"I concur." Spectrum said quietly letting Noro lead them back into town.
"Cathedral," Isme says, and says nothing else.
This late at night, the cathedral is closed; enormous wooden doors bar your way. A giant iron knocker with the face of a gargoyle is available, but the small rope to the side of the door dangling against the wall leading in to the building seems more promising. You ring it, and after a time comes Father Zantus dressed in his night robes, a bright lantern in his left hand. He nods to you all, and rubs an eye. "Greetings; I had been expecting you, though not quite so late. I presume you are here about..." He notices the body clasped in Wyam's hand and stops. "Oh..."
"Yes." Spectrum says quietly. "May we come in?"
"I... of course, of course." The father turns and pulls half of the door open fully, locking it against the wall. "Come." He leads you through the enormous void of the cathedral, through a few doors and finally into a room in the basement, the church morgue; a dozen marble tables, most covered with bodies hidden under sheets. He nods to an empty one.
"Rest well, my friend," he said quietly after laying Chaise's remains on the offered table.
"Our thanks, Father. This part of our duty complete, we must see to our other responsibilities."
Zantus takes Chaise's weapons and puts them in a chest at the side of the room. "Before I complete my own duty, I must know- had he any particular faith? Any god whose rites I should perform for him?"
When his question is answered and the appropriate blessing dispensed, Zantus walks over to one of the corpse-laden blocks and carefully pulls down the sheet, revealing the pale face of Tsuto. "My brothers found him in his cell; he had... almost finished his work. He used a goblin knife; one of them must have passed it through the bars to him." He looks at Spectrum. "Ameiko has not been told yet; given the recent depletion of her family, I thought it best if you were told before her."
Isme speaks up. "He followed Desna."
"He would have hung for his crimes anyway." Spectrum says coldly, apparently unsurprised by Tsuto's demise. "I will tell her. Thank you, Father Zantus."
"If possible, we would prefer Chaise be interred in the crypt, rather than buried or cremated. Our goal is to restore him to life."
The priest nods to your request, and shows you out.
It's even later when you reach the tavern; the last drunk stumbles into the street and toddles off home as you arrive. Entering and asking for Ameiko, you find that against healer's orders she's at work in the kitchen, sleeves up and brow furrowed and she works through the day's dishes.
"Amiko." Spectrum said quietly as he entered the kitchen, drawing her attention away from her task.
He was not normally one for emotional displays, but she was his closest friend. The last few days had been harrowing for all of them.
He simply came forward and embraced her when she looked up.
Surprised at Spectrum's move, Ameiko gives in to the emotion for a second, gripping the tall elf tightly; then it's back to normal and back to the washing. "You were going back to the glassworks today, right? Find anything?"
"Yes. A tunnel leading to a large underground complex full of Thassilonian artifacts and monsters warped by Sin magic. We cleared the ruin, but Chaise was slain in the process." Spectrum said in a neutral tone. He took a breath before continuing.
"When we brought his body to the chapel, Father Zantus told us that your brother had committed suicide."
Isme takes up a perch on a nearby rafter, silent.
"I am sorry for your loss, Ameiko. Even after everything else, he was still your brother and though he seems to have caused much pain for you and your family, such pain cannot be inflicted if there had not once been love," Wyam offered in consolation.
Ameiko stares away out the window and pauses, gripping the pan in her hands. "I'll need paper... ink, too, and one of those fancy pens my father adores... adored. Black robes too, for the funeral; you'll come, Spectrum, please. Tomorrow next fortnight is our slowest day, time enough to talk with Zantus, ask for a cremation..." Ameiko stops for a moment, and turns to the group. "Sorry about your own lost one; he seemed a good sort. Not as stupid as most young people are." She blinks a few times, then turns back to dishes. "Sorry for all this, Spectrum. A big dungeon, artifacts, monsters... and hidden under our glassworks. Damn it. Damn." Amieko cleans the pot harder, holding it tightly in her hand before she dries it and flings it away to clatter ont its place. "Damn it."
She sighs, and turns to the group. "Thanks for telling me. You need something, any time, and you've got me. Just... thanks. And don't be insulted since I need you to head off now." She dries her hands on her apron and puts it away. "I just need you to. Thanks." She wipes a small tear away.
Spectrum nods and turns to leave his friend to her grief. He heads to the sherriff's office. This needed to be reported to someone.
Glimmer stayed behind with Amiko.
Wyam will accompany Spectrum to the sherrif's office to check up on everything there; if nothing of import occurs, he will see to his horse.
Isme follows the others, taking up a perch on Wyam's shoulder.
Two of Father Zantus' brothers stand on guard in the office. A dark bloodstain has been partially scrubbed up in Tsuto's cell, and the goblins seem rowdier than usual, laughing and cackling and jeering and pleading. The brothers report on Tsuto's suicide.
After the infinite darkness and damp of the well (seriously, we were down there for literally months) the new dawn is a glorious sight and feeling.
Meeting with Chaise and Noro for breakfast, Spectrum asks to keep the Thasselonian coins for his museum. "I'll gladly pay their equivalent weight in gold. I am loath to see them destroyed. They are ancient."
"We should do something about the raid," Isme suggests. "Tell someone so the town can at least prepare if the worst comes to pass."
|
In the Morning Noro makes her way to the Dragon for a bite to eat.
Lou was already there early making breakfast for the customers.
When she arrives, she seems to be favoring her left side. like she is injuted there. but nothing to serious. She also has a bruised right hand Noro definately looks like she was in a fight, but is attempting to hide it. (not too successfully)
She takes a seat and orders some breakfast and an ale. moaning a bit from the pain.
Wyam was already up and "dining" with Spectrum by the time Noro arrived the next morning.
"Good morning, Noro," he greeted her casually. In other circumstances he would've twisted the dagger at her expense and greeted her cheerfully - but Chaise's death yet weighed on him.
"While I grant your curiosity in ancient things, Spectrum, I can't claim the same level of interest. So long as the division of our labors is fair, I care not how such division is apportioned - so long as Chaise's kin receives his portion, should he have any. We have more immediate needs, however, in informing the mayor and sheriff's friend that ranger about what's under the glassworks as well as raid on Thistletop."
Never one to sit idly, Spectrum nods and stands up. "Agreed."
Ushered into her office, the Mayor is hard at work writing letters and reading from a book of records; after a minute, she raises her head. "Greetings. I heard about Tsuto's death; whatever he became, he was shaped by how this town treated him, let Lonjiku treat him. A pity." She ponders this for a moment, then shakes and clears her head and stands. "How can I help you?"
"We discovered a Thasselonian ruin beneath the glassworks. I fear the mysteries of what it was being used for may have died with it's denizens, but it was full of warped creatures. I believe it should be sealed and guarded until thorough divinations can be performed on two odd artifacts we found. A floating sphere and a pool of liquid."
"More pressing though is the matter of the goblin invasion. We have reason to believe that the forces inside the ruin were collaborating with the goblins. This is all more organized than we previously thought."
The mayor's eyes boggle for a moment at all this before her focus reasserts itself; she thinks hard for a moment then looks you firmly in the eyes. "With Hemlock out of town, I'll need you four to muster the town militia to get whatever dungeon you've found blocked and guarded. The other watchmen all happened to take leave now, so we'll also need them back. Talk with Korvut first, Hemlock's second-in-command; he keeps to himself so you may not have met him yet. He lives in the grey-brick building down Travis lane, the one with broken bottles and weeds surrounding it." She pauses for a moment and adds "You may have some difficulty getting Korvut and the men to rally as quickly as we need them; they fear and respect Hemlock, not you. Do what you can- we need that ruin sealed!"
"As for the invasion- I know too little about the goblins in this region; Hemlock was my man on that job. I'll send someone to fetch Shalelu, meet up at two after you have the men mustered?"
"By 'you four', do you include me?" Isme says, speaking up from her perch on Wyam's shoulder. "For Chaise is dead, a casualty of the Catacombs of Wrath. I suppose I'll have to get used to being directly addressed in these dealings. Will we meet here in your office?"
"Miss... Isme, was it not? My apologies, I thought him merely elsewhere."
Spectrum nods and follows Noro out with a small, polite bow to the mayor.
Isme nods to the mayor before being carried away from the room on someone's shoulder.
It's a bright and sunny day, a few clouds streaking across the heavens but otherwise clear and cheery. After some walking through the streets, you find the promised house- circled by landmines of broken bottles and a few bones and food remnants being fought over by two local dogs.
Wyam sniffs with disdain at such a disreputable home.
"Surely this can't be the right place..."
"Seems like it. Knock on the door and call for him?"