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"Ah! Good work, gentlemen. Beaten in a drinkin' contest. How can I ever live down tha shame?"
After receiving the message and reading it, he chugs the last mug of ale that he carried from the Publican and slams it down on Jenk's desk, with a loud belch.
"Indelicate? Us? Har! Don't ye worry, we'll have those items delivered right quick."
Jenk seems satisfied with the answers and outcome of the meeting.
"Alright then! Off you go, and let me know when you're done. Remember - no funny business. We want these people on our side."
After you're done in the Barracuda Cartage, you move to the location specified in Spider's letter.
The journey doesn't take long, but you find yourselves moving through less and less people as you approach your destination. Walking people, anyway.
This place seems to be the part of town for the less fortunate. The already bleak buildings of Riddleport start to look more and more broken down as you move
towards the arena.
Tenements sprawl across the portion of the Wharf District between Zincher’s Arena and the solid-looking Gas Forges. A shop with a sign reading 'Seven Needles' stands at the end of a dim, trash-strewn alley.
The tattoo parlor is abandoned, its windows cracked and portions of its wooden trim looking like they were removed long ago. Getting in is not a problem. Either through one of the windows or cranky, unlocked door.
A thin, but very noticable dust layer covers the half-rotten wooden floor, and a few puddles, results of holes in the roof, produce a damp, moldy odour.
Looking around, you notice a few sets of footprints in the dust, converging towards the northeast corner.
The footsteps lead to a semi-rotten carpet thrown over the floor. It was recently moved, however, and removing it from its place reveals a trap door.
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"Hmm... If this is it, we should see signs of people walking through somewhere." Pale green eyes darting too and fro, she searches the ground, checking for any disturbed dust or tracked water. Her movements are almost like that of a hummingbird: quick and somewhat jerky.
Her face brightens, and with eyes sparkling she pipes up: "Hey, look guys! Footprints! They head over to the northeast corner." She seems genuinely surprised at her success and quite proud of herself.
On a whim, she places her tiny foot into the nearest print, then another, as she steps in their footprints and makes her way toward the northeast corner. Her eyes are focused on the footprints tracked in the dust.
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"Oooo!" Pai quietly squeals, jiggling with excitement. All this tracking is making her feel a mite sneaky and a lot excited. Then Calvert's words finally register in her mind, giving her pause. She suddenly freezes, then swivels to look up at Gru'Gar.
"Any ideas, fearless leader?" She chirps.
You see that the half-corroded hinges on the trap door are already loose, and you simply rip the entire thing out, revealing a ladder to the underground.
The trap door in the tattoo parlor leads to a series of stone tunnels beneath Riddleport. While they are not polished marble, someone definitely maintains the area in workable condition.
Somehow, the air still smells of blood, and animal urine - even if only slightly. The floor is otherwise swept, and the ceilings are illuminated with stones that burn a heatless, magical flame.
The stones are attached to the ceiling with a small chain each. Next to each stone you can find a series of three loops in the ceiling, and a triangular cloth hanging from one or two loops by hooks secured to each corner.
The hall just underneath the trap door is rather wide, but quickly narrows into a 10-ft wide tunnel leading deeper into the complex. In the middle of the tunnel, you see a simple drawing made of geometric shapes.
These stones are imbued with Continual flame
The drawing in the tunnel is actually a glyph of warding. What does it do, however, is a mystery. Someone with a knack for the arcane might try.
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"Well right now I am thinking play it by ear. To disrupt this I am almost thinking that Mistress Pamodae has already gotten something in mind."
Tapping his finger on the box
"Remember she said that she would not open the box and not to hold the dagger. And if Jenk held it there would be an opening at the Barracuda Cartage.
So my only thought right now is to convince the leader of the cult to hold the dagger and see what happens."
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While still squeezing his bulky armor and weapons through the opening of the trap door, accompanied by a lot of colorful phrases in Dwarven that should not be repeated, Reidog hears Gru'Gar's suggestion.
The realization stops him mid-swear.
"Boss, yer brilliant. That devil turned fairy harlot did warn us 'bout the dagger. Oh, them tricksy vengeful Calistrians!
I'd suggest we make sure we's far away from tha box when it does get opened."
Together Myth and Gru'Gar check everything and find out that the glyph is set to trigger a trap but you do not know what it does.
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Pai feels kind of useless right now. All the big guys are figuring things out, and she feels like a little kid tagging along with a bunch of grownups during a researching jaunt in the most boring section of the library. Knowing better than to wander around in case of traps, she stays put and stares up at the triangular pieces of cloth. "Hmmm... I wonder what those cloths are for. Oh, what spell, Conney?"
Calvert and Conney together find out that this is a magical trap that will cast ‘dispel magic’ on one of the walls. You believe you could disarm it or dispel it.
Sapper receives guidance from Calvert and moves in with his tools and carefully moves around the rune to not trigger it.
After careful examination, he works his magic and cuts some of the rune's connecting lines. The glow dissipates without anything being triggered.
You continue to move through the narrow tunnel, revealing a large room on the other end. Several tunnels meet in this room. Three wooden tables and a number of chairs are stacked here, out of the way, along with a shipping crate about two feet square. To the east, a portion of the stone wall stands ajar a few inches .
Pai concentrates and hears faint moaning, chanting and whipping sounds.
You slowly walk forward.
While nobody is here now, it seems this place is a 'common room' where the cult spends their time when not performing their duties or sleeping. It is empty now, however. Most of the place is tidy, except for a few mugs and plates on the tables in the room. Nothing special.
The shipping crate is filled with... dolls? Dolls without mouths nonetheless.
These dolls are no mere toys, but rather icons of Lissala carved with careful precision from quality wood and coated in gold paint.
The chanting seems to come from almost everywhere.
The whipping and mouning comes from the room next to you.
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Pai nods at Conney's words, speaking low so her voice won't carry. "Yeah, and we have to be careful we don't make it too obvious. What Apsis agent would be careless enough to leave their badge right where they were messing with things? I would think that would be too convenient and be suspicious about where it really came from. But that's just me. Anyway, we need to find someone to give this stuff to, so I say we follow the sounds. If we bumble into someplace we're not meant to be, all the better."
Taking one last curious and disgusted look at the mouthless dolls, Pai turns and heads toward the room from which the whipping and moaning can be heard. Following the wall around in search of the door, she pauses at the first one she finds, waiting for the others to join her. Then she whispers: "Check for traps, anyone? Just in case?"
You move to the southwestern room.
This room appears at first glance to be an operating theater, as it contains cots draped in clean sheets and tables neatly stacked with surgical implements and dressings, but mixed among the surgical implements are whips, scourges, and other tools of torture.
You find three Lissalan cultists on the tables, unconscious, and two tieflings move between the priests, peeling away skin in the shape of the Sihedron rune and occasionally whipping.
A venomous snake whithers on the floor, and observes the process.
As soon as the specialists notice you, they start shouting: "Hey! You have no business here! Get out or we'll cut you up into little pieces!", and turn their knives towards you with threatening expressions.
The snake hisses at you wildly.