Old Ways IC

[Nevaera]

"If you always talk about what to do next, chances are, you'll miss your opportunity with all the choices you have and nothing will get done.

"If you really want a chance at them, stay on watch with me at night. So long as anyone needs recouping, that can be done with relative safety during the day. And if you really want to chase after them before the day is out, we may as well make sure we're all at our best.

"Who knows? Maybe Devin will have gathered more numbers for you while we've been tracking about out here. Now, you guys coming?"

[Koren n'Rhys]

Mycah raises an eyebrow at Ash's commanding tone. And she claims she doesn't want to be in command, he thinks to himself.
Without comment he looks to the others, especially Nathros, and shrugs his shoulders, then moves to join the young lady.

[Matthew]

"Well, whether we are coming or no is what we are debating. I am for pursuing the goblins, as should be clear, but doing so by myself will likely mean my death, so choices are limited. Talk is the means by which collective decisions are made, but when it comes to blows you will not find me lacking. My tally of goblin heads this past two days can vouch for that!"

[Nevaera]

Ash grins behind her helmet and nods slowly in a way that almost seems like some kind of curtsey.

"Perhaps we'll test whether your luck and skill will hold later. There's still plenty of daylight left."

With that, she begins to lead the way back to the keep, no matter who does or does not come along with her. She is surefooted as she walks, never need to pause for footing, even in her heavy armor.

[Altair_the_Vexed]

Talsarios trots off to catch up with the warrior. "My thoughts exactly! Come on, we'll only be a half hour at most."

After a few yards, he turns and calls back, "Actually, I say, why don't we split up? Following tracks is a slow business, and I really do think the other rooms in the keep are empty. We can regroup in very little time, I'm sure. I'll go with these new chaps, and you all go after the goblins. What do you think?"

[Koren n'Rhys]

"I don't think that is wise at all, friend mage. Perhaps the goblins are long fled but the woods hold other dangers. It would be unsafe to split our group in light of the possible dangers."
He looks back at Ash's retreating form, then returns his gaze to Talsarios.
"She's right, there is plenty of daylight left. We can afford a brief rest to formulate a better plan, then follow the trail. Come, we should stay together for now."

[Matthew]

With a last look towards the forest, Nathros trudges reluctantly behind.

[Altair_the_Vexed]

Walking with the newcomers, Talsarios continues talking, almost to himself: "I don't know that it'd be too risky, though. There's a dozen of us, including the woodsmen, you know. We could form two strong parties..."

[Frivolous]

Brandon Bor


Brandon marches through the forest at the rear.

He listens to Talsarios and shakes his head, "The seven gobbos that got away are likely the strongest. Probably the gob king and his bodyguards."

"It would be irresponsible to bring the hirelings along on this hunt. We aren't paying them enough to risk their lives."

[Nevaera]

Ash continues onward, though keeping an ear tuned to the group's discussions. She seems to agree with Brandon's sentiments on the lives of the woodsmen as well. She heeds Brandon's observations on the goblins and conciders their potential risk for later.

Goblin King, hm? I'm certain I made the right call in returning to the keep for now. A king of any culture or race is something to concider seriously. Perhaps he really is smart enough to lay traps. What kind of traps would a goblin king lay in hopes of gaining revenge on those who would slay so many of their kin?

She turns and slows her pace until she travels beside Talsarios and quietly (but not secretively) poses her question, "Would they be of wits enough to lay traps on their trail? How much do you actually know about - Goblin culture?"

[Koren n'Rhys]

Mycah walks along with Ash, Talsarios and the others, and while not regretting his decision to return to the keep, he can't help but wonder if it is the right one.
"I'm wondering the same, Ash. We're giving them more time to prepare, but if this goblin band is that smart, then we'll need to be at our best. What do you think, Talsarios? Are they capable of that much planning?"

[Roland St. Jude]

Talsarios considers a moment. "I'm quite well-versed in the habits and culture, if it can be called culture, of the various monstrous humanoids. Some of the great works on the subject can be found in the libraries of Thyatis. The cads might well lay traps, set an ambush, or flee altogether. They're none too bright mind you, but apparently this King, which I'm sure it was, had sense enough to commandeer a keep, bend some bugbears to his will, enforce surprising order on his fellows, and even escape into broad daylight. Frankly, though, I doubt he'd stay to fight us personally. What king does his own dirty work?"

The keep looks different already, Bost's banners fly from the four towers and hand from the keep's most obvious approach. Apparently, the towers held no fearsome monsters barring the workmen's way. The woodsmen that accompanied the party walked the outer wall as watchmen. One stood ready to lower the drawbridge upon the party's return. Inside, Devin seemed to be directing traffic and stopped to wave at the heroes in a beckoning fashion. Perhaps there was some hero work left to be done inside.

[Frivolous]

Brandon Bor


Brandon peers and says, "Devin seems to want us. Let's go find what's on his mind."

[Nevaera]

Ash bows her head toward Devin in recognition, remembering it's hard to see a smile beneath her steel protection. She greets him to hear what he has to say, only prompting after the party has gathered 'round, of course. "What is it, Devin? From what I can tell, everything seems in excellent order."

[Roland St. Jude]

He walks as he talks, leading the party into the main room of the keep.

"The towers were clear, and I've not sent anyone below, but then nothing's come up at us either. But it's here," he gestures at the large double doors straight ahead, "they seem to be closed up tight."

The doors were simple wooden doors like all the others in the keep, but on closer inspection were thicker and locked.

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Nathros would recall from his prior exploration that behind the doors is likely a staircase leading up.

[Koren n'Rhys]

Mycah follows the others to the set of double doors and listens as Devin explains what they've found.

He walks to the doors and begins to examine them more closely, trying to find a keyhole or some other evidence of the locking mechanism on the outside, or if they are only accessible from inside.
"I may be able to help out," he says, a bit sheepishly. "I picked up a few tricks here and there, when the lumbermen needed to get into a shed or storeroom and, um, no one with keys was around. Don't know if I can do much though, without any tools. Might be we can craft something with a little time."
He glances at Ash out of the corner of his eye to see how she reacts to his admission.

[Frivolous]

Brandon Bor

Brandon just nods, squares his armored shoulders, and stands ready, sword and shield in hand.

He mutters, "Here we go again."

[Nevaera]

Ash doesn't seem bothered by Mycah's confession. Either she doesn't understand, she ignores what his skills would imply (taking his described actions at face value), or that just doesn't matter to her. However, Mycah would know that the people where she's from would most definitely frown at a Thief type that would steal rather than be up front and fight for things. Not that's he's confessed to any such thing.

"Have any of you discovered any keys on any of their bodies? Perhaps it's in one of their coin bags. Or perhaps their king has it. In any case, it would be good to check your things."

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If they don't find anything at all and if the door has a blaitant lock hanging off it rather than one built into the door, she'll suggest, "Why don't we just bash it? Might be faster." I think they did find one key at the first fight in the courtyard on some overseer. I could be mistaken or perhaps they tried it already here.

[Frivolous]

Brandon Bor

"Oh. Yes, we did discover some keys, quite a bit earlier... I think that was two or three days ago?"

"They were on the goblin supervisor. But I've forgotten who has the keys."

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I have no idea anymore who has the keys, much less whether we have tried them all yet.

If Brandon has the keys, he'll try them on the door.

[Matthew]

Nathros listens to the conversation, and waits to see what will be decided.

[Roland St. Jude]

The keyhole was inset in the large door and not of the same size as the key the supervisor carried. The doors themselves seemed sturdy. They showed evidence of having been bashed a bit on the bottom half, scraped at along the seam between the two doors, and the lock had been worked at crudely.

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Talsarios likely has the key. It was found on the supervisor in the courtyard. Talsarios had it and gave it to Greg to open the door at the end of the entry hall.

Talsarios probably has it back now.

[Nevaera]

Ash eyes the door and its status as the others search themselves for keys and the like. She makes an observation as she tips her head to the side and peeks through the slits in her helmet.

"...Although... it seems like they have given it a good try getting in here, but it appears to no avail. I'll bet whatever's inside is secure and safe without our involvement, but it's better to be sure. A bothersome alternative if we lack a key would perhaps be to craft a ram to get through."

She looks to Mycah, "Though, I'd prefer you tried your less destructive approach first, if it wouldn't take too long."

[Koren n'Rhys]

Mycah nods in agreement. "If we can get in without doing all that damage, it would be much better for everyone involved. I'm curious to see what's in there, I'll admit. At least part of this keep undisturbed by the goblins. Still, I'll need to craft some sort of tools or probes to even try, and I'll admit the chances of success are still pretty slim."

[Frivolous]

Brandon Bor


Brandon just says, "We have a number of men with us who might have axes and can chop the door down. Or even burn the door down. Seems simple."

[Valameer]

Stefan chimes in, "Yeah, if we put our minds to it, there's no door that can hold us humans back. Oh, and dwarves too, of course. We can probably just knock it down with a ram if we have to."

He looks to Talsarios, "But, will that key we found work instead?"

[Altair_the_Vexed]

Talsarios shrugs and fishes the key from his satchel, trying to fit it to the lock.

[Matthew]

Nathros stands by, observing the goings on of the woodsmen.

[Roland St. Jude]

The key doesn't get very far, not even fitting in the lock.

Nathros sees the workers move about with considerable discipline, almost military in nature. Plainly, Bost ran a tight ship, though the workers seemed in good spirits. The strongest of them include the ones he'd traveled with and a few others. A few of them were obviously not chosen for their physical prowess. A couple might even has been women, though it was hard to tell given their non-descript dress.

Devin pops into and out of the main room, obviously supervising all areas of work at the keep. He grabs two of his woodsman and says a brief word to them. They nod grimly and head for the kitchen area.

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Perhaps it goes without saying, but no one has given Mycah any tools as of yet.

[Altair_the_Vexed]

"Could you manage with these, Mycah?" Talsarios says, handing over Gregoras's thieves' tools. "They belonged to my late friend, Gregoras. Look after them."

[Koren n'Rhys]

Mycah accepts the small bundle from Talsarios. Noticing the glint of steel from inside, he folds back a corner to look more closely, then meets the eyes of the mage. Seeing the understanding there, and perhaps a hint of sadness, Mycah nods solemnly. "Thank you. I'll see they are not misplaced."

Turning back to the door, he begins to examine the lock in more detail, then clears his throat nervously. "I'm not very good at this, but I'll do my best." He pulls a couple of thin probes from the rolled pouch of tools and gnawing at his lip, begins to gently probe the keyhole - first feeling gingerly for any springs or other signs of a trap, then seeking to unlock the mechanism itself.

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Find Traps (10% chance): [roll]1d100[/roll]
Open Locks (15% chance): [roll]1d100[/roll]