The first attack took place at the Slipper Market, which lies in the Tangles on Stormway Steps, on the lower western slope of the Hill. A pair of Crows will lead you there once you are ready. Since the initial attack in the early pre-dawn hours, and the death of Garus and his men at dawn itself, there have been two additional incidents, both on the western slope and involving houses crumbling down into sinkholes. In both cases, the resulting pit had no apparent entrance to chambers below, but the ruins were slathered and drenched in a foul-smelling slime the likes of which no one has ever seen before. The public isn’t aware of the exact nature of these attacks yet, and that’s by design. At present, the citizens seem to think that hiding in their homes offers protection—if word were to get out that homes seem to offer no safety, Carrion Hill would be seized in a panic that would be very difficult to control.
The Earth Elemental stays close to his master extending his senses right down into the very stones and earth below his feet.
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"Is it really! Wow! Your parents were cool!"
Pai lifts off the ground nonchalantly, flying so that her short self is at eye level with the taller guys. Suddenly she bursts in to rapidfire chattering: "Ooooh! Hey! I had an idea! This burrowing thing, it might 'see' things from vibrations, right? So all of your footsteps would, like, be 'seen'! But since I can fly (all day, there's no time limit or anything), I could be a good scout! I mean, I can't tell if it's coming up under me like Pebble can, but I can check out places without alerting it, you know what I mean?"
Good point...a lot of subterranean creatures can sense vibrations. I like it!
Pai is given a waterproofed sack. "Here you go. We do seem to get a lot of rain here." A few others are made available in case anyone else wants one.
Borax looks around for slime, but there is none in the immediate vicinity. (You can keep the roll for when there is some, though).
"Are you ready to check out Slipper Market, then? It is about a block or two away."
We're ready....aren't we Droogi...let's go! Lini says excitedly as Droogami hops around like a kitten. She heads for the door and calls back.
You guys coming? I'm the slow one here...keep up!
When you arrive at Slipper Market, they find the place in a state of disorder. Normally a bustling market, it is abandoned save for two dozen milling Crows. Your Crow escort leads them through this throng of guards to a side street that has been roped off; one guard lifts a soaking, dripping rope barrier to let you through and indicates that both Tarrig’s home and the partially ruined building where the first attack occurred lie just beyond. Wide-eyed faces watch the market from upper floor windows, but no one speaks—the only sound is the constant onrush of the driving rain.
The guards have set up benches under a barely functioning open tent in the market near the roped-off street entrance. Under the tent lie the remains of three bodies—all the guards have been able to recover from the site so far. Garus is not among the dead. The first two bodies are a pair of homeless thugs who lived in the alley (area A2). The first has been flattened by a single crushing attack to the chest, while the second has had his back broken. The third body is one of the Crows, a man whose body has been twisted twice around at the waist like a knotted rag and whose arms are broken in so many places that they flop like tentacles. His chain shirt and sword are twisted like the rest of his body—whatever did this to the man was huge and incredibly strong.
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"Oh! I'm such a dunce!" Before leaving the manor, Pai activates her Air Shroud to keep the rain out of her eyes. "I should've done this earlier!" She flies along with the group as they squelch through the soggy streets.
Glancing at the bodies, Pai's eyes bug out. "Whoa! You guys are totally right. This thing is no joke!" She begins searching around the area for any additional clues.
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"We should examine the bodies but I think we should look around for other clues first."
Igor concentrates his focus on the Alleyway between the ruined house and the Market (A2). He gives it a once over (Perception take 10 is 31) and then sees if there are any magical auras to discover (Detect Magic).
The Elemental reaches deep into the ground searching for any signs of movement or instability in the area (Tremor Sense 60').
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Nectanebo's coat wraps even tighter around him as they approach the Slipper Market...
...upon arriving, he positively lights up. "Ahhh, you sir, are JUST such a man I've been wanting to see!" He says as he walks straight past the guards and addresses...the Crow corpse.
"You and I have much to discuss!" He continues as he fishes a hand-sized loaf of Elven journeybread out of his rations and tears it in half lengthwise as though he were about to share it with the corpse. Instead, however, he kneels closer to the twisted body, gingerly feeling along its most mutilated sections until he finally manages to pull out a fair-sized, rubbery strand of pure human muscle tissue that fell free of its bones after the Crow's gruesome demise.
"Now, please, I want to know just what happened here," He continues addressing the corpse in the same friendly tone while he sandwiches the sliver of rubbery human flesh between the two halves of his journeybread...and eats it.
Droogi, guard...Lini says as she looks around while the elf has a conversation with the dead guardsman. She shudders a bit as she thinks about it...
Unfortunately for Nectanebo, the corpse is too damaged to be useful in speaking with the dead.
The side of a single-story wooden house has collapsed outward into this ten-foot-wide alley, adding to the clutter and refuse. The roofs provide some shelter from the rain, leaving swaths of blood and gore on walls here and there. The hideous smell wafting out of the ruined building is as unplacable as it is stomach-turning. Perhaps the strangest is the huge spiral-shaped smear of blood on the wall opposite the partially collapsed building—sheltered by the rain, this ominous rune rises high on the side of the building, as if something enormous had used a broken and bleeding body as a brush to paint its mark.
those who worship these ancient beings.
Pebble feels no shifts or movement at the present.
Many of you see you can enter the building through the rubble, or via the front door. You do not find anything else telling, and there are no traces of magic left behind.
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Unfortunately for Nectanebo, the corpse is too damaged to be useful in speaking with the dead.
"Not just any ancient beings," Nectanebo chimes in, staring at the rune with fascination and relish. "YOG-SOTHOTH, the Key and the Gate to all of Time and Space. One of the greatest of the Dark Tapestry's mysteries, and that, my worldly friends, is saying a LOT!"
Hmm...too bad my skills are more inclined towards the outdoors...unless you need a ring or necklace made...than I can make one...but religion...not so much. the gnome says as she looks over Raynard's shoulder, sitting on Droogami's shoulder.
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Flying back through the rain, Pai listens to Raynard and Nectanebo's descriptions. "Whoa! Yup, they did right to call for help. Good thing we came! All right then, let's go inside and see if there're any other clues!" And with that, she soars through the gap in the wall, eyes peeled for any shenanigans.
As the occultist enjoys his gruesome snack, the blood of the corpse reforms into letters on the floor, near the body.
I was Joguntu, a male, human, Crow guard. A large, invisible force very recently came from nowhere and crushed and mangled me. I never saw it coming.
As Pai enters the rubble, she quickly surveys the destruction.
This living room is in a complete state of disarray. Doors are smashed open and the northern wall has exploded outward. The furniture is in shambles, and rain leaking in from multiple fresh holes in the roof has done little to wash away the thick layer of sticky black slime that seems to coat every surface—slime that exudes a horrific stench something like an open grave, burnt decay, the air before a thunderstorm, wet and diseased fur, and worse. Scattered amid the slime and rubble are body parts—too many to be from one victim and all strangely bloodless.
A4. This room was once a cluttered but cozy parlor, but now the couches, bookshelves, tables, and other comforts are in complete disarray. The eastern wall is partially collapsed, including what once may have been a fireplace to the northwest and two doors leading into other rooms of the building to the southwest. A hideous smell wafts through these holes.
A5. What appears to have once been a library and bedroom is now in a shambles. Furniture is splintered, shelves and books smashed and torn, and everything is coated with a thick, stinking layer of tar-like sludge. A door frame lies burst open to the southwest, beyond which a flight of slime-smeared stone steps leads downward into the dark.
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Pai peeks into A4.
She shouts out to the others. "Huh. Astronomy books. I wonder if they have anything to do with Yog-Slothy or whatever."
And she peeks into A5.
"Uh, guys! So, whatever made the slime came up from below, and didn't go back down the hole! Looks like it went out that way!" She hovers in the space, waiting for the group to either join her or call her back outside.
Lini looks aroundcat the slime and remnants of whatever creature was here.
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I was Joguntu, a male, human, Crow guard. A large, invisible force very recently came from nowhere and crushed and mangled me. I never saw it coming.
"Invisible, hmm? Well, thanks for the warning, of sorts," Nectanebo says as he stands up. Before moving on, though, he gives the bodies one last look-over, and addresses them once again.
"As long as you've got nothing better to do, why don't one of you tag along, help us see this mystery to its conclusion?" He cajoles, as his coat begin to billow despite the stillness of the air in the alley, its tattered tails reaching out almost like beckoning fingers - and one of the twisted corpses shakes its skeleton free of its remaining flesh, now standing before Nectanebo, an almost eager spring in the conspicuous balls of its heelbones!
She shouts out to the others. "Huh. Astronomy books. I wonder if they have anything to do with Yog-Slothy or whatever."
"Probably," Nectanebo affirms casually, joining Pai to take a closer look as though nothing else had just happened. He seems more concerned with the disappointing insipidness of these books than anything else.
Each of you that are subject to the smell must make a Fort save upon entering.
Lini is pretty positive that whatever was here was not natural.
Borax, trying to concentrate despite the stench, peruses many of the books to get a sense of the library that existed here.
In addition to the stench, everyone is a little disturbed by Nectanebo's display of disregard for the fallen. Luckily, the guard's friends are all staying outside and haven't witnessed this.
Igor examines the front door for traps. He is hoping to avoid traveling through the rubble.
(Take 10 on Perception for 31 to detect any traps on the front door)
The front door is locked, but not trapped. The building is mostly wood with some stone floors and foundation.
Whoa...that is rank. I've smelled some terrible things in my time...but this is bad. Droogi, you feel a little sick? It's okay, buddy...I'm here... she says as she rubs the leopard's tummy.
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"What smell? I don't smell anything. ... Come to think of it, I don't smell anything. Huh. Guess this Air Shroud works a little too well. What's it smell like?" Pai drops the Air Shroud and takes a deep sniff of the air.
"Phew! Gack! Aaaugh! Oh my gosh!" Pai choke-laughs and re-applies the Air Shroud, waving her hand in front of her nose expressively. "Oh. My. Word! That was nasty! It burned my eyeballs! Whoo! That makes dirty socks smell like roses! Hoohoo! ... Anyway, what next guys? Any more looking around in here? Follow the slime trail? Check out the other buildings? I mean, I'm all for checking out the other buildings and then following the slime trail, but, you know, teamwork and all."