Castle Whiterock 19 June 2023: Stoned again

The murderhoboes

Garreth, half-orc swordsman
    Bleu, droning elf wizard
Zaber, suave and debonaire man
    Logan, wolverine
Polly, cute and deadly elf archer

(Stonemaul, dwarven cleric of Danethar)

And our helpers:

Elweiss, ghostly guardian

Fthirya, aka Erica, ghaele eladrin

Galdiera, kobold who thinks she's an elven paladin

What they did

I check out the ledge, traveling with my left side to the wall, and come to a ledge that looks like another ledge that I saw earlier. Then I keep going, coming to a small, hollowed-out cave in the rock wall that triggers my anxieties.  Its floor is black and lumpy like coal or rock and is invisible, which I can see since Bleu has cast See Invisible on me.

I keep on flying, and make it to another cave. Inside is cooler air and a carriage with the seal of the Kingdom of Morrain on the side. Beyond the carriage is an opening that leads away from the lake. Around the carriage are many items of adventuring gear, and under each item is a small sheet of paper. The items include a beautiful lyre, a greatsword, a scroll case, a book, a rod, and a barrel. Inside the carriage is a painting and a bunch of wine bottles.

Wine bottles? Someone made this for me.

I check one out. Each bottle has a brass and platinum stopper bearing a seal of Morrain and is decorated with a silver chain and emerald. According to the paper, these bottles are of the famed 2716 vintage, the best in the history of Morrain! These are the 25 bottles missing from Vemin the Magnaminous's well-known last party, that everyone wanted to remember but no one was able to!

I grab a bottle, and fly back to Garreth to celebrate. We both take a swig, and it has the light scent of fruitiness and a lasting tingle of delight with a hint of chocolate on the palate. Galdiera whines that we're supposed to be fighting a dragon, but I let her know that Garreth gets even tougher with booze. Elweiss recognizes the vintage as soon as he sees the bottle. I tell him about the carriage, and he says it might be the Bearer of Kings, a carriage for the Kings of Morrain. That and Princess Thistle (whoever she is) went missing long ago, and folks say a dragon did the deed.

We talk about the dragon, and agree that it has been watching us. I pull a bag over my back and use it as a blanket, then signal to Garreth that we should lure the dragon out somehow. He tells me that Scalemar thinks the gong is some kind of signal. We go back to the start of the maze and meet with Baghanaya and Scithia.

We ask them some questions. We give Baghanaya the bottle and he takes a swig, and, showing his good taste, also says it is great booze. We ask Scithia about the gong. She tells us that the statues under the gong are erstwhile lovers, and she seems to like it when I say that she must be a great lover since they had smiles on their faces. And she uses the gong to summon Silhouette, or she her.

"Who is Silhouette?" I ask.

"She is a black wyrm," she tells us. "She always makes me wait when I ring the gong." I say that means she has to die, but why does Scithia summon her? To pass her news, and Silhouette passes Scithia "pretty baubles and things, as well as cuties."

I get the idea that they wouldn't be upset if Garreth killed Silhouette, nor would they be upset if Silhouette killed Garreth and the rest of us. We go back to town, and look for warding against acid.