Brodert pales a little before nodding again. "Er--yes. Understood. Don't let me keep you."
He turns and starts going through a well-worn brown leather satchel hanging off a chair near his desk. "I can't believe this--an archaeological site of ancient Thassilon underneath our little town! We'll see who's laughing at my theories now, won't we? Yes, we most assuredly will!"
"He sounds more like a cyphermage than I expected," Eostre notes.
"To the cathedral. We have an exorcist to recruit."
"Right!" Nicat chimes in. "Let's go find a priest and make a sad ghost happy."
"He's right in that Sandpoint certainly has a history belying its size," The monk says and follows.
"You'd think for a town with all this crazy history, it would be larger and more important..."
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"You'd think for a town with all this crazy history, it would be larger and more important..."
"All of Varisia has a crazy history, my dear Conner. Thassilon's bones are everywhere, and the efforts of the colonists have only added to that legacy. I mean, Sandpoint just has a "lighthouse." What is that compared to Korvosa's Grand Mastaba, the Irespan in Magnimar, or my own Riddleport's Cyphergate, from which we cyphermages take our name? Besides, if my history's correct this town's only a few decades old. I'M older than Sandpoint!"
The walk to Sandpoint's cathedral is uneventful, save for the occasional barking dog in the mist. Peeking in through the cathedral's front windows, the party can see that Father Zantus is ending a mass--the congregation is already getting their things together in preparation for returning home.
Father Zantus steps down from the pulpit with his holy text as the party opens the cathedral doors. He looks at you with a pleasantly surprised look on his face. "Oh, hello again! Can I help you with something?"
The town priest steps down from the cathedral's pulpit, carrying his holy book. Clad in simple blue cleric's vestments, he looks every bit the quiet, dignified shepherd that he must be for the job. He looks to the cathedral's doors as they're opened from the outside, his face brightening.
Several armed & armoured people step into the cathedral. Leading them is a dark-haired, bright-eyed halfling who's practically bouncing about and making a grand annoyance of himself to the dwarven woman behind him. She bears a glaive and is clad in robes that mark her as a mage. Next to her are two men--one clad in enough metal armour to make a constant *CLANKING* racket, bearing a large sword and a tower shield, and the other is shirtless and carrying a backpack, with what appears to be some sort of farming tool at his belt. Behind them is a blonde woman clad in odd metal armour, looking quite distressed.
"Oh, hello again! Can I help you with something?" The priest asks the new arrivals, rather at ease in their presence.
"Good morning, Father...um...pardon me but I don't recall if we were formally introduced," says Eostre as she approaches.
"We need to talk to you in private. The matter's...somewhat sensitive. Deputy stuff, neh?"
At Eostre's words, Nicat looks about exaggeratedly, as if certain there are spies lurking behind every pillar and urn in the temple. In the loudest whisper ever heard in Golarion, he agrees with Eostre, "Yeah, deputy stuff! Whatzit demons and crying ghosts! We need to talk."
"Pardon, Father Zantus. I hope we weren't intruding on any after sermon duties? We wouldn't, but ...yes, as hinted 'deputy stuff'"
Father Zantus' eyes widen slightly. The congregation gives Nicat several wide-eyed, nervous glances, but opt to try and leave instead of pressing him on the matter.
"Er--demons and ghosts?" He scratches his head. "Well..."
He turns and begins walking to the back of the cathedral. "Please, follow me--my office is this way."
Her sister Katrine is nowhere to be seen...
A green-eyed and white-haired young woman walks up to Father Zantus the moment the group of new arrivals does. She wears a traveler's outfit and a breastplate. A light crossbow hangs from her backpack, and she had a dagger attached to her belt.
The woman smiles at the new people, giving them a polite nod. She then turns to address Father Zantus, but the strangers are faster.
I'd hoped the Father had some time to talk about the cathedral, but it seems he just got occu... What, demons?
"Pardon?" the woman asks. "Did you just mention demons and ghosts? Is something bad going on?"
She gives the strangers a questioning look, then realizes she's not even introduced herself. "Oh, pardon! My name's Evelyn, I'm from a village a couple of days north from here. The reason I asked you these questions... Well... if you're going to face some kind of threat, perhaps I can be of aid? I have a gift for curing wounds, you see."
"Well, that's handy," Nicat quips, "some of us have a gift for getting wounds." He gives Conner and Ekan a quick look, then continues, hooking his thumbs into imaginary suspenders, "But some of us bask in the light of Desna's love, and have no cause to worry about such things."
He's briefly distracted from the conversation as they move away from the front doors. Hey, there's Shay! Uh-oh, she's with her dad, and he looks none too happy. Maybe now's not the time for a quick kiss...
"Anyway, I'm Nicat," he says, as they walk toward the back of the cathedral and away from curious congregants. "My friends and I are all sheriff's deputies here in Sandpoint, and it's true, we've just found some pretty ugly stuff."
Once he's sure they won't be overheard, he explains a bit more to Father Zantus. "We went to Chopper's Isle, and found a trapdoor in the Chopper's hut. We explored underneath and found the poor guy's ghost, as well as some sort of awful temple to an angry runelord. We think - well, it was Eostre's idea - that we need a priest to make the place less evil, and maybe free the ghost. He just sits there crying, it's awful!"
Raising an eyebrow, he looks at Evelyn and asks, "Still feeling helpful? It's a kind of scary place, but you sound like you're up to it."
Father Zantus leads the party & Evelyn to a plain room in the back of the cathedral--in contrast to the opulence of the cathedral's main chapel and many shrines, Father Zantus' office contains little more than a window, a desk with papers, several bookshelves, and a few chairs.
"We went to Chopper's Isle, and found a trapdoor in the Chopper's hut. We explored underneath and found the poor guy's ghost, as well as some sort of awful temple to an angry runelord. We think - well, it was Eostre's idea - that we need a priest to make the place less evil, and maybe free the ghost. He just sits there crying, it's awful!"
Father Zantus listens to Nicat's explanation, his eyes widening.
"Oh my..." Is all he can say. "I had thought cremating the Chopper's body would be enough to put him to rest. Are you certain you saw him?" He fingers the holy symbol of Desna around his neck.
A green-eyed and white-haired young woman walks up to Father Zantus the moment the group of new arrivals does. She wears a traveler's outfit and a breastplate. A light crossbow hangs from her backpack, and she had a dagger attached to her belt.
The woman smiles at the new people, giving them a polite nod. She then turns to address Father Zantus, but the strangers are faster.
I'd hoped the Father had some time to talk about the cathedral, but it seems he just got occu... What, demons?
"Pardon?" the woman asks. "Did you just mention demons and ghosts? Is something bad going on?"
She gives the strangers a questioning look, then realizes she's not even introduced herself. "Oh, pardon! My name's Evelyn, I'm from a village a couple of days north from here. The reason I asked you these questions... Well... if you're going to face some kind of threat, perhaps I can be of aid? I have a gift for curing wounds, you see."
"Well Hellooooo." Conner steps in front of the group. "Hey. Name's Conner." He holds out his hand.
At Nicat's mention of Desna's love Evelyn shows him her necklace, which has a wooden holy symbol hanging from it. The symbol of Desna. "I take a great interest in many of the gods and goddesses, but Desna saved me when I was a child. For that reason I cherish her the most."
Evelyn shakes Conner's hand. "Nice to meet you, Conner."
"You too, Nicat," Evelyn says as she holds out her hand, bending over slightly to reach the halfling. "And yes, I'm still up for it."
Evelyn's outfit primarily consists of a red and blue long-sleeved shirt with some yellow on the borders, and a red skirt with yellow borders that reaches to her knees. She also wears high leather boots, which are the same light brown as the belt from which her dagger hangs. When she holds out her hand to Nicat, a thought crosses her mind.
I'm sure glad I didn't pick a shorter skirt. Two of these people don't even wear clothes. Probably perverts. Why again did I offer to help them?
"So you're all the sheriff's deputies? Well, that must mean you're all very reliable," Evelyn says, more or less to ensure herself she's most likely in good company.
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"As always, Nicat, your explanation has breadth but lacks depth," Eostre says, rolling her eyes.
"Well met. I am Eostre Roldheim, apprentice to the Lodge of Cyphers and student of arcana and Thassilonian archaeology. I'm not an ACTUAL deputy. Nicat just sort of roped everyone into it after the goblin debacle. At any rate, allow me to fill in the gaps in his little story. Beneath this "Chopper's" abandoned home was a shrine of some sort to the Runelord Alaznist, an ancient archmage who ruled this part of Varisia just before Earthfall. In that shrine was a magical artifact familiar both to Brodert Quink and my late master: a runewell. Apparently this runewell collects and amplifies the sinful energies of the area, wrath in this particular case, twisting the minds of local people and creatures and spawning monsters. It was guarded by a quasit demon, one that spoke fluent Thassilonian. That would mean the shrine was largely undisturbed for thousands of years. Even when this man, Chopper, built his home over it, he apparently never entered it or attracted the attention of its denizens. But his mere proximity to the runewell, this is a hypothesis you understand, brought him under its influence. This would have caused him to feel intense anger and hatred, and could be what caused him to become the spree killer Sandpoint remembers him as today. This hypothesis is corroborated by the fact that when we encountered what appears to be his ghost within the shrine, it did not attack us as a hostile spirit might, but begged us for help, and did seem genuinely distressed. I believe, if only for mercy's sake, that your presence and power as a holy man could exorcise him from the shrine. We're preparing to return there today, you see, Brodert Quink is coming along to help me examine the shrine in preparation for a proper archaeological dig there."
Evelyn quietly stares at Eostre while she speaks. When the dwarf is done talking Evelyn stays quiet.
"Aaaah," she eventually says, slowly. "I seeee."
Did she just call me a man...?
"So, uh... when are we going? Anything you still need to purchase before we leave? I do suggest we pour some money together to buy a wand of cure light wounds."
"We're going into an ancient ruin that's home to a demon and the ghost of a killer. Don't worry, I'll protect you."
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Nicat begins to fidget as Eostre's explanation goes on. Okay, we get it, you find all this stuff fascinating...we've got adventuring to do! By the time Eostre has finished, Nicat is moving his mouth as if to say, ”Blah, blah, blah, whatzit demon, hypothesis, hippopotamus, hopscotch…”
"What a great idea!" Nicat says excitedly to Evelyn, "we should definitely buy a magic wand! We were going to go pretty soon, but I know everyone in this town, I bet we can get a healing wand in no time, exorcise the ghost and be back for supper. And it seems Conner wouldn’t mind doing a candle-lit dinner with just the two of you, from how he’s ogling you.”
"Ekan Waterfield, good to meet you," He says to Evelyn
Unsure of what to say after Nicat's last words, "I, eh..." is pretty much all Evelyn says till Ekan speaks up.
An escape!
"Hi Ekan, nice to meet you!"
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"I do not ogle. I appreciate."
"That's what they all say."
Eostre rolls her eyes.
Father Zantus is, to put it lightly, bewildered by Eostre's in-depth explanation.
"Er--*ahem* So... you need my assistance with determining what is causing the Chopper's ghost to linger in this world and put it right." He tentatively says, scratching his head. "And you need a healing wand as well?"
"One moment, please." He departs his office...
"Exactly. I'd have asked Sylvia so as not to waste your valuable time but she still seems rattled from the first encounter with the apparition."
Father Zantus returns a few minutes later, bearing a slender wand carved from birch wood.
"This is the last wand of healing I have--I'll need to place an order for some more when I have the chance." He says. "Now, please understand that these sorts of wands can be costly to make--what can you trade me in exchange for it?"
Nicat smiles at Conner and says, "I can tell the difference between an ogle and an ogre, and that was a pretty powerful bit of appreciatin' you were doing there."
Turning to respond to Father Zantus, Nicat reaches inside his shirt and pulls out the dagger they got from the quazit, holding it up for the priest to see. "We took this from the demon we slew, and plan to sell it. It's magical, and worth a lot more than the wand. Why don't you hold onto it until we can sell it, and then we'll give you gold for the wand?" He flicks the tiny blade at the far side of the room, then catches it as it comes whirling back to him, then looks up, "Pretty cool, huh?"
"And how are you going to sell it if he holds onto it?" Evelyn asks Nicat with an amused look.
She turns to Father Zantus, and spreads her arms as she talks to him. "Father Zantus, you seem to know these people. As they're deputies of this fair town, I think they do have your trust now you've seen they can obviously pay for the wand after selling the dagger?"
Evelyn puts her hands back together, awaiting the Holy man's reply. She then decides to add one more thing: "If you're coming with us anyway, why not directly follow us to the shop?"
"Oh, a wise guy, huh?" Nicat replies to Evelyn's question, "Or wise girl, I guess. Though it seems whenever I call a woman a girl, I get in trouble. But maybe I'm in trouble for something else, before I even call her a girl...what were we talking about?"
"Oh, right," he prattles on after a pause, "I was thinking Father Zantus could hold onto it, for security. You know, collateral. To show we're good for the wand. But that'd be great if he trusted us like that! We might even get the wand for free-ooph!" Eostre's carefully placed elbow derails Nicat's train of thought before it can reach its ill-advised destination.
"Hey! What? Oh...never mind," he says. "If we've got time to sell the pretty pointy thing today, great. I was thinking we were hurrying to take care of things on Chopper's Isle, but Evelyn's right, maybe we just take care of business on the way, and pay for our wand once we've sold the dagger."
"Huh what?" Evelyn asks Nicat, staring at him blankly.
Oh! she exclaims a moment later. "Yes, that's exactly what I meant. Let's go then?"
Evelyn starts toward the cathedral's exit, and rather merrily says "Hop hop! Quick quick! There's no sense in just standing here!"
"Thank you, Father Zantus," Ekan inclines his head and follows Evelyn's lead, "The sooner done the better I suppose where such things are concerned."
"No arguments there, Ekan. Let's get to work!"
Eostre rubs her hands together with excitement as they follow Evelyn.
Rather bewildered by the team's enthusiasm, Father Zantus falls in with them as they set out into Sandpoint's streets to barter their cold iron boomerang sewing needle away.
Sylvia doesn't join the party on their venture to sell off the cold iron dagger/toothpick/boomerang. She sits in one of the cathedral's pews with a haunted look in her eye.
"Please, go on ahead. I... I think I'm going to stay here for a while."
--------------------
With coin purses all the heavier with gold and a new wand of healing, the party returns to Brodert's home in time to see him stagger out the door. He's carrying a brown satchel that seems to be leaking papers.
He starts rummaging around in his bag for something. "Now, did I leave anything important behind? Quill? Check. Ink? Check. Notes? Check check check. Glasses...?"
He stands upright, a look of panic on his face. "Oh heavens, where are my glasses?!"
His cats don't bother pointing out that they're pushed up to the top of his head.
Father Zantus bites his lip. His shoulders start shaking as if he's holding back a laugh.
Eostre lets out an exasperated sigh. He was almost as bad as Nicat.
"Brodert. Forehead. Honestly!"
She taps her own forehead for emphasis.
Brodert blinks at Eostre and reaches up to his forehead. He purses is lips as he feels the rims of his glasses.
*ahem* "Yes, thank you Eostre." He pulls them down to his eyes and blinks again. "Ah--much clearer now."
"So, shall we be off? The cats are fed, my notes are all in order--" The scholar jostles his satchel for emphasis. "--and I'm prepared for the trip!"
Evelyn grins when Eostre points out where Brodert's glasses are, but doesn't speak of it.
"Hi, I'm Evelyn," she says as she moves forward, holding out her hand for Brodert to shake. "I'll be accompanying the group, to heal all the wounds you may suffer."
"As long as the cats are fed," Nicat replies to the scrambled scholar, "let's get going."
The monk smiles a bit and walks slightly ahead of the main group, keeping his eyes ahead for any troubles
Conner hums to himself as he walks, his shield slung over his shoulder like he's carrying a Nicat-sized door around. "So, fair warning, we didn't get to every chamber down there, there could be something still alive that we missed."
"Or something still dead," adds Nicat, "that's forgotten it's supposed to be dead. "
Conner hums to himself as he walks, his shield slung over his shoulder like he's carrying a Nicat-sized door around. "So, fair warning, we didn't get to every chamber down there, there could be something still alive that we missed."
Eostre trundles surprisingly quickly, trying to keep pace with Ekan.
"That's where we come in. Brodert can study the runewell chamber in relative safety while we seek out the ghost with Father Zantus. And clear any chamber of hostile tenants along the way. So long as you're not frightened, ya walking armory."
Brodert shakes Evelyn's offered hand. "Brodert Quink, resident scholar of all things Thassilonian. A pleasure, Miss Evelyn."
-------------------
The party sets off for Chopper's Isle once introductions have been made. The morning fog thickens as they proceed along the trail to the Chopper's old home... more so than normal, in fact.
...but you swear you could hear something whispering on the wind as you approach the house.
[i]"All shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well..."
[i]"All shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well..."
As the party re-enters the Thassilonian catacombs (passing through the Chopper's workshop and the blood-drenched bird-man effigy therein), one of the first things they notice is that the bodies of the sinspawn guards have been moved. The bodies are no longer at the entrance; the earthen entrance cavern is still stained with black blood, but otherwise the cavern is empty.
As they pass the effigy, Eostre shudders a bit, her previous confidence faltering a bit.
"Father Zantus, do you know what that...thing is supposed to represent?"
When they arrive at the entrance and see the signs that something has moved their kills, she instinctively lowers her glaive to keep its pointy end between her and anything that might be lurking in the dark.
"We're not alone down here. Now I'M starting to feel nervous."
Father Zantus shudders as well. "I'm afraid I have not, and I have a suspicion that I should be more grateful for it. Whatever it is, it clearly is of a being of great evil..."
"I do." Brodert Quink speaks up, adjusting his glasses. "That was an effigy of Pazuzu--more commonly known as the King of the Wind Demons. He is a demon lord who holds sway over all evil beings that fly on the winds--and, heavens... in hindsight, it would make sense for the Chopper to revere him--"
Father Zantus shoots the scholar a sharp glare. "Brodert--please. Could we save the analysis for later?" His voice trembles a bit.
"I heard something too... " Ekan shivers, "Did anyone else hear? It said something ...something like "All shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well..." more than once."