Lazlo reads quietly by a fire, and begns to doze off. Or, perhaps, he never fell asleep, and the scene plays out in front of his waking eyes. Either way, he sees a scene from Ustalav, where a younger Ioseff Xarwin shares a moment of passion with an eccentric half-elf astronomer named Fulvia Nostraema. The torrid love affair culminates with the exchange of inscribed rings purchased from a local (and discrete) jeweler. The two argue about who should pay for the Starless Scope, and the scene ends when Ioseff realizes Fulvia was only using him to secure funds and access the Starless Scope for herself.
Ioseff returns to the Manor, contacting a surreal, fungal creature through the Void Mirror to aid him in his research, becoming obsessed with the idea of extracting human brains to absorb their memories, perhaps even using perserving them inside machines.
A decade later, an older Ioseff answers the door, to reveal an older-looking Fulvia Nostraema - and a 9-year-old son named Anitoli in tow. She blackmails Ioseff into letting her stay at the manor and use his resources, including the Starless Scope and the Void Mirror, to aid her own research. Ioseff indignantly agrees and gives over the northeastern wing of Xarwin Manor’s upper floor for Fulvia and her son to inhabit. Through her research, Fulvia comes to suspect that an agent of the Dominion slumbered beneath the very manor and that its dreams were luring a vast, devouring star toward Golarion. She becomes convinced that this entity and the Dominion intends to offer up Golarion to the lightless star as part of a sacrifice known as the “Banquet.”
Fulvia kills her own son to spare him the agony of perishing along with the rest of the world before attempting to burn the manor down. Ioseff stops her before she succeeds in the latter task and, upon realizing what she’d done to Anitoli, takes the opportunity to escort Fulvia off to Darakole Sanitarium in Vyre “for her own protection.”
When Ioseff returns home after seeing Fulvia off, he is greeted in his private office by a furious Asethanna, who had taken advantage of her husband and Fulvia’s departure to search Fulvia’s rooms. The discovery of Anitoli’s murder already scandalized her, but her discovery of an inscribed ring pushes her over the edge, for now she had proof of her husband’s affair. Ioseff snatches the ring away from her and defiantly puts it on, proclaiming Fulvia to have been the better of his two lovers.
Enraged, Asethanna uses one of her carving hatchets to lop Ioseff’s left hand off at the wrist and takes it, ring and all, from the room to burn in a fireplace. Though grievously wounded, Ioseff recovers enough, with the aid of some healing potions, to confront Asethanna in her room as she and the house’s majordomo are packing belongings to leave the manor with the children. There, Ioseff murders Asethanna and the majordomo.
Now beyond redemption and having lost sight of reality, Ioseff hatches a plan to “reunite and rebuild” his family, but first, he has to preserve his family’s brains. Using the techniques he’d learned from the fungal creature, he extracts Asethanna’s brain and preserves it. He then murders his own children and does the same with their brains. He hides the bodies of all three within the basement. When the frightened servants wake the next morning, knowing only arguments and screaming had filled the night before, Ioseff spins a tale that his wife had taken the twins and left him to return home to central Cheliax.
The servants know better than to question the story.
Fundin watches as a group of ancient Desnans confronting a wild-eyed Thassilonian man in a wild hill country. Beside the man is the Void Mirror, and energies from the Dark Tapestry pour forth into the man's soul. The man begins to transform and swell into something monstrous, only to be defeated before completing his alien apotheosis. The Desnans then bury him deep underground with a magically-created earthquake, causing a rift to open and then close over the man’s remains. They placed the Void Mirror as a capstone to that grave, using its own magic against him to ensure he would never rise again. To house the Void Mirror, they erect the Cosmic Crypt at the exact site of the grave.
The Desnans never returned to their home, instead forming the cloistered Order of the Starless Night and living out the remainder of their days watching over their enemy’s grave.
Galimus appears in Fundin's dream, and they look at each other worriedly as the scene unfolds around them.
This series of events fully aligned with the Ashen Man’s plan, as he’d never intended for the astronomer to threaten doomed Thassilon. When the Desnans buried him, they unwittingly played into the Ashen Man’s machinations. For the past ten thousand years, the astronomer’s name and legacy have vanished. Only the malevolence remains, growing and ripening deep under what’s now Xarwin Manor. This entity is the true source of the malevolence that threatens the world above, yet none suspect what slumbers below.
Galimus feels the source of the malevolence infusing the area and feels a name imprinted in his mind: Tchekuth.
Zoi's arrival heralds another fast-forward through time. A newly appointed Paracount named Ioseff Xarwin moves to Crooked Cove and builds a manor for his family on a bluff overlooking the town. When his workers discovered a small underground complex below the site, Ioseff knew he’d chosen the right place for his home. He ordered the workers to brick over the entrances to the underground complex and that no worker should enter; Ioseff then instructed them to complete their work on the manor above. Soon after the workers finished the construction, they met unexpected ends, as Xarwin secretly arranged for their “accidental deaths” to keep the existence of those chambers to himself.
Ioseff builds secret doors in the brick walls between the manor’s basement and the ancient structure below, and soon thereafter, he discovers the Void Mirror after entering the Cosmic Crypt. He takes it from its cradle and installed it in the observatory he’d built into the highest point of his manor. By doing so, Ioseff unknowingly removes the only thing that kept the consciousness of the slumbering monstrosity below his home - the ancient evil Tchekuth - in check.
---
The group wakes in the morning with new powers, but more importantly, with a new sense of purpose.
Zoi plugs the second module into the brain clock, but nothing seems to happen. There is space, though, for a third module, so perhaps all three are required for functioning.
Fundin looks at his allies "Let us first go and chat with that grioth party. And let's see what they will do."
Galimus awakens surprisingly refreshed despite the vivid dreams that filled his sleep.
"A good plan. We can talk to them on the way to the mirror. We need to take it to that tower outside as quickly as possible. It was a lock holding back Tchekuth and that power hungry lunatic Ioseff Xarwin took it off."
Lazlo nods his head in aggreement. "We definitely need to speak to the grioths. Their leader had a crystal lens of some sort that we should requisition. I also want some more information on why they wanted that brain monster slain and what business they have in the manor in the first place."
Arcana T +10
Crafting T +10
Nature T +9
Occultism E +12
Religion T +9
Society T +10
Haunt Lore E +12
"Indeed, let's get that lens." Zoi agrees. "Once we have it we should go below and face whatever horror is lurking beneath before it gains too much power."
Lazlo can't identify the creature exactly, but it looks like mi-go, an ancestry of scientists and colonists, but with malevolent motives. While their shape resembles that of an arthropod, mi-gos are in fact a highly evolved and intelligent fungus.
Although Lazlo has read nothing of their mechanical abilities (), he knows of their lore: When visiting a new world, they select the greatest minds of that world as trophies, extracting their brains and preserving them within an eldritch cylinder that grants an awful immortality to the mind kept within.
---
Returning to the dining hall, Lazlo uses his newfound fluency in Aklo to communicate with the grioths more clearly. They are surprised that he speaks Aklo; perhaps, a little suspicious that he may have spoken Aklo all along.
The leader speaks.
"My dear friends, have you gone to the apex above to view the glory of the window to beyond? Have you slain the Servant of Tchekuth?"
Once again Lazlo has no weapon drawn. He approaches the grioths in a casual and friendly manner.
"සේවකයා මැරිලා ඇති. එවිට නැවතත් එසේ නොවිය හැකිය. මට කියන්න, ඔබ එහි අභාවයට කොපමණ කැමතිද? සමහර විට ඔබ සතුව ඇති එම ස්ඵටික කාචය අපට ලබා දීමට ප්රමාණවත්ද?"
He points to the crystal held by the leader and raises an eyebrow questioningly.
Fundin stands behind Lazlo looking threatening...
Galimus has no idea what is being said so he remains at the back of the group, ready for trouble, though not expecting it.
Of course, when it is determined who this house actually belongs to, if anyone even cares about that anymore, the grioths will have to come to terms with the new owner.
vs Lazlo Deception DC 22
The leader pauses, and then speaks.
Lazlo distinctly gets the impression that the leader has no intention of handing over the lens; once they confirm the brain collector is dead, they will attack and claim the Void Mirror for themselves.
Lazlo further gets the sense that one of the grioths has correctly guessed what has happened. Although they will defer to their leader as long as they believe their leader is smarter than they are, they will point out the deception as soon as they feel the situation is out of the leader's control.
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Lazlo rubs his hands together and speaks in taldane for the benefit of his allies. "Wonderful! It is always a pleasure to engage in honest trade with intelligent beings."
He turns to his companions. "Our gracious host has generously agreed to extend to us hospitality worthy of Ioseff's to Asethanna." With his back to the grioths he gives the group a sly wink and a furtive glance at their weapons.
Turning back to the leader he removes a pouch from his belt and tosses it on the table. "There is your proof. Inside that bag. Check it and then kindly hand me the crystal."
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The chief grioth greedily climbs onto the table and runs down its length, eager to verify that its mortal enemy is dead.
Of course, the heroes know that the bag contains nothing but a fluffernutter and a Fruit Roll-up. Lazlo, Zoi, and Fundin are able to time their responses so that they begin just before the chief realizes the deception; Galimus was distracted by the fact that Lazlo had been hogging all the Fruit Roll-Ups ever since they got here.
--Round 1
Zoi
Fundin
Lazlo
Grioth Chief
Galimus
Red Grioth
Pink Grioth
Yellow Grioth
Green Grioth
Cyan Grioth
Blue Grioth
Determined to get this over quickly, Lazlo moves forward and strikes at the leader.
Zin hangs back a moment, a bit surprised when things turn south. "They were lying?"
Fundin moves to the other side of the table and strikes the creature
Then he raises his shield
Lazlo rushes up, stabbing the leader in the side. As the chief winces in pain, Lazlo's second strike goes through his chest. The leader's eyes go wide open, and then Fundin comes up behind and knocks out the leader with one strike.
The other grioths look around nervously, but don't look they intend to back down.
--Round 1
Zoi
Galimus
Red Grioth
Pink Grioth
Yellow Grioth
Green Grioth
Cyan Grioth
Blue Grioth
--Round 2
Fundin
Lazlo
Grioth Chief (-49 hp)
Zin hangs back a moment, a bit surprised when things turn south. "They were lying?"
"Of course they were lying. Don't you remember that dream I told you about? Ioseff killed Asethanna. That was my hint to you to be ready to fight."
Zoi climbs onto the table and begins to click and chatter his beak together, creating small sonic pulses that sound like voices to those nearby.
HP 36/38
AC 18 (19 w/ shield)
Spells Used: Spiritual Weapon
Divine Font 0/4
Focus Points 1/1
Wand of Heal (1st): 1/1
Battle Medicine: Zoi, Fundin, Lazlo
Hero Points 0/3
Galimus steps up and adds his own noise to the chaos.
A deafening burst of sound erupts between red and pink engulfing all the others except blue.
Sonic
Two overlapping cacophonies immediately drops three of the grioths. The remainder look defiant, their usual instincts to defer to the strongest somehow warped by the twisted malevolence around them. With no regard to the degree to which they're overmatched, they charge.
--Round 2
Fundin
Lazlo
Grioth Chief (-49 hp)
Zoi
Galimus
Red Grioth (-30 hp)
Pink Grioth (-12 hp)
Yellow Grioth (-40 hp)
Green Grioth (-7 hp)
Cyan Grioth (-25 hp)
Blue Grioth (-5 hp)
The chief has a small glass object, which you know as a spare lens for the starless scope. Each of the minions has a glass kukri, which is either confiscated or looted. There are another 5 glass kukris among the bones. The kukris can be sold for 1 gp each (11 gp total) or used as a kukri.
Fundin blocks the strike from Grioth and brings his hammer down, changing its head into a pulp. He moves with grim determination to remove them from this world.
Soon after he cleans his skullcracker and looks at the items
"Could be worth something. Everyome is ok? Nice code there Lazlo, Till the last moment I did not see them attacking us."
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As Fundin finishes mopping up the trouble, Galimus gathers up the bag Lazlo tossed on the table.
He happens to catch a glimpse inside. "I knew there was fruit leather missing!" he declares and fishes out a roll.
"I'm confiscating this!" he says before handing Lazlo back his lunch.
Once they've gathered everything up he looks around at the group. "Out to the tower?" he asks while chewing a mouthful of delicious dried fruit.
The grioths press their attack, and Fundin swats them down with ther power of Magrim. They are unrepentant, even as they're dying, each one parroting the warning of the chief of the upcoming "glory of the window to the beyond."
Galimus feels a limited sympathy for the creatures. They are strangers in a foreign world, having come across the universe, hoping their brethren follow. They endanger this world, of course, but in a different universe, perhaps there is some kind of co-existence possible.
"Let that mouther be. Out there on its own it means no harm." Zoi motions to the crypt and basement. "The Crypt and Basement have a far bigger threat."
The group heads out to the Cosmic Crypt, a place they had previously visited and later saw someone enter.
The group puts in the sequence that they learned in the observatory, and the door grinds down into the ground to reveal a 10-foot diameter space within. No floor exists, as it reveals an open shaft that drops into the darkness.
Fundin's darkvision will reveal that the cavern extends 30 feet down into the ground to an irregular cavern, adorned with ancient carvings — images of stars, comets, and moths near the ceiling. Near the ground, images of monstrous shapes appear buried deep underground.
A series of grooves in the wall serve as crude ladder rungs.
Lazlo pulls out a rope and looks for somewhere to secure it. "I don't suppose anyone saw a stepladder anywhere while we were inside the house? I'm concerned that someone might find this rope and tamper with it."
"I haven't seen one, Master Lazlo." says the dwarf looking down.
A partially skeletal figure stands in the southeastern corner. As soon as she sees Fundin, she shakes off a thick layer of dust from her bones and deep blue robes. Pale green ectoplasm drips from her bones and causes her long, white hair to writhe about her head as if underwater.
Fundin recognizes the creature - sort of. She looks like a catrina psychopomp, sheperds of souls that have not realize they've died, helping to convince them of the finality of their fate to ease a spirit's passing. They usually resemble skeletons dressed in bright flowers and colorful dresses, giving them a simultaneously festive and macabre appearance. This one has been here for a very long time, and has been corrupted by the malevolence.
She spreads her arms wide as if to invite them into an embrace and says, “Come down, and become one with the Lord Below! Turn your back on the River of Souls and join with Tchekuth!”
Fundin climbs back and tells other what he saw there
"She is not my kind of girl, to little meat on the bone if you ask me..."
"I don't like it. We'll be at a serious disadvantage," Galimus says.
"But I also think it's important that we explore this place. Perhaps if we cleanse the house, she will be cleansed as well, though."
He chews on a fingernail for a few moments. "Come back after we deal with the house?" he offers a weak opinion.
"I agree with Galimus. Let's cleanse what is below ground and it may fix all of this madness." Zoi says. "Let's go to the basement."
"Was there just the single room down there Fundin? Could the crypt be connected to the house's basement?"
"I couldn't see it clearly to say. It could have been only that chamber, but there might have been passage to other places." says Fundin
"Let's head down from the secret study. It may have remained secret enough we can get through unnoticed." Zoi offers.
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Mildew dots the brick-lined walls and floor of this damp room. Sarcophagi stand in alcoves along the rest of the walls, 10 in all. Each sacrophagus has a bronze nameplate, though only five have been etched - Ioseff Xarwin, Asethanna Xarwin, Marney Xarwin, and Mira Xarwin, and one at the far end. Ioseff’s sarcophagus is empty, but the lids for the other three have been sealed with strips of lead pounded into the seam.
As Lazlo approaches the final etched nameplate at the far end of the crypt, the Mysterious Stranger appears with a clap of thunder. Lifting a bony finger, he points at the etched nameplate.
MAJORDOMO CATHILDA GOROG, it reads.
---
"No, no, like this," Loren Gorog chides. He grabs his son Lazlo's hand, shifting his finger from the long edge of the deck to the short edge, from the standard grip to the mechanic's grip. "Now your hand covers the entirety of the bottom card, making it easier to manipulate."
"That's so obvious," the 8-year-old Lazlo protests. "Everyone will know I'm cheating."
"You don't need to fool them forever, just long enough to get away with their money," snaps Lazlo's father. "That saying about 'you can shear a sheep forever but slaughter it only once'? That's for losers. I say slaughter the sheep, eat your fill, and then go find another sheep."
Lazlo snorts derisively at his father, "Is that why we move cities every three months? Wander the cities of Avistan with no friends, no famil-"
*WHACK*
His father's backhand was swift and merciless, delivering a stinging retort to a child half his height. "You want to be like your grandmother Cathilda? A servant, waiting on tables, catering to her rich Chelish masters? A 'majordomo', she called herself. I'll tell you what she was - she was a slave. She died a slave, and I'm happy that I ran away from that Chelish prison before I died there, too. You want friends? Go make money, and buy yourself some friends. You want family? Go find a rich, old woman, and convince her you're her nephew or something, and then you'll have all the family - and all the inheritance - you need."
Present-day Lazlo suddenly realizes that, although Xarwin Manor is located in Ravounel, this whole area used to be Cheliax before the revolution.
Lazlo stares in disbelief at the nameplate on the crypt for some time before turning to the stranger in disbelief.
"That...that's my grandmother? Here? How...?"
He stares at it for several minutes before beseeching the cloaked figure.
"Help me open it."
"Help me, damn it!"
The stranger steps up and easily opens the sarcophagus.
Fundin aids the stranger in opening the sarcophagus
"It got a bit stuck. As we learned, he collected their brains."
Then he stand silent, giving Lazlo the time that he needed.
Galimus isn't sure what's going on, even after Lazlo makes his revelation. Opening up sarcophagi is usually a bad idea - it's a good way to either let something that should be resting and isn't out or wake up something that is resting and doesn't appreciate being awoken.
But Lazlo's emotional response is strong enough that Galimus protests die on his lips.
That doesn't stop him from preparing for the worst.
Lazlo and Fundin move towards the sarcophagus to get a closer look, but as soon as they put their hands to the lid to open it, there is a loud clap of thunder, and a skeleton-like creature with a vulture's skull as a head appears, holding a large scythe.
"Quod satis est. Satis turbasti animas," they state.
Vulture (Requian): "That is far enough. You have disturbed enough souls."
Stranger (Requian): "They require the will."
Vulture (Requian): "They have a mission."
Stranger (Requian): "They require the will to accomplish the mission."
Vulture (Requian): "Then we will send others who require less."
Stranger (Requian): "There is but one descendant, it must be him."
Vulture (Requian): "Agreed. Then let us balance the scales of justice by sending the Guide back."
They point to Zoi.
Stranger (Requian): "Unacceptable, until Yianyin is satisfied."
Vulture (Requian): "The Receiver, then?"
They point to Galimus.
Stranger (Requian): "Unacceptable, until the Receiver becomes the Giver."
Vulture (Requian): "Then, it shall be the Redeemer."
They point to Fundin.
Stranger (Requian): "Unacceptable, the Legion still grows."
Vulture (Requian): "There is no alternative, it shall be all of you."
They raise their scythe.
They reach out and strike Fundin.
The scythe bounces off of Fundin's armor, but as it touches Fundin, a power is released.
--Round 1
Fundin (80/80 hp, DC 25 Will Save)
Lazlo (58/58 hp)
Galimus (67/67 hp)
Zoi (46/46 hp)
--Round 2
Vulture Head (Recall: Religion)
Fundin looks at the creature, "I am a champion of Taskmaster, the wielder of Skullcrasher. I am not afraid of the dead! I am the follower of Shining Oath!"
He tries to recall what he knows about the creature
Then he strikes the creature with his hammer
Then he raises his shield
Other than the finger pointing, things seemed to be going well...until vulture head took a shot at Fundin.
Still, there was a lot of talking first so Galimus doesn't go for killing immediately.
First, he tries to figure out what this is.
Then, he tries to Daze it.
Galimus recognizes it as a vanth, a front line psychompomp soldier usually sent to enforce order. As a soldier, they are always ready for combat.
Both Fundin's Strike and Galimus's mental damage goes through normally.
--Round 1
Fundin (80/80 hp, shield)
Lazlo (58/58 hp)
Galimus (67/67 hp)
Zoi (46/46 hp)
--Round 2
Vulture Head (-15 hp, Recall: Religion)
Lazlo searches his memory of psychopomps for any information he can use to bolster his argument.
(Requian) "What are you doing? Stop this at once! We came here specifically to end the corruption that plagues this place and you attack us? Have you gone mad?"
Vulture (Requian): "Will you, then, continue your mission, and leave this crypt unopened? Choose carefully - all who live must face her judgment."
"I will face her judgement again soon enough." Zoi says solemnly. "We will leave this crypt unopened, but we first must vanquish the evil that lurks below."
Lazio points to the plaque on the crypt. (Requian) "It says that's my grandmother in there. What happened to her? Has she been mutilated like the other poor souls in this house? I have to know. I have a right to know. You have no right to keep us out. Clearly the Lady of Mysteries means for us to be here. Now stand aside."