|
Undaunted by the second negative energy blast, Zylencia’s adamantine katana cuts neatly thru Keeper Myre’s neck, his head dropping with a thud to the floor, his frantic eyes slowly starting to glaze over as they look eerily upon you…
COMBAT over! Pathfinder’s victorious!
|
Elena will check on the wounded and offer to use their CLW wands to recover. "Seems like we were right. The man could feel the creature hungering for his life. His foul magic won't harm anyone from now on..."
Elena will take 20 (28 total) on perception to check the body for clues and loot. Did he have any info on the creature?
|
|
While Elena finds no info on the creature, she does find the following on Keeper Myre’s corpse:
dagger
potion
ring
another ring
3 scrolls
keys
crafting supplies
35 gp
|
Running towards the group to help, Piotr looks over in shock at Zylencia as she cuts the man down where he stands.
"And I thought I was a bloodthirsty monster."
The Keeper's head rolls to the floor.
"Well. Okay then. Good job."
Piotr uses wands all around.
2 uses of his on himself.
And, let's try 5 uses of Zylencia's on her.
Ok. 2 more.
|
|
Between Elena and the White Rose, you find the following magical items among the Keeper’s gear:
potion of cure moderate wounds
ring of counterspells (contains magic missile)
ring of protection +2 (but you find its magical properties ‘disappear’ if any of you wear it)
3 scrolls of gentle repose
|
|
Elena was about to check on Zylencia but Piotr beat her to the wand.
She frowns looking at the loot. "What a weird ring... Well, at least we got rid of this one. Should we look in that other room left? I didn't find any additional clue about the creature."
If they agree, Elena will check if the other door is locked and try the keys they found.
|
|
Elena finds the door securely locked…but she also finds a key on the Keeper’s keychain that opens it…
A small cot lies in one corner of this room, opposite a desk and rickety wooden chair. A door to the north hangs ajar, revealing a small water closet in the alcove beyond.
|
|
This room appeared to serve Myre as both a bedroom and a study. Elena finds a treasure trove of information in Myre’s desk…
The desk contains Myre’s journal, which describes his experiences exploring the catacombs under Carrion Hill, and has some pretty wild observations about just how much is left to be uncovered. A sample excerpt reads “The Numerians were keen to be away after ransacking the Hill, as the scale of the tunnels below daunted them. They kept finding more and more parts of the old libraries behind false doors and secret rooms. Eventually they decided simply to flood the tunnels, but this failed them too, for the ancients were keen intellects, and their tunnels do not flood easily. It is possible that whole series of chambers such as the Sunless Grove lie waiting to be uncovered.” The journal goes on to detail the discovery of the incantation in the Pnakotic Manuscripts to open the portal at the Sunless Grove, as well as Myre’s obvious excitement at the prospect of using the portal to contact “keen intellects beyond the human shell.” The last entry is from a few days ago, and simply says “Tomorrow the Old Gods shall speak once more, and we Keepers shall be in attendance to learn from them.”
The desk also contains some ledgers of customers, a bag of 100 gp, and some fine writing implements worth 100 gp. Myre’s spellbooks are kept on a shelf built into the side of the desk—they contain all of his prepared spells plus various other wizard spells of each level from 1st to 4th.
|
|
"Three scrolls of gentle repose? Interesting."
Piotr cocks an eyebrow in surprise.
"Whose bodies did they need to preserve?"
He inquires to no one in particular.
He tucks the scrolls into his pouch.
"Now that I think about it, if things happen to go wrong and one of us gets killed, these scrolls may be of some use."
He picks up the ring and looks at it closely.
"This ring must only activate for those that worship gods of evil. Can any of you detect a presence of evil on it?”
|
|
"Maybe he used the scrolls to get more workers... I don't want to think where he got all these zombies.." Elena tells Piotr.
Elena shares the information she found with the others. "Their hubris was their undoing... or will be. We must find the other two... How are you all feeling? Do you have enough magic left? I think we can pay the Temple a visit"
|
|
If everyone chips in, Elena will get the detoxify for Piotr to cast and a scroll of delay poison.
When arriving to the outside of the temple, Elena will cast her scroll of delay poison on herself.
"Let's pay a visit to this man... we should stay on the look out for more zombies as well. I'm starting to think maybe the asylum could provide the necromancer with bodies of patients to turn into workers... and zombies would also be the perfect assistants for someone who handles poison," she explains with concern.
|
|
After purchasing supplies, you move southeast from the Slipper Market, in a driving rain, until find yourself in front of the Elm Way Church, a small modest building. Other than the pounding rain, it is otherwise eerily quiet around the church. The two entry doors appear unlocked…
|
|
Elena cannot perceive any movement within…but she also realizes that the downpour of rain is detracting from her senses…
|
|
Piotr and Elena enter the church…
The interior of the church is cold and damp. Two man-sized statues stand to each side of the room, both draped with gray sheets. Dozens of sagging bookshelves stand along the walls, and a stone altar has been converted into a table.
|
|
Elena finds what appears to be a storage room. It contains food, water, lamp oil, ink, paper, and other supplies.
|
|
Piotr opens the the connecting door and finds:
This room is abandoned, as the roof above leaks terribly. The recent storm has left the western 5 feet of the room in a 4-inch-deep pool of water that drains through a crack in the southwest to the alley beyond.
Finding nothing significant there, you try the door across the hall and find:
This room, most likely Keeper Hyve’s bedroom, contains a cot and a reading lamp…but nothing else…
Checking the one other door in the church, you find it very securely locked…
|
|
Piotr finds nothing much of note as he looks over the altar. He finds that the altar, in addition to the surrounding shelves, contain hundreds of tomes about history, focusing on the last 2,000 years of Ustalav. Individually, the books aren’t all that notable…
|
|
On a hunch, Piotr gives a meticulous look around the church, looking for a secret entrance...but he finds nothing. Knowing the Keeper must be hiding somewhere here and certain he has been thorough in his search, he takes a hard look at the locked door, thinking it likely what he's looking for lies behind it...
|
|
Zylencia’s adamantine katana makes a mess of the nice lock, and the door freaks open as a result of her mighty blow…
The room beyond is empty, save for a wooden trap door set in the floor, obviously a relatively recent addition to the building’s older architecture. Beyond the trap door, a wooden ladder descends at least 20’ down…
|
|
As Elena peers down the ladder, she can’t detect much of anything, aside from it appears the ladder descends into a cavern…
|
|
Elena climbs down with Lynn on her shoulder…
This large, low-ceilinged chamber may once have been part of an extensive basement or subcellar, but the worked stone walls have long since crumbled to reveal uneven stone beyond. A sunken area in the center of the room contains a small pond of stagnant water that reaches around a single pillar of rock supporting the ceiling. A slick-looking circular tunnel extends south. To the southwest and northeast, several tables cluttered with what appears to be alchemical equipment stand around two more stone pillars.
Lynn cannot make out any people at present…