Mirinde yanks down the lever, halting the progression of the cages! That affords Degan the opportunity to open the lock on the second cage and rescue the other woman. She climbs down to safety, sighing with relief.
In the meantime, everybody finds it hard to hit the flying skulls! Luckily, they remain distracted by the swarming bats, blasting the bats some more and dispersing the swarm. But the animals managed to buy you a few more seconds without being attacked...
Mirinde puts aside the threat of the flying skulls here, knowing the true threat is the Emerald Sorcerer and the call he made to his foul patron before! Moving quickly over to the paralyzed body she swiftly draws her mithril blade and draws it across the Sorcerer's throat!
Clancy swings the warhammer toward the Emerald Sorcerer's skull even as Mirinde slashes the wizard's throat!
Strike to hand knocks weapon into the air. The weapon lands feet away.
+1 to attack & damage rolls, saves, skill & spell checks for 1 turn
"Quickly - with me!"
Degan tries to escort the rescued women to a safe place where they (and he) can cower in fear until the danger passes.
You turn her attention the the Emerald Sorcerer before he can recover from his paralysis. Mirinde stabs him with her dagger, Clancy smashes him with his hammer, and Zathra impales him with her polearm! With the final blow, the sorcerer collapses, crumpling to the floor and lying still.
The emerald skulls, bereft of a master, become inert, returning to their roosts. The battle is over, and you are free to claim the spoils!
Mirinde slowly wipes off the blood from her dagger before stowing it away. Muttering under her breath here, "Pathetic..."
As the party gathers the loot together her eyes gleam at the precious spellbook uncovered here. "I trust you do not object to my claiming of this...best to keep such knowledge out of those who do not understand such."
Istevan sinks heavily to sit on the top stair: "Whew, am I glad that's over... Oh!" Noticing that there are still people trapped in cages, he wearily regains his feet and moves to help Degan
Clancy chuckles at Istevan, slapping the barbarian on the shoulder, then moves to Degan and clasps his hand on the thief's shoulder, smiling gently. "You have proven your bravery in rescuing those women from an awful fate. Well done, and know you are more than welcome to travel at our side wherever the road takes us." The cleric then helps to locate any more prisoners and helps tend to any wounds they might have, though for the moment he holds off on using his divine magic. Clancy feels he has tempted Justicia's disfavor more than enough today - unless their circumstances become dire.
Looking over the gathered loot, Clancy grins at Mirinde, holding up his hands in mock surrender. "I would not think to contest your claim on this book, likely I'd wind up turning myself into a newt anyway." The ring is of interest to the cleric though, knowing that the dead could perhaps be used to give up their knowledge to further the ends of justice.
When they have finished looking over the place, the cleric turns to Mirinde. "Do you think we can destroy this place? Or at least some of the machinery that the wizard used for his own fell purposes? I would hate to see another move in and pick up where he left off. As for this Emerald Enchanter, I believe that his body should be utterly destroyed, perhaps by fire. Otherwise he might find a way to rise again."
Mirinde nods slowly as she considers Clancy's words. "I lack the means to destroy this fortress completely. Certainly it would take a lengthy ritual to achieve such an end...I do believe we should gather his notes on the process of transformation and destroy them, along with the materials needed. As for the Enchanter himself...perhaps we could inter him in one of his own vats!" She chuckles darkly, "I can think of no more fitting end for his twisted desires, plus he would certainly have enjoyed being one with his creation!"
"Yes, we should definitely do a thorough search of the place for the enchanter's notes and, ah..." he exchanges a look with Degan, "whatever else might be of interest..."
Degan comes out from hiding, along with the two women he rescued.
He does not quite seem to grasp Isteván's meaning.
"I am all for letting the elf explore the Emerald Enchanter's magical mysteries. I don't have any knowledge of such things."
After a moment he seems to get it. "Oh! Do you think such a wizard would care about things like gold and gems?
I wonder...
What was his goal, anyway? Did he ask for ransom for the villagers he kidnapped?"
Degan is feeling curious and cautious more than greedy. He'll work on locks and traps where he is requested to.
The villagers you rescued from transformation thank you profusely, hailing you as heroes. You scour the rest of the enchanter's lair, but don't find much else of value or interest. Little hints at the motivations for the enchanter's experiments beyond simple sadism or madness.
You return to the town and bask in the adulation of the populace. You also feel stronger for your recent experiences.
Clancy spends his time treating the sick and crippled, using his powers as commanded by Justicia as atonement. He also spreads the good word of her stern love and promotion of justice for all. Finding converts for his goddess will hopefully put Clancy in her good graces again...
Chapter 3: Jewels of the Carnifex
Riding high off your victory over the Emerald Enchanter, you find yourselves with a significant amount of treasure to sell. You have made your way to Punjar, the City of a Thousand Gates, to do trade in the weird and wonderful marketplace known as the Bazaar of the Gods.
As you buy and sell, you overhear a number of legends, lore, and outright lies. It's up to you sort out which is which:
"There's a ruined temple hidden somewhere nearby. It once belonged to the Cult of the Carnifex. No matter what they say, no cult ever dies. That wicked seed is still lodged in the soil beneath our feet. All it takes is a little blood to water it, a mind in which to sink some roots, and they’ll rise again. Mark my words."
"I always heard they were a cult of death worshippers. Nothing good can come of digging in them ruins. No fortune in gems is worth disturbing what's dead and buried."
"An army of Punjar’s finest noble sons disappeared beneath that accursed chapel. Whatever ate them is still down there, waiting for more."
"My grandfather knew one of the cultists, a hunched, split-lipped, rat-biting leper. Earned jewels the size of my fist by pulling the tongues out of the Overlord’s enemies. He died when the chapel was sacked, but they never did find those jewels."
"There's a rogue of no small repute who claims to have found a map to an unknown entrance to the chambers beneath the chapel. His name's Magmar the Lucky. You might find him in one of the lotus dens nearby..."
Mirinde tunes out the useless twaddle coming from the various rumor mongers here and focuses upon the this so-called Cult.
"It seems as if this Cult has left its mark upon this cesspool of a city...still investigation may prove fruitful..."
Surely some forgotten tomes of arcane power must lay buried therein!
Beyond enjoying a good story, Istevan is untroubled by historical / political / religious ramifications of an ancient death cult. 'Jewels the size of your fist' does grab his attention, though (he is a mercenary, after all!).
"A couple of nights in a warm bed with good meals wouldn't go amiss, but after that... Seems like there would be no harm in taking a look. If that's what you all would like to do."
"I always heard they were a cult of death worshippers. Nothing good can come of digging in them ruins. No fortune in gems is worth disturbing what's dead and buried."
This is the rumor that Degan hears, and reports to the party. It sticks in his head due to, of course, his remarkable cowardice.
"Yeah, I'm not sure it's worthwhile. Not for money, anyway. If for some noble cause Clancy feels that he needs to go... well, you might be a little better off for having me around, and I do owe you for saving my life."
Then again it was this bunch that endangered it in the first place... Still, I don't know what else I would be doing if I left them.
Clancy's frown deepens as the stories they hear point toward a dangerous death cult - whether alive, dead or waiting to rise again. "Evil begets evil, I believe. We should clear out this ruined temple, if it truly exists, for it is likely that it harbors new threats - even if this death cult is no more. It sounds like this Magmar might know something of its secrets, perhaps we should speak with him."
Taking a step away from dreams of enormous jewels, Istevan asks soberly: "I wonder what we should expect to find in the ruins of a death cult? Like, are we talking creepy guys in robes or, y'know, the walking dead"
You find Magmar in a lotus-induced daze. You aren't able to get many details out of the addled rogue, but he happily shows the map to you. It turns out to be little more than a few scribbled notes drawn on a wine-stained sheet of vellum. Still, though, it's worth investigating.
With the ruins of the old chapel glowing weirdly in the foul night mists, head down a dark alleyway. Prying open a rusted lock, you slip beneath the worn cobblestone streets and into a dry cistern. Every step leaves the city further behind, and carries you further into the weird underworld. Strange, shelled worms crack underneath your hard-soled boots, glowing eyes lurk just beyond the reach of your lights, and your torches flair blue and orange in the foul miasma that passes for air.
Incredibly, the old rat’s map proves right! A grim obelisk, topped with a stone skull, stands in the center of the passage, as if to bar your way. Studying the obelisk, Mirinde swiftly deduces that while it was once the focus of potent death magic, it is now little more than an inert grim statue.
The shattered passageway ends before a gaping chasm. Above, you can see where the sewers once joined. A muddy torrent cascades from the shattered pipe, spilling past you and down into unfathomable darkness below. Your goal lies across the gulf and through the torrent: a stone portal, set atop a carved platform and marked with a single carven skull, engraved in green.
Mirinde glances about her, peering upwards and risking quick look toward the bottom of the chasm.
"This is...an unpleasant dilemma. Trying to penetrate that water flow is certainly suicide, we need to find another way."
Clancy looks up at the shattered pipe dubiously. "Think it'll hold our weight? We could loop a rope around it, then swing across the gap..." He suggests without much enthusiasm.
Istevan also looks at the gap dubiously: "I mean, I could maybe jump that gap, the issue is the waterfall -- I don't much fancy being slammed to the bottom of this chasm."
"That's a good idea, Clancy. I might be able to make it first. Then anchor a rope on that side to help pull you all through the torrent."
He looks at the skull he would be swinging towards and shivers.
"Unless any of you have magic, or a better idea, or happened to see some long and sturdy boards on the way down here..."
As Degan loops his rope and hook around the broken pipe, Istevan ties his own rope around the thief's waist: "Not to worry, friend. I won't let you fall."
"Degan, in case things go badly, I'll tie you off to something here so you won't fall very far."
The thief takes a running leap...
He makes it! Barely. Pummeled in mid-air by the freezing and filthy water, Degan grasps the edge of the platform and and pulls himself onto it.
Once Degan has secured the rope on his end Mirinde volunteers to be next here. "That portal may be warded by powerful magicks still."
After Clancy secures the lifeline rope around her waist she mutters softly to herself a quick prayer to her unholy patron, and grasps the rope firmly as she is swung across...
Seeing Mirinde strike the waterfall and lose her momentum toward the far side, Clancy hauls on the safety line, trying to drag her back to safety before the rope flies freely through his grip until it catches on the anchor he's tied it off on...
Degan easily makes it across to the far platform. Mirinde nearly plummets to her doom, but fortunately, Clancy is able to catch her and haul her back up to the near side of the chasm. She can try again, if she dares.
In the meantime, however...
A skittering noise above Degan's head gets the thief's attention. He looks up to see an enormous spider, grown to horrific proportions, hanging from the ceiling some 30 feet above the platform! The enormous arachnid appears immobile, glued to the ceiling and covered in diseased globules. However, a long, sticky strand of spider silk extrudes from its spinneret as it prepares to try to snag the unfortunate rogue!