"Can you alert the guards to the massacre that occurred here? I am too tired. I'll be at the Rusty Dragon, resting and making funeral arrangements for my family. I'll have time to grieve later. I owe you all big time. Be safe."
Rîleth followed up Red's words that they would alert the guards, "We shall let the Sheriff know what has transpired here and what we have learned through Tsuto's journal. I wish you luck with your preparations. Thank you, Mistress Ameiko."
"Shall we get back to exploring the basement?"
"Yes, the sooner we find the smuggler's tunnel the better. Will Shel lead the way or will you, Red?" With rapier in hand, Rîleth readied herself to move/follow.
”Just throwing it out there, but since we are back at town, should we rest a night, and regroup? That fight with those goblins and Tsetso took it out of us. Perhaps being at tip top shape before we go ex0loring this unknown tunnel might be wise,” Shel asks, wanting to be sure the group had considered all possibilities before running off.
"The guards already know. Red and I just have to share with the rest. Are you sure you're good to get back to the Dragon alone?"
--------
"I would rather find the tunnel and see it secured if we can. Since we know they are planning to use it as an invasion route, walking away and coming back could be disastrous. If we end up with another fight, we can always fight a retreating action, or just run."
Retracing your steps, you return to the room where you found Ameiko and head east down a tunnel. You find an office on the southern wall that leads to a cot and disheveled papers. Perhaps this is where Tsuto rested, while he was down here. Nothing else of interest in this room.
Beyond that you find a hole in the wall that has been recently dug up. Exploring the hole, you find a crude collection of goblin beds and remnants of their meals strewn about the cave. A tunnel forks to the south.
Rîleth stopped and collected some of the strewn papers in Tsuto's makeshift office. The half-elf certainly liked to keep notes, which was good for them.
Rileth finds nothing of particular interest or curiosity in the papers.
”Welp, there’s our tunnel. You lot fancy a trip into the great abyss, where goblins no doubt have the advantage on us? If so, move out of the way and let’s get to it then.”. Assuming the group agreed, Shel moves into the tunnel, looking for trouble.
Perception
"Not much else obvious but the tunnel, there. Think that's the smuggler's path? Not very well hidden from this side, is it?"
The long tunnel leading from this room winds for some distance through the bedrock below Sandpoint. At one point, it forks to the west, while continuing south. You take the southern route. The tunnel remains stable and serviceable as it winds lazily northeast for just over 1,750 feet before reaching a dead end. However, Shel's keen eyes reveal a secret door that opens into a 30-foot-diameter cave on the side of the cliff overlooking the Varisian Gulf. There is a pathway that leads down to the beach. You spend a few minutes on the beach, but unfortunately, the wind and the sand leave very little tracks of where to continue your search.
Returning to the west fork, you travel about 100 feet, before you find it was bricked up. However, it appears that the brick wall was recently torn down and the passage west was reopened. You head west and the passageway turns north. However, before you turn the corner, Shel hears noises, like something moving around the corner.
Shel holds up her hand for the group to stop. Pointing ahead, she begins stealthily moving forward, along with any of the others who could sneak with her.
Stealth
Shel sneaks up to the corner of the hallway and looks east and sees in the shadows a humanoid lurching on its back-bent, dog-like legs, making grunting noises, suddenly coming in her direction rather quickly, attracted by the light in the hallway.
Shel will wait, ready to strike out at the creature when it enter the range of her daggers.
As Shel stops the group and sneaks further away, Perri chews his lower lip. Not so far! You need to stay close enough for us to help. He thinks as loudly as he can, despite knowing there's no way to get her to hear him.
The creature comes around the corner, where Shel surprises it. Now that you see it in its full glory, you see it's a deformed emaciated horror with unnaturally long arms and legs. Their hands each have two talon-tipped fingers and a thumb, and their legs bend like those of a dog. Veins bulge all over its body, forming dark blue or red patterns that look like twisted runes. Their flesh is pale and hairless. Its head is curiously elongated. They have only a pair of slits for a nose, and their eyes are bulging and red, with no visible eyebrows. Yet for all this horror, their mouths are the most disturbing, for its lower jaw splits in half at the chin into pedipalps that end in tiny three-fingered hands that writhe about, eager to feed delicious morsels into an open gullet with a lolling tongue. Pic of creature
Surprise round
Shel, with her daggers at the ready, swipes at the flat footed creature.
Attack
Damage plus
sneak attack
Round 1
Shel swings her blades twice at the creature this time.
Attack
Damage plus
sneak attack
Attack
Damage plus
sneak attack
———
Possible critical Attack 1
Damage
Possible critical Attack 2
Damage
Shel catches the foul-looking creature by surprise, but fails to pierce its thick skin with her initial attack. The creature, now aware of her, looks to gobble up the halfling as a snack. Unfortunately, She has other ideas, and her twin blades carve up the creature, inflicting severe damage on it. It still stands, but barely.
Round 1:
Rileth directed two of her dancing light orbs around the creature and kept two in the tunnel so her companions could better see what threat lay before them.
Calling upon her goddess' fortune and favour , Rileth moved forward 15ft and then lunged at the creature with her rapier.
Rileth's rapier ends the wounded creature's life.
”What do you say, Rileth? Check the room it came from? There’s no telling how many people that thing has ambushed and eaten over the years. I suspect there might be treasure remaining behind,” Shel suggests to the elf.
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Red leans down and pats Shel on the back with a smile on his face. "Great form and skill with your daggers. Impressive!"
"Uhhh . . .. Yes, very nicely done, ladies. What WAS that? It doesn't look natural, that's for certain!"
As for which path to follow, Perri points at the room the thing came out of, cocking his head.
Rileth looked down at the dead creature and considered its form for a moment.
”What do you say, Rileth? Check the room it came from? There’s no telling how many people that thing has ambushed and eaten over the years. I suspect there might be treasure remaining behind,” Shel suggests to the elf.
"Your skill with the daggers put an end to the creature quickly, Shel. Well done. And, yes, let us check the chamber in case there are other creatures lying in wait down here. Tsuto sought retribution against the town and we may yet find out the depth of his wrath. As to treasures, perhaps there are those as well. Will you lead the way, Shel?"
Rileth motioned with her fingers to make the four small orbs of light move to give the halfling and the group more light with which to see.
"Uhhh . . .. Yes, very nicely done, ladies."
Rileth inclined her head in acknowledging her small contribution to the creature's killing.
Shel grinned at the group once again having a great deal of success. ”I guess I got a couple lucky swipes in! But Rileth was the one who finished that nasty bugger off though,” she exclaimed.
She took a deep breath, and calmed her racing heart down a bit. She took her usual spot at the lead of the group and looked and listened for anything untowards.
Stealth
Perception
You head east and find that the creature was guarding a cave. Other than the filth of some of its kills, nothing of interest lies in here. You head north for 15' before finding that there is another side passage east.
You head east again and after 40', find a chamber filled with large mounds of rubble strewn on its floor. The rubble seems to have consisted of broken urns and other pottery containers that once held food stores, but have long since crumbled to dust. There is a door in the north wall and after Shel searches it, she finds no traps and opens it. The hall leads 15' north before turning west. You travel west for about 30' before the hall turns north. After 10', there is a hallway heading east or continue north.
You head east again down the long hallway for about 60'. The tunnel widens here into what appears to have once been a small shrine, for to the SE, steps lead up to a platform of gray stone. Sitting atop the platform is an ancient altar, little more than a jagged block of black marble with a shallow concavity on top of it. This basin is filled with what appears to be filthy water. Further to the SE are a pair of double doors.
Acknowledging Shel's praise, Rileth inclined her head in thanks and then started to follow behind Shel as the halfling moved forward, mimicking her quiet steps and keeping her eyes open for threats using the faint, bobbing magical lights (and recasting them when necessary).
When they reached the small shrine, Rileth contemplated the structure and then studied the ancient altar and the strange basin filled with murky liquid.
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Rileth began to steadily and quietly warn the others,
"Companions, this shrine is dedicated to Lamashtu, the mother of the misshapen and malformed creatures from the depths of Golarion. The murky liquid in the basin at the altar are the waters of Lamashtu. There are dark rituals where monsters drink from it and turn into foul, deformed monsters - a blessing from Lamashtu. Outside of the ritual, it can be used as unholy water."
Looking to Shel and then the males, she enquired in low voice, "Do you wish to investigate the double doors and what lies beyond?"
"Rid herself of her holy taint? Do you think she . . .? Wow." He looks at the doors.
"Well, yeah, we should."
Shel steps forward and listens and looks at the door. She first checked for traps, then checked to see if the door was open.
Perception
Disable device if trapped. If not, open lock, if locked
The door is not locked and opens...This huge room looks like nothing more than an immense underground cathedral. Stone doors stand to either side of the main entrance, but beyond this, the walls are carved with strange, spiky runes. In the center of the room is a large pool, with a ring of polished human skulls balanced on stone spikes arranged in a circle around the deeper midsection. At the far end of the room, a pair of stone stairways leads up to a pulpit on which sits a second pool, this one triangular and filled with churning, bubbling water that looks almost like translucent lava. Yet while wisps of what look like heat and steam rise from the strange orange liquid, the room itself is deathly cold. Two doors are closed, one to the NW and one to the SW.
”I don’t like this at all. What kind of bubbling pool exists in a room as cold as this? Do you guys want to check around this room, or would you rather me check a door and head in that direction,” she asks the group.
Red eager to try out his new combat style steps into the room. "Let's check it out, Shel, and any nasties come out, we'll take care of them!" He bangs his greatsword against his steel shield and steps inside, making his way to the other end where the pool is bubbling.
The decision made, Shel follows Red into the room, checking the pool area closely.
Perception
When Red and Shel step into the room, you hear a female raspy voice shriek from the other side of the room, "How dare you intrude upon the Mother’s sanctum!” You look to the other side of the room but see nothing....until suddenly, a creature materializes out of nowhere. Ram horns curl back from the twisted head of this tiny winged female demon, and its body is thin and wiry. It wields a tiny dagger in one hand. It is flying over the bubbling liquid and you see her cut her wrist and lets the blood fall into the triangular pool. The waters of the larger pool near you suddenly start to churn.
You notice the glow of the smaller triangular pool diminishes noticeably.
Round 1:
The female quasit looks at the party, "I, Erylium, will punish you in Mother's name!" Her wings carry her across the cathedral until she is within 30' of Red. She then points at him, "Sleep you oaf, you are not worthy!"
From the depths of the churning large pool rises a hungry sinspawn and it moves across the pool to threaten Shel.
Perri moves into the room, but before he bends his bow, he does something the group hasn't seen him do before (though he could have), and he calls out "Erastil! Grant me power to help rid the world of this evil!" and his bow begins to glow green, with the ribbons wrapped around it playing as ribbons of shadow around the room.
You notice the glow of the smaller triangular pool diminishes noticeably. You may make Sense Motive checks at the start of your turn.
Round 1:
Rileth took a 5ft step beyond the threshold and saw Red crumple to the ground in slumber. Using her hand, she attempted to wake the barbarian as they would need him in battle.
Then she took a defensive stance in order to see what the quasit's next move would be.
Sense motive
Round one
Shel, with her daggers at the ready, swipes at the awful sinspawn.
Attack
Damage
Attack
Damage
You notice the glow of the smaller triangular pool diminishes noticeably. You may make Sense Motive checks at the start of your turn.
[dice=Sense Motive]1d20+0
Round 1:
Rileth took a 5ft step beyond the threshold and saw Red crumple to the ground in slumber. Using her hand, she attempted to wake the barbarian as they would need him in battle.
Then she took a defensive stance in order to see what the quasit's next move would be.
Rileth awakens Red from his dream of chasing butterflies...
"Huh...what? Oh, hey Rileth. That's right - we're in danger."
Realizing that Shel may be in danger, Red takes a 5' step toward the ugly creature and rages! He tries to plunge his greatsword into the creature's gut.
The creature takes Red's mighty blow and wails in pain, but survives.
Round 2:
The aberration tries to take out its anger on Red, but the barbarian skillfully blocks each of its attacks. It is quite angry,
For her action, Erylium, the quasit, starts casting a complex incantation that takes awhile.
Round 2
Shel, with her daggers at the ready, swipes twice at the awful sinspawn.
Attack
Damage
Attack
Damage
Perri again adjusts position to get closer to the tiny little flyer, before finally bending his bow and seeing if he can manage to hit the sucker . . ..