The waves were choppy as a strong breeze rolled over the surface of the sea. The thick sent of sea salt was everywhere. The splashes from the waves crashing against the hull of Tymora's Luck coated everything. Raserhill held the helm firm in his grasp ensuring that his vessel maintained it's course. Finn stood with one foot on a crate at the front of the ship, his gaze fixed on the horizon. He knew that his aura of command was surly a calming force for the rest of his party and of course Raserhill their hired ferryman. Erme sat towards the center of the deck, trying to avoid being splashed by the waves while she thumbed through her recently acquired book, The Sword and the Scabbard. Plague meanwhile was sitting in front of the rolled up tarp which contained the transformed figure of Gealyn masquerading as old Philibert. The journey thus far had been rather uneventful. But that was about to change.
As Erme looked up from her book, she noticed a dark form moving deftly across the sky. It was too big to be a common seabird. Firewatch Island was coming into view now and this creature seemed to be circling the island. Getting to her feet she called out to grab everyone's attention while pointing to the form;
"What is that?"
"Ah, Rasp is out and about today. You best be careful while on the island. She's made it her home as well as those in the hermitage." replied Raserhill.
"What's a Rasp?" Erme pressed.
"Some large flying creature." sighed Raserhill. "Truth is, I don't stay long enough to find out. It has a temper I'm told and I'm not the adventurous sort. It's left me alone when I drop off the supplies, and the hermits must know how to get those supplies back to the fort without provoking it."
Erme moved to the front of the boat where Finn was and they watched its movement as the island drew closer. Suddenly, Rasp dived towards the tower of the fort, then disappeared out of view. Erme and Finn were unable to spot it as the ferry came up along the dock. Raserhill moved out from behind the wheel and tied the ship to the docks. The all began to unload the cargo from the ferry to the shore, including the tarp with Gealyn inside. Once everything was off loaded, Raserhill turned to the group.
"Well, good luck to ya! Hope you find what you've come for."
And with that, Raserhill slipped his moors and began his return trip to Uskarn. The group stood with the off loaded supplies until Tymora's Luck was just a blip on the horizon. In that time, no one had come from the fort or made any effort to communicate with the group. With Raserhill out of view, the party unrolled the tarp and let Gealyn out. He shifted back to his elven form and they took stock of their situation. The island wasn't very large. There were two large rock hills on either side of the island with the fort built between them. The hill on the right sported a rather tall rock formation, almost like a pillar, or a natural light house. It was likely one of the features the navy must have liked about it, as setting a large fire on top would have been visible for a great distance. There was a sort of defined path leading from the dock to the front entrance of the fort. The path had some torches and large rocks out lining its perimeter. The fort itself looked to be well maintained as far as the party could determine from the beach. The path lead to a front gate, there was a rather tall tower on the right side of the fort and the main section looked to be about two stories tall. There was a small courtyard of sorts in font of the main gate with some weird looking plants growing in the corner at the base of the tower.
Finn was beginning to grow impatient.
"You would think with someone as marvelous as I, that a welcoming committee would have been scrambling to get out here and greet me, erm, us!" Finn said as he folded his arms over his chest.
"Well, then let's go introduce ourselves." Gealyn said as he directed the group to head out. The party walked about half way up the path when the heard a terrifying screech. That screech was then followed up by the wing beats of large wings. The group froze in place as they watched Rasp fly up from somewhere behind the fort and land right in their path. With the creature now only about 60ft away, it was much more clear what they faced.
Rasp was in fact a peryton. This peryton was large indeed. It's body looked like a giant eagle or other bird of prey. A wing span that must have been around 40-50ft, sharp talons which were currently digging into the rock and sand of the path before them. But where its head was, it was not a bird's head as one might expect, but that more resembling a deer. It had large antlers, each easily 12ft long. And the tip of is snout was all beak and fang, like that of a kraken mixed with a wolf. Rasp pulled back a bit before lurching forwards to let loose another shriek. The party took a defensive stance, drawing their weapons. Finn held out his long sword and stood in a wide stance, flicking his hair back and addressing the group;
"We've got this guys. Let me show you how it's done."
Rasp took flight and not waiting for Finn to make his move, Erme knocked an arrow and let it loose towards the creature as she began to move towards it.. The arrow flew true and hit it's mark in the center of Rasp's chest. The hit must have knocked the air out of the peryton, as it came crashing back down to the ground, which gave Erme the opportunity to throw a net over it's head. Gealyn darted out next. Opening up his fists, purple energy that at first looked like a small rod made of gas, but then coalesce into daggers formed in each hand. He gripped the hilts of the newly formed daggers and through them at Rasp landing two solid hits before the daggers dematerialized again to the nothingness they'd come form.
Next up was Plague. Having been back by the supplies still rummaging for a possible snack, he took this opportunity to run up behind Finn and take cover, much to Finn's chagrin. Erme and Gealyn returned to Finn's side as Rasp shook off the net and once again took to the sky. Letting loose a blood curdling screech, the air under it's wings took on a dark, almost haze like state. Then Rasp beat it's wings rapidly and the haze started to drift towards the group. The party felt like they might succumb to fear, but the feeling passed by them like the haze. Their minds resolute, they readopted their defensive posture. Rasp then dived towards them, landing mere feet in front of them as it tried to take a bit out of Erme, but she dodged below its snapping jaws. It then took to the skies once more before the party could take another swing.
Erme knew this wouldn't go well if this fight became protracted, so when she knocked her next arrow, she whispered something the rest of the group couldn't hear. But once she had said what ever she had said, the arrow began to glow a bright gold. Quickly finding her aim, she let this arrow loose again and as the previous shot before, this one hit Rasp right in the neck. The arrow seemed to explode with light as it hit it's target and once again, Rasp came tumbling from the sky, only to be hit with another two daggers form Gealyn and as it crashed into the ground. Plague wanting to get a hit in, ran out from behind Finn with his wooden stick held high as he did his high pitched warcry;
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
Plague got right up to the creature and rammed his stick in it's eye, causing a critical blow and puncturing Rasp's left eye. Rasp cried out in pain which spooked Plague and he scampered back behind Finn. Rasp got back up on it's talons, looking very banged up and unsteady. There was still a little fight left in her and she was determined. Rasp took another lunge towards the party but this time Finn let his sword free and swung upwards after ducking below to dodge the bite. The swing was clean and quick. With a sickening flop, Rasp's head fell over Finn's back, and rolling off, just missing Plague who was crouching behind his legs.
"Now that's how it's done! Good thing you had me!" Finn said, mostly stroking his own ego. Despite having lopped the head off the peryton, Finns armor was still clean and gleaming. He flicked his hair back again and started for the fort's gate.
"I hope someone inside witnessed my greatness, as it would be a shame if such an epic deed was left without an audience." Finn lamented.
Erme and Gealyn started to fall in step behind Finn, but Plague took a moment to pluck some feathers from the peryton's body, as well as pry a few teeth out of it's mouth. Without any cleaning, he went and attached them to his skull helmet and began to hum to himself as he walked a little faster to catch up to the group.
As the group arrived at the front gate, they passed into the courtyard. The courtyard looked deserted. There were tools and equipment just left haphazardly laying around. The weird plants they'd spied from the beach were easier to look at from this distance, but none of them knew what kind of plants they were. They looked like grapevines from a vineyard, but much darker than one would expect. They also seemed to shiver as the group drew closer to the main gate. It was rather unsettling.
Once at the main gate, the group stopped. There was still no response to the party's presence, save for the weird vines in the corner. The gate before them was fairly large. Easily able to accommodate two horses and their riders side by side with room to spare. It was likely that when the navy called this fort home, this was the gate that the procession of troops and equipment would have followed down to the dock. The door itself though looked to have seen better days. There were stress and rip marks where the door had looked to have been blown off its hinges. There was also the presence of repair. Someone had remounted the door to it's hinges. Perhaps the last confrontation the navy had had prior to withdrawing form the region had been more eventful than Bells had known.
Finn went and knocked on the door with three heavy pounds of his fists. Still no response. Finn motioned the group to stand back.
"Ha! Ok! Watch this! Let me show you how to make a proper entrance!"
Finn leaned his head from side to side cracking his neck, then interlocked his fingers and stretched to crack the bones. Then after shaking it all off, he took off and leaned his shoulder into the door as he rammed it. However, the door did not budge. Erme and Gealyn rolled their eyes while standing a few paces back behind Finn. They eyed the building in front of them. Gealyn made note of the surface of the fort wall. It wasn't smooth and there were many stones sticking out that could be used to scale the wall.
Finn called out after a second attempt to ram the door.
"I think there is a magical seal here. Otherwise, I should be able to break through this gate!"
Gealyn walked up behind Finn and put a hand on his shoulder as he said;
"Keep watch. I'll be back in a second."
With that, Gealyn started to climb the wall. It wasn't hard to find spots to grip, and places to support his feet. It was actually one of the easiest walls to climb in recent memory for him. As he climbed past the second floor, Gealyn got a whiff of a foul odor. It was strong and rank and Gealyn through up a little as he hoped the smell wasn't going to permeate the whole fort. Reaching the roof wasn't too difficult as he swung a leg over the top. Once up there he had a superior view of the fort complex. The fort was rather square in design, snug between the two hills on the little island. There were no obvious openings on the roof, so Gealyn made his way around looking for a window that he could use to enter the building. Making his way to the south east side of the fort, he found an opening roughly on the opposite side from where he'd climbed up onto the roof.
Swinging down from the roof and through the window, Gealyn found himself on a walkway that followed the perimeter of the main hall of the fort. He was suddenly hit by by another noxious smell. Different to the one he'd smelt on his ascent to the roof. This was the familiar smell of blood and death, and it was rather fresh. Creeping over to the edge of the walkway to peer over the railing, Gealyn got his first real good look at the inside of the fort. Below him was the main chamber, which seemed like otherwise it would have served as the main area for people to interact, but now looked like a battlefield. There was blood all over the floor, the walls, and anything that remained in the room. Gealyn noted however, that there were no bodies in the room. He could see that the main gate had been barricaded from the inside, so he began to carefully make his way around the walkway towards the stairs that would take him down to the main floor and then over to the barricade. There were no sounds except for the wind blowing through the few windows and arrow ports, and the sound of crashing waves. It was an eerie feel as Gealyn made his way to the barricade.
Once there, Gealyn removed a pick axe from his kit and began to pry the boards off the main gate. After a few moments, and with the odd grunt, he was able to swing the doors open for his companions. Spinning the pickaxe in his hand, Gealyn nodded over to Finn telling him what he wanted to hear;
"You were right Finn! There were magical barricades on the inside. My magic pick here did the trick."
Finn, giving Gealyn a suspicious look, put his hand out;
"Then perhaps you'll do me the honor of lending me your magical instrument to deal with the other possible barricades in the fort?"
Gealyn handed over the pickaxe and smiled.
"They're all yours!"
The party made their way inside the main gate and the rest of the group saw for the first time what Gealyn had seen. A violent act had been committed in this fort, and not that long ago. Plague wandered over to the nearest smear of blood. Wiping a finger along it to collect some blood, he then stuck his finger in his mouth and sampled it the way a wine taster might taste a fine wine. After a few swishes, and a little gleeful cackle, Plague confirmed for the group that it was indeed very fresh. Less than a day old even.
The group began to fan out, checking the main hall for any clues as to who was attacked, or who the attacker might be. Other than blood coating everything, there was little indication. Though the lack of any hermits wondering around suggested they might have been the luckless defenders in this bloodbath. Finn started to remove all the barricades he came across until he reached a patch of wall near the entrance. It was slightly different colored from the rest of the stone work, and it looked like it was covering up an old entrance. Finn began to pound away on the section of wall. In his mind, he looked fabulous while performing the repetitive actions. He lamented that there was no grand audience as he worked.
After many repeated whacks, he was able to break through. However, the instant he broke his way into the wall, he was immediately hit by an incredible stench. It was the worst thing he had ever smelled. Gealyn began to gag as he coughed while being hit with the stench he had smelled earlier on his climb up the outer wall. Erme was quickly able to plug her nose before the smell worked it's way over to her side of the hall.
Plague's eyes opened up wide with glee however. For him, it was a very welcoming smell. He ran headlong, passing under Finn's legs to dive into the room. He landed with a small squish as he landed on something damp, and soft. As Finn waved a hand over his nose and backed away, Gealyn and Erme got a good look into the room. It was small, but right in the center, piled higher than Finn, was a mound of excrement. There was also what looked to be a ladder that went up and above the hole Finn made in the wall. Erme walked over, holding her nose and poked her head into the room and looked up. The ladder went up to a hatch in the ceiling.
"Do you think you can go take a look?" Erme asked Plague while trying not to gag.
"Sure thing!" Plague replied, rolling around in the pile of fecal matter.
Plague then rolled off the pile and started to climb up the ladder. It was old and wooden, but still sturdy enough for his small frame. When he got to the top, Plague pushed the hatch up gently, smearing poop on everything he touched as he peered through the opening. The area around the hatch looked like a makeshift latrine. Plague surmised that this must have been where the hermits came to do their business. With nothing immediately catching his eye, he climbed back down and informed the group of what he'd seen.
Gealyn then noticed something on the floor. He was standing a little past the hole in the wall towards one of the corridors leading away form the main chamber. There was a path of foot prints leading out of the room and down the hall. Gealyn motioned to the party his discovery. Finn nodded and took the lead as they started to make their way down the corridor. After a few turns, they arrived at a wooden door. It presumably lead to some stairs that would take them up to the watch tower based on the direction they were headed.
Finn kicked the door in, part venting his frustration about the barricade from earlier and part because he felt it made him look great to the party as they watched him do it. The wooden door swung open and crashed against the wall. Luckily for Finn, as he took the extra moment to enjoy his handy work before crossing the threshold, a pail of something green feel from a spot above the entrance on the other side of the door. It smacked the stone floor and began to bubble, then dissolve the floor. The party watched as the green sludge disappeared into the floor leaving a hole where it had landed.
"You might want to watch your step." Finn said to the group, mentally wiping sweat from his head and being thankful for always taking that extra moment to bask in his gloriousness. "This place apparently is boobytrapped."
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