Mazul sighs. "Yep. Saw that coming." With Orgun occupying the space behind the morlock minion, and not wanting to block Zin from attacking Graulgast if he so desires, she runs over next to Wan.
"Know what's better than a big stick? A very sharp and pointy sword." She tries to demonstrate the superiority of her own weapon, but unfortunately fails miserably. "Note to self: work on the one-liners."
Zin reaches out and quickly heals Wan's blunt force trauma, though the spell sputters and barely reaches the tengu as Zin uses the last of his magic. "That's all I got Wan." He moves in against the morlock leader.
AC 17 (18 w/ shield); Curse Stage: Moderate (-2 AC)
HP 22/22 | Resistance Physical 3; Harm 5
Hero Points 1/3
Focus Points 3/3
Spells (1) 0/3 |
Wand of Heal (1st) 0/1
Curse Benefit: Resistance: All Physical 3
Minor - (Enfeebled 1; -2 to saves, Grapple, Shoved and Forced Movement)
Moderate - (Enfeebled 2; -3 to saves, Grapple, Shoved and Forced Movement)
"That's fine, Zin," Wan gleefully calls out. "These mooks have one, maybe two more attacks in them before they're worm food!"
Wan's blind confidence is unnerving. He swings once at the morlock between himself and Orgun, then sidesteps to flank the king and swings once more.
Akkaboo points at the mad king and cackles madly. "I see lots of liars - that means lots of pants to set on fire!" She gathers a handful of flames from the air and hurls them at the morlock, trying to get rid of his images so everyone else could know which one to hit.
Zin heals Wan, then Orgun steps up and lands a hit on the morlock minion. Mazul misses with both of her attacks. Wan wounds the minion before stepping over and destroying one of Graulgast's mirror images. Akkaboo then hurls a flame into the king's face, setting him ablaze!
"Argh! You'll pay for your insolence!" Graulgast shrieks. The minion tries to take down Wan, but only manages one hit. Graulgast bites at the tengu, then turns to Akkaboo and tries to incapacitate the goblin with phantom pain!
"Ow! My head!" Akkaboo starts moaning and coddling her large skull, glaring at the morlock the whole time. "I hope your teeth all fall out!"
Mazul steps carefully behind the morlock minion, doing her best to avoid slipping on the grease coating the floor. "Okay, I think I figured it out. Why is a rapier better than a club?" She stabs twice at the minion, smirking as these blows are much more successful. "Because a club is just pointless."
Zin brings his elven blade to bear down onto Graulgast as he cringes at Mazul's joke. He shifts his footing to try and avoid Akkaboo's vomit as it also splashes the floor.
AC 17 (18 w/ shield); Curse Stage: Minor (-1 AC)
HP 22/22 | Resistance Physical 3; Harm 5
Hero Points 1/3
Focus Points 3/3
Spells (1) 0/3 |
Wand of Heal (1st) 0/1
Curse Benefit: Resistance: All Physical 3
Minor - (Enfeebled 1; -2 to saves, Grapple, Shoved and Forced Movement)
Moderate - (Enfeebled 2; -3 to saves, Grapple, Shoved and Forced Movement)
”Two!” Wan calls out in alarm as Orgun blocks some of the damage. ”Just two rounds. No more than that. Right, my sweets?”
Gears begin whining at a high rate inside Proto.
Orgun misses wildly with his swings, but Mazul is much more focused, slaying the morlock minion with two precise thrusts of her blade. Wan manages to destroy one of Graulgast's mirror images, then Zin destroys the last duplicate and lands a good blow on the morlock king.
"Fleshwarp! To me!" Graulgast shouts. He sneers at you, but his face falls when the monster he was expecting to arrive doesn't manifest. Of course, you've killed it already!
"Useless!" he snarls, drawing his club and swinging on Zin! The fire continues to scorch him before guttering out.
Giving up on the puns, Mazul steps carefully next to Graulgast. "You must not have heard, but your pet died before we met you the first time. What even was that thing? It looked horrific."
While she does her best to distract Graulgast with a combination of fast talking and fancy rapier moves, she suddenly shifts gears and stabs forward at an opportune moment. "Wan dear, care to swap positions?"
Zin continues to take the meager beatings as he dishes back a few of his own. "Just remember, we didn't want to harm you."
AC 17 (18 w/ shield); Curse Stage: Minor (-1 AC)
HP 19/22 | Resistance Physical 3; Harm 5
Hero Points 1/3
Focus Points 3/3
Spells (1) 0/3 |
Wand of Heal (1st) 0/1
Curse Benefit: Resistance: All Physical 3
Minor - (Enfeebled 1; -2 to saves, Grapple, Shoved and Forced Movement)
Moderate - (Enfeebled 2; -3 to saves, Grapple, Shoved and Forced Movement)
”Speak for yourself, Zin!” the tengu calls out. ”I was feeling murderous from the get-go. Speaking of get-go - let me get at this king, Mazul, and then I’ll go and let you in.”
Wan attempts to move out of the grease, to accomodate his half-orc colleague.
Akkaboo massages her head a bit more before collecting the static electricity she’s been generating and hurling it towards the morlock.
Akkaboo just manages to lightly zap Graulgast. Zin misses, but Orgun and Mazul score hits. Wan delivers a powerful slice that takes down the crazed morlock cultist!
In the aftermath of the battle, you feel stronger and more confident in your growing abilities.
Unfortunately, aside from the morlocks' crude clubs, there doesn't seem to be anything of value here.
"Seems that there are several kings in this lighthouse." Zin gathers the crude clubs. "Let's finish taking a look around here."
The other rooms you have yet to explore include a blank hall and and empty, abandoned pantry. The final chamber is locked, though, but Mazul is able to pick the lock.
The walls of this octagonal chamber are adorned with swirling runes carved into the stone and then filled with dull, silvery metal. The floor is polished smooth, as is the ceiling ten feet above.
This appears to have been a teleportation circle, but it is currently inactive. You’ll need to find the appropriate ritual to restore it to functionality.
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Seing that his shield isn't going to be much help, Orgun straps it to his back and walks holding his longsword with two hands. Upon entering the room with adorned walls, the dwarf looks in wonder to it all and says "Ooooh, ho ho ho! This is one of those teleportation rooms! The dwarves have them in the important buildings! I have no idea how they work. I wonder if they can be repaired..." Instinctively, he starts looking for valuables.
Zin scratches his head as he explains a little more to Orgun. "So, down below is where we stopped chasing the green light. It seemed to be leading us towards something but we nearly died getting after it. It's going to get far more dangerous from here on out."
"Where would it teleport people to?" Mazul eyes the circle as if something might appear at any moment, inactive or not. "Or from, I guess."
She superstitiously avoids stepping in the circle as they search the room. "I think that pretty much covers this floor. How are people feeling? Do we want to go back to town or keep going? We could see where that elevator we found goes. Or have another go at that staircase we found...was it yesterday? Seems like forever ago."
Wan, disappointed at the lack of more interesting clockwork mechanisms with the "king", trudges after the party into the teleportation chamber. He pops Proto's helm with a plaintive sigh.
"I've got less and less understanding of this place the more we uncover," Wan pouts dejectedly. "I was intrigued by the fleshwarped creature we encountered earlier. I've heard some rumours of the types of crafting skills necessary to do those sorts of things. Nevertheless, I think we should return to Wrin and get her take on the things that we've uncovered so far. She may know more of the Ghost Queen or King thing. It seems to be the only lead we've uncovered in this madhouse, save for the green light that wants to lead us to our deaths."
Wan eyes Orgun. "You weren't around for that, sweetheart. Feel lucky at your good fortune."
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Orgun smiles at Wan and says "I will be there every time from now on, don't you worry about me, friend." He agrees with returning to town and resting, so they can return the next day to further clear the fort and make it safe. "Who knows, after we're done here, we can see it return to its glory.", hopeful to see a well made construction be honored.
Returning to Otari, you seek out Wrin at Wrin's Wonders to tell her of what you've learned. "The Ghost Queen? Based on the description of the spirit you encountered in the lighthouse and the image the morlocks painted on the wall, it would seem that this entity certainly looks like Belcorra Haruvex, if it's not her actual spirit itself! If Belcorra has returned, that would explain how Gauntlight was able to activate after all these centuries. You will need to continue delving deeper to uncover the truth behind this mystery, my friends. Return to me tomorrow night and I will consult the stars for guidance."
You have the opportunity to rest, recover, shop, and craft before returning to the dungeon...
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Orgun, thankful to have some respite, humbly asks Wan "Could you take a look at this shield? It's in need of repair since that damn sewer dragon clawed it."
Talking to Wrin, the dwarf hears in wonder the amount of things she collects from their report. "Right. We knew that", he says. He stays with Wan all the time, trying to help him in the repairs in whatever way he can.
Wan takes Orgun to the forge station that the tengu often rents from Carman Rajani, the proprietor of Blades for Glades, in order to do some work on both the dwarf's shield as well as Proto's corpus. Oh, and to talk shop.
"So whaddaya reckon, Jani?" the tengu asks the grumpy-appearing smith over a clanging hammer as he works on repairing the dwarf's shield. "The sweet dwarf and yours truly found that mechanical heart in an unmoving mech contraption deep within the Gauntlight. Looks bonzer, don't it? If that doesn't get your mech-tech heart pumping...."
"Orgun, dear tweet, this shield might have seen its last days..."
"You think Belcorra has returned? After being dead for, what, four hundred years?" Mazul would be skeptical of such a suggestion coming from anyone other than Wrin. Wrin's instincts about anything mystical are usually very good. "Well, we have at least one more floor to check out. Maybe we'll find some answers there."
As they split, the first thing Mazul does is head to the Crook's Nook with Gorul, Shad, and Ziskilly's gear. "Hey Yanyismera, sorry to disturb you. We found all this in the Gauntlight, and it looked like your fellows' stuff. I don't know where they live, so you could arrange for it to be returned?"
Next she heads to the Dawnflower Library for a chat with Vandy. "So, I think we cleared out the morlocks, and I'm also getting the hang of this first aid stuff, so I wanted to return your two books." She carefully takes them out of the waterproof sack and hands them over. "But now I've got a different question for you. What does this library have on Belcorra and the Roseguard? 'Cause we've found some things that have made Wrin think Belcorra might still be alive. Or maybe undead. Back, that's the word."
Wan spends some more time reconfiguring Proto. He figures that now that they know that they're up against some form of the restless dead, he's going to use that to his advantage in Proto's build.
It takes Wan a full day of tinkering, but he's adjusted Proto to now be resistant to negative energy damage. He's also resistant to alignment damage as well.
Wan finishes up his time in town by shopping for some more of those ghost charges that he found so useful before. Wan tries to find 1-2 of the moderate strength forms of the ghost charges.
Lastly, Wan uses his trusty surgery skills to patch himself up without bothering any of the others.
Zin seems quite concerned. "How and why would she return after all this time? Why not sooner?"
Given a bit of time he tries to continue getting a read on the stars themselves. Maybe they will tell him more, though this night they appear to be particularly silent. Looking back he notices the Odd Stories Bookstore in the distance. The light appears to be on so he wanders back for a visit. Perhaps they will have some books on the history of Belcorra Haruvex.
Wan hands back the destroyed shield to the dwarf.
”It’s a good thing that Jani here sells shields, sweetheart!” Wan says breezily.
Akkaboo browses the bookstore with Mazul, getting lost amid the tall stacks of books and occasionally having to re-stack some when they fall down unexpectedly. By the time she's done looking through everything, night has fallen outside and Mazul is gone. But Zin is here instead, so the goblin isn't worried.
"Hi Zin! Can't sleep?"
Wan takes Orgun to the forge station that the tengu often rents from Carman Rajani, the proprietor of Blades for Glades, in order to do some work on both the dwarf's shield as well as Proto's corpus. Oh, and to talk shop.
"So whaddaya reckon, Jani?" the tengu asks the grumpy-appearing smith over a clanging hammer as he works on repairing the dwarf's shield. "The sweet dwarf and yours truly found that mechanical heart in an unmoving mech contraption deep within the Gauntlight. Looks bonzer, don't it? If that doesn't get your mech-tech heart pumping...."
Carman Rajani is Nidalese in heritage, with pale skin, dark hair, and severe facial features. He is exceptionally muscular, but he's a sloppy dresser who wears once-fine, sweat-stained clothes and a belt hanging with his work hammers. "Yeah, looks great," he mutters. "You know all this 'tech' stuff you always are babbling about is beyond my comprehension. I stick to what I know--swords, shields, and armor. The classic stuff."
***
As they split, the first thing Mazul does is head to the Crook's Nook with Gorul, Shad, and Ziskilly's gear. "Hey Yanyismera, sorry to disturb you. We found all this in the Gauntlight, and it looked like your fellows' stuff. I don't know where they live, so you could arrange for it to be returned?"
Yinyasmera favors Mazul with a smile. "Oh, dearest, you didn't have to do that. I'm sure they will appreciate you returning their gear, though, and I'll even pay you another reward for doing so. You'll always be welcome here at Crook's Nook."
Next she heads to the Dawnflower Library for a chat with Vandy. "So, I think we cleared out the morlocks, and I'm also getting the hang of this first aid stuff, so I wanted to return your two books." She carefully takes them out of the waterproof sack and hands them over. "But now I've got a different question for you. What does this library have on Belcorra and the Roseguard? 'Cause we've found some things that have made Wrin think Belcorra might still be alive. Or maybe undead. Back, that's the word."
Vandy frowns at Mazul's latest line of inquiry. "Well, we've got a few histories of the founding of Otari and the adventures of the Roseguard before that. Let me see if I can find one."
The halfling returns a bit later with one of the books. The Roseguard was a group of adventurers from Absalom who learned of Belcorra Haruvex's construction of the edifice known as Gauntlight and sought her out to put an end to her villainy. When the Roseguard fought Belcorra in Gauntlight Keep, she unleashed a powerful magical explosion that collapsed the room where the fight took place. Belcorra and three heroes avoided the collapse and fought on—to Belcorra’s ultimate defeat—but the rogue Otari Ilvashti was caught beneath the collapse and killed.
Having lost both their friend and their taste for adventuring, the three surviving members of the Roseguard decided to retire. They spent much of their savings constructing several buildings and a sizable pier in a sheltered cove south of the site of their final battle. Since their lost friend’s fondest dream had been to settle down in a small seaside village, they named this new village after him.
Today, the people of Otari honor them on founders’ day, 3 Desnus. The Roseguard consisted of the following heroes.
Aesephna Menhemes: Aesephna was the party’s healer. She was a cleric of Erastil who was always more comfortable in smaller towns than big cities. The current mayor of Otari, Oseph Menhemes, is a descendant of Aesephna.
Otari Ilvashti: Otari, the group’s rogue, was an optimist who kept the others hopeful with his charm and humor, even during their darkest hours.
Vol Rajani: Vol was the party’s fighter, a capable and no-nonsense swordswoman who claimed to be exiled royalty from Nidal. Carman Rajani, the owner of Blades for Glades, is her descendant.
Zarmavdian: The group’s wizard was a well-educated diviner who pursued outlandish conspiracy theories and occult lore.
***
Zin approaches Odd Stories. A three-story stone tower rises from the back half of this one-floor wooden bookstore. A sign above the front door depicts a stack of open books with lines of magical energy rising from the pages. While the shop’s owner is indeed a wizard, Morlibint had the sign commissioned in an attempt to portray the power of imagination within the fanciful fiction works and anthologies that are his specialty. Morlibint sells other texts as well, although he leaves the nonfiction curation to his husband Carlthe.
Morlibint has bright red hair that he keeps closely cut to his scalp. Despite his perpetual scowl, he warms quickly to the presence of other scholars and wizards, for he’s always excited to “talk shop.”
Zin is able to find an esoteric tome detailing some of the Haruvex family history. The Haruvex family tree both sprawls and surges with sorcery. The family’s strongest bloodlines have an aberrant strain, which provides family prestige as well as sorcerous power. Generations of Haruvexes married within the family to strengthen this lineage, and the most powerful Haruvexes lived in Absalom 500 years ago. These Absalom Haruvexes made secret obeisance to the Outer Gods for great wealth and greater power.
The Haruvexes enacted abhorrent rites in their worship, including bloody sacrifices, and the authorities eventually caught wind of their crimes. The Haruvexes were finally driven from the Isle of Kortos in 4219 AR, forced to leave their estates and luxuries behind.
Eleven years later, Belcorra Haruvex arrived in the region and secretly constructed Gauntlight Keep. She didn't get very far with her vile plans for the structure, though, before the Roseguard confronted and vanquished her.
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Orgun thanks Wan for his attempt and says "Well, maybe it's better I don't owe you a favor. AHAHAHA" He quickly stops laughing as he realizes this is a dwarf-only joke about duty and commitment.
He spends money on a new shield and spends the afternoon perfecting his fighting stance, making use of his aggressive glare.
Unfazed at Rajani's non-plussed take on the mechanical heart, Wan completes his work at the rented forge. He pays Carman a gold piece for the rental.
"And the company, sweetheart! Though if I were to pay you for the quality of the company, I'd be a pauper. "
Wan then takes his mechanical heart contraption to the other person in town who might have interest and knowledge about it: Wrin.
"Hi Zin! Can't sleep?"
Zin turns quickly at the mention of his name. "I am a bit of a night owl. Always have been. It is more...peaceful." He looks out the window at the night stars overhead. Zin thanks Morlibint as he hands him the dusty tome. Sitting down he begins to flip through Belcorra Haruvex's family lineage before closing the cover. "Well Akkaboo, should we retire to bed. he sun will come up soon enough and if Belcorra Haruvex has indeed been resurrected we will need all of our strength."
Chapter 3: Cult of the Canker
Wrin performs another star reading for you before you depart. "Seek the wayward spirit among the depths, but beware the fangs and claws of death," the tiefling intones as her hands idly roam the star charts. She opens her eyes and frowns. "Bit of an imperfect rhyme there, but the sentiment holds. You'll likely go up against those ghouls the morlock mentioned. Stay safe, friends."
You return to the dungeons beneath Gauntlight Keep and descend the stairs that you initially found while chasing the spirit that claims to be Otari. You find yourselves in the hall on the second sublevel where you fought the strange mist monster. There are several doors here, as well as a flight of stairs across the hall that lead back up.
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During the night, Orgun doesn't dream, which is a welcome sleep to him. He wakes up with his left arm sore from holding the shield. He welcomes the feeling, being thankful to be alive. He performs his morning preparations and during his prayers to Iomedae, he feels the approach of a friendly spirit, hoping to accompany Orgun as an ally. The dwarf directs the spirit to his new shield to offer himself and his new allies more protection. The shield shines with bright white light. Orgun leaves his room renewed.
His breakfast is satisfying and he meets the others to go back to the keep. Arriving there, he leads the way, sword in hand, and pauses. Giving up he says "You've been here before. Which way?"
As they step into the Gauntlight once more, Mazul pauses for a moment. "Before we go down I'd like to stop by Boss Skrawng's to let him know we cleared out the morlocks." For Orgun's benefit, she adds, "Boss Skrawng is a mitflit we found on the upper levels who claimed the morlocks chased him and his followers out of their homes. He gave us some information about the lighthouse in exchange for our 'help' getting back." She actually does use air quotes around the word help. "He had some grand delusions of attacking Otari but I think he's far too cowardly to put them into action. Plus, if he tries, we can always kill him later."
She had promised after all, and Mazul (mostly) prefers to keep her word.
"We didn't get any farther than this room, actually. There was a weird mist monster right over there," (she points), "and after that we decided it was safer to go back up." She looks around for a moment, then shrugs. "When in doubt, always go left. It's as good a rule as any." She heads toward the closest door on that side and, (assuming she doesn't notice any particularly deadly traps), goes ahead and opens it.
Boss Skrawng’s eyes widen when you tell him you have cleared out all of the morlocks. ”You did?” Suddenly, he falls to his knees, sobbing! ”I’m sorry! I don’t actially have any shiny gems! I didn’t realize you were so tough, and I made a terrible mistake in promising you treasure that I don’t have. Please, please, show me mercy, mighty warriors! I’ll abandon my plots against Otari forever, I swear! Just don’t kill me!”
***
Beyond the door is a hallway with three doors exiting to the east, west, and south. The cracks around the edge of the eastern door glow faintly with greenish light, like the door to the washroom on the level above where you first encountered the spirit claiming to be Otari...
Wan takes the opportunity to drop the phrase 'dragon-slayers' in the presence of Boss Skrawng, more for drama and to see the effect that it has on the mitflit monarch than as any real threat.
Once down below again, Wan thinks on the appearance of the glowing around the door as he holds his khakkara in one hand and a newly-purchased ghost charge in the other.
"Curiouser and curiouser, eh, tweetlings?"
"Yeah, I kind of figured." Mazul looks at the pleading figure with a combination of pity and disgust. "Look, we didn't do it for you or for money, (not really), so you can get up now. Seriously. Any time now. Just take your friends back to your homes, and don't try to kill us later. That's payment enough in this place."
"Follow the green glowing door? It's to the left, after all." Mazul is rather suspicious of the green light given what it led them to last time, but it's the only lead they have right now. "By the way, green glowing thing, if you're actually Otari you kind of suck. That mist monster could have killed us all and you lured us right into it. Just saying. Seriously, there'd better not be another mist monster behind this door, or I'm going to ask Vandy how one performs an exorcism."
"It would make sense though. If Belcorra Haruvex is back then tat would probably stir up Otari as well." Zin opens the glowing door to see where the spirit has led them to.
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After not commenting while talking with Skrawng, Orgun wants to participate in the discussion about the green light. He says "There's a pretty easy way to verify if that is indeed the spirit of Otari. We figure out something personal about him in life and ask the light about it. It should know if it's really him."
An ancient, tattered sofa sits against the east wall of this room. The south wall shimmers with strange green light. As before, the green light begins to move and spell out a message: "Belcorra fell to the Roseguard, but we never knew of these vaults below..."
A moment later, the words slide off the wall and slither away. As you follow the ribbon of light, it creeps back up the hall to the room where you fought the mist monster and then past the stairs down to this level. Here, the ribbon hesitantly climbs the northern stair only to turn around and quickly slither further east.
You open the door here to continue following the light, finding yourselves in a fifteen-foot-wide hallway. Hundreds of stone shelves are carved into the walls. While there are many gaps in the collection, a staggering number of books, scrolls, and folios remain. Signs hang above several doors off of this hall. To the south, a faint blue glow flickers beneath a larger sign.
Four ghouls all dressed in long, pale-blue robes work here. They don't immediately attack you, but they do lick their lips in anticipation as they size you up. "Greetings. Are you here to donate flesh for the Canker?" one asks you.
The green light ignores the ghouls as it slowly starts to move past them to the north. Two of them turn to regard it curiously.
"I suppose at least it's not a mist monster," Mazul mutters before smiling broadly. "Hello there. I'm afraid I've never heard of this Canker, and I'm rather attached to all my flesh. We're just trying to follow our friend there." She points at the green light while raising a questioning eyebrow. "Any chance you're nice, peaceful, pacifistic ghouls who'll let us continue on our merry way?"
”Our holy work is to build the Canker,” the ghoul replies. ”Our most illustrious mistress, Belcorra Haruvex, stirs in the depths. But she is a spirit without a body. We wish to gather enough cankerous flesh to build a vessel worthy enough to hold her spirit. If you will not give up your flesh willingly, then we will take it from you by force. And maybe take a few bites for ourselves. We are famished!”
The ghouls hiss as they prepare to attack!
The ghouls quickly leap upon you, gnashing their teeth and slashing with their claws. Luckily, only Mazul takes a hit—Orgun’s and Wan’s armor holds sturdy.
Akkaboo sadly watches the green light run away again and then turns her attention to the ghouls. "You want cankers? How about some canker sores from falling on your butts!" Again the goblin dances wildly, drawing squiggles in the air that wriggle to the ground underneath the undead and erupt in small pools of blueish-pink oil.