With the tales of their adventures within the Crypt of the Everflame, the Heroes of Kassen have earned a name for themselves in the north. Spread further by the network of Flaxseed and Linseed members of the Pathfinder Society it was only a matter of time before word arrived from the Society seeking their assistance with a delicate task.
Valanthe Nerissia, of the Church of Pharasma in Kaer Maga, is in need of adventurers without significant local ties for a mission into the catacombs beneath the famed Godsmouth Ossuary, catacombs supposedly sealed for centuries. The unsealed parts of the Ossuary are normally off-limits to all but the Pharasmin clergy but an exception has been made for your small party.
Leaving Kassen, you travel west up the Tourondel River, then cross between Bloodsword Vale and the Mindspin Mountains, pass through the great dwarven city of Janderhoff, and follow the Storval Rise to the cliff-top city of Kaer Maga. Built inside the ruins of an ancient fortress that stretches more than a half mile in diameter and is topped with towers of every shape and design, Kaer Maga has served as a refuge for exiles, misfits, and ne'er-do-wells fleeing persecution and prosecution for thousands of years. It is known throughout Golarion as a place where anyone can fit in, and where anything can be bought and sold.
Eventually you come to the Godsmouth Cathedral, where Valanthe Nerissia greets you and tells this tale:
"There is an entrance to Kaer Maga's Undercity through the mouth of one of the giant faces carved into the cliffs outside the city. It leads to the Godsmouth Ossuary, still the most prestigious place in the city to be interred. We who maintain it, though, have recently noticed that bodies have been disappearing from the ossuary. It was only a few at first, several months ago, but in the past few weeks the number has increased dramatically. There is no sign of how the body thief has accessed the crypts. I believe, however, that the thief must be coming from the sealed levels of the crypts."
"If you are willing, I will pay you handsomely for entering the sealed levels, determining if the body thief is there, solving the problem of the thief if possible, and exploring and clearing the topmost of the sealed levels. Any valuables you find are yours to keep, unless they are obviously Pharasmin relics or treasure."
"I must impress on you in any case the need to keep this secret. Feel free to make preparations, or settle your affairs, but I would like to have you enter the Ossuary no later than tomorrow morning."
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Skip nods. "Agreed, Thomas! I hope we are all better prepared this time. I ran out of supplies and magic fairly quickly but I feel more prepared now."
"Good to see you all again!" he notes to the others. "I am ready to go when you are. It sounds like a worthy cause and ripe for adventure and discovery!"
Valanthe and a silent acolyte lead you down the narrow, twisting cliffside path to the Ossuary entrance. The level of detail in the craftsmanship of the unknown sculptors who carved the Unnamed King even extends to teeth inside the mouth cavity; the keepers of the Ossuary have elected to build a walkway over them instead of breaking through them. Past the teeth, you enter the ossuary proper. Here there are more Pharasmin priests, some clad in formal robes and tending to the deceased, others clearly assigned to cleaning duties; all are silent in their service, and all defer to your guide, bowing and standing aside for the Cryptmistress. The acolyte hands Valanthe a pack and remains near the entrance while she leads you through luxuriously appointed catacombs filled with bodies, down several stairways, and into an area that has clearly seen little recent use--there is dust on the floor, most of the burial niches are empty, the air is musty and close, and even the sounds of the priests moving has died away in the distance.
Here, Valanthe stops in front of an ornate door. "This is the only known entrance to the sealed levels, and I have the only key. Once you enter I will lock it behind you. Here, though, is something you can use to open it from the other side." She hands you a hollow mithral tube about a foot long. "This is a chime of opening--you are familiar with such things, I trust--with five charges remaining. With it you can unlock the door from the other side once you've completed your task, as long as you have left a charge for that purpose. Since you will be cut off from any other assistance we can give, here are some other items you may find useful." She hands you the pack she carries; inside, you can hear muffled clinking. "There are six bottles of blessed water inside, and five minor curative potions . Good luck, and may Pharasma guide you and protect you." She sketches a sign of blessing in the air over your heads before producing a large iron key and unlocking the door. It opens with a creak, revealing the top of a spiral staircase.
The spiral stairway descends down a cramped vertical shaft to the second level of the Godsmouth Ossuary. There is a narrow gap between the stairs and the corners of the square shaft, but it is too small for a those of normal size to fit, and a tight space for your small group.
As Thomas and Culsar slip into the gap, they notice something below. Like a hideous octopus, its thin, hook-lined tentacles connected by a fleshy web, the creature slowly unfurls.
INITIATIVE
This is a darkmantle.
The darkmantle isn't a particularly good climber, but it can cling to a cave roof like a bat, hanging by the hooks at the ends of its tentacles so that its dangling body looks nearly indistinguishable from a stalactite. In this hidden position, the darkmantle waits for prey to pass beneath, at which point it drops and swoops down to attack its victim, slamming its body against the foe and attempting to wrap its webbed tentacles around the target. If the darkmantle misses its prey, it swoops back up and drops again until its prey is vanquished or the darkmantle is grievously injured (in which case the creature flutters back up to the roof to hide and hope its “prey” leaves it alone).
Darkmantles prefer to dwell and hunt in the caves and passageways that are closest to the surface, as these tend to possess more traffic for the monsters to feed upon. Yet they do not confine themselves to these dark caverns, and can sometimes be found dwelling in ruined fortresses or even in the sewers of bustling cities. Anywhere food is plentiful and there's a ceiling to cling to is a possible den for a darkmantle.
The darkmantle's inborn ability to cloak the area around it in magical darkness gives it an additional advantage over foes that rely upon light to see.
Thomas sends Midnight Lord to attack. The Wolf bounds down the stairs, but cannot get to the creature. Thomas' chain, however, finds it easily, giving it a bloody gash on its hide.
Thomas warns the group and scrambles back out of the gap. Culsar fires his crossbow, which clatters off the stone inches from the creature.
Then, suddenly, everything goes dark!
Culsar fires a bolt into the gap, skewering the darkmantle. It squeals and twists about, then looses its grip on the wall and falls down the shaft, narrowly missing Thomas on the way. Following the scent of it Midnight Lord descends, and finds the unmoving creature at the bottom of the stairs. Slowly the darkness recedes and everyone can see once more.
Below is a square chamber. Old carvings cover walls thick with dust and cobwebs. Three sets of stone double doors stand in the three facing walls. Heavy bronze seals emblazoned with the symbol of Pharasma secure the doors against whatever lies beyond.
The carvings on the walls hearken back to an earlier age, when Thassilon was at its height, but many have since been defaced. Just as Valanthe said, the doors here are sealed with magic and will require the chime of opening to pass through.
Cade leads the way through the eastern doors...
A large statue stands in the corner of this L-shaped room, depicting a tall feather emblazoned with a large open eye. Though apparently carved from stone, the statue gleams with a golden-green iridescence. A pair of stone doors stands in the east wall in the short leg of the L.
Carved into the floor between the western doors and the statue is the following inscription:
“Though veiled behind the plumage of the soul, the Eye still sees, unblinking, through all the ages, from the beginning to the end of time. When the Three are One, and the spirit becomes flesh, the Seal may be opened and the Sleepers awakened. And the glorious apocalypse shall consume us all.”
The doors to the east are featureless except for a strangely shaped depression where they meet.
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"Oh, this is interesting! I've read about this before but never thought I would actually find something about it! There is a mysterious and esoteric god of ancient Thassilon called the Peacock Spirit. The worship of the Peacock Spirit fell with the empire. This is quite a find! The Peacock Spirit was supposedly the god of mind, body, and soul. How interesting!"
After reading the inscription on the floor, Skip's face darkens though. "Well, I don't like the sound of that."
Skip is unable to identify the feather.
Thomas and Midnight Lord give it all they have, but the doors do not open. Upon closer examination, the “doors” to the east are featureless except for a strangely shaped depression where they meet - examining the doors reveals they’re actually one solid piece of stone carved with a seam to look like a pair of doors.
There does not seem to be a way to open the doors.
Moving through the northern doors, Cade finds bodies wrapped in age-yellowed linens in alcoves lining both sides of a wide corridor. Thick cobwebs hang from the ceiling and drape the walls of the crypt; everything is coated in a deep layer of dust.
These catacombs were used to house those deceased persons not sworn to one of the seven runelords or to Pharasma herself. Most of the bodies interred here were minor servants, prison guards, and foreign visitors to Kaer Maga; all are ancient beyond belief, and crumble into bone shards and dust if disturbed.