The courtyard is strewn with debris. You carefully make your way over to the bodies. Scanning the area, it appears that the western double doors are standing ever so slightly ajar.
The eastern door and most of the east wall is in scaffholding, most of wich has been trashed. It looks like it was first used to gain easy access to the rebuild murals and statues to easily smash those, after which is was torn down.
At first glance the caretakers appear dead, but after close examination it is clear they are alive, but barely so.
They both have an arrow wound between their shoulderblades.
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Able once spend a night gambling with another Pathfinder called Khadim Obaran, who told of his adventures. He recalled the tall tail about using a wayfindwr to locate this door to the west as to run towards under cover of an obscuring mist. Something about a dragon landing on the roof to the east...
"If I remember correctly that door to the west leads to some hallways to the kitchen. A hallway to the north should lead to the north, to a big room. Mind you, I never been there myself"
Slowly both caretakers come to, groaning softly. Their hands instinctively grab. One holds tight to Kuaizi's robes, the other grasps Saphera's arm.
Eyes fluttering open, the caretaker looks confused at Saphera. "...Wha.... who...?"
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Saphera glances around the area while giveing the two men a moment to regain their bearings. After the two seem a little more coherent, she begins talking to them in a soft tone. “Remain calm, you are safe. The Convocation is under attack. It appears you and the other caretakers have sustained some injuries during the assault. My companions and I intend to clear out any hostiles from your structure. Can you remember anything about what happened?”
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The caretaker tries to move a bit and groans, clearly still in a lot of pain.
"Me and Cal here were on "Beetle duty". He glances over to his fellow caretaker, clearly relieved to see that the other man is OK.
"The Mausoleum houses a lot of carrion beetles and if they are cleaning a specimen, it needs checking about every hour. The Mausoleum didnt close for the Convocation. There is always someonen studying or running an experiment."
The man shifts a bit and sits up a bit straigher. "Anyway, me and Cal had just stepped outside to hear the speach and maybe grab a bite to eat when it all went pear shaped. There is not much to tell, we were watching the flying creatures when suddenly I felt a sharp pain and then everything went black. I did not see who attacked us, but I can tell you it was not those winged things. After the trouble with the shadow lodge, powerfull wards were added to the building. The Decemvirate did not want it to become some weird pilgrimage place after they killed the black Matriarch here. So they must be some kind of dragon."
The man rummages in the pouches at his belt. "Here, take these."
He hands over two potion bottles.
"Two potions of lesser restoration. Its not much, but you can use them better then we can. Please check out the Mausoleum. There are more supplies if you go to the Ossuarium in the Mausoleum. Please protect it, there are dangerous books and artifacts in there that must not fall into the wrong hands."
With your help the man manages to stand.
"Yes, there is a toolshed on the outside of the west wing. Its just a shed, so I doubt someone is going to come and loot it. We can hole up in there for a couple of hours if need be."
When you check, there is indeed a toolshed on the outside of the west wing. It suffered little damage.
Checking inside, it has room in the back. Between some bags with plaster and a tarp, you manage to make a good hiding place for the two caretakers.
Both men thank you profusely, and they assure you they will be OK in here.
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Kauizi assists the two caretakers along with Saphera. He's happy to hold onto one of the potions, bowing graciously to the giver. Seeing the impatient Priddy and Able ready to go, Kuaizi nods in agreement. But he softly tells Saphera knowingly, "There is a special wisdom in your heart, Saphera Moonglade-chan. In compassion lies the world's true strength."
And with that, the monk twirls his staff upright once more and takes the lead. Before opening the double doors, he asks, "These doors lead to the hall, Able Stone of the Spiral Clan-san?"
After opening the doors, he briefly takes in the sights and sounds within before proceeding...
When you open the double doors, you see a small, weirdly shaped hallway. The Mausoleum has glowing orbs on the walls providing light.
The hallway goes straight on to what appears to be a room, altough its hard to see from the door opening due to the small entrance.
It also brances off left and right.
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Percival taps Saphera and Kuaizi's shoulders and hand-signals.
Stay silent. Move silent. Eyes open. Ears open.
Less concerned about a trap in here and more an ambush. Better scenario, catch them off guard. Best scenario, nothing in here at all.
Percival flags everyone behind him and signals the same.
The orbs appear to be continual flames, caught in the glass orbs.
From up ahead, you hear soft chittering, and you remember that the caretaker mentioned carrion beetles.
To your left, you see a hallway with barwork, with glass tubes behind it. They are filled with liquid and dead animals. A smell of formaldehyde wafts from that hallway.
To your right, another hallway branches off.
In front of you, the hallway opens up in a small room. It has a large container on wheels on it, and it contains offal. It strangely does not smell.
The walls are all covered in arcane and devine marks.
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Coming up from behind the merciful slayer, Kuaizi nods in agreement with her assessment of the orbs. He steps forward into the intersection, and cautiously listens and looks around for the sights and sounds of any attackers within the mausoleum.
Barring that, he takes a peek around into the room directly ahead of him. His brows furrow at the sight of the offal container.
Everything is silent except the coninuous chittering of the beetles. The sound comes from the room behind the room containing the offal container.
Taking a closer look at the room, it looks like the container is standing on a tile floor that is inlaid with metal.
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Able comes up behind Priddy, and in low voice says
"If these beetles aren't at that organ meat already, maybe we should grab some, and 'bribe' them into not attacking us. Failing that, I have a vial of alchamist fire."
He pats lightly the quickcatch manacle at his belt, light enough not to attracted unwanted attention.
"If we encounter intelligent enough opposition, we might want somebody still able to talk. Takes my full attention to secure one though"
Walking past the beetle room, you take a peek inside.
You can see clean bones on workbenches. They appear to be skeletons in various stages of assembly. You also spot various sizes of metal vats.
Going on trough the small corridor, you see several doors and what appears to be another work area.
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Not wanting to spend that much time in here, Kuaizi also gives the room a once over before heading back out.
Before she has a chance to get far down the hall heading north, the monk whispers, "Perhaps we should check those rooms first, Saphera Moonglade-chan?" He points to the south, "To be thorough."
Walking down the hall, you see a work area separated from the rest by bars. Big slabs with drainage holes stand in their own alcove.
Tables before the slabs hold an asortment of knives and other disection tools.
On the other side you can see large jars holding preserved specimens. A strong smell of formaldehyde hangs around the rooms.
You find no traps on the door.
A long corridor branches off to the left. A door stands in front of you. There is a double door further down the hallway.
With Able checking out the long curridor, suddenly a cloaked and masked figure steps from behind a corner and looses an arrow!
It whistles down the corridor, striking him in the shoulder!
Init order:
27 Saphera
18 Zanu
17 Priddy
15 Shooty bad guy
10 Able
10 Kuaizi
9 Hassari
27 Saphera
18 Zanu
17 Priddy
15 Shooty bad guy 1 and 2
10 Able
10 Kuaizi
9 Hassari
8 Guy in robes
From behind another corner another cloaked figure appears. This one takes a shot at Zanu.
The workbenches give you partial cover however, and the arrow hits a poor helpless workbench instead.
With priddy defending able, he also gets an arrow his way.
But it harmlessly deflects of his shield.
Kuaizi steps into the line of fire and takes up a defensive position. Hoping to draw fire away from Zanu if needed. "Please, take a moment to reconsider. You are clearly outnumbered. Surrender!"
From a small corridor a figure steps back, clothed differently then the others and casts a spell.
But is misses Kuaizi.