Expedition: Fingers/The Ghostly Trial - 16 July 2021

[Marullus]

*bump*
So, what are you doing with the new-dawn?

[Marullus]

*bump*
It's a new dawn! What do you do?

Date: 7:15am, 20 July 2021
Light: Sunlight
Effects: (-1 to rolls from no rest)
Weather: 51 degrees, 5-7mph winds from NE, moderate rain fading to drizzle
Injuries: Bandy (moderate injury), Markd (minor injury), Hengeist (minor injury)

[Zhym]

"Let's check out the gargoyles' roosts," says Fingers. "I wanna see if they kept any treasure up there. And with the place unguarded, maybe we can see what's in those tombs."

[onlyme]

Markd agrees

[Marullus]

The party returns to the top of the hill, now finding the three crypts unguarded. Fingers climbs on top but finds the "roosts" are uninteresting - the crypts remain sealed and solid and the gargoyles apparently did not squirrel away any treasure on the rooftops where they loitered away their days. From his high vantage, he also notes that he can see the ruins of a walled city about eight miles away on the northern horizon... and the winged creatures in the sky above it are too large to be birds, more likely more gargoyles.

The group is able to shoulder open the three mausoleum doors and finds them largely intact. Each is engraved as family tomb:
Family Lamond, Enobled by the grace of King Heimdalr
Family Bowman, Enobled by the grace of King Danorr
Family Penderyn, Enobled by the grace of King Danorr
Inside each are the decayed wooden coffins and rat-gnawed bones of family members, about five or six in each. Plaques telling their names likely rotted with the wood of the coffins themselves. Though the party takes precautions, none of the dead appear ready to animate or cause them harm.

Likely due to the guardians outside, the group is surprised to find that the mausoleums and grave goods are largely intact. There are enough metal grave goods of copper, silver, and gold to fill two horse-drawn wagons - engraved plates, ornamental pitchers, small statuettes of people no longer remembered, figurines to honor the symbols of Baudh.

Most of the other non-metallic items rotted over what appears to be about two millennia since these crypts were opened. Allmond prays for Baudh to bless him with the wisdom to find those gravegoods imbued by the souls of their owners and he carefully separates several swords, armor, and items which appear to be so imbued and thus also in more preserved condition.

800lbs of copper items (80gp value)
1,400lbs of silver items (1,400gp value)
500lbs of gold items (5,000gp value)
- Banded mail with the Lamond Family crest enameled upon the breastplate, showing an eagle ascending
- A horseman's shield with the Lamond Family crest enameled upon it showing an eagle ascending
- Banded mail with the Penderyn Family crest enameled upon the breastplate, showing a tower quartered with a spring of mistletoe
- A kite shield with the Penderyn Family crest enameled upon it showing a tower quartered with a spring of mistletoe
- A gilded longsword with a lion-head pommel engraved to honor the Bowman family
- An electrum-inlaid longsword with engravings to honor the Penderyn family
- a tall wooden walking stick of curled oak with a polished ball-knob top
- A sealed reliquary box with inscriptions to Baudhon, strung on a steel necklace chain


Date: 10:15am, 20 July 2021
Light: Sunlight
Effects: (-1 to rolls from no rest)
Weather: 51 degrees, 5-7mph winds from NE, moderate rain fading to drizzle
Injuries: Bandy (moderate injury), Markd (minor injury), Hengeist (minor injury)

[Zhym]

"We shoulda brought a horse and cart," says Fingers.

[Alethan]

With most of the items being useless to a halfling (human-sized Armour and longswords), he picks up and examines the walking stick...

[Marullus]

Staff, not cane. It is a [1d6] two-handed weapon wieldable by wizard or cleric. Halfling could use a longsword, though.

Bandy examines the worn staff - it is worn from a well-used life, a grip worn at human hand-height by it's former owner. It is most reminiscent of a pilgrim's walking stick. Bandy doesn't feel it would help him in any way to cause harm as a weapon, in fact, feeling it unwieldy for such purpose.

[DavetheLost]

Hengist will examine the banded mail with an eye to whether it would offer better protection than the chain he is currently wearing. Assuming it fits, of course.

[Marullus]

Heingist estimates either suit of banded mail would fit him (or any human). Bandy could adjust down a suit imperfectly (1 pt AC penalty until fitted in town). Allmond says that both the reliquary and staff have a strong Baudhic resonance and likely belonged to clerics of the faith.

[Alethan]

Bandy speaks up and indicates he would try the Lamond Family Banded Mail and the Bowman Family sword if nobody else wanted them. He currently wears chainmail armour, so the penalty wouldn't make his armour worse and it would be one tick better once it is adjusted properly.

"Is anyone able to determine if these items are magical in nature?"

[Marullus]

"Is anyone able to determine if these items are magical in nature?"

Allmond prays for Baudh to bless him with the wisdom to find those gravegoods imbued by the souls of their owners and he carefully separates several swords, armor, and items which appear to be so imbued and thus also in more preserved condition.

[Alethan]

OOC: oops. Sorry.

Confident that the items are magical in nature, Bandy indicates his interest in the Lamond Family banded mail and the Bowman family longsword.

If nobody else wants them, then he takes them up for his own.

[Zhym]

Fingers considers the Penderyn longsword skeptically. "Shields, heavy armor, and priest stuff. Not much I can use. Might be able to swing a long sword, though."

[Marullus]

The group picks over and negotiates the grave goods acquired, seemingly uninterested or stymied regarding the wealth present. With no further interest in other items, the group considers moving on.

As Heingist already has a rather effective magical staff on loan from Markd, Allmond takes the new staff and offers the Reliquary to Heingist. Considering the imbuement of the staff, Allmond prays for healing. Heingist's wounds seal shut. "Good news.This staff is not too harm, but to heal... I believe I can offer Beith's healing grace without feeling drained, myself." he prays for Markd and Bandy as well while holding the pilgrim's walking stick and both of their wounds improve, but do not completely heal. "Perhaps it only offers so much aid at a time. We may try again tomorrow."

Claimed:

- Banded mail with the Lamond Family crest enameled upon the breastplate, showing an eagle ascending [Bandy]
- Banded mail with the Penderyn Family crest enameled upon the breastplate, showing a tower quartered with a spring of mistletoe [Heingist]
- A gilded longsword with a lion-head pommel engraved to honor the Bowman family [Bandy]
- An electrum-inlaid longsword with engravings to honor the Penderyn family [Fingers]
- a tall wooden walking stick of curled oak with a polished ball-knob top [Allmond]
- A sealed reliquary box with inscriptions to Baudhon, strung on a steel necklace chain [Heingist]


Being Abandoned:
800lbs of copper items (80gp value)
1,400lbs of silver items (1,400gp value)
500lbs of gold items (5,000gp value)
- A horseman's shield with the Lamond Family crest enameled upon it showing an eagle ascending
- A kite shield with the Penderyn Family crest enameled upon it showing a tower quartered with a spring of mistletoe

Date: 11:00am, 20 July 2021
Light: Sunlight
Effects: (-1 to rolls from no rest)
Weather: 51 degrees, 5-7mph winds from NE, moderate rain fading to drizzle
Injuries: Bandy (minor injury), Markd (minor injury)

[Zhym]

"We oughtta take the gold," says Fingers. "We could use it to buy a horse and cart. Doesn't anyone want the shields? If we got all the loot we can carry, I call that a good trip. Hey, maybe we should find a place to stash the silver and any gold we can't carry, so it's still here when we get back."

Couldn't Markd, Allmond, or Hengist use the shields?

[Alethan]

OOC: They're magical; if anything, they can be brought into town and sold for good value. And definitely take the gold.

Also Bandy doesn't feel bad at all about taking the sword and armour since the gargoyles attacked them when they did nothing wrong. So there.

[onlyme]

Are we going to town with what we got? Or hitting the tomb?

Markd will take whatever, but can't really use the shields

[DavetheLost]

I need both hands to wield the staff, so a shield will do me no good at this time. I will take the one that matches the armour if there are no objections as the staff is only a loan. The silver and gold at least have value enough to be worth caching until we can bring them to town.

We have some profit to show. Do we return to town now or press on?

[Marullus]

Allmond does seem a bit conflicted. "While the crypts below are no longer hallowed, distrurbed as they are by the unquiet dead, these crypts remained properly sanctified as Baudhic burials. There's argument that their proximity makes them unhallowed, or that the preservation by Baudh to this time is to allow them to better avenge the fates of those who provided internment, who have not similarly survived the ages..." The grim priest is less of a scholar than other clerics, to be sure, and doesn't seem to make up his mind. "There's precedent for the re-use of preserved and honorific items, of course. But how does one honor the dead, and Baudh who preserved them?"