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Kazu moves around the undead and tries to knock Dalirio unconscious with the back of his clawed hand. Except Dalirio is a bit faster, even flatfooted and avoids the blow.
Elowyn moves in increasing the density of her bow as she commands Fangtooth to close some ground.
Senach (18/18)
Lady Vulpina (16/16)
Mardak (4/15; need 2 DC 12Fort saves)
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Undead (-10)
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Quintillus (7/7)
Kazu (17/17)
Elowyn (19/19)(Fangtooth 19/19)
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Dalirio
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Quintillus draws a vial of holy water and moves up to splash it at the undead. The creature howls in pain as the holy water burns through its decayed flesh and collapses to the ground.
Dalirio grimaces. "That will be enough of that. Cower in fear mortals."
Senach (18/18)
Lady Vulpina (16/16)
Mardak (4/15)
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Undead (-10)
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Quintillus (7/7)
Kazu (17/17)
Elowyn (19/19)(Fangtooth 19/19)
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Dalirio
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Bringing justice to the world, Senach looks to rid it of the evil presence of this man and slams his mace into the side of his face, breaking the man's jawbone, while Mardak sets to run away in fear.
Kazu quickly walks in, interupting the spell and knocks Dalirio unconscious with his claws, ending the threat.
The threat seems to have passed as the Pathfinders compose themselves. The cleric seems to have a key ring on him that opens the three metal doors to the south. Each one of the doors seems to house several prisoners, some look as if they have been there for a while.
Additionally, half of the crates in this room are marked with gigantic red X’s, painted on with a wide brush. The supplies include flour, grains, sugar, coffee, tea, dried goods, and so on—everything the cult needs to supply its operations.
The citizens held captive in the cells thank you profusely for helping them and tell tales of dark- or gray-skinned humanoids with enormous gray eyes who came frequently to negotiate with Dalirio before buying a handful of captives and taking them from the room. Where these creatures took them, the captives don’t know.
The lot of you report back to the Lodge and recount your findings to Venture-Captain Themis. The 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 friends, while you were dealing with the cultists, the Countess Arieta Patrizia was found in the streets. She escaped her capture by those fiends who operate beneath Cassomir only to succumb to disease and wounds incured in Cassomir’s disgusting sewers. You must have barely missed her escape. 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 forthbehind 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. “I know you just got done with the task of dealing with the cultists, but I need you lot to 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?”
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"It seems to me that these Derros may fit the description of the creatures buying the slaves from the cult!" Senach exclaims. "Let us be on our way.. not only may there be more slaves to release, none of this sounds healthy or wholesome!"
After a pause, he continues. "Would you like any of these creatures brought back for questioning before the city Magistrates, or shall we dispense the high justice ourselves?"
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Will we be encountering any more of the undead?
"That is difficult to say for sure, though be prepared for anything at this point."
"Would you like any of these creatures brought back for questioning before the city Magistrates, or shall we dispense the high justice ourselves?"
"If you are abel to bring one back I would be impressed. Derro's are incredibly dangerous foes. Don't place your lives at anymore risk than necessary to bring one back."
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"Derro you said. Arent those evil dwarves or something like that? How dangerous are they? What can we expect from them if we encounter them?" Elowyn asks stroking Fangtooths hair.
“Yes they can be dangerous, but she never saw more than a handful together. Pathfinders of your stature should be able to easily dispatch them and recover the artifact.”
"They aren't quite dwarves. Normally a pale blue humanoid has bulging white eyes, wild hair, four-fingered hands, and a large hooked club."
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"Fangtooth and I dont really like the confined spaces of a sewer... anything you can tell us about this particular sewer before we go?"
“You’re Pathfinders, not stumbling fool adventurers. I’m sure you’ll use your wits, skills, and brains to figure that out for yourself.” The Venture-Captain clears her throat in irritation. "Now if there are no more questions you should be on your way."
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The Cassomir sewers are actually the third incarnation of a sewer system beneath Cassomir. As the newest, the current Cassomir Sewers are large, vaulted affairs with tile ceilings, brick walls, stone walkways, and make-shift wooden bridges. Unless otherwise noted, the sewers are completely unlit and you will need to provide your own illumination. The sewer grates at the end of each “dead end” lead to smaller and smaller pipes that eventually connect to the storm drains throughout Cassomir.
The sewer waterway itself is a combination of rain water, tidal salt water from the harbor, human and animal waste, and the city’s other refuse. The water is 10 feet deep and moves rapidly, advancing anyone who falls into it 5 feet per round toward the east and south. The water in most places is 5 feet below the level of the adjacent walkways.
All along the waterway, however, there are well-maintained ladders recessed into the wall that allow you to grab at them and climb up should they fall in. These ladders are spaced every 10 feet or so and require a DC 12 Acrobatics check to climb as they are slippery. The sound of running water throughout the sewers causes a –4 penalty to all sound-based Perception checks.
At nearly every sewer junction, the gaps between the waterways are bridged by makeshift wooden structures, nothing more than a few thick beams tossed across the sewage. Anyone moving normal speed can cross these bridges without any trouble—crossing them at any faster speed requires a DC 15 Acrobatics check to avoid falling into the water. Anyone who fails this check can make a DC 15 Reflex save to catch the bridge as they fall; otherwise they splash into the water below.
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The lot of you head to the sewer grate marked on the crude map handed to you by the Venture-Captain. As you lift the grate and peer inside, you see a room 20' 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.
Among the dire rat corpses in the webs is the bloodless corpse of a derro.
The room is dimly lit by the sun arcing through the opening you just created.
The ceilings here are 20 feet tall, so it’ll require a rope, ladder, or a good Acrobatics check to get down into the room without getting hurt.
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Vulpina huffs a bit; she's been quietly complaining of the smell the entire time, blade out and gun secured at the side further from the water in case anything were to splash them.
Getting to the entrance, however, her face turned up. "Small for a human, but large for spider food," she points out. She sheathes her blade and retrieves the lantern from earlier. "I think we should be ready to burn webbing to avoid meeting a similar fate."
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While the others hold the rope Kazu climbs down into the dimly lit sewers.
The sewer waterway itself is a combination of rain water, tidal salt water from the harbor, human and animal waste, and the city’s other refuse. The water is 10 feet deep and moves rapidly.
As Kazu reaches the floor, sticky strands of webbing jet out from the north west corner near the ceiling. Leaping to the side he barely avoids getting entangled.
Elowyn
Kazu
Lady Vulpina
Mardak
Quintillus
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Spider
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Senach
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Elowyn continues to hold the rope as the others descend. Kazu draws his crossbow and sticks a bolt into the large spider's abdomen.
Gliding down the rope lady Vulpina rolls as she hits the floor, drawing her pistol in the process.
Mardak follows Vulpina down drawing his greatsword as he reaches the bottom of the dimly lit room.
Elowyn
Kazu
Lady Vulpina
Mardak
Quintillus
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Spider
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Senach
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Senach scurries down the rope as best as he is able to. He is not very good at it, but at least he manages more emphasis on "controlled" in the controlled fall that his climb turns into. He reaches the floor and quickly takes up his bow, launching an arrow at the spider. Unfortunately, he is still tangled in the rope and his aim is off.
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Vulpina eyes the slight hesitation in Kazu's movements, his eyes not strictly on the spider but rather checking his teammates. "Eight eyes, eight legs, but one brain-- I suppose it can't keep track of all of us," she states, ducking past Mardak's greatsword and stumbling over the back of the half-orc's foot. Still, she does her best to move gracefully into flanking.
Apparently, however, she's rather off her game at this point; as she drops her lantern and draws her blade, it comes out kind of... sideways, and her lunge manages to get closer to stabbing Mardak than it actually does the spider.