Willem wiped his blade on the clothing of one of the fallen Orcs, then began to quickly check the bodies for anything of interest. As he did so he glanced up at the newcomer. "Your intervention was timely, friend. I am Willem. What brings you down here?"

In reply to Grey Willem (msg # 43):

Alecks smiled in greetiing, " I'm the navigator on the Osprey, a merchant ship out of Neverwinter. We're in dry dock for repairs. I had a few months to visit family so I took the opportunity to visit my sister who has settled on a farm outside of Phandelin. She told me that the village was threatened by orcs and that a group of heroes had left recently to drive them from the area. I thought I might be able to help. I followed the trail to Wyvern Tor. Once I found the first corpse, you were not too hard to locate. Are any of you injured? I have some healing ability."
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 23:25, Thu 16 Dec 2021.

Willem offered the newcomer his hand. "Welcome Navigator. We may talk more later but for now lets clear out these Orcs."

In reply to Grey Willem (msg # 45):

"At your service Willem" The Selunite smiled and looked at the others anticipating further introductions. He was patient and attentive.

"Joining us on foot! What a novel idea!" Krivath speaks up. "Well met, Alecks! I'm Krivath Sparkfyre. Usually, our group is joined by people being teleported in! No, really! Back in the mines, some pent up magic was released and it picked up on the teleport spell some wizard used to send his agents to the mine."

"It's kind of been haunting us ever since. I suppose it's a derivative of Wild Magic, so we never know who or what's going to turn up next."

"I don't know what this cave system was used for originally, but clearly the wyverns and the Orcs didn't carve out these rooms or hang art on the walls."

"I'm pretty sure this art could fetch a pretty penny back in Neverwinter. Seems kind of a waste leaving it here."

"We still have two tunnels out of the last cave that we haven't explored. Shall we go see if there are any more Orcs hiding in here?"

In reply to Krivath Sparkfyre (msg # 47):

Willem nodded in agreement at Krivath’s suggestion.

Krivath waited for one of the others to take the lead. He wasn't a front-line combatant, and Alecks was still an unknown, so while he didn't necessarily distrust the man, for the time being, he'd prefer to be behind him.

Alecks looked at Willem, "After you. Sound off if any of you need healing before pressing on. "

"Willem, you are the fighter, it might be best if you take point. I will follow right behind you." She said with a nod.

Willem takes point at the other's suggestion, though he probably would have anyway.

Out in the big cave, he goes to the left to the tunnel opening there. The tunnel only goes in about 20 feet before ending in a room. It's not a big room... only about 20' x 30' with the opening in one corner. The room opens to the right, so a quick peak around the corner shows there are no Orcs waiting there to ambush you.

No Orcs are visible nor are there any bedrolls visible. What there is, though, is a four poster bed hung with curtains, a few tapestries on the wall, and one chair and a side table. A lamp sits on the table. There's even a rug on the floor.

"....well, if this doesn't seem considerably out of place." She said matter of factly. "Seems like something you'd find in my room, not here." She continued, cocking her head to one side as she looked at the extravagant bed.

"Perhaps," agrees Krivath. "It's been my limited experience that bedrooms generally only have one exit, unless there's a window. Since this is a cave, it's probably too much to expect for there to be a window."

"I don't see any threat here... unless there's an Orc hiding under the bed. This is a dead end. We should go check out the other tunnel. Clearly none of this is going anywhere."

Alecks was not in a hurry. "Let's take a closer look. Seems like whoever occupies this room would have a leadership role amoung the orcs. Maybe we can learn more about why they are here."

He takes a closer look at the table, then checks under the rug and behind the tapestries for signs of hidden doors or anything interesting.

"I agree with Alecks. Plus, there might be a way out here we cannot see." She said in thought, then decided to cast a spell.

[OOC: She going to cast detect magic.]

"You just got here, Alecks, so I can understand why you might think that," Krivath replies, "but the Orcs don't live here. These caves use to be the lair of some wyverns, which is why the mountain is called Wyvern Tor."

"I'm pretty sure the wyverns never went this deep into the caves, and they certainly didn't make the hallways and I'm safe in saying they didn't sleep in this bed."

"No, this seems to be something here from before the Orcs arrived. Don't know the timeline myself, but I'd guess the wyverns were here a hundred years or so ago during the last Orc incursion. That would explain why the Orcs never came to the mountain then and didn't know about these caves."

As the others talk, Willem does indeed check under the bed, just in case. He lifted the bedsheets and poked underneath with his sword before using his eyes. After completing the search of the bed he will continue and check all around the room for anything of interest.

No sooner does Alecks touch the rug than it crumbles to dust.

The table is just a side table/nightstand. It has a single drawer in it, and Alecks has no trouble opening it carefully. There are two things visible in the drawer... a small black box like those used for a ring and a pair of spectacles.

After the incident with the rug, he's a bit more circumspect with the tapestries, but they seem to be in better condition. He does not find any hidden shelves, compartments or doors behind them.

Theirastra casts her Detect Magic and finds a lot of the stuff glowing with a magical aura! The black box, the spectacles, the six tapestries, and the bed covers and curtains. After another moment, she realizes that the box isn't magical but something within it is. Also, while the bed covers and curtains are magical, there's also a stronger aura coming from beneath the bed.

Willem pokes under the bed and covers with his sword before peeking there, but doesn't spot anything threatening. However, he does see that there is a pair of boots and a staff tucked under the bed.

"Let me see that black box..." She says pointing to the box in the drawer. "...and something under the bed has a strong magical aura as well." Then she pauses. "Also, the bedding and curtains are magical."

In reply to Theirastra Nailo (msg # 60):

Alecks hands the box to Theirastra, then takes a closer look at the wall coverings.

There are six tapestries on the walls: two on each side wall and one to each side of the bed. They appear to be typical depictions of everyday events. One is a hunt, one is tournament showing an archery contest, one is garden scene with some exotic animals, one is an alchemist in his lab, one is a horse race, and one is a banquet.

Alecks's first impression is that they have merely had preservation magic on them to keep them from going the way of the rug. But when he touches one, he discovers that the figures in it move! There's no sound, but the hunt seems to play out over a few minutes before it resets.

"WOW these move... the pictures move."  He's glad he came on a mule. "Let's not forget these on the way out. Did you want a closer look at the spectacles in the drawer as well?"

Willem sheathed his sword and reached under the bed, then carefully pulled out the boots and staff and placed them on the nightstand. He turned to the Eladrin and spoke quietly. "Maybe these are what you sense? I know many mighty wizards use staffs and wands to channel their powers. Maybe the boots have special powers too, who knows?"

Leaving the others to inspect the strange items he began to scout around the room, looking for hidden doors or secret tunnels in or out of the chamber, all the while listening carefully for the sound of Orc.

Theirastra examines the little black box for a moment, but doesn't see anything suspicious or dangerous about it, though she knows looks can be deceiving.

Cautiously opening the box, as soon as she cracks the lid, light spills out! Fully opening the box, she sees that there is clear blue faceted gem inside that glows with light!


Willem finishes searching the room, but does not find any hidden or secret compartments or doors.


Alecks, still fascinated by the moving tapestries, tries to see how easy one is to remove. It looks simply enough. While he's doing so on the one to the left of the bed, he realizes that there is another image on the other side. Turning it over, it's a picture of a window looking out onto a valley. Two things register then: light is coming from it and so is a slight breeze.

"Now that's something you don't see every day," Krivath speaks up after looking over Alecks's shoulder at the tapestry's reverse side.

"It appears to be a portable Dimension Window. Hmmm. At a guess, I'd say it shows the view outside the mountain here... perhaps 30-40 feet higher."

"I've never encountered one before, but I've heard people speak of it. I wasn't aware it could be made portable like this. I thought it had to be fixed in place to a wall or something."

"Clever and interesting! While it isn't an escape route from the room, I suppose it would keep the occupant from getting claustrophobic."

Willem wandered over to Krivath and Alecks, regarding the tapestry and listening to the Dragonborn's description with some confusion. "So, it's like a magic window? As if you are seeing through the eyes of somebody sat outside on the hillside? A clever trick indeed! It would allow the user to stand guard without ever having to leave their chamber, and they could warn others nearby before an enemy could get close. That would give you the element of surprise, and no mistake! I wonder if you can change the viewpoint, or will it only show what appears from that position?"

Willem didn't really understand magic. It all seemed so complicated, all that waving hands and muttering strange words. He preferred to rely on good steel and a strong arm to deal with whatever got in his way. But it becoming clearer that although he didn't understand how it all worked it did seem to have it's uses.