The ghoul does not slip in the greasy mess and carefully picks its way through the trees stopping at a set of broken iron bars. It starts to squeeze through them.
Brother Laurence quickly follows and speaks a word of consternation. He calls upon his calamity god for something to stop the ghoul's flight.
Valkarian does nothing.
Well, that is not quite accurate.
He ponders the lamentable state of the pathetic creature before him, desperately trying to flee and cling to its miserable existence while his comrades try their best to eradicate it.
Might this be our fate, after investigating the mystery of Carrion Hill? Might we find ourselves debased and wretched things, feasting on corpses and fleeing from zealots?
Oswald Copperpot watches the lone ghoul escaping. The Investigator shrugs.
If he warns anyone about us, then it will just even the odds.
The Gillman then proceeds to investigator the altar and book that the ghoul was holding prior to their interruption.
Brother Laurence’s spontaneous vines wrap themselves around the ghoul and the nearby bars holding it fast. Unfortunately for the ghoul it stops moving entirely as its form is crushed and lacerated into utter uselessness.
Oswald walks up to it and gingerly plucks the tome from the now motionless corpse to examine the prize.
The book is at least 500 pages long of thin parchment and weighs 10 pounds. The cover bears a large inset crystal and a series of metal insect-like clasps along the edge preventing it from being opened.
The book is written completely in the cursed language Aklo. One section is marked with a red silk bookmark. It is heavily annotated in a spidery script.
Looking excited and intrigued, the Investigator quickly takes out his tools to open the lock on the Book!
”May we, the Keepers of the Oldest, prevail over the scourge of simplistic thought and lesser men.” Below are five signatures: Keeper Baskerwhel, Keeper Crove, Keeper Hyve, Keeper Marshan, Keeper Myre.
Galileo ponders the names.
Oswald sets about translating the section marked by the bookmark, taking copious notes getting some results.
The section describes a ritual which opens a portal to the Dark Tapestry to contact one the dark and enigmatic entities therein. The Keepers were attempting this to further enhance their knowledge of forbidden magic and arcane secrets. At the end of the section there is a caution to those who would attempt it, “...that forcing open such portals draws forth the spiritual essence of the ritualists, and that any entity contacted by the portal can make hideous use of this essence by consuming it, growing more powerful in the bargain, such that only the end of such essence can challenge the intruder’s rights upon the world.”
Galileo has heard of some of the names:
Glem Baskerwhel, is a hunch-backed hermit who lives in the Wrythe about a day’s travel east of Carrion Hill. The swamp druid is nonetheless well known in Carrion Hill as a potion-maker, and he visits the city often, always staying with his friend Arlend Hyve at the Elm Way Church on these visits.
Waldur Crove is well known as the warden of Crove’s Asylum, a building located in the Crown that the Crows have long used to dispose of lunatics and the insane too dangerous to keep in regular prisons.
Arlend Hyve is an authority on regional history and lore, a sage who dwells in an abandoned church of Aroden on Elm Way on the southern slope of the Tangles. There are whispers that he dabbles in the black market poison and drug trade.
Rupman Myre is a middenstone baron. He owns a large vathouse down in the Filth along the river banks, and is rumored to be involved with illegal necromancy, but to date the Crows have not been able to find enough evidence to arrest him
Oswald scratches his scalp.
Not connecting any dots here.
Euda frowns as the book's opening words are read aloud. "I know who Keeper Baskerwhel is," she informs the others. "Glem Baskerwhel--a potion maker who sometimes sells his wares in town--he was my mentor until his bitterness led him down a dark path I would not follow. He lives in the Wrythe about a day east of here."
"And, I suspect Keeper Hyve is Arlend Hyve who was a friend of his. I never met Arlend but if I remember correctly, I think that he lives at the Elm Way Church, or did back then."
Suddenly noticing the strewn together heap of corpses just lying all haphazardly about the dank chamber, the Investigator decides to Investigate.
He puts black gloves on his hands and an orange peel over his nose first.
"It seems clear.what we must do is hunt down this strange cabal of men who wish to unleash terror upon this dreary city."
"Tracking down Glem would take at least a day, possibly much longer if he happened to be on his way into town while we headed out to the Wrythe and we missed him. Perhaps we should start with a trip to the Elm Way Church to look for Arlend Hyve?"
Looking around their current location, she adds, "if, or when, we're certain we've found all there is to find down here?"
Suddenly noticing the strewn together heap of corpses just lying all haphazardly about the dank chamber, the Investigator decides to Investigate.
He puts black gloves on his hands and an orange peel over his nose first.
[dice=Perception]1d20 + 9
The mangled and bloodless bodies are of two old men dressed in dark robes. One floats face down in the pool of sludge, the other lies atop the hill, slumped against the altar. Both are twisted around like rags.
"Fools who dabbled in that which should not be," Valkarian remarks darkly.
"Hmmm... such that only the end of such essence can challenge the intruder’s rights upon the world..."
Valkarian ponders the phrase but doesn't quite grasp its significance.
"Hmm are these men any of our quarry?"
Despite their twisted bodies Euda is able to identify the man in the pool as Glem Baskerwhel. The other one no one recognizes.
Oswald offers the findings to any interested. The Investigator then looks about the carnage and recharge, shrugging.
I wonder if poor Glem Baskerwhel was down here looking for answers. What's next?
"Well, good. We don't need to trek out to the writhe to track him down. Looks like the poor fellow got what was coming to him. Let's follow Euda's druidey sense and investigate this church."
Oswald turns his blue purple eyes to stare incredulously at Galileo.
Have you no shame, sir.
The seriousness of his tone is only betrayed by the laughter that suddenly erupts from his mouth!
Euda frowns at the sight of Glem's soggy corpse, and her companions' cavalier attitude towards the dead.
to some extent, he is right... I told Glem his path would one day end in tragedy... still, after all he did for me, it does pain me to see what's become of him... I hope your soul finds its way back into the circle of life, and in a less twisted form... though, after a ritual like this, you may not have much hope of that...
Once the useful items have been claimed from the dead men, the small druid says rather flatly, "we're not here to hibernate, so if there's nothing else that needs to be done down here we'd better start making our way back to the surface."
When you emerge from the depths below Marshan's house in the Slipper Market you find the situation has deteriorated. The incessant rain continues but word of the destruction must have spread and citizens are flooding the streets in a panic, nearly rioting. The recently abandoned streets are thronged with people packing their belongings and attempting to arrange transport out of the city. It is all the Crows can do to try and keep the peace.
Due to the tense situation you must walk the full way to Elm Way church pushing through the dense crowds which takes several hours.
Brother Laurence intones some mumbled words over the corpses (something about asking the gods to ensure that their suffering in the afterlife leads others still living to make better choices, before they too run out of time), and then proceeds to the church. He sighs at the crowds of panicked citizens. "I do not suppose my words would improve matters," he says quietly, "but it is a shame that we can do nothing yet to quiet the city's fears."
Oswald calmly proceeds to Elm Way church. The Investigator allows the flow of traffic to guide his steps.
Anyone heard of a Blue Light special popping up?
"If the citizens of this cursed place wish to leave, perhaps it would be best if the mayor were to allow it. It will make our job easier. But, then, the residents would fear leaving their meager belongings behind, and so cling to them, clogging the streets with chests and trunks. As if mere possessions such as a nice piece of crockery could alleviate the terror they must feel from the merest hint of the unspeakable forces at play in Carrion Hill. No, crockery can bring no solace."
Valkarian pushes through the crowd, looking to get to Elm Way church, pay his respects to the dead god it honors, and meet this Arlend Hyve.
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.
A
This simple bedroom contains a cot and a reading lamp.
B
This is a storage room with food, water, lamp oil, ink, paper, and other suplies.
C
The roof above this room leaks, with the recent downpour the western half contains a 4 inch deep pool of water.
D
The door to this room is locked.
Oswald Copperpot enters the church to find Arlend Hyve. The Investigator begins looking into the off rooms.
Arlend Hyve? Nope.
Finding a locked door, he gleefully begins retrieving his tools. His eyes scanning for Traps.
Euda finds herself less jostled by the crowd as, even in a panic, people give Bear a reasonably wide berth. Nevertheless, she moves slowly through the streets so as not to be separated from the group.
"I wonder what the keepers hoped to accomplish by summoning this creature," Euda remarks while they search the small church. "They must have thought they'd be able to control it somehow, right? Or, at least, aim it at someone or something. Do you think that, now that it's killed two of them, they're still trying to, or do you think they're trying to flee with everyone else?"
"If they do run, we might have trouble figuring out how to stop this creature..."
When Oswald starts trying to pick the lock to the final chamber, she offers, "Let me know if you need help, Bear's pretty good with locked doors."
Oswald opens the door and finds a trapdoor. When he opens the trapdoor he finds a rope ladder that descends 20ft. Lamplight causes shadows to play at the bottom.
Oswald closes the trap door. He then closes the locked door. He replaces the lock.
The Investigator then begins setting up a small chemical set.
Gonna need an hour.
After an hour (which actually passes swiftly due to Oswald's not unpleasant singing voice), the Investigator places his toys away, drinks the Mutagen, along with a plethora of other intoxicants, and winks at the so patient group.
Only 37 more bottles on that pesky wall. No? No. Ok.
The Investigator then reopens each door, lock, trapdoor, furnace, sidewalk Cafe, hobbit hole (definitely not a fmdirty hole), and finally pays the bouncer the cover charge.
Ready? I shall lead.
Making their way through the rain and panicked masses towards the church, Galileo tries to assuage some of the crowd's fears, "Worry not, gentle folk. Spread word that the Pathfinder society is on the case. We shall have the villains behind this terror apprehended by day's end. Return to your homes and remain calm. Carry on."
"According to that manifesto we found below, I feel they only mean to spread doom and terror. Evil for evil's sake. Despicable." he spits in answer to Euda's ponderings.
Soaked, he enters the church and peers around. "Not the fanciest of accommodations, but it does appear someone has been living here."
"Did you bring enough for the whole group?" he asks Oswald.
Smiling at Galileo, the Investigator opens his Haversack.
Help yourself, my friend.
"Are we really going to wait for an entire hour while people are panicking in the streets and that thing is rampaging through the city?" Euda asks, clearly shocked, when Oswald begins to set up his chemistry set.
"Maybe the rest of us should just go investigate down there while you make your potions?" she suggests as she opens the trapdoor back up and looks down it.
Oswald wastes an hour of your time, . You descend the ladder and when Oswald reaches the bottom he’s observe the following:
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.
Valkarian hears rustling behind the pillar.
He lets go of the ladder, muttering an ancient incantation as he does so.
Nimbly for one in such heavy armor, he floats to the ground past his companions.
He takes a step, draws his sword, and announces, "Arlend Hyve. Come out."
Euda balances carefully in the stirrups of her exotic saddle, clutching onto Bear as he climbs down the ladder. Bear, for his part, seems blissfully unaware of the tiny bit of extra weight she adds. As they near the bottom, she suddenly stiffens and calls out, “ambush!”
This prompts Bear to turn and fall the last few feet to the ground.
Shockingly, Bear lands gracefully to the side of the alchemist and moves toward the source of the noise while Euda quietly blesses him. Meanwhile, Edalmir continues down the ladder more gingerly.
"Huh? Where's everyone going?
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Brother Laurence hears the commotion below him, but his reaction seems delayed. Once Eudomonia and company clear the ladder he proceeds carefully down to the bottom, despite Valkarian suddenly dropping past him. He nods sagely when the halfling informs everyone about the ambush.
Oswald Copperpot blinks.
Hyve indeed comes out, an unscrupulous looking man clad in thick leather armor, a band of fabric around his mouth prevents him from speaking. He levels a readied crossbow at Oswald and fires!
The bolt splashes water onto Oswald as it clatters harmlessly to his feet. Bear and Euda manage to stick their landing while Laurence carefully climbs down.
Valkarian moves up and strikes at Hyve. His sword crackles with eldritch power as he does so.
It's a powerful swing, but an inaccurate one, sending sparks flying from the cavern wall. Valkarian prepares to follow his foe.
The man dashes across the battlefield and plunges feet first into a 5ft diameter hole. The slippery sluice carries him downward into darkness.
The slope makes the passage downward relatively easy but it is slippery.
Valkarian strikes at the man as he moves.
Oswald Copperpot watches the bolt bounce, clatter, Twirl, teeter, top, Tumble, and just plain lie there like an 80 year old man after a breeze brushes his pantaloons.
Hyve indeed an unscrupulous looking sum beetch!
The Investigator then jumps after the asshat!
Valkarian slashes at the alchemist’s arm as he flees, blood trails down the sluice as he goes.
Partially composed of a natural cavern, partially remnants of long-buried buildings and foundations, the ceiling of this dank, 40-foot-tall cavern is supported by several stone pillars. Water drips from numerous spots in the ceiling, pattering into a fungus-choked lake below. Here and there, islands and beaches rise from the sides of the dark lake, but these areas of doubtful land are clogged with hideous fungi of pale yellow, bone white, bruise purple, and other noxious hues.
Water ripples where Keeper Hyve now swims away from you.
The numerous and varied words, phrases, shouts and screams that emanate and echo out of the chimney to crash and astonished sensitive ears!
Rated R for language
Squatting on the rough flooring (bruised, battered and pancaked), Oswald Copperpot sighs.
Picking up his rapier, person and self-esteem, the Investigator watches the Alchemist attempt to escape through the water.
He laughs.
Running without restraint, the Gillman splashes easily into the water to continue the chase!
Amphibious: Gillmen have the aquatic subtype, but can breathe both water and air.
Swim speed 30'
Swim +16
Valkarian sighs and begins trying to navigate safely down the passage.