Party 4

[Ash-6116]

Having let the others take the lead with talking to Milivoj until he broke down into tears, at which point she'd tried her best to comfort him, Arinthia walked alongside the others towards the coffin maker's shop. Her tail lashed around inside her boot in agitation. Arinthia was annoyed but doing her best not to let that annoyance show to the others.

'Strahd - is there no depth to which you will not sink?' thought Arinthia, 'Using children to doom a town? It's a good job we were around to stop that slaughter.'

Knocking on the door, Arinthia didn't hear anyone inside. Trying the handle even though her left hand was already heading for her bag where her snake pick and torsion wrench were handy, Arinthia found the door unlocked. With a look to her friends, Arinthia instead pushed the door open though she remained outside with her friends.

With Beldar rushing forward to cut Henrik down, Arinthia walked in and stood underneath Henrik ready to gently lower the deceased man to the ground once the noose was cut. Gently lowering the man to the floor out of respect, Arinthia noticed a few scratch marks around the neck. 'Looks like he had second thoughts after he'd tipped the chair out.' thought Arinthia sadly.

Spying the note on the floor, Arinthia glanced over it, passing it along once she was done. "Dirt filled crates in the basement," said Arinthia, trying to put out of mind that Strahd had turned adventurers - people she aspired to be like. "Should we - try and find one of his coffins? You know, give him some dignity in death?" asked Arinthia, trying to keep out of mind what could happen to them if they failed to deal with Strahd.

 

[Holice]

With a mix of pain and sadness in his eyes, Beldar knelt near Henrik and began to pray in a whisper. "Great Mother please accept his soul into your bounty. As your divine glimmer gave us all life, please accept the return of your gift as it enters your Great Garden for eternity." As a gentle smile slowly forms as Beldar concludes his prayer, he leans in a bit closer, "Be at peace now, free from the horrors of this land."

Looking towards Arinthia, "That would be very respectful, regardless of bad choices in life or difficulties forced by circumstances, a final resting place should be afforded those not born from evil. We may not ever know exactly what his part in this was, but we can pray he chooses a better path in the beyond." The smile again begins to fade from his face again, but you're not really sure if it's due to Henrik, or something deeper in Beldar's mind that is weighing on him.

Beldar stands up and takes note of Henrik's height and stature as he begins to search the premises for something Henrik's size.

 

[Ash-6116]

Following Beldar around the shop, Arinthia noticed a number of the coffins had small plaques on top of them. Some were finished, a few were in the process of being carved and a couple hadn't been started. Arinthia walked over and picked up one of the empty plaques. She'd had some experience with small tools during her years in Waterdeep, which along with her lockpicking had given her steady hands.

With a glance around the shop, Arinthia found Henrik's chisel and small hammer along with a place to sit while carving. Starting slow, Arinthia gently carved Henrik's name into the center of the plaque, barely making more than a rhythmic tapping as she hit the hammer against the end of the chisel. As she worked, Arinthia tried to block out her surroundings, thinking of something that would keep her relaxed while not making it impossible to carve the plaque.

Arinthia's thoughts drifted back to Highcliff, her home town. In particular, to her mother's shop. It had large sliding doors which Sildawna always opened wide. Immediately in front of the doors were ten feet of space for customers to be in on the rare days that it rained, then a long table that Sildawna liked to lay her tools out on in order. Always the exact same order every single day. Half Diamond with shallow angles, Half Diamond with steep angles, Half Round, Full Round, Full Diamond, Rake, Snake and a torsion wrench in a few sizes. All of them made out of solid copper though Arinthia knew her mother had wooden handles she could slip over the ends of the picks. From when she was just a few months old, Arinthia had been either on her mother's knee or around in the shop as Sildawna plied her trade to passing adventurers. Highcliff was a cosy little town.

'Wonder if I'll ever see it again?' thought Arinthia sadly as she finished carving. It was just a simple plaque that read 'Here lies Henrik Van Der Voort. May his soul find peace.' Placing it to one side without comment, Arinthia headed into the basement with the others and rummaged through the boxes of dirt.

"Anyone got any ideas why Strahd would want six of his - people - to stick boxes of dirt down here?"

 

[Cravingpages]

As Beldar and Ari gently laid Henrik's body on the floor, Juniper's heartbeat quickened. Her head was spinning and her breathing became rapid. She quickly walks towards the front door. I need fresh air. As she closes the door behind her she throws her bag on the ground. She leans forward grasping her knees trying to calm her breathing. Great. Great. Great. Just freaking great. Looking up at the gloomy sky, Juniper closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. We need to find the bones. We can't let Strahd break this town like he did Henrik. Heading back inside Juniper catches Ari's question. Well, those bloodsuckers did try to attack the church yesterday. Maybe that was his plan all along. Keeping her eyes from Henrik body, she focuses on the stairs.
I'm gonna check upstairs. Maybe he's hidden the bones somewhere. Cautiously heading up the stairs, Juniper thought it would be harder to find the bones but instead, they were on the bed in a bag along with 30sp and 12ep. I guess he knew someone would come looking for them. Picking up the bag, Juniper yelled from the top of the stairs, I found them. I'm guessing he really did regret his actions. They were just laying right on the bed. We need to get these to the church as soon as possible. We need to tell them about Henrik too. Should we try to carry him once Beldar finds a coffin?

 

[GoodTeletubby]

Dess's lips press into a firm line at the sight of Henrick's body, and she closes her eyes to compose herself. Meaningless death was apparently going to become a constant companion in this land, and after a few slow breaths, she moves aside and lets the others lower the man to the floor. As she reads over the note, a frown crosses her face, and she thinks back to the past day's events.

"So if Strahd's spawn have been staying here for months, I wonder if that has anything to do with the Burgomaster's eccentricities or Izek's influence in the town. Something more to ask the lady at his house later."

She traces her fingers along the shaft of her staff, tracing idle runes down its length nervously while she tries to consider things objectively, trying to not feel the horribleness of the whole mess surrounding them. As Ari asks about the soil, something jars her memories, and she digs out her spellbook, flipping through the early pages for one of the mnemonic runes she had there from her Uncle's lessons some decades back. A few moments studying the rune helps her reassemble the information she'd learned so long ago.

"I knew that sounded familiar. They're not so much boxes of soil as they are beds for the spawn. The vampires need the soil of their graves to actually rest. And if I'm remembering the rest of that lore correctly now, the relic is more of a key, that unlocks the holiness of a place by being present than by creating one itself. Hopefully getting these back to the church will set things right."

She looks down at the now full coffin.

"Do you think Milijov could handle transporting and seeing to his burial? If he has no other heir, perhaps the boy could take over the business for him as well? It needs to be done, and it would at least provide him more steady circumstances."

 

[GoodTeletubby]

Cheering up a little after they're done dealing with the dead, and her purse significantly heavier, Dess picks up a couple sets of manacles, wrapping them in sheets of leather to protect them from the weather and keep them from clinking as she straps them to the outside of her pack, and adds a second length of rope to the bottom of it. She watches with amusement as Ari provides the dressmaker with an illusionary model, and finally looks forward to satisfying her curiosity at the Burgomaster's home. Before they begin their investigation, she takes the time to pull out her spell book and after a few minutes chanting and tracing various ethereal runes around her face, her eyes take on a look of glowing emerald green orbs as her Detect Magic takes hold. As the party passes through the various rooms, the library grabs her interest firmly, until they finally get to the powder room, and her gaze alights on the wall mounted mirror, and she purses her lips, approaching it cautiously.

"Oh my, now that is interesting. I hope you'll share your secrets you lovely thing."

She checks with the servants to see if they know anything about the mirror, but their ignorance piques her curiosity even more. She spends some time checking the mirror both physically and magically, probing the spells it contains, and her eyes go wide as her breath on the mirror's surface seems to reveal activation words, she feels a chill of excitement run down her spine at the discovery. She looks over at the others, and pauses before diving in too recklessly. Probably best to not get them too tied up in this until she's more sure what she's dealing with.

"I think I've got this sort of figured out, but I can't guarantee it's safe for anyone besides the one who activates it. It's not the most friendly sort of magic bound to this thing. You all may want to wait in the hallway, and if somehing goes wrong, you'll hear the screaming."

 

[Ash-6116]

Having still been coming down off her rush of wandering Vallaki in the guise of Vasilka, which Arinthia had enjoyed because that time it hadn't been a desperate attempt to try to deceive Strahd and keep Ireena safe, it didn't reveal anything that she didn't want everyone in eyesight knowing she could do and she could just spend the hour enjoying seeing a different reflection that wasn't herself, Arinthia had helped with searching the burgomaster's desk and papers.

Arinthia looked to Dess with obvious concern on her own face, the form of Vasilka having faded back to show her own pale red skin and red hair. "Are you sure?" asked Arinthia, not liking the thought of anyone being on their own after the way Strahd had gone for them the day before, with the mention of screaming reminding her how she'd come to find Dess, Juniper and Beldar in the first place. Taking some of the papers with her, Arinthia held them up so the group could see what she had, "Might as well make the wait useful by reading, right?" said Arinthia, trying to sound a little cheery even if she were worried about Dess.

 

[GoodTeletubby]

Dess smiles slightly, her eyes glittering in curious excitement even with Ari's concern.

"Sure? Absolutely not. It's possible I could wind up with an angry ghost trying to kill me the moment I activate the mirror. I doubt it, if the baroness has used it, but never know. That's part of the excitement, finding out just how the magic works. And who knows, it may be useful."

She gives everyone a few moments to clear the room, tracing the frame of the mirror with her fingertips as she muses on what is bound within it. After she closes the door, she takes a deep breath, and looks her reflection in the eyes, and speaks the words it revealed to her.

"Magic mirror on the wall, Summon forth your shade; Night's dark vengeance, heed my call And wield your murderous blade."

She takes an instinctive step back as the bound ghost materializes between her and the mirror in the form of a dark, handsome man in his thirties, looking at her expectantly, giving the distinct impression of wanting to know who needs to be killed. Some of the tension flows out of Dess's shoulders as he appears at least peaceful and obedient, and a chill runs down her spine as she realizes the baroness may have been as responsible for her husband remaining in power as anyone else. After a moment's thought, she voices a question, hoping it won't interfere with whatever the spell is binding the ghost's actions.

"Are there any limitations on who you could be sent after?"

The ghost mimes towards her, outside the room, and the name plaque of the baroness that sits on her empty jewelry box. It becomes apparent he is indicating that he can kill living targets if you give him a name. Then he mimes a skull, and fangs, meaning that can't kill undead creatures. Unsurprised, given that Strahd still lives, but still a little disappointed, she recalls the story they had from Thornburst the prior day. Her lips purse as she thinks back to their initial trip to Vallakai, and their encounter at the windmill, and after a few moments trying to remember, a grim smile curls the corners of her mouth. It would be satisfying, and worthwhile test of the mirror's assassin's strength, if she was an actual hag.

"Your target is Morgantha, hag and maker of dream pastries at the windmill."

The ghost nods as soon as the name leaves her lips, and even before she finishes her sentence, has walked straight out of the room through the walls. Dess gives a little snort at the abruptness of his departure, and turns toward the door, then pauses as her eyes alight on the vanity. After a moment's hesitation, she opens the drawer, and runs her fingers over the few bottles of perfume she finds there. She carefully lifts each one from the drawer, sampling the scent of each, then, finding one with a warm, spicy scent she approves of, she carefully wraps it in a cloth and slides it into her pack and into her bedroll for safety. She leaves the room to track down the others and let them know what happened, checking to make sure to avoid the servants overhearing.

"So, good news is, the ghost bound to the mirror didn't immediately try to kill me. Less good news is, he's apparently bound to try and kill whomever he's told to by the person who summons him. Slightly good news, since I wasn't sure if he wouldn't just follow me around until I said a name, and try to kill that person, I sent him after Morgantha, that dream pie making hag in the windmill we ran into on our way here the other day. Seemed like a good way to test how powerful he was while doing a little bit of good in this little pocket of misery."

She hesitates a moment about sharing her conjecture, the sighs, given how potentially powerful a complication this may be.

"And finally, what if the baroness has been using this to support her husband's insanity over this town?"

 

[Ash-6116]

Standing outside with Juni and Beldar, Arinthia gave Dess a smile as Dess came out to explain. Her initial smile at the fact that Dess had managed to turn a destructive item to a gainful purpose soon gave way to a crushing thought.

'What stops the Baroness turning that same weapon on us?'

Shaking her head, unwilling to descend into that sort of thinking for the moment, Arinthia gave her holy amulet a squeeze before she looked to the others, "It's good that Morgantha is gone." remarked Arinthia, feeling that was a just end to the hag's life. 'Wonder if Thornburst knows he's indirectly responsible for that - wherever his soul ended up.' thought Arinthia. "We - did attack her husband pretty publicly and there's plenty of people who know our names..." Arinthia trailed off, realising this was starting to become a routine for her.

Arinthia looked away, some of her red hair falling around her cheeks, "We're not executioners," said Arinthia, as much to herself as to her friends, "is it safe to leave the mirror in the baroness' possession?"

 

[Ash-6116]

Having travelled with Ezmerelda and the others through the forest, once again spending most of it with her hands on the hilts of her daggers and glancing around at the slightest snap of a twig, Arinthia looked at the wagon as Ezmerelda headed in through a trapdoor. The wagon looked very ornate even with its splattering of mud that disguised it as a broken down wreck.

As Ezmerelda invited them to take anything they needed and held out some papers, Arinthia waited her turn to read the papers. Reading over them while leaning against the side of the wagon, Arinthia skimmed over the neat cursive twice, trying to make sure she understood everything.

"So, this Van Richten got cursed and has been hunting monsters ever since?" summarised Arinthia, looking to Ezmerelda in surprise. "Did he come here specifically to hunt Strahd?" asked the curious rogue.

 

[Cravingpages]

Looking through the wagon Juniper, grabs 2 flasks of Alchemist Fire, 1 vial of holy water and deck of tarokka cards. Holding up the tarokka cards, Juniper smiles to the group, hey look, I can be like Madam Eva.

Tears well up in Junipers eyes. Poor Rictavio. He lost his son to vampires. No wonder why he hates Vistani. Knowing his hatred for vampires, he'll definitely be an asset to have in this fight against Strahd.
She whispers the last words before Rictavio rode of. I will do my best to keep Strahd’s attention divided.

 

[Holice]

Waiting his turn to read the papers, Beldar wished he hadn't. The poor man, he did not deserve to lose his son, he thought to himself, but I wonder if I could have shown better restraint when confronting those Vistani.

Putting the papers down, he looked through the cart. He picked up the symbol of the Morninglord, wondering if Chauntea would find offense to seeking more help in these lands. Surely she understands our need, and if this has power here, she'd want us to use it for good, he affirmed to himself and put the symbol in his coat.

Suddenly speaking out, Is anyone else curious why this lich would bestow a blessing against undead on Rictavio? I've never heard of any lending help before...but then again this is a strange land.

 

[GoodTeletubby]

Dess picks the papers up after Beldar sets them down, peruses them while considering his question, and carefully tucks them away between the pages of her spellbook, along with the map.

"I doubt it was so much a favor to Van Richten, so much as taking a chance for him to strike out at the Vistani or Strahd with Van Richten as his tool. While powerful, I doubt even an ancient lich would just notice some wandering zombies attacking a random man in the wilderness. Unless he had already been watching one of them. Makes me somewhat curious as to who this lich is, and what bone he has to pick with Strahd and his minions."

A slight smile crosses her face at the thought of yet another powerful spellcaster who may be open to sharing spells, before she looks around again.

"Not that I'm going to go looking for zombie hordes to interrogate on the subject."

She looks over the rest of the contents of the wagon alongside the others, and she finds herself practically bouncing with excitement at some of the gear.

"Part of me wants to say we should be able to stop back here on our way out of the tower. The paranoid side of me says we may find ourselves running straight by, and to take what I'd like now. I'd like to see if we can sell some of this stuff back in town, and pick up some materials for transcribing some of these spells. That book you found has some that could be useful, and given everything else that's been going on in this area, if I can successfully copy that remove curse scroll, I fully expect it would come in handy."

She pulls aside the extra manacles, a set of fine clothes that seem like they would fit, along with the perfumes, and carefully tucks them into her pack. Then she carefully slides the spyglass from its case, and runs her fingers over it gently, admiring the craftsmanship, before repacking it and sliding it into her belt pouch, alongside the pair of scrolls. She sets the silver ewer, lyre, and copper cookware by the door, then sets the holy water, antitoxin, mirror, wooden stake, crossbow bolts, and equipment kits in the middle of the floor. Before she closes the wardrobe, she hesitates, the smiles, shakes her head, and pulls out the harlequin mask, and almost indulgently, fastens it securely to her face, picking up the mirror for a moment to consider it before turning to the others with a grin, her eyes twinkling in the mask as she lets the wonderful assortment of neat stuff lift the weight of Barovia from her spirit for a moment.

"I like it. Okay, so, personally, I think we should grab the stuff by the door on our way out from the tower, see if anyone in town actually has money to buy it, and take the other stuff with us, along with anything else you want to grab."

 

[Ash-6116]

Looking at the door, Arinthia's temptation to go straight to lockpicking got the better of her. Approaching the door, Arinthia gently brushed her hand over the circle in the middle with the stick figures, intending to see if the lines moved at all as she touched. Hearing an odd rumble of thunder in the air, Arinthia realised with a sinking feeling that the light touch was all that was needed. Jumping backwards, Arinthia did an odd backwards somersault to clear the area as a series of lightning strikes hit the ground around the door, one of them catching one of her daggers and sending a terrible pulse of lightning through her that made her slam on the floor hard.

"Aaaiiiieeeeee" shrieked Arinthia as she rolled out of the way of the lightning strikes, very much not being into getting electrocuted. "S-S-Sorry. I didn't expect t-t-that to happen." stuttered Arinthia as she shook from the sudden energy that had sparked through her. Looking up, Arinthia saw the hole in the wall, "How about I climb in and open the door from the inside when the lightning stops? That wood looks pretty rickety though, so I should probably try that alone first." Glancing around, Arinthia picked up a stick and carefully made a duplicate of what she'd seen on the door before she'd put her hand across it, figuring they could use the time to try and solve the door puzzle while waiting out the lightning - if it ever stopped.

 

[Holice]

Seeing Arinthia get zapped by the magical lightning, Beldar rushed over to her side to make sure she was ok. Aside from a slight studder, she seemed to be well enough off, that he let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding.

Looking up towards the hole, Beldar nodded that indeed that looks like a precarious entry point, but seeing as how he had no idea how else to get inside, he had to agreed with her. "Please do be safe if you are going to go in there alone, while we know of the obvious dangers out here, the gods only know what could be waiting for you on the inside."

 

[Cravingpages]

As lightning coursed through her entire body, Juniper gave Ari a horrified look. Without hesitation, Juniper jumps from the lightning's steady target. Let's try to be more cautious. She turns towards Ari with a smile.

As Ari draws the symbol on the ground, Juniper begins to study it.
We could trace the symbol, but once you touched the door the lightning came. Maybe we need 8 people to unlock it. Hmmm that would probably be unlikely if you'd need 8 people every single time to unlock it. I wonder if it spins.
As the lightning subdues, Juniper walks close to the door. To be on the safe side, I agree. You and Dess should try to get in through the hole up there. Beldar and I will stay put. Juniper whispers to herself, maybe.
She walks up to the door and is very careful not touch anything. Looking at it closely she notices that the symbol doesn't spin. Maybe it's like a pattern that we have to do to get inside. Like a password but with body movements. Why else would they look like stick figures. It could be that whoever wants to enter needs to do this. Juniper looks back at Beldar. Don't let me die okay?
She stands infront of the door and begins to do the hand movements in the following order.

 

[Holice]

Beldar watches as Arinthia climbs the rotted scaffolding, wincing at every crack he hears from the boards. He barely notices at the corner of his eye that Juniper, as she asks him to not let her die. Eyes popping open, he can't get a word out before she starts doing some elaborate tribal dance of sort. As he goes to approach her and find out what she was thinking, the door slowly opens.

"Nice work Juni!", he exclaims, probably louder than was necessary. "Hey Ari, the door is open down here now!", he yells up at her.

Unsure if this door will magically close on its own, Beldar quickly searches the area for something to wedge the door open, before they venture forth inside.

 

[GoodTeletubby]

Dess stiffens as she suddenly feels the sensation of lightning about to strike, and scrambles away from the tower as it comes cracking down around her. She turns back a shirt distance away as she watches the column of lighting envelop the tower, patting some nasty scorches tenderly as she watches it rage for a moment. Once it becomes apparent it's going to keep going for a bit, she looks up at the hole in the tower's side, then at the scaffolding and surrounding area.

"Nine hells, that hurt. That's a nasty doorbell. Once this settles down, the hole is probably the easier route in. In fact..."

She takes a moment to see what she can of the scaffolding, but given its decrepit state, she hesitates, before snapping her fingers and turning back to the cart.

"Perfect, I'll be right back."

She heads back to the cart, gathering up the stuff she'd set aside except for the climbing, poison, and disguise kits, along with the chest they had been stored in, then heads back outside, only to see the door creaking open, then turns around, puts the chest back down, and comes back to take a look through the open door, her gaze falling on the statues with suspicion.

"Well, that saves me some trouble, I guess. Nicely done. Anyone want to put odds on the clay figures being unhappy to see us?"

Her eyes narrow as one of the statues she can see seems slightly off, and after a moment's concentration, she catches a slight shift again.

"Correction, they certainly could to be unhappy to see us. And they can do something about it. Painfully. Or they pull the chains. This could be interesting. Want to find out if they attack anything they see inside the tower?"

 

[Ash-6116]

Climbing up the scaffold, careful of where she put her weight, Arinthia kept looking up, trying not to stop or hesitate in any place for too long. As she reached the hole, Arinthia grinned as she saw the door swing open and Juniper beyond it.

"Alright! Nice work Juni!" called Arinthia, hanging half in and half out of the hole in the wall. Glancing around, Ari chuckled, "So, this is just a tower of statues huh? Wonder who carved 'em?" Listening as Dess called out about them, Arinthia chuckled, "Well, with how rotten the floors are, could trap them in the tower if necessary?" suggested the rogue, glad of her current vantage point.

 

[Cravingpages]

Juniper's eyes widened as she roughly begins to be pulled up by the golems holding the chains. The fourth floor seemed more cozy then the others. More lived in. Her eyes focus on the wooden chest. She kneels down in front if it, hoping to find treasure but instead her nose catches a hint of lavender aroma emanating from the chest. Inside sits a severed head of a human Vistani. Its flesh has a waxy complexion and has been embalmed with oils. Juniper let's out a small scream. There's a head up here! There's a head up here!
What the hell was this Khazan person into?

 

[Holice]

Looking around the room, Beldar really had no idea what he was looking for, and if he did see something of interest, he had no idea. As he continued to peruse the area, he came to the standing suit of armor and looked it over. I wonder if Khazan ever used this for battle, he pondered.

As he continued to look it up and down, her her Juni let out a yelp! As he closed his mouth which was hung open upon hearing her said there was a head in the box, he smirked to himself, Can anything really surprise you after all you've seen?
Hoping to make Juni smile after seeing such a terrible thing, Beldar yelled out "Khazan!"

Looking at Juniper for her reaction, Beldar slowly turned his head back towards the suit of armor as it turned its head to meet his gaze. Again his jaw dropped open, but he managed to close it much quicker as the armor saluted him and stood back at attention. "Um...guys...I believe this armor just moved and is not watching me..." Wait, don't be ridiculous, it's just a suit of armor....but what if...."Bow and Salute, please," he said to the armor, convinced that there was no way it would follow those commands.

But as the armor did exactly what was requested, Beldar's eyes rose as did his mouth into a smile, "Thank Chauntea! Another tool to combat the evil of this world!"

 

[Ash-6116]

Having shimmied back to the front of the tower and followed her friends up to the top, Arinthia shivered as Juniper shouted about a severed head.

'That - is beyond creepy,' thought Arinthia, trying to take deep breaths and keep calm, having learnt from all of her bedtime stories that panicking was a fast track to things getting even more messed up than they already were. 'Who keeps a severed head in a box?!'

Seeing the way that a suit of armor suddenly came towards Beldar then bowed and saluted to him, Arinthia could've cheered loudly if she hadn't been thoroughly creeped out by the severed head.

"Hey, nice find." said Arinthia. Suddenly getting a little electrocuted seemed a small price to pay for Beldar to find a new ally. Deciding to try and make herself useful, Arinthia had a rummage through the small wooden desk she saw nearby, carefully rolling up the cover a little and using a dagger to gently see if there were any mundane traps based on strings under the lid before she eased it up more and more. Though in the end, there was no trap and the papers were mundane scrawled notes that seemed to be irrelevant to their task of stopping Strahd, so Arinthia left the papers be. "So, guess we should go introduce Ezmerelda, Ismark and Ireena to our new - ally?" suggested Arinthia, unsure exactly how to refer to the suit of armor that seemed to have a life of its own.

 

[Ash-6116]

As the suit of armor continued to follow Beldar's lead, Arinthia glanced back around the room. There wasn't anything in particular that made her look, no odd sense, no intuition. Just a memory of plenty of stories she'd heard of adventurers finding hidden things such as locked boxes, ancient powerful swords. Arinthia looked carefully and spotted something. Right where the armor had been standing, the wall was a slightly different colour between the stone work. Walking over and kneeling down, Arinthia ran her hand over the stone. Whatever had been used to hold the stones in place had gone brittle in a few areas and as Arinthia ran her hands over them, she felt some of the stones shifting. Giving the stones a nudge, Arinthia wormed her fingers in and clawed the stones forward.

Coughing slightly at the sudden dust that kicked up in her face, Arinthia smiled at the sight of gold that had been hidden behind the stone. Pulling out the gold, Arinthia found it wasn't in blocks but a more cloth like item, but it still looked beautiful.

"Hey, jackpot!" cheered Arinthia as she found a small cloth bag and two glass bottles behind the gold cloth. Placing the haul before her friends, Arinthia smiled, "So, who wants some shiny outfits?"

 

[Ash-6116]

Seeing the way the red headed tiefling was cheering and enthusiastically handing out the haul of golden cloth to each of her friends, Ezmerelda chuckled a little, the sound echoing off the ceiling high above them.

"Well, it looks like you've gained another friend," commented Ezmerelda, nodding to the animated armor that was standing behind Beldar, "Got a name for him yet?"

Behind Ezmerelda, tapping his thumb against the pocket of his coat, Ismark the Lesser stepped around Ezmerelda with his head hung low. "Um, listen," began the noble who bore the title of The Lesser, "I shouldn't have snapped at you all in the square. You were just trying to keep Ireena safe and I just -" Ismark grimaced a little and looked to the floor while Ireena stayed next to Ezmerelda for the moment, watching her brother, "I snapped. Strahd - he isn't someone to take lightly. The fact he's so interested in Ireena I - I panicked."

Arinthia just watched the noble's apology, her tail twitching its own little rhythm against her boot in time with the way Ismark had been tapping against his coat. Ezmerelda just nodded, seeming to be in agreement as Ireena walked up behind her brother and gently took his hand.

"So," Ezmerelda smiled, "I believe there was something about a wolves' den?"

 

[Holice]

"A name?," Beldar murmured slowly. Looking towards the armor, he pondered for a moment, then his eyes lit up. "I shall call you Sir Gregory!" A name from his past, a story about a gallant knight who fought evil, that his mother use to tell him when he was younger. Not since first meeting Beldar had you seen such a joyful look on his face, a face that truly did not fit these lands, but as you look at him and see his eyes staring at the armor, you can tell that as his body is before you, for this brief moment, his mind is someplace better.

Slowly, the smile faded, as the sounds of the present and those speaking entered his ears. Turning his face back to a more solemn calm, he listened as Ismark apologized, and was saddened by the circumstance, empathizing deeply with Ismark. But there was no time for empathy or sympathy or any feelings. All that mattered was Strahd, and as Ezmerelda broke the silence, Beldar nodded in agreement. "Indeed. No point in lingering, we should head out," and the quickly added, "Assuming everyone is ready of course."