Seren fires his shortbow again
"Flee back to your filthy home or die, otyugh!" Absinthe screams as she lashes out at the abomination again. "Flee or die!"
The rapier sinks deep -- and punctures some vital artery deep within the otyugh, causing it to spurt gore. Absinthe roars as she presses the attack, her tail slipping out from under her vest so it can lash wildly to and fro, her eyes blazing red.
"Flee or die!"
Melianthe tries to stack another hex on the wounded otyugh but it makes little difference. First Absinthe, then Segang, strike telling blows to finally put the beast down. With a gurgle, the otyugh collapses to the market square cobbles.
A ragged cheer erupts around the bazaar, as the many witnesses to your battle applaud your victory. The remaining guard gives Cherias a quick salute before going to check on his partner. Other groups of guards and a trio of Hellknights arrive on scene a couple minutes later, moving to secure the sewer breach and unattended market stalls.
Absinthe shudders and seems to become a little more normal; her tail slips back into hiding and her eyes become dark again as she hops off the stall.
"Well," she says, "another trial survived. One wonders, however, why the otyugh exited its natural demesne. There should not be less sewage below than there is in the streets up here, so what drove it hence?"
"Perhaps it is connected to our quarry," says Melianthe. "Shall we return to shopping? It's far better than being questioned by Hellknights."
Segang, breathing hard and covered in his own blood and the gore of the creature, lets his rage die. Checking his wounds, he finds that they have closed and he is fully healed. What miracle is this? he asks, looking at Cherias. I was bitten twice and slammed at least once by this pod thing, yet my wounds are healed. You are a healer worthy of high praise. he offers.
Hearing Mel's recommendation to avoid the Hellknights Segang nods, agreeing whole heartedly. No good will come from their questioning. he says, already moving back to the shop.
Faliz greets you back at his tent with a deep bow and wide smile. "Heroic, indeed. For certain that creature would have wreaked havoc throughout the bazaar before these others arrived. It is fortunate you were in the area!"
Elkaris stands nearby, wide-eyed and somewhat impatient to leave.
Heroic enough for a discount? the still bloody barbarian asks, hopeful.
If he made the link, that would have healed him by 5, and the next round Cherias would do a Channel energy, excluding the beast again, for points of healing for himself, the guard, and Absinthe. Then he'd drop all the links, leaving himself at 19 HP, Absinthe at 22, and the guard healed by 8 HP from whatever he was before.
If the guard was already dead, he linked to Absinthe, which healed her by 5, then he would channel for the amount above to bring her to full HP.
He would then look around, asking, "I forget, did we buy a wand of curing or not?"
Faliz chuckles to Segang's query. "Let it never be said that an al'Basheer is ungrateful. If you come back in a few days, I may have some thing special for you."
"We will likely be detained for a few days as well, Ser Haleb, with pressing matters, but we look forward to speaking with you upon our return. As for now--" Melianthe looks around at the group, "--what's our shopping list?"
If he needs stabilization, here's a few rolls to try to help.
Cherias then sets up a lifelink to Absinthe, absorbing 5 HP of her damage, then Channels for 3 as above to bring Abby to full HP, the guard to 3 more than whatever he is currently, and himself to 19.
To Melianthe: "I have the blanch -- we still need to apply it."
Presumably we can light a torch and apply the blanch to 10 arrows/bolts without any issues, and then distribute them. Cherias got 3, Seren 3, and Segang 4 I believe?
"I need a few arrows ..." Seren says nonchalantly.
As things settle down in the Gold Market, the vendors quickly return to their shops and tents. The Korvosan guards cordon off the sewer breach, but otherwise business in the market returns to normal with remarkably little delay.
Ready here.
Melianthe squints away from the sun. "Let's get underground, then." She pats the lump of her familiar under her doctor's outfit.
"You need a few more adamantine-blanched arrows, Seren, or just a few more arrows of ordinary type? I'm sure I saw a fletcher's stand somewhere nearby."
Cherias nods at Melianthe, ready to go.
"One would appreciate some of that blanch for one's blade," Absinthe says.
"For a throwing dagger, or your rapier? Stop me if I'm telling you something you already know here, but the difficulty with using it on a weapon like your rapier is that once you strike with it, the blanch gets scraped off. So it's really good for arrows and bolts, but not so much for your blade. But if you want it anyway, put it on a dagger, perhaps?"
"For one's dagger, then," Absinthe says, sighing. "One's rapier is the stronger weapon, but if we are forced to face golems, one will take whichever advantage one can get."
After leaving the Gold Market, Elkaris takes you the rest of the way to the Gray. After the otyugh attack, he seems unnerved enough to restrain his earlier singing. You get to the graveyard about an hour after sunset. Alone of all the districts in Korvosa, this one seems untouched by the unrest of the past several weeks. The air is calm and quiet, but there is an unnerving feeling that the place is just preparing itself for a vast infux of new permanent residents.
The ominous feeling is nowhere more noticeable than in Potter's Ward, the final resting ground for Korvosa's poor and homeless. Mounds of unmarked dirt stretch far and wide, indicating sites of mass graves, while crumbling mausoleums from years ago, abandoned by their families as the Gray District expanded to the west, dot the bleak landscape, forgotten and empty. Mourners do not visit here, for the dead buried in Potter's Ward leave behind few who regret their passing.
Elkaris leads you to the spot where he sold Gaekhen's body. "O'there... Old Maw's Leeum," he smiles and points to a crumbling mausoleum that appears long since emptied. Elkaris holds out his other hand, palm up.
This is a bad place. Segang observes. Lonely dead may wander...
Cherias puts one gold coin in Elkaris's hand, and holds up another. "And who took the body from you, and gave you payment? Was he waiting here for you, or did you have some sort of signal? And finally -- did you see where he went?"
Elkaris shakes his head. "I left here. I got paid."
Absinthe growls at Elkaris. "Who paid you and where?" she snaps.
Elkaris sighs, and starts picking at his nose. "Here," he points at the mausoleum again.
"Someone was here waiting for you, and gave you money? Or did you leave the body and get paid later?"
Elkaris ponders Cherias's questions with a frustrated frown. "Yeah, I got paid when I bring bodies here. Here!" He gestures emphatically towards the mausoleum. He grunts and starts to walk away, shaking his head.
Cherias shrugs and gives the final gold coin to the simpleminded fellow. "Guess that's as good as we're going to get out of him. Let's take a look around?"
(+2 in dim light)
"One does not like that boy," Absinthe says, gazing after Elkaris with open hostility. She shakes herself and proceeds to assist Cherias with his scan of the area.
The barbarian stands defensively in front of the others looking around and ready to head for the mausoleum.
There is no sign of Gaekhen's body (or any others) around the entrance of the mausoleum. You do find evidence of a wheelbarrow and a man's footprints around them. More interestingly are several smaller humanoid tracks, each bearing only four toes, that clutter the site. These tracks lead into the mausoleum itself.
Inside the mausoleum, there appears to be a poorly-hidden trap door in the floor.
"Absinthe, is it his ignorance and poverty or his job that you dislike?" Seren wonders aloud.
Looking down at the tracks, he scracthes his head. "Anyone no what small 4-toed humanoids exist out there? Goblins have five toes, don't they?"
Eyeing the door, he mutters, "Probably as good a time as any ..."
He pulls out and reads a scroll of mage armor
"Hmm, kinda looks familar, what do you think, Melianthe?"
Melianthe shakes her head slowly. "I'm not sure." She measures the tracks with one hand, takes a look at where they go, and then raises up again, frowning.
Cherias shrugs and gestures at the trap door. "I guess we'd better head in."
He looks worried and apprehensive.
Segang looks it over, trying to discern if it is safe.
Anyone else want to check this afor I open it up?
"What offends one, friend Seren, is the nature of what he does and the cavalier way he does it," Absinthe replies to the question. "It is repulsive."
She subjects the trapdoor to her own scrutiny.
You find no traps on the hatch. It opens to a dead drop to a worked stone passage, fifteen feet below you. A cave-in blocks the north, but it appears open to the south, where it descends a set of stairs. A cold blue light is shed by luminous patches of glowing mold, and the musty and damp air stinks of rotting flesh.
"One volunteers to take point," Absinthe says. "One's natural ability to see in darkness and stealth should prove useful."
Cherias will take a position in the middle.
Segang agrees but gives Absinthe a concerned look. To not get get too far ahead Mooneyes. I have grown fond of the sound of your voice.
"One did not have the intention," Absinthe says with a fleeting smile. She starts to stalk ahead of the group, fading into the darkness.
Cherias does the best to muffle his footsteps and peers into the darkness as well, using his own extraplanar heritage just as Absinthe is. "We probably want to light a torch or two, for those of us without the blood of angels or devils in our veins..."
"The light of this fungus is enough for me."