Venture-Captain Hestia Themis, a small, dark-haired, and dark-eyed Taldan woman, sits behind her enormous blackwood desk in the Pathfinder lodge in Cassomir and clears her throat. “My friend, the Countess Arieta Patrizia, is dead. She escaped her capture by the fiends who operate beneath Cassomir only to succumb to disease and wounds incured in Cassomir’s disgusting sewers. Ordinarily, this would be a matter for the Taldan authorities, but Arieta came to me directly after escaping and recounted a story that leads me to the natural conclusion that only the Pathfinder Society can resolve this issue.”
Venture-Captain Themis rises and paces back and forth behind her desk. “Arieta told me of an artifact she saw while in captivity below Cassomir. This artifact, called the jet rat, is known to us, but we must confirm that what she saw is indeed true. She claims to have seen it transform normal rats into something bigger, more vile and mean. If that’s true, the artifact she saw down there is old, evil, and should be stored safely in the vaults beneath the Grand Lodge in Absalom where we can study, catalog, and examine it. Worse, she claims to have seen this object in the hands of the derros, vile Darklands creatures that we have long suspected are responsible for the Cassomir kidnappings. I have a map here that shows the location of the sewer grate Arieta was dropped through when she was kidnapped. She could not, due to her illness, recall much about how she got to the location where they kept her in captivity, but she knows where they dropped her into the sewers and you’ll find that location on this map.”
Venture-Captain Themis stops pacing and eyes you across her desk. [/b]“Bring me back this artifact—if you happen to free a few captured Taldans along the way, that’s good news, but the artifact is your mission. Any questions?”[/b]
"The derros you say. If true, these are evil tidings indeed. If I may ask, how large is this object, the jet rat? Can we carry it away easily? And did Arieta recollect any other details other than the location of the sewer grate?"
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Standing to the side, examining a banner on the wall bearing a heraldic coat of arms, is a handsome and distinguished man of advanced years with dark hair and beard just starting to show gray. He wears fine mithril armor and a military uniform of Taldor style, but without emblem or rank.
"Kidnappings? Derro? Evil artifacts? " He turns with an arched eyebrow. "Sweet beautiful Shelyn, something must be done about these sewers! I'll have you know, I once ran afoul of an evil cult of thespians down there. They were acting out all sort of wicked plots."
Looking at his companions, he blinks at Kilian. "Ah, Kilian!" He steps over and gives the man a manly handshake and looks to the others. "This lad was there! Evil Thespians I tell you! And living statues! And.. wait..." He strokes his beard, as if trying to recall something.
Then his gaze comes across the small female gnome in the room. "Alie! My girl, it is wonderful to see your tiny beautiful face!"
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Alie nods at the mission. After her last venture, she and the others had found out about increased derro activity. Perhaps this statue is part of the reason they've been so active...
"Nothing would please me more than helping Taldor in any way possible. Finding the statue and freeing my countrymen sounds like a great task. I'm ready when the others are...". Her words were cut off when she saw the reappearance of a long, lost compatriot. She jumps up and gives the fellow Taldan a hug.
"Maximo, you devil! Where have you been keeping yourself? Looks like we get to team up again...for Taldor!"
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Kilian seems to have been keeping well since his first adventure with Maximo; he's wearing better armor, carrying better weapons, and he stands a little straighter. "Max! It's good to see you back in harness. I was worried your bar would take up too much of your time." He reaches to clap the older man on the shoulder; remembering at the last second that he was wearing a cestus, he gives a quick grin and uses his other hand. "And we get to team up again for Shelyn."
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"My friends, it is good to be in your company once again!" Maximo displays a broad smile of perfect teeth. Then, looking to the those he has not yet met, he performs a Taldan bow.
"Where are my manners! Gentlemen, permit me to introduce myself. I am Baron Maximo Interresante, holy knight of Shelyn and lover of all wondrous beauty."
Jet rat?
"Yes, the jet rat is a small, shiny black rat statue. You should be able to carry it just fine."
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"Now some of you were on a recent mission in which you discovered that the Cult of Nature's Cataclysm had been teeming up with the derros to facilitate kidnappings and you may be wondering if the cult is connected with this kidnapping. While we’re not going to discount that, she didn’t describe any human involvement. She saw only derros, rats, and a few creatures she could not name and I could not identify."
"She claims to have seen dozens of Cassomir citizens, some of whom she recognized as fellow prominent citizens of the empire. This goes beyond the recent kidnappings in the Imperial Naval Shipyards—it even goes beyond Cassomir’s normal and storied disappearances. This is another level of madness and I can’t help but think that the jet rat might have something to do with that."
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Oswin greets the Taldan nobleman with as much grace as he can.
"Greetings Lord Maximo. My name is Oswin Durnhelm, merely a priest of Iomedae. I'm pleased to see another man of faith among our number. Your friends here proved themselves to be most capable allies and I am honoerd to meet one of their esteemed colleagues."
"I cannot stand by while such wickedness continues to threaten the innocent citizens of this kingdom. Let us go forth and strike down these evildoers!"
Baern knows that derros are vulnerable to sunlight and can cast darkness at will. They are also trained in handling poisons and can be quite mad.
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Heading out to the location of the sewers where Arieta was dropped in, the party heads down.
Murky puddles dot the tile floor below, which gently slopes toward the room’s center where some of the puddles are very slowly draining into a large, 10-foot-by-10-foot drain. Thick, sticky webs cover most of the corners of the room, and several large vermin appear to be caught in the webs. The sound of running water can be heard to the north.
A large spider sits in the room and begins to move towards you after everyone has dropped down into the chamber!
Alie's magic missiles hit dead-on!
Maximo moves around and taunts the spider before cutting it down.
No longer distracted by the giant spider in the room, you can take your time in discovering that the grate in the middle has rusted away with time and would likely fall away if any weight were put on it.
You can also discover that among the rats tied up in the web are several exsanguinated derro bodies.
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To Kilian, "Hmm.. yes. Though perhaps less gray about the gills. And less dead." He wipes his sword clean of spider goo and examines the area, paying particular attention to the grate.
"Nearly ran across this, I did. Would have been quite embarrassing." Peering through it, he looks down to see if it goes anywhere.
Maximo sees nothing down the grate except for a dirty pit.
Alie notes two magical potions on one of the derros.
The party also finds amid the web small-sized leather armor, a short sword, and a repeating light crossbow with 10 poisoned bolts.
At Baern's suggestion the party heads around the corner. The sewer water flows in from the north and swirls about this room, drawing larger pieces of garbage and refuse into a floating pool of trash at the center. In the middle of trash floats three well-dressed, bloated corpses, their skin purple and splotchy and their bodies floating face down.
They have nothing on them of any value and their corpses are badly decomposed. Their clothes reveal that they were once members of Taldor’s high society, but nothing else.
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Baern nods. "I hate to agree, but their souls will be able to wait a short while longer." He says a quick prayer over their bodies before moving along. While he can also sense the presence of evil freely, he focuses more on surveying the surroundings, holding his wayfinder in his shield hand so that it may detect evil for him.
Baern's wayfinder points almost directly ahead down the tunnel (to the east) and a little to the north.
Max motions the party forward and peaks around the corner.
This room appears to have once been the basement of the building above, the wall seperating the basement from the sewer long ago smashed in and repaired, giving it the appearance of a natural part of the sewer system. The ceiling here is 30 feet high and the room is lit by torches in the north and south walls. Stacks of crates and barrels line the north wall, and a set of finely carved stone stairs start on the south wall and make their way up and around the west wall to a door high above the room in the northwest corner.
A man whom some of you recognize as looking eerily similar to Dalirio Teppish stands in the room directing a few mites. Another man who bears a family resemblance stands there as well and announces, "Halt! Witnesses!"