The Keep of Grunwich Forest

"I'm... actually not that great with detecting magic," Lissa said, frowning as she joined Sanna by the door. "I'd rather let Leina look at that..."

Lissa doesn't know Detect Magic, so instead she'll roll Perception too, and a History check as well now that she has time to look around the entryway.

"Hmmm I can do a ritual to detect the surrounding magic, however it will take me a while... about ten minutes to set up" says Leina, reaching into her robes for a few implements "Want me to go at it? It doesn't seem to me like this place has been inhabited for a long while though... the Ogres certainly didn't make it inside"

As Sanna approaches the door, there don't appear to be any traps whatsoever around it... It's just an old, wooden door that was opened and the footprints of a medium sized humanoid with somewhat small feet moving up towards the stairs.

As for Lissa's knowledge trying to place the Keep... Even your knowledge of history can't give a clue about the place and its origins... why is it there? Why such a big keep in the middle of a forest? You know that Ranais has only in recent generations expanded this far to the North and it's unlikely that they would make a fortification this far away from their lands. Additionally, the stones look old... very old. Their masonry and construction, as well, are somewhat suspect... they don't look the make of humans. However... though not quite like it, the general construction and craftmanship of the walls and rooms reminds you a bit of the Elven Ruins you have studied.

Sanna shook her head. Warding an open door was, all things considered, a rather roundabout way of securing the premises. "No need."

Still, just to be safe, she took her quarterstaff out and gingerly pushed the door open fully, peering into the room with suspicious eyes.

"I have my eyes open." Drusus answered Oisin with a small frown at his surroundings. The annoyance of Aldrik running off was slight and met with no surprise on Drusus' part. It was natural for a young man to get ahead of himself.

Drusus halted next to Oisin as he spoke the odd language of the wolves. When he finished, and the two wolves had trotted up the stairs, Drusus moved on with the Paladin. "Can their pacifism be assured?" Drusus asked. "Scared and cornered animals could be a considerable danger, especially for your apprentice if he is not careful."

edited 1st Feb '15 1:13:15 PM by SonofMelonHead

"Having followed Oghma through my days and sought after his knowledge, I'll tell you precious little is certain," Oisín replied, "I'll take what precautions I can for the lad in that vein, but in truth we should be safe."

Sanna move opened up the door to reveal... a perfectly harmless room beyond it. It appeared to be empty since a long time ago, with nothing in it beyond a broken chair and a window on the far side of the room, with no glass, no shutters and no nothing... and from it come the humanoid tracks that go from the room up towards the stairs.

Oisín shrugged and headed towards the entrance, though he allowed Sanna to take point should she wish to continue checking each room.

"Bah." The look of disappointment on Sanna's face was clear - whoever lived here clearly didn't intend to use the room for long. Perhaps the second floor would yield better results. She ascended the stairs, signalling for the others to follow. "Follow footprints, then. Leave other rooms for later. And look out for cat."

edited 1st Feb '15 5:34:57 AM by Pyrite

"Where could she be...?" Lissa muttered, looking around. The ogres might have been dead, but it was still getting dark, and she didn't feel like calling out unless they had no other choice. "The footprints look like our best shot right now."

Oisín reached for his waterskin and poured it into the lid.

After a quick swig, he followed after the other two.

"Then let us proceed." Drusus replied to Lissa. "Her fate is unlikely to change, whatever the case."

Drusus followed at the rear, slow enough to scrutinize the room they were passing through, with little trots to catch up when the distance grew.

perception check on the empty room

Going up the stairs, the group would find themselves on a sort of balcony overlooking the ground floor, which went all around it. The balcony was decently big, enough that they could walk abreast without much problem. On the North end of the second floor there was a big double sided door set right on the middle of the wall... the door was highly ornate, made of ancient yet seemingly perfectly maintained wood of a vivid brown green color, with small carvings of the animals of the forests all around it... as well as enigmatic humanoid figures in a highly stylized art style. The doors had handles made of a silvery metal, with emeralds incrusted upon them.

As they got onto the balcony they would see that most of the doors of the second floor were either ruined or absent... giving view into a few rooms with little decoration that hasn't fallen to rot and neglect. They also catch sight of the other wolves... moving away from the group, seemingly escorted by the ones that Oisin befriended... the madness of their illness clear on their eyes and foaming snouts, though they keep away by virtue of their pack.

Following the tracks will lead them down one of the doors on the Eastside... leading into a corridor lined with windows and some tapestries in full decay... and then, before a closed door they will find it. The dead wolf and the cat.

The wolf was lying on the floor on a pool of blood centered on his head from which, out of one eye socket, there was an imbedded kitchen knife. The cat meanwhile was before the closed door, scratching at it lightly and meowing.

Oisín frowned looking over the Wolves and the tapestry. He scanned what he could see for any clues as to the origin and history of the keep as well as the condition and number of the wolves he saw inside.

He turned to the door skeptically. Something about the cat set him off; he wasn't sure what to make of the creature but he was fairly confident that in the next room was danger.

His frown was evident as he looked over the room as he tried to discern the situation.

He looked over to the group, waiting for their judgement.

edited 1st Feb '15 4:19:26 PM by Fauxlosophe

"Wow," Lissa muttered, looking over the scene. "Something happened here... could that be Ria's knife?" She stepped cautiously closer to the cat, keeping an eye out for trouble from either the small feline or the door.

"Uncertain." Drusus replied to Lissa. "A more important question would be why the user would not take it with them."

Drusus stepped towards the door, staring at the Cat, looking it over.

"Leina, is this Cat yours? Are you familiar with it?" Drusus kept looking the Cat over.

Insight check on the Cat, paranoid as that may seem.

"Already said it's not my cat... it came from within the keep when I was distracting the ogre" says Leina, looking at the dead wolf and the knife imbedded within "However... the tracks lead inside the room"

As for Drusus attempts to understand the motives of the cat... nothing was readily apparent, except that it was pawing at the door... clearly wishing to go inside, meowing as if trying to draw the attention of something within.

Oisin's looking at the tapestries didn't reveal much... they were as ruined as could be, though on a green one with some sort of golden thread, there remained what seemed like an stylized drawing of an oak... it's not a symbol he knows though if he ever sees it elsewhere, it's distinct enough not to confuse it with another depiction of a tree.

However, his scanning of the place and the wolf would reveal something else... the tracks led to this place, however the dust was arranged strangely... and besides the blood pooled around the head of the wolf, there was some drops leading towards the door... there had been a struggle around here.

Leina, being an impatient gnome, moved to try and pry the door open... however, though it moved a little when the handle was turned, it seemed to be stuck... something was keeping it closed "Hmmg... some help here? There's something behind it I think..."

Oisín saw the blood stream and ran to the door, swallowing and swinging the door wide open.

"Who's about? Are ye alright?"

"Wait, fool!" Sanna yelled belatedly, but Oisin had already rushed to the door. There was nothing for it but to follow behind him and investigate.

She advanced, but far more cautiously than her half-blooded team-mate.

Oisin would find that pushing the door open would be a little hard... but with his strength, he was able to push it open, finding that there was a piece of furniture, a wooden cabined moved to block the door. The room they were in was circular... one of the floors of the towers. There were a few things in this one room... a table, some chairs and old shelves... and in one end of the room, their back to the wall there was a figure lying down on the floor... the trail of blood droplets leading to them.

Coming a little closer would reveal that it was a young woman, with long, red hair and dressed in a common dress of earthen tones, like what one would expect of a peasant. She didn't stir as they came in... though a bit of a labored breath could be heard from her. The cat, once the door was opened bolted inside to press itself against her.

"Oh," Lissa hissed, stepping forward quickly as she saw the woman. "Ria? Ria, you're safe now. We're here to rescue you." She laid her rapier down as she knelt by the woman, looking her over quickly to see if there were any noticeable marks or wounds on her. "Drusus, do you have any healing spells left today? If she's not hurt too badly, I can probably handle it myself... we should save your magic until we really need it."

Perception check to see if she's injured, and to determine whether she's asleep or unconscious, and if the latter, why.

edited 2nd Feb '15 1:43:39 AM by RedSavant

"Holy man, this is your calling." Is this the girl we were looking for? Sanna was at a disadvantage here, having missed the briefing, but the bard seemed fairly confident in her identification of the fallen woman before them - and the boy Aldrik would be able to confirm it. More importantly, she was alive - which was usually a good thing - so while Lissa and Drusus began to attend to the girl, Sanna began putting the pieces together.

"First ogre came from East side, where light was. Must be lair - check later. Second ogre came from behind keep, but hall looks untouched by ogres. Girl escaped. How? And cat must be hers. Followed from town?"

"Girl fled to keep. Why do tracks come from empty room? Climbed through window? No matter. Ran out of room, into wolves. Killed one, fled upstairs, blocked door with cabinet." She paused, looking at the prone figure. "Injured? Take off clothes to check for wounds. Should also check girl for Rabid Madness if bitten, holy man. Scholar and I will help if needed."

"Now, doors. Rest of keep falling apart. Upstairs door intact. Magic? Little one, you should check door. Maybe ritual will help. If you have spells for opening, better. Go with her, half-blood - in case anything comes out."

"Thoughts?"

Casts guidance cantrip on Drusus, and assisting Lissa's Perception check - ability check with advantage.

edited 2nd Feb '15 3:45:22 AM by Pyrite

As Lissa approached the young woman and inspected her, she would notice more things about her. Her breathing wasn't only heavy, it was strained. Her ears were also slightly pointed and her facial structure had some hints of elven ancestry in her. She had a dusting of freckles on her face that became all the more noticeably by how pale her face seemed. Additionally, once she was moved a little it would become evident why she seemed to be suffering... her left arm was hurriedly wrapped around in pieces of cloth ripped from her very dress and the sleeve of it, tight as possible... and the cloth was soaked in blood as she embraced the limb to herself as hard as she could. It didn't take a genius to realize what happened... in her struggle with the wolf her arm must have been bit and horribly wounded. The girl applied first aid to herself as well as she could but now was passed out after a long while losing blood little by little.

"Well, that all seems to add up... and yes, that door does intrigue me. I'll leave you guys to deal with this situation... wizards aren't good healers" says Leina worrying as she looks at the bleeding girl before she leaves the room.

The cat, for their part, sat near the wounded girl meowing sadly and looking up now at the adventurers.

Oisín was the first in and rushed to support her, seeing her laid out on the ground.

He kept her head up and did what he could to stop any obvious bleeding.

Survival Check at +1 if I can justify it, otherwise Medicine check at -1

"I've naught more for spells and I can claim no great skill at healing," Oisín said, "If one of the pair of yous take her, then I'll be gone and after Aldrik. It's Ria though, mark me well there, and by Torm's own blood, she's a scrapper to have done so well. We'll see her well again certainly, by Tymora."

He adjusts his arms to make it easier for Lissa or Sanna to hold on to her so he could go searching after Aldrik.

edited 2nd Feb '15 11:04:56 AM by Fauxlosophe

Drusus stepped towards the Girl's form calmly. "Leave her to me" he said. "Just lay her flat on the ground for me to see."

When they did so, Drusus knelt down beside Ria and held his amulet above her in both his hands. He began to chant, "Eternal Spring of wellness, what pales, what pales? Eternal well of Spring, reveal what pales."

Cast Detect Poison and Disease

Drusus spell would reveal the same sickness that lay in the wolves, slowly spreading through the young woman's body... still in its incubatory period, however, if left alone she may not be able to battle it away and she'd be afflicted.

As for Oisin's efforts with her bleeding, he'll see that the improvised bandages on the girl's arm had stopped the blood from running a fair bit... however, the wound remained and she was quite weak. The wound, as well, had not been cleaned as there was nothing to clean it with in the room.