These are no ordinary slugs. These are slugspawn, horrible moits (or seeds) of the Outer God Shub-Niggurath. Should someone unwarily get too close to them, they will leap at the victim and burrow into their flesh.
At that point, the victim has under two weeks to live, at best.
" Ugh, that Horrid stench is in here... "
"These slugspawn must be destroyed before they can spread any further. From a distance, preferably."
"Zin, would you care to do the honors?"
" Fire should work yes, to burn everything inside here. These are the parasites "
Z bathes the room in fire.
"I think today is going to be a good day. Don't you?"
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"Quite."
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Everyone stands back and Zin blows up the room. The slugs disintegrate, as do the curtains, blankets and sheets, some rugs, and the vials and small chest near the bed. Most of the furniture is left charred and blackened.
The sea chest appears worse for the wear, but doesn't look to have been breached.
Jones checks the sea chest for traps before opening it.
No traps. Jones easily disables the lock.
Inside the chest:
-2 potions of Water Breathing
-2 Elixirs of Swimming
-A fish boat Feather Token (identical in function to a Swan Boat Feather Token, but appearing as a fish).
-Three statuettes
One depicts a bizarre tentacled monster, a mass of writhing pseudopods with no other visible features.
One is a vaguely humanoid figure with icthyic (fish-like) and batrachian (amphibious, particularly frog-like) features.
The last is of a crouching humanoid feature with dragon wings and an octopoid head.
All three are made of "fishgold", a reddish gold colored substance fished up from the depths of Lake Encarthan, and each are worth 500 gp.
Darius gives an okay nod, " A job well done indeed. The trail is cold but the implements in this chest suggest the area we may need to visit is hidden in a place below. Let's finish up the search. "
E4 and E6 are chapels (E6 is where the four cultists came from).
The top chapel is a small Gozrehan chapel with a small altar of green stone at the end. The mosaic depicts a weird mix of humanoid, frog, and fish, much like one of the statuettes you found. This one is much less stylized and is easily recognizable to those of you versed in the knowledge of natural things recognize it as a Skum. They are not usually revered in Gozreh temples, though the locals likely would not know that, or what it is for that matter.
The other chapel is laid out similarly (including the altar), but the mosaic here is of a sea captain on a ship in a raging storm. The altar holds a ship's wheel and bell.
The next room (E5) is a simple room with three beds, chests, and small folding desks in it. The floor is wet, and the door opens out into the main room (this is where the Vicar rolled out from).
From the other door you hear a small whimpering.
Upon opening the door you're greeted by a coupe, holding an infant. The room is the same layout as the room with the headless corpses, though flipped.
"Please don't hurt us! Please!" the woman cries, while the man fearfully gets to his feet and brandishes a small pocket knife.
"D-don't touch them!" he cries.
Jones lowers his rapier.
"We are here to drive out the cultists and put an end to their schemes. We won't hurt you."
"Who are you, and why are you here?"
"You killed the priests didn't you!?!" the man screams, terrified.
"P-please, we'll tell you anything, just promise to let us go?"
"I-am Rufus Tulby, and this is my wife Imelba."
"Father Voltiaro chose our daughter to be Fostered, so we came here for that. And then you b-busted in with the explosions."
Jones looks confused and concerned.
"I...are you aware of what this temple actually is? And what exactly do you mean by 'fostered'?"
"Oh, we give the second and third daughters to the Neighbors. Then they take them down bay and raise them. It's just how it's always been."
"Father Voltiaro says it's better than living here. They marry them off to head tribesmen and other high ranking people among the Neighbors and they live good lives. In exchange, they bring us good fortune and protect us. There hasn't been a fostering in weeks, and look what's already started to happen!"
"Though, I wish we didn't have to give her up."
"Oh wow, times like these make me wish I was better with people."
"If she's already been sacrificed and turned into some sort of crabtopus that I have to incinerate, I'm not going to be one to break the news. So, you know, draw straws or something for that between you three."
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"Why would our child be sacrificed or transformed? She's just being fostered..."
Jones seems to be trying to pierce a hole through Zin's skull with his gaze.
"Ignore her. We don't know for certain what has happened to your child. But given what we've seen, we can't disregard..."
Jones shakes his head. "Let me start from the beginning. We were sent here to investigate this temple, and we have found that it is actually a covert temple of Dagon, an ancient demon lord. The priests turned on us when they realized their secret was out, which was why we had no choice but to kill them."
"If you don't believe me, then go out into the main hall and look to your right. You will see that we have uncovered the Dagonic altar where they performed some of their most revolting rituals. Though I warn you, it is not a pretty sight."
"And again I must stress, we have found no signs of your daughter. But we will continue our search and inform you immediately if we find anything."
Darius actually rebuffs Jones' statement at Zin this one time, " She isnt wrong in her words, just blunt. its better to ask.. have you ever PERSONALLY heard back from the daughters you have sent away? How they have been doing? If not likely they have been made to do unspeakable acts. Do not try to soften the reality... Jones. "
Darius, currently a wolf-man, spoke up gritting his teeth with his arms folded.
"Father Voltiaro passes on messages sometimes to the families. They say the girls are doing just fine."
"I don't know anything about a Day Gone, but the priests have never done us any harm." he looks out at the priests' corpses and his eyes widen.
"You were right though, it's n-not a pretty sight, the way you killed all those people."
"The Order is the best thing that ever happened to Illmarsh. But I can prove it. Come with us to Undiomede House and I'll show you, our daughter's fine."
Darius looks to the party... then back to the people with a Grim expression, giving a nod. " Yes, you lead us to this place. BUT, do not speak anything of what has happened.. OR alarm them to your panic. Simply be insistent on seeing her. If they do not give you such a case... we will handle the rest. I will tell you one thing, Cultists like to fake pleasantries. These people of the order, kidnapped and sacrificed your fellow citizens to parasites that burst out of their necks. So NOT trust them "
Rufus nods his head and pretends to agree to whatever the scary, heavily armed murderer says.
Sledge will take point on the way to the House.
Jones decides to play along.
Rufus and Imelba lead you two miles up the road to the huge manor house just outsie of town. Upon reaching the end of the path, near the gate, they stop.
"We, um, the priests say we're not allowed to come up here. It's off limits, only used by the priests for special Fosterings." they look proud that their daughter seems so important.
"They'll all be dead in a minute, so don't feel too bad about breaking the rules. Tag along."
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"I don't want to get in trouble...when you're gone the Order will still rule here, as they always have."
Darius shakes his head, " Then wait here.. while we bring your daughter out... to say hello ofcourse. If not? We'll bring someone who can give you a reason why she can't. Is that fine? "
"Oh, okay. Thanks."