"See if you can't catch one. I mean, I know I can't but you might!" Freya shouts as she fires a ray of frost to weaken them.
You scatter the remaining fairies. Beaten they all dissipate into blue smoke. You take a moment to catch your breath and heal your wounds and press on.
Searching the rest of the building you eventually find a rather eerie room in the cellar. The walls of the room have been coated with teeth. So far only a portion of the room is done but you guess the fairies eventually wanted to do all the walls this way. In the patterns of teeth you do notice a gold tooth that sticks out.
In the middle of the room is a circle of chalk filled with runic symbols and inside it is the broken, toothless body of a young tiefling child that has set in a place of reverence. The child’s body has been tightly wrapped with thick preserved sinews, its wrists and ankles shattered and bound with cold iron chains. All but one of its teeth have been knocked from its jaws. An examination of the grisly find reveals dozens of phrases have been inscribed in Aklo in very fine writing along the sinews.
"It looks like some demented version of Sylvan but I can't read it." Freya says as she sits down with her hands in her face. "It was just a child. Who would do this and why? What do we tell the family?"
Mordecai examines the writing on the sinews... This looks strangely familiar.... I might be able to make it out...
Mordecai cant read much of it but understand enough to know that this was a ritual to summon the fairies and the child was a sacrifice as part of the ritual.
This is some pretty creepy stuff. Someone actually killed this poor kid so that they could summon the Fairies.... Why would anyone do that. What possible motive could they have had? Spread out look for some kind of clues Guys...
Searching this place made it clear that the murders of the Devil’s Nursery were no happenstance—they were engineered. However no clues exist to point you toward the perpetrator(s) of this vile act at this location. You do however find clues that would indicate someone was held prisoner here. An adult by the size of the chair and the chains. However it was was injured you find blood but probably left alive.
"Another victim! Maybe we can still save him. Let's see if we can follow a blood trail or something!"
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I think these evil fey would attack any in their home area and that they were summoned/planted here by someone wanting to stir up trouble. I hope the threat is ended with that swarm's disbursement. And with proper and respectful handling of this child's body we might make some friends in this district.
Mordecai looks around to see if there's any trail to follow from the 2nd person who got away.
There is a short trail of dry blood that leads to an adjacent room but then it suddenly stops. Either the person stopped bleeding or was transporting in a way that left no trail.
With nothing better to do you grab the body of the child and bring it back to be given a proper burial.
You get some rest and the next day meet with Rexus.
"Excellent work dealing with those murders. For now we will wait and see but I believe they will stop now. Already six tieflings that heard what you did have come forward to join us. However the fact Strea Vestori is missing is very bad news. She would have been a great ally to our cause. With her backing us we would have hundreds of tielfing supporters."
"The heroes are on the case! We'll find Strea safe and sound!"
"I will make inquiries as to were she might be and let you know if we discover anything. The Fushi sisters have returned from searching the sites of the fires. My mansion and the ruins of the Trashing Badger yielded nothing but the Silver Star it seems was the home to a cult of Milani (Milani also known as the Everbloom, is the patron of all those who fight against oppression and unjust rule. Her symbol is a rose growing out of a blood-soaked street). They were approached by a hooded man who gave them a letter."
He hands it over to you to examine. It reads:
My Dear Ravens—
You are not alone in your fears for the nest we share, but for now, my flock and I must remain quiet and hidden. The time will soon come when we must meet, but until then, keep building your contacts and resources. Do not rush into opposition against our common enemy. The time to retake Kintargo will come, but to strike too soon will be to lose the war before it even begins. Recruit. Prepare. Remain strong in your patience. We shall speak soon.
—The Rose of Kintargo
"The rose of Kintargo is a bit of a legend. A local hero that fights injustice whenever it reared it's head. I have long suspected it was multiple people using the same name but never had anything concrete."
"We have also decoded a few documents from the silver ravens and learned a few things"
-The Silver Ravens were established in 4606 ar in
the wake of the chaos that swept over Cheliax after
Aroden’s death to help protect the city of Kintargo
from oppression. The woman who founded the Silver Ravens was a
mysterious elf known only as “Jackdaw,” a figure who,
before the advent of the Age of Lost Omens, built
herself into a sort of Kintargan folk hero who fought
for the rights of the city’s downtrodden.
-Many of the Silver Ravens were adventurers or
worshipers of Milani. Jackdaw, a swashbuckler, was
the most powerful and influential of them all, but
others who rose to particular prominence among
the Silver Ravens were Amyreid (a female half-elf
cleric of Milani), Ba (a male halfling enchanter), Kyda
(a female human rogue/bard), and Brakisi (a male
human urban ranger).
"My man also returned from scouting that Raven stronghold I learned about. It seems followers of the archbaron are already present there.
He claims he saw at least one cleric of Asmodeus and four guards along with a dozen zombies."
"It might be risky but I think we should make investigating those ruins a priority"
"An Asmodean cleric? Sounds dangerous but I agree. There's no time to waste."
Right well assume you get a nights rest the proceed to the ruined Silver Raven hideout. You see a few zombies wandering around the two story structure. There is a main entrance but you see two places to the north and south-east were the walls are collapsed enough that you could enter.
"Alright folks, gather 'round for the strategy session. I think the zombies are cheap bait for a trap. We can exploit the weakness in the walls but they might have seen that coming too. Can anyone scout ahead without being seen?"
Dono manages to sneak right up to the zombies without being seen he spots a living guardsmen inside who appears to be bored and isn't very attentive. He gathers that they aren't expecting trouble and that the zombies are here to keep people away.
So what your next move? Try to sneak the whole group past the zombies?
I will give each of you a +2 circumstance bonus to stealth to do so due to Dono scouting things out.
If we pick a fight out here... Then we might get the attention's of the local constabulary. I like the idea of sneaking past this first group... And then seeing what's next...
Mordecai pulls out his shortsword and takes the lead following the directions of Dono.
You sneak past the zombie unseen. entering a large Hall of somekind. It seems before this places closed it was a museum of sorts.
This sprawling, single-story structure has certainly seen
better days. The building’s walls are cracked and bent at places and numerous windows to the left and right are boarded up. Signs advertise
rates and incredible exhibits within, and above everything a
crimson sign announces “Hocum’s Fantasmagorium!”
Let's not spread out too much. Keep your eyes peeled for trouble and anything that will help the raven's
From here you can go into different exhibit halls. There is a magical creature zoo and insectorium and a magical artifact exhibit. There is also a door leading to a restricted area which appears to be locked.
"Restricted area? Gotta be where we gotta get," Freya whispers.
Magical Artifacts Exhibit?... might have some helpful resources?
"That also means they're probably warded. I'd prefer to take my time and examine them before we try to use them. We'll defeat the villains then find our way back here."
Mordecai looks back towards the main entrance where the Cleric of Asmodeus and the Ghouls are. He carefully walks towards the door that looks like it's locked and starts looking for signs of traps.
So... just break down the door or look around for a key?