“Does anyone know anything about curses or traps?” Clayton asks the group. He’s willing to test/investigate the treasure if no one else does.
Moftar can’t detect any sort of trap or enchantment on any of Garn’s treasure or equipment, for whatever that’s worth. Garn’s axe has some amazing detailed inscription, though. None of the party can decipher the inscriptions, although Cobar can recognize the inscriptions are runes in demon-tongue. No orc could have crafted this weapon, but it’s apparently a relic of the demon Zine.
Gerald examines the map, and realizes it’s actually a blueprint. Garn had scribbled notes on the blueprint in goblin-tongue. The blueprint is crudely drawn, but human-made, and it depicts a fortress east of them called Fallenburgh. Cobar can decipher the crude goblin-tongue notes, which make it clear that Garn was planning to be one part of an orc/goblin assault on the castle. Gerald realizes that if the estimates of orc and goblin forces are not exaggerated, Fallenburgh has little hope of defense. It wouldn’t be the first time a human fortress was sacked by an army of orcs, though…
The treasure chest is locked. Anyone with the lockpick talent may attempt to open it. (ha!) A brief pat-down reveals Garn did not keep the key on his person, and it’s nowhere to be found in the room. If you try to smash the heavy treasure chest open, you may succeed, but you may also damage items inside.
The pile of treasure is counted, and turns out to be 75 golds. The two books weighing the blueprint down are human-made nursery rhymes and children’s stories, with Garn’s crude graffiti covering many of the pages. They’re worthless.
“It occurs to me that the crown our goblin captive talked about might have been taken by him. He was empowered with the ability to silently take our horses. It’s quite possible that the crown is an item of the demon, in which case, the goblin just got much more dangerous.”
Cobar examines the chest more closely. Upon looking really closely, he finds that the wood of the chest has largely rotted. Taking out his knife, he carefully cuts around and prys off the hinges of the chest which have lost their ability to secure the chest.
He then looks at the party and says: “Who needs lockpicks when people cheap out on their security, right?”
Cobar spends a point of luck to weaken the chest and bypass the lock without having to smash open the chest.
Before I roll moftar’s healing attempt, some clarification. One healing attempt can heal a maximum of 1 point of damage. Roll WITS vs the severity of the damage. In this case, you’d need a 6 or higher. You may make 1 healing attempt per hour. A body will naturally make a healing roll once per day, but using ACTION instead of WITS. Knowing this, will Moftar still use a point of LUCK to guarantee success this first roll?
Gerald slips the ‘map’ out from under the books holding it down and folds it into his pack, then takes a closer look at the chest.
If Cobar’s machinations on the chest are successful in opening it, Gerald will not attempt to pick the lock; otherwise he will.
Yes.
Unless I missed something, Maxwell had 8 hit points. He lost 1 in the battle with the kobolds, and 6 with the orc, for a total of 7. That leaves him 1 hp; nearly dead! Add to that the -3 plague effect, and he’s so weak even Moftar could defeat him! I have to consider this an emergency situation… even the 1hp of healing gives him a chance of survival in case something goes bad. My non-lucky chances of success are only 3/8 (37.5%) and I can’t take that chance.
Do it.
Maxwell bleeds. With great martial skill.
Maxwell is indeed at 7 damage. Sorry, I was posting from my phone at work earlier.
Moftar, for the first time any of the others have seen, displays remarkable competence in bandaging Maxwell’s wounds. He directs other party members to remove Maxwell’s armor, giving him access to the injury. Moftar cleans his hands and tools, and then gets to work…
Maxwell immediately heals 1 damage as a result of Moftar’s intervention. Moftar’s healing supplies were reduced by 1. Moftar has used a point of LUCK.
Anyone can try another attempt to heal a point of damage from Maxwell after 1 hour (which will consume another medical supply). Additionally, every day Maxwell will get a “free” chance to heal through natural means, rolling his ACTION vs. his wound level.
Gerald does not possess the LOCKPICK talent, and so may not attempt to pick the lock on the chest.
However, Cobar has discovered that the chest has a weak section which he can manipulate to open the chest. He carefully chips away the hinges, allowing the lid to slide free.
Inside the chest is 50 golds, and a leather bound book. Cobar recognizes ancient Dwarven runes on the cover of the book, but he can’t read them. A quick glance through the book shows the pages filled with charts and diagrams. Perhaps a scholar would be interested to see this relic.
Cobar has used 1 LUCK to open the chest.
Cobar holds on to the book.
"I think this will come in useful if we can find someone who can read this. This old tome is likely worth a pretty penny.
"So what next? If at all possible I’d like to warn the fortress of the attack, however, I don’t want to be there if the attack happens before they can get reinforcements. They don’t stand a chance of holding it. It’s going to be a slaughter.
“But this isn’t my call to make.”
Moftar: “I think it’s time we blow this scene. Get everybody and their stuff together. Ok… 3, 2, 1 let’s jam.”
Gerald: “I concur. Let’s get out of these caves and see if our horses, and the rest of our party, are still waiting for us. Cobar, how far is this fortress?”
OK, the fortress is to the east; which direction have we been travelling? I can’t seem to find that upthread. Is the fortress ‘on our way’? (he asks, knowing that it can’t possibly be that easy…)
Maxwell tries to lodge a complaint but mostly coughs up blood and plague-snot from his position on the ground.
Moftar will attempt to bandage Maxwell’s wounds as often as possible, using standard rolls, until the party either reaches safety or Maxwell is fully healed.
“Be careful with that axe, Eugene… In fact, I’d say we should leave it here if not for the fact *The Goblin *is still loose. As tempting as it may be, I would not suggest using it; an artifact with such powers often comes with a high price for its use, and could easily cost the user more than it’s really worth… demonic posession is insidious and sutble, and often starts with such seemingly simple decisions. Best that we find a nice volcano to throw it into as soon as possible!”
On the way out, Moftar gathers his usual trophies of the battle: A small vial of orc blood, a piece of orc skin, and he carefully chips off a piece of the throne. He leaves the orc’s brain alone.
Clayton: “And I concur with his concurring. Let’s get out of here and get moving.”
Before I move along the game, can I get clarification whether the group is leaving the axe behind, or taking it with them?
Assuming nobody else wants to take the chance, Moftar will carry the axe (carefully wrapped in rags so he doesn’t have to touch it) until we can find some way to dispose of it. If someone wants to try to use it, I would vote Clayton (good combat skills, and Maxwell has proven his worth as a meat-shield.)
And yes, the fortress and Preston Tower are both to the east:
My character sheet has an undetermined number of bandages on it. I’ll let Mosier decide how many (probably not much), but Maxwell will give them to whomever is healing him rather than having them use their own supplies first.
Ah, good point.
Clayton will take the axe and plans to use it next time it is needed.
Maxwell is strong enough to stand, but the others watch over him as the party exits Garn’s lair. He has taken some severe punishment, but has already started the healing process and is on a good road to recovery.
The party has various treasures from the confrontation. Gerald is in possession of a blueprint, showing exactly how an orc and goblin horde plan to exploit castle Fallenburgh’s weaknesses. Moftar has a carefully stowed axe apparently crafted in tribute to the demon Zine. Cobar has an ancient book of Dwarven diagrams and formulas, which has yet to be translated. The group also found a total of 175 golds, a small fortune of wealth!
Clayton may seem like a man of simple intellect, but when nobody else can quite remember the path they took through the network of tunnels, it is Clayton who takes charge and leads the group in a direct path back to the entrance. His memory is nearly perfect, and the others can’t help but wonder if they’ve underestimated the power of the younger Blake’s mind.
Soon, everyone is back out in the open. The excursion into the caves has taken nearly the entire day, and the sun hangs low in the evening sky. Tasha Stables is sitting cross legged on the dirt. One of the horses has its neck bent low, nose-to-nose with Tasha. Neither are blinking, apparently in some kind of silly staring contest.
Tasha’s goofy game is interrupted by the arrival of the others and she springs to her feet. The group questions her about whether she saw the goblin departing.
“Nobody has come out of there but you,” Tasha says. “But I couldn’t see all of the tunnel entrances at once,” she adds a little defensively. Of course she wouldn’t have seen the goblin. If it was sneaky enough to have escaped right under the noses of everyone else, how could Tasha be expected to spot it out here?
There’s enough daylight left to return to their previous camping spot. There won’t be much progress made during the day, though. Will the party set up for the night here, or somewhere further away from the caves?
Fallenburgh is a fortress to the east and north of where the party is currently standing. The rest of the journey to Preston Tower will take about 4 weeks on foot without further delays. Fallenburgh is not exactly “on the way,” but if the group wants to divert there, it will only add two or three days to the expected travel time.
Since Tasha Stables is here (even if Time Stranger isn’t)…
Immediately on exiting the cave, Moftar and Tasha both (each?) re-apply bandages to Maxwell. If this requires us to wait for a time, so be it. We’ll move on afterward.
Since Tasha automatically heals 3hp, that takes Maxwell to 5/8 hp. Then Moftar does his 1hp with a 75% chance of success. Maxwell will have 5 or 6 out of 8 HP and should be well enough to travel at this point.
Moftar extinguishes the torch, and reluctantly hands Garn’s axe over to Clayton: “I really hope this decision doesn’t come back to bitme in the axe!” 
“We certainly don’t want to go back to our previous campsite, do we? I think we should get as far from here as we can, before dark, and set up somewhere else for the night. A fresh start in the morning will do us a world of good.”
Moftar packs his healing kit away, and lights up a fresh pipefull for the walk.