Dot.
Both of you stand in the Great Hall of Lord Mayor Barzillai Thrune's, after being sent for by messengers. The building is extensive and opulent, with its entire structure constructed of black marble. The furniture is of top grade ebony imported from the Mwangi forest, and the red carpets lining the floor are of the finest make.
Lord Mayor Barzillai - Thune, a stern faced bald man dressed in black and red robes, rests on his ornate ebony chair engraved with runic symbols like a emperor might sit upon his throne. Two guards, clad in black fullplate, with a mace hooked onto their belt and a longbow on strapped on their back stand at attention besides the Lord Mayor.
The Lord Mayor eyes the party with a raised eyebrow, then speaks. "Weren't there supposed to be three of you? Where's the one called Howard?" He makes a dismissive wave of his hand. "No matter. That means I only need to pay 2 mercenaries instead of three."
"I'll spare you the pleasantries."The Lord Mayor states bluntly."I've heard of your reputation as problem solvers, and I have a problem I need fixed." He beckons the party closer, and points his map of the region, at an island off Kintargo's coast. "We've been mining magically attuned crystals from the mines near Deepmar Penal colony. We've had a steady supply of those crystals, but one month ago, it was cut off. The captain of Deepmar Penal colony, one Elgin Ashferth, was supposed to send weekly reports, but we haven't heard from him since a month ago."
"Cardinal Corinstian Grivenner has been giving me hell over those crystals, saying his diabolists can't work without them."He grumbles. "And my Dottari have their hands full trying squash all those little rebellions that insolent upstart, Jilia Bainilus has been riling up."
He taps the table briskly to get party's attention. "I've taken the liberty in helping you arrange for passage to Deepmar Penal Colony, just look for Captain Faustus at the docks. You are authorized to investigate what has happened there and use any amount of force necessary to restore the supply of magically attuned crystals. You have a week to do so. I will reward you 5,000 gp each upon the completion of the deed. Any questions?"
"Captain Elgin Ashferth has a daughter who is currently crying her eyes out at the Grinning Devil after her father went missing."He sneers."You might want to speak to her."
"The captain is ready to set sail whenever you're ready.The journey itself should not take more then half a day."The Lord Mayor replies. "I will take it you have perished in the attempt and send for another group.There are adventurers a-plentry, afterall."The Lord Mayor gives an indifferent shrug.
Hastur inclines his head in recognition when he sees Angus.
He then listens attentively to the Mayor's little speech.
Foolish mortal. Such short-sighted goals. Still, 'magically attuned crystal' does sound interesting... I wonder whether it could be a suitable vehicle for the Yellow Sign?
Hastur nods.
"Visit the island. Find out what happened. Restore the flow of crystal via any means necessary. That certainly sounds like a problem we could solve."
He then shrugs.
"Assume what you must, be even if this vessel perishes, I will continue."
Depending on how things go, I might be tempted to pay him a visit upon our return...
Hastur then follows Angus to the Grinning Devil.
The mayor looks suitably disturbed by Hastur's pronouncement, but makes no comment.
”Go south to the end of the walkway, then turn left, 2 streets, and keep an eye on the right side of the road. It’s got a signpost of a grinning devil, you can't miss it."The doorman replies.
Hastur causes quite a stir in the streets as people try to get out of his way to avoid being crushed by his massive bulk. An elf in a red robe gives Hastur an irritated look as he walks by, ”Eidolons really should be banned from using the main roads during working hours. The congestion they cause.”He curses under his breath.
The inn has a signpost of a grinning devil outside it, but its interior is built out of oak and is lined with pastoral scenes, presenting a much warmer image then Barzillai's Great Hall. A middle aged woman calls out frantically to you,”Urm..good sir, could you please have your “friend” stay out?” She gestures at Hastur.”Or if he comes in, please tell him to be careful!”She adds.
"Oh poor Temara has been in her cups ever since her father went missing." The middle aged woman points out a young lady with long brown hair drinking in the corner, her voice sympathetic.
"Well..both of you came together, and good-sir is just a greeting, sir." She replies.
Temara Ashfreth is a mousy young woman with long brown hair. Her eyes are red-rimmed, bloodshot and glassy, and she takes a long pull on her ale, her unsteady hand spilling half of the remaining contents on the table. She does not seem to notice the party approaching her. "Lev' m' alone. "She mumbles. "Lif' can't git any 'orse." She continues drinking. "I 'aven't 'erd from m' Da since a moon back. E 's suppos' ta send' letters by now but I’v ‘erd nuttin." She slurs, ”E runs the ‘enal colony ‘ines. Prisoners ‘et shorter ‘entences, w’ ‘et our gems. ‘veryone’s appy. cept ‘now cause ‘everyone’s gone wit'out a trace.” She breaks out into another fresh burst of tears.
"E 'aid sum mines 'ere closed. Vermit or sumwat. Sometin 'bout 4 armed mutant 'pes comin outta da ground. But'e said e could 'andle it. 'Ll standard 'tuff. Then 'e 'n'eva 'rote back." She sobs, as she looks at you through her tear-stained face then grabs your forearm desperately. "Can ou 'elp me 'ind m' Da an'bring 'im 'ome safe?" She pleads.
"Oh thank ye!" Then exhausted by all that weeping, she laid herself on the table in a drunken stupor.
When the red-robed elf mutters under his breath, Hastur lets out a deep, mirthless chuckle.
"Little mortal, I have no master; I am here by my own will. Tell me, Have you seen the Yellow Sign?"
Upon entering the inn, Hastur sighs.
"Very well. Give me a moment."
He then casts a spell, and with a horrible sucking noise, his body collapses in upon itself, contorting its bulk down into a more human-sized shape.
"We will need to be quick - this will only last a matter of minutes..."
Once the woman has given her speech, and drifts off into a drunker stupor, Hastur shrugs.
"Well, we retrieved *some* information from her, but it was more tantalizing than specifically useful. We should keep moving."
"Urm no, what rubbish are you talking about? And if you've no master, how in the nine hells are you here?"Then he takes in Hastur's size and decides that he has a pressing engagement elsewhere.
The innkeeper averts her eyes at Hastur's terrifying transformation and refuses to look in the direction Hastur is.
The party heads towards the docks, to find Captain Faustus, a Cheliaxian man with a curly locks and a neatly trimmed moustache, wearing a brilliant red cloak. "The HMS Fury is ready to set sail. If we get a good wind, we'll be using the sails, otherwise I'll get the slaves to man the oars. "He gestures to the quarters below.
Your quarters consist of a single bed, a desk and a pile of brown rugs(which could probably be made into a makeshift mattress for Hastur). At the start of the voyage yoy hear the cries of pain from the slaves as thet are whipped to man the oars. Thankfully as the ship reaches open water, she catches a good wind, and the Captain Faustus decides to conserve the slaves.
Midway through the journey, the ship is caught in a storm, and sways violently from side to side. After a while, the storm abates as the crew calls out that the island of Deepmar is within sight. Over the prow, the island is just visible through the rain. Although not large, looking to be no more than thirty miles across at its widest point, the island is quite lush, covered in wind-lashed trees and shrubs. Sitting at the island’s southernmost point is a small colony, surrounded by a wooden palisade in front of a single, long dock. The iron doors to the colony appear closed, but no guards can be seen. Indeed, as the boat draws closer, no one can be seen moving about the island.
Captain Faustus docks the ship at the Deepmar Penal colony docks. "That's as far as I'll be taking you. We'll be waiting for you here. If you don't return within a week, we'll be setting sail without you two."He reminds Angus. "Good luck, you'll need it."He says as a farewell,"The last three groups I've ferried here never made it back."
Tall, stout timbers topped with inward-facing hooks and barbs surround a small settlement of single-story wooden buildings with thatch roofs. Towers stand to either side of a large gate leading out to the docks. Chickens wander here and there, pecking at the ground—the only evidence of life within the colony.
Both gates are 20 feet tall and consist of 3-inch-thick crisscrossed iron bars, functioning as huge double doors with a massive locking mechanism in the center where the two doors connect. The wooden palisade surrounding the colony is made of 1-foot-thick reinforced timber and treated with a slick resin, making it difficult to climb.
A wooden ladder ascends twenty-five feet to a simply fortified guard tower offering a clear view of the colony and the surrounding terrain. Two heavy crossbows are propped neatly against the wall, and a nearby box holds a sizable supply of crossbow bolts. The party notices a dark brown smudge on the north eastern tower. The tower also has 3 less crossbow bolts then the rest.
The party hears the muffled sound of a woman screaming from A4.
This fenced-in area contains a large fruit and vegetable garden, though it appears it hasn’t been tended in a while, judging by the many weeds competing with the plants. The party spots some traces of blood and feathers, as well as 2 crossbow bolts embedded in the feathers. The crossbow bolts look like they were shot from the north eastern tower. The party also discovers a small tunnel sloping downwards about 3-5 ft in diameter.
A wood-and-wire chicken coop occupies a space here along the outer wall. Only a pair of chickens now remains of what must have once been dozens. Others can be seen outside the coop, wandering through the colony.
A placard hanging above the door to this building depicts a helmet over a pair of crossed swords. Several bunk beds occupy the interior. Pegs on the wall hold a few well-used cloaks. A collection of spears, swords, and a few crossbows hangs from a locked weapon rack on the far wall, next to a door leading to another room. The party finds a ring of keys hanging from a hook, unmade beds, and a set of playing cards on a small table set up between two of the bunks. The cards on the table and the two sets of five cards lying facedown on opposite lower bunks indicate at least two of the occupants were here playing a card game and suddenly left off in the middle of it.
There are 10 bunk beds in the room, each with a footlocker. Angus teases each footlocker open and in total they yield 850 gp in loose silver, gold, and copper coins, a pair of platinum-plated earrings worth 150 gp, a jeweled silver letter opener worth 75 gp, a dragon-tooth necklace worth 100 gp, and a black leather book of Asmodean scripture with silver-and-gold filigree worth 300 gp. Angus also twiddles with the locked weapon rack, and opening it reveals four light
crossbows, four spears, and eight longswords.
The ring of keys from A7 opens this buiding. This long building has numerous small, barred windows along its exterior walls and a covered entrance at each end. Within, a series of doors line each side of a long central corridor.
Hastur notices that the door to the tool shed is warded by an Alarm spell. Touching it is going result in the alarm being set off.
This building is cheerily painted, in contrast to the rest of the structures in the colony. A variety of potted plants sit alongside the building. The door is ajar, revealing a room furnished with a table and four chairs, a bookshelf, and a simple stone fireplace. Two doors lead to comfortably furnished private sleeping chambers. One of the private sleeping chambers contains two simple beds, a pair of armoires, pegs on the walls, a simple desk, and a brazier for cold nights. A small connecting room separated by a curtain serves as their washroom, and contains a wooden tub, shelves with towels and other toiletries, and a table holding a washbasin and urn. A few personal decorations round out the room’s furnishings. The armoires contain a collection of silver, gold, and copper coins totaling 80 gp, and a small platinum brooch in the shape of a happy winged cat worth 25 gp.
The other sleeping chamber is similarly furnished, except for a few more medicinal plants are in this room, and several diagrams hang on the wall detailing human anatomy, with a locked cabinet at the back. Angus opens the locked cabinet to reveal 10 potions of cure light wounds and a healer’s kit, as well as several bottles of ointments and tinctures made from the plants around this building useful for treating diseases and poisons.
A group of small, five-foot-wide wooden shacks with shingled roofs occupies an area well away from the other buildings. They reek and attract swarms of flies.
Six wagons and several mining carts are parked next to what appears to be a stable.
This open stone building contains a stone forge at its center, surrounded on three sides by slab-topped worktables, as well as numerous hooks on the walls for tools. A small building connected to it appears to serve as living quarters.
The pegs and hooks on the wall where tools would be kept are all conspicuously empty.
The adjacent building is simply furnished with a bed, a table with two chairs, a washroom with a small wooden tub, a small stove that serves both for heating the room and cooking meals, and a large collection of paintings and sketches of scantily clad figures hanging on the walls.
This stone building is surrounded by a tall fence. It occupies a spot of land well away from the other buildings in the colony. Its door is also made of stone and has no apparent latch or lock. Large red letters painted multiple times on every side of the fence spell out, “Danger—Keep away!” Hastur spots that the stone building is guarded against theft by a heightened stinking cloud trap that reacts to any living creature coming within 5 feet of the building without first speaking the password.
This building is constructed of wood and stone. Though simple in design, it appears opulent compared to the other buildings in the colony. A sign over the porch depicts a pair of white swords on a field of red and black. The large front chamber contains a couch, a dining table that seats eight, a stone fireplace, bookshelves full of military curios and a few books, and paintings of pastoral settings. Aside from the decorations in the front room, the quarters are spartanly furnished. An armoire contains several changes of clothing, but
little more than that. The back of the building serves as sleeping chambers, with an adjacent washroom similar to the others in the colony. Next to the bed, on a small table, is a half-finished letter to his daughter Temara describing rather routine events at the prison. Hastur spots a loose flagstone under the captain’s bed which conceals a shallow hole in which there is a leather sack with 340 gp in mixed coins and three medals worth 25 gp each.
Hastur looks at the area thoughtfully.
"Let's approach this logically - start here with the gate-house, and then work westward."
"They are appear to have neatly left their weapons at the guard post. That implies there was no struggle..."
Hastur stops, briefly, to investigate the stain.
Hastur sniffs in disappointment.
"Those reek like poorly-maintained outhouses. I am not going to squeeze in there!"
"They left without their weapons, or valuables. Something odd definitely happened..."
He pockets the set of keys, and continues on his way.
Hastur extrudes himself through the entrance door, and starts checking out the small rooms off the central corridor.
Hastur shrugs in disinterest at the contents of the chicken coop.
The vegetable garden, on the other hand, proves more interesting.
"So, someone was digging, and it looks like there might have been a fight; the question is, did someone dig *down*, or did something dig *up*?"
Hearing the screaming, he then heads for A4...
The door to this long building is ajar. A sign hanging over the doorway depicts a frothy mug, a plate, and eating utensils. Within, broken plates, forks and spoons, and a few wooden mugs lie scattered about the floor around several long trestle tables. The party sees a 8 ft white chested four armed gorilla trying to batter down a crudely made barricade. The screaming comes from behind the barricade.
The 4-armed Gorilla is a Girallon, one of the jungle's most dangerous predators. They are aggressive, carnivorous, highly territorial, and incredibly strong. They can do alot more damage if they can latch their claws on you. They climb, despite their large size, incredibly well.
Hastur frowns.
"That thing is a Girallon... a jungle native. It is definitely far from home!"
He then leisurely strides forward, and punches it.
The Girallon roars in pain as Hastur gives it a good uppercut.
Angus takes a while to gather focus, then fires 2 shots at the chest of the Girallon. The party can see red flowers of blood blossoming on the Girallon's chest, and it collapses onto the ground, shattering the barricade.
The Girallon convulses violently as the sword penetrates its brain, then lies motionless.
This large kitchen is furnished with a pair of stoves, preparation areas, hanging cookware, and shelves stocked with enough food supplies to feed the entire population of the colony for several weeks. The party sees a haggard woman with raggedy hair and frightened eyes trying to hide in one of the cupboards. "Get away from me!" She screeches.
She shuts the cupboard door, hides inside and refuses to come out.
She's just scared out of her wits. Wouldn't you be with someone approaching you after wiping off a bloody short sword and a pistol in his other hand? Also...maybe not quite right in the head as well, there seemed to be a certain vagueness the way she looked at you.
Angus notices the Girallon has a web of veinlike strands of violet fungus on its scalp.
It looks like someone experimented on the girallon - they injected growth of violet fungus on its head, increasing its strength and health but decreasing its ability to think and reason clearly. Your alchemical knowledge makes you think that the violet fungus is actually cytillesh, a fungus with memory altering properties.
A flag bearing the Chelish coat of arms flutters in the sea breeze over this small wooden building.
This building is the colony’s mining office. Ledgers, correspondence, pens, and ink bottles clutter a large desk. A tall candelabrum with a continual flame where each candle should stand serves to illuminate the office. The walls are covered with maps of the various mines, each designated with the name of one of the layers of Hell.
In addition to these, a simple, scantily detailed map of the island itself shows the locations of each mine in relation to Deepmar as a whole. A search by the party of the papers and ledgers reveals a few helpful bits of information. Dig sites Avernus, Dis, and Erebus have not been mined in some time. A note about dig site Phlegethon states that there were problems with large, aggressive apes led by a four-armed mutant ape with white fur that resulted in the mine being shut down and filled in.
Dig sites Malebolge and Cocytus have had pockets of vermin unearthed that poisoned some of the miners. Dig sites Stygia and Caina were the current sites of mining before everyone went missing. They are also the farthest sites from the colony.
The rest of the paperwork contains tedious accounts of daily production at the mines, supply lists and requisition orders, inventory, and other information about the daily administration of Deepmar’s operations.
A painted sign depicting a horse hangs from the eaves of this long, tall building, just above a pair of large double doors. A foul stench wafts from inside the structure.
The stable contains stacks of hay bales across from six sturdy stalls—too sturdy, in fact. Each stall contains the rotting carcass of a horse and a dried watering trough. With the disappearance of the miners, these poor animals, unable to break free from their stalls, slowly succumbed to dehydration and died. The building is full of flies buzzing around the decaying bodies, and the scent is overwhelmingly nauseating. There is a horse shaped shadow at the back of the stable floating slightly off the ground, glaring at the party with malovent red eyes.
You recognise the horse shadow as a greater shadow. They are undead, and incorporeal.
Hastur nods thoughtfully.
"Fungus that alters memories? What a fascinating idea..."
I will definitely have to find out who was experimenting with this; I dare say it will have absolutely scintillating applications...
Hastur looks at the map thoughtfully.
"Well then, we should probably look at the two sites that were 'active' when this place went silent. Stygia looks closer, so I suppose we should start there."
"It would appear that wherever they went, they did not need horses," Hastur notes dryly.
Upon the appearance of the shadowy beast, however, Hastur quickly reacts, and pounces forward.
The blows Hastur makes diminishes the horse shadow, but somehow Hastur can't help but have the feeling his blows don't have full effect, like the creature isn't quite here...
Angus fires 2 shots at the creature, which do not seem to fully affect the creature, then his gun jams up.
The shadow soundlessly reaches out to touch Hastur, which bounces off an invisible shield.
It then slips into the nearby water trough and disappears.
Hastur shrugs.
"It appears to have retreated."
Seeing nothing else of interest in the stables, He then moves on to the next area.