On To Brinewall

The next morning, Ameiko seemed more her old self, as if some weight had been lifted from her. The caravan continued north, crossing the Velashu River, and striking out across the Velashu Uplands. A few days after leaving Roderic’s Cove, Shinjiro awoke feeling extremely weak, with a fever and sweats. His skin had an unhealthy pallor, and gave off a faint smell of decay. Marie had never seen anything like it, but Koya took one look and nodded her head. “Zombie Rot,” she said confidently. “Must’ve come from getting sprayed by all that zombie pus back in that damned mine. It’ll probably run its course and you’ll be fine.”

“What if I don’t get better on my own?” Shinjiro asked hesitantly.

“Then you’ll die and come back as a zombie,” Koya replied nonchalantly. That set everyone pawing through their packs until they found the Potion of Remove Disease they’d acquired from the sinspawn lair.

The farther north the caravan went through the Uplands, the more disused the road became, until it was little more than a track. There were no towns of any size, only hamlets and scattered farmsteads. As they passed through them, the party would ask the residents what they knew of Brinewall. Most had never heard of it, but a few older folks would make the sign of the evil eye at the mention of that name. “No one’s gone there in over 40 years,” they’d say. “Place is haunted.”

Finally they came to a stone and wood bridge over the Steam River. About 100 yards before the bridge, a weathered and leaning signpost reading “To Brinewall” could be seen pointing to the west. There had once been a road leading that direction, but it was now overgrown, and blocked in many places by fallen trees. It was clear the caravan was going no further, and Sandru arranged the wagons for camp. Everyone jumped down to proceed on foot. As they did so, they noticed Ameiko looking pale and unsteady. She took no more than a few steps down the road before she collapsed, unconscious. Koya and Marie rushed to her side, but were unable to revive her. She seemed to be in a coma, her limbs occasionally twitching and her mouth moving as if to speak, but no words came. They took her back to Koya’s wagon and laid her on the bed. “Grandfather waits in the dark, but he knows not who he was,” she whispered.

Unsure what to do about Ameiko’s condition, the party decided to proceed on while Koya and Sandru watched over Ameiko. They weren’t sure how far it was to Brinewall, and wanted to at least do a little reconnoitering. The former road ran along the Steam River for about a mile before they saw the ruins of Brinewall laid out before them. The village of Brinewall was laid out around a sheltered cove and lagoon, with rotted piers extending into the water. Its buildings were in ruins; roofs had collapsed or had trees growing up through them, and many had been burned. One large burned building looked like it might have been a temple, and had a large cemetery near it.

Behind the village a steep hill rose, and on its summit loomed Brinewall Castle. Its gray stone walls rose some 25’ from their base, and its crenellated walls were punctuated by frequent towers. From a distance, the walls seemed to be in good repair, but there was no sign of life anywhere: no flags or pennants flying, no smoke from chimneys, no sound but crickets and the calls of gulls.

Two things caught the party’s attention even at their first inspection of the village from a distance. The first was a ship that lay at one of the piers. Although it was partially sunken, it seemed to be newer than the rest of the wreckage: canvas sails still flapped loosely on the masts and rope rigging was visible even at this distance. The other was a  flock of seagulls that swooped and dove on something on the far shore of the lagoon.

It was only about mid-day, so the party decided to investigate further. A ruined lighthouse stood on a point ahead of them, and they decided that was a good place to start. The interior of the lighthouse was gutted, nearly blocked with fallen timbers from upper floor. Bella managed to squeeze in and climb the stone stairway that still spiraled up the inside, but her view from the top didn’t reveal anything new. Down below, Marie stumbled across a partially crushed strongbox, containing some gold and a rusty key.

Leaving the lighthouse, the party moved down the road towards the village proper. As they passed the cemetery, they noticed that, unlike the rest of the town, it appeared be in good repair: the grass was weeded, if not cut, and the gravestones stood straight and seemed to have been cleaned. Sandoval started teasing Zhustin about sending him into the graveyard of a haunted village – but not until after dark. Zhustin didn’t think it was funny. Marie seemed to take it all in stride though. “I’m expecting to meet another cleric of Desna here, and they’ve probably been caring for the cemetery.” Everyone turned and looked at her in amazement. “I had a vision,” she shrugged, as if that explained everything. The party moved on towards the docks, bypassing the cemetery for now. Zhustin shook his head as he walked. “Everyone seems to have a purpose for being on this trip,” he thought, “a destiny they’re headed towards, or something they’re running from. I’m just trying to stay alive!”

When they reached the pier, Marie strode out to examine the ship. It was a longship, from the Linnorm Kingdoms far to the north, and it was definitely much newer than everything else around her. The ship was partially sunken, and up close it was apparent why. It showed signs of a desperate fight, its sides deeply gouged as if by huge claws, and its deck scorched. There were many bloodstains on the deck, but no bodies, although there were places where the smears of blood looked like bodies may have been drug from the deck to the pier.

While the others examined the ship, Shinjiro and Bella wandered down the shore to get a better look at what was attracting the gulls on the opposite side of the lagoon. It was the carcass of some huge creature, obviously dead for some days. “Oh, that looks like a Sea Drake,” Zhustin called, having also spotted the body. “They’ve got an electrical breath attack that was probably what caused those scorch marks on the ship.”

Reefclaw

As they stood looking at the dead drake, a Reefclaw emerged from the water in front of them. Looking like a cross between a giant shrimp and a crab, the scavenger was apparently intent on protecting its meal from intruders, and it attacked. Shinjiro quickly killed it, although its death throes were almost as dangerous as its attacks. As it died, two more emerged from the water. Shinjiro and Bella backed away. On land, the creatures’ movement was very slow, and they seemed to be more interested in clacking their claws to frighten the party away. Nonetheless, the party quickly pitched in to kill them, too. Except for Sawyer, who felt that fighting seafood was a waste of his talents.

Just south of the pier was a large building that might once have been the town hall. Sandoval went inside, and found that there were signs of violence everywhere. Furniture was smashed, and the walls bore deep gouges and gashes where weapons had struck. Looking down, he realized the floor was littered with bones. Although they had been gnawed and scattered by animals, it was clear that a large number of people had once sought refuge here – and had been slaughtered. Moving down to the ruined temple, they found a similar story. Although this building had been burned, the ruins were littered with scorched and broken bones. The former inn, and various houses all were the same – evidence of a brutal and merciless fight.

Bella and Marie decided to investigate the cemetery, despite Sandoval’s insistence (for Zhustin’s benefit) that they wait until after dark. A rickety wooden fence surrounded the grounds, but the gates were made of iron and flanked on either side by statues of a beautiful woman with butterfly wings, which Marie identified as depictions of the goddess Desna. Inside, it was clear that someone had been tending the graves. At the north end of the cemetery was a small shrine to Desna, consisting of a marble statue of the deity holding aloft a small copper bowl, which had filled with rainwater. Marie recognized that this type of shrine was sometimes used to consecrate Holy Water, and she was able to confirm that that was, in fact, what it held. Saying a quiet prayer to Desna, she began to collect the water into vials. “What’s that for?” asked Bella. “It’s Holy Water,” Marie replied. “It’s really useful against undead.” Bella was suddenly interested. “Can I have some?” “Of course,” Marie replied. “You just have to say the proper prayer to Desna. Here, let me teach you.”

As Marie began Bella’s catechism, a tiny, butterfly-winged figure fluttered out of the bushes on the other side of the fence. She was surrounded by sparkling lights and gentle rainbow arcs, and she looked at Marie with interest. “Are you a follower of Desna, too?” she asked shyly. Marie nodded open-mouthed. The creature smiled. “Oh, it’s so good to see a friendly face! I’ve been lonely for so long.”

The being was a lyrakien azata cleric of Desna, and she introduced herself as Spivey. She said she’d been stranded on this plane for the last ten years, ever since her mistress was "eaten by a hungry plant”. She wandered aimlessly for some time before she stumbled across Brinewall, with its ruined temple to Desna. She said she’d tried to rebuild the temple, but she was just too small, so she settled for caring for the cemetery and its shrine instead.

She asked why Marie was here, and she explained that they’d come to investigate the castle. “Oh, you’d better be careful,” Spivey warned. “The birdmen live in the castle.” Birdmen? “Yes, they’re big, like you, but covered with feathers and have wings and beaks and claws. I don’t think they fly though – I’ve never seen them fly. I hide when they come out. I think they’re mean.”

Bella had been listening. “Do they run around after you cut off their heads?” she asked jokingly. Spivey put her fists on her hips and scowled at her. “How would I know that?” she asked huffily. Then she turned to Marie. “I don’t like her,” she said in a stage whisper, pointing at Bella. “I don’t think you should be travelling with her.”

To change the subject, Marie asked about the wrecked ship. “Oh, they came about a week ago,” Spivey explained, “but as they docked, a pair of sea drakes that had been living in the cove attacked them. They killed one, and drove off the other, but the drakes killed all but one of the humans. The birdmen took her away, along with the bodies of her friends.” Her voice dropped to a horrified whisper. “I think they were going to eat them.”

Marie introduced Spivey to the rest of the party. As they prepared to move on up the road towards the castle, Spivey wished them well. “If you need a place to rest while you’re exploring the castle, I can offer you sanctuary and healing in my cemetery,” she offered, and the party thanked her.

The party continued on up the road. The last building on the outskirts of town appeared to have been a glassworks; it had a fallen smokestack next to it, and a large kiln could be seen in the rubble inside. The design of the building and the kiln looked similar to the Kaijitsu Glassworks they’d seen in Sandpoint, but they didn’t pause to investigate. Instead, the crept cautiously up the road that led to the castle above. Luckily, the road led through a cut in the hillside, so they could get fairly close without (hopefully) being seen from the castle.

Up close, Brinewall Castle was even more imposing than it had appeared from a distance. Its stone walls rose strong and sheer, broken only by numerous arrow slits. The entrance was blocked by a pair of large wooden gates, bound with iron. Nothing stirred. Bella crept up to walls, edging around the tower to the left of the gate. She unlimbered her grappling hook, and swung it upwards, where it caught on one of the battlements. Shinjiro eased up behind her as she tested the rope’s hold, preparing to climb.

The PCs gained 571 XP for the night, and are at 5226 XP. They have reached level 3, and need to get to 9000 XP for level 4. If you haven’t already, get your level 3 character ready and send it to me. We’ll be at Rich & Joette’s next week.