DreamLyrics™ Play-by-Post Forums Fantasy SKT: The Storm King's Thunder 1 - Highharvestide in Phandelin

Jaliera

"Just seen something glinting in the corner. Don't remember it from before. Should we go check it out?"

She is happy to go in but never pushes herself forward.

Kriv

The noble scholar nodded and approached where she indicated, illuminating the glasstaff with a word.

Davroar

To be thorough he will walk along the opposite side of the room looking or smelling for anything interesting before heading over to the corner where Jaliera says she has found something.

Davroar Perception
Dugan rolled 1d20+4 and got 15

DM

It was a broken dagger that glistened in the light that poured from glasstaff. Kriv makes his way over, with the bear sniffing away at his side. Davroar smells nothing worrisome so with a quick indication to Kriv, the dragonborn feels safe about reaching down to investigate further. After clearing away some of the ancient debris, the rest of the dagger is found.

There's nothing quite special about the dagger. It certainly hasn't been in these caves for hundreds of years, it's too new. The way that the dagger was broken, with the tip chipped off, one might assume that it was used to pry something that would not budge. Kriv, knowledgeable in weaponry examines it more carefully and finds the small stamp placed there by the merchant company that sold it and other markings as well, some that might identify the smithy. The markings on the hilt indicate that this blade was sold by the Lionshield Coster, the trading company has an outlet in Phandelin that is run by Linene Graywind. the other markings mean nothing to him.

Jaliera

She watches through Whisper's eyes as Davroar and Kriv move to investigate.

"Any sign of where it might have been used?" She calls into the room, wondering just who was doing what with the dagger.

<Bern>

His attention was divided between watching the corridor and keeping watch on his friends, bow at the ready

Kriv

"I suspect a word with Liene Graywind might be in order if our quarry obtained this from that coster." Comented the Dragonborn, transcribing the unknown markings for future edification and looking at the stresses around both sides of the break.

DM

Luminmorn joins the group inside and responds to his fellow dragonborn, "Indeed a prudent approach. I must note that Lady Linene manages this outpost but the Lionshield Coster has many locations as it is a trading company. But perhaps she can provide further direction. I wonder what is that dagger doing here in the first place."

Davroar

Curious about the broken blade tip, he starts looking around to see if there is any fresh scratches on the walls or near the forge. Perhaps there is a hidden door or something else that the doppleganger or either of its hirelings was trying to get into.

DM
Now that the broken blade has been discovered, Davroar, in the light cast from Glasstaff, can now easily see where the dagger was being used around the forge. It was used in a futile attempt to pry the artifact out of it's place. There are scratch marks on the ground it sits on but not on the forge itself, which appears fused to the ground here - a permanent fixture.

Davroar

He will tap his claws near the forge to show Kriv the fresh scratch marks made. Now while a knife blade makes a poor tool for attempting to steal the forge, it does show the dopplegangers intent to steal the forge. In Davroars mind the question of if the doppleganger will return has shifted to when it will return.

Zhuirentel Elendaril

Noting that something of interest has been found inside the room, she says, "Excuse me for a moment?" to Bern and steps inside to see if there is anything she can add.

She nods agreement to Kriv as the Dragonborn indicates an intent to see if the markings on the blade might garner any additional information the group might be able to pursue.

"Indeed. If Mistress Graywind is akin to others in that Coster she maintains excellent records. Perhaps she could point towards a specific location where the blade was purchased."

Of course, if this was an associate of a Doppelganger, and according to what she's gathered from listening to others, a Doppelganger who was actively involved in criminal activity, it is possible the blade was stolen or taken from someone else. However it is a lead that she finds herself interested in pursuing.

<Bern>

He moves to let her join the others inside the room, then returns to watching ... well, everywhere he could.

Ryssa

Hearing the goings on, but not inside the chamber, the priestess says, "Remember that the doppleganger was not here alone".

DM
After some further time searching the room where the Forge of Spells still stood, the group went on to tour the rest of the mines. There was little else of import beyond the progress to make the work area safe and replace some ancient workings. They went over to the underground lake and Sildar spoke about it.

"After Luminmorn told us about the lake we had a crew assembled to research the area. What we learned is that the lake is vast. We spent at least a tenday looking for a way out but could not find any. That doesn't mean that there isn't one, but if there was one, it could be easily hidden or even be under water. Our conclusions is that there wasn't a way out, but it's not conclusive."

Eventually they all made their way out of the mines and Luminmorn said, "It's time for us to head back if we are to sleep in beds tonight. Any questions or suggestions before we head back?"

<Bern>

He continued to 'guard' his friends, but also listened to the 'discussions'. Not much of it meant much to him ... except the 'talk' about a way out from the lake. He knew of some ways to find an 'underwater' path, but wanted to wait until he and his friends were away from the 'townies'.

[ooc: There are no "townies" around - only active NPC's, former (Ryssa and Luminmorn) characters and 1 newcomer (Zhu). The others are Sildar, the Rockseeker brothers and Sister Garaele.]

[[ I dunno ... that sounds like some townies ta me <weg> ]]

Jaliera

"Might be worth seeing if the possible lake entrance/exit is a threat. You could scatter some dust around the edge and then occasionally check to see if there are any prints leading from the lake? Just a thought."

She considers for a moment before adding.

"It doesn't seem likely that the forge is subject to removal but if they are determined enough they might find a way. Thinking about that might we come up with any extra precaution or protection that could be put in place?"

<Bern>

"I suspect it would take more than a dozen people to move that ... once it was 'detached' from the floor ... which could easily destroy the forge", he said with a shrug. I would be more concerned about someone coming down here and using the forge for nefarious purposes", he said with a shrug. "So I think Jaliera has the right idea. Lets see what we can do to keep track of any 'visitors'."

Zhuirentel Elendaril

She nods to Bern's comments. "Items such as these are quite likely to have their magic destroyed if they are physically damaged in such a severe manner as trying to separate the forge from the floor. I'd think putting a guard on it would be prudent, and sufficient."

<Bern>

"We will be sure to recommend that to the miners on the way out", he said with a nod that implied he agreed with Zhuirentel.

DM

"It was locked away behind those doors that we built, as was most of this area. It seems that our security was insufficient when it came to dealing with the doppelganger," Sildar said before adding, "The Lord's Alliance will see to it that there is ample security here. If an army of orcs descended on this place again and used the forge to imbue magic into their weapons, it could spell disaster. We cannot allow a nefarious army to gain such strength!"

<Bern>

Ne nodded. "Sounds like a plan", he said to Sildar. He hoped it would work out for them. "You will want to set some pass phrases and the like so that the doppelganger cannot infiltrate your ranks."

Davroar

With no luck in tracking by scent he will shift back to his human form on the way out of the mines. For securing the forge he simply adds, "With all your miners, maybe just brick over the door ways?"

It would be a pain to take it down if there is going to be legitimate use of the forge, and no one has really said if they do need regular access to the forge.