Thea will run after the fleeing archer until she can get los on him for her spell.
Erei stabs at the thug and lands a solid blow, but it isn't until Nevai steps forward and lands a vicious blow, that the man succumbs to his wounds.
Almathea and Leto rush off after the fleeing archer and find themselves in twisting tunnels filled with water and...other things.
The remaining blind man still looks willing to fight and finally clears his eyes.
Seeing himself in a room full of enemies and fallen allies he casts a spell.
A pool of grease appears beneath Nevai and Erei.
Thea does her best to follow Leto, though her elven grace has a hard time matching his fleetness of feet.
Both Leto and Almathea manage to stay upright chasing after the fleeing thug. Leto, following the echoing sound of the man's footsteps, and Almathea, using her knowledge of construction, manage to nearly catch the man. Leto's arrow clatters against a clay wall as the man takes a sharp turn.
Thea calls upon her ring to allow her to cast Grease again and places it so it is both under and directly in front of him.
Erei falls prone, cursing as he does.
Erei will attempt to crawl out of the Grease.
Nevai awkwardly lost his footing and slid to the ground.
He slowly regained his footing, and thankfully was able to shuffle out of the greasy patch towards the caster that had knocked him down.
Assam steps up to the last thug and slams his falchion down into the man. The force of the blow crashes the body to the floor.
The fleeing man slips on the grease and slams into the wall of the tunnel trying to round the corner.
Once Marnarius has recovered his senses, he chases after Almathea and Leto, blades in hand. On his way out, he glances back at the others. "Is this a typical sort of day for you?"
"Lately... yes, pretty much." Nevai called out as he chased after Marnarius.
Leto will close the distance and give him a kick.
Stay put or die. Your choice!
The man grimly draws a blade and attempts to stand. Your second kick catches him on the side of the head and he falls back into the grease and lies still. The other members of your group find you shortly afterward and making your way back to the room with your new unconscious captive in tow is a simple matter.
"Now that we have one of them, what are we doing with him? Are we going to question him ourselves later or turn him over to the authorities in town?"
"Master Ptemnib, what do you recommend? I can't say as I think much of giving him to the Voices until we learn more of what this lot was up to down here."
"They didn't seem too willing to talk before, though isolation from his companions might change his mind. Still, I'm more concerned about what further plots and secrets they have hidden down here, if they really do have anything to do with the undead assault above."
The priest sighs and looks down at the man. It cannot hurt to ask questions.
"We can just keep him tied up here for the moment while we finish exploring this area. We might yet find something that would make him more willing to talk."
"Good idea. Let's see what else is down this passage. I'm a fair tracker, so I can try to figure out how many of them have come through here."
"Sounds good to me."
It takes a little over a half an hour to search through the tunnels. While there are only a few branches, they travel for quite some distance. Unfortunately, the thin layer of water makes it difficult to figure out how many things have traveled through the area. Eventually you make your way to an exit from the tunnels. A covering, easily moved, hides the hole. Looking around, you see that you are just a few feet north of the Necropolis wall surrounded by several old, decrepit buildings. It appears that the criminals had their own secret entrance into the Necropolis.
"Sneaky tombrobbers. I think that we should go back and thoroughly search the rooms and the bodies and then inform the authorities about this unauthorized way under the Necropolis wall."
"First, let me see if there are any tracks worth noting." The half-elf takes a few minutes to scan the area.
Nothing seems to have come through here recently, at least.
"I agree Thea. Our psychopomp friend can probably inform the Pharasmins about it at least while we search the complex more thoroughly, and bring back any new information they've unconvered."
A quick search of the bodies turns up the following: The leader was carrying an oddly colored khopesh made of a metal that you can't quite identify. He was also wielding a well-made kukri, wearing studded leather, and, of course, the funerary mask.
The three non-archer thugs each had a dagger, five darts, a short sword, matching cloaks, a spell component pouch, and a spellbook. They also all had brass funerary masks, three turquoises, and 4 gold pieces.
The two archers each have masterwork shortbows (STR+2), a dagger, a shortsword, leather armor, brass funerary masks, two turquoises and 3 gold pieces.
On one of the tables sits a quill pen, a vial of ink, and several small slips of parchment, along with a curious figurine of a bird made out of tin, with three actual feathers forming its tail. A cursory inspection of the figurine reveals space for four feathers; one is clearly missing. A masterwork composite longbow (STR +3) lays against the table with a quiver of 20 arrows.
In the corner lie two large chests, one locked but the other's top is thrown back. In it you recover Ptemenib's belongings; armor, weapons, a cloak, and some goggles. He frowns as he shrugs into his simple leather suit. My holy symbol...it isn't here.
Marnarius removes his own spiral. "You can use mine, sir, while we look for yours."
Almathea will cast Detect Magic and look over everything that they find, including the stuff on the table.
"Why would they have any reason to remove your holy symbol to another location Ptemenib?"
The priest shrugs in answer, I have no idea...perhaps someone just wanted it. He accepts the offered symbol graciously.
creatures, and other mummy-like creatures at the GM’s discretion. Once per day on a successful strike against an incorporeal undead creature, a natron fang also deals 1d6 points of Charisma damage (Will DC 13 half) in addition to the weapon’s normal damage.
You also notice a small potion tied into all their belts and quickly identify them as potions of undetectable alignment.
"Hmm, I can't quite identify the cloaks right now, but they are magical. The khopesh is most interesting in that it was carved from a chunk of magically strengthened mineral salts and enchanted to combat the undead. Specifically mummies and the incorporeal undead."
"The remaining feathers on the tail of the tin bird are bird feather tokens. They create a small bird that can be used to deliver a small written message unerringly to a designated target. "
Hmm...those masks are not cheap. About 35 gold pieces each with the leader's working more than twice that. And the gems looks to be about 15 gold pieces each.
"That sword is liek nothing I've ever seen. It would certainly come in handy if we run into anymore of those mummies from earlier."
"The real question is, was the missing feather used recently, and if so, where was the message taken?"
"Sadly, there is no way to answer those questions Nevai."
"We could ask the captives. One of them might know. It's at least clear that they're part of an organized group, so there are certainly others about."
"I'm, ah, not that good at persuading people to talk, but I'm a pretty good listener. If we wake one of them up, maybe someone persuasive can try to get something out of them, and I'll watch for lies."
"Perhaps he might be willing to talk to someone from an organization with a reputation for encouraging redemption?" Nevai suggested and raised his hand towards Assam.
The captive is groggy, but can be woken up. His eyes are unfocused as he sits and his words are slow, but he is aware.
What...what do you want. The man sounds defiant, despite his predicament.
Marnarius stays in the background, studying the captive and listening to him carefully.
You left the straight raod of the law it seems. You would be better cooperating now and telling us everyhting you know!
Look, I get it. We can see that things got bad for you at some time in the past. And you made some bad choices. How about we offer you the option to make a good choice and help us out, then we can just forget about the bad choices. Well at least we can and maybe we can help other people forget too.
The man seems unimpressed and just stares at you all without saying another word. Unless the situation changes, it doesn't look like you're going to get much from him.
Anyone else any opinion on this? Or should we just smack his head on the floor?
"Well, I don't think that's strictly necessary. I think leaving him bound and gagged in a city with undead running rampant is bad enough without adding to his misery. Though, if the undead found him down here, that could be worse..."
Almathea moves up next to where the prisoner is sitting on the floor. Looking as superior as only an elf can, Thea shoots a gob of acid at the floor directly between the man's legs.
"The next ball of acid is going to hit higher up than that one. If you are not already a eunuch, you will be soon unless you choose to answer our questions. Starting with: What is the name of your secret society?"
The thug looks about to continue his stony silence, and even manages to for a few moments, but then seems to decide that the elf before him isn't bluffing. We are the Silver Chain. It's no secret really.