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"We must pay this person a visit when we're done at the temple." Ackuda says.
"Quit saying these things in front of people," Talathel whispers. Turning to the thug he asks, "Answer the lady's questions. What can you tell us of this witch? What of the smuggler's tunnels? I think leaving him tied here suites the agreement. The authorities are fine as long as we do not tarry too long.
I have never tried this brand new armor in the water, and I am not feeling comfortable about trying it know with all this evil about.To his fellow Pathfinders he asks, "None of you have heard of this SeaWitch either? How about you Gill?"
He refuses to tell you anything more about the Sea Witch. The smuggler's tunnels beneath Gilltown are relatively well-known and he will tell you approximately where the Sea Witch's hideout is.
An assemblage of dilapidated wooden shacks, baked-clay huts, and random tents denotes the neighborhood of Gilltown. The smell of stale water mixed with a hint of long-decayed seafood permeates the air here. Only a handful of people wander the area, the majority of them gillmen, though a smattering of other humanoid races mingle here as well. Most seem to be perusing the small stalls and impromptu markets, haggling with their gillman owners.
Your first order of business in Gilltown should be to find Ollysta Zadrian. Luckily, this is not difficult as the crowd is not particularly large in this section of the city.
When discovered, Ollysta is in the midst of a haggling war with a local gillman merchant attempting to sell her a strange unholy symbol. Ollysta calmly states that she wishes to finish her negotiations before conversing with you.
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Danyn doesn't know as much about religion as he probably should, so he waits for someone else to make it obvious what's going on.
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Ollysta Zadrian continues arguing with the merchant. You hear the value "1500 platinum" come up frequently. Meanwhile Yargos is bouncing up and down nervously and looking from you to Ollysta, clearly wanting to interrupt and get things moving but feeling inadequate compared to the powerful paladin.
"Really, I can't go any lower!" the merchant to Ollysta. The paladin frowns.
"I don't even wish to use it; I just want it off the street and out of the wrong hands. In the name of Iomedae, man, reason with me." Ollysta responds.
"I make no exceptions for Iomedaeans or Sarenites or Pharasmans, my dear. 1500 platinum or I will find a more willing customer."
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Talathel considers waving the blades in front of the haggling pair. Using magic in this sort of exchange is not considered fair play. "Is it?". The half-elf lets out an audible 'hmmmm' then concentrates on the merchant. If he is evil... I will consider it. Certainly the longer we delay the more likely we are to see devils walk among us.
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Forgive me Master Merchant and Mistress Customer but... while I understand that supply and demand govern trades one to another, this item, an item of negative energy enhancement if my eyes do not deceive me... is something that would sell at 11 and 12 thousands rather than the rather high fifteen that is being offered
The merchant looks a bit taken aback at first when Badr speaks up but he eventually relents and admits that that is the true market price of the item. Ollysta Zadrian thanks him for finally being reasonable and counts out the money to buy the item. Having completed her business, she turns to the party.
"What is it that I may help you with?"
Yargos updates Ollysta on the happenings. The Silver Crusade’s founder and leader is disappointed in Yargos’s recklessness, but is more disturbed at the fact that she did not receive a copy of the Celestial Song as Yargos expected. Ollysta goes on to confirm that she does have knowledge of the twin books, and that the only way to reseal the Infernal Incantation is to reunite it with the Celestial Song, pushing the covers of both tomes against one another.
The gillman merchant tells the party that he saw the cultists and Nicola using one of the Gilltown tunnels. The merchant offers you a map of the specific tunnel network used by the cultists for a modest price of 5 gp.
Ollysta offers to safeguard Yargos Gill while you track down the thieves.
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Danyn frowns at Badr. Perhaps because of his poor manners, but more likely for something altogether unrelated.
-Posted with Wayfinder
The merchant will happily accept the gold. "I'm sorry, I don't know who they worked for or who this Sea Witch is. All I saw was the men going down into the Gilltown tunnels. The map should be able to get you there."
The party works their way through the mostly abandoned gillman smuggling tunnels in order to retrieve the Celestial Song from the thieves following the unknown Sea Witch before its sister book the Infernal Incantations explodes in nastiness and evil.
Following the map, the party is able, after some time, to discover the cavernous headquarters of the Sea Witch's operation. As you approach close to the Sea Witch's home, you begin to hear the distant sounds of angelic chanting. The chanting becomes far more audible as you near, beginning to interrupt even simple conversations due to the echoing noise. Although the words are Celestial, no one can make out the sounds as the words are lost among the cacophony of voices.
The tunnels eventually open to a vast chamber of crudely cut stone that extends upward sixty feet to a large, cavernous ceiling littered with moss-covered pipes. Eight tunnels exit the chamber, four on each side of the room. With the exception of the two southernmost exits, slabs of solid granite block the tunnels several feet down the halls. In the center of each of these six granite slabs is a crude, rusted chain extending into a hole. A set of great stairs begins at the halfway point of the room, ascending upward to a sealed metal door. Inexplicably, the stairs begin at a height of thirty feet off the ground, their base made of the cut stone that fills the room.
The eight tunnels connected to this chamber along the south wall are labelled 1-8. Tunnels 1-3 and 6-8 are blocked by solid granite barriers. (You emerged from either tunnel 4 or 5.) In the center of each barrier, a length of chain hangs from a small hole.
On tunnel #1: "5"
On tunnel #2: "20"
On tunnel #3: "12"
On tunnel #6: "4"
On tunnel #7: "6"
On tunnel #8: "3"
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Ackuda considers the labels and then nods. "They are numbers.
On tunnel #1: "5"
On tunnel #2: "20"
On tunnel #3: "12"
On tunnel #6: "4"
On tunnel #7: "6"
On tunnel #8: "3"
"Some sort of puzzle? My my." he says with a grin. He crouches down for a moment, rattling his dice in his hand. He then looks up and with a smirk, repeats what he said in a shout, and if the others still can't hear him, he points at the first door and holds up five fingers, the second and counts out twenty on his fingers, and so on.
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Danyn stands behind and prepares to engage enemies, hoping against fireballs.
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Badr jerks on the chain on tunnel number 6. First, the granite slab from
which the chain hangs rotates 45 degrees, releasing a torrent of water from behind into the chamber. At the same instant, two identical slabs slide from the ceiling at the entrances to tunnels 4 and 5. The water flows into the antechamber for three rounds before the stone slab rotates back to its original position, locking the water in the room.
The water is about 4 feet deep.
Karasu pulls on two more chains and the water level continues to rise. The part treads water for a few seconds before the water level reaches the top of the platform. Climbing onto the platform, they find that the door is open and they can see into the chamber beyond.
Crudely carved stonework expands into a dank circular chamber. Twin torches on both the eastern and western ends of the cavern illuminate a large stone slab that resides in the northern portion of the chamber. Littering the area around the slab are all manner of strange offerings, ranging from chipped skulls, ancient coins, strange pearls, crude tools, and broken pieces of art. Among all the treasures on the makeshift altar, the largest item appears to be an open tome of the most immaculate bone-white shade. From the tome comes an ear-shattering hymn—a chorus which sings the most beautiful of melodies.
Standing in the room in the midst of completing the Celestial Song ritual is a man with eight octopoid limbs in place of legs, the self-proclaimed Sea Witch.
Karasu runs into the room and sinks his katana deep into the sea witch's flesh. Talathel tries to cast a spell but gets caught on his armor.
Badr steps back and pulls his gun from a giant zip-lock bag. Ackuda shouts at the octopoid man.