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The party entered a huge room that looked as if it had been recently redecorated. Faded paint and scuffed floors showed where ornaments and furniture had previously existed. Now the room was has been repurposed as a temple with one end filled by a large altar constructed of freshly hewn stone and with a large brass brazier suspended from the ceiling. Other brass ornaments, perhaps with religious significance, were strewn about the room and smoke still wafted from the brazier. The room was otherwise empty though , and the items most of note were the large hole broken through the stone floor in the far corner, a set of steps leading down into the darkness, and a brass lever on the wall nearby.
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The crate was discovered amidst the lair of the lizards while a set of cages was found in the far corner of the basement. Two of the prisoners appeared to have been killed and partially eaten by the babies that had been able to slip between the bars of the cage. The third cage, however, contained the last remaining Polonian prisoner captured by the orcs during their ambush of the two legionary squads a few days earlier. A quick interrogation of the prisoner revealed little other than that the Orcs also had little no idea as to what the contents of the crate were and how they might be used. /wiki/spaces/CAM/pages/74285137 suggested that the prisoner had outived outilved his usefulness, but gentler souls such as Rhagal suggested that killing him in cold blood might not be morally conscionable. As the party debated his ultimate fate, the prisoner bolted from the manor and the party refrained from giving chase. Instead, they loaded the cart up Ark of the Covenant-style and began the journey back to Highbridge.
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The party continued their journey towards the The Baron's Grounds in order to deliver the crate, but were intercepted in the Farthing Yards by an official delegation of Polonians led by Warrane du Houndstrail, a well-regarded Captain in the Legions of Polonia. After some negotiation, the party retained possession of the crate but continued on under the escort and close supervision of the Warrane and the Polonian squad. However, the party noticed that, unbeknowst to Warrane, two members of his squad appeared to be Cirnan and his partner, each in the disguise of a Polonian legionnaire.
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Warrane led the adventures through the military encampment in the Baron's Grounds and towards the castle on Baron's isle. The castle itself was is dominated by the largest structure in Highbridge, a tower reaching one hundred feet into the air. However, before reaching the castle they had to cross a wooden bridge extending twenty feet across the water to the small island in the Green River. As they crossed the bridge, Dawngreeter Yornan Hawklight had a change of heart and trying attempted to throw the crate over the edge of the bridge, but before he could do it, Cirnan signalled signaled and some sort of explosion occurred beneath the bridge, damaging the bridge pillings and causing it to begin to fall into the watercollapsing.
Aware of the plan and with a few short moments in which to act, Cirnan and his companion ran to the far edge of the bridge and dove into the water and swam away. The party and their escort were not as lucky and slid into the water with the wreckage of the bridge. The crate itself fell two dozen feet to the rocks below, smashing open and revealing a small, stone cupola with what appeared to be a weathervane locate within. Alas, the cupola and weathervane were irrevocably damaged.
As alarms sounded, guards fished the party from the river and quickly escorted them into the castle just as court was just beginning. Presided over by Adelaide du Eagleroost, the Governor of Polonia and also attened attended by Gascard de Gravenford, a much maligned chancellor of the Southern Mercantile Company, and other Polonian dignitaries that the party did not recognize, it appeared as if the delivery of this artifact was of much important. The explosion and significant importance such as to merit the presence of the highest ranking Polonians in the city. In the aftermath of the explosion of the bridge and the destruction of the artifact also appeared to have set everyone on edge and , the mood of the court was thick with danger and hostility.
The The party gamely recounted their story about the explosion, omitting details about Cirnan Sulo and The Resistance, but opening openly impugning the competence of the Polonian escort that had allowed this to happen. As the party attempted to extricate themselves from the situation, they noticed Percy du Ramshead located amidst the Polonian officials. He was staring intently at the group as if he might have recognized them, but appeared uncertain, most likely perhaps due to the absence of Ser Shadow and Bakdor Hammerwang and the fact that Corliss had taken the lead when discussing the situation with the Polonian officials.
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