The next morning dawns clear, sunny, but very cool. The temperature is around freezing, and does not show much sign of moderating.
After a filling breakfast, you get directions from the innkeeper, and visit the town clerk. As you were told last night, the castle can be yours for 100gp. You pay the money, and Al, Orlon and Stiff sign a deed of transfer, and you find yourselves the owners of Demon's Neck Keep.
The clerk takes you down to the castle. It is entered off of a small square in town, through a gate, which is closed and locked with a large iron padlock. The castle itself is built on a small bluff overlooking the river that you crossed to enter town yesterday. It is not the largest castle you have ever seen...nor is it the smallest. From the outside, though, it looks to be in fair condition.
The clerk pulls out an ornate key, and unlocks the padlock. Then, he takes the lock and looks at you.
"It's all yours, now!" he says, then turns and leaves.
Stiff participates in the purchase of the place if that is agreeable and if it isn't - tough. Stiff then looks at the his available magics to see what might be the best lock and such.
"Brother Orlon, I wish that we consecrate this keep in the name of Thor."
"You have the honours," Orlon nods.
"Let us search the keep from top to bottom, clear out any creatures from our property and establish this place as temple to our Lord." Al says, excitement in his eyes and voice.
He extends his arm to Orlon and says, "after you !" and then enters Thorhome.
"Thank you," Orlon smiles.
You enter the courtyard.
Al goes back to the main gate and pours a small circle of holy water on the ground. He lifts his holy symbol up and proclaims, "from this day forth, this keep is a haven and place where our lord Thor will be known to dwell for all time."
Stiff looks around.
"I think we are likely to find squatters on our new property here folks, best be prepared to get rid of them. Perhaps we should set up camp here in the courtyard and be ready for potential trouble. No doubt there will be secret entrances from the bluff or river, so there is a lot of work here I think."
Stiff casts a Wizard eye spell followed by Extension lll (adds 50% to the duration of the Wizard Eye) to do an aerial survey of the spot.
The castle is octagonal-shaped, and is built on a small bluff overlooking the river. The opposite wall from the river has the gate which opens into the town. At each corner of the castle is a small watch tower, and at the back of the castle is a small keep. It is three storeys hight, and above that is a tower. Within the walls and before the keep is the courtyard. Various small buildings encircle the courtyard around its perimeter, against the castle walls. These are stables, smithies, carpentry shops and the like.
Overall, the place appears to be in pretty good condition, considering that it has been neglected for six years. You see some holes in the roofs, some broken doors, lots of weeds and such, but nothing major in the way of decay.
"Is anyone proficient at carpentry and repairs?" Orlon asks the others. "If not, then we can hire people from the town."
Stiff sends his eye in through several open doors and windows, but it sees nothing unusual or threatening, so you go in and explore.
You spend the day exploring the castle from bottom to top. You find no monsters in here but for some rats, ravens and such. There are some furnishings in here, but nothing of value.
All seems normal until you reach the top level of the keep tower. This is a circular room (20' diameter), and contains the first obvious signs of the last occupant, the mage. It is a small laboratory/library. You see some shelves piled high with books and tomes, as well as some benches piled high with equipment. Stiff likes the look of the place.
Phil grins with delight, seeing the lab, "Stiff, we shall enjoy this place immensly."
There are two doors leading out of here. The first one leads outside, onto a battlement which gives a commanding view of Demon's Neck and the surrounding countryside. The second door, though, opens to reveal nothing but a strange blackness. You can see nothing at all through that doorway...
Strange...
"Stiff, do you have a teleport spell memorized, so if we go through and can't come back, at least you can, if there is a need ?" Al asks, as he looks for a spare board or piece of wood. Once found, he inserts the piece into the doorway.
Phil casts continual light on the piece of wood, ties it to a rope, and tosses the wood into the blackness.
The wood vanishes. No light shines back through the doorway. Tugging on the string, Phil finds that it cannot be pulled back.
He promptly lets go of the rope.
Stiff wants to end this testing of the hole quickly, so he casts a Wish spell saying "I wish to know the nature of the blackness before me".
In his mind he realises that this is some sort of portal/gate/teleportation device to another area...not a sphere of anhillation. It is a one-way portal, too, hence Phil's failure to pull the piece of wood back...not that that will bother Stiff...
Stiff passes this on to the rest of you.
"Cool," says Vardui. "Let's jump through it!"
"Once we rest, I will pray for word of recall with this spot as my center," Al says to the group.
Stiff and Woody will go through the portal after Stiff has rested, as he just cast a Wish. Hopefully this will not hinder the party too much. Stiff will also relearn Wish as his choosen 9th level spell.