Expedition: Fingers/Wizard Tower of the Ghost Keep - 15 Oct

[Zhym]

"I guess the seed can wait," allows Fingers. "Let's protect the door against the wolves and rest for the night. Tomorrow, I'll go back out with anyone who will join me and plant the seed, then we can get started on the wizard tower."

Just trying to lay out our plan as much as possible so that when Marullus gets a chance to update he can move things forward as much as he's comfortable with.

[Marullus]

I appreciate that.

I wait to see tangible actions before I move. So "we guard the door for the night" instead of "We might want to do something about the entrance"

Markd relays the questions and answers as Idriss inquires of the swordwraiths. The group wiles away the evening with the tales, sitting by the kitchen fireplace and minding the secret door as they camp until the dawn, eschewing the beds in the barracks for tonight, at least.

They reply that they have kept their vigil at the keep for perhaps three thousand years. They were knights of the Old kingdom, but turned their allegiance with the death of the King and pledged to the Dreadlord Nystoreth, unaware that the second pledge bound their souls and could not be broken as easily as the first. Their pledge was to defend this Keep and they have done so, continuing still now that Markd is it's ruler.

The ruins we're the inevitable progress of neglect. The dwarves tried to besiege Nystoreth, but he outlasted them die to the deep Wells of fresh water (like the one in this very kitchen) and the magics kept below his estate - that of the Old Kings. In the end, Nystoreth was betrayed and slain by his apprentices. None of them could claim the keep and without central rule, their infighting led swiftly to chaos. The blights they inflicted on each other and the summoned horrors that were freed by their deaths took over the estates outside the keep. The warded walls still hold some of them and the swordwraiths leave them, having never had much regard or concern for the schemes of sorcerers.

The werewolf tribes have wandered the plains as long as the knights have stood vigil. The legends of their lifetime spoke of them being men of similar kin - arriving as the horse lord ancestors did on the far Western sea coast. They cut deeply into the sacred woods despite warning from Beith, and were cursed to take the destructive, chaotic form as a result. The Swordwraiths enjoy plans and warfare against them as an intelligent enemy, when they venture close to the keep, but it happens rarely. The Swordwraiths, despite being cursed by their foolish interplay with sorcerers, recall their own faith in Baudhon, central to their being knights in life, and they recognize the same in Markd - a follower of Baudh cursed by another power for their actions. You mention a plan to plant a special seed and the swordwraiths are apprehensive - even without mentioning Beith directly, the conversation about the werewolves tells you they fear and oppose Beith as a fierce and feared diety.

They have not seen these three werewolves in or near the ruins before but they surmise them to be malign hooligans from their skulking actions. They've been tracking the howls of a new threatening pack for the last month.

The night passes without incident and the dawn arrives. You may consider the seed, the wizard's tower, or another venture.

Post memorized spells now. Subtract another day's rations.

[Zhym]

Fingers listens intently to the tales of Markd's knights. The weight of history in this place, and embodied—figuratively, at least—in the thousands-year-old spectres makes him feel even smaller and more insignificant than usual.

"I've got a promise to keep," he says in the morning. Seeing the swordwraiths' apprehension, he doesn't name his task again. "You all don't have to come with me, but I'd really appreciate some protection while I do my...thing. It shouldn't take long." He looks to Zirina, Markd, Idriss, and Hengist for their intentions.

1.5 Rations deducted (includes half ration for Sprinkles).

[onlyme]

Markd agrees to follow for company if it wont take long.

[Spearmint]

Idriss

"Allied to the dreadlord! And 'horrors' still stalk the grounds. This mad mage elf you met before. Was he an apprentice to the dreadlord?"

Perhaps being closer to the tower the Orb might show more of the tower you want to explore. Maybe one of the wraith could point stuff out?

[Marullus]

Fingers leads the way out the front gate into the courtyard; Markd comes and the Swordwraiths stay behind, but Zirina, Hengist, and Alyse come along to help or just be curious. (Idriss should state his own intention.)

The inner bailey's courtyard outside the main keep is as you last saw it - a large forlorn oval of cracked and worn flagstones with your Keep's gates at one end and a collapsed archway of a gatehouse at the other. Brick walls, resilient against the passage of so much time, surround the rest with double-gates spaced out at wide intervals. Some are curled wrought-iron, others slabs of thick wood, all are wide enough for wagons to pass through easily.

Fingers makes his way to the first counterclockwise gate, the one closest to the base of the Wizard's Tower and where the estate of the old King once flourished. The gates are emblazoned with the sun-sigil of the horselord kings and look strong and intact. After examining them closely for anything nefarious, Fingers works at the old but unrusted iron lock and manages to get it open. The gates creak open revealing what is inside.

The estate is a mess, everything in it blended and smashed as if by a tornado. What might have once been an impressive manor is now crumbled together with the rest of the detrius as massive sprawl of rubble, much of it sunken in to fill the catacombs once beneath. This is clearly the handiwork of the angry djinn which the spent her wrath... you're glad that you befriended her instead. To your relief, there appears to be no surprises or additional threats here... amidst the knee-high rubble swales there's nothing much servicable either. The whole estate is surrounded by the brick inner-bailey walls except the rear edifice, which is the massive, 30' outer wall of the city and the corner of the Keep. The catwalk atop the wall goes the length of this estate and the Wizard's Tower rises here.

Fingers stands among the rubble and pulls out a lumpy seed casing about four inches in length. It is exceedingly odd for him to treasure it so, given his normal keep appraisal skills. He pauses, reflecting on the journey which brought him here, the others watching...

Fingers pauses and reflects on the words of Vassar Clements which set him to this task.

Fingers McGraw makes the trip up from Gaul. His dog, a bloodhound/bullldog mix, is at his side. He pauses by the statue of Rhybek in the courtyard and pats it on its stony shoulder. "Hang on, Rhybek" he mutters. "Someone's eventually gonna figure out how to make you a dwarf again. Boy, won't you be surprised when you find out how much everything's changed, huh?"

Stepping up to the meetinghouse itself, he addresses Vassar Clements, guesturing towards his dog. "This is Sprinkles. He's alive because of Beith. Well, Winnie. Winnie and Beith. I dunno exactly what happened. Sprinkles had"—Fingers struggles to get the next words out. He swallows, closes his eyes, and then barrels ahead with the unpleasant—"he fell into a pit, fell on some spikes, and died. And somehow, Beith and Winnie brought him back. And some other things changed, too, but the important thing is he's alive." Fingers rubs his dog's head and smiles. Then he kneels down and gives the dog a big hug.

"Now, I ain't had much use for the gods," he says, looking up at Clements while still hugging Sprinkles. "But after the—thing—I got to talking with Winnie, and Beith sounds all right. And I owe her big for bringing Sprinkles back. I can't even repay that. I can try, though.

"But how? I thought about pledging my service to Beith, but my skills don't 'xactly fit in with your druids, rangers, witches, and wild whatevers. I can donate money, of course, if that's what you want. Or...I dunno. What do you think I should do?"

Vassar Clements nods, brushing down his brown hassock and offering Fingers a bowl of hearty mushroom soup as the sun drops low on the horizon... earlier and earlier as winter speeds closer. "I see the touch of the Mother on you both. You are joined in the response to the calamity." It is less a question and more an acknowledgement. He looks on Fingers with a sad, kindly expression for a minute or two, apparently judging him approvingly.

He then asks Fingers to relay the tale of their recent adventure and listens quietly as he hears of them riding hippogriffs, freeing the djinn, destroying the crypts, and chasing the elf through the tunnels to the pit trap which caused Sprinkles rebirth. Vassar finally considers, then hands Fingers a lumpy seed casing about four inches in length.
"The interests of Beith are in the reclamation of places for the wild, the return of death and undeath to new and free life. This birch seed is sacred, and will establish a new sacred grove. You can honor Beith by planting it in the ruins of the crypt which the djinn collapsed and returning the undeath of that place to wild purpose and new life."

Fingers takes the seed casing and carefully wraps it in a pouch. "I'll do that. But, uh, one thing—when you say to bury it 'in' the crypt, does that mean I need to find a way back into the crypt that's all collapsed and buried now? Or can I just plant this in the ground over the crypt?"

"Oh, good," says Fingers, relieved that he won't have to go back into the collapsed tomb. "You can count on me."

Date: 17 October 2021, 9:30am
Light: Sunlight
Effects: None
Injuries: None

[Zhym]

Huh. I thought the place Vassar Clements meant was the tomb we went into before that's now collapsed, outside the walls. But that's not where we are now, is it? Or am I misreading where we went?

[Spearmint]

Idriss will keep to the team, not quite sure where he is on any map but follows, intrigued by stories of wraiths, djinn and necromancers.

"Did the Djinn say anything about this place that she destroyed?" he asks remembering the wraith commented on 'horrors in the estate'. Thankful of his Eruanna radiant blessing, he follows the group, wary of hidden unseen horrors.

[Marullus]

Huh. I thought the place Vassar Clements meant was the tomb we went into before that's now collapsed, outside the walls. But that's not where we are now, is it? Or am I misreading where we went?

You entered through a secret escape tunnel when was hidden outside the wall and led into the crypt. The crypt itself was under the estate, the estate was within the protective walls, and is what was destroyed by the Djinn and collapsed inward. Clements has asked you to plant the seed and create a sacred Beith grove inside the inner bailey of the city right next to the swordwraith's keep.

Here's the Original Post:

The courtyard you stand in is about 100 yards wide, roughly oval shaped, and twice that long. You can imagine it crowded with the throngs of the city on festival days. There are no buildings in this grand courtyard, but there are gates in the walls around its circumference and there are a few features otherwise of note. First, the grand doors of the keep rise at the top end of the courtyard, the walls of the large, square keep rising above it. Atop the keep are two small round towers, each providing a commanding view of the surrounding plains, and there are two larger towers further out, where the inner bailey wall meets the outer curtain wall on its east side. To the right (south) of the keep doors are the collapsing remains of a large wooden stables, easily suitable for scores of horses. Opposite the keep on the west side of the courtyard is a three story stone gatehouse, the portcullis and gates still secured and intact beneath, leading out to the outer city. To the left (south) of the gatehouse but still on the west-facing side is a breach in the inner bailey wall. About 40' of the wall is collapsed into utter rubble, the rubble field strewn out in both directions, the glint of bone and rusted armor vaguely discernable among the hunks of toppled stonework.

Having flown in, you also were treated to a helpful view of the inner bailey as a whole. There are three ornate gates on each side of the courtyard, each leading to one of six noble estates. You discern from your maps that the one closest to the keep on its north side is the estate of the king's family, under which the crypts originated. You see small rents and fissures in the earth near the outer wall there, ramifications of the collapse beneath the ground. Each of the noble estates is about two acres; sizeable real estate within the protected walls of the city. They each have a large manor house, some also have smaller outbuildings, and are largely overgrown by plantlife which might once have been gardens or trees before centuries of neglect allowed them to abound and obscure any further detail.

The corrected map of the area is here.

[onlyme]

Hold up a second... I also thought this was about it being outside the walls. This birch would start turning the inner bailey courtyard into a wild forest??? Markd would probably put 2 and 2 together and say no to helping. If it were inside the estate wall, maybe...

[Zhym]

Thanks, Marullus. One day, eventually, I'll finally figure out the geography of this place. Probably.

If I understand correctly now (odds: low), the place where Fingers wants to plant the seed is in one of the estates, not in the inner bailey courtyard, yes?

[onlyme]

Duhhh.. ok. Damn I'm horrible at reading comprehension this entire decade ok. Markd is reluctantly ok with turning that estate into a forest, not really put much faith that it will turn into anything worth worrying over.

[Zhym]

That's okay. It only just dawned on me—as in, in the past few minutes, despite Marullus's recent post—that when we emerged from the tunnel after escaping the collapsing tomb, we weren't on top of the collapsed tomb but quite far away from it. Nor had I grokked that the tomb was inside an estate in the city. But I think I finally, actually have it.

So, to the task at hand: does Fingers have any idea if he has to plant the seed anywhere in this estate in particular? Does he need to find a spot that's over the crypt itself, somehow? Or would planting the seed somewhere in the estate suffice?

[Spearmint]

Idriss

Reads through his notebook, bringing to mind the retelling of the groups last encounters here. okay spent a couple of hours reading again your completed expedition thread.

A) the evil elf Gadriel who lives in the caverns wants to get into the wizard tower which is warded vs Undead (hence your wraiths don't go there) and they believe magic weapons fight intruders. Thus being scried as unoccupied by Alyse with her Orb. The entrances are wizard locked.

B) you survived a skeletal troll in the stables, more bones litter the breach in the walls.

C) creatures of earth (Elementals? ) guard the grounds of the inner estates. At least two dozen gargoyles live in the tower. How many did you kill previously?

D) these wraiths fought against the besieging force but switched sides when the battle was lost and swore an oath to defend it. They recanted their oath or at least switched allegiances to Mark'd who bore a magic staff of authority. Can they still be trusted? (Guess that is for Mark'd to deal with eventually).


"hmm ... quite a history. Do you aim for this wizard tower to rival the new SMAUG tower should we gain access to it and recover arcane treasures?"


So plant the seed and a forest springs up (overnight or decades?), in the middle of the courtyard, hemmed in by the curtain walls. Mark'ds new settlers then claiming portions of estate to rebuild in the ruins between outer walls and inner broken walls.

Maybe these elementals could help nurture the forest? I mean the wraiths help now?"

[Zhym]

Fingers ponders the wizard's questions. "I don't really care what happens with the tower. It's Markd's. But a wizard tower's gotta have wizards, right? And aren't you part of SMAUG? Are you thinking of opening a branch campus? And about the seed—I'm not exactly sure what will happen. Vassar Clements said it would start a new grove and that I'm supposed to plant it over the crypt that was collapsed. It'll make a new sacred grove, he said. It's something I gotta do because...because of what Beith did for me and Sprinkles." He scratches his dog behind the left ear. Fingers tilts his own head slightly and lifts one leg, as if its his own head that's getting scritched.

That's a good summary. Thanks. I'd forgotten a lot of that, like the estates being guarded by elementals. There seem to be a lot of elemental forces at work around here, what with the djinn. Maybe it's a theme?

I don't know how many gargoyles are left; enough to be a threat, probably.

[onlyme]

That's a good summary. Thanks. I'd forgotten a lot of that, like the estates being guarded by elementals. There seem to be a lot of elemental forces at work around here, what with the djinn. Maybe it's a theme?

I don't know how many gargoyles are left; enough to be a threat, probably.

1) What is different about elementals? anything versus other foes?
2) Markd did such a good job with the last batch of gargoyles we may get numb to their threat. I would hate if his staff sputters out. we might be SOL...

[Zhym]

i don’t know if it’s that elementals are different so much as they’re kind of cool. And if we’ve seen a djinn (air) and there are earth elementals, someone may have been playing with elemental antics. Maybe there are estates where fire and water are in play? Who knows?

[Spearmint]

Idriss

So there are six estates, all in disrepair and collapsed, beyond d the wrought iron gates, the 'royal' estates being closer to the Keep. The inner courtyard is a 100 x 200 yards oval shape.

The seed should be planted in the middle of that to sprout a Beithian forest.

The mage whistles as others debate the merits of a Beith grove in a Baudh Keep. The place is a ruin though and there are merits of restoring the place with all faiths. So many ruined towers and keeps and gatehouses to keep any investor busy.

[Zhym]

I think only this estate is destroyed, and the plan is to plant only in this estate.

[Marullus]

Is there a conversation between Fingers and Markd, or does someone take a definitive action?