Midnight leaps away from most of the filth, but it proceeds to slam into her twice. She stumbles back, dropping her dagger and falls unconscious.
She hears a voice, calling her back...
"This may come as a shock, but the ceiling isn't exactly stable, and it's going to kick up some of that sludge every so often," Baltoros exclaims as the bats approach.
The swarm overtakes him then, and while he can't see the bites and scratches as they come, he certainly feels them. Instinctively he tries to dodge some of them.
He attempts to calm the bats, but when he sees Midnight fall, his priorities shift.
The bats leave hundreds of tiny bite marks on Kuch, but the real pain comes after the open wounds are hit by the filth wave.
Barely conscious, he instinctively runs out of the swarm and hops over the worst puddles of the sludge.
He then attempts to beat the filth out of the living pile of it.
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Baltoros takes a much more passive route and attempts to calm the bats down through making some funny noises. It works for the moment as the bats just hover in place for the moment without directly moving in to bite anybody.
Satisfied with his effort on the bats, Baltoros turns to aid the unconscious and dying Midnight! The magic flows into her blood and heals the grave wounds, allowing her to regain life for the moment.
Kuch on the other hand, decides to go all out with his martial skills and knocks around the ooze like a punching bag. Being able to knock out chunks of slimy filth at a time, the creature eventually becomes nothing but a puddle of sewer water.
Kuch stays clear from the falling ceiling, but the same can't be said about Balistar as a large debris falls nearby causing acid to splash all over him!
"Gaaahh!" Balistar yells and sputters as he tries to wipe the acidic sewage from his eyes and mouth.
"Let's not 'ave anymore o' that, then!"
After trying to shore up the ceiling, Balistar looks around for anything of interest.
”If there ain’t anyfin’ in ‘ere we needs, mates, maybe we oughtta try one of the other rooms ‘afore these bats drain us dry?”
Agent Midnight recovers consciousness. There's a nasty bruise on her side, but time heals all wounds. Assuming she survives.
She grabs her dagger and stands up. Noticing the bats, she tries to Sneak around the bed.
But she's much too loud, especially when she steps on one of the wooden plank.
Once Balistar spots the blanket, he shouts, "Could we catch the bats by tossin' that blanket on 'em?"
"Oi, Baltoros! Ye wanna be steppin' away from the bloodsuckers now!"
Balistar steps over to the bed, grabs the blanket, and flings it at the bat swarm.
Kuch feels life being slowly drained from him. He quickly produces the bandages and herbal remedies he uses to recover from sparring traumas and attempts to stop the bleeding.
Midnight realizes Kuch is bleeding out. She strides over, removes her healer's kit, and tries to stop the bleeding.
"Damn... hang on! Someone use my dagger to stop the bats."
With preternatural grace, Baltoros bounds across the room towards Kuch and onto the bed, hands glowing with divine light. He's hoping the bats don't follow him.
Even with the divine energy closing some of the wounds, the rest are just too numerous to stop the bleeding in one go... Kuch thanks Baltoros as he applies another suture to his skin.
"We need more time to heal... perhaps the bats won't pursue us outside!"
Baltoros' face drops as the bats pursue, and he focuses all effort on dispersing them.
She sees the bats coming, and promptly flattens herself against the bed to avoid most of them.
Midnight continues to stop as much bleeding as she can.
It takes a few tries, but she's able to contribute to immediate wounds. "My apologies, but I'm poorly equipped to handle bats."
"Bloody 'ell, that was rough! Nice fightin', mates, an' thanks fer gettin' the bleedin' stopped, Agent M. Anybody 'ave any 'ealer's tools so's we c'n try ta patch ourselves up a bit more?"
"I can always try, but it will take 10 minutes."
"This isn't the optimal location for treatment." Midnight mutters. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to do more."
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Wounded, the group rest for a moment and attempt to recover. However, the dangers of the crumbling mansion, falling debris, loose floors, makes it difficult to tend to the wounds.
The Pathfinders bite through their injuries and turn their sights to the opposite room to investigate further the home of Justerian, towards a large unfurnished room with a spiral stairwell heading towards the attic. Curiously, the floor bears several bloodstains and a dribbled trail of blood leads up the stairs. On the floor nearby the dried bloodstains a couple items look out of place, particularly a wooden club and a holy symbol. Near the top of the stairs, some insects fly about.
"Let's see..." Agent Midnight begins to analyze the wooden club.
Balistar points to the trail of bloodstains. "I'm right certain that won't lead ta nuffin good, mates. Still, needs must, eh?"
When they find the club and holy symbol, and the buzzing insects, Balistar wracks his brain for any relevant information that he may have read or overheard.
Club:
Insects:
To Balistar's comment, he responds, "Decidedly not. Let's keep our wits about us. What's this, then?" He spies the insects and the objects laying about and observes for a moment, far from the base of the stairs.
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The room has so little that it suggest Justerian perhaps didn't have a lot of materials belongings. In fact, all his belongings could be found in a n a small wooden trunk that he kept hidden underneath his bed. The trunk contains two sets of simple clothing, 50 feet of hemp rope, a waterskin, 10 days of rations, a set of cookware, a minor elixir of life, a vial of nectar of purification, and 12 sp. Additionally, it had a letter.
The group investigates the scene thoroughly, leaving no clue unturned. Midnight is unsure what to make of the weapon, but Baltoros and Balistar recognises a few strands of hair stuck on the club belongs to an undead creature. Baltoros knows that the Holy Symbol belongs to a follower of the goddess Milani. Milani represents devotion, hope, and uprisings. Additionally, being men of knowledge, the cleric and bard also identifies the insects, two sets of them. Flies predominantly drawn to meat and rotting corpses, and death-head moths! The latter insects are sacred to Urgathoa, goddess of gluttony, disease and undeath. Although they are indigenous to the Isle of Kortos their presence here seems more than a coincidence.
A very strong stench seems to be coming from the top of the spiral stairs, where the blood trail leads to. Approaching cautiously, you find the attic lies empty save for a dead human body, blood dried over time. Clearly, the corpse resembles the one named Justerian.
He passed away a few weeks ago, around the time he was reported missing. His death was from blood loss, which is clear it was from the wounds across his body, ones created by large claws.
"Impressive work getting those bats to leave us alone! I was not trained to handle that. But perhaps I can help remedy the consequences."
Kuch will also assist with Medicine:
Upon discovering the weapon he will also attempt to investigate it:
"This was not the murder weapon - looks like Justerian tried to defend himself against a hirsute undead creature!"
Finally he attempts to use his anatomical knowledge to inspect Justerian's body:
But in this stressful situation his concentration is shattered and he is unable to infer any useful information.
"Perhaps a fight between two clerics?" Agent Midnight isn't sure of what to make from the information. But then she sees the dead body.
"Justerian, I presume... We'll have to inspect his body later."
"Gah! Creatures of Urgathoa!" Baltoros spits in a righteous rage as he recognizes the death's-head moths. "Some agent of the despoiler was here."
His eye is drawn to the symbol on the floor, and he picks it up, turning it end over end and inspecting it for blood specks. "And here, the sign of Milani the Everbloom. Does this mean the half-elf cleric the Dragon Shark mentioned was here as well?" He scratches his beard and ponders aloud.
Eventually he may also approach the corpse and conduct an examination. "Balistar, would you be willing to help me with this for a moment?"
"Aye, that's a good bet, Baltoros, I was thinkin' 'bout that ripped up journal entry meself. Now let's see what this poor sod c'n tell us, shall we?"
Balistar assists Baltoros in his inspection of Justinian's corpse.
"Mission Report: We found Justerian's body in the manor, as well as signs of a struggle with clerics of Urgathoa." Hesitate. "I'm sorry about your loss."
"Did Justerian have any conflicts with Urgathoa?"
With a glance at Agent Midnight, Balistar adds, "Er, yes, we're very sorry fer yer loss, Miss. We are doin' our best ta find the killer. One clue we found was a note to yer friend wot was signed 'W'. D'ya know if Justerian 'ad any friends wit' that initial?"
Before they reach Dahlia, Baltoros takes the group aside. "What's strange to me is that thus far there seem to be only two people who have been in the manor recently: Justerian, and his killer. Yet there were two different divine signs, one for Milani and one for Urgathoa. The easy answer would be to assume that Justerian had converted to worship Milani. Yet we shouldn't discount the possibility that Justerian have been a worshiper of the Pallid Princess either. Seems unlikely, though living in fetid squalor isn't exactly outside her realm of specialty." He pulls on his beard absent-mindedly. "Let's keep this theory to ourselves when we speak to Dahlia, but it might be good to keep this possibility in mind for our investigation."
When the party meets with Dahlia, Baltoros (again?) asks if Justerian's nature had changed in the time leading up to his disappearance.
"Any idea why 'ee was livin' where 'ee was livin'? Seemed a bit ... moldy fer someone wot worked wit' food."
"Alright, let's consider the intel we collected."
"A young lad wanted to join the Bloody Barbers, but he learned they were hunting for the killer as well. The killer was targeting former slaves. They know the killer wore metal armor and seemed to have difficulty controlling the right side of their body."
"A gang of kobolds found the body of a half-elven cleric, perhaps the one the Bloody Barbers had rumored about. Unclear. They found a letter on the cleric, noting several former slaves the writer was trying to help in the name of Milani."
"Justerian was attacked and killed. Murder weapon: a club, probably blunt trauma. Elements of Milani and Urgathoa were present. A letter written by someone with the initial W, urged him to live elsewhere."
"If Justerian isn't religious, then whomever worshipped Milani, perhaps this W person, tried to find him but found the killer instead." Her eyes narrow. "This person seems to have a list of the targets right here."
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Overhearing the conversation, Dahlia interrupts with a comment, "As far as I know, he occasionally did speak of a priest of Milani. In fact, it was the priest that recommended him to take the job at this very place, or so he told me!"
Midnight realises something is amiss about the whole thing and attempts to start the discussion, and it continues as you make your way back to the Pathfinder Lodge.
Upon returning to Ambrus Valsin, he listens curiously to your findings, and ask you the question. "Let's assume everything you've found for a moment is somehow connected, what can you decipher about the Rose Street Killer so far?" He asks the team before he provides you your final assignment.
Upon returning to Ambrus Valsin, he listens curiously to your findings, and ask you the question. "Let's assume everything you've found for a moment is somehow connected, what can you decipher about the Rose Street Killer so far?" He asks the team before he provides you your final assignment.
Balistar snaps his fingers. "The first fing we foun' was a plague o' rats in the Puddles, in'it? 'Fore we even talked ta Dahlia or went ta the decrepit mansion? What could they hafta do wit' the killer?"
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"Most peculiar indeed." Ambrus pauses to think about the whole thing. "Something doesn't add up, but nonetheless times a wasting. While you were out, I’ve determined that when the victims were freed, each was hidden in the same safe house, a tavern called the Sanguine Thorn. But that seems unlikely, as multiple accounts report that the earthquake destroyed it decades ago. Go to the tavern’s address in the Precipice Quarter. If it’s somehow standing, search for information that can help us stop this murderer or find our missing Pathfinder, Nelfurhin Zor, before it’s too late." the Venture-Captain instructs you.
You head towards Precipice Quarter, where the tavern once reside before the earthquake destroyed it. Along the way, members of Absalom’s Post Guard warn you that the entrance gates to the Precipice Quarter remains closed between dusk and dawn, no matter who asks to be let past.
Through a shroud of heavy fog, the twisted silhouettes of ruined structures loom over the broken cobblestone path. What was once the corner of an intersection is now an imposing chasm. The mouth of the crater is large enough to have swallowed a colossal beast, but mist, detritus, and darkness obscure the bottom. Numerous shards of stone and debris jut out from the inner walls as if the cavernous hole is baring its teeth all the way down.
Along the rubble at the top of the crater, you see a worn oaken sign with the name of the Sanguine Thorn painted above an ornate carving of a crimson rose, blood dripping from its thorns. Religion DC10 for next
Clearly, your options are to climb down the crater, into the unnatural fog, and investigate the ruins! The rocks and debris protruding from the inner walls provide several footholds and handholds.
Kuch produces a roll of rope and some pitons out of his bag, and puts them on the ground. "Looks like we go that way. If anyone needs help you're welcome to use this. I'll go first."
Agent Midnight spends her morning doing a jog, taking a bath, and scrubbing her shoes. A quick prayer and she's off to the mission.
"We should be ready for anything, here."
"I'll climb down." She pulls out her climbing gear and begins to descend...
She repels down the cliff.