Once the group arrived at the bottom of the ladder, they peered out into the room they now found themselves in. It was some kind of crypt. Water pooled on the ground in lower resting areas and a beam of light shone in from a hole opening up to somewhere outside of the fort. The hole was no bigger than would allow a child perhaps to stick their head through.
It took a moment for the party's eyes to adjust to the dim light. As their vision adjusted, they could make out more of the room, which was rather empty, save for a few stone pillars connected by some low rise walls and the odd crate and barrel. Towards the back of the room, it seemed as if there was some kind of glow on the walls, as if something behind the stack of crates might be casting out the light. Suddenly, the silence was broken by a faint moan from that corner which was opposite side of the crypt from where the group now stood. Finn drew his sword, while Gealyn conjured his psionic daggers and Plague lifted his stick in front of his face. Erme was the first to speak;
"Hail! We are Gunnards! Identify yourself!" she called out.
The party remained focused intently on the back of the room. Slowly, a shaky hand poked out from behind a set of crates which had been piled in the back corner.
"Thank Vyrkul! Our prayers have been answered!" came a soft voice.
Very slowly, three figures emerged from their hiding spot. There was an old human man, a middle aged human woman and dwarven man. The old man seemed to be rather frail. What caught the groups attention however were the glowing blue veins which pulsed rhythmically that could be seen on his neck and arms. They were likely the source of light they had spied a moment ago.
"We thought you might be more of them!" The women said as she helped the older man shuffle along beside her.
"So you are survivors of what ever happened here." Gealyn inquired.
"Yes! What ever those things were, they started coming two nights ago. I fear we are all that's left." replied the women on the verge of sobbing. "And not all of us were as lucky." She was now looking over her shoulder to the back corner where a body lay on the group with what looked like a cloak being used as a sheet to cover the body.
"My name is Jenore. I am one of the leaders of this hermitage. This is Barret," Jenore said as she gestured to the frail old man, "and that's Morley over there."
As she gestured to the dwarven male, Morley responded with an "Aye!" as he began to lean against a small stone wall running between two pillars. He seemed to be a little weak, or low on energy. There was also a faint blue glow to his veins as well.
The party lowered their weapons and approached the survivors. Finn was paying very close attention to the throbbing blue veins on Barret.
"What's wrong with him?" Finn inquired.
"I'm not sure. Barret was hit by something during the last fight when we were trying to make our way here to hide. It's been getting worse since." replied Jenore, with a lot of concern in her voice.
"It seems to have sapped his energy. Morley's been afflicted as well" she continued, gesturing over to the burley dwarf.
"I'm fine lass!" Morley replied waving off her concern.
Finn came in close to Barret who was slumped near one of the columns. Getting down on one knee, he placed his hands on Barret's head and began to hum. A faint orange-yellow glow began to emanated from under Finn's hands. Over the course of a few seconds, the glow grew brighter, until it seemed to seep into Barret's body like a wave of warmth burning away the cold. Then it flowed down over his body, causing the blue veins to disappear. After a moment, Finn stood back up and offered a hand to Barret. Barret reached out and took his hand and began to stand up. He still seemed frail, but there was notably more energy and a sense of relief on his face as whatever Finn had done had fixed the problem.
"It was some kind of curse." Finn confidently said. "But I have now cured you form it and you shall recover just fine."
Finn flashed his signature smile and then turned his head to address Morley.
"How about you friend? May I offer you the same remedy?"
Morley nodded and Finn began to move over in his direction to administer the same cure. Jenore then went over to Erme and the rest of the group.
"I must ask." Jenore said with quivering lips, "In your journey to us, did you come across a young man? His name is Aaron. He set out this morning to send out a warning and call for aid."
The group looked at each other each shrugging and shaking their heads.
"I'm afraid we haven't seen anyone. You three are the first individuals we've seen on the island since our arrival. But we'll keep an eye out for him." replied Erme.
Jenore nodded and began to tend to Barret who had returned to being slumped to the floor and was resting against a stone pillar. She then glanced back at Erme.
"Have you been up to the top of the watch tower?" Jenore asked inquisitively. "That's where he was heading when he set out this morning."
"No, we haven't made it that far yet in our exploration of the fort." Erme replied.
"Between Rasp and the Chuuls we've encountered, this island hasn't been the most welcoming." quipped Gealyn.
Jenore's eyes widened at the mention of Rasp.
"You fought Rasp?"
Plague then strut out to stand between Jenore and Erme. Puffing up his chest, he pointed at the feathers he had recently attached to his skull headgear and proudly exclaimed;
"We killed the beast! My new trophies prove it!"
Jenore seemed to take comfort in that. Looking back to Erme she said;
"Please, keep your eyes open for Aaron. I still fear the worst may have happened to him."
Erme nodded. She and the rest of the party moved back to the base of the ladder and they began to plan their next steps in hushed tones.
"We should check out the watch tower." Erme said to the group quietly. "We haven't made it there yet and there might be more clues as to what's going on here."
"Remember, we're here to figure out where the Tammeraut is. That is our priority." Gealyn reminded the group sternly. "Anything else is secondary. I'm already tired of all these encounters we've been having on what should be a pretty simple survey assignment."
The rest of the group nodded.
"Then let's check out the tower and finish looking for any other clues that might be in this fort. Then we can determine what to do next." Finn said with his signature charismatic tone and slapping a reassuring hand on Gealyn's shoulder. "Besides, it's not like the crew of the Tammeraut will just come find us and tell us where their ship is. They're likely been dead or gone for a long time now."
And with that, Finn motioned for the ladder and the party began to make their way back up to the store room. Erme was the last to start climbing and just before she went up, she turned back to look and Jenore and said;
"Stay here and stay safe. We'll keep an eye out for Aaron."
Jenore nodded in understanding and went back to tending Barret with Morely's help.
***
The group made their way back to the base of the stairs leading up to the watch tower. There, they began to ascend, passing the next landing which was being used for storage, and on to the next level. As they rounded the stairs and arrived at the third floor, they were met by a sort of office or study. There was a desk off beside the landing where the stairs entered the room. Then there was a couch that might have doubled as a bed with a large chunk of collapsed wall behind it and a dresser opposite the where they entered the room.. Beside the dresser was also a ladder which lead up to a hatch in the ceiling. The large hole in the wall behind the couch offered an expansive view of the fort and the sea beyond. If not for the haphazard edges of the hole, one might have thought it was meant to be a viewing spot to watch the ocean. The room must also have been open to the elements for some time, as the desk was covered in bird droppings and there was a salty film encrusting the walls around the collapsed section.
Gealyn moved over to the ladder.
"I'm going to check out the ladder and presumably the top of the tower beyond." Gealyn said as he began to morph his form. When his shift was complete, he looked just like Jenore. He sounded like her too as he continued speaking to the group;
"In case Aaron is up there, he might want to see a friendly face."
He then began to climb the ladder up to the hatch. The rest of the group began to fan out and search the landing. Erme began to search through the desk while Plague began to root through the dresser. Finn, meanwhile, took this opportunity to stand near the collapsed wall with a foot on the couch staring heroically out into the sea as the wind rustled his hair and his cape billowed behind him.
As Gealyn reached the hatch, he noticed the latch was already moved to the open position. He cautiously pushed up on the hatch, but there was some resistance. It was as if some kind of weight was resting on top of the hatch. Putting more effort into it, Gealyn was finally able to push the hatch open, grunting in the process. Taking in the space at the top of the tower, he noticed a large brass bell hanging at a weird angle. As he lifted himself into the space above the hatch, he could more clearly see the bell was in fact stuck in the side of the wall, the result of some kind of impact. Looking around, he quickly identified what the weight had been on the hatch. It was the gored remains of a young man, likely Aaron. Beside where Aaron's hand was against the battlement that formed the perimeter of the watch tower, Gealyn could see that the young man had tried to draw something in his blood. It vaguely looked like Rasp, but the smear of blood trailing from the picture to his hand made it clear he wasn't able to complete his message.
Back down in the study, Erme and Plague had located several magical items of note. Amongst them were some vials of oil of slipperiness, some potions of water breathing, some sovereign glue, a magical folding boat, and a handful of other magical items. As they were making notes of what they had found, Finn caught something out of the corner of his eye. Just behind the dresser, where it met the edge of the collapsed wall, there seemed to be a nook. Moving over to the dresser and dragging it away from the wall, Finn knocked a few bricks out of the way and got a better look at the nook. It must have been a hiding spot, but the collapsed wall had revealed it. Inside, there was a leather bound journal. Finn pulled it out and held it up for the group to see just as Gealyn was making his way back down the ladder.
"Well, bad news from up the ladder." Gealyn said. "I think I found Aaron, and he didn't make it. My guess is that he was attacked trying to warn us about Rasp, possibly about the other attacks."
"Maybe that's what Rasp was doing when we arrived at the island and it disappeared by the tower." Erme mused.
"Well, I've got good news!" Finn said still holding the journal out to the group. "I have a feeling this might contain the answers we seek."
Erme came over and took the book form Finn and started to flip through it. After a couple of moments of flipping the pages and quickly skimming a few of the entries, she smiled back to the group.
"This is indeed what we've been looking for." Erme said, holding the journal out for emphasis.
"This journal belonged to someone named Arachais, who used to be here while the navy occupied Fire Watch Island. It details a bit of the before and after events of when the Tammeraut was planning on invading this fort. I'll read it to you;"
Our worst fears are confirmed. Virgil has brought word of disaster. A war galley fully loaded with pirates approaches from the southwest. It flies the flag of the raiders and bears the name of the cursed ship Tammeraut. We must prepare what feeble defense we can muster. Woe to the folk of the coast at the approach of this bloody tide.
***
Miracle of miracles! The storm lord has answered the prayers of our illustrious chaplain. A furious storm blew in form the open sea and swept the war galley to its doom. But I believe that the vessel went down near the Pit of Hatred, an ill-starred undersea chasm two miles south of Firewatch Isle. This does not bode well, for the rift is said to be a passage to a source of interminable evil that was long ago sealed away. If the wreckage should rupture the wards, terrible darkness might be unleashed. I must mount an expedition to the sunken hulk and make sure all is well.
***
A fell wind blows this evening. I fear the wards on the rift have been broken. I must set out first thing in the morning to inspect the wreckage.
"So, the things that attacked the hermitage for the past two nights are zombie pirates?" Gealyn scoffed in disbelief.
"By the looks of it. I guess Arachais' expedition either failed or they weren't able to make it out to the wreck before the navy pulled out of the area." Erme replied. "The last entry is dated about ten years ago."
"But we do now have the location of the wreck!" Finn said enthusiastically. "So the question now is, do we go out to find it, or stay here and prepare for the pirates return tonight."
"Or the third option," Gealyn interjected. "Head back to Uskarn and mount a defense there."
"Why would we put a bunch of random villagers lives in danger?" Inquired Finn.
"Because were else will we find a large enough crowd to witness your battle prowess?" Gealyn said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Finn nodded pondering the idea. Gealyn continued; "But really, there's better safety in numbers. After what they've done here, I think I'd prefer to fight in the open spaces of the city."
"Then let's put it to a vote." Finn said. "All in favor of fortifying this fort and standing our ground say Aye!"
Finn was the only one to say "aye!".
"And all in favor of heading back to Uskarn to make our stand there?"
All thee other members of the group said "Aye!".
"Then I guess it's decided. Let's gather the three survivors and anything else of value we can find and head back."
And with the decision now made, the party made their way back to the crypt.
***
After gathering Jenore, Barret, and Morley, the party and the survivors did a quick search of the other areas of the fort before making their way to the shore. Checking out the old barracks, which had been converted into semi-private hermit quarters, they had discovered a magical charm in a tube under one of the beds in a back cell. Over in what the group was able to identify as the Prior's quarters, they found a special feather token and a magical underwater helm. Arriving at the dock where the group had first arrived, Erme went over and began to activate the folding boat. After a few moments, the small magical object began to unfolding itself and become a regular sized boat. Once it had completed the process, everyone began to board it. Taking a quick head count before leaving, Jenore realized that Morley was missing. Gealyn offered to go back into the fort to look for him quickly while the rest of them made ready to depart.
Sprinting back up to the fort, Gealyn arrived in the main hall and yelled out for Morley. There was no reply as his voice echoed off the walls. Becoming quite impatient, Gealyn did a quick run over to the near by kitchen and a quick pass by some of the open doors leading to rooms off the main hall but there was no sign of Morley. Not wanting to spend more time then he had to in this search, Gealyn hatched a plan. He began to transform his body into the form of Morley. Then, he began to run as fast as he could back to the boat. As he ran down to the docks, with the late afternoon sun beginning to settle behind the boat in the direction they were about to sail back to Uskarn, Gealyn called out in a perfect facsimile of Morley's voice;
"Run lads! Those beasties have returned! Dat elf fellow is gonna try an' a hold 'em off!"
With the confusion of apparently being under sudden attack, everyone on the boat accepted Gealyn's subterfuge and they cast the boat off and began to sail away as quickly as possible back to Uskarn. However, unbeknownst to everyone save Gealyn, Morley was still somewhere on Fire Watch Island...
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