Nico agrees with Lief and Diego.
"Better safe than sorry."
So be it. Alistair holds the thing under water until it stops struggling and then just a bit longer in case it is faking. Once the struggle is over, "Now what?" he says breathing heavily. "Anybody want this thing? Should we see if father Zantus can banish it or something?"
The quasit's dead, limp form dangles from Alistair's hand.
"Just in case it can wake back up or something." Alistair says as he withdraws string from his backpack and ties the thing up and then places it in a bag on the donkey. "I'll give that to Father Zantus when we get back. He'll know what to do with it. Let's check these little side rooms here. After that I think we have searched all of the spaces. We can head up and report I think."
Once he is satisfied the creature is dead, Diego moves to the first room. After reaching the room, he begins searching it.
After inspecting the first room, he moves over to the second room and does the same.
Finally, he takes a good minute and searches the main room.
As Diego searches the areas, Orin keeps watch for other threats and makes sure the pack mule keeps up.
The dagger the quasit wielded seems magical, resizing to fit the hand of whoever picks it up.
Diego discovers a loose wall panel on one of the rooms, behind which seems to be her secret treasure stash. There is a small tiara made of precious metals and stones, along with a small pile of coins totaling 79 gold in all.
Orin keeps an eyes out from threats and finds his gaze drawn to the strange fountain that still glows and bubbles with orange water. Whatever it is, it's intensely magical, and still active. Other than whatever that is, the danger seems to have passed.
After sorting all the tings found in the room, Diego begins stowing it all away on the donkey. "If any of you can use, or determine the use of this stuff, please help yourself."
After a quick consideration, he turns to the group. "I think there is one more place we haven't looked."
After packing everything away, he looks back over at the pool. "I'm not exactly sure what to do with the pool. It seems foolish to leave it as is, but I simple don't know enough about it to fool with it."
"Ooo, I likee the dagger. Anyone else want the flying dagger?" Alistair asks showing it to the others.
Regarding the pool...
"I think we need a magic expert to look at this thing and a priest to sanctify the area to keep more little demons from coming here." Alistair says. "You talking about the tunnel we didn't take back when we turned this way?"
Nico agrees.
"Time for a priest down here for all kinds of reasons."
"There is a small tunnel just a bit down from where we are now that I'm unsure if we inspected it or not. As fare as the dagger is concerned, I would a bit carful with it. It could be evil."
"I agree that a priest should look this place over, but I'm a bit concerned about those things coming out while we make the arrangements."
"Don't worry about the dagger, it's precious." Alistair says looking at the dagger appreciatively. Then he shakes his head and looks up at everyone, "Let's go check this tunnel."
Leading the group back out the way they came, Diego heads left once the group reaches the (T) intersection of the corridor. "I'm not sure if we investigated this area or not. The whole maze is a bit confusing to me."
After reaching the door, he inspects the door for traps and then listens for any sound coming from beyond the door.
If convinced the door is free of traps, he opens the door.
prior to the door opening, Orin expends the last bit of his magic to try to close some of Diego's wounds.
The door opens into the rubble-filled room you saw shortly after arriving. Everything seems secure, and you are confidant you've checked every nook and cranny of this strange, ancient -seeming complex.
"Thank you Orin, that feels a lot better. I took quite a beating from those creatures."
Diego looks around and then realizes that the cobweb of tunnels has finally come a full circle. "Looks like we have actually been here, and this was the last spot within question. I believe all that is left to do is report back and seek guidance about that demonic pool."
While speaking, Diego leads the group back out of the tunnel complex.
You all emerge back into the Glassworks' basement, then finally step outside to fresh air, Jepp braying happily to be out of the dark, cramped confines.
Lief briefly considers staking a claim for the dagger, but quickly decides that seems like more trouble than it would be worth. Alistair would likely be better with it anyways. He does, however, spend a moment looking at the magical weapon thoughtfully.
I've learned a fair bit about magic from Headmaster Gandethus, maybe I at some point I should try to learn that cantrip for seeing magical auras- I could probably figure out with this thing did if I could see its aura...
He dutifully trudges along when the exploration resumes, helping to inspect anything of interest that comes up.
When you got to where the fork in the tunnels was, some distance from the strange complex you've finished exploring, you find it leads down to the shoreline and onto the beach below Junker's Edge. It has the feel of an old smuggler's tunnel that has not been maintained well for the past couple of decades.
The sea has erased footprints, but it stands to reason goblins could have infiltrated the Glassworks from here. It may be worth stationing guards, just in case, but there is nothing of note on the beach at this time. Just the piles of garbage Sandpoint residents have thrown over the cliff.
"This could have been how our winged demon managed to get in." Diego states as he looks off over the shoreline. "Well, looks like it's time to head back."
Without delay, Diego turns and heads back to town.
"To the church I would think. Also, I was asking about the dagger but with its magical properties, I believe we could sell it and benefit all of us who were down there. Thoughts? Shall I keep it awhile or shall we sell it and split the proceeds. I have no doubt Savah will give us a pretty penny for this." Alistair asks of the group of guardsmen as they walk to the church.
”A dagger that returns when you throw it is worth a pretty penny, indeed,” Lief answers unenthusiastically, “in fact, it may be worth more than Savah will have on hand to pay for it…”
You emerge from the Glassworks to find it is midafternoon, and make your way across town towards the new cathedral. You find Father Zantus outside on the grounds, working on pulling weeds from the flower garden that graces the outside of the facility. Upon seeing you all approach he stands and brushes dirt from his knees, removing the dirty work gloves.
"Ah, hello...how are -- Great Dreamer, are you alright?" He sees state most of you are in -- a bit roughed up and with bloodstains where some injuries have healed and others yet require attention.
"A little worse for wear I'm afraid, but we bring news that can't wait."
Diego glances around to see if any of the townsfolk are nearby. "Perhaps we should find a bit more private location to discuss the details of what we found."
Nico seconds Diego's suggestion.
"Yes, we're found some very strange things and goings on that we need your help with. But a more private place to talk would be best."
Alistair just nods as the other two have summed it up perfectly.
"Of course. Please." He beckoned for you to follow him and led you into the cathedral.
You hadn't actually seen much of the interior yet. The building was new, and hadn't officially opened until the Swallowtail Festival -- gods, had it only been a week or so prior?
The place was enormous. Constructed largely of stone and glass, it was already a place apart from the wooden buildings most of the remainder of the town was comprised of. As Zantus leads you inside, you see the center is an open air courtyard around the seven standing stones -- those had been in place since before the town's founding, and the old chapel had been built beside them. Now they took center stage, and a number of butterflies flitted about.
Branching out from the courtyard are three wings, wach featuring two shrines to the gods. Erastil and Abadar face the town itself, appropriately enough. Gozreh and Shelyn face the sea. And to the east, facing the rising sun, are Sarenrae and Desna. Much thought had been put into the arrangement, and it had, after all, taken five years to build the place.
Father Zantus leads you a set of stairs that lead down to a small living space, where he dwells. it's spartanly furnished, but there is room around his table for all of you, and he bids you sit and get comfortable. "Do any of you require healing? Little Mina Farthington broke her leg this morning falling out of a tree, but I still have a bit of strength left." He set the kettle on for tea.
”I’ve got a couple scratches, Diego took the lion’s share. And here is what caused our desire for secrecy.” with that Alistair pulls the bedraggled quasit out of the bag.
"Healing sounds good." Diego replies while taking a seat. After glancing over at the quasit that Alistair pulled from the bag, Diego continues. "After investigating the Glassworks we found a series of tunnels leading from the establishment down into what looked like some old smugglers quarters. At one point we came across some odd-looking creature that ended up being quite formidable. We killed that creature and then continued. Latter we came across a couple more, which we also dispatched. Eventually we came across that small demonic thing flying above a magical pool of odd looking liquid." He states while pointing at the quasit. "Before engaging us in a fight, she cut herself and dropped some blood into the pool. Shortly after that, a couple more of those creatures emerged from the pool. Obviously, we prevailed. Our immediacy concern, which is why we are here, is the pool. We believe it is some sort of gateway and posses an immediate threat to the city. We require guidance on how to resolve that threat. We don’t know much about the pool or its magical properties.”
After shifting uncomfortably in his seat, he continues. “In addition to the pool, we also came across a magical room that had objects floating in it. The room was spherical in shape and had some weird red material that made up its walls. We retrieved a book from that room that was impossible for us to read. I believe it might be helpful in determining the nature of the room, but we cant' read it. Lastly, we came across some demonic looking shrine room. It also had a pool of water that we determined was magical in nature. Again, we aren’t sure to what extent, but it could pose a threat to the city depending on its nature. We came here because many of the statues we found throughout the area seemed to be religious in nature, but in an evil way. One statue we found had a woman holding a unique looking ranseur in her hands. She also had a book that displayed a weird symbol. We took the ranseur and have it with us. We also have the book that was floating in the sphere room.”
After sliding the book across the table, Diego pauses for a moment. “In fact we brought back a number of items that we aren’t sure what they do.”
Zantus sees to your injuries. Desna granting him the strength to see you all back to perfect health.
He listens attentively as Diego fills him in on the situation, his frown increasing as the tale goes on. "And all of this is right beneath us?" It was not a real question, more a statement of surprise.
"I can certainly take a look, but arcane magic is a bit outside my purview. It might not hurt to speak with Master Gandethus as well. At the very least he could likely identify your items' properties. And if these ruins have been there a while, Quink might be of use, too. He's been studying the Old Light for years, he knows all about ancient, strange structures."
Diego's account is comprehensive. Nico only speaks up to add the details about the zombie pits and torture room. She also mentions everything down in the tunnels seems to be very old.
As Diego fills the priest in, Lief adds a few clarification- explaining that the tough creatures seemed very much like the sin-monsters from the ancient tales, agreeing with Nico about the creatures in the cages being undead, and pointing out that the drowned demon was a quasit. At the suggestion that they speak with Quink, he answers, "I was hoping Brodert would be our next stop. We found a statue of the Runelord Alaznast down there- the ruins must have some connection with the ancient Thassilonians."
"Thank you for the additional healing father Zantus. We will follow up on your advice in regards to Gandethus and Quink. Both are good suggestions."
"Personally, I don't have an issue with swinging by Brodert's first, if you know where to find him."
"Maybe you could at consecrate the places like the unholy water font Father Zantus?"
Zantus nodded at Nico. "Of course. I'll gather a few of the faitful and organize a venture down there. I...trust things have been secured, based on your accounts." He smiled.
-------- Brodert Quink's Home ----------
It's not a terribly long walk to the small abode the sagely old man had made his own when he came to Sandpoint some years back. A Thassilonian school through and through, he travelled to Sand point to study the Old Light, the large ruins on the coast that no one was entirely sure the original purpose of.
When you knock upon is door you hear a loud crash, followed by a string of extremely creative and colorful curses. The door swings open and two eyes magnified by thick spectacles to look almost mole-like blink at all of you. "Perfect. You've made me lose my place. Come in, come in."
Following him in, you find the den of a hoarder of knowledge. Stacks of books, parchments, and oddities are haphazardly arrayed all over the floor. Brodert seems to flow around them with ease, but you find yourself having to step carefully to avoid knowing anything over. He sits at his desk and picks up a pile of fallen tomes, apparently the source of the crash you heard.
Alistair looks over at Leif and nods his head toward Quink as if to say, “You’re up.”
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”Χαιρετίσματα, Brodert,” Lief says with a wry grin, “Φέρνω νέα για την αρχαία Θασίλον.”
"Nobody likes a showoff, son." He raised a bushy eyebrow and smirked. "Μάλλον γι' αυτό η κοπέλα μοιάζει σαν να έχει ρουφήξει λεμόνι όποτε μιλάς."
"And it's a little late for news of an empire that's been crumbing since Earthfall. News implied current events."
Brodert picked up a strange metal device, peered at it quizzically, then shrugged and threw it over his shoulder nonchalantly with a loud clang.
”Oh, I’m sorry,” Lief answers with a smirk of his own, “if it’s too late to share news about Thassilon with you, I guess I’ll go tell Headmaster Gandethus about the ruins we uncovered below the city… and the statue of Alaznist we found inside…”
Diego retrieves the ranseur and the book. "As Lief mentioned, we found an old statue that was holding this ranseur and a odd book with a symbol on it. The ranseur turned out to be an intricately crafted weapon, so we brought it with us. In a different room, that was spherical in shape, we found a number of items floating. One of the items was this book." Diego holds out the book for Brodert to inspect. "It is in a language we can't understand. In addition to these items, we found a pool that a quasit used to summon two beasts. We believe the findings are connected with old Thassilon. Lief suggested that you are an extremely knowledgeable specialist on the subject. Would you be interested in helping us?"
”The book’s not in Thassilonian,” Lief clarifies, “I’m not sure what it’s connection to all this is? But the symbol he mentioned was the seven-pointed star, and the creatures the quasit called out of the pool seemed to be sin-monsters from the old children’s tales.”
”Oh, I’m sorry,” Lief answers with a smirk of his own, “if it’s too late to share news about Thassilon with you, I guess I’ll go tell Headmaster Gandethus about the ruins we uncovered below the city… and the statue of Alaznist we found inside…”
Brodert's smirk vanished and he frowned with interest, making a few strangled noises as he sought words for the hundreds of questions that sprang up all at once at Lief's words.
"What ruins? Where? Why Alaznist? Are you sure it was her? What else did you find?". The old scholar somehow started writing notes before any answers came while simultaneously seeking some tome or another.
He stops when Diego shows him the book. "Of course it's not Thassilonian. This is in Abyssal.". He flipped through it. "Ah, a lovely primer on various demons it would seem. I don't have this one in my collection.". He made no move to return it, continuing to peruse the pages... until Lief spoke again.
Brodert frowned gravely. "A Sihedron rune, and sinspawn? What in the world have you fallen face first into, boy?"
"That's what we were hoping you could illuminate us on." Alistair replies to the final question.
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"The ruins are below the city, connected to an old smuggler's tunnel, and the Glassworks of all places," Lief begins answering. "I don't know why Alaznist, but it didn't seem like an effigy, and there weren't any others with it, so I'd have to guess that these ruins had some connection to her specifically?"
"And, like Fox said, we were hoping you might be able to help us figure out what we've fallen into... I'd like to think we found some old ruins and mostly cleared them out and that's the end of that, but the quasit said something about an apprentice, or acolyte or something, I don't remember what word it used but it sounded like she'd trained someone or something, and we never found anyone that seemed to fit that bill. So, there may still be someone out there connected to the ruins, which could be a problem... especially since we have reason to believe there was a connection between the Glassworks and the goblin attack."
...Tsuto's journal...
"Oh, gods, we totally missed it..." he gasps completely turning his attention from Brodert to the other watchmen. "Tsuto's journal mentioned recruiting a quasit, so he must have known about the ruins. I almost blurted out that he must be the apprentice, but then I remembered what he said about the woman: that she was going to sacrifice Sandpoint to Lamashtu! Not he, she was going to burn the city for the very same god whose symbol was on that altar in the ruins. I don't know if that woman really is Nualia Tobin back from the dead, or what connection she might have with her, but I bet you she's the apprentice."
Diego does his best to follow along. "All that sounds solid to me Lief. First on our list of concerns is the quasits murky summoning pool. The quasit cut herself and then dribbled some of her blood into the odd-looking liquid of the pool, which then summoned two of those,.....what did you call them Lief?" Diego asks while glancing over at his companions. "Sin-monsters?"
"Anyway, our most immediate concern is to ensure nothing else comes out of the pool that could endanger the occupants of our city. Do you have any insight about the pool that could help us shut it down?"
"I say we get some stone cutters down there and chisel the thing apart." Alistair offers. "After that, some good masons could put a double or triple wall where someone had broken down the old one so nothing could get out if it does appear in there."
"Breaking the pool and draining it, is not a bad suggestion. It is obviously magical, and I thought any insight about it would be helpful. I mean, the last thing I want to do is force open a permanent doorway for those sin-things to come through."
"Insight? Oh, right," Lief answers before turning his attention back to Brodert. "I think I could draw a fairly accurate sketch from memory, but the best way to make sense of things would be to see them first hand... are you interested in accompanying us--and possibly Headmaster Gandethus, who might be able to identify any magical effects in place--down into the ruins?"
Talking and planning amongst yourselves momentarily, when Lief and Diego return their attention to Brodert, they find him with walking stick out and pack full of notes and parchments on his stooped back, boots laced and ready to depart. "We've no need of that old blowhard, he wouldn't know Thassilonian magic from Azlanti if it slapped him in the face. Are you children coming, or shall I report back to you when I'm done?" He headed for the door.