Flee now, and everybody in the castle will be chasing you.
You’ll have to deal with this problem here and now, I’m afraid!
“Whoa!” exclaims [Hero]. “I’ve rarely seen such a massive portcullis. Why, ten strong men couldn’t lift this, I reckon.”
“Hold it!” whispers [Hero]. “I can hear voices from behind this door.”
“Watch out!” whispers [Hero]. “There’s somebody behind this door.”
[Hero] gives a sign for the party to stop. “Do you hear something from behind this door as well?”
[Hero] stops you. Apparently, $ hears something from behind the door.
“I’m not sure we should go through here”, says [Hero]. “There’s somebody in there.”
[Hero] hears voices from behind the door.
[Hero] steps back hastily, when $ hears voices coming from behind the door.
Do you really want to open the door?
The clanking of pots and pans can be heard quite clearly.
“With all the knights and messengers frequenting this place, this thing will be getting a lot of use”, surmises [Hero].
“I do hope, when they dug this well, they went down to below the sewers”, murmurs [Hero].
The castle cook has a small herb garden here. Do you feel like checking out the herbs available?
“We’re in luck!” [Hero] is waving two four-leaf loneberries.
The castle cook has a small herb garden here.
The stable hands dump the manure into the sewers through this grate.
When you take a closer look, you find the bars have been bricked in not too long ago. Because of this, the grate can’t be lifted, try as much as you might.
Coming here as a visitor during the day, instead of skulking around at night, this would be a very nice spot for a bit of peace and quiet.
[Hero] discovers some small round holes in the west wall.
All the holes are plugged.
You can see the glint of metal down the holes.
Do you want to plug them?
You’ve done it, all the holes have been plugged.
“That’s strange, what could those holes be for?” [Hero] asks, pointing to the west wall.
Do you want to use the stairs to get back to guild headquarters?
The castle is much too busy during the day!
Don’t you rather think, you should wait till evening?
“Hesinde be praised!” Rohezal is obviously relieved. “Go free my companions from their cell. I’ll be waiting here for you.”
Rohezal looks at you in amazement. “But where’s the amulet key? Go find it, and hurry, time is running out!”
“We are indebted to you, and so, indeed, is all of Arkania”, declares Rohezal. “Leave us return to guild headquarters. There, you shall hear all we have managed to find out in the meantime.”
Rohezal shakes his head. “It’s no use leaving the castle without those three urns.
Please try to get ahold of them.”
“As Racalla mentioned to you: The cook knows something about the hiding-place of the urns. Find him, and try to get that information.” With that, the magicians send you back to the castle.
You have hardly entered the watchtower, when five guardsmen in full uniform come charging right at you.
Since the last time that you thrashed the complete garrison of the guard tower, it appears to have been reinforced. As soon as you have opened the door, 10 fully equipped guardsmen pounce upon you.
There’s a key hanging from one of the hooks.
Do you want to take it along?
There are no keys on the board.
The straw must be used as bedding for the prisoners.
“What a view of the roiling sea!” [Hero] exclaims when looking down through the latrine hole.
“Boron!” [Hero] exclaims. “Spare me having to experience the pains induced by this infernal contraption.”
The iron nails protruding inside this instrument of torture are stained with dried blood.
“Down!” calls [Hero], when $ hears steps approaching from the outside.
You have barely had time to throw yourselves to the floor behind the upper railing, when the door is pushed open and five guards lead in a chained and gagged magician. Shortly afterwards, a man in a leather apron comes in. That would be the torturer.
[Hero] throws,self on the floor behind the gallery railing when $ hears steps from outside.
Shortly after, the door is pushed open and five guardsmen bring in a magician, clapped in irons and gagged. A little bit later a man dressed in a leather apron enters the room, obviously the torturer.
“I can’t watch this any more”, shouts [Hero] and goes charging down the stairs, leaving the rest of you no choice but to follow,.
“I can’t watch this any longer”, shouts [Hero] and charges down the stairs.
With a loud “Bmmf!”, Rohezal vanishes from right in front of your eyes - you are on your own.
“Looks like there have been some truly barbaric goings-on here”, [Hero] comments.
Apart from some tools presumably used for torturing prisoners, there are only personal belongings in here.
Small wonder the guardsmen kept this room under close watch.
All the arms and armor they bear on duty are kept in here.
Bosper appears to be taking care of the guards’ protection as well.
Not overmuch, it’s true, but sufficiently for all of the guards.
You open the door, and eight guards look at you in astonishment. They don’t take long to recover, though, and charge to the attack.
All the barrels are empty. Only small puddles of a red fluid remain on the bottom.
“I bet they had wine in there.” [Hero] is unable to resist. $ bends down into one of the barrels to taste the fluid.
“Eyeagh!” $ barely manages to stifle a loud outburst. “Paint! Godsdamned red paint!”
Just as [Hero] picks up a bale of hay to lift down, a jumping spider leaps right out at,.
Like a reed in a breeze, [Hero] bends to one side. The jumping spider lands on the floor behind,, where it is crushed under a quick foot. “I just can’t get used to those ugly beasts. Dragons can’t faze me, but spiders give me the creeps.”
[Hero] tries to dodge, but it’s no use. The spider lands on his/her neck and bites,.
$ lets out a scream, and the spider jumps to the floor, where it’s squashed underfoot.
“Curse it, that vermin is worse than a horde of orcs!”
“No, thanks. Hesinde knows, how many more of that vermin are hiding in that hay!” [Hero] shakes his/her head.
The barrels are easily opened. They contain a hard, black mass.
“Tar!” whispers [Hero]. “I’d bet they need this to feather troublemakers.”
Well, there’s a lot of rubbish in there, but there’s also a few useful items amongst it.
The crates contain hunting trophies. Apparently, someone got sick of having all those animal heads on the walls. Judging from their mildewed condition, they must have been lying in here for years.
“Pheew! That stink could give a basilisk a run for the money. You’d think someone would throw it out?!” wonders [Hero].
Looks like there’s only clothes in this wardrobe, much as you’d suspect.
“But hello”, says [Hero].
“Men!”, says[Hero] contemptuously.
As you open the door, you come upon an officer of the guard, who’s just closing his wardrobe. He turns around in surprise and immediately attacks.
Under the bed you find a well tied-up bundle of women’s clothing. “That’s odd”, muses [Hero], “everything else in here seems to belong to the cook. Could it be, he’s not just partial to the female sex, but also fools around with other men?”
The cook’s in his bed, possibly dreaming about a little slap-and-tickle with Bosper.
The chest contains the cook’s belongings. A book of recipes, some spices, dishes, and clothing.
The only thing lying on these beds are the servants you overpowered.
The wardrobe contains the servants’ clothes and shoes. Well, what did you expect?
The room is quite dimly lit. You can see servants asleep in the two bunk beds.
Do you:
Overpower the servants
Leave the room
Quickly, you step up to the beds and overpower the servants. Tied up and gagged with some pieces of clothing, they cease to be any sort of threat.
“I wouldn’t like to get any of those dropped on my head. But who’d attack a fortress like this anyway?” [Hero] asks, scratching his/her head.
The bunk beds are of a peculiar build. Underneath each bed, there is a wide drawer. That saves room, as you don’t need chests or wardrobes for the few belongings the guards have.
The priest you overpowered and bound is lying in here.
There are Silver Crowns in the tithing bowl.
Do you:
Tithe
Take some money
How many Silvers are you prepared to tithe to Praios?
How many Silvers are you going to take from the offerings to Praios?
The bowl is empty.
Are you going to tithe some money?
A priest is deep in prayer in front of the tithing bowl.
Do you:
Overpower the priest
Leave the chapel
Silently, you creep up on the priest. When he finally notices you, it’s too late. One blow to his head, and he is still.
Quickly, you tie him up and gag him. Then, you hide him where he won’t be quickly found.
The healer is still lying unconscious on his bed.
You walk straight into some fellow leaving the room.
“Who are you? I’ve never treated you. Wait, I recognize your faces, now - You are the ones Bosper Jarnug is looking for!”
As the healer is about to call the guards, you have no choice but to overpower him and leave him tied up on his bed.
Are you going to move the chest, the way the cook told you?
Do you want to move the chest back?
The lid of the chest flies open. A thick cloud of smoke rises from within and engulfs you.
[Hero] is hit in the back by a whole salvo of crossbow bolts!
There are various books and documents about judicial cases and procedures in the bookcase.
Do you want to examine the documents a bit closer?
There have been a large number of cases where the accused could not be proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt, in the last few months especially. Despite that, Bosper sentenced them all to die.
The desk is full of papers, ink, blotters etc.
Do you want to examine it closer?
You’re about to give up, when [Hero] finds a small secret compartment at the underside of the desk. It contains a small key, which you pocket.
The desk is full of papers, ink, blotters etc. Apart from the small key, there’s nothing to be found here.
“No wonder it’s so warm in here”, mumbles [Hero], “this is one of the few heated rooms in the castle.”
Nope, not even the proverbial needle!
The carriage is fairly spartan, and certainly not built for use by nobles.
On searching it, [Hero] finds a ring someone must have lost in there.
The carriage is fairly plain. Definitely not meant for nobles.
Pity, really. There’s no more jewelry to be found!
There’s a pot of soup simmering on the stove. The cook can’t be gone for long.
All the pots on the stove are empty.
In the shelf are pots and pans of all sizes.
“How interesting”, [Hero] declares. “The castle has its own smithy!”
When you enter the room, a dwarf jumps from his bed. Probably the castle smith. Without any noticable hesitation, he attacks.
This monstrosity of a winch can only be meant to move the portcullis. Using it now would be certain to draw attention!
Do you want to do so anyway?
Alerted by the noise of the winch, ten armed guards come charging in.
Before you’ve had a chance to draw a breath, the door flies open, and another ten guards barge in.
Hurry up, in a few hours this place will be bustling with activity!
You have to hurry up! If you are still here after dawn you are likely to be quickly discovered!
It dawn! You can hear how the guardsmen are rushed out of bed by the lieutenants and the bustle of the day starts. You have to disappear quickly!
“Alarm!”, you hear the guardsmen shouting. You have been discovered. Within seconds you are surrounded.
In the Fortress of Riva, things get a little bit more lively. This becomes apparent to, who feel it close to flesh and blood. Guardsmen suddenly appear from all directions. To flee is out of the question, due to their far greater strength.