The heroes do find a key and get twelve prisoners out of the cage. They thank, you, especially one in particular. You find there are openings from the room you just entered, but the are more like just extra long hallways and not rooms, more like a cave that just keeps on going.
A zent named Chab gives you the following info
The Zhentarim have been investigating some
strange happenings in the area. A black dragon
laired here until recently, and it was parleying with
humans for some reason.
The dragon hadn’t been seen in a while, but the
humans were still skulking in the area, so Chaab
came to investigate.
He found that the dragon had been killed by
adventurers, but the adventurers perished as well.
Someone emptied the dragon’s hoard and started
harvesting parts of the dead dragon.
Chaab was trying to escape the lair and report his
findings when he was waylaid by dozens of goblins.
Since then, the goblins have been in talks with the
humans to secure the area. He doesn’t know more
about their relationship.
There are dozens, if not hundreds, of goblins living
elsewhere in the lair. Their numbers are currently
low because they were raiding the countryside. If
the group doesn’t escape soon, the sheer numbers
of goblins will be too much to fight.
As you are all told this, you move get the prisoners out and book it back, and the prisoners are away from the area in which they were originally captured and given a new place to hide out as that is where the goblins would look for them. They know they don't have an army large enough to defeat the goblins, or rather they would lose a lot of their men if they did, but with the guards they have in the city, and with the defenses set up, the goblins won't risk their numbers to recapture the prisoners, as they have been invading the countryside.
Mission 3 of 5 You all got a long rest by the way.
A priest from Valhingen Graveyard comes to the
characters with a disturbing problem.
You were told that Madame Freona’s Tea Kettle was the place
where adventurers could find work and avoid the hassle
associated with other places in Phlan. So far, that has been
true. Madame Freona, a stout and officious halfling who runs
the establishment with her five daughters, has proven an
excellent hostess.
The crowd at the Tea Kettle is sparse for the Highsun meal.
The youngest of Madame Freona’s daughters, Grelinda, is
clearing away your table setting after a pleasant meal.
Grelinda’s short hair is tinted an odd shade of coppery green,
and she treats the flatware roughly as she stacks it on a tray.
“Stupid boring work,” she mutters under her breath.
Before you can comment, the door of the Tea Kettle opens,
and a cool draft plays through the room. A tall, dour-looking
human glances around, and his sallow expression finally
settles on you.
He removes his tall black hat to reveal a balding pate. “I
apologize for disturbing you,” he says in a deep, monotone
voice. “I assume you are adventurers for hire, and I seek your
expertise for a small matter.”
The Keeper of the Dead
The man introduces himself as Brother Keefe, priest of
Kelemvor and “Keeper of the Dead” of Valhingen
Graveyard in Phlan. Use the bullet points below to guide
the conversation. Remember to keep this brief to finish
the mission in time:
Beryl smiles, "Ye make us sound rather mercenary, but yeah, we can help."
With a wink, he says to Grelinda, "May excitement find you, lass."
He gets up and nods to his new friends, "Let us accompany this "Keeper" to help him with his problem."
The Keeper of the Dead
The man introduces himself as Brother Keefe, priest of
Kelemvor and “Keeper of the Dead” of Valhingen
Graveyard in Phlan. Use the bullet points below to guide
the conversation. Remember to keep this brief to finish
the mission in time:
As Keeper of the Dead, Brother Keefe is charged
with seeing to the interment of bodies and keeping
records. He calls himself “the overseer of all
permanent residents of the Valhingen Graveyard.”
He is also in charge of disinterment at the
graveyard, and that is why he is looking for
assistance this afternoon.
Evidence has been brought forth to the clerics of
Kelemvor that one of the long-standing residents of
the cemetery, Xandria Welltran, was not in fact
human, but a polymorphed green dragon.
Brother Keefe must now enter the crypt and inspect
the body to confirm or disprove these claims. He
fears that there may be more to this than meets the
eye, but the other priests of Kelemvor laughed at his
concern. Therefore Brother Keefe is looking for
some adventurers to accompany him into the crypt.
He offers the characters 100 gp to accompany him,
and if there's trouble, he'll throw in a scroll of
protection from evil and good.
If the characters are satisfied with the explanation and
the terms of their employment, Brother Keefe leads
them to the Welltran Crypt in the Valhingen Graveyard.
When they arrive, they might be surprised to learn that
the graveyard is actually quite well maintained, if
somber. Brother Keefe tells the characters that
Doomguide Yovir Glandon, his superior and the senior
member of the Most Solemn Order of the Silent Shroud,
personally sees to the maintenance of the grounds.
As you enter the cyrpt it seems dark in here beyond the entrance and you will need light or darkvision.
Everyone Perception checks to notice secret doors.
Beryl chuckles a bit, turning to Tergin and Aleksys, "A little morbid, eh? Disturbin' the dead? Well, I guess in light o' curiosity, I'd be interested in seein' the bones o' a long dead dragon. What say ye?"
--
As we make our way down into the crypt, Beryl lights a torch and holds it aloft to light the way. "Well, Brother Keefe, ye certainly keep this place nice and tidy. Let us see to yer lady's bones..."
Brother Keefe answers Berl I barely go down here, so if it is nice and tidy, it is not me. The graveyard is well kept, but the crypt creeps me out to go down alone. I would not be surprise if it was dusty and filled with cob webs.
When you do get down here, the walls are made of marble and the walls are ten feet high. It is not dusty down here at all, in fact it looks nice.
The walls are carved and painted
with various scenes showing a lovely human woman in
different locales: looking toward a snow-covered peak,
standing in the rain of a thunderstorm, sitting in a comfortable
room by a roaring fire, holding a venomous snake in a garden,
working with bubbling vials in a laboratory, and many others.
You also see a nice sarchapacus that Keefe is tempted to open.
I have only been down here once, as I don't stay here any longer than necessary alone.
As you all reach downstairs, Keefe, opens a sarchapacus. At first the lid is heavy and hard to lift, but he finally gets the lid off.
The Sarchapacus has bones in it, but, they are not human bones at all, but draconic in nature, and with several bones missing. There are also some gems in here. It looks like these gems can fit into sockets on the walls, as they are all the same size and shape, but different colors. You have no idea what placing the gems into the walls will do however. The gems are white, blue, red, green and black. Above the slots are carving pictures. Snow covered mountain, lightning strike in a thunderstorm, roaring fire of a comfortable room, fang of a poisonous snake, and a vial of bubling acid.
Yeah, I wondered what was in there.
The sarchapacus is heavy but it can be moved.
Looking into the sarchapacus, Tergin asks, So, Brother Keefe, is it common for bones to be missing from a crypt?
"Someone is certainly taking care o' this place. Or maybe it's magic," Beryl turns to Tergin, "Or whoever took them bones, eh?"
Bones to be missing from a crypt, no, not really, broken up if not handled properly and the creature had some cracked or broken bones when it died is common, but not missing.
As the heroes try to look around the crypt, Aleksys does see some secret doors, although they don't really lead into secret rooms, all they do is give shortcuts.
As you all examine the crypt, the entrance door does close open and gas starts filling up the room slowly/crypt slowly, very slowly. It is toxic gas, the good news is that it will be at least twenty minutes before there is enough gas in the entire room/underground before the gas affects you all, as it is dispersed in the room slowly. You all realize that opening the crypt was a trap. The keeper then says. Oh, crap, I was not expecting this, someone must have messed with this particular one.
He then pulls out his warhammer and tries to bust down the door, but it is useless, even the walls are too thick. Maybe we can bust our way out of here or get through a weak spot in the ceiling. As he panics. He then tries his miners pick, but the amount of material he knocks away at the door is negible, that it would take hours or even days of work and you all don't have that amount of time. The underground is almost entirely sound proof too, in that unless all four of you had loud horns to play no one would hear you, and if even so you had those horns, they would have to be within five feet of the door to hear you.
But you all do notice the gems in the holes on the wall, maybe they can help, if placed correctly.
"Calm yourself, Keeper. We have a little time." Beryl listens to Aleksys' explanation, "Sounds reasonable. Don't dragons breathe all that nasty stuff? Maybe since she was a dragon, she was making a reference to that kind of stuff?"
Try as the heroes might, nothing good or bad happens until all of the gems are in a socket. They all fit into any socket, but placing them in the wrong socket will mean more gas or minor traps.
Tergin looks thoughtfully at Aleksys' work and says, Well, Aleksys, I think you have a good start. I agree the mountain is probably white and the roaring fire is red. For the lightning strike, I think blue. the trick will probably be the vial and the fang. One is definitely green and the other black, but, which is which?
The heroes get three of them in the sockets. They think about the last two.
At first they get it wrong and it beeps twice spitting poisonous gas directly into their faces, but then, they quickly swap the last two and the gas stops, though the door is still closed behind them. The gas then drains to the outside where it will dissipate.
I need a constitution saving throw dc10 from everyone or take
Beryl shakes his head, "Well, that was uncomfortable. You three okay?"
In the knick of time, Tergin reflexively closes his eyes and mouth.
What was that? Is it solved?
As Aleksys coughs to get the gas out of her lungs, Beryl gently pats her back and then sits her down next to the sarcophagus. "Rest. Are you okay?"
Once he is sure that she is okay, Beryl moves to investigate the door.
The door did not open, but it seems there is another way out, at least Keefe tells you about another way out that he knows about but has not seen.
Aleksys suspects that there is a way out, though he will have to trigger a few mechanisms and that will also mean battling your way out.
"Well, what do you all think?" Beryl looks around, "Should we check around the corner, or use one of the doors that you found?"
"Well then, boys and girls, let us find our way out. Secret doors or the obvious way?"
Tergin will help Aleksys search for secret doors.
"Ugh, what by Moradin's beard was that?"
The passage opens into a chamber. Three odd humanoid
skeletons, topped with draconic skulls, stand at attention,
holding swords. At the back of the chamber is a large thronelike
chair, currently empty, on a mahogany dais.
The skeletons are motionless in case anyone tries to do anything.
"All this dragon stuff is a little much," Beryl mutters. "Is this supposed to be a throne for her in the afterlife?"
Beryl moves around, half-expecting the skeletons to come out swinging at any moment.
"Keeper, was that enough evidence? Or do you need something more to prove she was a dragon?"
As you are all examine the area and the throne Aleksys does notice a panel on the throne and it can be pulled if someone disables the trap.
Here, let me take a look at that panel.
As Tergin approaches the throne, he produces a set of slim tools.
Beryl lets out a low whistle of appreciation, "That is some fancy fingerwork there, Tergin! Where did you learn those skills?"
As the trap deactivates, the heroes find gold and a scroll
Upon success the heroes prevent the skeletons from animating for a time being.
After the chilling surprise, Beryl is in no hurry to use the secret doors again, "Let us just follow the open path."
Hereos move to the reanimation chamber
This chamber has been set up as a small laboratory. Tables
around the room are covered with beakers, vials, tomes,
cauldrons, and pots full of alchemical agents.
In the middle of the central table is a note next to a blue clay
pot. The note, written in Common, says, “Raaxil, I have figured
out how to complete the process. When you are ready, simply
pour the contents of this blue pot into the cauldron and stir.
The effects should be instantaneous, but DO NOT DRINK
THE RESULTING POTION.”
Arcana check dc 15 to find out exactly what the process does.
Beryl looks at the lab equipment with an almost disappointed expression on his face. The dwarf-like human flips his heavy mace to his shoulder and waits for his companions to examine the room.
He instead looks for tracks in the dust that lead out from here.