"Speak my name..in Dwarven"
Seeing that the wounded barbarian is in need of additional healing, Feres sacrifices another of his prepared spells to summon the power of the Healing Flame.
Vug starts blurting out: "Uh...Valgrim! Aloysius! Buford! Maximillian! Um..."
"Friar, didn't you previously say, the glyphs represent names, with each referring to a single individual, but you couldn't make out much more than that. Well, then it seems like we will have to see Allustan what he discovered. I am assuming that glyph contains his name." Valgrim copies the glyph exactly to give it to Allustan. With that he takes the other "elevator" down.
"Friar, didn't you previously say, the glyphs represent names, with each referring to a single individual, but you couldn't make out much more than that.
As you approach the carved scenes, the steam vents activate and present the scenes to you.
Scene 2:
Scene 3:
Scene 4:
figure named Qadeej impales Miska the Wolf-Spider, a demonic entity that looks like a drider with four arms and a human head flanked by two wolf heads. As the Wolf-Spider, Rod, and Qadeej vanish into a planar
rift, Icosiol is struck by a beam from Miska’s eyes and slumps dead to the ground.
Valgrim steps back to where the bas-relief came to life and says, "Zosiel."
A bright blue light shines around the sarcophagus. As it recedes a hairline crack is visible around the lid of the previously seemingly solid sarcophagus.
Valgrim tries to stick his stubby fingers in and lift it. If not, he will let Vug and her more slender hands try it.
The lid comes off rather easily. Inside there is no body, but only a few strange items: a slight silver diadem inscribed with Zosiel's personal glyph, two long and slightly curved black horns with red tips and a pewter box inscribed with alien, writhing letterforms.
Knowledge (planes) 15:
As you approach the carved scenes, the steam vents activate and present the scenes to you.
Valgrim studies the scenes. "Ok, looks like, Zosiel served Icosiol. They created a 7-tiered rod to battle Miska and they managed to banish her to another plane, while Icosiol perished in said battle. So, if this is Zosiel's tomb, Icosiol must also have one, one would assume. Interesting..."
Vug blinks blankly. "Who's a what now? If I wanted to learn a bunch of boring history, I'd still be living with my parents in the f-f-forest. Let's just take this crown back and see what it does. Except...did you say there might be more tombs f-full of stuff?"
"I was just talking aloud, Vug. If we find any other tombs, we will let you know." We head back to Allustan's house to rest and relax.
"Hmmm. This is interesting," Feres says as he examines the treasure. "See these writhing letterforms on the pewter box? These are the glyphs of the Queen of Chaos."
"Well, given the history we saw on the walls, I would assume Zosiel found this when he and Icosiel and the others confronted Miska. Since she's been banished, it may be one of her treasures. However, we may want to wait to open it until we can read the glyphs. Maybe Allustan can help."
"Agreed. Let's see what Allustan has to say."
- *Syringe filled with a purple syrupy liquid
- *Small vial found on Filge
- Potion of Gentle repose (CL5), needs to be injected to work
- Potion deep red (jar)
- Potion sallow yellow (jar)
- Potion white with black streaks (jar)
- Diadem with Zosiel's Glyph
- Curved horns
- Pewter box
The syrupy liquid is a potion of Cure Moderate Wounds, to be injected. The small vial is a normal potion of Cure Light Wounds.
The other three jars are potions of False Life, Ghoul Touch and Chill Touch, all to be injected.
Zosiel's diadem is a Headband of Inspired Wisdom +2. The horns and the box are not magical. Allustan offers to buy the horns for 50 gp each. The box is melted shut, but you could probably break it open if you want to.
There seems to be some unsavory rumors about you digging up the Land graves going around, and you'd be wise to avoid the Feral Dog for a while, since Kullen is manifestly unhappy about Bubba not bringing him Filge's eyes. On the bright side, the other adventuring band seem to have left for greener pastures elsewhere. Allustan could use some help tending the owlbear cub (a messenger is due to pick it up any day now) and reinforcing its cage. It has already escaped twice. Otherwise, you are free to spend your time and money.
Urg bids you farewell for now. He's got a lucrative offer as a mercenary and has had enough of adventuring.
Zosiel's diadem is a Headband of Inspired Wisdom +2. The horns and the box are not magical. Allustan offers to buy the horns for 50 gp each. The box is melted shut, but you could probably break it open if you want to.
Valgrim gives Urg a hearty handshake and wishes him well in his venture and thanks him for his help.
During the time off, he finishes crafting his axe and accomplishes his goal of finally being able to wield 2 waraxes simultaneously.
He also has the urge to go to the Feral Dog with his companions and beat the sense out of Kullen and his gang for grave-robbing and looks for support from the party.
He also spends time tending the owlbear cub and tries to arrange an appointment with Balabar to discuss things.
He also buys another Shield of Faith potion from the Temple of Iomedae.
Chisora follows the others, going where she's needed and backing up when she's asked. Once the battle is over, she once more drops back and keeps a watch from the shadows, making sure to look out for the everyone while they're busy examining and working things out since she know that kind of thing isn't her forte.
Once everyone's happy, they head back to town and she mostly keeps to herself during the down time. She's not unfriendly of course and she happilt hangs out with them all, but she also like her alone time as well. She's ready to get back out there though once they all get themselves together. Now that she's had her taste of the adventuring life, she want s to see what more it has to offer and although she won't admit it out loud, she's come to respect the abilities of everyone. Plus Friar Feres is sticking around and she can't leave him to look out for himself now can she...
Vug would be DELIGHTED to have the syringe (and she hasn't found any interesting magical treasure so far). Sounds great for poisons, too! For injecting something like Chill Touch, is it a touch attack? Or a normal attack? Does the syringe do damage? Does it require an exotic weapon proficiency?
Vug cheerfully wishes Urg good luck as she heads back to her lab, eager to experiment with the syringe and the brown mold.
Zosiel's diadem is a Headband of Inspired Wisdom +2. The horns and the box are not magical. Allustan offers to buy the horns for 50 gp each. The box is melted shut, but you could probably break it open if you want to.
The box opens to only a minimal force, but the contents are slightly disappointing. There is only a long handle with an adamantine loop. It radiates strong transmutation magic, but you have no idea what its purpose may be.
Vug would be DELIGHTED to have the syringe (and she hasn't found any interesting magical treasure so far). Sounds great for poisons, too! For injecting something like Chill Touch, is it a touch attack? Or a normal attack? Does the syringe do damage? Does it require an exotic weapon proficiency?
He also has the urge to go to the Feral Dog with his companions and beat the sense out of Kullen and his gang for grave-robbing and looks for support from the party.
Are you up for a tavern brawl? It's easy to arrange but also easy to avoid, so I'll leave it to you as a group decision.
Are you up for a tavern brawl? It's easy to arrange but also easy to avoid, so I'll leave it to you as a group decision.
Bubba will accompany Valgrim to the feral Dog to talk to Kullen.
It is surprisingly easy for you to get an appointment with Smenk, who lives in the middle of the town in a sodden mansion a century past its prime. His doors are always open, in accord with an old public promise to the miners, but there are usually thugs prowling the area armed with iron bars to shoo away unwanted visitors. Also you spy some very nasty-looking dire apes on chain beyond.
But for some reason the thugs are almost polite to you, and show you into a visitor's lounge (after getting the apes out of the way), where after a substantial amount of time Smenk shows up. He is a short and corpulent bald man dressed in expensive clothes that have difficulty containing his girth, who reeks of some strange and odious sort of cologne. He is accompanied by a small retinue of toadies and there are armed guards at the door.
Smenk eyes you with contempt, droplets of spit flying as he speaks. "So you are the ones that trashed the observatory, I gather. Old friend of mine, Filge, had taken up residence there. I haven't heard from him in a while. I presume he is dead. Kind of demeaning for a great mind like his to meet his end at the hands of a bunch of thugs." He shrugs.
"Oh well, there are worse problems afoot. Could you imagine, the other day I woke up with the severed head of Van Gils, my right-hand man, in my bed. Not a very pleasant experience for someone of my delicate constitution, I assure you."
"Of course I knew immediately who was to blame. I have had a small business disagreement with Ragnolin Dourstone, the mine manager. Perhaps you may have heard of him - he is one of the most prominent mine owners in town, after all. It turns out that he for some reason has allowed some kind of nasty cult to set up shop in his mine."
"I don't much care what kind of disgusting rites they are conducting down there, but they obviously are a menace to society at large, as the unfortunate Van Gils can witness (such a horrible fate for such a good man), and I believe they need to be put down. He fans himself with a lace handkerchief, sending a whiff of the horrible cologne in your direction.
"So what say you? Send a maniac to catch a maniac, huh?" His sycophants laugh loudly at his tasteless joke.
Chisora's eyes narrow at the insinustion that they killed Filge and were nothing but common thugs, especially considering the company Smenk appears to keep. Her face gets redder as he continues and as he finishes she opens her mouth to give the arrogant man a piece of her mind, but stops short as Friar Feres lays a calming hand on her arm. He obviously saw her anger rising and worked quickly to put a stop to any kind of confrontation at this time. She closes her mouth and loks sheepishly at the priest, but continues to glare at Smenk while waiting for somone with a little more tact to do their conversing.
"So what say you? Send a maniac to catch a maniac, huh?"
Vug wipes some unidentifiable chemical smear off of her forehead and onto her sleeve. "I don't think any of us like crazy cultists hanging out in the mines. I'm sure we can take a look f-for you. How much does the job pay?"
Valgrim holds his tongue while Smenk talks. "Maniacs? Because we stopped a necromancer hired by you from setting up shop here in Wolfstone? What have you been smoking?"
Valgrim pauses and looks at Balabar in the eye, with a smile on his face. "So you want us to stop this cult menace because they are obviously, how did you say? "A menace to society at large!" Ha! The only reason you want us to stop the cult is because your neck is on the line too! That message and that's what Van Gils' severed head was, a message, was to let you know that you were not beyond the cult's grasp, despite all your pathetic guards and big apes. You don't feel safe, do you? How many sleepless nights? So save us the noble speech and say what we all know, you want us to get rid of the cult for your own interests and not for the common good."
"Now, from what we know: You got yourself brought down to a hidden part of the Dourstone Mines a month ago, to set up some provisioning deal with Ragnolin. But the mine was crawling with awful beasts in hooded robes. Their wild cries made your stomach heave. The cultists—they called themselves the Ebon Triad—said something about the Age of Worms, about strange undead in the southern hills and the swamp. And that's when you decided to prepare a defense, so you called in Filge. Tell us, what provisioning deal was this? And what else, do you know? Who runs the Cult? You want our help? We need answers!" Valgrim smiles.
"Oh, right..." Vug has a vague look on her face. "F-f-filge said something about that, didn't he? I wasn't listening very carefully."
"And Filge isn't dead, just dispossessed. You can probably find him in the City State."
Vug wipes some unidentifiable chemical smear off of her forehead and onto her sleeve. "I don't think any of us like crazy cultists hanging out in the mines. I'm sure we can take a look f-for you. How much does the job pay?"
Smenk looks positively astounded, and when he speaks, the spit sprays even more dangerously. "Pay?!"[/b}] He laughs out loud, and is joined by both his sycophants. [b]"Did you get paid for trashing the observatory and 'dispossessing' Filge, as you so aptly put it? No, that's what people like you do. I have shared valuable information with you. You are the ones that should be paying me."
"Now I'll freely confess that those cultists scare me. I am a sensible man and I can recognize a threat when I see it. And my motives are immaterial. You are here because I think we share a common enemy. If poor harmless Filge got under your skin that bad, that cult should really be worrying you. Pfft!"
"I don't know much about the cult. I made my deals with Dourstone. Quite legal, all of it. Just provided food and supplies. Not my business how many people he kept in that mine. But then I met the leader of that cult..." Smenk pauses and dismisses his retinue before he continues, speaking quickly and quietly.
"They called him the Faceless One. I don't know who or what he was, but I guess he was some kind of wizard. He wore a mask covering his face and spoke in a horrible, lisping tone, threatening me like I have never been threatened before - and I have seen a thing or two, you know - as he spouted some nonsense about the Age of Worms being at hand."
"I didn't really take it all seriously, though, until I woke up next to Van Gils's head. I can give you a rough idea about where the cult is located, but you'll have to figure out a way into the mine. That part of the mine has been boarded up as unsafe and then you take some kind of elevator down into some really creepy place. They live there, in some kind of weird labyrinth. Why don't you go get them?"
"Yes, I guess we do share a common enemy. So, these heretics of the three gods, the Ebon Triad, they get along and live together? What do you know of their defenses? As to getting into the mine, how well guarded is it? Are they looking for miners?"
Smenk shrugs. "Dourstone hires most anyone who's stupid enough to work for him. There are a number of guards of course. I'm sure you'll figure it out."
"Yes, we'll figure it out and you'd better pray we're successful or it might be your neck next, not Van Gils! Now, you said you could give us a rough idea about where the cult is located. Now by that, did you mean "down the elevator and in the mine" or was there something else?"
Smenk rolls his eyes. "What do you want, a map? Assuming you find a way into the mine, just turn left at the first opportunity. The shaft is sealed of and proclaimed unsafe." He chuckles. "You could say that again. Just ignore it and proceed down it, and soon enough you'll find the elevator right down into the hornet's nest. Give'em hell, will you?"
He rises. Obviously the interview is at an end. "And if anyone asks, you have never been here." His sycophants agree. "Nope, never seen any of them."
Valgrim leaves and heads to the Dourstone mine to see if they're looking for work.
Vug agrees that trying to get a job in the mine is a great idea. Who knows? -- maybe they can even get paid!
It turns out that the Dourstone mine is indeed hiring. They also pay abominably, 2 sp per day, plus room and board, which is the main reason why they are always hiring. Only the really desperate will work for those wages and usually only for as long as it takes to earn passage to somewhere else.
The man in charge of the laborers is a rusty-voices human thug named Gerreld. He gruffly makes clear the conditions and also specifies that you will have to bring your own lighting, in case you need it.
Rhiannon sat atop her magnificent steed, the mighty storm grey stallion as calm as she was, scanning the surrounding area with an aura of intelligence that seemed beyond a normal horse.
As she scanned the area, she was aware of the many eyes that passed over her, a woman in heavy armor, wweapons openly displayed, legs bare in stark contrast to the steel that encased most of her form.
Alert as she was, comfortable in the saddle, radiating quiet assuredness, she made passersby both uneasy and provided a sense of safety. A paradox, much like herself, soldier, noble, warrior, lady.
This was the place, she had spent a long time riding here, but she was sure this was it.