| Convinced that this was the best approach, the party collected their arrows and bolts, resumed their positions, and repeated the procedure. This time, only four stirges slipped through, and, despite Sack stumbling after opening the door and Hildraft getting wounded again, they made short work of the creatures. The next time, however, seven of the nasty creatures slipped through - including a huge one, at least twice the size of the others - King Stirge! | |
The fighting was furious for a few minutes, poor Hildraft getting tagged again - strange as he was the smallest target! Kobort had a lucky escape as King Stirge hurtled past him through the open door, and only just managed to kill it as it struck him a glancing blow with its' huge proboscis. The stirges finally quieted, the group searched their den - nothing, of course - and ascended the stairs to the final tower room.
 |
A small, square, plain, windowless room, it had a
table and four comfortable chairs facing, and dominated
by, a huge crystal chandelier made of a myriad different
coloured pieces of crystal gemstones. Radiating strong enchantment
magic, it was illuminated from inside and lit the
room; ever-shifting patterns of light, shade and colour
within its' glassy depths drew and appealed to the eye. While regarding this with some suspicion, the group examined it and its' surroundings most carefully, and finally Kobort sat down on one of the chairs and studied the crystal. After a few minutes, he found himself relaxed, alert, his thought processes improved, and ideas flowing more easily than before. In fact, it was a bit of an effort to pull himself away from the sight, though he managed it. Surya and Hildraft found the effects to be much the same, but Sack, distrustful of all things elvish, refused to be drawn. He moodily destroyed one of the chairs, in case valuables had been concealed in it, and was only partly mollified by Hildraft's assessment of the crystal's value - around the 100,000gp range intact. Kobort considered trying to chip some bits off, but Surya offered to chip bits off him if he tried it and he gave the idea up. |
Leaving the room, the half-orc wandered back down the keep, checking in missed corners and keeping his eyes open for any chance of a bit of extra loot. On the way, he gathered some bits of slain stirge and made a sandwich; while it tasted every bit as bad as it looked, it was fresh food.
While searching the kitchens, he moved some rotting crates and heard a soft "tink" from behind them as something small and metallic dropped to the floor.
Descending the stairs, they came out in the lower stores chamber. Obscure scuttering noises in the rubble sparked some interest, but not even the weakened Hildraft could find himself very interested in rats. Especially with magic in the air. Kobort sensed enchantments on a coil of rope, and Sack added it to the general bag of loot. Following the corridor down towards the cliffs, they came on a large open room with arrow-slits at the far end; this turned out to be where Nosebiter had attempted to fly in while they were down on the quay. On the floor, they discovered a single arrow, which emanated a powerful enchantment.
Descending again, they found themselves in a wide, short corridor. Ahead they could see a solid-looking iron portcullis, lowered, blocking the passage. 20’ further on, a statue or column of some sort stood in the centre of the passage, and beyond that another portcullis and stairwell like the one they'd just descended. Level with the statue was a branch in the corridor leading towards the cliffs.
There then followed much investigation of the portcullis; searching for handles, hidden switches, shouting requests at the statue to open the gate. No results. Sack even went as far as to go back up to the floor above and hunt for some mechanism above the gates - nothing.
In frustration, Kobort loosed a magic missile at the statue at the junction. Everyone else dived for cover, but other than a "spannng" noise, nothing happened.
