Herok safely disables the trap. You open the door to the room the demon had been in, now able to fully search the chamber.
The silver bowl on the altar is worth 5 gp. The knife sitting on top of it is a low-grade cold iron dagger with the rune of Abraxas etched on the blade. Within the bowl are six smooth garnet beads, one worth 2 gp, two worth 5 gp, and three worth 10 gp.
A search of the dagger reveals that its pommel can be detached—a seventh garnet sits inside the dagger’s hollow handle. This garnet is of higher quality and is worth 25 gp.
The other small door here leads to an ancient cloak room that once contained raiment sacred to the worship of Abraxas. Most of these robes have long since decayed away, but a green and orange cultist cowl currently emblazoned with the rune of Abraxas remains draped over a peg in the wall.
"Well, this is a pretty blade," Tekmin picks up the dagger and swings it. "Except for the fiendish runes on it."
The halfling just manages to avoid cutting himself while tossing it into the air and catching it by the handle. "Do you want it, Ximble? Cold iron is useful enough."
Tekmin will poke his head into the closest door after they search the demon room.
The closest door happens to be locked!
"This one is stuck!" Tekmin puts a shoulder against the door.
It takes a second, but he breaks the jamb.
Thick layers of ash cover mostly empty weapon racks in this room, although an old sword and a small stack of arrows sit on a shelf in the southeast corner. A single seven-pointed star is carved in the ceiling. At its center flickers a strange blue fire that periodically trails what appear to be snowflakes that melt away to nothingness before they reach the floor. What appears to be a scorch mark radiates from under the door to the south, as if a great explosion sometime long ago burst in the room beyond.
As soon as anyone enters the room, the Sihedron’s blue flame flashes brightly and for a split second, everyone in the room feels the temperature drop alarmingly. The fire then sputters, only to fizzle out forever, plunging the room into darkness.
The lone remaining sword is a +1 cold iron longsword, while six of the arrows are beacon shots. A seventh arrow that looks identical to the others unless it is cleaned of the thick layers of dust is a single storm arrow. Finally, two striking runes sit, covered with dust, on the floor in the northwest corner.
"Another trap whose power has long since gone dormant?"
The darkness was of no issue to Herok - he'd been blessed with the ability to see in the dark of his orcish ancestors - but he still cast a spell of light on his bow to illuminate the space for the others.
"The arrows would be useful, I think, but I can share them out with others. I have a couple of beacon shot arrows already."
"Never learned the trick of archery, myself," Tekmin replies. "Always hit my wrists with the string. Some nice equipment in here, though. Looks like its been abandoned for a long time. I wonder if those ghouls were cultists, or if they just moved in to an empty lair."
Tekmin gathers up the treasure to be applied to weapons or redistributed later.
"I'll check this door. I'm surprised that it wasn't blasted down!"
Ximble shrugs at Herok. "Take them. I rock a crossbow and I'll probably end up destroying the arrows if I tried turning them into bolts. Can you even turn an arrow into a bolt? Probably not. Now, those runes though ... those I like."
The walls, floor, and ceiling of this long, pitch-dark hall are blasted black with soot, and a fine layer of ash covers the floor. Scattered here and there are heaps of ash from which a few fragments of bone protrude. The tunnel heads further to the west into darkness.
Wherby deduces that a powerful blast of magical fire tore through this area ages ago.
Searching the hall, you discover two secret doors in the east wall. One is caked with soot and somewhat tough to locate, but the other one is more obvious, as there is a door-shaped ashen patch on the wall.
Tekmin peers at the southern door, "Tricky! Perhaps there is still something good behind it."
Tekmin doesn't find any traps on the door. The walls of the room on the other side are adorned with unsettling carvings in an eerie-looking alphabet. To the east sits an even more unsettling sight—a five-foot-wide egg or plant bulb carved from dark green stone. Stony tentacles or roots radiate out from the sides of the egg, making it appear to be clinging to the eastern side of the room.
Herok looks around the room in distaste. "This room serves as a shrine to Yamasoth, the qlippoth lord of cursed kingdoms and vile experiments. Perhaps these are old Thassilonian ruins - that was certainly a cursed kingdom of vile experiments, if the stories are to be believed. Come to think of it, isn't there a seven-pointed star associated with Thassilon?"
"I think so, Herok. Did the Thassilonians worship Abraxis and qlippoths? Tekmin questions. "They certainly seem like nasty customers."
"What do you suppose they were doing in Sandpoint? There's nothing really interesting here."
With only unsettling carvings here, Tekmin is ready to open the other secret door.
"They might have. Thassilon is supposed to be thousands of years old - who knows what they were up to or what demons or gods they worshipped?"
Herok, too, was ready for the next secret door.
As soon as you touch the ashen patch that was a door, it crumbles! This room’s walls, floor, and ceiling are caked with a thick layer of dark soot and ash. A five-foot-wide, two-foot-tall slab of red stone stands in the middle of the room, its top etched with the image of a seven-pointed star. Surrounding it stand five more slabs of red stone. These red pylons and the central stone are curiously devoid of any ash or soot, and occasionally seem to shimmer with faint fiery energy.
When you enter the room, though, three burning undead guardians rise up from separate piles of ash and bones to attack! They wail in agony as they stumble towards you!
As the burning, undead guardians rose up, Herok desperately racked his brain trying to figure out what they were. Once he recognized them, he said, "These are undead known as combusted! They were lives ended in flames, consumed by everlasting anguish driving them to reckless violence. If you have ways to magically deal cold or douse them in water, it will hurt them more. Being doused in water can also stun them."
He then shifted his feet to better wield his bow in the tight space and fired an arrow at the nearest one.
HP 40/40; Ursividae 20/20
AC 18
Fort +8, Ref +7, Will +10
Hero points: 1
Focus Points: 1/2
Spells prepped: 1st: ill omen [x], phantasmal minion [], soothe [x]; 2nd: blood vendetta [], paranoia [], paranoia []
Cantrips: daze, detect magic, ignition, guidance (innate), shield, telekinetic projectile
Effects:
"Oh, for the love of ..." Wherby grumbles. "Where's an adventurer when you actually need one?!"
He has no way to freeze or douse these creatures, but maybe he can stop them from hurting others. Ursividae ambles forward, hissing at the creatures, as he glares at the creature.
Herok's shot misses, but Wherby manages to hex the nearest undead. That creature moves forward into melee range of the party's front line, then unleashes a howl of agony!
The other two undead focus on Herok, hurling motes of fire at the cleric!
Ximble calls upon his connection with nature to protect and heal Herok.
"No worse than opening the oven door," Tekmin exaggerates as his eyebrows smoke.
for
for
Tekmin relies on his calloused hands to withstand the heat of the creature as he grabs its arm, pulling it off-guard.
HP 27/40; Ursividae 14/20
AC 18
Fort +8, Ref +7, Will +10
Hero points: 1
Focus Points: 1/2
Spells prepped: 1st: ill omen [x], phantasmal minion [], soothe [x]; 2nd: blood vendetta [], paranoia [], paranoia []
Cantrips: daze, detect magic, ignition, guidance (innate), shield, telekinetic projectile
Effects:
Wherby howls in pain as his skin blisters, though Ursividae largely ignores the noise. Both turn their eyes on the screaming undead, before retreating slightly.
Herok is bombarded with flames, even as he resists the worst of the one Combusted's howl. Fortunately, Ximble steps in to quickly heal him and douse the flames that had erupted on him. "Thanks, Ximble," he says, as he utters a quick prayer to Erastil to further heal his wounds.
Then, he draws a special arrow out of his quiver. The tip turns to ice and he fires it at the closest combusted.
Ximble heals Herok as Tekmin hits the undead in front of him twice. Wherby falls back. Herok heals himself some more and then shoots the damaged combusted. The icy arrow proves particularly effective, exploiting the combusted's weakness.
The fiery undead that Tekmin is grabbing swings its fist at the halfling, setting him ablaze! Then the icy arrow chills its burning core, and it collapses in Tekmin's grasp, the fire sputtering out.
The other two combusted move in to take its place, though, attacking Tekmin with their fists!
Herok pulls out his other elemental cold arrow, activating the alchemical residues, bringing a chill around the tip, before loosing it at another combusted. He then raised his bow to protect against another bellow.
HP 27/40; Ursividae 14/20
AC 18
Fort +8, Ref +7, Will +10
Hero points: 1
Focus Points: 0/2
Spells prepped: 1st: ill omen [x], phantasmal minion [], soothe [x]; 2nd: blood vendetta [], paranoia [], paranoia []
Cantrips: daze, detect magic, ignition, guidance (innate), shield, telekinetic projectile
Effects:
Wherby continues scowling unhappily as he's forced to watch this awfulness while he should be happily being left alone in his cabin. With a loud huff, he casts another spell and glares at one of the undead now attacking the annoying boy.
Tekmin wrinkles his nose and attacks the combusted on the left. "Don't worry, I'm only singed!"
for
for
attack to shift your opponent's guard, you take another swing and grab them. Make a melee Strike while keeping one hand
free. If the Strike hits, you grab the target using your free hand. The creature remains grabbed until the end of your next turn or
until it Escapes, whichever comes first. Escape DC 22.
Ximble reaches for a pair of bolas and throws them at one of the burning undead. "Here, catch!"
He then calls upon nature to heal and protect with his other hand. This time, the healing rain falls on Tekmin.
Herok shoots one of the other undead with a cold arrow, the ice chilling both foes! Ximble trips the more damaged undead as Tekmin bashes it and Wherby hexes it.
The undead clambers back to its feet and continues attacking Tekmin, as does its brethren! The doughty halfling dodges each attack!
HP 27/40; Ursividae 14/20
AC 18
Fort +8, Ref +7, Will +10
Hero points: 1
Focus Points: 0/2
Spells prepped: 1st: ill omen [x], phantasmal minion [], soothe [x]; 2nd: blood vendetta [], paranoia [], paranoia []
Cantrips: daze, detect magic, ignition, guidance (innate), shield, telekinetic projectile
Effects:
Wherby continues to scowl at the fight going on ahead of him, and then lets out a deep sigh. "Just hit it, Tekmin!"
for
Tekmin continues to thunk away at the overgrown campfires, "Yes, sir!"
he call to Wherby.
for
for
Out of cold arrows, Herok turned his attention to the less injured Combusted, loosing two arrows at it before raising the bow to protect from another howl.
Ximble continues to pelt his enemies with throwing weapons, but the gnome's aim leaves plenty of room for improvement.
Tekmin bashes the combusted as it rises up, then shatters its skull completely with a critical hit! He fails to grab the other one.
Wherby hexes the remaining undead. Ximble fails to hit it, but Herok scores one good hit.
The undead pummels Tekmin while Wherby's hex needles its mind!
Tekmin blows the smoke out of his face, "Down with you, now."
for
for
Ximble moves forward and attempts to flank the undead. Utilizing his switchscythe to the fullest, Ximble tries to trip the creature.
Herok fires off more arrows at the Combusted, trying to kill it so Tekmin can stop, drop, and roll.
Herok shoots the combusted, then Ximble trips it again, setting up Tekmin to deliver a devastating blow with his frying pan! The burning undead's flames sputter out as it lies still.
A close examination of the red stone megaliths reveals that they’re covered with thousands upon thousands of tiny glowing Thassilonian runes—the source of the fiery shimmer. Unfortunately, there seems to be little you can do at the moment to learn about this chamber's functions.
"I have a bad feeling about this. Demons and Thassilonian runes, hum, hum," Tekmin grumbles.
"Yes, this is all bad!" Wherby grumbles, looking around in dismay. "I suppose since we're down here, we might as well see if there's anything else the adventurers will need to deal with. The more information we can give them, probably the fewer taxes the village will need to levy to pay them to clear it all out."
The tunnel in the previous hall leads on underground to the west for just under 200 feet before coming to a collapse. Unable to proceed further, you double back to the room west of the armory.
A wooden desk sits near a tipped-over chair lying on the ground. Layers of dust cover the desk and several scrolls and ledgers atop it. A large map is displayed on the wall opposite it; while the colors are faded, it’s still mostly legible.
Ths map on the wall shows the region surrounding the area before Earthfall. All of the labels on the map are in Thassilonian. The current coastline is marked roughly on the map as “The Rasp,” and the location where Sandpoint is at is labeled "HF Compound."
It appears somebody was marking locations of potential bases of operation for Runelord Karzoug. Karzoug’s towering sentinel statue that once stood where Thistletop stands is noted, of course, but there are a few other areas on the map that indicate possible hidden bases; the region known today as “the Pit” seems to have been a particularly interesting area, as it’s been circled and a scrawled note says, “Captured spies whisper of a sizable Shalast cohort stationed here, led by someone named Liralarue—must secure authorization from Mistress for a raid.”
The notes and ledgers on the table crumble to dust if touched, but the ancient map can be removed, and is worth 50 gp. An adjacent storeroom is mostly empty, but two things of note can be found here. The first is a key ring with two keys on it: one is a sneaky key talisman, and the other is an iron key that unlocks the doors to the armory. The second item of note is an old and fragile scroll, on which is recorded the latest method for navigating a series of rooms to the north called the Three Steps, along with a list of three names of insubordinate soldiers to whom the author planned to give faulty instructions.
These notes are written in Thassilonian, and they indicate that for safe passage, those traversing the chambers must set garnet beads into the little metal baskets on the door handles, going from least valuable to most valuable, south to north, and culminating in the placement of the 7th, most valuable garnet bead in the upturned palm of the statue of Alaznist in the final chamber. These directions seem to correspond with the garnets you found in the demon's chamber.
Herok casts a spell, sending vital energy over Tekmin.
He then says, "The fact that this complex even exists below the town almost feels worrisome. I remember that sinkhole from some ruins below the town over a decade ago. There could be things down here, as well."
Herok looks over the map and such in the room, not understanding any of the words. The ancient scroll written in the same language didn't help him understand matters, either. "Does anyone read this language?"
Wherby grimaces. He's sure Tekmin is going to insist on putting those garnets where they absolutely do NOT belong. That's what he gets for translating everything from Thassilonian out loud, he thinks as he mentally kicks himself.
"Thanks for the healing, Herok," Tekmin grins. [b]"Can anyone understand this writing? It looks like a bunch of squirming spiders to me."
"We should make sure that those areas are safe to traverse."
The last door in the complex leads to a room, the southern portion of which is lower than the rest of the chamber. Steps lead up to the room itself. A carving of a seven-pointed star, a flame flickering at its center, adorns the walls to the east and west, while to the north, doors stand in a wall of dark red stone—a contrast to the gray stone walls elsewhere in the chamber. Each door’s handle features a tiny little metal basket that looks like it’s meant to hold a small bead-shaped object.
This matches the description of the Three Steps you found in the previous chamber. Luckily, you also have the garnet beads the text mentioned, found in the room that housed the brimorak demon. Following the instructions, you set garnet beads into the little metal baskets on the door handles, going from least valuable to most valuable, south to north, as you pass through a series of three similar chambers.
The final room's northern wall curves in a semicircle. A single red stone statue of an angry woman holding a ranseur stands to the north, her weapon held in one hand pointed toward the southern doors, while her other hand reaches out with a cupped palm, as if expecting a gift. The ranseur itself appears to be a real weapon, and not an integrated part of the statue itself.
This is a statue of Runelord Alaznist. You put the most valuable garnet in the statue's outstretched hand, negating any hazards the statue might have caused. You are able to take the ranseur from the statue: it is a +1 striking ranseur. Like the dagger on the altar, the ranseur's haft has a hollow section. Opening a panel near the ranseur’s base reveals a hollow tube-like interior that contains three scrolls—a scroll of wall of fire, a scroll of weapon storm, and a much longer scroll that contains the formula for a consecrate ritual.
"Well, would you look at that!" Tekmin exclaims. "Who would have thought that something like this would be under our little town. And who just leaves valuable weapons lying around?!"
The halfling takes a few experimental swings with the ranseur, barely managing to avoid tripping up his colleagues. "Whoops, these scrolls fell out!"
"It's a good thing you know Thassilonian, master. I bet this place was just chock full of horrible traps! Remember those adventures you told me about who got turned inside-out by a rune in the swamp?"
"Yes, but the point was that it could happen to you too, which you seem to have missed," Wherby grouses as he collects the scrolls.
"Let's get out of here before we find something worse than that, and go let Abstalar know what we've found so he can find the proper way to deal with it!"
Having explored all of the chambers down here, you head back up to the surface, climbing back out of Nualia's grave and reporting back to Abstalar Zantus. The priest is grateful that you were able to clear out all the dangers lurking below the cathedral. He tells you that he has placed Nualia’s bones in a secure chamber within the cathedral.
"It will still be a few days until Audrahni arrives to perform the ritual. Take some time for yourselves. I will summon you when it is time for the ritual."
"We should probably tell the Runewatchers about the rooms down there. They may wish to research the chambers."
"Yes, someone responsible should watch over it. We don't want demons being summoned under the graveyard, again," Tekmin agrees.