How to Clean a Castle

As was to be expected, the past night was not as restful as we might have hoped for. Constant noises from within the ruin, the sounds of Neverwinter forest outside and the lingering smell of burned flesh made for an unpleasant concoction. Yet besides numerous disruptions to our sleep, with our awakening in the morrow, we rose like flowers after a harsh winter, filled with new life and power. I felt a new sensitivity to the small harmonies surrounding us, Mystra had been close last night.
During breakfast there finally was some time to speak to Gundren about his time in captivity and share our story. He knew nothing about a black spider, so far, he had only seen goblinoids around the keep, until the shape changer appeared yesterday. Upon hearing that we could save Sildar from Skarg, he appeared mightily relieved, but the remark that his brothers had not been seen in Phandalin for some time contorted his laugh into a worried frown. Thus, the next stage in our traveling was set: reuniting the three brothers and make sure, the lost echo cave was save in their hands. Yet prior to that, we decided to rid this castle of any remaining goblinoids and try to find some further information about this black spider.
Any attempts on trying to get something out of Droop proved futile. The small creature either really knows nothing or is the greatest actor, Faerûn has ever seen. So, what to do with him? After freeing him before, he went straight back into the shackles of his so-called king. But seeing him in his bindings, lying helpless at our feet, only compassion could be felt for him. We cut his fetters and sent him into the forest, to go wherever he may please. Hopefully, we did not just condemn him to end as breakfast for the next predator who crossed his path… Yet something tells me, he has something like a sixth sense for survival…
 
We started our exploration of the remaining ruins in the parts we already knew. With all the rustling about in the previous night, it is better to be safe then sorry. Thus it came to be, that within the tower that formerly served as a prison to the slain owlbear, Archie caught a glimpse of a small wooden object lingering on a shelf on what must once have been the second story. He was quick to surprise us with another invention he had just finished – in front of our eyes, a flush, round metal ball unfolded itself without any visible activation into a hand shaped form. Effortlessly, Archie sent the small hand to probe the object and could quickly discern it as a box of some sorts. Who knew, how long it had been standing up on that small ledge, Archie did not dare to just push it down with his small companion, in fear of destroying something valuable. A wise thought! Thus, Kyla ended up climbing on Nysqwens back to reach for it. Once retrieved, the box revealed some old coinage, a healing potion and two more of these scrolls, Hammun had rewarded us with. It is still fascinating to me, how some magic wielders are proficient enough to bind the floating energies to a small piece of parchment to be released at will at any given time! And I even could decipher one of the scrolls, it described a strange, formulaic way to exclude sound from an appointed area. Why so complicated, if one can just counter the harmonic frequencies with the correct sound waves? But maybe this will come in handy, if a situation leaves us too worn down, to employ our own magical patterns.
Next, we checked upon the southern entrance to the castle, only to find it barred from the inside. As we peered into the exterior, Kyla noticed mud splatters leading from the forest right through the door we now stood in and into the castle. She could determine goblinoid and canine footprints, likely a raiding party accompanied by some wolfs. She told us about some noise she had heard last night from the southern edge of the forest and concluded, it must have originated from these newcomers. Thus, we at least knew about this company hiding somewhere in the castle. At this point, a nervous twitch shiver ran down my spine upon the prospect of encountering an undetermined number of enemies in a castle we knew hardly anything about. I was not keen on repeating the small knock on deaths door of our past fight and therefore called my friends to more caution in our further explorations.
The next door we came across, we therefore approached silent as shadows, listening for any movement on the other side. And indeed, the shrill voices of goblins could be heard through the wooden door. Mustering the doorframe, I came up with an idea. It should be no hard work to conjure an image, exactly replicating the wooden planks, which would appear as a shut door, while we silently would open the real thing to get a better view and possible a moment of surprise on our enemies. Archie lent me some of his oil to grease the hinges and I pictured all gates we had come across so far, projecting my will on the frame in front of me. Our efforts however were only greeted by a stubborn latch, keeping the door shut from the opposite side. In order to not give away our position, we decided to sneak our way around the obstacle, looking for an alternate path or more intel on what else might be hiding here.
 
We went back through the main corridor linking east and west wing of the keep and halted before the next door, where we repeated our strategy of careful glancing. The room behind was rather dark yet appeared to be empty. As we entered, Archie lit three small lights, he scattered about the room. In the dim light, the walls of the hall revealed frescos of four deities, two male and two female. One was very familiar to me and I knelt before my goddess to thank her for the company she had bestowed upon me and ask for her guidance, first for our way through the castle, but then for our future adventures as well. Behind me, I could hear Kyla and Archie naming the others as Lathander, Tymora and Oghma. Hearing that last name shook me from my silent prayers – I had heard this one before too! He was often referred to by Anataea as the patron of bards. I had never before felt a connection to him of similar strength as I had with Mystra, yet their combined appearance in this apparently former chapel intrigued me. I will have to study some lore regarding their relationship.
The chapel was empty apart from an ancient altar posted up at its north end and an intricately decorated brazier standing before it. Two curtains led to a chamber beyond and another door was set in the wall opposite of our entrance. Kyla was studying the frescos, when suddenly something dropped from the wall above her. We have had many strange encounters within the past weeks and there is some weird folk wandering about in Neverwinter. But never before have I seen such an ugly abomination! It wound itself around Kyla like a gigantic worm, at what presumably was its head, a sharp, parrot-like beak was framed by four glistening tentacles, which now were slashing out for our new friend. Together, it took only a couple of heartbeats to slay the creature and free Kyla from its ghastly grip. Grum could identify the beast as a Grick and pointed out that such creatures usually do not come alone. Why this one was not accompanied by a swarm of others was beyond him but it did not bode well for our further exploration to be mindful of every wall and ceiling for perhaps more of these… Kyla luckily had received only minor superficial cuts to her arms. But I was not looking forward to dealing with a whole bunch of these Gricks.
 
We took a moment to catch our breath before we decided to first check the chamber lying beyond the two curtains. As Nysqwen drew the cover back, chaos began to arise. I was keeping back so could not see all that was going on, but her change of grip on her glaive was enough to tell me, we had found our first bigger fight of the day. I did the best I could to weave around her a wall of sound waves to soften blows and then she charged. I heard three squeals filled with pain that all abruptly stopped and was involuntarily imagining the huge dragonborn slicing all throats at once with a single frenzied blow. Grum strode to the second curtain, changing shape while walking until a huge plain’s hyena swiped the cloth aside in the same motion. When I came in sight of the room, I saw before me a scenario of what looked to be an interrupted ritual of sorts. A blooded cloth covered an altar and three of the goblins were robed like a mockery of priests. Nysqwen stood amidst three dead goblins, attacked by two further ones who had no chance of even hitting her. She mixed raw power with a deadly precision, worthy of a song on its own! One of the remaining four goblins shouted something to the adjacent room. We quickly slew three of them, the fourth escaped through the door, Kyla close on its heels, followed by Nysqwen and Grum.
Archie decided to keep our backs safe and also look after Gundren who still was not completely back at full strength. I on the other hand wanted to circle around the enemy to in turn attack his back by taking the other door exiting the chapel we fought the Grick in. But among the fighting and the associated noise, I did not heed my own words and let my caution slip. As soon as I exited the door, I felt a small wire being pulled taut at my shin and heard the imminent scraping of loosening stones above my head. It was a kind of trap I have seen Archie prepare numerous times and blindly I stepped into it nonetheless! Even a quick lunge was not enough to save me from all of the collapsing rubble, I felt the painful shattering of bones in my shoulder as boulders found their mark. This commotion was enough to alarm more goblins who poured into the hallway from adjacent rooms, attacking me on my way towards my friends. Bow strings sang their deadly song and once more, I fell into darkness.
 
Only to be awakened soon after from an empowering feeling of celestial power, mending my wounds and restoring energy reserves within myself. As I looked up, I saw Kyla staring intensely in my direction, clutching her Raven Queen necklace and silently moving her lips. If there would have been any doubts in my mind regarding her integrity, now they finally would have vanished. She knew us only for a few days by now, yet she already looked after us the same way we did ourselves. And I swore to myself, I will greet this with the same uncompromising loyalty and friendship I felt to the rest of our company. For now though, I was still surrounded by fights, Archie and Ori were holding the door I just stumbled through, Nysqwen and Grum were caught up in a fight with two wolves and a handful of hobgoblins. They found the newly arrived raiding party.
And I joined their efforts in vanquishing our foes with a renewed determination. No longer did I want to be the weak link in our chain, I channelled my rage into a burning hot sensation I focussed onto the armour of one of the larger goblinoids. In response, the metal glowed red hot, severely burning its bearer, who subsequently was ripped apart by Grum without any means to defend himself. Not five minutes later, it was all over. Grum reverted to his dwarven self, Nysqwen was covered in blood from snout to claw, yet none of it was her own. Kyla approached me to ask if I was alright. And yes, I was feeling surprisingly well, given the two arrow shafts still sticking in my back. They were quickly removed though, and I expressed my deepest gratitude towards her. Peaceful silence was seeping back into the keep.
We took the chance to scan the rooms for any further unpleasant surprises like traps and hidden enemies, yet we finally seemed safe and returned to the chapel. We took all valuables from our slain foes, Kyla had a special interest in the artifacts found with the goblinoid ritual, we interrupted. I was drawn to the beautiful brazier in the larger room of the chapel and inspected it carefully. Tucked below some rotting wood at its bottom, I saw a glint of something metallic. The object turned out to be a small, beautifully crafted figurine of unknown origin. I asked Nysqwen if she could take care of the treasure, as she was already hauling all other valuables. The moment she touched it, I saw behind her back how a lone wagon wheel slowly rolled in through the door we first entered the chapel and out on the other side. There was no noise, nothing that would explain what just happened. I cried out and explained to the others what I just saw, yet none of them seemed to have noticed any such thing. Is my mind playing tricks on me? It might just be an aftermath of my unconsciousness, yet something tells me not all is what it seems with the small statue. What have we found here? What did the magician who built the place do with it in his lifetime?
For now it is time for us to pack our stuff together and escort Gundren safely to Phandalin and consecutively to his brothers. And I have to find a better way to not slow down my friends in our martial encounters. Mystra, show me how to support rather than burden them! And Oghma, if you can hear me, guide a novice bard, who only begins to comprehend the world, to your patronage and knowledge!