The sound of nails-on-stone puts Ceceka on edge. Leather croaks as he tightens his grip on the fauchard - he's expecting trouble.
Aily doesn't find any traps on the coffin. When you are ready, you open it. Immediately, a scorpion-like creature made out of a ribcage attached to vertebrae leaps out to attack!
Fortunately, you react quickly!
HP 17/17
AC 17 (19 with shield raised)
Fort +6, Ref +4, Will +6
Hero points: 1
Effects:
Mithralline gives a scathing look -- the type usually reserved for Andersa -- at Caraid. "That's! NOT! A! Cat!"
Nonetheless, with shield raised, she launches herself at the skeletal not-a-cat and swings with her scythe.
"It is interesting, though, Madam." Aily says, marveling a little at the ingenuity of making ribs the legs of the beast.
Mithralline misses the scrabbling ribcage, but Aily expertly slices as its central joint, severing the spine in half and destroying the construct!
With the threat neutralized, you can see there is something else inside the coffin--a figurine of a jackal carved of smoky quartz. The name "Smoke" is engraved on the figurine's carved collar.
"Your skills of observation do you credit." Caraid replies, unperturbed by Mithralline's pint-sized anger.
When the onyx dog in unearthed he nods in satisfaction. "Well that explains that." He says. "This is Smoke. Now, unless we want to hunt down the creature in the grounds immediately, I propose that we return upstairs. I want to enjoy my new bed."
Because her ego doesn't get a room to itself. He thinks darkly, definitely not looking at the sprite.
"Your feint proved rather effective" Aily says to the Lady Cort, as she puts up her dagger. She manages to keep her tone level and respectful. At the discovered that this is Smoke, her tone shifts to disbelief "He left his home to a dog statue?"
Mithralline leaps toward the statue, eying it covetously.
"Let's see what it has to say for us. If it recognizes me as its new master, then we won't have any problems." And with that, she lays a tiny hand on the statue's head, concentrating to invoke its power.
"Smoke! Come!" she commands.
The onyx figuring grows as it transforms into a full-sized jackal. The jackal sits obediently at Mithralline's feet, tongue lolling happily.
"Ah, good boy." Telvir uses a mage hand to scratch the jackle's ears.
No sense finding out that he bites the hard way.
To Lady Cort, he says, "Do you suppose your new pet could show us around his domain down here? I'd rather not have surprised rise up while we sleep."
"Yes, that is just what I was about to have him do!" she tells Telvir, nodding decisively.
"Smoke! Show us around this place? Are there any secret doors? Is anyone else here?"
If the animated dog is a reflection of its owner, Ceceka doesn't want his hand to be anywhere near his mouth. And thus, the warrior stays well away from the dog for now.
He curiously awaits the creature's reply (if it understands the question in the first place) to Mithralline's question and request.
Smoke barks once and then leads you through the rest of the crypt. The adjacent room contains only four empty coffins. Across the way are four locked cells, though the keys you found upstairs unlock them. The far wall is made of skulls, and a search reveals that several of them tiny holes in the back, lined up with the eye sockets, that would allow someone on the other side of the wall to observe the cell.
The last room is a torture chamber filled with stone tables bearing leather straps, chains, and other restraints. Racks of rusted blades, clamps, and other tools line the walls. Refuse lies in heaps in the southeast corner.
A trio of giant rats lair here. They squeak angrily and move to attack, but with Smoke fighting by your side, you make short work of them.
Smoke then leads you to a hole in the wall south of the cells. The bone lever you found fits in the hole, opening a secret passage that runs behind the skulls. From this side, the peepholes are obvious.
At the end of the passage, another door opens into a large room. Skulls and other bones comprise every inch of the walls and ceiling of this room. The floor is smooth stone. A stone altar piled with skulls, many of which still have bits of flesh clinging to them, stands against the east wall. A robed corpse lies on the floor at the base of the altar. Its skull seems to have burst open, as skull fragments litter the floor around it.
A tiny fairy-like creature flits around the room, wearing a skull over its bulbous, oversized head. When it sees you, it shrieks in rage and charges towards you in a feral fury!
"No!" Mithralline screeches in a voice to match the evil fairy's. "This is MINE!"
Caraid steps back with his hands outstretched - it seems he has exactly no intentions of stopping Mithralline fighting the creature one-eighth on one-eighth.
Telvir blasts the pesky fey...the new one. Not Mithralline, of course.
Aily sighs, crossing her arms over her chest, and steps back to let her Lady get her ass kicked by the only thing shorter than her that they have seen in a fortnight.
As she stands next to Caraid, she considers making some kind of bet with him about which one of the annoying winged midgets would get hit first, but then decides, no. Sadly.
Ceceka takes a step back and lowers his guard reluctantly. Everything about the man's body language screams that he's ready and eager to get involved in the scrap. "Ok."
Telvir's magic missiles batter the skull fairy, but Caraid and Ceceka refrain from interfering. The skull fairy flies at Mithralline and attacks!
Its fist clangs off of her shield at first, but then it lands a good blow!
"Is the term still Head-Butt if you use someone else's head to butt someone?" Aily asks off hand when the fairy wearing the skull slams that very same skull into her mistress's face. "Either way, while that truly looked it hurt, it is probably part of my Lady's Cort master strategy. For example, blinding the enemy with her own blood?"
HP 10/17
AC 17 (19 with shield raised)
Fort +6, Ref +4, Will +6
Hero points: 1
Effects:
"Kneel, you stupid bird, and acknowledge me as the master of this place!" Mithralline screams
She hardly waits for an answer, though. She raises her shield again, then goes on the offensive, feinting first with her lion scythe, then driving the blade right into the mouth of the other fairy.
"Your teeth are forfeit!"
The skull fairy shrieks, refusing to kneel. The backlash leaves her reeling, allowing Mithralline to score a critical hit!
Badly wounded, the creature swings on Mithralline again. It gets past her shield, pummeling her twice. Even blocking the first blow with her shield, the second strike is powerful enough to drop Mithralline!
The skull fairy shrieks triumphantly and grabs the sides of Mithralline's head, preparing to try to rip it off of her body!
"Urgathoa's knees!" Telvir's voice drops noticeably in pitch as he curses mildly in frustration. Scattered pebbles and a cloud of dust rise around his feet as he makes a chopping motion at the fairy.
and
Telvir amps up his psychic abilities and rips the skull fairy apart! The tiny monster explodes into shadowy, noxious tissue like a burst bubble, splattering the fallen Mithralline. You are able to stabilize the sprite before she is too far gone.
Once things have calmed down, you investigate the headless corpse. The body belongs to a male human with numerous piercings, tattoos, and intentional scarring. Based on the state of decay, the body has likely been here between one and two years. Those trained in religion recognize symbols among the body modifications indicating the man was a devout worshipper of Zon-Kuthon.
Searching the corpse reveals that his robes once had concealed pocket, but the pocket has recently rotted through, spilling its contents onto the ground. The most significant item in these contents is an ornate key carved from obsidian. The shank and bow form a forked tongue, such that they’d stick out of a lock after the key is inserted. The key is wrapped in a scrap of leathery skin with the phrase “Death and Secrets” tattooed on it in faded green ink.
The spilled pocket contents also include a minor oil of unlife, a lesser focus cathartic, and 2 gp.
Ceceka voices his thoughts on the key with a single word spoken in a gruff manner. "Odd."
As for the state of his companion, Ceceka keeps his thoughts to himself. Everyone handles defeat differently, and the warrior has no clue how their sprite companion will react to hers. Whatever the reaction will be, he also doesn't care to become the focal point of her anger by saying the wrong thing.
Mithralline awakes to find the fairy dead.
"I told you I could handle her!" she says, kicking the corpse. "And I told you you should submit, you undergrown seagul!"
She looks around triumphantly, sure this stunning victory will help Caraid see he'd better not try to fight her over the bed. Then her attention is diverted by the latest discovery.
"What is this key too?" she demands of Aily.
Telvir puts a hand to his forehead to ward off the headache that always comes from exerting himself so. "Lady Cort, I don't think we've found any other locked doors or chests, yet. Perhaps you could have Smoke sniff it? He may know more than we do, at this point."
The amount we know about this place would barely fill a thimble. Missing teeth, a dead priest of the Dark Prince, and who knows what other vermin.
"Yes, I was just about to do that!" Mithralline lies through her own, very intact teeth (casting another victorious glance at the remains of the stupid molar bird that she singlehandedly killed).
"Smoke, smell the key. What's it to?"
Smoke sniffs the key and lets out a huff. It seems the jackal doesn't know.
Caraid sighs, pockets the piece of parchment that obviously has a password on it, and then offers the key to Smoke for its examination.
Aily was going to open her mouth to request everyone allow her mistress a chance to recover on her own (after she was stabilized of course). The thoughts of a free night were rather engaging. But oh well, what server really needs a night off... sigh
So she stifled her objection and congratulated her lady on her "Stunning victory, my lady." the deadpan is dripping.
With the manor secured, you settle down to rest and recover. The next day, Berline Haldoli shows up at the manor in a zombie-steed-drawn carriage laden with celebratory victuals. "I got word of your victory and came to help warm your new house! One of the perks of being the only Blood Lord in Graydirge is any bit of significant news reaches my ears in short order. Sure, some people might try to kill you—but all the rest scramble to please."
Berline brings numerous delectable dishes, and she’s done her best to modify this meal based on your responses to your initial feast with her. She insists on sharing a meal with you and spends a good deal of time giving you advice on how to remodel your kitchen.
After the meal, Berline tells you that she has begun investigating the strange clues you found on her own now that the farm is clear of danger. She still needs to ask around Graydirge and see what else she can learn, and she hopes you will do the same once you've settled in.
In the meantime, you've earned a bit of downtime! Additionally, your recent experiences have left you feeling stronger and better prepared for what may lie ahead...
Aily gets to work.
Hiring a couple of workmen, two additional maids, a groundsman, and a plump cook in quick order, having already talked to various bored or ambitious servants at the Leaky Kettle or the Knock (me over), lower class bars around Graydirge loved by the poor weary servants of all things 'noble'. She has also worked out some deliveries from the Carters Consortium. containing foodstuff, construction material, and her mistress's remaining furniture, including the lavish bed she so adored.
"Highest room in the household for the highest ranked member of the household?" she asks her mistress as she prods her into a compromise without hopefully her knowing it. The workman has been converting the attic to a bedroom, which that overstuffed oversized bed could barely get up to, but it could. Aily had measured.
Cleaning with the animated hand and maids, along with planning meals with the cook and prioritizing tasks with the groundsman takes up nearly every waking moment of the head maid.
But she never really needed much sleep.
"Sleep is for the living," Mithralline snaps when she hears Aarona grumbling at one point. "Which you won't be if you don't get all this work done!"
Despite her words, she's quite pleased with her servant's work, and happily settles back into her home at the top of the manor's dome.
Caraid meanwhile, when he finds Aily busy and without the tiny annoyance, calmly instructs a zombie servant to take over for her.
"I'm quite impressed." He says with a charming smile. "You dealt with Mithralline rather well, and me for that matter. I'm man enough to admit when I've been manipulated. Still, I'm grateful - so if you ever fancy joining me for some... 'mutual manipulation' then I would be delighted."
He examines the woman for a moment and then, assuming that she doesn't try to stab him, swoops in to kiss her.
His lips tingle, sending a thrill through Aily like the pleasure of a fine wine or rich food. Her body feels warmer for a brief moment, as though she's been dozing and every part of her is suddenly, vividly awake. In short, it's a very good kiss.
Aily had been sweeping, but she accepts the sudden help, slipping away from 'work' to consider what 'mutual manipulation' might entail.
She shifts slight toward him, positioning herself perfectly, to be taken by surprise. Trapped between him and the wall, her mind hums in pleasure, keeping her hands on the wall, acting in all things subservient.
When the kiss ends, her eyes shine with amusement and something much hotter. oh you are a dangerous one her mind says before her mouth adds "What would you have of me, my Lord?" her tone is playful, more than mocking.
Telivr has trouble sleeping, as he often does since leaving Osirion. He spends most of the evening tossing a bone for Smoke. When the dog vanishes back into his statuette, Telvir is quite put out.
The basement of the manor makes a decent makeshift workshop, and before the night is out the elf has devised some enhancements that allow his new canine companion to stick around.
I will tell "Lady" Cort that I am her new houndmaster, I suppose.
When the kiss ends, her eyes shine with amusement and something much hotter. oh you are a dangerous one her mind says before her mouth adds "What would you have of me, my Lord?" her tone is playful, more than mocking.
"You." Caraid replies simply. "I would have you."
He can see the spark in Aily's eye, the spark that says exactly how much she wants him. Caraid makes no secret of his desires, he never has, and its remarkable how well women (and the occasional man) respond to that brazenness. Aily is the opposite, trained to perfection in the suppression of her own desires for someone else's benefit and Caraid wants nothing more than to see her unleashed.
"I want," He whispers in her ear, lips intimately close to her skin. "To see you unrestrained. I want your passion. I want to hear you scream."
"So," He adds in a more normal tone, pulling back just a little. "What do you want Aily?"
Mithralline ignores all the goings-on downstairs -- at least as long as Ainy gets her work done. She does nod in satisfaction at Telvir's plan to become her new houndmaster. Truth be told, she hadn't even realized she needed such a thing until he mentioned it -- though she would never tell that truth to anyone. Eventually she'll be able to simply talk to wolves herself, which should solve that problem, but in the meantime, this is a fine solution. Mithralline congratulates herself for thinking of it.
After a few days, she gets bored, and goes to look for Ceceka. "Send a note to Lady Haldoli, if you would, asking if she has any further information on our discoveries!"
Aily breath comes fast as the way too attractive man leans in to whisper in her ear. "What do I want? Hmmmm..." her fingers walk up his chest "I have been on my feet Alllll day, getting off them, say in a Big bed would be near sinful in its decadence." the dark haired elf leaned in, close, her eyes fill his field of vision "And Yes, to all the rest," another inch, her lips open, her teeth graze his, before her eyes dance "Please good sir, make me... Scream."
A few days pass as you get settled into your new manor home. One evening, a skeletal thrush arrives at your front door. It repeatedly flies into the door until someone answers. A note is attached to its leg. It waits until someone takes the note before flying off again.
The note reads:
Fellow friends of Blood Lord Berline Haldoli,
I invite you to dine with me in the shadowy, scream-filled halls of the Empty Threshold, where I faithfully fulfill my duties as head priest of the Midnight Lord. I have learned of your recent work to restore Mistress Haldoli’s farm and the troubling things you discovered there. It pained me when I realized a member of my own congregation possessed information that may be related to your discovery. It seems the Dark Prince wished this information to emerge from the shadows only now. I believe it may be of use. Join me for dinner, and we can discuss the matter privately.
Eternally envious,
Ortagar Stitch-Skull
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Telvir lifts an eyebrow at the message. "Well, 'It pained me' is certainly an interesting message from a Kuthite high priest. I wonder if there's a double meaning there? Or even a threat?"
The prospect of eating in the Empty Threshold isn't terribly appetizing. But, Ortagar seems too powerful to refuse.
"We should step carefully at dinner. And not just because I'm sure the place is littered with sharp objects."
"Oh, a Kuthite stronghold. There's almost always fresh blood there!" Mithralline says happily.
She gives Telvir's comments a few moments, and then grins evilly, bearing her own sharpened incisors.
"So are we," she finally replies, her voice full of menace.
"Fortunately I have a big bed, and I'm willing to share." Caraid replies with a positively sinful grin. The two walk off, a door shuts and neither of them are to be seen again for several hours.
---------------------------------
The message from Ortagar Stitch-Skull has Caraid rolling his mis-matched eyes.
"Dinner with a Kuthite. Delightful." He says with a sigh. "The last time I met one of them most of the scars healed up and they had the nerve to be cross with me about it. It's not as though I could help it!" His scowl morphs into a smile of remembrance. "Once I cut his head off he stopped complaining. Although I think he probably enjoyed it..."
"Remind me to have a snack before we leave for dinner."
Aily does enjoy herself, very much but doesn't truly 'Let Loose'.
but she does act like any tightly wound young woman would when being seduced and finally letting go of her inhibitions. As the handsome young man drifts off to a contented slumber, she slips out of the bed, gets dressed, and gets back to work.
----------------
Aily has dabbled more with the Kuthite faith than any other, but she keeps that fact away from the conversation. Looking at the pointy sprite, she remembers their father who definitely had a thing of pain and blood.
"Do you wish to wear your best dress or your armor?" the maid asks the lady, trying to plan, prepare, and keep to the course, despite the near-constant desire to scream.
Once you are ready, you head to the Kuthite temple. The Empty Threshold is the epitome of Kuthite construction. In Geb, worshippers of Zon-Kuthon have no need to hide their faith in secluded basements or shrouded attics, as they do in other parts of the world. The temple is ostentatious, massive, and hideous. Its many intentional architectural defects and asymmetries are designed to cause as much aesthetic discomfort as the grimacing skulls and twisted sculptures that line its halls and alcoves.
The building serves primarily as a house of painful meditation and worship for devoted Kuthites who reside there. Most of them are living people rather than undead, as undead can’t feel pain in quite the same way—though the Kuthites take pride in devising various unpleasant experiences, both physical and emotional, for any undead who wish to join their macabre rites.
A trio of acolytes greet you at the temple’s entrance: Ygefkha, Rofela, and Teket. Each acolyte wears black leather garb and carries a serrated dagger at their hip. Ygefkha is covered in tattoos depicting beautiful creatures in terrible pain, while Rofela and Teket bear fresh scars.
The acolytes lead the way through a small ablution room, offering to assist any of you who are willing with the proper rites. This ceremonial washing involves the cleansing of blood from the supplicant’s body. If you don’t have blood to wash away, Ygefkha explains with eagerness that the ablution is required; each of you must bleed yourself or another to earn the blood to be washed away in Zon-Kuthon’s name. Nearby chambers have the required implements, and Rofela offers herself as a victim if you want one.
Caraid accepts the blooding, slicing into Rofela's arm with precision and twisting the blade briefly to give her the pain she wants. The cut seals within moments, an unavoidable side effect of his presence, but he gets enough blood on himself to perform the ablutions suitably.
After Caraid is through with the knife, Aily requests it, rolling up her sleeve, she slices her forearm without hesitation, near similar white scars. She first offers her blood to her mistress, and then does the same for herself.
Without comment, this time.
Having read up on the Zon-Kuthon faith, Ceceka knows roughly what is expected of him and how to do it. The one tiny issue is that he has never actually done it, and when the knife kisses his skin, panic starts tugging at the corners of his mind, fraying his composure.
Somehow, Ceceka manages to keep himself together - and from bleeding out.