"There's a whole cult of humans here now, yeah,"[b/] the mimic says. [b]"I've got no loyalty to them, though. I'd be happy to take a job for you, or head back into the Darklands to seek amusement elsewhere."
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An idea pops into Nadja's head. "Are you always sticky like that? 'Cause if you don't have to be, you'd be loved at the Sandpoint Theater! You could be in charge of set dressing, and could turn yourself into all kinds of decorations for the plays and shows!"
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"I can suppress my adhesive coating when I want to do so," the mimic says. "That sounds great! Oh, I do so love legitimate theater! I'm in!"
Jeni found the idea wonderful, but had lingering doubt the 'good' people of Sandpoint would be so accepting (given her own childhood). "Remember, no matter what happens, you cannot eat anyone. No matter if they deserve it. If people are being bad, you go to the sheriff or us." Jeni wags a finger at the mimic and gives a stern look.
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Nadja smiles when the mimic seems interested in her idea and at least one of her friends is also excited. She lets that idea percolate amongst her companions while her own mind turns toward reflecting on what had just happened during the fight.
The ambush had put Nadja in immediate and desperate peril. She didn't cry out, but her soul had beseeched Achaekek for help and his crimson shroud had appeared. It was clear that she had his blessing, likely as a result of her first assassination contract taken outside of her mother's guidance. It was hard for her to contain her beatific joy so she steps away from the group to have a private moment. It's like Mom said. I'm Tith'Kali, favored child of Achaekek. Her heart swells at the thought as she reverently replays the slaying of the goblin witch in her mind.
Odds are this will be some flavor of disaster, but it will be interesting to find out how it goes...
Zen considers carefully, but eventually nods, shrugging, "just remember - if people go missing, you'll be our first suspect, as Jeni noted. That said, this sounds like a much more interesting job than being a guard..." he replies glumly. "Alright, well, just wait here please. We have to go kill some demon thing."
He turns back to the mimic, "I don't suppose you know where the cult or demon stone... thing are?"
Nadja finishes her prayer and returns to the group in time to hear Zen's cautionary admonishment. She chimes in. "It won't always be like that, but yeah. Until people get used to your teeth, it's probably best to always have an alibi. And you can still be a guard! Don't let us define your dreams for you. The stage shows aren't going all the time, so doing some guard work in between rehearsals and shows will help build that trust." She gives the mimic a wink. "Say, do you have a name for yourself? What do you like to be called?"
When Nadja slipped away, Jeni had noted it, slight concern or curiosity bunching her brow. It could be just a pee break, but slipping away without a word probably meant something else.
The aasimar did not ask though, since she felt this friendship of theirs, the four oddest members of their small town... well once the mimic joins, they would be the second oddest, but back to the point. Their friendship was built on being their for each other when they were needed and leaving them alone when that was needed (like whatever that red mist was! Nadja was not bouncing with excitement to tell them about it, so leave it alone)
None of them always got that right though. Hopefully this was one of those times they were.
--
"We should have asked about your name as soon as we shifted to conversation instead of fighting. Apologies." Jeni's sense of manners is odd at certain times.
"I call myself Narbulex," the mimic says proudly.
"The cultists' main living quarters are to the north, while their temple is to the south and west. There's an extra big cultist with a large hook that stands guard beyond the southern doors, so be careful. I don't know anything about a demon stone, though. Sorry."
Nadja bobs her head when Narbulex gives his name. The info about the cultists was even better.
She gives her sabres a little spin as she puts herself in a combat mindset. Cultists worshipping Sandpoint Devils were likely not going to be as conversant as Narby is.
"Okay, thanks for the information. What do you think? Hit the temple first and deal with hook-guy? Or try their quarters? If we go for the temple first and make a lot of noise or someone slips by us, they could get reinforcements." Nadja shrugs noncommittally, indicating it didn’t matter to her.
The time taken talking has Jeni's muscle's settling, so she does a few quick stretches before they rush into fighting. "Catching them unaware as possible sounds... well, sound." Jeni scrunches her nose a bit at her fumbling of words.
Zen nods at Narbulex, ”there are a lot of jobs - if you did work for the guard at least part time I could vouch for you, but you wouldn’t be able to eat the criminals or anything. We just put them in jail or send them to Magnimar. Usually.” He frowns at something unpleasant that he remembers. ”but that’s only part time - I was just thinking so people would trust you. Besides, usually the theater is only open when people are off work, so other than practice - you might get bored waiting around,” He shrugs as he looks to Nadia for confirmation of his assumptions, ”I just don’t want the townsfolk to come out with pitchforks if they meet Narbulex, you know. Honesty is the best policy, and folks will need to learn to trust them if they’re going be living with… them.” He’s struggling with how his own statement is a little confusing, but he cleans off some of the much from his polearm to distract himself, and only adds, ”let’s go to the quarters and catch some of them at rest - cults are usually crazy but maybe we can get them to surrender if we catch them by surprise. And thanks Narbulex…”
"Sounds like a plan," Nadja says with a wink to Jeni. She gets quiet as she pads softly to the north.
Nadja quietly opens the door to the barracks to scout ahead. Over a dozen doors line the walls of this large chamber, while six large stone pillars support the ten-foot-high ceiling of the main room. Lit lanterns hang from hooks on the pillars, while at the center of the room sit two cooking stations—large cauldrons balanced atop beds of small stones and burned wood. Several rickety-looking chairs sit scattered about the place. A dozen or so bedrolls are stacked in the room’s northwest corner.
There are a total of eight cultists in this room, a mix of human and half-elves in studded leather. They talk quietly as a few cook a stew over the cauldron. None of them have noticed Nadja spying on them yet...
Before Nadja disappears, Jeni summons a gleaming ball of pure water and chucks it at her. Nadja has become familiar enough with Jeni's weird powers to know NOT to dodge it.
Kaz quirks a smile across their face and looks to Zen. "Well? Any objection to taking an advantage and running it straight through them?"
Nadja considers her options, going over her mother's lessons in infiltration and assassination. She counts not only heads, but doors and other indicators to try to get an estimate of the numbers of cultists. For an assassination, she'd be leaving to find another way of access to the leaders, since a regular soldier was hardly ever the target.
However, this wasn't an assassination, and she had allies with different objectives. Nadja slips back to the other chamber to report. "Eight cultists, mix of human and half-elves from what I could see. Lots of doors, like twelve I think, and also about the same number of bedrolls. So there could be more. If each door goes to a bedroom, we're talking worst case scenario, twenty-four or more. But I saw only two cooking stations, so it's probably more like the eight I saw and four others, not counting leaders who don't mingle with the rank and file."
She shrugs her shoulders. "So, eight to twelve. Two or three each. That's doable, but not quietly."
Once you are ready to confront the cultists, you move in to the barracks. Initially caught off-guard, they quickly shout in alarm and reach for nearby machetes!
Jeni spins and snaps a water whip through the air, crasking with impressive force against the nearest cultist, followed by a twist with two palms thrusting out as if bashing against noses, but instead two large hands of water barrel forward into the throng.
Zen tries to overwhelm the enemies with a caustic blast of acid.
Zen then moves up a little bit to act as the focus for attacks.
He says in a scolding tone, ”lay down your arms and give up- we are shutting down this evil cult!”
Nadja dashes forward, sabres spinning in her hands in a vicious dance. She targets one of the injured cultists.
Jeni blasts the cultists with water, then Zenobius conjures a spray of acid. One of them goes down screaming. Nadja moves in to the most wounded foe and cuts him down with two slices of her saber. Six foes remain. Three are very badly hurt, two lightly wounded, and one that was furthest away is uninjured.
The remaining enemies rush forward to attack with their machetes. Four swarm around Zenobius while the other two attack Nadja. Nadja dodges her attackers' blades, but Zenobius takes a couple of hits.
The acid continues to burn three of the cultists' skin.
Nadja parries, the serrated edge of her left sabre catching the machete and pulling it away from the cultist's body leaving it open for a lethal strike with her other blade.
She dances over the fallen corpse to turn her attention on the other cultist who attacked her, her smile wide. "The Sandpoint Devil's not going to save you. How about you show a little good sense and give up?"
Her sawtooth sabres, bloody and beautiful, spin in her hands in a threatening display.
Kaz snaps their fingers and makes a loose-fingered dragging motion up towards the ceiling. Stalagmites respond to their call, lunging up from the ground to skewer the cultists and keep them pinned to await the new Heroes of Sandpoint's pleasure.
Zen takes the hits morosely, and then sighs, ”fine…”
Jeni rushes into the fray, attempting to get into flanking with Zen, since they all seem to hate him. "Why attack the biggest and most armored?" she asks as she jump kicks and water punches.
Zen notes hopefully, ”I mean, if they stop attacking nobody gets hurt, right?” He smiles wanly at the aggressive cultists.
Nadja grins fiercely. "Sure! Except for the ones we've already killed, of course."
Kaz gives a small shrug. "We all end up in the Boneyard eventually, but it would give me much less incentive to hasten their ascent."
The cultist that struck Zenobius screams as the shards of the magical shield shred his flesh. Kazumi's stalagmites impale him and another cultist, taking both down while grazing a third foe. Zenobius and Jeni lash out, taking down the other two cultists that were attacking the champion. Nadja brutally dispatches one of her assailants with a riposte and cuts the last enemy twice, leaving him within an inch of his life.
The final man's bravery shatters and he rushes to try to flee the room. "Master Munt! Master Munt! Take me with you!" he cries out.
Nadja barks out a sharp laugh as the last cultist flees. "The Sandpoint Devil's name is Munt?!?"
She dashes after him, flicking the serrated edge of her blade out low to catch the hem of the cultist's pants to trip him up and send him sprawling. Before he recovers, Nadja stands over him with the tip of her saber pointed at his throat. "Your master won't be going anywhere with you. Except maybe the Boneyard."
The cultist swallows audibly, wide eyes fixed on Nadja's blade. He raises his hands in surrender. "Alright, I yield! I yield."
"Look at you, showing some good sense," Nadja says with a smirk. She points to the back of the barracks while turning her attention to the main entrance in case the cultist's cries got the attention of the one with the hook. "Get away from the door in case you lose that good sense if your cries bring anyone to check us out."
She goes to check if "Master Munt" is on his way.
The man complies with Nadja’s commands. It doesn’t seem like anybody is responding to his shouts.
Jeni pulls some rope out of her pack, and starts to tie up the cultist. As she does so she asks "Why did you choose THIS as a life?" life choices like this makes her question people's sanity.
"Because I am a believer," the man says, a hint of pride creeping into his voice through his terror. "We are the Devil's Disciples. We follow the teachings of Master Jordus Munt. He has told us the truth about the Sandpoint Devil, that it is no mere monster, but a god in the making. It is the child of Lamashtu and Pazuzu, and once it consumes 66 souls, it will transform into a god of fire, rebirth, and ruin! And as its first worshippers, we will be granted immense power once it ascends."
"Ah, so you help kill a lot of people and this Evil creature that loves to eat people will be immensely grateful to you, a people, and gift you with lots of power instead of just moving on to eat more people, or the closest people, like you." Jeni paraphrases to make sure she understands.
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"Yes, exactly!" the man exclaims, smiling and completely missing the sarcastic subtext.
Nadja thinks about if she's ever heard the name Jordus Munt and in what context. Recruiting for something like this cult would probably spread amongst the criminal or the desperate.
"It's not an entirely untenable position, from a practical perspective, if you happen to correctly guess what being is going to ascend. Better to get in on the ground floor rather than grovel once it's eaten halfway up your leg."
He eyes the paladin. "Better still to obviate the decision by preventing any sort of apotheosis of course, but that's an option not always available to the sort of dregs that make up most cults."
Zen sighs, so, the mimic is easier to deal with than this cultist. Let’s just tie him up and move on…” he doesn’t seem too interested in having a conversation with a madman anymore.
Nadja has heard the name Munt only once among the dregs of society in Magnimar. Apparently, a few years back, he was going around various towns and cities across Varisia trying to convince people to his cause, touting the gospel of a "new god."
As you debate what to do with the captured man, you explore the other rooms adjoining the large central chamber. These rooms were once used by Whistlefang goblins as dens, and each contains a filthy mess of rags and straw along with a scattering of miscellaneous goblin “treasure.” Searching through the rooms uncovers one forgotten treasure, though—a caterwaul sling is stuffed under a pile of rags.
The last of the adjoining rooms is nicer than the others. A cot heaped with fine blankets sits in the southwest corner of this room, while to the southeast sits a single chair and desk. A few scrolls and books sit on the desk, along with an unlit lantern and a stone sculpture of a winged horse monster—the Sandpoint Devil.
The stone sculpture of the Sandpoint Devil on the desk is quite well made and is worth 30 gp. The books and scrolls on the desk are mostly hand-written accounts of grisly sermons venerating the Devil. Five of the scrolls, however, are magical: a scroll of dream message, three scrolls of heal (heightened to 3rd level), and a scroll of remove disease.
Also, a thorough search of the room uncovers a secret door hidden in the eastern wall. The desk is blocking the door, and must be moved if you wish to open it.