"I did it!" Kassan exclaimed. "I contacted Prizzard in the other group. They were successful, too! He said they're leaving  in the morning to join us."

"So, how long till they get here?"

"Since no one else has expressed an interest in those battle axes, Thressa, I don't see why you can't have them."

As near as he could tell, Victor was this half-group's leader, but he didn't seem all that interested in the division of the spoils.

Broson's and Lureene's efforts bring Broson's uncle around, conscious and not feeling too bad, but still suffering from the effects of deprivation That's quickly remedied by water and some food.

"Aye, I can hear you, Broson," his uncle speaks. "Thought I was a goner for sure this time. Where'd all those damnable Orcs come from? They just seemed to pour in through the walls of this leaky castle!"

Nyssia nodded, and shrugging, picked up three daggers. two she places on her hip, the third she places in a holster on her arm.

---

<OOC: Nyssia takes the +1 Acid as her main hand dagger, Slash as her off hand and the returning as a thrown weapon>

"Ay, weel thats orks, blink and theres a horde where before there was good huntin an a few goblins. We got lucky, these fine folks had blitzed the green sods an even had the magic ter get their dead boss ter tell us where he'd thrown yeh. Here, have another sip, easy now. Tell me uncle, did ye find the entrance to the dungeon before the orks flowed in?"

"No objection, here. I've already got two great magic weapons, and I can only use one at a time." Victor said. At least twice, so far, Victor felt he got the best items from treasure hordes he and his companions had found. He was happy to let others take the best of this one, even if they left him nothing, so long as it helped keep them alive.

"Nay, laddie," Broson's uncle answered. "I'd only been here for a few hours. I had barely worked out the layout of the ruins when the Orcs' worgs surprised me. Should have been a goner, but the Orc leader had other ideas."

"I can't be sure, of course, but I thought the entrance might be in the chapel, so first I had to figure out which of these rooms had been the chapel. I'd finally decided that the chapel had probably been that central tower's ground floor. And that's when the Orcs attacked."

Broson will help his uncle to where the party made camp and will show him the helmet, belt and armor, then will give him a chance to get dressed and collect himself.

While his uncle gathers himself Broson will seek to have a meeting with the party. He will thank all of them solemnly for saving his uncle and will ask if the party intends on searching the dungeon or heading back to town. He will also suggest that from the remaining unclaimed loot Viridovix take a +1 dagger, a javelin of lightning and the ring of free action. That Star of the morning take the bracers of defence and a javelin of lightning. He will suggest that Lureene might enjoy the powers of the ring of animal influence and that she should take the +2 dagger. He will suggest that Manaen should take the +1 dagger just in case of emergency. He will then suggest that what he considers the remaining valuable items: the Dagger of Venom, 35 daggers, 488 silver pieces, 131 gold pieces, 22 days worth of edible rations and mithral chain mail shirt be stashed in the Hewards handy haversack.

He will apologize for his presumptions and will help the party to organise their spoils how ever they see fit. Once his uncle has returned he will cheerfully ask "Weel uncle Ordun, are ye granite? Are yeh keen to resume yer search or head back ter town ter resupply?"

Broson will also inquire if anyone in the party has the skills to skin a dire wolf - their pelts would probably fetch a fair bit of coin in town.

"Most of that stuff you were so generously dispensing, Broson," Viridovix explains, "have already been claimed."

"We'd already seen the map and we were planning on looking for this crypt. Now that your uncle is better, it's really up to him whether he wants to continue looking for it and would want any help."

"I always knew there'd be a chance of encountering a few Orcs, but never expected a whole army of them,"  Ordun replies to Broson.

"It's not the treasure I was seeking--it was the lost history of our Dwarven clan. We built this castle, you know... over 300 years ago. When the last Orc invasion occurred, we turned it over to the local militia and went off to fight the Orcs."

"So, damn straight I plan to keep looking for it, and I've got no problem with any of you fine folks helping me find what was lost."

"If the crypt really is under the chapel, we need to look for some sort of entrance."

"I'm so happy we were able to help your uncle, Broson."
"As for the loot, I'm happy with whatever is available.  The bracers and a javelin would be great"

Broson will smile and nod at Viridovix "My mistake laddie. Weel then, uncle, I think the chapel be this this way." Broson will head to the chapel and without further ado will start looking for hidden entrances.

The map that Ordun had and that you found with the Orc Chief's gear can be viewed under Game Map C.

Searching through the room that might have been the chapel, Broson and Ordun and whoever helps them search discover a symbol on the floor under all the dirt, dust and debris. It's inset in the granite stone floor in what looks like sardonyx. It seems to be centered in the room. It matches the symbol on the map.

No secret door is found, however. There are no seams that could be the outline of a door.

If there are no objections, Lureene will pick the items as suggested by Broson.

She rolls the ring between her fingers. "Such a pretty thing. It'd be a sin to let it go to waste, magic or no magic, don't you think?"

She follows the group over to where they figure the chapel is. "The crypt itself might be under the chapel, but the entrance might well be outside... can we tell if there is a hollow space underneath? We should search more broadly."

The Tortle had listened to the discussion and had then helped search. When the symbol had been uncovered but nothing else, he took a few minutes to ponder the issue.

"I think you may be right, Miss Lureene," he agreed with the Cleric. "The symbol on the floor should indicate that the room on the map with the same symbol is right below it. It is possible that  it has just been sealed over. Not all cultures are inclined to visit crypts once they've been sealed."

"How say you, Master Ordun? Have you any knowledge to indicate this one way or the other?"

"Hard to say," Ordun replies. "This is a mix of Dwarven and Human cultures. The Human construction was done after the Dwarves."

"There is definitely a hollow space beneath the floor. If no secret passage or door could be found, I had intended on excavating anyway."

"Get the hammers and let's see if we can break through."

"Works for me!" Viridovix responds. "Smash it is!"

Not having a hammer, he just picks up as large a rock as he can and starts pounding it against the symbol inset into the floor.

At the others' glances, he adds, "Oh, come on! There are already ruins! A little more ruin isn't going to matter!"

Kassan carefully stepped away from the area where Viridovix was pounding rocks. Although it didn't seem likely that the floor would collapse under the onslaught, he didn't want to take any chances.

It wasn't until a significant hole had appeared that a stray beam of sunlight stabbed down from one of the upper cracks and gave a brief glimpse of something through the hole.

"Stop! I see something!"

He cautiously stepped closer to the hole and peered in.

"Yes, there is definitely a room below. I think if we widen the hole just a bit more, we can climb down. Really... there's no reason to destroy the whole thing, is there?"

As the others worked at moving a rock or two, Kassan unraveled his rope and dropped one end down through the opening and then tying the other end off around a large rock.

"Do we all go down? Or should some of us stay up here and keep watch?"
This message was last edited by the player at 01:31, Fri 24 Feb 2023.

"Of course we don't all go down," Viridovix answered. "Haven't you ever heard about not putting all your eggs in one basket?"

"After all that pounding, I need to rest for a minute. Biff and I can keep watch up here. How about if you join us, Manaen, as part of the rescue squad?"

"A quite sensible precaution, Master Viridovix," Manaen concurs, "as I'm not the most adroit at climbing down into holes via rope."

"And I daresay it'll get quite crowded down there."

"WAIT! I'm sensing something... happening! There!"

He points to a blank section of the castle wall just as a rectangular glow appears. And then suddenly, a door appears!

The door swings open and reveals not stairs or a passage downward, but a female Gnome standing there looking a bit bewildered.

Portia, clutching her wand, is startled at first, taking you for a host of monsters or worse. "By the Hammer, you had be scared there fer a sec." Somehow, she manages to look almost disappointed that you aren't ravenous ogres.

She lowers her wand. "So what are you all doing here?"

"I think it's more appropriate to be asking you what you are doing here," the Tortle replies.

"This is the ruins of old Cragmaw Castle. We're here at the request of Sildar Hallwinter on behalf of the Lord's Alliance to rout out the latest Orc threat."

"Is that Neverwinter behind you?" he then says as the visible scene through the door registers.

"Teleportation, magic talismans and now a magical door! Were you intending to join us?"

"My business is my own, but since we're in such weird circumstances, let's say I got roped into to helping an old...well not a friend exactly." She seems annoyed at the thought.

"Though I hadn't intended to help you, didn't know you were here, maybe we can help each other? I know a world with fewer marauding orcs in it would be a more blessed world."

Friendly as ever, Victor introduces himself to the newcomer,"Captain Victor Harkness, Neverwinter Infantry 42nd Division, retired, at your service. We seem to be all out of orcs, for the moment, but we've uncovered a chamber or passage, no doubt filled with untold peril you can explore with us, if it suits you."

When Viridovix's efforts reveal a cavity Brosons expression changes from incredulous to impressed. Hustling off he will return with an armful of javellins and an armful of battle axes just in time to see a portion of a Portia portal. He will grin at her, give her a cheerful "Hello!" and will head to Viridovix's hole. Dropping the weapons he will take up a pair of battleaxes and start widening the hole.