duegar and Toshiro are still standing guard with the Hengeyokai. Toshiro recognizes the eagle as being Serita, and she gestures for the two of them to enter the bag.
Serita then flies them twenty miles west, to the section of the anti-magic shell where they first entered. Serita lands, and lets them out of the bag. The five adventurers exit the shell, and hike for six miles to the home of the druid Chong-tai, where they stay until one of the bags of holding and one of the teleportation devices regains its magic. They then teleport to Hiroshi’s home in Chunming. The remainder of the day is spent researching the information.
October 2, 1018
After making arrangements for Duegar and Toshiro, Hiroshi, Kim-Sung and Serita teleport back to the anti-magic shell, and enter through the barrier. Once back inside (and within sight of whatever Hengeyokai troops are watching them) Serita transforms back into bird form, clearly identifying herself as a druid. She, Hiroshi and Kim-Sung decide to wait there until a Bag of Holding is functioning again, to then have Serita fly them back to the castle.
Barthrock returns at around noontime with the giants, his cleric, and Ebony Shadow. He reports that the fifty-mile roundtrip journey was uneventful, but that they were clearly being observed by hundreds of Hengeyokai every step along the way. He says that the others have established a camp in a clearing not far from the river, approximately one hundred feet inside of the anti-magic shell.
The dwarf Tokrah supervises the loading of the remainder of the library onto the ship during the afternoon and evening. In addition to all of the bookcases, the large oak desks and chairs from the library are also loaded for this trip. At the party’s suggestion the giants also haul the bakery truck out of the river, and once it has drained of water, load it onto the top deck of the ship. It is pointed out that they should have thought to do that four days earlier, as Alton will now have a significant challenge trying to get it to ever run again. Also loaded for this trip are the remaining food and cooking equipment (except for the small amount that will still be needed by those remaining for the next half week). Barthrock also loads all of his team’s personal supplies with this trip.
Chapter 86, “A clue to the lost treasure trove”, October 1, 1018:
While exploring the gatehouse, inside of the secondary gate on the castle’s outer wall, Serita finds a secret compartment behind a wall sconce. The compartment contains several rolled up sheets of parchment, which have apparently been hidden for half a millennium, as the cover sheet was written by man who was a spy in the castle back during its occupancy by the Zhentarim.
She calls together the group to examine this pile of papers, and reads the cover sheet, which says:
“If you have indeed deciphered my clues, these are indeed the writings that I spoke of. Know that I have risked all to hide these away, all the while under the watchful eyes of the Arch-Mage Sememmon, who currently controls Darkhold. Never have they suspected that I am anything other than a gifted blacksmith, thus giving me access to most of Darkhold, including this hidden candelabrum area that Kessido Nakamura had notified us of. Unfortunately, the non-curable malady of Yan-Kheu as overtaken me, so I am unable to deliver these as I had originally planned.
From what I have observed, conquest is also high on the Zhentarim agenda, usually using the forces of both here and Zhentil Keep, a partial map of which is with the scrolls. They make extensive use of non-human tribes and mercenaries, with promises to be paid with the spoils of pillage after the battle. The chief intent in battle is to punish enemies or weaken rivals, and it is usually implemented after failure to take over the community from within. More of the Zhentarim is in the scroll by the scribe Aleth nin Taerin, who was slain by Sememmon for writing it.
The attacks on Chempka have ceased now during the reign of Jo-Kwan, a Zhentarim puppet, although the attacks on Pendir Chao have intensified in the years since the death of the great Fin-Wu. Assassination, theft, blackmail, kidnapping, and torture are all acceptable methods to advance Zhentarim goals. Zhentarim have no compunctions about hiding behind aliases or setting up rivals against each other, but usually wish to let their opponents know who is responsible for their downfall.
When these writings are found please see that they are brought to King Azoun VII of Vangerdahast, so that he can make use of them to help end this war against evil that his Great-grandfather had begun. Critical is the page from the Company's party log, which confirms that the Moonsea treasure is still within these walls. It was pure chance that Chief Zu-Shang's horse threw a shoe near the castle gate, and brought to me to fix before the log was taken from the saddlebags. I wish that I could have hidden the entire book, but removing the one page was risky enough. Also hidden are two of the eight scrolls written in his youth by the now Arch-Mage Kaddor on the little known history of this structure. If I am later able to retrieve more of these I will add them as well. I hope that King Azoun can make good use of this information.
Your servant, Sharper Sun-Tin Shing”
The following pages are as listed, a scroll about the Zhentarim, two parts of a map of Zhentil Keep, three scrolls by Kaddor about the Castle History, and finally the page of the Company's party log, which is of great interest due to the reference to treasure at the castle. Mojo reads the scroll, with it telling of the Company’s participation with an army fighting the Zhentarim. Mojo gets to the key paragraph, which reads:
“As the battle was fought one hundred miles to the north, the Company infiltrated Darkhold and rescued Myrmeen Lhal, who was being held prisoner there. She and Chong-tu quickly became close, personal friends. They are also credited with stealing away the Zhentarim's stolen Moonsea wealth, however what the Zhentarim never realized is that the booty never left Darkhold, as An-Chen Ming had shared with them the location within the Castle of a secret wall, where this vast amount of wealth was then secretly hidden away.”
Mojo is in favor of tearing apart the castle until they the hidden treasure. Kim-Sung suggests that, even though more than five centuries have passed, the records of the dwarf An-Chen Ming listed in the document would probably still be either in the Ming archives or in possession of the man’s descendants back in Chunming. Hiroshi says that, with Serita’s assistance, it would probably just take a few days to check and return, which would probably be a more efficient use of time then smashing walls at random. He would also like to let his family know that he and Kim have both survived this dangerous mission.
Hiroshi and Kim get into the bag of holdings, and Serita transforms into a giant white eagle. She picks up the bag, also taking the helm of teleportation and the extra bags of holding (temporarily leaving the shadow people in a dark part of the castle) and files back to Li-Tak’s shrine, where Duegar and Toshiro are still standing guard with the Hengeyokai. Toshiro recognizes the eagle as being Serita, and she gestures for the two of them to enter the bag.
Serita then flies them twenty miles west, to the section of the anti-magic shell where they first entered. Serita lands, and lets them out of the bag. The five adventurers exit the shell, and hike for six miles to the home of the druid Chong-tai, where they stay until one of the bags of holding and one of the teleportation devices regains its magic. They then teleport to Hiroshi’s home in Chunming. The remainder of the day is spent researching the information.
October 2, 1018
After making arrangements for Duegar and Toshiro, Hiroshi, Kim-Sung and Serita teleport back to the anti-magic shell, and enter through the barrier. Once back inside (and within sight of whatever Hengeyokai troops are watching them) Serita transforms back into bird form, clearly identifying herself as a druid. She, Hiroshi and Kim-Sung decide to wait there until a Bag of Holding is functioning again, to then have Serita fly them back to the castle.
Barthrock returns at around noontime with the giants, his cleric, and Ebony Shadow. He reports that the fifty-mile roundtrip journey was uneventful, but that they were clearly being observed by hundreds of Hengeyokai every step along the way. He says that the others have established a camp in a clearing not far from the river, approximately one hundred feet inside of the anti-magic shell.
The dwarf Tokrah supervises the loading of the remainder of the library onto the ship during the afternoon and evening. In addition to all of the bookcases, the large oak desks and chairs from the library are also loaded for this trip. At the party’s suggestion the giants also haul the bakery truck out of the river, and once it has drained of water, load it onto the top deck of the ship. It is pointed out that they should have thought to do that four days earlier, as Alton will now have a significant challenge trying to get it to ever run again. Also loaded for this trip are the remaining food and cooking equipment (except for the small amount that will still be needed by those remaining for the next half week). Barthrock also loads all of his team’s personal supplies with this trip.