The Barrow Wight Slayers - Rags to Riches - Part Five

Domečar 1st, 1483 AA. Roccastra, Republic di Virella. Early afternoon.

    Peering down the staircase, the group sees a spiral of intricate compacted dirt and mud stairs woven from the earth. It is dark, so much so that they can't see anything past the torchlight. After some contemplation, Argunijin is the first to descend the staircase. It does not go far down, but they go slowly, watching for who, or what, made those marks on the Auxilia.

    As they descend, the stairs slowly go from compacted earth to being carved stone bricks, though in the sense that the bricks were there first, and these stairs were carved into the stone after the fact. While it is odd, they continue onward. Eventually, they come into a much older area made of stone bricks. On the right wall is an entry way with an arch made of engraved stone. The engraved stone is purely decorative.

    Looking through, they see a burial chamber of some sort. They have managed to find themselves in a crypt. The stone here looks old, much older than the group. The group steps into the crypt, waving the torch around to see the room. In the center of the room are three burial slabs with wrapped mummies on them, with almost twenty niches in the room, two stacked on top of each other on the walls. The three in the center have weapons and jewelry under their wraps, but the group staves off from touching them.

    "How queer. This stone is much, much older than the building above." Levius says.

    "These engravings," Thalyros says, pointing to the engravings on the slabs, which show the deeds of the men who are strewn on top of them. "they must be of Yhranians! No Imperial nor Dwarf carves like this still!"

    In fact, Thalyros was correct. This crypt was much older than the structure above, and Men and Dwarf no longer engrave stone pictures in that manner. The crude engravings depicted that the men on the three slabs were no doubt ancient Yhranian warriors of yore, heroes of some sort.

    "There's a passage to the left, follow me." Thalyros said, holding the torch.

    They came to a passage shaped like a plus, with an arch instead of a door on all but one of the passages. The passage forward was a portcullis, made of iron, which was lowered. This was odd for how long ago this strange structure was constructed. On each arch, including the portcullis, were more engravings --engraved knotted ropes behind a sun, and on either end of the rope, they go behind a mountain. The ancient runes of the Yhrani people are also engraved into the wall. 

    Gunbu steps closer, grabbing the torch. She is literate in the rune-script of the north, though the group have yet to discover why. They assume she is the daughter of some important chieftain.

    "Idek mol aval. Remember our love." She says.

    "Well, surely that spells good luck for us!" Levius says, sarcastically. "I feel that there is magic here."

    "I believe there are no spirits here, but I could be mistaken. Nevertheless, we should stay cautious of spirits and all that might assault us." Thalyros says, though he pauses. "Levius, pray tell, how do you know there is magic here?"

    "I have a gut feeling, one could say." He responds.

    They check both rooms, first the right room, then the left. They are similar, with many more burial niches on each wall, stacked twice. In the south room, are two people, in puddles of their own blood. One is a younger child, a slash across his back. The other is an Auxilia, with multiple puncture marks all over its body. The Auxilia reaches toward a silver ring, with a stone of polished obsidian set in it.

    "Hmm, my first spoil of adventure!" Argun says, kneeling down and grabbing the ring.

    "Why, are you dense!" Levius says. "Don't grab items like that before we inspect them!"

    Despite this, Argunijin had collected his first spoil of war. The ring itself is nothing special, but it was just large enough to fit snugly around Argunijin's thick finger. The obsidian stone inside of it reflects off of the torchlight, shining a beautiful purple-black color.

    They then went to the other room, where they found another Auxilia. On the wall, in Imperial, Do not open is written, in the man's own blood. His hand is covered in the blood he used to write the message, with the other hand holding a crank. 

    The group does not heed the message, grabbing the crank, and then looting the corpse. The man has the most intact armor and weapons, which the group collected. Argun specifically, taking the chain shirt, which he plans to have repaired and fitted to him back in Roccastra. He says it is possible, which the group trusts, as he was born in the Year of Iron. 

The Barrow Wight Slayers - Rags to Riches - Part Four

Domečar 1st, 1483 AA. Roccastra, Republic di Virella. Noon.      

    The group reconvenes at the door, which Thalyros has not broken sight with since they entered. Argunijin enters first, with the group following. It leads into a small entry way, where there is a hall on either side and a ladder leading upwards. They first go left into a small armory. Most of the weapons are covered in dust and were underway repairs. Argun takes a spearhead from a spear set on the table, which has had it's shaft broken in two. They also grab a key.

    Moving across the hall, they find a small kitchen, with a locked trapdoor. They choose not to open the trap door.  

    "This is very strange." Levius says, opening a sack of flour, which has seemingly spoiled. "This fortress shouldn't be unmanned like this, yet it is. There are no signs of life here either."

    "Yes, strange indeed." Thalyros says.

    They then moved to the upstairs, going up the ladder one by one. In the barracks that they entered, an Auxilia¹ was present. However, he was not alive. A large gash was present along his chest, and he was strewn in a pool of his own blood. His left hand was on the floor, covered in blood, but his right hand was clutching a Gladius close to his chest. The gash on his chest cut through his chainmail and padded tunic, meaning that whatever struck this man was both large and powerful.

    "What in Voden's name..." Argun said, climbing up the ladder to see the sight.

    Thalyros, second up the ladder, quickly started muttering burial prayers.

    "...ura ebka mal cañi. Whatever struck this man must be swiftly brought justice. No Men shall fall to these beasts no longer, whether the beasts be Man or else." Thalyros says. He closes the Auxilia's eyes, and then points to the sword. "Perhaps we shall take the sword?"

    Levius, the last one to come up, squints at it. He then gets closer, to look at it.

    "Hmm. It seems to be magical in some way. I am not sure how." Levius says. He then picks it up along with the sheath off of the Auxilia, and attaches it to his bag. "We can bring it to an expert to learn more. I am curious why this blade is enchanted. Why would an Auxilia like this have an enchantment on his weapon? Aren't enchantments of Mythos?" 

    Levius then turns to Thalyros and Gunbu, expecting answers. However, it is Argun who answers. Argun is a Wildling, much like Gunbu, from one of the many Steppetribes. He was a chieftain -- or something close to it, at the very least -- in the Noyakin Clan. He has short, black hair and a mustache, with light brown skin. However, what you would first notice, is that he stands at a staggering 6'10" (~208cm) and is both muscular and fat. While he doesn't talk about it much, he was also a former slave in the Empire.

    "Hark! Whatever he carried is now our spoil, and we shall rectify the death of our fellow Man, by relieving whatever beast lies here of its life!" He says, proudly. He tends to make sentences more complex, as he is not the best speaker of Imperial, and learned most of it from the Noble who owned him long ago. "So, we shall sally forth from here to the basement!"

    "First, maybe we should go up the stairs?" Thalyros says, pointing to a wooden staircase, under which lies a stockpile of old food.

    They head up the stairs to a lookout, much like the top of many lookout towers. There is an inner area and an outer area, with the outer area being like a balcony. There is an unlit torch hanging from the balcony, which is usually lit. An unstrung longbow and a half-quiver of arrows rests on the inner wall, near the trapdoor which Thalyros peeks his head up from. 

    The rest of the group follows suit, looking over the lands. It is still early spring -- many of the trees are budding. Dark clouds brew to the north east, and it looks like it will soon rain. They had heard on the way here, when they stopped in Vireqosta², that this outpost was one of the oldest outposts in this region of the Empire, and was originally built to overlook the Montis Virella so they could warn the cities of southern barbarian parties. Levius wonders how many Auxilia, current and former, have looked at this very same view.

    They make their way back to the bottom floor, where the trapdoor lies. The group stand and look at it for some time, before Levius speaks up.

    "One us needs to open it, and that one of us will be me. So, stand back!" Levius says. He crouches down with the iron key, and opens the trap door. Below, is darkness. After thinking for some time about how to overcome the darkness, Thalyros goes up and grabs the torch, which he lights. The group descends down the trapdoor.

    Underneath the outpost, they find a small wine and grain cellar. Nothing out of the ordinary. However, they hear distant and faint dripping water from somewhere. They eventually notice that behind an empty crate, is a staircase down, dug by whoever lived here. It goes down for some time, spiraling. The dripping water continues, slowly. It echoes from where ever it is dripping from. The group stays silent, as they peer down the staircase, into the darkness. 

¹: Auxilia: non-citizen soldiers in former Imperial states
²: The capital city of Virella
³: The great southern mountains that bisect Virella

The Barrow Wight Slayers - Rags to Riches - Part Three

     

   

 Domečar 1st, 1483 AA. Roccastra, Republic di Virella. Noon.      

    The Dorsilva River trickles down, the water moving along. A single leaf slowly floats down the river, heading towards the Great Strybrne River, and finally the Imperial Sea. The four hop across the river, on stones from the fallen bridge, one by one, each splashing a bit of water onto their pants. They are getting close now. 

    However, from up ahead, they hear voices. Five men, including one wearing chainmail and a nasal helm, walk out from a large rock. They all have shoddy weapons and shields, other than one who has a shortbow and a poaching bag.

    "Stop! Hark! This is our trail! We don't let just anyone through. Unless you have the coin, that is. Two farthings for each man, so that would be two pence. Hand it over, laddies!" The most armored man says. 

    Argunijin squeezes his palm on his halberd, with Thalyros doing the same with his two-handed mace. Gunbu puts her hands into a small brown pouch at her waist, keeping it there for the time being. The only person that stays calm is Levius.

    "Right, that is reasonable. I apologize for trespassing, I hadn't the faintest idea that this was your land!" He fishes two pence out of his pocket and tosses them to the men. "We'll be on our way now, again, apologies!" Levius exhales a breath of fresh air. The group also loosen up after that point.

    The group finally arrive at the outpost. On a hill, sits a square-shaped palisade wall, and on one corner of it sits a three-floor stone based tower. It's upper levels are made of wood, with the highest floor having a small lookout with an unlit torch. The gate is ajar, the grass inside is overgrown, and there is no noise coming from the courtyard.

    "This is off. That torch is supposed to be lit, there's no noise, and there's no guards. This isn't good." Levius says. Levius is a young man with black hair, grey eyes, and pale skin. He was once a Auxilia in the Holy Karian Empire, but he doesn't talk much about that. He often talks about subjects that nobles would enjoy, however -- war, wine, women, etc.

    Argun does not heed Levius' warning however, barging into the fort. He shouts that it is clear, and the rest of the group floods in. In the inner courtyard is an abandoned wagon with molding goods. The tower itself is also open. There are also two smaller buildings and an outhouse. The first, on the left, is a small cottage. On the right is a shed, which sits next to the outhouse.

    Gunbu walks to the small cottage with Argun, and Levius goes to the shed. Thalyros stands and looks at the tower, but doesn't speak. 

    "Shash urdim. Stïvut don onzh ngotol? Onzh thoth? Voden mol torum... irol!" Gunbu mutters to herself. She speaks in a language that even Argun doesn't understand. Argun does understand Voden, the All-Father. Gunbu is a black-haired Wildling. Her hair is curly and unkempt, she wears no shirt, but rather forearm wraps and a dress that goes from her hips down. Her hair also covers her face, which hide her gray eyes and pretty face. She wears a belt over her dress, which has a small white leather pouch, a hunting horn, and a larger bag which holds a tent. She also has a spear.

    Walking into the building, she looks around, but finds nothing of note. The building itself has two beds, a table with a straw doll on it, and a fireplace. She takes the straw doll, and inspects it.

    "Gon mizh enur anir. Gon aval don, Ingrith." She says, before tucking away the doll. Argunijin spots a small bag of silver, which has four pence in it. Thalyros continues staring at the door of the tower, muttering the following in Anubic: "Nal alir mal abalalgi.". Levius finds nothing but tools covered in dust in the shed.