We gather at
the base of the “Tower of Carrock”, the half-constructed legacy of leaders
past, and of Aibreann’s parents.
Tussugar, Aibreann herself, Drachus, Rould, Audric and myself.
I don’t know
what it is we expected to find. There
are stockpiles of blankets, dry goods and provisions for the town, but beneath
the tower—in the cellar—we win access to a chamber behind a locked door. Stale air confronts us, revealing another
storeroom stocked with barrels, but also elaborately carved, moth-eaten
furniture that is altogether out of place in a town such as Carrock. We also find a large chest, on which are
engraved the initials ‘ECV’—belonging to Aibreann’s mother, Ethelenda. Drachus
reveals these to be the handed-down possessions of Aibreann’s parents.
In examining
the room, we discern that most of the belongings are mundane in nature, though
artfully crafted, if worn from time and neglect. The chest is full of women’s clothing,
presumably having belonged to Aibreann’s mother, but within the chest, Audric
detects a magical aura, and with Aibreann’s blessing, rummages through the
chest. None of the items within are the
culprit, but he does discover a hidden panel at the base of the chest
containing a pair of books and a leather pouch; the aura emanates from the
pouch.
One of the
books appears to be a book of spells, the other a journal. Within the pouch, there are three black
marbles. When handed the journal, her
eyes tear up—this was clearly an unexpected find. We hand the items over to Aibreann, expecting
to revisit their importance—and potential value—later.
Recognizing
that we need a guide to find Oldkeep, we ask around the various hunters of
Carrock, setting up a meeting for later that day. Back at the inn, Aibreann confronts us about
our findings earlier that day. She
entrusts the black marbles to us, as we intend to use them in service to and
defense of Carrock. The journal is a
pregnancy journal from her mother; it refers to the book of spells, revealing
that it was plunder taken from band of orcs.
It’s identified as “particularly suitable to a young apprentice”. She entrusts that to us as well, then reveals
one last secret—that there is something else she wishes us to see.
Drachus and
Tussugar, along with Rould, gather around the table. Aibreann reveals one of the last pages of the
journal, where the final entry—several pages—the only thing scribed on the page
of the journal is the same mark found on the faces of the creatures we
killed. The mark looks like it may be
some sort of a rune or a character of a foreign alphabet, but beyond that it
holds no meaning to us.
I use my
magic to examine the runes; they appear to be similar, or in fact a wizard
mark; an arcane sigil, a wizard’s personal rune. I explain to Tussugar that it may be that the
creatures were in Carrock seeking the book; more likely, however, they were
searching for the blood of the book’s author, Aibreann.
Tussugar
reveals that he needs to ‘amend’ the story shared with us before. When he says “he watched them both die,” he
actually witnessed Ethelenda attack and kill her husband, Reginald; Tussugar
retaliated, striking down Ethelenda with his axe. Ethelenda was the ‘Witch Queen’ of Tussugar’s
tale, though whether the Witch Queen existed before—as a separate entity—is
unknown, as Tussugar did not arrive until later.
The hunters
arrive, three of them, answering our call for aid. One among them—short and bearded—reveals that
he found the tracks, that he knows the woods better than anyone, and offers to
come willingly. His name is Arkhen. Though short—perhaps 5’3—he looks strong and
capable. He agrees to leave in the
morning.
We spend the
night, preparations having been made, and awaken fresh—if anxious—and ready to
go. If we hurry, we will arrive with
daylight to spare. I spare only a moment
to remind Tussugar to watch over Aibreann, and we depart.
Arkhen
doesn’t know much about Oldkeep; being a day out from Carrock, it would mean
spending the night in the wild to visit it, which is a dangerous proposition. He has been there enough times to know of its
location, but hasn’t been within the walls.
Our journey is uneventful, and two hours before sundown we reach
Oldkeep, approaching it from the west.
The north wall is mostly intact; the south wall, however, is mostly
collapsed, standing only a handful of feet high. Inside the walls—or remains of the walls, is
in interior structure, perhaps a storage chamber or shelter.
I conjure
forth an unseen servant to carry a torch in advance of our investigation. With cover provided by Rould and Arkhen,
Audric & I approach the interior structure.
I notice movement within--perhaps an animal, perhaps something more
threatening—but we continue our approach.
The ground inside the walls is cobbled, but most is crushed and ground
with the passage of time, consumed by the earth. Nothing is tended, but we do notice
scuffs. We find scatter—it has an odor
to it, so it is not old. There is a
subtle unpleasant odor. We see movement
again; this time obviously humanoid, a gangly limb. I order the unseen servant to raise the torch
to the height of the interior structure of the keep.
The
realization occurs to me that the detritus I’ve stepped in is in actuality a
severed, gory arm. As the fire reaches
the top of the keep, long, clawed hands reach over the wall, and a dark,
rubbery creature scales down the wall.
The creature has empty eye sockets, and evil intent.
It rushes me
and Audric, and we suffer greatly from its claws and deadly bite. Audric’s retaliation against the creature is
mighty, however, and the aim of our new comrade Arkhen is true. We flee melee, narrowly avoiding disaster,
and Arkhen slays the creature with a well-placed arrow as it rushes forward to finish
us off.
Its wounds
begin to stitch and mend, the corpse to move with unnatural life, but that ends
when we set flame to the creature—revealed to be a horrid troll.
Within the
interior structure of the keep, we discover the troll’s lair, as well as a
dilapidated stairwell leading below. I
send the unseen servant down with the torch, where we discover what appears to
be the troll’s nest or bed. The torch
illuminates runes that are very similar to those found in Moonglow Cave. Unsure how to proceed, but in need of secure
shelter for the night, we ponder our findings, and make to explore the cellar
further…
