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A bit of the cultist leg sticks out from around the corner and Nadric takes full advantage of this. The shot flies true and stabs him in the knee! He yells out painfully and turns his attention to Nadric charging towards him with furious anger. But his anger blinds him and the swing hits nothing but thin air.
~~~
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Celas and Razka immediately comes to aid the bard in danger, and removes the last threat of the cultist. Quickly rummaging through their gear, you find two of each item, a club, heavy wooden shield, leather armor, and silver holy symbol of what you definitely recognize as Groetus.
You hear the sounds of battle up front with metals clashing. As you hurry, you arrive in time to witness the constabulary securing the southern end of the prison and has killed and captured the remaining cultists roaming in the vicinity. Nearby, a handful of ragged and injured cultists are in manacles and seated against the wall. A cleric tends to wounded constables.
The uninjured constables are relieved to see you, and immediately greet you. "There's a face we'd rather see. These cultist are all over the place."
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“Whew, you have my thanks, friends!” Nadric says as he wipes away a drop of sweat that formed when he suddenly had to dodge that last attack. He trots over to meet the constable and looks over the captured cultists. “Yes, it makes you wonder why so many people wanted to be a part of this cult in the first place. At least these few are done.”
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Edmund gathers his dropped equipment, and spends a few seconds resetting his equipment and adjusting his belt. As they begin moving again, he keeps his bow at the ready- but takes the opportunity to have a little fun with Razka. ”What happened back there? I thought you could win anyone over with that charming personality of yours!”
Edmund turns towards Celas ”If it wasn’t for those couple of arrows back there, I could have been in a lot of trouble. Thanks.”
Hearing the rest of the party talking to the constables- Edmund takes some time to question the Cultists
”How many of you were there? Where are you taking the prisoners? We already know about the Crypt of Fools. Talk now, before we make this a worse night for you!”
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Asking about the situation only puts about a grim mood in the constabulary. The assigned leader speaks up to the group, "We were just barely able to keep thing together out here, and that was with some of your interventions I imagine. Anything beyond this door is territory we do not have under control. What has happened is beyond our knowledge, but I'd imagine there be more of those fools."
Interrogation of the Cultist prove to be somewhat unfruitful, their loyalty to Groetus has them fearing no death, and any sort of threat leaves them unmoved. They snicker and tease the Pathfinders, "Soon, Groetus will have this town, and then his undead army will grow and devour all life as we know it! The prisoners are about to meet their destiny. The end times is near! All hail Groetus! "
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The cultist looks nervously at the gnome but does not relent, "The ultimate sacrifice is death! I fear nothing! Not even Groetus himself." After a while, you realise you will likely not be able to obtain much information from the captives and decide to head in yourselves to investigate the extend of the damage.
Upon entrance, along the left southern façade, many cells are lined up, known as "beggar's boxes" providing a chance for the prisoners to earn a piece of redemption through begging for coins.
The main door opens up to a large hallway, where many market stalls lie shattered across the paved floor. Wood splinters and papers litter the room as a result of the aftermath of the invasion. A gruesome sight of blood and dead bodies, both prisoners and guards, and cultist alike also scatter the area. Not a single living soul is found in sight.
To the right of the hall, a double wooden door leads to the chapel. Towards the back of the room, lined bars divide the market area and the prison yard.
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"Just a sign of how brainwashed these poor souls are that they are immune to my charms, Edmund. You have to admire their dedication, if not their intelligence," Razka answers the archer.
During the interrogation of the prisoners, he is silent but imposing. Or as imposing as he can be, given his slight build.
Inside, he is not exactly surprised by what they find. One can't expect a murderous, doomsday cult not to murder everyone, after all. Still, it is not a pleasant sight.
"To the chapel, I say. We have our mission, let us examine this bell, then we can see to turning back these cultists again."
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Edmund joins Celas in doing a quick search of the area. A few mumbled words, a a quick hand motion- and the courtyard becomes instantly clear and detailed to his mind.
10ft cube/standard action.
You examine an area at range as if you were searching for fine details with the Perception skill. Make a Perception check with a -5 penalty, modified as normal for conditions. No penalty is applied for distance. Apply the result against the DC for any hidden features, such as secret doors, traps, or hidden treasure. You must be able to see the area you are attempting to search, and you only find details that can be perceived with sight or touch. Sift detects only objects and features, not actual creatures.
Once it is clear that there is nothing of value in the courtyard, Edmund moves toward the double doors down the right of the hall. He puts his hand on the door, and looks up to ensure his companions are with him. When ready, he pushes open the door and draws an arrow.
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“Agreed,” Nadric replies to Razka. “Let’s get into the chapel and find what we came for.” He doesn’t give more than a cursory glance to the bodies on the floor, assuming that his teammates will let everyone know if they find something of significance. Instead, he stands near the door to the chapel, toying with his bowstring and waiting for the others to be ready.
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The immediate area seems to hold no interest to the group. No magical aura's could be detected, nor the bodies have any useful belongings on their persons.
Believing it safe for the moment, you open the doors into the chapel. A 50-foot-by-35 foot room contains the recognizable trappings of a chapel. Wooden pews arranged towards a raised altar. An altar dedicated to Abadar rests upon the raised section near the northern wall. A few broken pews lie in the back of the chapel, but not by destruction of combat, more like aging due to rot.
Behind the Altar, the chapel's yoke holds the bell tower. It has an inscription which reads, "Through obedience we find peace." It definitely detects as magical, but it's aura is incomprehensible.
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Edmund wanders up the center isle, keeping an eye out for anything that might be of interest. However, his focus keeps coming back to the bell at the front of the altar.
"Through obedience we find peace" he reads quietly to himself. "That has not been my life experience..." he tails off.
Upon reaching the bell, he looks back at the Pathfinders.
"I would gather then, that this is the so-called "Bell of Obedience" the society was so interested in. We were told to catalogue and inspect it. Its magical properties are complex- beyond my ability to decipher. So what now?"
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The bell is too large to be carried away in your bags, it will require two people to carry it. However, you recall your instructions.
"There’s an item of interest, a church bell called the bell of obedience, that may reside in Swift Prison’s chapel. We want to catalogue it and may never have another opportunity to explore the Swift unsupervised. While investigating the derro invasion, head to the chapel and inspect the bell. If possible, I want you to determine whether the Chapel’s bell is in fact the legendary bell of obedience without taking it from the prison."
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The group continues to make notes of any sort of interest that may lead to more answer with regards to the bell. There are a few fancy patterns carved into the bell but nothing decipherable. As you test instructions on each other, no one is urged to do anything beyond what they normally would. Satisfied that you done what you've been asked of, you continue heading deeper into the building.
You head out of the chapel and continue to venture past the market place into a once bare concrete prison yard. It has certainly seen it's share of the invasion. Rusted, iron flakes dust the ground around a series of thick gates. Within the keep’s yard, four derro corpses surround an insectile quadruped. Countless barbed crossbow bolts penetrate the strange beast’s hide, and where its head should be, thick ichors moisten the ground around two separated feathered antennae.
Beyond that, through a double door, you are lead into a keep. Broken furniture litters the room: parts of a stool, a modest writing table battered in twain, and several smashed chairs sprawl across the keep’s wooden floor. The room is symmetrical in nature and two sets of identical stairs, one in the northeast corner and one in the northwest corner, lead to a cellar beneath the prison dubbed Stavian’s Fair by the Swift’s residents.
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Razka is more than a little disappointed that the bell does not compel people to do what they are commanded.
He is not disappointed to find that the Derro have had troubles of their own.
He shrugs but nods at Zarzuket's suggestion. He has little need for metal (other than precious ones) so he feels fairly safe as he picks up one of the feathery antennas.
"Down it is. It's a bad idea for me to lead the way. Someone na little more durable should go down first."
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You don't believe any of the rust monster is salvageable by any means. In fact, rats have started to wander the area and started to eat on the rotting corpses of the dead, including that of the Rust Monster.
Celas somewhat confidently leads down one of the set of stairs, unbeknownst to him, it was rigged with a trap that lets loose an arrow should one attempt to walk down without disabling it.
Being caught of guard, Celas takes the arrow directly into his chest, dealing a bad injury to the Ranger. But beyond that, the rest of the stairs are safe to walk, and the immediate area below looks to be clear of any unwanted persons.
The first level below the Keep contains four large solitary confinement pens, arranged in the centre of the room. Each room contains a simple wooden bed and a desk with nothing more than that in terms of furniture. A few belongings belonging to the occupants have been left behind, presumably after they were taken captive by Derro's and Cultist.
On the other side of the room, two more identical and symmetrical looking stairs lead into the 2nd level of Stavian's fair.
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Edmund follows down to the keep, and jumps at the sound of the arrow hitting Celas. He pulls up his bow, at the ready, but no additional attack comes.
In the lower level of the keep, Edmund moves through the room, reminded by the arrow only moments before to not let his guard down.
As he passes a bed, he notices the edge of a book sticking out of the mattress. He gently frees the book, inspecting the cover and opening to a random page. He waits to alert his companions, not wanting to trouble them with inconsequential evidence.
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"This is why I don't lead the way," Razka says as Celas takes an arrow to the chest. Given how much more robust Celas is than him, he's sure the wound would have knocked him down if not killed him.
He is wary of the step that set the trap off, though and poked it many times with the butt of his spear, even though others had already passed.
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While Edmund spends a minute paging through some book and Celas heals himself from the last trap, Nadric takes a close look at the next set of stairs where Edmund indicates another trap lying in wait. “It’s enough to make you think they don’t want visitors,” he says with a nervous laugh, and then tries to disarm it without skewering himself.
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Easily enough though, the group is able to discern a paper trail among the rubble and mess that leads down towards the lower level of Stavian's fair.
After a couple attempts, Nadric finally manages to disables the trap, by identifying it's mechanisms each time he fails to disarm it. This enables safe passage through the stairways into the lower level for the group.
Cautiously moving down, the group comes to a chamber that has seen better days. The lower level is stripped of nearly everything metal, leaving what was once a tangle of dank, solitary confinement cages transformed into a tumbled mess of furniture and prisoner odds and ends. A collection of broken furniture in the southeast corner suggests a struggle, and it is easy to see blood marks along the side of the walls.
However, this room is not unoccupied, a single human stands, with his back faced towards you, facing the south wall contentedly painting a large mural. The mural depicts two large snakes carrying a bell into Cassomir’s sewers, chasing after the bell, is several humanoid figures. Leading the group, a bold Oread makes a mad dash, wearing no slippers. Four colourfully dressed humans follow closely behind with three of them carrying bows and arrows. And trailing slightly behind, almost somewhat comically, is a gnome wearing a funny looking hat.
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"I think I know why they brought the rust monster," Razka says, tossing away the antenna from the thing, since it is obvious it's of no use and he sees the wreck it made of the cells here.
"Ha! That looks just like Zarzuket!" he says. "But we don't have an Oread with us and I don't know how some snakes can get the bell when we just left it."
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"If it isn't our friendly painter. He seems to have taken up a more realistic style than previously. I wonder what assistance he will provide to use this time..."
Edmund chuckles to himself. I am at least fairly confident that this man poses no threat . Walking over, he stands beside the painter and appears to intently assess the painting.
"Old friend. I see you have taken on a much larger project this time! I must admit, I am very impressed. This gentleman here..." he says, while pointing at one of the figures with a distinctive bow "...he is very handsome"
"Can you tell me Sir, what are these snakes? I have seen many things here today, but I have not yet seen a snake!"