For some reason, Halgrin can't force himself to strike the slender man. But then he raises his weapon again and lands a killing blow.
Gramm removes the bonds/gags from the hostage. "We've got you now. You're safe with us. Are you hurt ma'am?"
The young woman is occupied with sobbing for a while and holds tight to Gram. After a minute, she breathes more deeply and calmly. "I... I think so... Thank you..."
Katra spends time rolling the cultists, looking for both items of use and any sort of pertinent information as to what their plan was.
Katra finds 3 sets of the following: leather armor, scimitar, light crossbow. She also finds 2 sets of: holy symbol (amulet), club. In addition, she finds a total of 34 gp 18 sp.
Gram is going to look her over for signs of injury before helping her to her feet and asking a few questions.
"No thanks necessary. I'm just glad you're ok. My name is Gram. And those are my compatriots Halgrin, Katra, and Horat. What's your name?" he waits for a response and then continues.
"I'm going to have to ask you a few questions if you're up to it. How long were you held down here? Were there any other captives when you were brought down? Do you know what they were planning to do or did you overhear any of their plans?"
The girl trembles in fear but nods gratefully to the others. "I'm Lidia." She looks at the northeast door with fear. "Malgus is still in there. I guess he's too much of a coward to come out... But I still don't feel safe." She tries to focus when Gram asks her questions but keeps shivering. "Um... I really don't know how long I've been down here. I guess probably two days? They have some different people who take turns down here and the shifts have changed three or four times." She shakes her head and shivers again. "I don't really know how many times. As to their plans, they talked about something called a Lodestone a lot."
Horat looks at the young woman with sympathy.
"I am glad that you are freed. We should - and will - hunt for this Malgus. I see no reason to delay a reckoning with this demon follower, or to disrupt his plans for this lodestone."
Finishing her inspection of the dead men, Katra turns to the woman and says "What is your name?" while watching her body language.
Confused, the woman turns to Katra and repeats her name. "Lidia..." Katra doesn't really know what to think of reading the woman's face. She seems somewhat genuine.
"I don't know about everyone else here, but I need to catch my breath, and bind some of my wounds. And I think we've got the time, now that we've stopped the ritual."
"If nothing else, we need to escort Lidia here past the maze, so she can get back to the surface. I don't want to take the risk that this Malgus guy has a trick or two up his sleeve, before we get her out."
"Yes, It would behoove us to tend to our wounds ahead if marching anu further into the unknown. It might also be wise to get word to the rest of the Watch. Should we fail, we dont want the knowledge of this plot dying with us. But I also dont want to give this Malgus a chance to escape. Perhaps two of us should stand guard here while the other two escort Ms. Lidia to the surface.
"I'll wait here." says Katra.
"I am also willing to stand guard here. I am quite adept at holding a position."
Horat's serious face almost lightens at that last sentence. Perhaps a touch of humour is visible?
Gram and Halgrin head to the surface with Lidia. They emerge into the sewers and find the cultist still hanging upside-down. "James" breathes a sigh of relief when you emerge.
Horat stands watch.
But he takes the time to stretch his muscles and focus himself.
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"Its settled then.
Officer Hagrin and I will escort Miss Lidia to the surface while you stand guard. We'll try to make it a quick trip." He pulls out his pipe flute and plays a few notes to warm up.
"Be sure you tend to your wounds. Of the flesh and of the mind. It was a tough battle."
And with that he begins playing a soothing melody as he leads Halgrin and Lidia towards the maze.
Upon seeing "James", Gram sighs. "Oh right. I suppose we should take you to the surface as well. Halgrin, do you want to cut him down, or should I?"
"James" nods eagerly. "Yes! Please cut me down! So glad to see everything turned out well." He smiles ingratiatingly but it looks very odd since he has been upside-down for a while and the blood has rushed to his face.
"Yeah we'll get you down." and Gram pulls out his dagger, grabs hold of the rope, and brings the blade right up to the rope before pausing. ""But before we do..." and he backs up a bit to face "James". "What can you tell us about the other rooms connecting to the ritual room? We saw 3 doors while we were down there liberating this innocent woman you helped imprison."
"James" hurries to answer "Oh that's just the bunk room, the storage room, and Malgus' room! Please, please, please cut me down! I've been really helpful!"
"I see..." Gram once again aproaches the rope. "And what exactly is being stored? Is there anything of particular note in the bunk or storage rooms? Any traps or countermeasures? Keep in mind, youre the only person down here that we've kept alive so far, so think twice before you try to lie to me"
"James" gulps at the mention of all the other cultists being killed. "Nothing special! The storeroom has cages for keeping prisoners. I've never been in Malgus' room."
Horat watches and listens for any hint of movement or activity, halberd ready.
Horat hears what sounds like objects being piled against the door.
Halgrin and Captain Gram flag down a patrol of the City Watch. They explain the situation and tell them to send reinforcements to the sewers outside the Laughing Giant.
"But I wouldn't send anyone down the sewers unless it looks like we failed. It is a literal maze down there. Even had minotaurs. Little, tiny ones, admittedly, but they hit plenty hard trust me. Look what one did to my shield," Halgrin said while showing off two noticeable dents, where a pair of horns rammed into his shield.
Once that is sorted, they head back down into the sewers.
The mean of the patrol nod sharply and take the prisoners and the victim to a secure location.
Then Gram and Halgrin descend back down and find Katra and Horat on watch.
"We sorted out the prisoner and Lidia. We lucked into a patrol who took them from us. They should also be sending some reinforcements, but I told them not to send anyone down here if they could help it. So we're on our own."
"Should I try ramming down the door, or does anyone prefer a more subtle approach. I still have my trusty 'lockpick'," Halgrin says with a grin, indicating the large hammer on his back.
Horat says softly:
"They gave away their position, doing what sounded like barricading *that* door.", indicating the direction of the earlier noises.
"I suggest that we quietly try another door and see if we can flank them."
Matching Horat's volume, "Those doors lead to a storage room and a bunk room. Not sure if they're connected to the leader's quarters, but it wouldnt hurt to try. We might even find useful supplies." And he heads over to the Eastern most door and checks to see if it's locked.
It is not locked. Gram finds bunks inside as well as a hole that was apparently used as the toilet. There are also a number of waterskins and some personal items.
The door to Malgus' room is large and iron (as described earlier by "James"). From the other side, you finally hear a voice "As long as I live Baphomet's power will still strike the city! And you fools won't take me!"
Based on the items in this room, you think the cult had 4 or 5 more members than you have encountered so far. It is likely that not all members of the cult spent all of their time here.
"As long as you live, huh? You sure you don't want to amend that statement?"
Gram lowers his voice and turns to his companions. This room is set up to house more people than we've encountered so far. There may be more cultists down here, or they may be out in the city due to return at anytime. We should eatch our backs.
Katra nods at Halgrin's report and says "Let's see this finished. I'm tired of dealing with these fools."
Lowering her voice, she adds "Aye, let me go first."
Sizing up the doors to Malgrin's room, Katra tries to find the optimal place to strike with blade and hammer to bring the doors down.
Horat assists Katra, also keen to end this demon slave.
Katra strikes the iron doir hard with her hammer and damages it severely. But then lightning races out through her hammer and into her arm.
Having been shocked by lightning, Katra stops for a moment, then retrieves her tools and begins trying to disable to electricity.
Katra finds a row if small blue gems set into the door and manages to pry them out, disabling the trap. The door is mostly destroyed but there is a small Pike of furniture behind it.
Malgus' voice continues to come from the other room. "Fools! The power Baphomet has given me keeps me safe from all of your attempts to harm me. Surrender!"
“Fools! The power Baphomet has given me keeps me safe from all of your attempts to harm me. Surrender!”
“Yeah, this guy is crazy,” Halgrin says quietly to the others, as he draws the large hammer from his back. He grips the weapon in two hands, takes a deep breath and runs at the door to smash it.
Horat readies himself to grease the first enemy he sees once the door breaks.
It takes Halgrin a little while but after a few blows he smashes through the door. The rubble piled on the other side still makes it difficult to get through but you see a man in dark armor crouching behind a desk and chair, two of the few pieces of furniture not piled up against the door.
The man begins to rise to his feet, looking as if he wishes to cast a spell at you, but Gram, Halgrin, and Horat leap forward too quickly, seizing their opportunity as soon as the door is destroyed.
At the last second, Horat decides against grease, and for a more direct approach.
Halgrin quickly crawls past the rubble, and then dons his shield. He stands as imposing as possible and says, “You’re under arrest. Will you come quietly?”