[Alliance] Chapter Three: Session Fourteen
Appearing Characters: Borea, Dagobert Pickering, Elissa Cross, Esara Verrinde, Gilveradin Windrunner, Kel'Thuzad, Kirby, Remnii, Seria, Uther Menethil, Velameestra Windrunner, Victor Prestor
Appearing Locations: Grayfold
Appearing Enemies: Harpies, Kobolds
December 15th
Esara had cast telepathic bond before Uther, Vel, and Gil headed toward the actual town of Grayfold. It’s a short jaunt there--about 10 minutes from the clearing that they had settled down in. Grayfold is a three-tiered city built into the side of the mountains. The first tier is where a lot of residences are, the second tier is a lot of the administration as well as many mine entries, and the top tier has more guard towers as well as the large manor that belongs to Gorgonne.
No one really pays Uther much heed as he enters the town as a believed solitary traveler. There are guards around, but they are clearly not soldiers. The weather is fairly clear, and it’s around noon or so. Gil and Vel leave no tracks in the snow thanks to pass without trace.
There are some tents on the side of the road that have peddlers trying to sell their wares. They are selling a variety of goods like tools, various types of artwork, and even one person selling home remedies. One thing of note, there has been something of an artistic renaissance after Calia became queen, as people started to adopt traits of Lordaeron art into their work.
The group notes that, not too far away, there is the cart and the family they had helped. The phantom steed had long since disappeared. They don’t seem to have noticed Uther, but the father is speaking with a person near a stable--likely trying to purchase some new horses.
Gil walks over to one of the tool vendors, still invisible. He swipes a pickaxe, and it immediately becomes invisible. He then places 5 gold pieces on the table where it was at. The woman glances over at the stack of coins after a moment, and she double-takes, then reaches over, grabs the stack, and looks around trying to find who bought the pickaxe for way too much money.
Gil telepathically informs Uther he got him a pickaxe and tells him to pretend he’s looking for a job. No one notices the pickaxe materializing in Uther’s hand.
Uther saunters to the nearest guard to ask about some work, putting on an accent.
The trio heads up to the second tier of the city and Uther wanders over to the areas around the mines. Within, there are carts full of coal and tools. There are even a few sticks of dynamite and other explosives. The explosives are somewhat heavily guarded.
There is a man that fits the description that was given, and he seems to be wearing some nicer, but still just as dirty, clothing. He looks a great deal like a dwarf that has spent too many days on the rack. He’s about as wide as he is tall, and he’s just a hair shorter than Uther. He has broad shoulders, a bald head, and a thick, curly beard. His skin almost seems to be permanently grungy and grimy, and he has no gloves on his thick hands. He is barking orders with a loud, gruff voice.
The man turns to Uther, his face covered in wrinkles, calluses, and scars.
Kirby muses that Uther has balls for coming up there with no experience, but they are looking for able-bodied work. And without much going on in the head, there’s nothing to lose in a cave in. He asks Uther if he has tools.
Telepathically, Uther tells Vel and Gil that they may be able to find the maps in the taskmaster office, and Vel confirms that she and Gil can take care of it.
Meanwhile, Kirby directs the taskmaster, Dagobert, to Uther, and he starts to lead Uther to his station. Uther whistles happily along the way and introduces himself as Roland son of Roland.
Dagobert says his full name is Dagobert Pickering.
Uther and Dagobert step over a few tracks and the well lit mine is unveiled in front of him. There seems to be a break area with some benches, and there are a few miners on their lunch break playing hearthstone. A few more are rolling dice.
The pathway splits, and Dagobert leads him to the left. Then the path splits again, and Dagobert pulls out some papers to check where Uther is needed.
Dagobert continues along the left path. It’s a bit darker in this area, and there are about half a dozen other miners in the area.
There is a section that is fenced off with wood and there is a warning sign that says “Keep Out. Inactive Mines Ahead”
The miners call out some appreciation and Uther starts to smack the wall with his pickaxe.
Meanwhile, Vel and Gil take stock of the area. There is a well nearby, and there are two buildings, one of which appears to be a storage shed. However, the larger building may be an office of sorts. Vel and Gil hold hands to stay within range of each other as they peek around. There is a desk and an unlit lamp inside. Ara’shel is disguised as a large owl nearby in a tree.
There are miners moving around with equipment about 30-40 feet away, and the foreman is floating around. Vel and Gil both blink inside, their invisibility dropping, but they seem to avoid sight. Ara’shel is keeping track of things outside.
There does not seem to be any maps at first, but there is paperwork of the mines and inventory. Gil takes a closer look at the inventory and manifestos, and he finds something strange. At the very back of the manifest, there are requests for some less common metals. There is almost a footnote that appears to bear the seal of the kingdom of Alterac. It doesn’t have a specific date, and it doesn’t be specific to this mine. It’s requesting the rare materials of true silver, adamantite, and any other ores of unknown origin. All would be paid out by the kingdom of Alterac. There also seems to have been a request for a specific group of minerals for Baron Gorgonne--charcoal and sulfur.
Vel, meanwhile, does manage to get a spare map of the nearby mines. It also seems to make note of some of the abandoned sections.
Gil shares the notes over telepathy, and Vel adds that charcoal and sulfur are used in explosives. At least, that's what she has gathered in her own alchemy research, though she has never personally tried to make any.
Ara’shel warns them about someone coming, and Vel turns her and Gil invisible again. Foreman Kirby walks in grumbling to himself. He walks over to the corner of the desk and lights a lamp and then he goes and sits down in the creaking chair.
He places a small box on the table and reaches down and flips open the box. He smiles as he looks at the box.
He pulls out a large sandwich that looks like it was lovingly prepared. He also reaches down into his boot and pulls out a flask to take a swig.
Vel speaks to Gil telepathically.
She sighs mentally. The foreman had locked the door behind him. Gil mentally requests Ara’shel to make a distraction, and there’s a loud bump on the roof.
Kirby puts his boot flask away and he walks over to a small wardrobe and retrieves a broom that he knocks on the ceiling with it. However, there’s another thump on the opposite side.
While Kirby is looking away, Gil blows out the lantern. Kirby then walks over toward the armoire and looks inside, and he pulls out a rifle.
Gil, invisibly, slams the door to the armoire shut.
Kirby backpedals, and fires the gun instinctively. It doesn’t hit Gil, and instead shoots a hole through the backside of the door. Kirby runs over and grabs the key and backs out of the building with his gun pointed at the building.
Vel hurls the stool after him, and Kirby fires again, cursing.
Vel and Gil slip out in that moment as the foreman and guards are distracted. Ara’shel had also flown away.
Several guards start searching the building, and one of them picks up the stool and looks at it, but the two elves slip away unseen.
Vel debates making it worse, and Kel’Thuzad muses it was almost worth it, but they agree they shouldn’t risk it. Gil and Vel get a safe distance away, and Gil detects demons. This time, there were a few more: there were ten all under a mile from them, east of the the twins’ current location. Towards more mines and the manor.
There is a solitary demon, one group of five, one group of two, and all the others are solitary.
Meanwhile, Uther’s results are mixed. He has produced several hunks of ore, but he is constantly being sent back as he is frequently bringing rocks or worthless material. Some of the other miners are trying to help him. About 45 minutes to an hour into the shift, a couple of the guards come in with a lantern along with Dagobert.
Uther also gets 2 silver pieces. There’s some gossip about what may have happened and what they’re going to do the rest of the day. Uther reaches out telepathically to Vel and Gil.
There's the sound of a smirk in her voice, and Uther just mentally chuckles.
Uther had asked what was down the closed off sections, and one of the miners gives a really long ghost story. Another one says it hasn’t been secured and it’s not safe. Others say there are monsters, and another heard a beautiful singing voice. Another claimed they heard warmth, and another said they smelled sulfur and they believe there are evil demons down there.
Uther, Vel, and Gil regroup. They agree at this point to go back to the others.
Meanwhile, the rest of the group is trying to get the lay of the land. Seria takes a look around with the aid of the others, and they are able to find some other natural caverns on the outskirts. There are three entrances. One appears to be an underpass near a frozen lake, the next one is up pretty high and is more a hole in the side of the mountain with no really access route beyond flying, and the last appears to be at the base of the mountain near where the city is located--almost like it was running under or adjacent to the city.
They, luckily, don’t run into anything. There are a few wild creatures and some tracks of things, but nothing seems to have followed them.
Remnii looks at Seria.
Remnii sighs a bit.
Remnii checks back with Victor and Elissa. Elissa mentions that the bear warned that things are dangerous, and Victor agrees that they should wait until the others come back, but Esara thinks they may be able to find something of value.
Remnii suggests perhaps doing a closer perimeter as a larger group before Vel, Gil, and Uther return to at least look for some human activity. They opt to go to the further one first and then start to work their way back, starting at the ice cave.
The first thing they note is the unmistakable indent of tracks. There appears to have been a camp in the area at the mouth of the cave fairly recently. Remnii feels a bit of a draft coming from the cave itself.
The cave is quite dark inside, though it’s a decent distance from the manor.
Seria uses wild cunning, putting her hand on one of the tracks. The ground lights up in her vision, and there are the unmistakable boot prints of about nine humanoid creatures heading inside. However, inside the cave, there are other tracks that go sporadically, but seem to go deeper in. Those are much smaller than the boot prints, but are still humanoid-esque.
They send the information over telepathic bond, then choose to head to the other ground-level cave entrance. This one is closer to the town, but they manage to avoid drawing attention.
There is evidence of a greater amount of traffic here, and it also seems to be darker than the others.
She makes a little footstep motion with her hands.
Seria gives her a perplexed look for a moment, then realized that Remnii is referring to the wild cunning spell again. Seria nods and does so. This time, there are tons of footprints inside the cavern. Almost all of them are small, with a few distinctly human ones.
Some of the tracks lead deeper into the cavern, but a lot of it is compressed down. There has been way more traffic here than there was any right to be. As they look around, they find something strange at the edge of the cavern. It’s small and sort of buried. There are claw marks, and a bit of wax that had dripped on a stone.
The area outside the cave has also seen activity.
She motions to the manor.
As they leave, one last thing catches Remnii’s eye. There is a small mound buried in the corner. Remnii stops and looks at it, then approaches carefully. She pokes it with her staff, and the dirt shifts aside. Remnii takes another look around, then she bends down to pick it up. It’s a small wooden box.
The lid is unsecured, and as she pulls it off, she finds a bunch of toys. They are pretty cheaply made and well used, but not damaged. There are little toy soldiers, old Hearthstone cards… and they are all related to kobolds. There appears to be some hard cheese, and a small soft ball.
Remnii buries the box again with a soft laugh.
Uther, Vel, and Gil arrive at the rendezvous point a bit after the other group returns. Vel takes a better look at the map now that she has light. There are a lot of passages, and she notes that there are a few places that the mines terminate and it is clearly denoted that those sections are dangerous.
A few of the forbidden pathways lead deeper into the mountains where it’s possible they may loop back. There are two entrances that would head in the general direction of the manor. It’s possible that one of those could lead to a secret tunnel.
Gil coordinates with Vel with primeval awareness, looking for humanoids and demons in the closed off sections. There are a small number of humanoid presences, approximately ten. It’s harder to say as his focus goes closer to the manor, but the demonic signatures are from all that area.
Remnii explains the further out one had more humanoid tracks, but they didn’t go deeper into it.
The group decides to head toward the cave nearer to the frozen lake, further from the city. They enter cautiously. Vel summons Arkha’din, and he rests on her shoulder so that she can periodically flip between his vision and her’s. Gil has Ara’shel also sweeping around.
They feel the gentle wind flowing through as they go around the bend, and at various junctures they see light shining down at points. The light seems to come from above, and there are patches of snow on the ground as well.
Torches and light magic is conjured, and Vel lights the lantern of revealing at her hip. The group skirts around a large pile of snow, and they look up to see a small hole in the roof of the cave. More of them continue on ahead.
To their left, there is a small side cave, and the center of it has ice over the top. There are mounds of vaguely stacked dirt and rock. Remnii, Seria, Gil, and Esara hear something crunch as they pass around the mound of snow. It comes from behind them. Remnii freezes and turns around, and she sees nothing.
Gil has Ara’shel take a look in the direction, and there’s something in the snow-mound. Ara’shel immediately backs off, and Gil readies an arrow at the mound.
Vel stares at her brother, clearly not amused, and he dispels the magic arrow. A small rat-like creature moves snow out of the way. It is garbed in leathers, and it sticks its head out.
He has a small candle on its head. It is currently not lit because it was buried in the snow.
He pulls out a short sword.
Uther asks what she likes, and the kobold says she likes many things. Uther pulls out a gold coin, but the kobold points at the jewelry Vel and Remnii are wearing.
He pushes past the group and pulls out a thing of flint and steel and lights the candle on his head. He then gestures for the group to follow.
A few other kobolds peek out at them as they pass into the next chamber. Eventually, primitive mining operations start to appear, and kobolds with little pickaxes are working away. Many stop and look at them curiously, but the kobold scout tells them to stay back, as the spikies are “captives being taken to the mistress.”
Even further in are primitive buildings, which have small candles lit in them. A few young kobolds look at them curiously. The kobold lookout continues to shoo the others away.
Another kobold shouts from further away. This one seems to be wearing more heavy-duty mining equipment, and his candle is a tad larger. There is a pickaxe across his back, and a series of small, kobold-sized daggers on a bandoleer across his chest as well as a re-purposed shovel that looks like a small axe.
The taskmaster grumbles to himself.
There is the sound of a throat clearing, and an elderly kobold peeks his head out of a taller building. His candle is very, very large, but also wilty, and he carries a shovel with a bunch of trinkets like baubles and human ears.
The taskmaster repeats.
He comes down from the tower.
There’s laughter among the kobolds.
Remnii smiles softly, and with a swirl of her staff, her rune appears, and she lights up the circlet on her forehead.
The kobolds are listening intently.
She then puts a hand on Uther’s shoulder, and Uther has his amulet light up as he says “Azeroth”. Remnii lights up Seria’s beads, and then she looks at Vel (who has hidden all her jewelry at this point). And Vel sighs and minor illusions a light on her forehead.
Gil also produces flame in his hand.
Remnii then casts thaumaturgy and makes the flames on all the kobolds’ candles rising brighter. There is awe among the kobolds, and some drop to their knees.
The geomancer leads them through another tunnel, and the group is all hit with a powerful scent. It’s musky, and smells like old perfume mixed with viscera. Everyone but Gil stomaches it. However, Seria gives him an antitoxin, and he manages to get through it.
They enter a large cavern with the kobolds flanking them. The very center is over a flat sheet of ice, and there are mounds at various points, which look almost like nests. Everything reeks. Vel dismisses Arkha’din, and humanoid faces peek from above the chamber. And hanging from above, tied to stalactites, are bones in cages that picked clean.
Candles are laid at the feet of the pillars.
The humanoid faces are comely in one way, but bestial in others. They appear female as they crawl to the edge. The figures are barely clothed and clothing made of string and their own snow white plumage. They have fangs, and long ears like those of an elf, and their arms are covered in feathers, with their hands ending in talon-like claws.
There are about six of them.
In the largest nest is a figure that is the most beautiful of them. She has more jewelry and adornments, and her hair is snow white with brown feathers mixed through it. She sits delicately at the edge of her nest.
The creatures first speak to each other in Darnassian.
The leader, who is likely the aforementioned Borea, speaks in common.
Her eyes flicker to the kobolds.
She steps off the nest and flutters to the ground. She walks closer to the group, her gait slow and deliberate, almost unnatural. She is almost 8 feet tall, looking down at the group.
The woman cackles.
The leader smiles.
Remnii holds out her compact mirror, and a spectral talon appears and brings it to Borea.
She looks back up at Remnii.
Vel fishes in her bags and produces the six bands of loyalty.
Everyone hands her coins.
The leader also snatches the rings of loyalty from Vel. One of the other harpies asks their leader if they can eat the group yet, but the leader is still curious about Remnii.
Remnii asks the leader if she would like a necklace or a bracelet, and the leader responds that she wants an anklet. Remnii produces the anklet, and the harpy flicks her talon and it floats to her. She affixes the piece to her ankle, and she does a lap around the room. The leader then sits on her nest again.
Gil whispers to his sister as the other harpies mutter in Darnassian.
The harpy smiles
She gestures to the floor beneath them.
Two of the harpies look at their leader almost surprised.
The other harpy shrugs, and the leader shoots a glare in their direction.
Remnii holds up a hand.
The leader laughs.
The leader looks at Uther.
She looks at the geomancer, and the elder looks at the group.
The other harpies make movements to take off, and Borea’s eyes illuminate with frigid light.
There is a veritable army of kobolds behind them.
The geomancer looks at the group, and then looks at the harpies, and the group can almost see heartbreak on his face as he turns toward the group.
The battle commences as a kobold strikes at Elissa. Seria reaches for Borea and casts banishment as her eyes flare green. Borea winces, but the energy disperses.
Seria then turns into a bear and all the kobolds step back, but the harpies seem unconcerned. The geomancer looks at Uther and apologizes as he claps his staff on the ground, casting hold person. However, Uther resists the effect. The geomancer looks half-terrified and half-relieved.
One of the harpies takes off into the air, her wings alight, and their voices join in a cacophony that is terrifying and alluring. However, the entire group is able to shrug it off.
Victor looks at the taskmaster.
He swings at the taskmaster, but the blows miss and Victor pivots around. Some kobolds start to gather in around him, chipping at his armor.
The swarm of kobolds pile on Gil and Elissa. Remnii casts spirit guardians, then looks to the kobolds.
Blue fire licks off of Vel’s body as she casts molten armor on herself, and she pushes through to cover Victor’s other flank. Two of the kobolds strike at her and connect, but the molten shield flares to life and burns them in turn.
Gil zephyr strikes away from the kobold swarm and fires off at Borea, and she is knocked prone and lands on top of her nest.
Esara runs next to Vel, and carves a rune in the air with her sword. She then casts wall of fire circling the nest that two of the harpies are sitting in.
Several of the kobolds take damage from Remnii’s naaru-esque spirit guardians. One of them flees and takes cover behind one of the nests.
More of the harpies attempt to sing, and the group still does not seem to be affected by it. Ara’shel disengages from the kobold swarm. One of the harpies attempts to flee the wall of fire, but as it does, it gets overwhelmed by the heat and spirals to the ground in a burning mess.
Elissa attacks the taskmaster, and spectral vines wrap around him, restraining him. She then tries to grapple him, but he is able to weasel out of the way.
The taskmaster tries to wriggle free, but fails.
Borea flies up into the air, and she casts blizzard on the group. Vel is able to identify the spell, but she is just out of range of counterspell.
Another harpy tries to flee from the wall of fire, but it fails, and it falls to the ground dead.
Meanwhile, as Ara’shel tries to flee the ice storm, he is hit by some of the ice, and he disappears, turning into a red dragon scale.
Harpies continue to try and sing, but everyone once again resists. Uther swings at the taskmaster, and he knocks him unconscious, but leaves him alive.
