"Sure have Vengis! Here, take a look." Zetty shows off her fairly simple map, one with very elaborate illustrations along the borders. "We could go northwest from the stone pavilion. Our uh, friend there, said that he didn't know what sits in that direction."
"So anyone want to give the chute a try?" Zetty looks skeptically up into it. "Seems a bit slippery, but it could be a good way to get where any monsters loyal to Belcorra aren't expecting us."
Bella eyed the chute warily, "I dunno, it looks awfully tricky."
”I’ll do it,” Kragga says. The orc clambers into the rusty chute and hauls herself up and away.
After a few minutes, she returns. ”There’s a trash disposal room at the top. It doesn’t look like anybody has used it in a while. A door there opens into some weird dining room with skeletons sitting at the table. I just looked into it and closed the door. I didn’t want to go too far on my own.”
"Now that, I've got to see." Zetty looks up at the chute. "It doesn't look like too much of drop if we slip, and probably that'll get us in the 'back', if this place has a 'back'." She taps her nose "If stories have told me anything, its that the heroes find a secret entrance and exploit it!"
"Well, we've got the north-western path then." Zetty points in that direction.
Bella led the way to the northwest path, advancing cautiously.
The northwest passage contains a series of ledges that climb up into a long hall. The ceiling of this wide hall rises to a height of twenty‑five feet. Stone sarcophagi carved with tormented, emaciated figures stand upright in alcoves along its walls. Eerie blue lights glow to the north and south—the light to the south is brighter and constant, while the light to the north flickers softly.
The light to the south comes from a shimmering wall of ectoplasm blocking a wide set of stairs down--the barrier that Otari told you about. Now and then, silently shrieking ghosts flit through the swirling mist of this wall. The stairwell beyond remains visible yet tauntingly inaccessible.
Zetty peeks carefully each way down the large hall. She whispers "Flickering lights? I wonder if that's more wisps to the north?" Despite her trepidation, she starts taking down impressions of the stone sarcophagi. She tries to think if they represent something specific or if they're simply the preferred burial method for Belcorra's followers.
As soon as Zetty steps up to one of the sarcophagi, its stone lid becomes transparent, providing a view of the long-dead body within. Each corpse is dressed in rags and marked with obviously fatal wounds. The gnome reasons that this long hallway may have served as a gruesome trophy hall, with each corpse here one of Belcorra's enemies.
One of the sarcophagi is empty. Searching it reveals a secret latch that causes the sarcophagus to swing open like a door, revealing a chamber beyond it.
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Vengis looks askance at the grim trophy hall, remaining squeamish at the sight of blood or gore.
"Grotesque," he mutters to his flying cat, though the cat clearly does not share his aversion.
Nalfeshnee hovers over each case, examining them with great interest.
"I guess we should go this way," he suggests with a thumb toward the unexplored area behind him.
As you approach the two northernmost sarcophagi, their lids pop open and two undead creatures shamble forth! The empty eye sockets and mouth of these withered humanoids glow with baleful red light, and wisps of dark energy crackle along the length of their blades!
Bella took a moment to assess the undead humanoids. She prepared to stab the first creature to come closer.
Bella notices that the undead are somewhat slow and plodding.
"Oh, those don't look good!" Zetty scrambles to pull herself together as the undead advance.
The wights groan as they step forward to attack Bella and Kragga! The halfling manages to dodge her opponent's attacks, but Kragga takes two hits!
Kragga snarls as the sword slices her, but she resists the draining effects. The orc casts a shield spell, then enters into her arcane cascade stance before swinging her sword at her assailant!
Bella presented her angelic ankh to the foul undead creatures, "Feel the light of the Dawnflower!"
Zetty shudders as the blows land hard on Kragga, but she focuses on aiding the party as well as she can from the back. The first lines of a falling wight appear across her page "Here we go..."
Eyenia places a hand on Kragga's shoulder, holy energy restoring some of her wounds and steeling her against further harm. She then fires a blast of sacred light at the wight in front of the orc warrior
Zetty begins her performance before hurling a rock into the head of the wight attacking Kragga. Kragga brings her blade down in a critical blow that nearly slices the wight in two! Despite the grievous wound, the creature remains on its feet.
Vengis arcs lightning between the two undead creatures, then Eyenia lays hands on Kragga and blasts the more wounded foe with divine light! She burns a hole through its chest, but just before it falls, it makes a final spiteful attack on Kragga! Luckily, its blade scrapes harmlessly against Kragga's shield spell.
The other wight snarls as Bella unleashes her healing spell, wounding it and curing Kragga.
The remaining foe attacks Bella, landing one critical hit!
Kragga moves behind the wight to set up a flanking position for Bella. She grips her greatsword as she makes a powerful attack!
Bella cried out as the wight badly wounded her. She fought grimly on, bandaging her wound before stepping into a flank and stabbing at her assailant.
With her inspiration still holding, Zetty scurries over to get a clear view of the remaining wight. She, similar to Vengis, telekinetically raises a nearby piece of sarcophagus and sends it hurtling toward the foe.
Kragga and Bella slice and stab the wight, then Zetty and Vengis batter it with projectiles! The creature takes a final, spiteful swing!
Its blade draws Kragga's blood as it falls. The orc sags a bit as the negative energy leaves her drained.
After the last wight was destroyed, Bella tended to Kragga's wounds, as well as her own.
When she finished she got up and examined the empty sarcophagi.
She suggested to everyone, "Perhaps we should return to Otari. Kragga has been drained and needs rest to regain her strength." And Vandy will want to know about these undead.
Bella's search of the sarcophagi doesn't turn up anything valuable.
Kragga grunts her thanks as the halfling patches her up. "It's not too bad. I can keep going if you all want to do so."
Zetty takes a seat as well, meditating to recover her focus. At the suggestion of returning to Otari, she nods vigorously "Definitely. If there are more monsters here as bad as those two, we'll need all the strength and powers we can summon up. Plus, we've got those artifacts from the Roseguard to gather. That might end up a big adventure of its own, if they're not easy to find."
She tucks her slate under her arm. "Sorry Kragga, but you'll have to hold off on more undead smashin' for now!"
Kragga grunts in assent. "Very well. Back to town we go."
Deciding to fall back for now, you retreat from the Abomination Vaults and trek back through the marsh to Otari. You arrive in town in the early hours of the afternoon.
Once back in town, Zetty doesn't immediately head to rest. Instead, she raises the question to the group "So we've got a sword - the Cooperative blade - to find, as well as Zarmavdian's spellbook and Menhemes' brooch. I'm guessing the hardest person to convince is going to be the mayor. Do you want to all go together? Maybe we'll be more convincing as a group?"
If folks agree, Zetty leads the way to the Mayors home or place of work and gives a good knock on the door.
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Vengis tries asking around about some of the items, but being new in town means he doesn't have many contacts to try.
When Zetty suggests a different plan, he can't help but agree.
"Let's try the mayor's. It would probably be good to know him, anyway. And if he hesitates to meet with us, we can let him know what awaits this place if we fail."
Bella agreed with Zetty's suggestion, "Oseph Menhemes could be very helpful. I'll come with you.
"Afterwards I'll go to the Dawflower Library and speak with Vandy about the Cooperative Blade."
Mayor Oseph Menhemes answer the door to his manor when Zetty knocks. ”Good evening, friends. To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?”
"Bad and terrible news! You know we've been exploring the depths of the old Gauntlight, right? Well, we came across the ghost of Otari! THE Otari!" Zetty waves a hand animatedly. "Can we come in? He left us with an important mission that you should probably know about."
Once inside, she continues "You know when the Gauntlight shone that beam into the town's graveyard and made a whole slew of monsters rise up? Well, it turns out that's the lighthouse's purpose. Except what happened here was a test run. If we don't do anything, the beam will shine on the whole of Absalom and send waves of monsters into the city." She sketches out the lighthouse sending a super powered "laser" beam into Absalom's skyline. "The whole plan's being orchestrated by the ghost of Belcorra, and we have to stop her!"
"Now, we're totally in to do this, but we could use a bit of your help. Otari told us that if we want to get down into the bowels of the dungeons, we'd need the brooch left by your ancestor Aesephna Menhemes. Do you know what he was talking about?"
Oseph listens to the story gravely. He nods once Zetty has finished telling the tale. "Yes, of course! My ancestor Aesephna was a member of the Roseguard, and one of the founders of the town of Otari. Her brooch is a symbol of her legacy, and my family has kept it safe for generations. It seems that it is very important for your further success, so you may take it, with my blessings. You may borrow it for as long as you like."
He leads you into the music room of Menhemes Manor, where Aesephna's brooch is on display in a locked shadowbox. Oseph unlocks the box and hands the brooch to you reverently. The symbol of Erastil is emblazoned upon it.
Bella said to Vengis, "I know exactly where the Cooperative Blade is: it's on display in the Dawnflower Library. I'm on my way there to talk to Vandy about it."
With that, she took her leave and made her way to the library that served as a temple of Sarenrae. She sought out Vandy Banderdash, the High Priestess.
"Thanks Oseph! I'll take good care of it. Though if we all die down there, you might have to get another set of adventurers to get it back for you." She grins, as if to make it a joke, and then waves to the mayor. "See you soon, hopefully."
She follows Bella out of the mayor's house and down the street toward the Dawnflower Library.
"You know, we picked up a few magical items back in the Vaults. Maybe we should work out who uses what, while we're out here and safe?"
Bella replied to Zetty, "You're right. We do need to take stock from time to time. Maybe that's something we could discuss tomorrow at breakfast."
andy Banderdash is not in a very good mood when you arrives. When Bella asks about the sword, the cleric barks a bitter laugh.
”You’re a little too late, I'm afraid. The Cooperative Blade has been stolen, and by Vol Rajani’s descendant, Carman, no less! He crept into the Dawnflower Library last night and started a small fire in the book restoration room. While the fire distracted the staff, he broke the Cooperative Blade’s display case and fled with the sword.
“It’s a miracle nobody was seriously injured! Sarenrae was watching over us. It took an hour to put out the fire. By the time anyone discovered the theft, Carman was already long gone.
“Carman had pestered the mayor about the sword for years, and a few witnesses saw someone matching his description absconding from the library, clutching his cloak over some long object. You need to find him and bring him back so he can face the appropriate punishment! Do that, and you can borrow the Cooperative Blade.”