6 Arodus 4719, Night

Breachill

After sorting through the items Malarunk and his cronies were carrying we turned our attention to the elf gate, or Alseta’s Ring as it is properly called. A partially melted archway allows access from the natural caverns into the circular chamber, for “ring” it is: a set of gateways set in a circle with facing statues beneath a domed ceiling.

On the far side from where we entered is the rubble-blocked stars leading up to the citadel. But to the right of where we entered is a pair of polished metal double doors.

The stairs were blocked and the gateways required more research, which left the double doors for immediate exploration. I volunteered because I genuinely enjoy this sort of work, and Liberte stepped over to the side of the doors to offer support.

In a flash of inspiration Aemi handed me the seal of Alseta that we had found above, and this turned out to be key (literally) to passing through the doors. As I approached the form of an elven warrior stepped out from the door — not “opened the door and stepped through” but literally stepped out from the door as if the door morphed into him (which it may well have, because the elf looked fairly metallic).

It spoke to us in Elvish, which I have been learning and so I got the general meaning as, “The custodian of Alseta’s Ring dwells beyond.” It then looked at me and said, “Only those who carry her blessed sign may pass.”

After flashing a smile at Aemi I turned and passed by the elf and found a chamber with empty shelves, open (and empty) chests, and a table. On the table was a stack of papers. Included in the papers was the dead for the citadel.

I searched the room but found nothing else of interest and so I returned to the gate room and informed my team mates that we were now the proud owners of Citadel Altaerein. Personally I think a name change is in order.

We then spent some time identifying each gateway from the writing on the gate and the identity of its corresponding statue. The writing was in elvish and so I used chalk to write in common the name of each gate. 

Lotusgate [faced by a statue of Alseta]. Jewelgate [Yuelral]. Duskgate [Findeladlara]. Huntergate [Ketephys] — it was through here that the Cinderclaws and Renali arrived. Vengegate [Calistria]. Dreamgate [Desna].

We realized that we had much work to do in the coming weeks, both research and physical labor, but we wisely addressed the immediate challenge: we needed to get past Ralldar. And by “get past” I mean slay. It was no good pretending that having an insane barghest beneath our home was a bad idea.

Our battle plan was simple: rush in and engage it and beat on it until it died. The execution wasn’t quite as simple because when we marched into his chamber he was flying ten feet above the floor and he was flickering in such a way that made striking him more difficult.

And this is why I appreciate (and prefer) archery. Those of us who could attacked him with our ranged weapons and spells. Liberte and then Kyira used a spell to increase their size, but by the time they had done so Ralldar had vanished. Liberte struck at the space where the barghest had last been and felt a satisfying thud, and he called out that he was still there but invisible.

While we pressed our attack on the space we last remembered him being Qantrip moved into the adjacent treasure room only to find the Ralldar was already there. She shouted his whereabouts and we rushed over to the door as Ralldar hit Tarsius, which ended his invisibility, and so Marcus and I peppered him with arrows as Tarsius and Liberte clobbered him.

After that it didn’t take long to overwhelm Ralldar, who dropped to the floor dead.

We gathered up his possessions — both worn and stashed — and identified some of them before heading back to town.

It was fairly late by the time we made it to Breachill, but fortunately we found rooms at Cayden’s Keg.

7 Arodus 4719, Noon

Breachill

We took the deed to the town clerk’s office as soon as they opened. They accepted it and were quite hopeful when we told them we planned to repair the citadel and live there. They were especially keen to make use of the old fort’s defenses if the city faced a threat. This makes sense: much of the citadel’s appeal is its proximity to Breachill and helping to defend the city and its people is of mutual benefit.

We met Warbal soon after and she was happy for us, and became ecstatic when we told her that as legal owners of the citadel we were granting the Bumblebrashers clan the right to live there. We already had this conversation the evening before as we walked back into town and decided that because they had been living there for so long and taking care of the place (within their abilities) then it was only fair that they should keep their home.

Goblins get kicked around a lot in this world and it was nice to see them at the fair end of a deal for once, and even better that we were the ones on the other end of the deal.

We’ll need to work out details of exactly where in the citadel they live, and what sort of creatures they can bring in with them (no more bears, for instance), but we are confident in a successful long term collaboration.

And already Aemi and Qantrip are working out a schedule of repair and cleaning projects for the citadel. Obviously the outer walls need to be repaired and the doors made secure. The collapsed stairway down to the basement needs to be cleared as do the stairs leading down from there to the ring.

For the upper level work (including the first set of stairs) we’ve agreed to hire skilled workers from Breachill, which should bolster our standing with the community. Better still, Warbal has agreed to act as the overseer for these construction projects. She was so happy that we are allowing her tribe to continue to live there that she is only charging half her usual fee for the first month, which is quite generous.

We’ve also had discussions about what to tell the town council about Alseta’s Ring. My preference is to not tell them at all — ever. It really isn’t their business. But Aemi and Tarsius seem to think it important as good citizens to “keep them informed.”

Hmm, I am all about being a productive and contributing member of the local community, but I do not consider telling city officials about something they do not own and provided no assistance in recovering. I’ve also heard many tales from Natre and the goblins of the Chitterwood about city officials using the laws to benefit their powerful friends. I even witnessed this first hand in Elidir where the wealthy were always treated preferentially.

But we are a team and so compromises must be made.

Before we tell anyone else about Alseta’s Ring we need to secure it. The stairway that leads down from the citadel to the ring must be cleared. You can imagine the legal argument against our ownership and access to the ring if we did not have direct access to it: “My lord, how can this gate be considered part of their citadel when they have to march for miles to Guardian’s Way and then even more miles through caverns just to reach it?” And of course we need to seal off the ring from those caverns. Right now anyone can enter the caves and follow the trail left by Vos and us straight to the ring.

Qantrip is keen to learn how the gates work before telling the council about it, and I can see her point her too.

And I just realized that once we open up the stairs all of the way down to the ring we still have two unsecured entries into the citadel’s basement: the hidden tunnel out back that the goblins showed us and the tunnel that leads all of the way into Breachill and the basement of the Pickled Ear. These two tunnels need to be made safe, and so I will volunteer to organize the effort to install gates and doors to control access.

Enough writing for now, there is work to be done!