Session Forty-Three (Graveyard of Empires Summary)

Session 43 – Feb 4, 2015

4:00 pm in the foyer of the slaver keep above the village of Kaligan, 12th of Denrilden

As we loiter about the foyer to the keep, a familiar face saunters into the bailey. It’s the indomitable Angry Jack. Sharing a subdued smile with the boys, he explained his independent slaver investigation lead him to Kaligan. Shortly after his arrival he noticed our troop converging on the keep. Unfortunately he has nothing to add about the slavers but is eager to help us out.

The inner door is unlocked. Since Chuq found no signs of a trap, he shoves the door open with the butt of one of his 10’ long spears. Our lanterns shine upon a wide dining hall with a centrally placed crude 10’ long table flanked by benches between two stone support columns.

Four in total, a pair of benches flank the table on either side. The heads are bereft of seating. This symmetrical room has wooden doors along the two 10 foot diagonal walls angled into the central space on either side of the entry door. Keeping with the mirrored floor plan, a pair of ascending and descending stairs can be seen on both east and west sides of the hall.

We examine the eastern door. Feeling safe, we pass through and find a ladder leading up to a ceiling trapdoor in the south east corner. Various weapons litter this space. There is a single high backed close to the arrow slit covering the foyer to the west. Cautiously lifting the trapdoor with a 10’ foot spear, Finkelmur climbs the ladder to take a peak of the floor above us. He sees a room that extends across the southern face of the keep from the east corner to the west corner. The far west end is partially hidden because it extends beyond view to the north.

Thorfus descends the ladder so that together we investigate what is another fighting room beyond the western door in the dining hall. Just like the east fighting room, the west room has a ladder to a ceiling trapdoor in the SW corner with a high back chair near the arrow slit. Thorfus and Chuq approach this trapdoor the same way except that Thofus enters the room above to find sundry littered about but nothing specifically for the murder holes above the foyer.

Returning to the first floor, everyone looks about the table. Someone left with food still on the plates. The easily amused of our group starts playing with the cooked chicken as if it’s Christmas morning.

Chuq and Thorfus walk up the eastern ascending stairs. They find a door to the north at the top landing with the rest of this large room opening up to the south. The southern walls of this room are identical to the southern walls of the dining hall below.

Searching the northern door, we have to ask Angry Jack to pick the lock after Chuq stubs a finger. Beyond the door is a 10’ square room utility closet. The three of us descend to the dining hall and climb up the western stairs.

Like the eastern side, there is a door to the north at the landing and to the south the room opens into a space similar to the dining hall below. This door opens as Chuq picks the lock left handed! We find a 10’ foot square weapon cache with some armor. Chuq discovers a small wooden coffer behind a bunch of long swords leaning against the wall. The coffer seems safe enough to him so he didn’t notice the poison dart trap until after the boys have taken turns slapping him back to consciousness. Pocketing the dart, he finds two blue turquoise gems with 56 gp within. The coffer is closed shut and slipped into his backpack. Perhaps Axel can assess the value of the gems after he finishes playing dolls with the Mercer Men not guarding the descending staircases.

Beyond a northern door between the two landings we find an ascending circular stairway. Angry Jack, Chuq and Thorfus lead Sturloc, Kottar, Adelard and Beawhin up the spiral stairs. The first landing extends North to South along eastern wall of the 20’ x 20’ tower. At the landing is a large chest, a simple table desk and chair. Atop the desk are what appears to be map of the local waters with color coded routes marked without any legends. There is also a singular sheet which we suspect was torn from a bound book. Upon it are listed the following:

23F Edonea Styrtover

35F Clemency Lillyng

18M Wigayn Langabeard

32F Etfled Tirevache

42M Thybaudin Rilly

38M Malik Otter

The unlocked chest is deemed safe, then opened by Chuq with his long spear shaft. Within is scattered some coins: 10sp, 5gp & 2pp. The platinum pieces are stamped with a crown. We suspect Imperials, the rat bastards!

The lid and bottom of the chest appear to be true. We find more 3gp when we shove the chest from the wall. At our behest, Adelard sends for some strong arms to take the chest down to the dining hall.

Before leaving, Chuq overturns the desk and chair. There is a key adhered to the bottom of the desk with a gummy residue. Thorfus pries the key loose and confirms it’s for the chest before the muscle takes it away.

Continuing up the stairs the next landing has a typical straw mattress bed and a ladder ascending to a ceiling trapdoor. Chuq lifts the door with his long shaft (yeah, like saying it…) as Thorfus peaks above. Finding the crenulated top of the tower, Thorfus is buffeted by strong winds as he ascends. There is a large spy glass mounted to the center of the tower. It is tipped down but the last viewer was looking out beyond the harbor of Kalligan. Thorfus takes a few minutes viewing the surrounding seas and more of Midland island. He espies a ship sailing in the distance, but its range is uncertain. It could have left from Midland but Thorfus can’t say for sure.

We toss the bed. Finding nothing specific, we notice that there was more furniture kept here in the past. Satisfied this direction holds nothing new; we descend to the dining hall to collect everyone for the foray below ground. Good thing this group of Mercers can switch from goofing about to serious business quickly.

As a group we descend the eastern stairs. They end at 40’ x 20’ room. Entering from the NE corner, we see doors on the northern ends of the east and west walls with a door on the south wall directly across the room from the stairs. There is another door on the south wall opposite the western stairs from the dining hall. Here is another desk, chair and a peculiar reddish glowing ostrich sized egg shaped sphere dangling from an eye hook embedded in the ceiling. A chain emerges from the south wall 7 feet above the floor. It snakes up to the eye hook where gravity pulls it straight down since it is attached to the ‘egg’.

The closest east door is opened. The room beyond is 20 x 20 barracks for five occupants. Each of the five beds is paired with a foot locker. Yells for help are heard from the south before we can search the barracks. We yell in reply asking why help is needed. A crowd beyond the door all yell simultaneously. It seems they are imprisoned. Seemingly not trapped and unlocked, Chuq begins to shove the door open with his 10’ spear. He stops short because the door resists in an unfamiliar way.

Glancing over our shoulders we see the ‘egg’ is swaying. Chuq hops onto Axel’s shoulders to get a better look at the ‘egg’. Still glowing red, it is neither hot nor cold. It’s top has a mounting that the chain is attached to.

The people on the other side of the door are no help. It seems they are held in the dark. We confer and decide to secure the chain with spikes at the wall and eyehook to arrest it moving into or out of this room. Having the brawniest shoulders, Angry Jack hops on the desk and grasps the chain directly. Axel and Adelard fashion a life net to catch the egg with a cloak.

As the door is fully opened, Jack is tugged by the egg because the chain was severed somewhere on the other side of the wall. Chuq hops on Axel’s back again. He places another spike a foot away from the current spike near the eyehook. The egg is lowered by alternating the spikes. It and the attached chain are stored in the large chest.

The prisoners resume their pleading. We find four cells packed with people here. It must have been harrowing to be trapped in the dark cramped together. Chuq successfully unlocked two cells but we all had to take turns trying to bend the bars for the other cells.

Everyone has to help nurse some of the worse off prisoners. Some had been beaten severely and were close to death. Brice and Ashton made alot of new friends today. During this time we tried to identify the prisoners. Those that could answer were all from Midmark City or from the smaller communities about it. Surprisingly no body claimed to have been sentenced by Judge Grell. Instead we heard that most were arrested and figured they were serving time until they would be seen by a magistrate. None of them had any idea they had left MidMark and were actually across the great bay on Midland Island. We didn’t find Em or any of the persons listed on the page we found in the tower.

A single door in the south leads to a closet containing assorted torture gear. Most of it is old, outdated or showed signs of little use. Organizing the healthiest refugees and Mercer Men, everyone is herded upstairs to the dining hall. Suspecting there are more prisoners, we return to the dungeon and open the west door on the southern wall. Four more packed cells are here.

The prisoners here suggest looking in the central room for a key but we can’t find one in the desk. Chuq can’t open any of the locks. Ashton is lucky with one cell door. We all take turns bending the bars to liberate the slaves here.

In total, over 100 souls were freed from the eight cells. The western cell block also has a closet to the south. The torture tools here seem more decrepit than those from the east cell block.

The last door to the west leads to another five occupant barracks. We toss both barrack rooms will little regard. The loot includes clothing that is distributed to the prisoners and weapons are handed to those wanting them.

The Mercer Men are tasked to guard the keep while the Starchie Boys continue the search of the fort. First we check the NW tower. The door is stuck so Chuq climbs the wall to the first break. Within, the upper floors have collapsed within the tower. We move to the NE tower. The door gives and within is litter and little else. Leaving the barracks and stables for daylight, we leave the fort to search the warehouses passed on the way here.

Both warehouses are searched relatively quickly. Within, both warehouses have two floors, holding cells and barracks style rooms. Looting yields a few gold pieces, suits of leather armor and assorted weapons. Confident the warehouses pose no further risk, we visit the Bawdy Bachelor to check with Captain Junkyn.

He has nothing to report but is impressed with our results. The Bawdy Bachelor isn’t large enough to transport all the refugees to Vargen in one trip. It is suggested we leave the refugees guarded in Kaligan while we return to Vargen to arrange passage for all the refuges directly to Midmark. The captain prefers to make the trip tomorrow in the daylight. We agree since we want him to review our new sea chart in the best light.

It’s been a long day but the Boys are far from weary. We walk back to the fort alert, keeping the talk to a minimum under the moonlight. Thorfus keeps the conversation going. He likes the idea of moving into the Fort as our own local base of operations. The humans can’t help but notice the glint in all of the dwarves eyes as ideas for renovations are bandied about. Any excuse to swing a hammer….

The mood has definitely shifted by the time we return ‘home’. It’s a gaggle of old chums that tramp up to the front gate of the fort. No longer fearing death at every corner, our eyes rove over the ruins imagining newly dressed stones over the pitted and crumbling masonry. Girars the Mercer man greets us upon our return. His mood has not changed since we left. If anything, the tapping he heard below the dungeon has wound him up worse than a cocked crossbow.

Back to business, we bowl through the dining hall ignoring all the refugees and hustle down to the dungeon. Girar’s report was that the tapping could be heard directly below where the glowing ‘egg’ was suspended. We can’t hear any noise now but the dwarves have determined that there is a hollow space below the floor. We do what we do best – the thieves listen, the dwarves romance the stone, Starchie sniffs arounds, Finkelmur picks his nose. We can’t find a thing! Nothing is heard, there are no secret or sliding doors, no loose tiles, no busts with hidden buttons, no golden statue on a pedestal, no smoking gun or WMDs! Was Girard mistaken? Is this a bad practical joke? Should we be looking in the desk? Was something looking for the ‘egg’?

One thing’s for certain, we better find a way below the dungeon quickly because the Dwarves are ready to start digging their own way down.