You manage to arrange a trip into the Dragonfen two days before the auction is scheduled. Your path takes you along Old Quarry Road until its second crossing of Eskander Creek, where you move along the creekside as the Road winds its way deeper into the fen toward the old abandoned Monastery of Saint Kyerixus.
Atop a small mound rising from the east side of the creek, the bones of an enormous beast can be seen. Even hundreds of years after the dragon's fall, its bones a remain an awe-inspiring sight. The skeleton has partially sunk into the bog, but enough remains that it still appears to be draped over a low, earthen mound. On the side of the mound is a stone door with a single, rough keyhole.
Before you can decide on a course of action, a creature emerges from inside of the skull of the dragon to gret you. This horrid mass of eyes, mouths, and formless flesh stares in all directions, its countless maws yammering ceaselessly.
"Torag's Beard What is that?!"
Yngvilda carries her shield as she travels, but her sword is still sheathed. Even before she's finished shouting she has reflexively stepped up to the monster, drawn her sword, and then slammed it with her new shield.
"Certainly doesn't look pleasant," Tykent answers with a frown. "And that is a lot of teeth. Best it does not chip them by biting too hard on a wyrm-slayer's shield, methinks." He gives the creature a meaningful look to accompany his words.
Yngvilda knows what this is once she gets a closer look. Disgusting, loathsome, and hungry—these are the only words that properly describe the gibbering mouther. A foul beast that lurks in underground caves, sewers, and nightmares, mouthers have no societal, ecological or religious significance other than their ability to drive those that listen to them mad. Some scholars believe that gibbering mouthers are a lesser variant of the much more dangerous shoggoth, while others theorize they are a punishment by some powerful being or deity inflicted on those who have offended it. Regardless, she knows the important bits they are amorphous; resistant to all damage except bludgeoning; and are immune to critical hits and precision damage.
The Ulfen's shield slams into the mouther, lowering its defenses while it resists some of Tykent's evil eye.
Penny sees the mass appear. "Ahh! Disgusting foul creature." She pulls out her wand and touches herself with it.
Cwm darts through the clump of his companions, trying to get a good angle on the creature. The cold iron dagger flashes as it slashes th
for
Cwm's dagger slices into the flesh of the mouth-creature, but it's skin is hard and thick and his damage is greatly reduced because of it.
Six different mouths attempt to bite Cwm in return, but thanks to Tykent's hex none of them are able to connect with the rogue and he is left uninjured!
"What? No Taylor, You can't go in there. With that many mouths you are likely able to get yourself swallowed. No, You are not going to be effective on the inside. The skin is just as tough inside as it is outside! Its the same skin Taylor! Just stay put and keep quiet"
She stops arguing with her other half and pulls up her crossbow, firing off a bolt at the creature.
"Hit it with something heavy!"
ignoring her own advice, (and the advice of every instructor she's ever had), Yngvilda steps toward the creature and attempts to hit it with both of her heavy weapons.
After horrifically overbalancing herself with the two unwieldy weapons, she starts to look regretful.
"I've made a huge mistake"
Cwm slides around the side of the thing as Yngvilda waves her shield at it. His main hand now holds a mithril dagger that he jabs with while the cold iron blade slices.
for
for
for
”Such a naughty monster, biting like that,” Tykent chides. ”Take care lest your quarry strike back!”
Eldon's ray strikes the creature, and Cwm's dagger injures it as well, though its amorphous shape seems to negate much of the potentially lethal strike.
Yngvilda and Penny both miss and Tykent continues to keep its defenses down.
It continues to try and chomp Cwm with its many mouths, biting him three times . After each bite it tries tohold on tightly to him, but each time the rogue manages to pull away.
Cwm keeps poking away, a battle of attrition.
for
for
Hoping Tykent's hex and Cwm's distraction will even out her discomfort at the unwieldy weapons, Yngvilda strikes again with both
”That’s the spirit - keep it up!” Tykent cheers. ”This foul thing will soon go crawling back to whence it came - won’t you?” He fixes the creature with a stern gaze, though the effect is somewhat dampened by his momentary hesitation as he picks one of the creature’s eyes to focus on.
"Blasted crossbow. I am sure that smith had something to do with this. Must have not calibrated it right"
She reloads a bolt to her crossbow and fires off another round.
As the bolt flies completely off target Penny curses "I should not have paid him until I gave this a proper field test. This is unacceptable! I'll have a word with his superior when we get back to town."
Almost in answer to Tykent's decree, the mouth-creature tries to slither away after Cwm's second strike. Yngvilda was ready for the retreat however, and her flaming sword burst through its body, cutting it in two. The many many mouths of gelatinous creature collapses to the ground and begin to spill its ichor at your feet.
With the threat removed, you're able to use Bassy's key to unlock the crypt. Inside is a 5-foot-deep alcove in which a 5-foot-wide shaft drops down into the ground, descending 30 feet into darkness.
Cwm peers over the edge looking for any easy way to climb down or anything of interest. He also checks for potential traps.
"Ooh a mysterious drop into an ancient tomb!" Yngvilda remembers to slot an alchemist's fire into her breakaway boss on her shield, then starts excitedly getting gear out. First a torch that she lights with her flint and steel, which she then drops down the hole (assuming no-one has gone down already by the time she's finished).
Finally she grabs some rope, affixes it to the top and drops the rest down the hole, and shield securely fastened to her back begins climbing down.
Yngvilda easily climbs down the rope, taking note there is no ladder to climb down with.
This oval chamber has two large alcoves, each containing two child-sized stone sarcophagi. In the east end of the room, a shaft opens a bove a marble statue of a rearing warhorse.
As she touches the ground, she hears the sounds of a child sobbing. Cwm touches down right behind her and doesn't see a child, but can tell the sound is coming from within one of the small-sized sarcophagi.
”Easy there...” Tykent repeats to himself as he slowly lowers himself down the rope after Cwm. ”Just don’t look down...”
Once on the bottom of the pit, the old man readjusts his robes and smiles at his companions. ”Goodness, I’d forgotten how much heights scare me. Oh, but it seems I’m not the only one who’s upset?”
Tykent easily joins the others in the crypt as each one lowers themselves down into the dark chamber.
Cwm walks closer to the sarcophagus making noises but is careful not to touch anything.
Cwm approaches the sarcophagus that sobbing is coming from. It becomes clear that the tomb is sealed and it is coming from within it.
Yngvilda takes a minute to re-equip her shield while the others investigate the sound.
"Do you think that could really be a trapped child? Surely they'd have starved... Oh. Be on the guard for ghostly undead Cwm!"
She steps up to the sarcophagus with Cwm.
"Lets put this spirit to rest"
She then draws her traveller's any tool and configures it into a crowbar and starts trying to lever it open.
Cwm holds out his arm, "whoa! Let's hold off on letting the creepy crying child out just yet!" He moves around to the side opposite Yngvilda, "is that really the best course of action here?"
"What? Climb down in the dark? Me? Taylor - Light up my path"
Taylor flies down and once at the bottom Penny opens a dimensional door and slips through, appearing at the bottom of the cave behind the others.
"Wait! Be safe!" Penny casts detect magic on the sarcophagus before Yng opens it. She will notify them of any aura's she detects, before taking a step back herself for safety.
Yngvilda gives Cwm a confused look, paused with her crowbar at the sarcophagus lid.
"If there is a spirit of a child in there, suffering and confused for all eternity, then we need to lay it to rest. If it is a foul monster trying to trick us, then we need to kill it to protect the next group who wander in here. And if this is where Tula Belhaim left her boon for future dragonslayers, then we need to get it out"
She straightens up and withdraws the crowbar.
"If you'd like to do some "preparations" first then we can wait, just get on with them"
Eldon waves for Yngvilda to continue, "I'm ready, only way to know what's inside is to open it."
Yngvilda pops the lid of the sarcophagus off and a skeletal child with a foal's skull for a head pops up, sobbing. It doesn't look friendly and it is prepares to strike. Everyone but Eldon was ready for this however and reacts faster than she does. It does. Whatever that thing is!
"Remember, we are here to save people." Tykent's words accompany a wash of golden light from Hope that fills his companions with resolve. "Do not give up hope - strike swiftly and with purpose."
In addition to the sadness aura of sobbing, it can also steal ones breath and voice if bit or touched by the whisperer.
Cwm doesn't hesitate as he drives two daggers into the thing's back, twisting the cold iron dagger for a little extra oopmh, "see!"
"Wha! What in the! It looks like this was setup as some sort of trap! Prepare eveyrone!"
Penny side steps and raises her hand to blast the creature with a dark ray from her hands.
Both Penny and Eldon land their attacks as well as Cwm cutting her up badly.
The undead creature whirls on Cwm after he buries his daggers into her body. She lunges forward and with her sharp jaws, takes a bite of his arm. When her teeth sink into his flesh, he can feel something inside of him instantly weaken as she tries to pull something out of his body.
Cwm's shoulders slump, "that's ... not pleasant." He makes two half-hearted swipes with his daggers.
for
for
"You should be asleep, little one," Tykent chides gently, his voice taking on a singsongy pattern. "Time to rest, time to sleep, you've been through enough and you deserve an undisturbed slumber..."
Having put her shield down to operate the crowbar, Yngvilda is once again caught without it. Rather than waste time picking it up she draws her new longsword in both hands.
"See I told you there was a spirit to put to rest!"
She then brings it down as hard as she can in an overhand chop.
"Just, keep it over there! Don't let it touch you!"
Penny repeats her previous action, again attempting to hit the undead creature with a dark ray.
The undead spirit is no match for the party, and only after a few seconds of battle do the animated bones collapse back into the sarcophagus once more. The only remnant of battle being Cwm's fatigue which seems to linger.
With the attic whisperer taken care of, there doesn't seem much else of interest in this crypt. You see no other exits leading from these three rooms other than the one you entered from.
"Cwm, come on over here so I can take a look at that bite." Tykent leans on his walking stick and waits for the ifrit to approach, watching with interest as the rogue wearily approaches. "Ah, so the stories about a whisperer's bite are true. Hope, if you wouldn't mind..."
Hope swoops around the pair before settling on Cwm's shoulder. She nuzzles him for several seconds, then squawks contentedly and returns to her customary perch on Tykent's shoulder. As she does, gentle light covers the rogue before evaporating like mist before the morning sun - and taking the fatigue away along with it.
"Now then, would you please be so kind as to investigate that secret door?" The old man smiles and points at the western wall of the central room.
Cwm smiles and holds her hand for Hope to land, "thank you Hope. And you too Tykent, I feel much better now. Let me see to that door."
He moves over to the secret door and slides the wall open. "shall we?"