The Keep of Grunwich Forest

"Baked potatoes, goat cheese and sausages" declares Leina, smiling brightly as she finishes her last sausage "Man they can sleep a lot? Then again, they were among the most merry of those in festivities, either in song or drink"

Then the Gnome took out from a pocket the magical wand they found and grinned "Also, I found out what this one does and it's one of straightforward fun ones. Basically? Shoots lightning bolts. Not a very interesting find historically, though the staff is more interesting in this regard... It told me that it was fashioned by a powerful enchanter. It's a powerful magical item, capable of casting various spells to affect the mind"

However, Leina wasn't the only one who had found out more about their magical bounty... Drusus, by keeping the Amulet would wake up today to feel incredibly healthy and full of energy, vigor. He didn't feel exactly stronger, but he did feel more awake than usual and like there is no way he could get ill or sick. Such are the wonders brought by an Amulet of Health.

Oisin, for his part, would discover that his shield was enchanted... getting some fleeting dreams of a heroic knight of some sort, battles and confrontations, weapons, claws and spells hitting the shield as it shrugged off damage for his owner... the passing of years as neither rust nor weakness touched upon it, until finally, his owner, too old and frail could not put him in the way of danger any longer and was slain for it.

The spear, on the other hand, didn't have such a strong aura of magic... it was a weak one indeed. Barely enchanted, however it seemed to be imbued with the power of life. Oisin, after holding it for a whole day now would know that it would strike harder against those who are unliving.

Still... it would be Lissa who would have the greatest dream. Her dream was a song, played over Lyre strings... with not a voice to tell the tale and yet the notes would conjure vivid images in her mind nonetheless. She would see seven Wordsmiths... the best Bards of their time, when magic was younger and wilder... when the very words of their language carried power over magic. Seven Wordsmiths, the strongest of them all... some friends, some foes... of various races and cultures, they came together one day, in a place most Holy for their Goddess of Magic for a contest. Not knowing what they planned, the Goddess was moved as the Seven courted her with words and music... and the magic within both, each displaying their powers and putting their souls bare before her.

The Goddess took each of their songs and then wove it into being... creating seven instruments, one for each Wordsmith, one for each performance. The instrument in Lissa's possession, the one she now felt a bond with, was one such... Cli's Lyre, and for a moment in her dreams she can hear Cli's song... One of protection, of safety and warmth. Of the hearth and home, of warding away the bad. Lissa couldn't tell who had won contest... which figure of them all had won the heart of the Goddess... but she knew Cli had not. Yet, she could see from their point of view a kiss upon their cheek, which warmed them up until the very last days of their mortal lives.

edited 5th Mar '15 12:13:29 AM by daltar

Lissa paused as she was getting up to put a hand on the golden lyre, gently stroking one of its arms. The song was there in her mind, the song that Cli had played for the Goddess that day in the grove... but like any other dream, it was fading fast, rushing through her mind like golden sand through her fingers. She managed to catch and hum only the merest fragment - three notes, not even a whole measure, but some of the most beautiful music she had ever heard. She stood still, her eyes closed, humming those three notes, desperate not to let them escape like the rest.

And the rest of the song was gone, leaving nothing more than the certainty that she had once heard it, known it in its entirety. The emptiness ached physically, and she sighed as she slung the lyre across her back, feeling much more comfortable with it now. She had three notes; that was enough for now. The rest would follow, in time.

She strapped on her rapier and dagger and headed downstairs to meet the others.

Drusus listened quietly, ordering himself some potatoes and water for his breakfast. As he set his food on the table, he paused, looking at Leina.

"It, told you?" he asked, taking a seat.

"Kind off, not exactly with words, more with memories and emotions. It's not sentient of course, fine magic item as it is, it still is not a sentient one" says Leina with her customary smile as she gets to explain something else "Most magic items are alive in a manner of speaking. The magic in them certainly is... that is how they can do their marvelous effects and tend to communicate their uses and history"

Oisín stretched and headed down, "A right full day we've got for ourselves."

He yawned and looked to the host as he took his seat, "Would you do me so kindly as to give me an order of stout, soup and brown bread?"

edited 5th Mar '15 2:57:35 PM by Fauxlosophe

"I see." Drusus reached into his pocket and pulled out the Amulet of health to show. "I know what this particular item does, though it has not spoken to me yet. An Amulet of Health.Its effects are potent. I feel like I could build a house this morning." Drusus was rather curious as to how such things were made. As he put it back in his pocket, he searched his mind for any such information on that.

As Oisin arrived, Drusus granted the Paladin's request, ordering more of the same for Lissa whenever she came down.

After setting down the food and sitting down, Drusus spoke to Oisin. "I sense that you have plans for that Keep, Oisin. I would like to know what they are, if you do not mind."

"We'd be wise to make certain that this is the very keep we've been given," Oisín said, "Though t'would be a right fool who makes a gift of a Giant's keep as though it were his own. In either case, the riches there will go far to make more of the keep, if the Mayor doesn't offer us better. If he does, then we can always make a second home when the time comes."

Oisín dips his bread in the soup and eats a bite, washing it down with porter.

"I'd take that well for granted, there's little else to do with the old keep save leave it to the next set of Beasties claim."

Lissa came down a few seconds later, taking a seat as Oisin talked. She tore off a piece of bread, nodding greeting to Leina as she munched. "Agreed," she said, a bit indistinctly. "I only had a little while to look around the library, and I have to get back there. Who knows how old that place was? Who built it, and what for - it's in the middle of a forest, after all." She sipped some soup appreciatively. "That keep has mysteries, and I want to know what they are."

"There is also the mystery room on the second floor by the magically locked door... I kind of tried my alchemy on the wall by the side and I got no good response. The very stones of the wall warded with magic which drove away my own" says Leina with a bit of disappointment "I'll have to see in my future research if I can device a way to counter the enchantments protecting that room"

"Indeed, a place full of mystery... Still, I have to say that wolves and ogres besides I got a good feeling about the place. It didn't have a fell aura upon it so I don't believe it to have been a lair of evil"

Thus, the party proceeded to have a meeting with the Mayor to cash in their reward. And as promised, each of them was given a pouch of gold with 50 pieces in it plus a letter of recommendation from his person, speaking of their heroism and trustworthiness. And as promised he gave them a bonus of a hundred pieces of gold from his own pocket for bringing back Ria... money the party decided to donate to the good girl and her mother.

They were also granted an official deed, signed by the mayor and with the seal of the local baron for the keep found within Grunwich forest as well as the land around it for a few miles up until the end of the forest. Riltplait and by extension Ranais recognizes their owning of such as a land as independent entities, though the mayor explains that for the moment Ranais has no official claim on the Grunwich forest beyond the terrain around Wichcamp.... though as the closest nation to it, in practical terms they have the most claim outside of a certain elven nation.

Then the party made their way to the home of Ria and her mother, where they were more than warmly greeted by the pair and invited for dinner. Ria was for her part, more than astonished when she was handed the pouch with a hundred gold and after rejecting the money seemingly dozens of times, her mother finally accepted it with tears in her eyes.

After that, however, the party would be ready to look onto their new holding and decide what to do with their fortune. It certainly was an eventful 3 months... after setting out a plan over a few days, they had to meet with a lot of people, review budgets, haggle and get some good prices for their project. Eventually they found a good team that was willing to work on the Grunwich forest so long as the revered heroes of Riltplait, Ogre slayers overlooked to make sure nothing crawled out from the darkness.

The group lost the company of Sanna, however, they soon were bolstered by the appearance of Gunnar, the peculiar, Dragonborn Sorcerer who added his magical might to the strength of the group and the Dwarven Barbarian Amber, whose help was invaluable for the restoration of the keep.

Additionally, a couple days into construction a certain known face would meet them in the keep... Ria came to meet them, escorted by a hunter named Gregori.

Ria offered her services as maid, cook and general helper of the party in thanks for their help. She'll work and live in the keep 5 days a week going back for 2 to tend to her mother. Clever, hardworking and motivated, the party would see that things proceeded along in their daily lives much more nicely with Ria around, well worth the salary decided for her.

Gregori for his part, gave the inhabitants of the keep a deal to hunt deeper in the forest, using the keep as a resting point to bring his quarries and sleep at night when out on the hunt. In exchange, for hunting on their land and housing him, he promises to give them a quarter of what he hunts in either coin or skins and meat. If they agree he may also bring along his family on his hunting trips, thus bringing more hunters to pay a quarter of what they hunt.

Working on the kitchen, Ria found a hidden trapdoor that when forced open led to an underground basement... the size of the tower on top of it, it seems to have a bunch of crates of perished goods... and some very big barrels of some sort of fine liquor, left for what must have been centuries. There are roughly 15 small barrels of the thing and three big ones... one of which, appears to be magical. After cautious study, Leina determined that the barrel not only maintains the contents but actually replenishes around 2% of them every day. The liquor in question is a light golden color and appears to be some sort of elvish wine... very sweet to the taste, almost like a juice, the taste of alcohol in it hidden unless you look for it. Aside from that basement, they also find another one under the Sun Tower, though this one is mostly empty.

When Drusus checks the rubble in the middle of the courtyard where he dreamed off a green light coming, he will discover the remains of some roots... and a little glowing green and squished sapling, that when he touches it gives him a vision... of moving through the roots of the forest trees... far, far away... miles and miles in a single second... towards... a Lake. Something brilliant in the lake... and then further away... past a mountain to... a big, glorious tree. The vision is over as suddenly as it came... and afterwards, the little sapling finally dies, its magic exhausted.

Aldrik for his part, besides building the stable with his friends begins his education... physical training, hearty eating, long studies and some chores around the place. Slowly, his gangly thin form starts to gain a little bit of muscle and his steps grow more sure than his somewhat clumsy gait of before as he was still getting used to his growth spurt and long legs.

Then, just as three months passed the workers retreated from the keep, back to their homes... and the product of the work remained. Four walls and a new door led into the courtyard... where a stable housed Tirnagog, and wolves ran free when not going out through the gate into the forest to hunt. On one corner, carefully guarded by Ria, there was a little corral with nine chickens and a rooster in order to have fresh eggs every day. Ria had brought with her, into the service, the chickens out of her own pocket and since it had grown with a few more members in it.

Then... there was the keep itself. Cleaned up... mostly. With many rooms now repaired and fully furnished. There were a few that had been left as they had been found... but those that had been fixed now bore the warmth of home.

An eventful three months as a new day began... the rooster crying out, Ria in the kitchen finishing breakfast, Leina up on the top of a turret doing some reading at the light of the rising sun and Aldrik out in the courtyard, practicing his sword swings.

Lissa blocked a yawn with the pages of her book, soaking in the lovely smells coming from the kitchen as she settled at the kitchen table. "Are you sure you don't need any help, Ria?" she called. "I'm going to start using this book as a pillow if I don't get something to do with my hands soon."

A certain bear-headed dwarf walked into the kitchen. She was carrying a stuffed badger, the entire animal having been taxidermied and mounted on a decorative stand. Now it was forever positioned in a feral-looking stance, one paw reaching out to attack anyone viewing the piece. "Finally got this little bastard properly stuffed and mounted. Gave me more trouble than than Oberon ever did." She set it down on the table in front of Lissa. "If you be needing something to keep your hands busy, feel free to pet this here troublemaker."

Taking a few steps towards Ria to look at what she was doing, she added. "Thanks a thousand times for putting it outside my door, Ria."

edited 10th Mar '15 6:34:22 PM by nman

"I do tell that bloody Rooster every morning," Oisín grunted as he dressed himself, "That if the bastard does wake us as he does, I'll see him served for tea and supper. In his own bloody tongue, no less."

He walked out the door of his room and said aloud in the common area, "Mark me well, if that bloody Cock crows tomorrow, I'll make him game for the Wolves."

Lissa looked back and forth between the badger, Amber, and Oisin, somewhat bemused. "Are you going to have Ria's poor rooster stuffed?" she asked the half-elf, setting her book down. After a few moments, she did reach out to pet the badger tentatively, seemingly impressed by the coarseness of its fur. "This from the man who gets up at dawn anyway?"

"The Bird would be lucky to have enough of it left to be stuffed," Oisín grunted, "But Dawn's to be a silent time where we do reflect and scrawl what is to be scrawled so that we do leave pass the last of the drinking and merriment of the night before. Oghma himself had the wisdom to set it down so that laughter, tales and drink do end end a day and silence and reflection do begin the next. Not the cawing and crowing of the fecking white buzzard up there. I've taken to sleeping in only to spite the wee pecker."

edited 9th Mar '15 11:54:35 AM by Fauxlosophe

"It's too early in the morning to have to put up with listening to the elf talk about what he wants to do to his wee pecker," Amber said, shaking her head disapprovingly.

edited 10th Mar '15 6:34:38 PM by nman

Oisín shakes his head and sighs, "You know well what I meant. Do not go being quick with me, Amber. It's well too early, as you yourself said."

edited 9th Mar '15 12:37:22 PM by Fauxlosophe

Lissa continued petting the badger, trying mostly successfully to hide a smirk from Amber's point. "Well, either way," she said, "shouldn't you be outside making sure Aldrik is practicing properly? He might be trying to hack down the practice dummy again." She finally freed herself from the lure of the taxidermied beast, turning to look back at the stairs. "Oh, has anyone seen Drusus or Gunnar yet this morning? They're going to miss breakfast."

"Ehehe... if you wish then, can you please take a fish from the salt box? Aldrik caught a few from the river and Sir Oisin prefers them to break his fast. Wipe a bit of the salt and then I'll cook it" says Ria as she labors on the kitchen preparing a nice soup while at the same time making a lovely fruit salad.

Then however, Ria hears Oisin's comment and turns to him, a light pout on her face as she brings her hands to her hips "Sir Oisin! None of that. We need Roker in order to grow up our flock of chickens! Otherwise you won't be able to try my stuffed chicken for dinner one of these days"

"Oh and you're welcome Lady Amber" says Ria, shifting from pout to smile in a moment as she looks at the dwarven lady "I know you've been expecting that package for a good while now, so I wanted you to find it as soon in the morning as possible to start up well your day"

Then came a little meowing as a certain star chested cat moves towards Ria, meowing as they rub themselves against her legs "Heh, hey there you little glutton. How are you Orianna?" says Ria as she kneels down to look at the cat "I'll get your breakfast up in a moment"

Lissa nodded, standing up and opening the saltbox to fetch the fish. She stepped over to the counter to brush the salt off, smiling down at Orianna as the little black cat made her appearance. "Don't tell Ria," she said in an exaggerated whisper, breaking off a little piece of the river fish and letting it fall to the floor for the cat.

Oisín laughed and smiled, "Rooker is fortunate to have you about as its patron, Ria, or it may well have been a meal by now, I'd say. But mark me well, Ria as you know not the tongue of the bird for its beak; Rooker is a belligant wee mongrel of a bird. There will be a day when he is served for our dinners soon enough and I'll shed not a tear for him then."

He took his own fish from the box, only to put it down. "I think I'd do well enough for fried bread and egg this morning. I'm in the humour to have Rooker watch his young on the griddle. Have we any about?"

Instead he took a smaller one, only to notice Lissa doing the same. He smirked, knowing better than to fatten Orianna any more than the cat was already.

He turned to the pantries to seek his meal for the morning, "As to Aldric, I trust the lad to have a morning to himself. Though I'll have to go over the lad's lines for the morning. He's gotten a good few tales and is gaining a sense of metre. Mark me, Lissa, there may be a day as headmaster when you are teaching his rote."

edited 9th Mar '15 2:24:08 PM by Fauxlosophe

"You coddle the boy too much," Amber said. "Three months out alone in the woods and he'd have come back a right and proper man by now. Was what my da did when I was but a wee lass, as did his father before him, and his father before him. No room for pleasantries when you have orcs, bears and nature herself trying to break your head open with an axe."

"No need to cook a fish for me, Ria my dear," she added to the other half-elf. "I like them raw and whole. At least, that's how Oberon used to eat 'em when he would catch 'em out of the river with his little paws. Now I do him a kindness by eating them the way like he did before I tore off his skin and made it a hat."

edited 10th Mar '15 6:35:40 PM by nman

"I said to leave him be, if I recall," Oisín replied sternly as he picked a rolled from the pantry and began to slice it, "I'm only checking to see that he's actually writing his lines. Lissa may worry at times but she means no harm in it and it does the boy well to have someone to remind him that recklessness is no virtue. For Oghma well knows neither of us will impart that lesson."

edited 9th Mar '15 5:04:08 PM by Fauxlosophe

"The boy could stand to ignore the finer things in life for a wee bit. Least wait until he's strong enough to not get knocked over by a stiff breeze," Amber said, picking a fish out of the box, biting its head off, and chewing contentedly.

edited 10th Mar '15 6:35:55 PM by nman

Drusus was in the courtyard, saying his morning prayers. He knelt there, bowed before a small circle of stones he had lain to mark where he had found the sapling.

Shrines and temples dedicated to Hagal usually featured a tree in the center. Trees were considered one of the greatest symbols of Hagal's creation, as it was said that trees kept the world alive. Aside from their vitality to the world, their wild branching was a symbol for the many variabilities of form in which Hagal had shaped life over the ages.

In lacking a shrine, priests would often seek out any sort of tree to pray before. For Drusus, however, that spot which was host to his next revelation was where he felt his exaltation was best directed. Even though that miraculous sapling had long rotted and vanished, either blown to the wind or swallowed by the earth, he insisted the space in the circle remain untouched. Were a shrine to be built for Hagal, Drusus would have it built there.

Drusus was just finishing up his prayers and would shortly be available for anyone to talk.