With a massive grinding crash the tunnel collapses behind you.
The Sarenites look at each other then at one of their number expectantly.
The focus of their attention steps forward.
I am called 'Piria', she says. We are the 'Dawnflower Blossoms' - We are all worshippers of the Dawnflower. We can lead you to our sanctuary... I think. She gestures at two of their number - a pair of women, one human, the other halfling.
Xene and Sophone have been to the Vault of Sarenrae before though they will need to think hard and consult with each other to help.
|
Azoth grabs his shield off his back and puts it in front of him in one fluid, rapid motion. He stands, looking around in the darkness nervously, his other hand on the hilt of his cutlass. Sweat gleams on his forehead.
"Let's just be gettin' a move on, eh? I don't like cramped places unless they be the deck of a seaborne ship!"
The worship of Sarenrae has been illegal in Taldor since the Great Purge of 4528 ar. The degree to which her followers are persecuted has waxed and waned over the last 200 years. Sarenrae worship is much more common outside of Taldor’s major urban centers (Cassomir and Oppara), and away from the xenophobic southern border region (which includes the city of Zimar).
The brutality of the recent raid on the Dawnflower Blossoms does not reflect the current government’s attitude toward Sarenites within Taldor’s borders. It is more likely to be the result of a single, ultra-patriotic zealot.
The catacombs of Oppara are a mix of ancient sewer lines, natural caves, and old city streets and buildings buried centuries or even millennia ago. The ground beneath the city is literally honeycombed by countless tunnels and chambers. The catacombs have been used throughout Oppara’s history as a meeting place for secret organizations.
Oppara was supposedly founded over 6,000 years ago by the last descendants of ancient Azlant, and its catacombs are said to contain a few deep ruins dating back to this time.
Countless entrances into the catacombs once existed from the surface. Most were destroyed or bricked up centuries ago, following a nasty torble infestation that was believed to have originated in the catacombs.
You push on down the dark and sometimes dank tunnels. Your guides navigate the catacombs from memory, often counseling one another privately when unsure which way to go. More than once they double back after reaching a dead end, evidence that their knowledge of the tunnel systems is not perfect.
Eris
Rikas
Takahiro
Azoth
You notice as you push on down your latest tunnel a marked absence of vermin, and an increase in cobwebs.
[spoiler]
?
Eris
Rikas
Takahiro
Azoth
Despite the dark or maybe because of it and Rikas and Takahiros' excellence of vision they can make out a foreleg of something chitinous up ahead, just protruding from a side tunnel up just up ahead... something big.
Takahiro
Rikas
Eris (the amazing fast)
Azoth
Spider
Okay. All act. The spider is aware of you and you of it so initiative applies.
Rikas 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26
Eris (the amazing fast) 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (12) + 12 = 24
Takahiro 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22
Azoth 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18
Then the spider... consider the bottom edge of the map to be a wall.
You guys are up.
"Arghhh! Spider! Giant spider!" Eris moves his hands in complex motions, pointing in the direction of the giant arachnid.
Spider Save
The samurai rushes forward and attacks it. His attacks cut deep into its foreleg and as well as carrying into its body proper.
Azoth is up.
Map is updated.
Azoths hit bounces of its armored chitin.
The creature bunches up under the attacks, backing away (go for your AoOs) then lashes out.
It attacks the sea reaver with a vicious bite.
+ DC 21 save.
Round 2 - back to you. Azoth still has his AoO.
The AoO drops the spider... ignore the hit/save.
The sarenites cluck their tongues in fear of the huge arachnid and continue to lead you through the tunnels.
We are oppressed for our faith but the Dawn brings new hope, they say. They talk about their time of conversion or their expressions of faith for nearly half an hour.
Here we are, the say over one stretch of tunnels that looks much the same as any other but they seem happier about it. They lead you confidently from this point.
In over 20 minutes you seem to arrive at your destination.
In the center of this large, natural cavern, easily more than forty feet in height, stands the ruin of a truly ancient temple constructed of chipped grey and white marble. Its domed roof collapsed long ago, but the structure is otherwise in remarkably good shape. Where doors must once have hung, a small campfire now burns, surrounded by piles of ragged but neatly folded bedding.
Seven people sit huddled around the small campfire to ward off the damp and cold of the cavern. As soon as they spot the approaching party, they pick up wooden clubs and leap to their feet suspiciously. One of the cult members calls out, “Well met by moonlight, sisters and brothers, but soon the dawn will come!” Upon hearing the coded greeting, the cultists by the fire set down their weapons and welcome you and their fellow Sarenites to the camp.
Greetings, one of their members says. I am Akkuret - I am a lay priest of the Dawnflower.
Millennia ago, this magnificent temple served as the center of Taldan Sarenrae worship. As time wore on and the faith’s popularity gave way to the veneration of Aroden, the temple, like so much of ancient Oppara, was built over and lost beneath countless layers or new development. Now, the Dawnflower Blossoms and other faithful of Sarenrae use this as a gathering place for our largest meetings and a refuge in dangerous times, he explains.
Eat with us, he points to the meal that the group were eating before your arrival. We've already started but there is enough for all.
There is wine enough.
The city has many eyes, he says. The slim, redheaded human man with pinched features nods There is time enough to eat as we talk. Salaan and Mibosk are grateful, as am I that the Blossoms are safe.
They allow you and the newly arrived cultists to eat and drink your fill, they too eat.
Akkuret starts discuss some new developments with the group.
There is one called 'Chalfon Dalsine' - he is a very bad man. He makes much trouble for us, for all Sarenites. They say he is pathfinder as well. You know this too, yes?
|
"Last I heard he was only nearly a Pathfinder. We do need to track him down and recover some property, actually. If you can point us in the right direction, I'm sure we can introduce his neck to some bladed justice." As if to emphasize his point, he uses a dagger to pick his teeth clean. And by emphasize the point, I of course mean the tips of his fanged maw.
Akkuret nods but says The dawnflower counsels mercy as well. If he could be turned from his ways? That would be reason to spare him.
We know something of him... He spent some few years roaming the Inner Sea region in search of distractions after he left Absolom. Sothis and Katapesh, Ilizmagorti and Riddleport, even the cold longhouses of Kalsgard. When his gambling debts began to mount up, he fled his many creditors and went into hiding in rural Taldor. With nothing else to do so far from “civilization,” this bored noble began dabbling in esoteric arcana - a blend of magic and martial philosophies. He did this for some four years or so.
This Chalfon, he hired a ship began reingratiating himself with the Dalsine family. He seemed honest in his change from what we know he did his best to seem contrite and was soon accepted back into the family fold. When the opportunity presented itself, however, Chalfon acted with utter ruthlessness. His only surviving older brother disappeared and then was found dead and Chalfon took control of the family’s fortune.