From the entrance, Rak can see most of the vault. There are numerous stone sarcophagi in the main chamber dedicated to the previous caretakers, priests, and acolytes who once served the Cathedral. Some of the sarcophagi have been opened and their tops lie open.
The room appears to have been vandalized. There are a few discarded burnt torches and a stylized stick laying in a pile near the door.
Bendoc moved up next to Rak and motioned to the others, "A little light would be nice."
Seeing no immediate threats in the first room, Rak turns to motion everyone up and finds Bendoc already doing so. "Yup, bring up the light; there's nothing to bother us here, anyway."
"I'm no inspector, but I think that answers the question as to whether the raid was carried out in order to draw attention away from the tomb robbery," Bela remarks at Rak and Bendoc's findings. The summoner moves forward at their signal, rifling through contents of her belt pouch as she climbs the steps to the tomb. Ah, that's right. I gave my sunrods to Algon for safekeeping. At the entrance to the vault the summoner conjures a celestial fire beetle to light their path. "Sorry it isn't much. I seem to have left my torches on another plane." After reciting the words of an ancient cantrip, Bela scans what parts of the vault she can see for magical auras before taking a closer look at the stylized stick the thieves left behind.
When Ben and Rak wave them forward, Akuleh joins the others as they enter the tomb. He pulls a torch from his pack and lights it with his flint. "May as well keep a couple sources of light, eh, Bela?" As the lights begin to illuminate the room, the Shoanti examines the stick with Izbela, laying a hand on her shoulder to aid in her study of the item.
Bendoc moved up next to Rak and motioned to the others, "A little light would be nice."
"Coming", chimed Kadrian, who along with his activated ioun stone, walks inside the entrance to the tomb.
The swashbuckler takes a few moments for his eyes to become acclimated to the new environment. Feeling a little unease, Kadrian draws his rapier.
With the presence of the fire beetle and Kadrian's ioun torch, light begins to fill the chamber. A good portion of the main room is still shrouded in darkness though. Some of the closer sarcophagi appear to be empty.
The stick radiates no magical auras but there is a small skull inscribed near the bottom of the stick. The torches have been extinguished for hours.
A clicking sound like nails on stone can be faintly heard echoing through the chamber and is getting louder.
"Something's headed this way. Be ready. Akuleh drops his torch behind him and readies his spear as he steps deeper into the tomb.
Kane draws his axe and takes the lead of the group. "Keep vigilant. We've no idea who or what we'll find in here."
Izbela turns the strange stick this way and that in her hands, pale, slender fingers running along skull carved into the bottom. She is baffled when she is unable to detect any trace of residual magic from the stick. Apparently one of the thieves has a knack for whittling. She is about to hold the stick up to Akuleh for his take on the find when his urgent whisper sends a chill down her spine. She lets go of the odd stick in favor of the torch the Shoanti dropped, not wanting to be immersed in darkness when the source of the clicking sounds draws near. "The sarcophagi! They're empty!"
"Godsdammit", whispered Kadrian under his breath.
With both rapier and buckler to bear, the swashbuckler is ready to attack anything that comes out of the darkness.
Bendoc moved up while he readied his sling staff. He waits for the creatures behind the clicking sound to come closer. Doesn't sound like goblins.
Noting his friends' alertness and warning, Rak steps up near Akuleh, holding his own longspear at the ready to receive a charge or to make his own strike.
Rak is the first to witness the source of the skittering. Skeletons, six of them come marching towards the vault entrance. They carry no weapons, but wield bony claws and wear the robes of former acolytes.
Indeed, Rak calls out to all "Heads up! Got some walking dead here. Sadly, they look like the late Father's acolytes or some such." Returning his attention to the skeletons, he offers them a small prayer. "Know that we bear your living souls no ill will, though your dead bodies must be put down!"
He studies the skeletons to see if there's anything important he should know .
Rak drops his longspear, drawing a morningstar instead . He swings it hard at the nearest skeleton .
"No", whispered Kadrian, his greatest dread realized. He would be fighting the undead. The young noble's mind swam with all the spooky tales told around campfires.
The swashbuckler began to whisper silent prayers of protection to Cayden Cailean, for himself, and all around him.
Kane grimaces as the skeletons approach, tightening his grip on his axe. "By the will of Dammerich, I find you guilty of existing beyond your natural life. For your crime, the sentence is death!"
Rak remembers that skeletons in particular are not harmed by the cold.
Kane's heavy axe cleaves the lead skeleton in two as the ribcage comes crashing down on top of the pelvis and bones clatter to the floor. One skeleton reaches out and swipes at Kane with clawed bone-fingers but only scratches the stale air. The other skeletons spread out and move about Kane, ready to dig into his flesh.
Akuleh watches in terror as the wave of undead emerges from the darkness. "Abominations! You shame the honored memory of these ancestors. Return now to eternal sleep and rise no more." He strikes swiftly at the skeleton directly in front of him .
Seeing the skulking skeletons advance on Edwards, Kadrian wills himself to act. The swashbuckler advances behind Kane and making a wide swiping attack on Skeleton (5) with his rapier.
Kadrian's rapier struck the skeleton, but appeared not to do any damage.
"Kadrian, you're as white as these dead dudes. That pointy thing'll never do any good; think club! Your fists might be better than a rapier." The dwarf moves with ease as he strikes the skeleton in front of him. "All of you, pointy and slashy are no good; we're trying to break bones here. And avoid magic that freezes; they've already got the cold o'death; makin' it worse will help none."
Izbela recoils from the sight of the skeletons shambling out of the shadows. Her horror stems not from the presence of the undead, however, but rather that someone had disturbed the peaceful rest of the town's former clergymen. Desna take the monster responsible for this blasphemy. Although the thought of striking down the undead acolytes doesn't sit well with the summoner, she understands that leaving them in their state of unlife would be a much greater offense. Arcane words spill rapidly from her lips as she sends a roiling globe of acid streaking toward the closest of the skeletons.
"Pōne eos ad requiem," she commands the fire beetle in the language of the upper spheres. The hum of overlarge wings is particularly loud in the quiet crypt as the housecat-sized celestial creature flits forward to take a bite of its mistress's target.
Bendoc moves up and strikes at the undead abomination with his slingstaff.
"Kadrian, you're as white as these dead dudes. That pointy thing'll never do any good; think club!"
"Well, I don't HAVE a club", said Kadrian, in exasperation.
Quickly looking down at his weapon, the swashbuckler pondered, But I DO have a hand guard!Kadrian realigns his rapier in his swordhand, so the guard will strike first.
Kane follows through with his axe swing, twisting on his heel and turning the axe in his hand in an attempt to strike with the blunt end of it.
Akuleh's spear jabs forward and nicks a skeleton in the ribcage, but the undead monstrosity doesn't seem to care. Likewise, Kadrian's rapier strikes true but barely scratches his foe. Rak switches to his morningstar and the heavy ball smashes into a skull, sending bone fragments across the floor. Izbela's splash of acid hurls past a skeleton while the glowing beetle rips off a flesh-less leg bone, sending the pile of bones to the floor. Bendoc's sling staff smashes through a skeleton's midsection and it too collapses. Kane's awkward swing shows as the axe goes wide of his mark.
The remaining skeletons push forward and continue their onslaught. Claws slash the air and dwarven flesh as one skeletal hand slips past Rak's morningstar and opens a gash up his arm.
Rak lets out a grunt as the skeleton opens the flesh on his arm, but knows that he has no time to deal with that pain now. He moves to the side a little bit , so as to flank with Kane, and studies the motions and actions of the skeleton to try to find an advantage .
Bedoc stepped up toward the undead horror and swing low at the creatures skeletal legs.
Assessing his surroundings, Kadrian seen Rak move to provide flank for Kane on one skeleton, but the other skeleton advancing on the city guard was unflanked.
Perhaps born of nervous energy, Kadrian flipped over both Edwards and the undead creature to stand behind the advancing skeleton (3).
Surprised by his own success, Kadrian attempts to strike the skeleton (3).
Angling his attack so his handguard strikes first..
..lands a resounding strike on the skeleton.
Aww! Thank you, Cayden!
As his new companions put on an impressive display of dispatching the skeletons, Akuleh takes stock of his own ability to do any serious harm to the undead beasts. Better to lend a hand and stay out of the way, he thinks as he lays a hand on Kane's shoulder. "Strike true, Kane Edwards. Do your ward proud."
With only two of the undead remaining, Bela moves to get a clearer line of attack to the nearest skeleton. Her companions would probably thank her for not sending globs of acid arcing over their heads, after all. Her hands begin to move in a strange beckoning pattern as she works her magic, but Kadrian's show of athletic prowess - Ooh, Lord Deverin, you continue to impress - steals her attention long enough for her to bungle the simple incantation. The orb of acid loses its cohesion and splatters onto the stone floor mere inches from her slippers.
The fire beetle drops its prize among the pile of other bones the skeleton has collapsed into before skittering closer to the next enemy. It lunges forward to take a bite out of the undead, but its target proves too quick and the celestial vermin's maw closes around empty air.
Bendoc and Kane manage to finish off the remaining two skeletons. Bones clatter to the floor as silence envelopes the room.
Breathing heavily, the swashbuckler looks to the city guard and the halfing, then to everyone else in the tomb.
"Nice work, you too. Everyone alright?"
Looking down at the piles of bones around him, Kadrian asks, "Um, will they stay dead..I mean, immobile, or will they rise again?"
"I'm fine. You all search the room while I check the door over there," Bendoc responded to the Swashbuckler's question and pointed across the room. The diminutive ranger then made his way to the far end of the room and took a close look at the door.
Rak nods his head when Kadrian asks if all are well. "Generally, they stay dead unless some necro raises them again." He kneels down and takes a closer look, picking up and assessing an arm-bone or some such as he investigates.
"That was well done. We fight skeletons better than we fight goblins it seems."
Keeping his morningstar in hand, the dwarf slowly starts approaching the door at the far end of the room, keeping an eye for any sign from Bendoc that there's danger. He peers between the sarcophagi on either side as he goes, looking for anything of interest.
Bendoc spots a smear of poison smudged all over the door handle. The door is not locked and sits slightly ajar. The lock previously on the door has been wrent and lies twisted and broken on the floor. Inside the room, the lone sarcophagus lies empty. Strips of cloth cover the floor in random spots having been cut or ripped apart. The fabric is well made but worn over time.
Bendoc finished examining the door and pushes the it open with his foot, "Beware there is poison on the door handle." With his slingstaff in hand he approaches the sarcophagus.
Rak follows Bendoc into the room cautiously. "Do ya suppose they were bent on destruction here, or something grander? Do goblins even have grand plans?"
Rak follows Bendoc into the room cautiously. "Do ya suppose they were bent on destruction here, or something grander? Do goblins even have grand plans?"
Akuleh breathes a sigh of relief as the last of the skeletons fall. "I must say, I'm not accustomed to fighting the undead. My spear didn't seem to even harm them when I managed to land a strike. Rak, you say we need weapons to crush such enemies rather than pierce or cut them? Give me a moment." Akuleh paces back out of the tomb and sees the men standing guard on the stairs. "Pardon me, but the dead seem to have been disturbed from their rest. Does one of you have a simple club or other weapon I could borrow while we contend with these?"
Once he has his answer, he returns to the others inside the tomb and approaches Bela. "You may hold onto the torch if you wish, my dear. Let's find that odd little stick again, though. I can't believe there is no meaning to it." He retrieves the stick from the floor and pockets it for the time being. In the meantime, he follows Rak further into the tomb, only moving as far as the light of the torch reaches. When they reach the inner door, Akuleh carefully avoids the poisoned door handle and steps into the empty room. "Hmm...another empty sarcophagus. Not a good sign. This room has some interesting features, though." The Shoanti begins to peer around the room, trying to recall any information he can glean from the style of the room, any markings he sees, and any other significant features.
The prospect of being caught in the dark for even a moment when her celestial beetle eventually winks out of existence was not one the summoner was looking forward to, so the relief she feels is evident when Akuleh doesn't ask for his torch back. "I would appreciate it," Bela says, nodding her thanks to the Shoanti. "I wasn't able to sense any residual magic from the stick, but I'm not convinced that it's as harmless as it seems, either. It may be a shot in the dark, but we have a store in our town that supplies magical trinkets called The Feathered Serpent. Perhaps the owner will have an idea of what it is."
As the torchbearer, Bela follows the group as they make their way toward the small chamber at the back of the crypt. While Bendoc checks over the door, the summoner looks into the nearby sarcophagi to determine if they are empty or not, hoping to find that all the bodies are accounted for.
Bela remains in the doorway as the others make their way into the room, although she does send her fire beetle in to help light their way. When the halfling mentions poison on the door handle, Bela makes note of the color and consistency of the smear to try to identify what poison was used. "Good eye, Ben."
Kadrian moves further in the tomb to provide better illumination for the group.
One of the guards hands Akuleh his morningstar. "Keep it. It's the least I can do for the Heroes of Sandpoint."
You recognize the poison as Malyass root paste, a fairly nasty poison.
The final sarcophagus belongs to one Ezakien Tobyn, the town's previous religious leader. It lies open and empty and scattered remnants of religious garments litter the floor. Something has clearly disturbed the room as his remains are no longer here. Other than Tobyn's remains, the rest of the bodies and skeletons can be accounted for.
Kadrian walks carefully to the tomb's inner sanctum to stand next to Izbela, being mindful not to touch the door handle.
The swashbuckler looks into the remaining room to see the dwarf, the halfing, and the shoanti examining the room's contents, choosing to remain silent and not disturb the investigations.
Rak looks on the scene in front of him in dismay. "Did they steal his remains?!?" He looks around for any scrap of Father Tobyn, not finding any other than bits of rotted clothing.
"This is crazy, isn't it? Goblins don't care about things like this. They're not so coordinated as to carry out a plan. It's all destroy and burn; this isn't destroy and burn, not by a longshot."
Rak begins looking around the room for a secret exit.
"Bendoc, didn't you say that you saw no tracks leaving? If that's so, where did the goblins go?"
At the mention of the goblins, Kadrian turns around to face the tomb opening, keeping his eyes peeled for goblin activity.
Rak looks on the scene in front of him in dismay. "Did they steal his remains?!?" He looks around for any scrap of Father Tobyn, not finding any other than bits of rotted clothing.
Maybe he got up and walked away like the skeletons," Bendoc says with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Bendoc, didn't you say that you saw no tracks leaving? If that's so, where did the goblins go?"
"Just because I didn't see any tracks doesn't mean they didn't leave that way. There's more than one way to hide a person's tracks," the halfling advises. Nevertheless he begins looking around for an alternate hidden exit.
"The handle is coated in Malyass root paste, also know as tangle root," Bela tells the rest once she is certain of her assessment. "While not immediately deadly, if you get enough of it on your skin, it can cause your muscles to seize up. Perhaps a visit to the alchemist is in order, as well."
At Rak's outburst, Bela takes a proper look around the small room for the first time, and when it dawns on her that they stand in the tomb of Father Tobyn, a quiet gasp escapes her. "Oh Gods... I don't think the goblins were behind this." Bela looks around at the faces of her companions glowing in the torchlight before settling on Kadrian. Realizing that there could be more at stake than her pride, the summoner takes a deep breath and confesses what's been on her mind all morning.
"I consulted the Harrow this morning. The reading suggested that last night's attack was in some way tied to The Late Unpleasantness. I didn't want to alarm anyone, especially considering my poor history with interpreting the cards, but the evidence is getting hard to ignore." She turns her attention to Akuleh, remembering that the Shoanti had asked a few questions about the Late Unpleasantness the previous night. "I don't yet understand how the two events could be tied, but I fear your suspicions may have been right all along."
Turning his head to address the summoner, Kadrian looks into his lover's eyes.
"Oh no! Really? Damn it!"
Speaking to the rest of the exploratory group, the swashbuckler says, "I will do a quick survey of the tomb, if it looks safe, I'll tell the good Father it's safe to enter."
Akuleh turns away from Bela with a sad expression, "I wish I could be wrong about that, my dear. It seems, however, that these events were fated. I had not shared this with you before because I feared to speak it aloud would bring it to fruition, but it now seems that the fates have caught up with us. Several weeks ago, when I was back in my homeland among my clan, I had a vision of a menacing presence with power beyond any that I have ever known." The cold darkness of the tomb seems to deepen as the Shoanti presses on in his tale, but he carries on. "
I felt my vision was a calling to leave my home in the hope of doing my part to prevent whatever this ill omen portends. That is what brought me here. The guidance of my ancestors showed me the way here, and now it seems that I was here, not just to protect the town from these goblins, but to face whatever greater threat is posed by the one who orchestrated this attack. We must discover what has happened to this holy man and return his remains here, where they belong."