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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Capellan" data-source="post: 1318665" data-attributes="member: 6294">"Forgotten Honour" by Eric Price (Dragon Scale Counters) - Part 5After using their wand of cure light wounds to heal their injuries from the battle, the adventurers search One Eye's lair, in the hope of making some some extra coins for their troubles.  There's nothing to be found, however - in fact, apart from some mouldering corpses, One Eye literally seems to have no belongings.  This rouses Macwood's suspicions, and he checks the Ogre's body, discovering an apparently nondescript leather bag which emanates magic.  The bard gleefully calls dibs on this bag of holding."So how do we let the kobolds know that we've killed One Eye?" Rose asks, "Should one of us go and tell them?""I think we should stake his head outside the cave, and wait where we are." Macwood's voice echoes out of the depths of the save, where he is carefully going through the contents of his new acquisition, "They'll see it eventually and come to us.""I'll cut his head off." Stormstrider volunteers."It's a good idea." Ming Li admits, "It will give us longer to rest and recover, and is a defensible location, should the creatures try to betray us.""Would they do that?" Rose wonders."They're kobolds." Is Twinkle's opinion, "Doing nasty things like that is in their nature."The kobolds, however, abide by the deal."You can reach the Grey One's home by going toward the rise of the sky-flame." a sibilant, reptilian voice calls out of the darkness that night, "Travel until the sky-flame is high and hot, and you will see a place of trees.  Good for shade.  Go there, and you will find his man-burrow.""So," Ming Li puzzles out the instructions, "travel east at dawn, and keep on that path until noon, then look for a wood.  Sounds easy enough.""Let's hope it's accurate." Elspeth sniffs, "Or those little freaks will be joining One Eye."Despite the adventurers' continued misgivings, the wood is where the kobolds' claim it is, and – once they are under the cover of the trees – signs of the old man's habitation of the area are readily apparent."I could have found this without the help of those kobolds." Stormstrider opines, pointing out some scuff marks of Gardan's boots upon the track."Perhaps," is Macwood's tart rejoinder, "But not all of us are as long-lived as you elves."Following the trails, the Company soon see that Gardan has chosen a pleasant vale for his retirement.  The trees form a canopy against the sun and the rain, but are not so dense as to make travel difficult, and the wood is filled with the scampering sounds of small animals and birds, and criss-crossed with small streams."Truffles have been dug up here." Macwood points to the base of a tree, a faraway look in his eyes, "They used to make a truffle soufflé, at home –""I think I see something." Twinkle interrupts, pointing through the trees.  Following the direction of her arm, the others catch a glimpse of the same thing the gnome has seen: a glimmer of something reflective, like water – or glass.In this case, the gleam is the latter: light reflecting off the dark windows of a small, but neatly-made wooden cottage, which has been weather-coated in a deep brown plaster."Not very good glass." Twinkle complains.  The gnome has boosted herself up onto the window-sill and has her hands cupped around here eyes as she tries to peer within, "Can't see through it, properly.""That's the way I like it." A deep, gravely voice interrupts, causing several of the group to start and Twinkle to slide off the sill with a squeak of surprise.  The speaker is a human male, clearly well into his sixties, with a fringe of hair around his bald skull, and a thick grey beard about his chin. "Made it m'self, along with every other part o' the place.  What's your business here, strangers?"  It occurs to them all at this point that the old man holds a woodsman's axe in his strong, gnarled hands."We seek Gardan, once sheriff of Amberdale." Ming Li explains."You've found him." The old man rests his axe on the ground, and leads on the haft, "You're from Amberdale, eh?  Don't recognise most of you … but you –" he points at Twinkle, "- you're Tallyhoop's niece, am I right?" "You remember me?" Twinkle looks guilty."Aye, I remember you.  Young trouble-maker." Gardan gives a mock scowl, then suddenly grins, "Of course, back then you were only as high as my knee.  These days, you're as high as some much more interesting places."  The old man cackles as the gnome flushes bright red at this innuendo, "Come inside, young folk.  There's room for all, if you don't mind getting cosy."Over a meal of malt beer and dark-grained bread, the adventurers explain their errand."Jarrek is Captain now?" the old man shakes his head, "Boy couldn't find his own rear with two hands and a map."No-one in the Company seems inclined to argue."But what about the tomb?" Twinkle persists, "Do you remember that?""You're an eager one, aren't you?" Gardan waggles his eyebrows, then laughs as the gnome hurriedly inches her chair away from him, "Aye, I remember the tomb.  'twas one of the few excitements o' my thirty years in the job.  We sealed the door with molten iron, but like as not you could simply chip that away, so we also got the high priest -" He pauses, "- that's old Danslaw, not the new fellow – to place a magical ward on it.""How do we unseal the ward?" asks Macwood."Danslaw said he made it so that only open to the touch of holy energy." Gardan squints, trying to remember the priest's exact words, "Said somethin' about priests channelin' good power, or bad, and that only the good energy would open it.""Like when the Padre blasted those zombies to dust?" Twinkle suggests."Or a healing spell." Macwood offers, "Stormstrider could cast one of those.""Can't you, as well?" Twinkle challenges him, "Ming Li got up again in that fight because of you.""Healing spells, me?" Macwood shrugs, "I just told her if she didn't get up again, I'd make sure I was the one who wrote her eulogy."</blockquote>

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