"So...what is it, crew? Should we report back to the elder? Maybe we can find someone who knows how to get past that door."
"The skulk leader said they had gone through after Mr. Khonnir's group, so I reckon they must have some idea how to open it."
Shesik shakes here head, "Sef said Khonnir's second group passed through the southern door, the one in the skulks' cavern, the one that leads to the underground desert. Purple-hair's group supposedly passed through the northern door, the one in the gremlins' caverns, the one we couldn't figure out how to open. Do we think Parda was a member of Purple-hair's group? If so, she might have known something about the cards. I think that possibility makes trying to get a Speak with Dead cast on her. We should ask Master Kyte if he can do that."
"Beyond merely being a source of information, Parda was a valued member of this community.
Let us report back to Dolga, tell her what we found, and inform her of our intentions to request a Speak With Dead spell from Master Kyte on Parda's remains.
And then we might ask either Dolga or Master Kyte to handle funeral arrangements for Parda."
Tyn joins in on trying to ascertain the function of the found cards.
"Ayup, Hekau's right. We ought to do right by Parda and the others we found, even if we didn't know 'em." Xaerai helps to move the remains to the church.
Dolga meets you report with a grim expression, but she nods in approval. "Folks liked Parda. Sad to see what became of her, but she deserves a proper burial. Go on and talk to Kyte before you head in, I'm sure he can help take care of her."
Kyte's cheerful expression upon seeing you fades quickly when you tell him what you have planned. "Aye, I could do it for you tomorrow, but truth be told I've spent all my prayers today making sure none of you will drown. If you bring Parda's body back I can try to coax some answers out of her, but it'll shorten how long the water breathing magic will last."
"Very well. We will head back into the caves today with the benefit of your Water Breathing spell if you will be so kind, and then tomorrow you can pray for a Speak with Dead and we can do a shorter excursion into the caves. Assuming that today's excursion does not provide all the answers we need."
Handing his dagger back to Hekau, she actually gives him a small smile. "Thanks for lending this to me. Having picked up one of my own I think you should have this back. It might still be useful."
With a resigned sigh, Shesik prepares her equipment for their morning swim. ”Well then, we should get to it. I guess we’re in for another swim through the muck."
"You are welcome, Shesik. I am pleased that you made good use of it."
Hekau turns to Master Kyte. "I have some minor injuries remaining from yesterday's excursion. Could I prevail upon you to heal these wounds?"
Zelvin smacks himself in the head. "Oh! Your crossbow, Hekau. Thanks again for lettin' me use it, and for bein' so well prepared. You really know how to think ahead!" He carefully draws his pistol and shows off the runes he scratched into it the night before. "I reckon these'll let me cast my spells through the pistol now, so I should be okay if'n I run out of ammunition. As long as she doesn't explode!"
"Easiest thing in the world, my boy," Kyte says, before passing his hand over the injuries. Once that's done, he blesses each of you with a casting of water breathing and a couple applications of waterproof.
You make your way through the (increasingly familiar) underwater tunnels from the Weeping Pond to the caverns beneath Torch. You soon find yourselves at the lair of the skulks, who allow you entry with no challenge of any sort.
"Hello again, folks," Zelvin says. "We're gonna try to follow the other group through this here door. Got any tips for openin' it?"
"Sure," Luepel says, jerking a thumb toward the door in question. "Climb up and walk through it. It's been stuck open ever since your friends went through it."
Tyn thinks to himself that he may have to take the time to learn Undercommon. He turns to Hekau,
"What say we take care of the mold issue and explore that last area...?"
"Tyn, I believe that Zelvin has prepared the necessary Ray of Frost incantation."
Zelvin blinks. "Oh yeah, right. Maybe we can do it on the way out? I'm anxious to locate Mr. Khonnir as fast as possible. I mean, he could be in trouble in there!"
Shesik looks at he dark half-elf with disappointment. "There's a body in there. We should make sure it isn't Khonnir, just in case. The skulks could be lying to us about him passing through the doorway." She looks away with embarrassment, "Besides, there might be something useful in there. Something we could use."
Or sell... she thinks to herself.
Zelvin's eyes dart back and forth between the direction of the door and the cave with the body. He sighs. "If it really matters to you, all right, let's get this over with." He heads back down the tunnel to the cold area with the heat-absorbing growth and begins shooting it with ray of frost spells until he is sure it's all destroyed. "All clear!" he says with a smile to Shesik when he finishes.
Tyn clasps Zelvin's shoulder,
"Well done, young man! You know, leave no stone unturned and what not."
Shesik waits and watches impatiently while Zelvin clears the mold. "Thanks. To be honest, I hope it isn't him." And with that, she proceeds to take a look at the freed corpse, hoping that it isn't their quarry.
The body is that of a human, pale and cold to the touch but not frozen. A search of his body turns up a fair amount of useful items. Specifically, he is wearing a masterwork chain shirt, and is carrying a masterwork set of thieves' tools, a masterwork crossbow (along with a number of bolts), some empty vials, and 75gp.
"Damn shame," Xaerai says softly when the body is recovered. "No lack of dangers down here, it seems. Doubt it will be any better through that door."
"I know him," Zelvin says soberly. "Miz Otterbie was gonna marry him, Mr. Sonder they called him. He went with Mr. Khonnir. Seems like maybe the skulks were tellin' the truth after all." He looks at the corpse again. "Poor Miz Otterbie. She's gonna be mighty sad when she hears what happened."
Shesik shakes her head. "It isn't Khonnir, but it is part of his team." She points out a tracery of rust-colored fibers on his body. " Anyone know what these are? I don't think I've ever run into anything like it before."
His fellow adventurers are constant reminders of how he never took the time to really get to know anyone locally-though being part of the service industry. Tyn is grateful to be in company that has one neglected facet of expertise covered. He nods as they offer their knowledge of the latest "Who's Who of Deceased Locals."
Quick to offer help in whatever he can, he also studies the rust-colored fibers.
Hekau likewise remembers Gerrol Sonder.
"I am surprised that Khonnir Baine left a member of his group behind like this, and did not bring the body back to town for burial. Perhaps he was not able to deal with the Brown Mold, or was distracted by another danger. Or perhaps Gerrol Sonder became separated from Father's group."
Hekau also takes a look at the strange filaments.
There are several ways to deal with russet mold, such as soaking the body in alcohol, applying acids to the affected areas, or casting remove disease. Cremation would also do the trick, as this patch is not fully mature. If Gerrol's body is brought back to town and the mold is not dealt with, it could pose a serious threat when a pair of vegepygmies eventually burst forth from the corpse.
Hekau shares his observations.
"Gerrol was infected with Russet Mold. We should take care to elimintate this infestation from his remains before or immediately upon bringing his remains back to town.
Let us leave him here for now and proceed through the door in the skulks' cavern."
Zelvin nods to Hekau, silently sharing the realization of the danger the mold poses. "Yep, I reckon that's all we can do for him right now."
Looking down at the remains one last time Shesik speaks quietly to Khonnir's adopted sons. "Would it be a problem if we used his gear to try and find your dad? He was carrying some equipment that would be quite useful. Maybe it's just the scavenger in me, but we're more likely to find Khonnir if we're equipped as well as his team, right?" She looks up at them and shrugs. Maybe I am just a scavenger.
Zelvin looks at Hekau. "I'm sure he'd want us to use his gear, especially considerin' we're plannin' on bringin' back his body, right Hekau? And I don't think the mold has set in anywhere but his body proper, so it should be safe for us to use."
"I concur, Zelvin. Shesik, you should make use of any gear you can find. It will not injure or disrespect Gerrol to do so."
The android has some vague sense that humans can be disturbed by "grave robbing," thinking it a matter of disrespect for the dead, but he is not entirely clear on the reasons for that. The dead have no use for their possessions. And in any event, as Zelvin notes, the party does plan to return Gerrol for a proper burial once the Russet Mold is taken care of.
"Our duty is to the living, if his gear will help us save lives then we should take it with us," Xaerai offers, expression somber. "Whatever we decide, though, we should decide it quickly."
Kneeling beside the body, Shesik begins carefully removing the chain shirt. "This'll just take a couple minutes. Then we can go see about this underground desert." She proceeds to remove the layered leather from her own body and shrug into the fine chain.
With Shesik rearmored, you press onward toward the aforementioned underground desert and climb into the open doorway to the tunnels beyond the skulk lair. The walls, floor and ceiling of the slightly curved hallway within are made of smooth dark gray metal. Panels of lighter material run along the ceiling eight feet above. To the north and south the tunnel is blocked by walls of metal junk and rubble, while an open doorway yawns to the east. The entirety of the passageway is unlit.
"We have a slight advantage over Mr. Khonnir and his folk, seein' as we all got dark-vision," Zelvin says softly. "Anyone see any tracks we could follow? Looks like this place ain't been disturbed often."
"Well, I don't know about finding any tracks on this particular surface...but for now it seems there is only one available route."
Tyn walks up to the open doorway and takes a look inside.
Hekau follows behind the others, dagger in hand and alert for danger.
He looks through one of the piles of junk, trying to gauge if there is anything of use in there.
At Zelvin's suggestion Shesik carefully scans the ground for signs of passage. "Sef did say the skulk's had been through here before. But you're right, there could be something."
As Tyn steps up to examine the next hallway, the pile of rubble within stirs. They're the only two who are fast enough to act before the hulking machine that rumbles to life and turns to face the party.
Tyn Foyle
Shesik
Drone
Xaerai
Zelvin
Hekau
As an object of all Tyn's life training comes into his view, a smile curls up on his face,
"I see you!"
Then, in a fraction of a moment, it twists into a grimace of hate,
"I SEE YOU!"
In a quick set of deft movements, he pulls out one of his signature vials, infuses it with some of his arcanic power, and recklessly hurls it at the heathen construct.
Seeing the massive metal beast shambles out of the scrap pile Shesik growls. "Bot! Time to cease your unnatural existence." She lunges forward and slashes at the thing with her claws.
Think, what'd'you know about these things.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
This particular machine bears a strong resemblance to the one you fought in Khonnir's home, though that one was a wreck. That said, this one doesn't look like it's in great shape either, and you think you could deal a great deal of damage with either a surge of electricity or a well-aimed blow.
Despite his poor aim, Tyn's bomb still deals an impressive amount of damage to the machine, burning away at its metal plating and letting Shesik rip away at some of its internal components.
In response, the machine clumsily swings one of its metallic legs back at her, but Shesik easily dodges the blow. It then scuttles back a step, reevaluating the situation. As you watch, though, you notice some of the dangling wires seeming to knit themselves back together and tuck back into its armored carapace.
Xaerai
Zelvin
Hekau
Tyn Foyle
Shesik
Zelvin narrows his eyes at the homicidal machine and casts a spell, placing one of his coins inside his pistol and shooting it at their opponent.
Hekau does not wish to block Xaerai's line of fire, and he does not have any particularly potent spells ready at the moment.
He draws and loads his crossbow.