With the dark creeper's agreement, you take their weapons and they lead you across the burial room to the stairs that head down.
They seem to hate the light coming from Drusilla's ioun torch as it burns their eyes, but they stick to the agreement and lead you down. And down, the dried black smear ever present on the stone beneath you. Something like 800 feet of descent later and you find yourselves in a 25 foot wide chamber supported by ancient stone pillars. Thick sheets of pale fungus and mold cake most surfaces. To the south, the hall has collapsed in rubble, but to the north it opens into a vast cavern in which eerie glowing light flickers.
The floor in the cavernous area to the north is an uneven jumble of loose stone and fungus, and the ceiling rises like a church cathedral to a height of nearly a hundred feet above. Glowing fungus grows thick on the walls, bathing the cavern in ugly hues of purple and pale blue. Toppled pillars and mounds of rubble dot the western half of the cave, while to the east a mound of fungus, bones and rubble rises. At the mound's apex squats a flat-topped altar stone, with towering barren trees rising on three sides, their leafless branches twisted and groping toward the ceiling above as if in search for a sun's warmth they shall never feel. A trickle of what appears to be sludge runs thickly and slowly from a hollow under the altar stone to gather to the northwest of the hill in a swampy pool. A dried trail of dried black slime runs from the staircase you descended all the way to the altar.
On the altar, a creature that looks humanoid with pallid flesh and pointed ears sits reading a large book while munching on a severed human arm. It looks up as you enter, right at the edge of your darkvision, but then goes back to reading.
Your dark creeper's look nervous in this room, and even more so when they see the creature.
"Those are dangerous, they eat dark folk. Please give us our daggers. The tunnel to our home is past it"
The trees appear dark and metallic, their branches extending up into the darkness, and their branches are hung with bones and other cult fetishes.
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”They are rightfully afraid - a ghoul like that hungers for the flesh of the living,” Angoldir answers, his normally-emotionless voice betraying his disgust. ”Beware its paralyzing bite, and the disease it carries lest you yourself rise in a similar state of undeath.” He does not comment on the trinkets adorning the unnatural trees yet, his full attention on the undead threat before them.
"I can see you" the ghoul announces loudly from atop the altar, the arm still in its hand. It's long tongue causes it to draw out the 's' sound, snake-like.
"Come closer. Trade yes? This book is mosst wonderouss, ssuch ancient darkness. Do you have weaponss? Magicss? Offer me a trade for it. Holy water or sswordss that sslay undead? I am Yarresh, who are you?"
Moving a bit closer the dark creepers take the opportunity to scurry off and hide in the corner , and you get a better look at the room. You're now able to make out that four passages branch off from the cavern, but that only the one to the southeast has not been blocked off by a series of relatively new-looking iron bars. The bars on the north-eastern passage have been bent inward, as if something came through into this chamber.
Now that you're closer, you can also see a cloaked body face down in the pool of sludge, and another almost completely obscured by the altar, with just some feet poking out. It's this one that the Yarresh is currently eating.
"I didn't see what made it, it was here when I arrived hours ago" without looking, he waves his hand in the direction of the bent bars. His eyes are fixed on you Grunyak, and his gaze is hungry. Snapping himself out of his trance he takes another bite of the arm.
"If you don't have weaponss, maybe food? I give you the book for 10 human bodiess?"
Yarresh hisses angrily at Grunyak's words, and starts to bound off the altar toward him with a look that says he's going to tear out his throat!
Luckily for Grunyak, Taariik's ifrit blood burns brightly, and ever vigilant, he reacts first.
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Taariik is still in thoughts and still cannot believe that he mindlessly attacked the small beings.
He seems more insecure now and given the fact that the flesh eating monster is talking to them he stayed silent, although his Elven companion identified it as an undead.
But seeing it being aggressive changes everything!
"I smite you undead horror!"
Taariik drops his greatsword, while he walks forward he draws his bardiche.
He attacks with his bardiche that has reach!
+
Taariik strides up, fury on his face and very nearly cuts off the ghouls head with one mighty blow. In retaliation, it deftly steps down from the altar up to him and attacks with bite and claw. The jaws get through and bite Taariik on an unprotected portion of the neck, but the claws rake his armour harmlessly.
Grunyak has finished toying with this abomination, and strides in and delivers a mighty slash with his axe, and while distracted by Angoldir's swordplay it still manages to dodge out of the way of Drusilla's morningstar.
The divine grace of Irori protects Taariik from the ghouls paralysing bite, and Taariik responds by completing his first blow and severing the ghouls head.
Looking around, it appears that the two dark creepers took the distraction to scurry down the exposed tunnel to the north-east. Alone now in the strange spooky cave, there is a lot to go through. Eldrin and Grunyak detect magic on a ring that the ghoul was wearing.
The two cloaked bodies also have items radiating magic. The one face down in the sludge is an old man who seemed to have some kind of hunchback deformity. His cloak and a ring radiate magic
The body propped at the eastern side of the altar is a worse state, having had one of the arms removed to provide a reading snack for Yarresh, and it's clear Yarresh had already taken the choicest pieces of meat at an earlier meal. Still, Grunyak and Eldrin detect magic on the bracers still on his arms, as well as on a strangely cool stick lying next to his body.
There is also some magic coming from about a five feet down in the sludge pile, but that would require someone to wade in to retrieve it.
The book that Yarresh was reading proves to be fascinating. None of you know the language it is written in, but Eldrin can still read it.
It's called "The Pnakotic Manuscripts", and a cursory examination shows that it focuses on magical portals, teleportation, and conjuration magic in general. It's physically imposing, weighing 10 pounds and consisting of about 500 pages of thin parchment. The cover bears a large inset crystal and a series of metal insect-like clasps along the edges allow it to be securely locked, though it is open right now. It also has some pages which record spells, which Eldrin will be able to decipher with his prepared read magic.
The inside front cover bears the inscription
"May we, the Keepers of the Oldest, prevail over the scourge of simplistic thought and lesser men"
beneath that are five signatures:
Glem Baskerwhel
Waldur Crove
Arlend Hyve
Sulm Marshan
Rupman Myre
One section of the book is marked by a red silk bookmark that Yarresh appears to have ignored, it's marking the start of a section which has a lengthy discussion about how to use special rituals to open portals in key locations. This section has been heavily annotated.
It would take at least an hour of study to fully digest and understand the complicated arcane theory in this chapter. The passageway to the south-west leads to a campsite that appears to have been a campsite for five, judging by the number of empty bedrolls along the walls. A few shelves with scattered books on them, a fire pit, and even a crude wooden table provide the furnishings for the site.
The books here are written in the same strange language, and if Eldrin can spare a few minutes to look over their titles he can see that they are all about ancient and blasphemous religions, the dark tapestry, the great old ones, monsters from other dimensions, and magical portals. They are covered in notes and may hold useful secrets, but as with the Pnakotic manuscripts; doing so would require several hours of study
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Grunyak puts the ghouls ring, the old man's cloak and ring, and one armed man's stuff in a close area and detects magic.
"Well, that went well." "I can't make out any of this stuff." "Wait this last stick is a wand that can suck life and strength. Foul necromancy." "Eldrin why don't you tak. Foul it may be, but it is useful in a pinch."
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Taariik looks at the finally dead ghoul and shakes his head.
When he sees that the two dark creepers took the distraction to scurry down he is actually relieved.
He sits down on the floor and starts to prepare a tea. He closes his eyes and starts to meditate for a minute after which he drinks the tea.
Source Alchemy Manual pg. 25
Price 40 gp; Weight —
Category Alchemical Remedies
Description
This foul-tasting green tea allows monks to focus their ki on improving abilities they’ve gained through other training. By drinking a cup of tea of transference, you can expend 1 point from your ki pool to regain 1 point from your arcane pool, 2 rounds of barbarian rage, 2 rounds of bardic performance, one use of channel energy, 1 grit point, one use of smite evil, one expended extract slot at least 1 level lower than the highest-level extract you can create, or one expended spell slot at least 2 levels lower than the highest-level spell you can cast. You must have the ki pool class feature and the class feature you want to regain uses of in order to benefit from tea of transference.
* * *
Taariik then uses his wand to heal himself.
* * *
When Taariik learns from the those with magical aptitude that there is also some magic coming from about a five feet down in the sludge pile, he walks down to retrieve it.
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"Angoldir, if you can read the journals from this campsite looking specifically at the last few entries maybe we can determine what they summoned or let loose in these under city tunnels."
Grunyal rubs a gauntleted hand over is bad head again mumbling to himself.
"That would at least give us the edge for preparing helpful spells."
After a refreshing tea, Taariik wades into the sludge pool. It's five feet deep at the deepest point, and the magic item is resting on the bottom, so keeping his head out of the foul stuff is quite difficult, but he eventually manages it and emerges holding a gleaming scimitar. The sludge doesn't want to cling to it, and it looks brand new.
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With the battle over, Eldrin retrieves the book from the ghoul and gives it a quick examination. "I can read this book, but only under the effect of magic, when we are in a position to spend some hours I will study it in more detail. I think it may hold some valuable information on the creature that attacked the house."
Moving over to the pile of items Eldrin speaks an incantation and sets about examining them.
Holding up the cloak Eldrin says: "This is a cloak of resistance and..." and then the bracers "these are bracers of armour. I am afraid I am not sure about the rings, I will prepare an identification spell tomorrow and try again."
Taking the scimitar from Taariik and examining it Eldrin says, "The sword is enchanted to guide the wielders strikes to hit their target and inflict more damage.".
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Comprehend languages is a 1st level cleric spell. Grunyak should be able to activate the wand. However it is personal and I frankly don't know if you can use a personal spell wand on someone else.
Angoldir pauses, a flash of inspiration flitting across his face. "Eldrin, might I propose a trade? The use of this wand for the time it would take to scribe a spell from your spellbook?"
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Grunyak looks to see if the dark folk are still near and checks each of the exits, paces around a lot and generally looks unhappy.
"Well, are we leaving or staying a while?"
"I hate this delay. At least it is you all reading and not me. That would be worse."
"Great!" "Let's move" "I vote the broken bar passage. The thing was big. I would room to leave through."
Eldrin casts his spell and studies the manuscripts, reading it aloud to anyone interested in the content. Much of it is disturbing, and weaving through the whole thing is a a cold logic that seems utterly devoid of compassion and yet is strangely compelling.
By talking it through you are all able to conclude that these "Keepers of the Oldest" were hoping to use the ritual described in the book to try to open a portal here, in this room they call "the sunless grove", to contact a "spawn of the dark tapestry" and further enhance their knowledge of forbidden magic and arcane secrets.
A section near the end cautions those who would attempt this ritual, warning that forcing open such portals draws forth the spiritual essence of the casters, and that any entity contacted by the portal can make "hideous use of this essence by consuming it, growing more powerful in the bargain, such that only the end of such essence can challenge the intruder's rights upon your world"
A cursory examination of the books shows that while they have lots of details, there doesn't appear to be much to advance your investigation, though they would come in very handy if you wanted to repeat the summoning.
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Taariik is truly disturbed by these unbelievable rituals!
”We have to stop these ‘Keepers of the Oldest’! To open a portal is crazy!! And can we somehow take power away from this room, "the sunless grove"? And do you think they already contacted the “spawn of the dark tapestry"?!?“ he asks still confused by all the facts!
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Finishing reading the chapter from the book Eldrin lowers the book and looks inward, clearly thinking over the disturbing knowledge he has just read.
After a moment he stands, collects up his spell book and the dark tome and puts them away in his haversack. "This is truly disturbing and I am not able to make much sense of it. Maybe with some time I will be able to gleen some insights."
"Angoldir, If you would like, you are welcome to study my spell book again. There may be more spells for which you are able to derive a formula."
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Angoldir sighs heavily, also not able to glean any insights from Eldrin's reading of the text. "Disturbing indeed. From the sounds of it these cultists sold their souls to some otherworldly influe-" His voice is cut off by a low, trilling warble from the whippoorwill perched on his shoulder. The elf's eyes widen slightly as if seeing some invisible message...
...then quickly focus once more. "धन्यवाद, क़दर। यह मेरी ओर से एक महत्वपूर्ण गलतफहमी थी।"
He turns back to his companions. "This was not a selling of mortal souls to an outsider, but a binding. A binding that empowers the creature if it slays the mortals. The text indicates that if the summoning mortals die of other means, then the outsider no longer can draw power from their souls and might eventually be banished if all the linked souls pass to the Beyond by means other than its hand." His brow furrows. "If such a creature is indeed been loosed here, it would be wise of us to identify those who summoned it - these Keepers of the Oldest." He sighs heavily, looking at the fallen bodies. "And it would appear that some of them are already slain, and most likely by whatever has been summoned. Grunyak, Drusilla, were you able to locate anything that could be used to identify these bodies? Eldrin, there was a list of names in that book, correct? Perhaps they are known to the citizens of the city above us."
Inspecting the bodies they don't have much to identify them, one is hunch-backed and older, the other younger but otherwise unremarkable beyond a pair of almost protruding eyes.
You can head back up and search for these so-called keepers. In fact you might already know something about them.
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"We are too late to find Marshan, I'm afraid." Angoldir gently sighs. "These eyes for which he was known will no longer gaze upon the house he owned above us. May his spirit find peace in the Beyond."
Turning to the other Pathfinders, the aged elf continues. "I do not know of this Baskerwhel, but the other three may still be found above. Crove the warden, Hyve the sage, and Myre the baron. We should check on all three, but which one shall we visit first?"
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Taariik suddenly realises that the death of a few corrupt men can lead to the safety of many.
"Irori teaches to see one's path as a test. That is so hard for me." he says with some self-doubt.
"Each of Irori's paladins has to create his own code as part of his spiritual journey, seeing the adherence to such a self-formulated creed as one of the many tests one must face to reach perfection." and these last words are more memorized then his own line of thinking.
Taariik hesistantly asks "What would you all do? Would you kill these men?"
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”At the very least we should prevent whatever outsider they have called from killing them,” Angoldir replies gravely. ”If the creature understands the ritual used, it will likely seek to gain more strength from their souls by slaying them. This we should prevent.” He smiles faintly. ”And who knows - perhaps we will find a method to dissolve the hold on their souls in a less bloodthirsty manner. But such knowledge will do us little good if we are not quick to protect these four.”
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"We should probably report into the Mayor, at the very least these bodies need to be properly seen too. Leaving them here for the ghouls and other denizens of these tunnels doesn't seem right to me."
"Perhaps we can ask around about these keepers and someone may recognise this other fellow." Eldrin gestures at the unidentified body.