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Zanderel arches an eyebrow and the group discusses rounded staircases, missing what to him is obvious. "It looks like the earthquake twenty years back weakened the wall between the sewers and this much older construction. That means that some caution is in order, as the integrity may have been compromised. Be careful. Lilic, you in particular."
"Actually, hold please. Allow my familiar to do some scouting for us." He then whispers some instructions into the ravens ear, and the bird takes off from his shoulder.
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Shuru is gone for a few moments . "Nothing living. Nothing moving. No food."
The party follows Shuru's path through the side tunnels. The first seems like a simple dead end. The second at first seems like it'll be more of the same at first, but that quickly changes.
Bits of saturated parchment, fragments of wood, and other detritus float on the surface of the two‑foot‑deep water in the room. Small niches are carved up and down the walls, each space only a few inches square but nearly a foot deep. The niches to the north are mostly destroyed by the partial collapse of the surrounding wall, and a deep crack runs at an angle across it.
To the north, a statue of a hippocampus rears up and its eyes roll back as if in pain. A trident made of a corroded metal protrudes from a wound in its side. Behind the statue on the wall are carved the words “Ex Prothex.”
the hippocampus is one of the mascots of Absalom and that “Ex Prothex” is the city’s motto, meaning “First among equals.”
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Hopper as often enters the room as one of the last. His green head turns around as he looks at the treasures at hand. He raises the wood and first smells it, later licks it. He stands in front of the animal statue and says:
"This is hippocampus, I believe it is one of the mascots of Absalom." Says Hopper squeaking.
Than he touches the inscription behind the statue reading:
"Ex Prothex. Zanderel correct me if I am wrong, but it is the city's motto, right? It means first among equals."
After saying that Goblin steps away from the wall.
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"Correct. The hippocampus is indeed one of the mascots of Absalom and 'Ex Prothex' is the city’s motto. It has always struck me as inspired by the dead god Aroden."
He then looks over the detritus and muses aloud, "Are there any valuables or other tibdits to be found? I can continue to search for magical auras if someone else would like to search for more mundane items."
Lilic thinks its safe, so he goes for the trident. It doesn't come out, and he determines its part of the statue. After thinking on it, he does remember something of note. Dagon, the demon lord of the sea and sea monsters that dwell in its darkest depths, has many cultists in pockets throughout the Inner Sea. Dagon is said to have slain the great kraken Kaktora, thereby creating the devilfish now haunting Golarion's oceans!
Kaelan quickly locates an airtight bone scroll tube bobbing in the water.
Zanderel confirms that there is no magic inside, so Kaelan opens it. Inside is a remarkable document: the deed to the playhouse and even some of the surrounding neighborhood.
This document in and of itself does not grant rights to the property, but it can be used to make a strong case for ownership for the goblins, given the lack of current owner.
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Lilic explains that the trident seems to be part of the statue.
"Could be linked to Dagon, the demon lord of the sea. He has cultists... hope we don't run into them."
"Way to go Kaelan! That document does not grant you rights to the property, but . can be used to make a strong case for ownership given the lack of current owner.
Maybe you can try to get it and charge the Goblins rent?
Or just give it to the Goblins. That'd make them like the Grand Lodge."
After a while, the party concludes that there's nothing else of note here.
The party confirms that there's nothing of note in the third passage either. Shuru comes back after scouting .
"No food, again. No motion. Small hole to extra room. Did not go in. Smells BAD."
The party checks this wing of the area, and corroborates Shuru's report.
You finally make it to the "smelly hole." The prominent hole has been opened in the southern wall of the passage here from the opposite side. Some of the bricks have crumbled and fallen, or perhaps been knocked loose, creating a small opening into a room beyond. The walls of this inner room show signs of being scratched or clawed.
An emaciated figure rushes up to the hole, and the stench intensifies, "Freedom!? Please, out there. Free me!"
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Lilic diligently checks out the corridors.
Coming up to the hole, Lilic is surprised by this stinky figure rushing over.
He grips his shortsword, and starts sweating: "The stench, the emaciated figure... ARE YOU A GHOUL?!
Let you out?! Wait... I am here to Protect, Contain, and Destroy!
WHO ARE YOU?!"
Lilic is very ill at ease...
Lilic suspects, but doesn't know that this is a ghoul.
It answers in a slurred tone. “I…I am…was called Marcon Tinol. Thou art living? Yes?”
As everyone pours in around the hole to see the prisoner it's a strange sight indeed. His remaining skin is taut over spare flesh, and the ends of his fingers are worn to the bone from his endless picking at the walls of his prison. His clothes and speech are from another era.
Those clothes are about 500 years out of style!
"I .... am no longer. I am now... a ghoul. I hunger. I control that…hunger…for now. Discipline I have learned…yes, discipline. Hunger is as nothing unto me now. Its claws have lost their grip…This I swear: no harm to the bodies of the living will I bring…So long as I see justice done. Then…peace. Forever.”
"Canst thou…imagine…the rage I feel? My heart beats not, yet it burns for vengeance… To speak the truth is my deepest desire…Know thee this: my jailers were not men of law but base criminals. No just sentence do I serve!”
“My secret, that is…to keep…it burns in my mind, a secret to bargain with. I know much. And greatly does a family in Absalom fear my secret. Prithee, I beg you to free me. Guide me to the surface and I will share my secret. Perhaps then I will know peace…”
You know that allowing Marcon to reveal his secret to the world will allow his spirit to finally pass on to the Boneyard. Not just you though. Peace would require that he get to do it.
Please. Thou can chaineth me, tie me up. I need... give me thy word that you will let me bring justice! Thy word!"
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Lilic becomes even more torn when he hears talking of rage and burning for vengeance.
"Aaah! I too am full of rage, and burn for revenge. But... against the Undead!
The Whispering Tyrant's armies that wiped my country out."
Lilic scratches his chin, his grey mottled skin.
"Well, I imagine several of my family are Un-Dead too now... and, I know that in this case, this Marcon person, by revealing his secret to the world, well, it will allow his spirit to finally pass on to the Boneyard.
So, in a way, we would be ridding the world of a Ghoul, and freeing a soul."
Lilic sighs: "I cannot believe I am saying this, but... I will vote to tie you up, indeed, to make sure you do not attack others, and to take you to get your Justice."
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Hopper hears the arguments said:
"I don't give a damn about Marcon word. Words are cheap. But I was accused of being vicious and judged as guilty of the goblinblood wars massacres. Due to that, I suggest we judge Marcon by what he does instead of the actions of others. Let us release him and escort to safety. "
Squeeks Hopper, which might have been the longest opinion that he expressed not related to alchemy, crafting or fire.
"What unordinary clothing you have there Marcon? I saw a play where they used the same type of costumes, it was set around 500 years ago. But then they set up a wooden building on fire, and the blazes were amazing!"
"Yes!" Macron rushes to the far side of his room and points to words scratched on the wall. The edges stained brown from centuries old blood.
The words read, "Candren's wish."
He tells you an awful tail... When he was alive, Marcon Tinol was an accountant and bookkeeper for House Candren of Absalom. At the time, House Candren was a rather unimportant, if moderately wealthy part of the nobility of the city. They owned many shipping concerns and dealt in sea trade throughout the Inner Sea, although the heavy taxes and fees levied upon them made it difficult to build upon their successes very easily. Suddenly, in what seemed like an overnight transformation, the family’s fortunes changed for the better and their wealth began to steadily grow beyond any projections Marcon had made. His surprise was brushed aside by Ednathian Candren, the patriarch of the family. Being the diligent and dedicated worker he was, however, Marcon began digging deeply to find the reasons for the improvements. He found that the family had ceased paying any taxes or fees to the city or any other government in the region. Certain of a mistake, he contacted his counterparts in these organizations, but his questions and letters were ignored, lost, or met with strange responses that didn’t make sense. Marcon’s eagerness to solve the mystery soon became an obsession and his own undoing. He came to learn that the head of the Candren family had, through great expense and trouble, found a wizard willing to cast a wish spell to guarantee freedom from taxation and fees for perpetuity. Eventually, the family noticed Marcon’s curiosity. While the family was sure the power of the wish would keep their money safe, they were concerned about their reputation. Worried the accountant knew too much and that word would get out of his actions, Candren ordered Marcon sent to the Tombs of the Living, where he was walled up and left to die. He later arose as an undead but remained trapped and in a barely conscious torpor until the earthquake woke him. As the last few years have worn on, Marcon has scratched and chipped, bit by bit, at his prison, and is now on the verge of escaping.
The undead’s information could be quite damaging to one person in particular: Goodman Hugen of House Candren, a member of the Grand Council of Absalom and First Harbormaster.
You have also heard of Hugen’s secret sympathies for equality and ties to Andoran and understands the story of his ancestor’s wish might undermine his relationships with others who are fighting for equality and freedom.
It will take you about 30 minutes to dig through from your side.
"Here. Yes. Here. Where they brick us up to die!"
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"Fascinating. This information would be particularly harmful for Goodman Hugen of House Candren. They are a member of the Grand Council of Absalom and First Harbormaster, so they very clearly have been able to turn good fortune into a position of importance. Though I do wonder whether the family knows of their good fortune."