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Celas quickly enters the fray as Kazmoro takes a beating. Celas aims the bow right accurately on top of Nadric's placed shot. Critically wounding the mite to a point of unconsciousness.
Celas's companion, the unnamed hawk, flies around distracting the weird looking humanoid, but just does not have the perfect timing to swoop in.
Edmund comes soon after, hoping to alleviate Kazmoro by taking out the humanoid quickly with yet another flying arrow into battle. As accurate as his shot might be, the darkness fools Edmund's vision as the arrow doesn't sink that deep.
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The third creature looks to be on its last legs. In the midst of the flying arrows and spells whizzing across the small room, Nadric draws another arrow and quickly shoots it in that direction.
Without pausing to see whether it lands or not, he hurries over to Kazmoro's side to see how badly hurt the man is from that club blow. "Do you need to be healed?" he hisses in a low voice.
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Kazmoro is unable to take opportunity when the creature attempts to make it's move to escape, however he reacts quick by pursuing the fiend and flings his Kama at. The Kama hits his back and the pain is sufficient to put the creature into an unconscious state.
The human prisoners in chains quickly come into the light after witnessing the fall of their captors. "Please, help us!" They cry.
On the body of the fallen, surprisingly you do not find any holy symbols, just plain mundane gear such as a couple daggers, an alkys, a short sword, and some chain shirts.
Now that the threat has surpassed, you are able to curiously take a look at the ancient fountain. There are three massive tumblers, stacked on top of each other, that circle the fountains based. Each of the three tumblers has hundreds of symbols inscribed on it and none of the symbols repeat themselves. They are clearly rotatable and can move with a bit of a push , or playing around with the gears that bind them
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After dropping the derro, Kazmoro returns to the fountain room and asks Nadric to please heal him.
He then helps liberate and unchain the prisoners, "Are you alright? Are you the engineers from the Hall of Wonders?"
Then looking around:
"Look the tumblers have the same symbols / runes from the clues we followed. Maybe there is a certain pattern we need to arrange these into..."
He does not touch the tumblers but points out the symbols to everyone.
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The liberated looks around each other for a reply to Kazmoro's question. Finally one speaks up. "I am an engineer, however, I do not work in the Hall of Wonders." He states nervously, unsure what to make of the question. The rest go on to explain that they are city planners, masons, and the likes of people who have some sort of background in building the city.
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"A fine job by all of us," Razka says as their last assailant is vanquished.
He deals with what is most important, first, casting Detect Magic on their fallen opponents and their gear.
Once he determines what, if anything, is magical, he'll then turn to the prisoners, especially any female ones.
"Are there more prisoners? Can you tell us where they are?"
Only then does he turn to the fountain with a frown. "There must be some pattern...or code..."
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Razka verifies that there are no magical components in the immediate area.
The now freed humans, turn to each other once more with another question. One boldly speaks up, "We don't know if there are others... But we were lead to believe Dalirio (?) was going to turn us all into skeletons. That was what was told to us."
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Nadric lays one hand on Kazmoro’s back to cast a spell of healing.
He nods at what the engineer reports. “That makes sense with what we’ve been hearing about what is going on here, but we still don’t know why this person is raising undead city builders. I’m very glad that at least you few won’t be in that number.”
He then turns back to the fountain. “Well spotted, Kazmoro. Now if we can get those tumblers turned around to the three clues... let’s see how tricky the mechanism is.” He unstraps his buckler to get better access and then cracks his knuckles before bending over the nearest set of gears to see if he can get it to turn.
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”Thank you Nadric. I feel like a pin-cushion so far.”
He rubs the faint scars left after the curing magic does its trick. Returning to the captured prisoners, ”Did you see this Dalirio yourselves? Or just heard about him? I apologize for all these questions after you have been through such a traumatic experience, but we need clues and leads to find these insane cultists and free the rest of the prisoners before more harm is done. Do you know where they were taking you?”, he points down the tunnel they came through, ”What is down that way? Are there more prisoners there?”
Then back to Nadric, ”Maybe aligning the three symbols on the tumblers will make something happen.”
He helps Nadric re-align the tumblers:
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With a little bit of help from Celas, Kazmoro is able to align the tumblers with the symbols finding the same line. With a final audible click the tumblers lock into place. Suddenly, the fountain begins to rotate and its stale waters drain rapidly. The grinding of the gears echoes off the stone walls, causing the ground to shake. As the fountain rotates, a spiral staircase appears where the fountain’s solid basin once sat. A slick staircase slopes down into Cassomir’s bowels, twisting its way down and around a deep cistern.
An enormous room lies ahead, filled with dozens of family crypts decorated with family names, heraldic crests, and a variety of death-themed statuary. The walls, floor, and ceiling are made of smooth, polished stone, and the crypts are made of thick, square blocks of granite. A handful of statues stand throughout the room, though they don’t seem to be placed with any plan—some face the wall, some lie on their sides, and others are damaged beyond repair. The northwest quarter of the room is dominated almost entirely by a single large crypt. The name “Ismacco” is displayed across the front of the crypt.
This must be... The Crypt of Fools.
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"Well, this must be the place. We should get the engineers above ground and into the care of the city guards. The guards can handle this labyrinth and ensuring it is clear of other creatures."
Edmund talks with the engineers, ensuring that they feel safe enough to head back up to the city- and gets their word that they will summon the city guard to the catacombs. Once set, he again says a series of prayers to the Stag Lord, asking for his guidance and direction in the coming moments. And also for light.
Edmund takes the lead down the spiral staircase, and upon arriving in the lower crypt, he stands amazed at the sheer size of the catacombs. He steps to his right, attempting to get a clean look down the room.
If it is really dark, he will again loose his lit arrow in an attempt to better visualize the back half of the room.
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"How odd. What would be the point of gathering together all these knowledgeable people then turning them into mindless undead," Razka mutters.
The hairs rise on the back of his neck as he sees the room below.
"Beware the statues. I can only think of a few reasons for such strange placement and most of them are bad."
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The engineers agree upon the call of duty, and waste no time to immediately head up towards their newly found freedom. They mention that they have been in the tunnel for days, and the passage you revealed is foreign, somewhat scary, to them.
Edmund lights the place up with his lit arrow, soon the shadows become visible. To your surprise, the tombs and graves are completely in tack, and not a single soul (living or dead) is found wandering the area. You noticed a small crypt that houses the 'Teppish' family. Which you recognize as Dalirio's famil name.
Kazmoro believes that the Ismacco crypt door is safe (free from traps) to be opened, and Is also unlocked.
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Nadric follows the others with slight trepidation but he has confidence in his allies based on everything they've accomplished so far. The very concept of a tomb of fools is a fascinating one. I wonder how they commemorate traitors, he muses, his exploration instincts tingling as he gazes toward the tombs off to the right. But that is not what they are here for today, so he dutifully turns towards the Ismacco crypt and keeps his bow at the ready.
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When it becomes evident that everyone is preparing themselves to open the large tomb, Razka does so, as well. He moves toward the center of the room, and group, though. He has no illusions about his durability and what would these people do if he got struck down by some unidentified threat making itself known when the doors are opened.
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The doors opens to reveal a gothic style interior, one that is somewhat strikingly beautiful yet creepy at the same time. Ornate carvings decorate the walls inside the Ismacco crypt, creating several stylized burial niches. Tall, marbled pillars stretch to the 20-foot-high ceiling, creating three alcoves that hold massive oak sarcophagi. At the rear of the chamber, stairs ascend into a basilica-like dome. A musty smell permeates the chamber, and several dozen torches burn brightly in wall sconces throughout the crypt.
In the northwest-most alcove, two Cassomirite slaves are bound inside a small cage. Several members of the Cult of Nature’s Cataclysm have set up a guard post near a shattered burial niche in the northeast corner of the room that hides a set of rough-hewn stairs descending into darkness. A grand altar rests in the open basilica in the northernmost portion of the room; stairs nearby lead up to a second level of burial niches. An impressive two-story wall mural in the basilica depicts a stern figure glaring down on the sepulchre.
The guards are taken by surprise, and not in the nice way. They prepare themselves for what is assumingly going to be a fight.
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Razka is more than a little irritated that he's going to have to deal with these nameless thugs before he can enjoy the beauty and grandeur of this glorious homage to power and death. He can already tell that this is how he wants to be buried someday.
That irritation makes him bold and he rushes in to strike before their opponents know what hits them, flinging his now familiar acidic splash at the nearest (green) while holding the vial of acid he's been given and letting it focus his power.
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Nadric braces himself when they open the door, but nothing leaps out to attack them. He moves inside behind the others to realize that this time they are the ones who have surprised their enemies. "Awfully crowded in here," he mutters, but tries to find an angle that will let him avoid the pillars in the middle of the room while also missing the back of Edmund's head. He draws an arrow and releases it toward the cultist directly in front of him.
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Edmund moves in quickly and fires a shot quickly at the thug with the blue top. The shot is accurate, and soon after Nadric follows through behind and fires an equally well placed shot. The thug yells in pain.
On the other flank, Celas and Razka attempt to mimic the same, but their follow through is not as accurate.
Kazmoro takes his position in the front line, and waits for the attack.
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The cultist thugs pick up their butts and hastily make their way towards the front line of the pathfinders. As the first Thug, wearing the green scarf, runs into the fray, Kazmoro adapts and swiftly releases two quick strikes with his Kama. The poor fool falls unconscious before reaching the front lines.
However, as he falls the other two take the opportunity to move around and engage the pathfinders. A club is wildly swung and knocks Razka in the head, giving him some heavy injuries. Edmund is able to dodge the blow.