After Kayleigh settles her stings Emi is able to think more clearly. She's glad their obligation to Madame Halvara is settled, but she's a little hooked on the mystery they've found.
Wasps. Camina was a Callistrian well past the bitter end.
She doesn't quite understand Helvara. She's interested enough to buy the whole building for access to the shrine, which they could probably gained simply by breaking in honestly. But now she seems to be giving up very abruptly.
Of course she was just after the circlet really. But after this much trouble and expense, why quit so easily? Maybe she isn't and she's just dismissing us. But why give up her leverage over us if she's not through? The trail seems the circlet seems more cold than dead to me..."
She just feels in her gut that something about this doesn't fit right.
"What will you do with this place now?" Emi asks Helvara.
As the others make Kayleigh realize that the wasps were summoned and likely part of an undead haunting, the young priestess furrows her forehead and purses her lips in thought. She asks Regeris if he spied anything of interest on his brief return trip into the sarcophagus room before turning to the beheaded statue with the defiled skull on it.
"Is it possible the skull atop the statue is actually Saint Camina's and the one in the shattered sarcophagus belongs to someone else? Tassira--could you clean that vile rune off the skull with magic? Or maybe a bit of elbow grease would work just as well...."
Kayleigh tries her best to match the number of skulls present to the number of skeletal bodies to see if they match.
HELVARA: "The shrine was more of a secret place, at least in the stories. A devotion to Calistria. And perhaps a tomb."
"These tunnels are from well before the establishment of the Gray, so people were still buried in graves and tombs around the city - such as it was."
********************
[Statue Near the Crevasse] Tassira detects nothing magical about the statue. The sculpting is very fine when you brush away the thick layer of dust and reveal the detail. The woman's pose is daring, her expression confrontational. Her thin dress is cut very low and very high, revealing a lithe elven shape.
A close study of the statue reveals nothing further, other than Regeris's confirmation that it is very likely a depiction of Calistria. There's no inscriptions of any kind and the goddess's symbol is not in evidence.
***********************
The madame returns Regeris's glare, clearly unintimidated by the inquisitor's questioning.
"I have no idea what might be down here. If this is Camina's Grotto - and I believe that it is - then we should find a shrine nearby. The statue over there makes me think it's true. If the shrine's undisturbed, there may be a magical circlet to be claimed there. She wrote of the item many times in her diary - how it helped her to seduce and ultimately manipulate the weak men of her day. That's my motivation for being here - you've earned the right to know that truth through Tassira's blood." She favors the shaken mage with a worried smile.
"Camina followed the savored sting. And she used the powers of the circlet to engage in acts of jealous vengeance - as is the wont of the goddess she served. But the bad blood she created through her acts was her ultimate undoing - she herself was betrayed and murdered. But Calistria is not my goddess, and my motives are not so dark. I simply wish to recover the item and put it to more basic and lucrative uses."
"I give you my word that I've never been beyond the locked door you defeated. And that's enough honesty for one day, thank you very much. Now if everyone's capable of going on, let's see about that tunnel over there." She nods in the direction of the far side of the bridge.
*****************************
Beyond the bridge the tunnel only extends about two hundred feet before ending in a new chamber. This cavern is half-filled by a huge rockfall - the left chamber wall has essentially collapsed into the room. On the far side of the cavern is a set of wide stone steps leading up to a stone archway.
As the light from Nebbin's sword reveals the arch you see that the door standing within has been splintered by some great force. Pieces of the door still hang off the hinges and lie scattered across the steps. The space beyond the door is completely dark.
Helvara lets out an audible sigh of disappointment when she sees the wreckage.
"So I'm not the first to solve this riddle," she mumbles, advancing cautiously towards the steps. "Let's hope whatever did that is long gone."
*************************
The chamber beyond the door is about 20' x 40' with a ceiling maybe 12' high. Its walls are covered with frescoes, but the fine artistry has been destroyed or obscured in most places by lyme flow. On the northern end of the chamber is a statue of handsome female but the statue has been defaced, its head removed, and in its place sits a gaping skull. At the foot of the statue near the far wall is a macabre pile of bones and rotted cloth, like several corpses were piled here one upon another and left to rot.
Beside the pile of carnage is a rough hole in the wall where the masonry has been punched through, revealing a tunnel that was once sealed. The blocks from this excavation are scattered along the far wall.
Immediately to the left as you enter is an alcove that holds a basin filled with some dank brown fluid. Dark stains on the walls and in patches on the floor speak to the slaughter that was done here. The layer of dust throughout the room and the advanced state of decay implies that what happened here happened a long time ago - perhaps years.
Helvara steps carefully into the room with the rest of the group, her expression one of disappointment and disgust.
"The circlet was said to be a plain ivory band, unremarkable in appearance but potent in effect. It could still be here I suppose." It's pretty obvious she doesn't believe her own words.
*************************************
There's really no telling how long it's been since this ruin happened. Months or years? Long enough that the bodies have decomposed to so much filth. There are six articulated bodies entangled together in the heap of gore. Two of the bodies are missing their heads. All of them are wearing soiled white robes.
The leering skull atop the defaced statue has a symbol of some kind painted on its forehead in flaking brown.
There are no sources of magic in this chamber apparent to Tassira's scan.
***********************************
All you can really deduce is that the symbol references some kind of power that was used as part of the defilement of this once hallowed ground. It's not a symbol of any deity that any of you recognize, nor is it a symbol from any magic language that Tassira recalls. Perhaps with access to another expert or a source of deep lore you could learn more.
Examination of the narrow hole in the wall shows that there's probably a second chamber at the end of the passage. Just enough masonry has been pulled down that a normal sized-human could squeeze through the opening into the low tunnel. Nebbin might need to contort himself to squeeze through.
******************************
Nebbin has to turn sideways to squeeze his massive frame through the opening. After ten feet of this, he comes into a small chamber with a sarcophagus. Its lid lies broken on the ground and the contents of the container are exposed. Within lays a beautiful elven woman lying in state, her golden tresses arrayed in braids around her. Her elegant features seem untouched by the years, almost as if she might open her eyes any moment and rise from her deathbed.
No sooner does this odd thought cross Nebbin's mind then she seems to do exactly that. Her blue eyes snap open, her body goes rigid, her back arching and her mouth opening in a sudden scream. As he watches her smooth skin seems to wither and decay before his eyes and the piercing note of her scream turns into a horrible buzzing that fills the room. A flood of golden wasps erupts from her mouth and attacks the huge warrior and the line of others emerging from the tunnel.
***********************************
Regeris squeezes through the cramped tunnel into the tomb. As Nebbin found, the slab that once sealed the sarcophagus is broken into pieces and lies within the box and around it on the floor. The body within is a desiccated corpse - nothing like the fair elven woman that Nebbin saw when he peered over the edge. The garment she was buried in has rotted to tatters and anything valuable that might have been interred with her has been removed. It seems there's nothing left here to recover. This trip underground has been a boondoggle.
Regeris's more exhaustive search still turns up nothing. This place has been thoroughly pillaged and defiled, and he sees no clues to any further caches or points of curiosity. There's a building sense of dread in the tomb, like the horror that expressed itself as a swarm of stinging wasps might be somehow reconstituting.
***************************************
Each one of you in turn comes swatting their way back through the archway, down the steps and into the exterior chamber - everyone except Regeris. As the light-bearers pass the arch, the foyer room grows dark again except for the flicker of Regeris's light, reflecting down the tunnel. The wasps buzz furiously within the shrine but stop short of the threshold and the steps.
Within the inner tomb, Regeris sees the same wicked rune painted in flaking blood on the broken sarcophagus lid. He's sure he's seen the rune before. He's also sure it's obscure. The buzzing grows louder down the tunnel as the party flees beyond the power of the haunting here.
Tassira shrugs and nods. "I believe I could."
She'll do so once the party returns to the aforementioned skull.
Nebbin turns to leave and then stops in a sudden halt as the others decide they're not ready to go yet. He looks indecisively back and forth between everyone for a few moments before moving closer toward Kayleigh and Tassira.
Helvara smiles weakly at Emi's question.
"It's always a good idea to have a backup plan, you know. That floating hulk isn't likely to last forever, and the river slime isn't a smell that appreciates over time."
"This place upstairs has good bones and a colorful history. Still seems like a good investment, but having a door to a haunted vault under the city? And that crack in Camina's Grotto.. who knows where that could go!"
"It is kind of sexy though, isn't it?"
She catches the drift of Kayleigh's question. "What about the wasps? Would they come back? Can you cleanse the place somehow?"
"So... you plan to make it into a brothel, with an entrance to an underground dungeon?" Tassira arches an eyebrow as she feels a familiar tingle in her fingers.
"...that idea sounds rather interesting."
Regeris nods slowly. "The key to solving any kind of curse or haunt is to understand the source and put the core issue at ease. An angry spirit is angry for a reason. So make it happy. Frankly, now that I think about it, cleaning up the defiled statue and restoring it to its former beauty may solve the problem. But if we want to return there, I want that rune identified. It's beyond my ken and we'll want to know who defiled the shrine."
He blows out his cheeks for a moment. "I'm well-versed in religious iconography and didn't recognize it. That means that it's likely some cult to a demon lord or some other obscure evil." He looks to Helvara. "And if we identify the rune, we then may know who has the circlet. There can only be so many weird obscure cults in Korvosa. So now... do we know any experts on religious or arcane obscura?"
Tassira ponders Regeris' question...
Emi blinks at Helvara's "sexy" comment. Getting from black trench crawling with fungal-infected giant bugs to anything arousing beggars her imagination.
"Well..." she replies looking around. "I don't know if this place could ever really be sealed against new intruders. If part of your idea is allowing customers down here you'd probably want to find yourself a good lawyer."
So I guess she was just that confident the circlet would be here. When it wasn't right where it was supposed to be, she dropped it instantly. Moody. I wonder what her bad side is like?"
Listening in on Regeris talk about the wasps, it sounds to Emileva that they are thinking along the same lines.
"So you think the wasps are not a defense put in place at the time of burial, but a reaction to later events? I was wondering how anyone would be able to stick around in there long enough to break the sarcophagus with those wasps stinging. Maybe they weren't there yet?"
Helvara's planning on opening the Korvosan equivalent of the Yawning Portal?
"No! No, I'm reconsidering doing anything at all with the place. It's sexy in a wicked sense - like a rumor. An extra sense of danger associated with an urban legend. Brothels benefit sometimes from that kind of stuff."
"But seeing the reality of it up close.. I'm worried about owning the place even if I put a good lock on that door. That place is surely haunted," pointing back at the shrine. The buzzing has subsided completely.
"If Camina's spirit was put to rest, there would only be the chasm, and the risk of your army of bugs. I suppose if Camina herself could live with that, so could I. Maybe some intrepid adventurers would come along interested in crawling around in the guts of the world, and find out where that leads."
"In the meantime, once we've put Camina's spirit to rest, I could perhaps look up that symbol in the Theumanexus archives. The University of Korvosa could also be of assistance..."
"We have a good relationship with the Pharasmans. I could approach them. I admit I'm interested now - and whatever desecrated this shrine may do far worse."
The mageling walks over to the desecrated skull and starts repeatedly casting prestidigitation until all the grime and grit has been cleaned from it.
I probably confused you by not updating the map again after combat ended. Everyone is in the outer (natural) chamber. One skull is inside the shrine, still sitting on the shoulders of the broken statue. There's another sitting in the foul pool of water in the font standing in the southern nook. The dried up corpse in the sarcophagus was intact.
Is Tassira re-entering the shrine to get one of these skulls?
Standing outside the shrine Tassira cannot tell anything about the swarm except that it's stopped buzzing. Peaking within, she sees no sign of it at all. Not even the crispy ones that died in her earlier pyrotechnic show. There's just the sad, defaced statue at the far end of the room, the tunnel in the wall with its rubble, and the despoiled font nearer to hand.
With a heavy heart and a sigh, Tassira sets to work cleaning the filth and desecration off of the skull on the statue.
However, she's ready to run at the first sign of trouble.
Tassira's able to take down the skull and remove the markings. The statue's head is sitting among the cobwebs on the ground behind the plinth. There are two more skeletons than there are skulls in the mass of rot in the corner. The statue skull and the font skull seem to account for all the victims' anatomy. The shriveled thing in the coffin box seemed intact. In fact the swarm came out of its mouth.
Emileva watches Tassira from the doorway while she's inside the shrine. It occurs to her that maybe concentrating on the saint might not be the only route to explore.
"All of those people were dressed the same. Maybe they were clergy? Do you think a priest of Callistria is needed to reconsecrate the shrine?" she asks Tassira.
"We probably will. I've tidied up what I could, but I think that's the limit of what I can do."
"Let's go home."
Regeris frowns as he looks at the skull. "One moment. Give me space."
Regeris removes the skull, and takes the statue's head before placing it back ontop of the statue. He then returns the skull to the coffin, carefully and respectfully.
As he does so, he wracks his brain to remember a Calistrian prayer.
Kayleigh had expected Tassira to use magic--one of those presto-cleano spells--to scour the vile rune off the skull atop the ruined statue; when she sees the tall woman scrubbing by hand, she sheepishly decides to help out herself.
First she moves to the font, dips one fingertip in tentatively (she's heard of fonts of acid in some old pulp adventures she read in the past!), and--assuming she's unharmed--scoops the skull out of the water. While she moves to place the skull with the pile of bodies, she tells the others, "I intend to try to slip back into the crypt to try to clean the other rune off the sarcophagus." After waiting a beat, she wryly adds, "I imagine I'll scream quite loudly if the wasps return."
She fixes Nebbin with a stare that brooks no discussion or negotiation. "You stay with the others. There's no reason for both of us to get stung if things go south."
The statue's head won't sit back on the neck without finding more pieces where the neck was hacked and applying some professional help.
Regeris is able to recall something from his schooling days, but if there's any effect on the shrine it's not observable.
His whispered prayer echoes down the tight passage as Kayleigh goes back into the tomb (taking Regeris's stone light source, I'm guessing. Tassira herself, Nebbin's sword and Helvara's sunrod are the other current sources). The tomb lid lies in many pieces. One big piece sits flat on the ground, outside-up, with most of the symbol scorched into the stone. Another heavy-looking piece of the lid sits in the box, by the feet of the corpse. It too bears part of the symbol. There are surely others among the rubble in the corners of the room. Something shattered this lid.
The chamber grows increasingly stuffy as Kayleigh looks around at the size of her intended task. Camina's dry sockets seem to follow her around the room.
Balancing herself with a hand to the wall, her fingers come away sticky.
Kayleigh begins to realize that the scope of her avowed task may be beyond her ability; besides, if the evil rune is broken, its wicked magic should be nullified, right? The stuffiness of the crypt is worrisome, and the priestess has no idea what to make of the tacky wall.
"We'll try to fix this senseless desecration," Kayleigh whispers to the corpse in a raspy, frightened tone before deciding to go back to the others to report.
Tassira groans and rubs her back as she finally finishes cleaning up what she can.
She walks back to Helvara and the others, trying to straighten her posture up.
"Excuse me... madame?" The mageling clears her throat before she speaks any further. "You said that you didn't follow Calistria--may I ask which deity you do follow? I was going to save the question for when we're done here..."
Regeris frowns as he looks over the place. "This is getting frustrating. It may be worth our efforts to head out and do some research before returning."
Helvara takes a last look around the shrine as everyone starts to move back down the passage to the grotto. She smiles at Tassira's question and whispers her answer, "Desna. Generations back on both sides of my family, believe it or not."
She draws her rapier again, holding her sunrod high as the group comes back into the grotto. Every odd shadow shift looks like a fungus covered bug as the various light sources play around the cave. On the far side, the statue of Calistria still stands her vigil. The twisting tunnel beyond ascends steadily until you come back to the arch and the basement room.
In the flat above it's a rainy late morning. Thunder crashes outside and rain comes down in torrents - that is in the places where the tight-packed buildings and overhanging roofs allow. In most places the rainwater drips down in streams or comes down in linear sheets along seams in the makeshift covering above. This neighborhood and all those surrounding are notorious for their 'alternate routes', paths over rooftops and through upper floors of buildings. 'The Shingles' is the local name for the slum above the slum that lurks over your heads.
Tassira's ears turn a bit red when Helvara whispers in her ear.
She licks her lips. They suddenly felt dry.
-----------------
At once disappointed and relieved to be back outside (alas, rain simply never seemed to agree with her), Tassira turns to the others and flexes her fingers. "I'm planning to visit Theumanexus. There might be something in their archives that might shed some light on that symbol we found down below."
"In the meantime, it'd probably be a good idea for someone to find a Calistrian priest. Considering it was once a place sacred to Calistria, it might be the only acceptable course of action."
When the question of finding a Callistrian priest comes up, Emi asks Helvara "is that something you would agree to? The place may be of great importance to them as well. They might pressure you for access. On the other hand, they might also make you a nice offer for the place."
She adds to Helvara before they part ways "we would appreciate it if you brought it to Devargo's attention that we make deals in good faith, and keep our bargains. Eel's End looms large in the neighborhood, and it could someday be good he knows it."
To the rest of the party:
"If any of you need me along I'll go with you. Otherwise I'll go on back to the temple."
Regeris glances over to Emi, and nods, impressed at her political awareness. "Since we have the time, rather than the Pharasmans I'm going to check in at the Acadamae. The Bank of Abadar also has an excellent library but... I'd rather avoid that for now. I'd rather put off the inevitable, but tedious conversation."
Tassira's face darkens at the mention of the Acadamae. "Ugh."
"The streets still aren't entirely safe," Kayleigh opines. "We should probably travel in groups. Maybe you could go with Tassira, Emi, while Nebbin and I accompany Regeris."
Regeris nods over to Kayleigh. "Perhaps Nebbin can learn something at the Acadamae."
Kayleigh flashes Regeris the slightest of frowns before nodding in agreement and adding, "Perhaps we all can. I've never had a reason to visit the place before."
Tassira shakes her head. "Unless you're interested in learning how to properly bend the knee to devils, they've nothing to offer that Theumanexus cannot as well."
Nebbin smiles at Kayleigh's suggestion.
Of course I'll go with her! Did she think I'd let her get hurt?
"Do you think I can learn magic?" Nebbin asks, at Regeris' comment. "That would be neat, but it seems hard."
He wiggles his thick fingers.
"I don't think they're really made for magic," he says.
Kayleigh finds herself smiling at Nebbin's wiggling fingers and the idea of him as a wizard. A strange thought suddenly crosses her mind: Could he become a paladin?
Turning to Tassira, the priestess says, "You could be onto something with your idea of bringing in a Calistrian. Fixing the haunting might be as simple as having a priest or priestess of Calistria cast a consecrate spell in the crypt. Something to consider, I guess."
"Of course, there's the question of where we'll find a Calistrian priest..."
"Oh--her faith has a shrine in the Pantheon of Many," Kayleigh answers quickly. "Though that's a long walk from here."
"Really? That's in South Shore--it's not too far from home."
Back when there weren't daily riots in the village square, there were semi-reliable coach services to be found from Northpoint to the Gold Market, from Citadel Hill to the Castle. Even from Garrison Hill and (on solemn occasions) to The Grey. But these days all that is gone and every journey across the city is an arduous task.
The group headed for the Acadamae has the easier road. Down side-streets to the Narrows and over one of the rickety wooden bridges spanning the channel - a trek made almost entirely with some kind of cover from the rain. Then comes the Narrow Path.
All the bridges save the one in front of the Temple of Aroden spill their traffic onto the Narrow Path. This is a road running along the foot of the outer city wall. This way offers no cover from the storm at all and there's no choice but to get soaked through and through getting to the Guard Tower Gate. The Guard Tower is a modest name for the tallest, most massive structure in the city. The tower soars well over 200' into the air, with the top-most floors acting as headquarters of the Sable Company. The Narrow Path runs straight under the Tower Guard gate and right through the base of the massive fortification. Through to the base of Citadel Hill and the streets of the district known as The Heights.
Even in the rain, the crowd here is thick. The guards in the Guard Tower are taking their jobs seriously. Asking questions. Reminding people of the curfew at sunset. The group passes through their checkpoint easily enough, but getting to the checkpoint takes forever in the rain.
The group finds the streets surrounding the massive Acadamae to be largely empty. The rain is probably enough to explain it alone, but there are very few people to be seen. No commerce at all. Taking the through-streets is a tough walk up slippery cobbles, but also the quickest way up the hill and to the huge walls of the school.
At the gatehouse you find a closed and locked outer gate. There is a sign.
"Due to recent events in the City, the Wise Masters of the school have closed the Acadamae to public admittance at this time. As in all things, the well-being of our charges, your children, is our primary concern. The gates of the Acadamae will re-open when the present unpleasantness has passed."
Lurking in the shadows beyond the gate and the sign you can make out a guard standing at attention by the inner door. Looking around the soaked street, a single open door at the end of the block offers respite from the weather. The sign outside the place reads, "The Upslope House". It looks large enough to be an inn, but such businesses aren't allowed in the Heights.
"Hello?" Nebbin calls. "We need to come into the Acadmae. We're not the public, we're city guards..."
Kayleigh offers the guard a winsome smile just in case the fellow's intimidated by Nebbin's size and physique. She explains the party's needs and asks if the watchman might inquire if someone within the school might be able to assist them.
The guard behind the gate might as well be made of stone. Nebbin's call goes entirely unremarked.
---
The paths to Theumanexus are many and none of them are short. Sticking with Helvara and the boys for the first leg gets you as far as the Temple of Aroden and the Jeggare bridge. Parting ways at the bridge, the next leg is a long wet walk down the length of the city, through the Gold Market, Eodred's Square and eventually to the High Bridge.
You cross the river through sheets of rain and arrive on the other side of the huge river completely soaked. Happily it's a relatively short walk of some dozen further blocks before Tassira comes to the familiar streets around the school.
The school consists of three buildings. The main building is an ancient noble manor from the city's early days, now named Verso Manor. This building is administrative, faculty offices and some few classrooms. Toryr Hall is a small, simple building with several classrooms. Geezlebottle Hall is an odd, somewhat iconic building in that it's built half at Gnome/Halfling scale and half in Human scale. The short side of the house has twice as many floors (the human side being just a tad higher than standard at the ceiling). The building is part residence hall, part library. The whole of the college sits clustered together, surrounded by a wall of hedges.
Classes scheduled for today will be over by now. Students will be in their dorms, in the library, or in study with faculty somewhere on campus.
Regeris sighs miserably. "Naturally. The library of Abadar may be accessible but I am loathe to return to the Bank. Perhaps we could speak to the Pharasmans, unless there are better ideas."
Tassira makes a beeline for Geezlebottle Hall's human-sized doors and gets inside.
Once she's out of the rain, she starts casting prestidigitation on herself repeatedly, drying her clothes and backpack.
"Now that we're here, the library should be open to us. I'm a graduate--they should allow the two of us to use it."