The rest of the zombies mindlessly attack Hastur.
None of them come close to touching him.
With a glimmer of annoyance, Hastur tries to thin the zombie herd around him, in order to make it easier to move away.
Hastur destroys 3 zombies with a flurry of teeth and claws.
Angus ray of holy energy sears another zombie, but it just keeps shambling. The rest of the zombie horde shuffle towards Hastur, moaning and groaning, one of them attempting a blow on Hastur, which he deftly sidesteps.
Hastur picks up the necromancer, then acrobatically dashes for the front door, weaving between the zombies.
Like a pakour master, Hastur vaults neatly over one of the zombies, and ducks under the grasp of the second zombie, with the necomancer in tow.
Howard shuts the door, and Angus jams it. The party hears the sounds of moans and groans from the other side, but yet there's no sound of anything pounding on the door.
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Howard nods in satisfaction.
"Good job, everyone!"
He then pulls out a wand, and starts tapping Hastur with it.
Howard then turns to regard Angus.
"We have one more to collect - we should go to the Old Church to collect the other Keeper."
After rifling through the Necromancer's pockets, he then does exactly that.
Howard finds two rings, one silver ring with a garnet on it , and another bronze ring that has magic, but not attuned to him. He finds a dagger, potion of cure moderate wounds, scrolls of gentle repose (3), 2 sets of keys and 100 gp worth of item crafting supplies, 35 gp.
Dragging the man's battered body through the streets would have gotten quite some attention, except that most people are still trying to secure their passage out of Carrion Hill. The Crows manning the barricades give the party a dubious look, but let them pass. The rain continues unabated, but the party notices that its now raining a coppery smelling red fluid.
The interior of the church is cold and damp. Two man-sized statues stand to each side of the room, both draped with gray sheets. Dozens of sagging bookshelves stand along the walls, and a stone altar has been converted into a table.
The bookshelves contain hundreds of tomes about history, focusing on the last 2,000 years of Ustalav. The books are comprehensive and overall they grant a +2 bonus on Knowledge (history) checks to anyone familiar enough with them to know where to look up specific references, but they number in the hundreds and individually aren’t all that notable.
This room contains a cot and a reading lamp.
This storage room contains food, water, lamp oil, ink, paper, and other supplies.
This room is abandoned, as the roof above leaks terribly. The recent storm has left the western 5 feet of the room in a 4-inch-deep pool of water that drains through a crack in the southwest to the alley beyond.
Door is locked. Give me a dc 30 disable device.
The statues remain statues.The lock opens up under your superior skill, revealing a room beyond.
The room beyond is empty, save for a wooden trap door set in the floor, obviously a relatively recent addition to the building’s older architecture. Beyond the trap door, a wooden ladder descends 20 feet into into a large cavern.
Wordlessly, Hastur dumps the man on the ground, and then methodically ties him up, making sure to gag the man for good measure.
He then turns to the trapdoor, ready to descend into the bowels of the earth.
Trapdoor is not trapped.
This large, low-ceilinged chamber may once have been part of an extensive basement or subcellar, but the worked stone walls have long since crumbled to reveal uneven stone beyond. A sunken area in the center of the room contains a small pond of stagnant water that reaches around a single pillar of rock supporting the ceiling. A slick-looking circular tunnel extends south. To the southwest and northeast, several tables cluttered with what appears to be alchemical equipment stand around two more stone pillars. Yet the party does not see anyone there.
Howard notices a few bubbles and some movement from the pond next to the central stone pillar.
With a shrug, Hastur picks up a large rock, and tosses it at the spot where the bubbles are rising from.
A middle aged man clad in leather with his mouth bound by a gag with runes etched on it pops out of the water.
The ground is also beginning to tremble and the water bubble furiously. Crustaceans of all kinds are crawling out of the pool and heading towards the south tunnel.
Hastur pounces on the man before he has a chance to act.
The two claws leave bloody furrows on his chest and abdomen, but he's still up. The bite bounces off his leather armor. He looks like he's about to flee though.
Angus shoots the man in the forehead, and he collapses into the water. He then fires another shot at an unoffending crustacean, blowing it to smithereens.
The party can see from the man's gunshot wound, blood and brain matter seeping out of it, staining the water blood red. The man does not appear to be breathing, his face the ghastly grey pallor of death.
The shaking is also becoming more pronounced, as if something large is coming closer. The party hears a tremendous voice cry out nearby, "YOG-SOTHOTH!"
Hastur grabs the body, and then follows.
The rain has finally ceased, and a break in the cloud cover reveals a full moon that is blood-red. The streets are now deserted, and the barricades unmanned. The scene is almost surreal.
The party races towards the Asylum, pursued by their invisible foe, hearing the sound of thunderous footprints on gravel becoming ever louder.
The asylum door is opened by one of the orderlies, wearing leather armor, with an iron cage over his head, holding a club. "Howard. Master Crove is expecting both of you."He gestures to Howard and Hastur. "But him?"He frowns at Angus. All around, the party can hear the other inmates of the asylum gibbering in incoherent fear.
He looks at Angus dubiously. "He can wait out here. Both of you can follow me to Master Crove. I will ask for Master Crove's permission to bring in the other." He then adds as an afterthought, "Unless he's part of the preparations for the other soon-to-be-arriving guest."
He signals another orderly to keep an eye on the door while he motions Howard and Hastur in. The sound of the footsteps is increasing in intensity and the party catches a hint of miasma in the air.
Hastur moves forward, and hisses menacingly.
The orderly stubbornly remains blocking Angus, but jumps backwards when Hastur hisses at him."Fine, fine."He grumbles as he leads the party down to the Asylum basement.
There are no windows in the Asylum, causing it to be gloomy inside as a result, with rooms lit by candles in sconces to provide an almost uniform dim lighting inside. Walls are bare and painted a dingy pale green, and floors are of smooth stone.
An inmate is chained to the stairwell, but they cower in fear as soon as they see the party, letting them pass.
The stairway leads down to a room with deep green stone tiles, with the walls sporting glowing sickly green vine like patterns.Maniacal laughter, cries of pain, screams, and off-key singing echo from the north and south hallways. To the west, the hall ends in a large pair of massive iron doors, while to the east the hall opens into another room.
A tall, cadaverous man with white mangy unkempt hair steaming down his face, is on his knees drawing a diagram on the floor in red ink. His eyes are sunken in and he is clad in a bloodstained apron lined with surgical tools. He smells of blood and acrid sweat, like he hasn’t showered for days.
He looks up as the party descends the stairs. ”Welcome back, Howard.” He greets the party, as he takes notice of the party’s presence.”Howard, I asked you to bring the other Keepers in a condition to use that wand.” He complains querulously. ”Hyve,” He points at the man with a gunshot wound on the forehead,”Is clearly dead, and of no use to us. Dump him someplace convenient. We can clean up the mess later.”. He pauses for a moment, then barks out angrily.”And not on the diagram! It must not smudged!”
He looks to the other unconscious Keeper.”And the other, Myre, is in no condition to do ANYTHING.” He throws his hands up in exasperated frustration. ”Why must I do everything myself?” He grumbles, then steps between the lines of the diagram, being careful not to smudge it, then hands Howard a bottle of smelling salts. ”Wake him up and encourage him to cooperate. “ Then he notices Angus following behind. ”And you even brought a friend with you, Howard.” He looks disgusted. ”Haven’t I impressed you with the need for discretion sufficiently?”
He glares at Angus.”Now since you’re here, you must as well make yourself useful. Do NOT step on ANY lines of the diagram. Or I will personally gut you with this.” He raises a scapel caked with blood. ”Howard and I will be very busy later. There will be something big coming down the stairs. Let it come down, so I may see it, but do NOT let it interrupt what Howard and I are doing.” Then he gets back to drawing his diagram.
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Howard rolls his eyes.
"With regard to Hyve, I agree. That one," he says, gesturing to Angus, "shot him in the head; I wasn't exactly thrilled. Friend is a bit of a stretch; that said, I thought it best to bring him, just in case we needed additional grist for the mill upon the creature's arrival."
He then moves to Myre, and administers the smelling salts, before pouring a potion down his throat.
"Look", he says conversationally. "The beast is on its way here, but Crove has a plan to deal with it. You need to use this wand," he says, waving it at the man, "to help reinforce the binding spell. I'll pass it to you when the time is right. If you don't, well," Howard shrugs. "I am sure that it will enjoy eating your soul."
When you wave the smelling salts under Myre's nose, his nose twitches violently and he wakes up with a muffled groan. "Mmph Mm Mmph Mmmph!"is all you hear through the gag. Once you ungag him and pour the potion down his throat, he starts yelling, "It's all Crove fault, he got us all into this! He's as crazy as his lunatics and his hare-brained scheme doesn't have a chance of succeeding!"On hearing Howards chilling words, he pales, "Please oh please, don't let it get near me."He pleads with Howard, trembling from head to toe."I'll do ANYTHING!"Tears stream down his eyes as he blubbers,"At least have the decency to undo my bonds and pass me my ring.Please!"
Crove entirley ignores Myre's diatribe and later pleas, as if he gets this kind of thing happening to him everyday.
Crove gives Angus a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders and replies indifferently."Stand there and block the creature's passage to us for as long as the ritual of binding requires. I need clear line of sight so don't choke up the stairs. I won't be able to move once I start the ritual."He frowns."The symbols on the wall will render it visible."
Myre grabs for the ring like a drowning man might grab a float. He blubbers, "The Spawn grabbed Marshan in its tentacles and wrung the life out of him like a person squeezing a wet rug! We don't stand a chance!We're all gonna die!"