Eyes raised slightly Councillor Eberhard replied, "Err yes, that does seem prudent. I'd like a full report on this Draegor'thak. Are you certain he won't trouble us anymore?"
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"Of course, we will report. Please, follow us to the lower chamber so you can witness the consequences by yourself." Ishta would have liked to show the coffins and the plate with Cadorna's name to the rest of the counselors without Cadorna himself being present, but since this seems inevitable anyway...
Azarra pauses in following Ishta and says
He personally will not, but whether the repercussions of his actions will trouble us all remains to be seen. There is more to the story, and more to see. We found a body at the bottom of the well, the vampiress who seems to have had the last name Cardona, invisible walls in the vaults below, etc. You need to see it before filling it in.
She continues down into the tunnel.
Ser Armithia leads the group.
Zane looked at Councilor Cadorna with suspicion at the sudden change in temperament, but remained quiet. Now that the man wasn't openly antagonistic, the priest would look small if he continued to needle the man. He turned and made ready to follow the others back down the tunnel to the scene they had left behind, hoping the men viewing it for themselves would show just how pervasive the undead issue had become before they had hopefully neutralized it.
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The swordmage spends the time it takes to journey down and inspect the tomb complaining. Anyone who cares to listen gets to hear the Raumathar talk about how the dead ought to be set free through fire. "You really ought to burn the dead. Set them free, unchain them from their mortal coil, and let them ride to the heavens above, or in the case of some, straight into the abyss below. The spirits might become confused if you keep their bodies in boxes. Are we expected to return someday? Hey, can I just skip out on being dead and return now? Burn. The. Dead. Even in death, clarity is not a given."
I do have that Wand of Sanctify Corpse.
Bishop Braccio gives Kardas a sideways glance before saying evenly, "I think it's time we see the evidence below."
Cardona raises an eyebrow at Azarra before replying sardonically, "Oh really... What was her name?"
Azarra keeps walking downstairs, not answering.
Zane grinned good-naturedly as Kardas grumbled about the burial customs of the Moonsea, chuckling as Braccio asked to see the evidence. "Of course, Councilman. This way."
The priest kept his tone light, ignoring Cadorna as they continued. "With all the undead that were here, you might not have a bad idea, Kardas. Change is a hard thing, though. Each culture grieves in its own way."
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"Nessa."
As the councillors started walking down the stairs towards the underground cave Cardona replied absently, "Ah yes of course, mad great aunt Nessa. My grandparents regarded her as the black sheep of the family, apparently from an early age she had a crippling fear of death and was generally regarded as being extremely difficult. Apparently she found a solution to her phobia, although it seems it didn't work out well for her in the end..."
Annoyingly he doesn't seem bothered by this in the slightest.
A hush falls over the delegation as they reach the bottom and enter the sepulchral darkness of the cavern below. Braccio offers a quiet prayer for Tymora and is answered by an intense blue-white light throwing everything into sharp relief. The councillors inspected the now rather sad looking remains with quiet horror as the full scale of what lurked below sunk in.
In a strangled voice Braccio whispered, "Oh this is horrible, so many..."
Visibly ageing before your eyes Eberhard shook his head before replying glumly, "They would have washed over us like a dark tide, perhaps snuffing out all life in a single night..."
He points his staff towards the long tunnel leading back to the ruined temple beneath the graveyard, "That leads towards the Vaults right? I wonder if it's possible to have a mage view the past history and learn if this was how the unhuman forces infiltrated Phalan ahead of the invasion..."
The knight of Helm stands guard while the tour is given. He simply allows the sights to speak for themselves.
Going along with Eberhard's wish, Azarra says
There is a spell we call Touch of History that allows you to see a full, detailed history of a creature or object.
From the body in the well, we were able to discover that the fall of Phlan was at least partially due to a traitor from within who pushed the man down the well when he was trying to report the need for reinforcements against the eye cultists at the east gate.
"Now that is a story that needs to be told I think." stated von Urslingen emphatically.
Councillor Earhart who was usually quiet, suddenly spoke up , "Gentlemen, and ladies of course, surely we have more pressing matters? This place is a huge liability for our defences. We must organise a team of craftsmen to brick up the entrance and then press our engineers into devising a more permanent solution..."
"No. Let us hear this... Story." interjected Cardona, voice dripping with scorn.
(pass)
(Fail, so not sure what else is going on, but assuming that the scorn is obvious.)
Perhaps Councilor Earhart is right. We do want to show you the false wall in the crypt as well, so you know how to make it secure, and then we desperately need to rest. We can have our written report to you tomorrow.
Ishta nods to Azarra's words. From the beginning, she's tried not to give too much information on what they've found to Cadorna and Earhart, to avoid giving them the chance to prepare alibis and cut their connections. The nod also includes the part where they go to sleep. That is, after the proper reports. Two of them, probably; an official one and another one with all the info for only some of the counselors.
Zane watched Earhart and Cadorna with distrust as the conversation continued, certain the two were an unsavory team on Phlan's council. Sensing that Cadorna in particular is quite shaken by their words, and not wanting to let the man relax or craft a defense by telling their story, the priest nodded at Zamanda's suggestion.
"Yes, this task was not easy, but needed to be done. It wore us to exhaustion, though. No worries, though, councilors, we will fill in the details in due time."
Of course, the priest had no intention of telling Cadorna or Earhart anything, instead he was going to suggest they seek an audience with just the other three later in the day.
The delegation moves through the rest of the complex towards the vaults and they stop at places to ask questions, the illusory wall gets a fair bit of attention as do the remains of the skeletal giants.
"They're big enough to have been cloud giants in life." noted von Urslingen.
"I'm told a tribe of giants was pressed into service by the inhuman army, curious they ended here, they where supposed to have been interned in the pyramid up stream..." replied Eberhard.
"Ah yes, the pyramid..." Interjected Cardona as if part of an old debate, "I agree it would be useful to be rid of the taint in the water, but we've lived with it for years, we shouldn't allow emotion to set the agenda. Besides the next logical parcel of land to reclaim is my family compound, the old Textile House. There are things in there, heirlooms I would like recovered..."
Braccio's eyes rolled, "You're not going to let up about that are you?"
Cardona's reply was an emphatic, "No."
'It is right next to the library and if liberated we'd have two corners of Podol Plaza and would be in prime position to turf out the monsters." added Earheart who managed to make it sound entirely reasonable
Looking every part of his seventy odd years, Eberhard sighed deeply, "Oh very well, I suppose. But I want the pyramid dealt with right after. Oh and who did you want to do the dirty work for you? The black hand? The thousand head coster?"
Smiling like a cheshire cat, Cardona replied, "Of course the Pyramid after. And as for who to hire, none other than our Respected Adventurers here. They've proven themselves to be competent, and I can send my man Tarask with them. In his youth he was a servant of my father, he knows the Textile House and will be an invaluable guide. His arm is still strong and he will not fail them in times of need. Besides he knows how to open the safe that contains the heirlooms and will see them safely back unmolested. All the other stuff in the house doesn't really matter although I'm sure if the Caleshite silks are still there that will provide adequate recompense. Should be the best part of twenty five thousand's worth if undamaged. I somehow doubt the invaders would have had any use for it."
Everhard's eyebrows rose, "Well I'm not entirely sure if they'd accept such a commission, although the council would indeed be grateful to reclaim such a strategic part of Phlan. Apart from that there's the matter of civic pride, The Textile House used to be world famous quite literally putting Phlan on the fashion map."
He looks towards the Watchers of Dawn, curious to see what you have to say about the idea.
Ishta shrugs. "I guess a quest for family heirlooms suits a no-emotions-involved policy, then."
Having someone with them will make it difficult, for sure, but on the other hand they'll have a chance to peek around. It's still a mystery why Cadorna is so interested in them.
"However, I ask that we have some resting time and an inner talk among ourselves, and we'll tell you our answer. Some of us might have... heirlooms to take care of, as well."
Ishta looks at her companions to see if they agree.
Azarra nods at Ishta, indicating that she agrees with the conditions. She personally would rather look into the poisoning of the Stojanow, but it wasn't up to her. She just worried that Cadorna was setting them up.
Zane nodded in agreement with Ishta after she spoke. "Some proper rest after that ordeal is in order. The Morninglord saw fit to grant us another dawn, but it was no sure thing."
Eberhard nods in appreciation as he says "Very well. We appreciate your willingness to take this on, the council will ensure you are adequately compensated. And yes this can wait until you are rested."
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"Then we shall contact you tomorrow. We'll also have a report about the catacombs ready."
If any of the "allied" counselors stays (and the others don't), Ishta will tell them everything, including her relation with the Flumefire. If that's not the case, they'll leave it for another time.
Ser Armithia nods in agreement. The paladin spends the evening at the Church of Helm.
Zane nodded wearily to Eberhard, leaving with the others once it seemed proper to do so. The priest walked to the small shrine that had been set up in New Phlan, paying homage to the Morninglord while dreams of a modest cathedral intruded their way into his thoughts. Perhaps some day soon. For now, the way needed to be paved so that any house of worship would be safe from the catastrophe that befell the city five decades before.
Azarra gets some much needed sleep, writes a note to her Harper contact offering details of their recent adventure and mentioning that they should be able to look into the poisoning of the Stojanow soon, but that they had to look into the Textile House first. She carefully takes it to the dead drop
While she is out and about she asks around about restoring the chest they found, so they can sell it to a Waukeenite for mucho dinero. She hopes that the cost of the restoration doesn't eliminate the nice profit margin they were hoping for.
She comes back to the inn, having replenished her writing materials as part of the cover/reason for her trip out, and discusses with the group what they should include in their report. Then she starts writing it up.
Just in case, Ishta puts the whole group under the effects of the Message cantrip.
"I think we should eliminate references to the Flumefire" she whispers, "and of course to Jandark's betrayal." She believes they should only include the things Cadorna and Erhart already know, not giving them more info about the necromancer other than the name and maybe how they managed to defeat him. Then he turns to Ser Armithia.
"Ser, are you... Ser Armithia, I mean, er... are you ok with what we're doing? We're blatantly lying, though for a greater good. I hope that doesn't conflict with your vows."
The golden armored knight chuckles.
Helm judges; not I. Those that are unjust, shall be dealt with; while, those righteous shall prosper peace.
The Paladin bows to Ishta.
I am with the Watchers of Dawn! Our cause is certainly righteous!
We don't actually have to lie. I am good at creatively leaving out certain details and letting people draw their own conclusions. It's definitely misleading, but it isn't *technically* lying.
After saying that, she glances at Zane, realizing at that moment that her growing ease with deception might be a problem for him, and wanting to assess his reaction. She knew what she was doing was for a good cause, but deception wasn't a good thing in general, and so she could definitely understand if he had a problem with it.
A couple of days later the by now well rested Watchers of Dawn have a visitor, a man introducing himself as Tarask bearing a letter.
The man himself is clearly a warrior, past his prime but still quite capable-looking. He has the basic equipment needed—half plate, shield, and plane but well honed long sword. He seems quite taciturn, the sort to stay out of the way and too proud to whine or beg for the party to accept him. You get the impression he intends to prove himself by his actions.
Ser Armithia nods at the warrior.
I believe you to be an asset. Shall we?
Worried about the man's true motives, because he is clearly devoted to Cadorna who she doesn't trust either, Azarra accepts the man's presence, but remains aloof.
Yes, let's get this done.