“Give them time to settle back into a routine” Autumn recommends in a quiet whisper. “We don’t want to go in while they’re still alert.” After waiting an hour, she tries to help Morga with her wound again.
Afterwards, she uses the rope to climb up onto the second floor, but once she’s there, she freezes, staring suspiciously at the sand pit. Memories of an incongruously clean mat in a hall splattered with blood are fresh in her mind.
Her initial instinct is to simply walk around, to avoid leaving any footprints, but the rope partitions marking the ends make her uneasy. “Why is the sand here?” she whispers in a puzzled voice. “If it’s a trap, then they’re prepared for intruders from the rear, and they should have known to search our hiding place.”
Vildran joins the others on the roof. He inspects the sand pit suspiciously, but at a distance, for several long moments. Finally he stands up fully, holding his staff out and casting his "arcane eye" on the pit. For a brief moment his eyes and antennae glow subtly.
but the rope partitions marking the ends make her uneasy. “Why is the sand here?” she whispers in a puzzled voice. “If it’s a trap, then they’re prepared for intruders from the rear, and they should have known to search our hiding place.”
Autumn's realization likewise makes Vildran more nervous. He doesn't have a good explanation.
I can only hope there are parts of Stonehome that the guards aren't allowed entry. That doesn't seem likely... but yeah why haven't they come around back to check? Maybe they're just sloppy.
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After an hour, Morga checks both her and San's wounds and is disgusted at her poor handiwork with the dressings. Shaking her head, she re-bandages both of them.
Are you trying to tell me something?! Morga thinks/prays furiously at Desna as she realizes again that her ministrations are unable to heal San's wounds. She realizes it's childish, but the stakes are so high, and she's failed so much. *Why* is it so hard to heal him? Outwardly, all the others see is her face turn stony and her lips press into a thin line as she packs up the borrowed healing kit. In a flat, defeated voice, she explains: "It's hard to get to the deepest parts of the spike wounds. I can try again later, if you're willing, but poking around in there any more will cause more damage."
Once all the others are up, she climbs the rope to join them and immediately begins looking for signs of traps.
San circles around the pit and looks out for trouble. He doesn't notice anything unusual, and as with the rest of the back side of the building there aren't any windows here to peek in through. The other three pause in front of the rather suspicious sand pit. The arrangement of ropes at either end implies it's for some kind of organized activity but Autumn is not quite sure what. The sand looks relatively ordinary to Morga's eyes - the same as any found on the shore - but Vildran and Autumn both notice small clumps of sand mixed with dried blood. Something bled here, but not anywhere near as much as in the entryway. Both Vildran and Autumn notice something else in the pit, partly buried and forgotten in the sand. You pull up a small copper talisman with a clear crystal embedded in the center. It looks like it could hang from a weapon. Vildran detects that the talisman is magical, but senses no other magic from the sand pit.
The sand pit, while unusual, doesn't seem to be set up as any sort of trap. At least, nothing that the four of you manage to discern.
Vildran eyes the talisman for several moments before pulling it up. He whispers, thinking out loud as he surveys the clues.
Clumps of dry blood, but no body. So they removed it but this fell off...
He holds up the talisman demonstratively, but for now places it in a pocket in the folds of his cloak.
I don't know that I have the ten minutes right now to inspect it.
After attempts at healing, "Don't worry about it Morga. I'll just have to be more careful in the future."
The last door they tried to enter didn't go so well so San shies away from trying to go that way first. Instead, he checks out the rusty ladder making sure it isn't going to give away the moment someone tries to climb it. "Maybe there's a hatch up there we can use instead of a door. They seem to like to trap those."
After a long minute of thought, Autumn’s eyes suddenly light up with realization and relief. “It must be a sparring pit!” she whispers. “That would explain the small bits of blood, and the talisman that must have fallen off a weapon. The ropes mark where each person starts.” She flashes a triumphant look. “Gorumites are always practicing for battle.”
Confident that the sand pit has no malign purpose, she sneaks around to listen at the door and examine it for traps. Meanwhile she nods at San and magically whispers to him. “Go ahead—climb up and see what’s on the roof. Just be careful you aren’t seen.”
Her explanation seemed plausible. Still, he couldn't be certain what was Gorumite versus "rust culty" in this place. He hoped she was right.
He also sneaks around the pit, at the very least to not leave behind signs of disturbance, and waits to see what San finds above.
"Good luck, San." Morga speaks softly so her voice doesn't carry as she sidles past Autumn and Vildran so she's between them and the door to the rusty Gorumites' keep. She, too, keeps a keen eye out for traps. Once she's assured that it's safe to step there, she approaches the door to listen through it.
-
San pulls himself up to the roof of the building. The stone roof of this building is constructed from masonry with a layer of dried clay for weatherproofing. Grooves run along the nearly flat roof to channel water off the sides. A sixty-foot-long archery range runs west to east with two targets comfortably spread on the thirty-foot-wide range, and with two barrels on the west with bows and arrows. What draws the most attention however are the three short wooden poles affixed in the center of the roof, stuck into the clay and out of view from the ground in the courtyard. Atop each pole is impaled a human head, each in the early stages of decay. While two are unknown to you, the third is the head of Captain Perrios, the captain of the Thassilonian ship in the harbor that First Mate Janis described to you in great detail. The head is still wearing his hat, but his expression is stuck in a grotesque grimace.
San takes this in for a moment, and then notices the heads twitch. Eyes swivel in his direction, mouths creaking. The poles shudder, and then the heads quietly slide up off them to float in the air.
Combat time!
San's just barely able to call a warning before the heads begin to move, and Morga and Autumn are the quickest to snap into action.
||| INIT |||
Morga (4 dmg, Rust Creep - Stage 2; -1 penalty on Athletics checks)
Autumn
Blue Floating Head (Captain Perrios)
Green Floating Head
Pink Floating Head
San (3 dmg, Rust Creep - Stage 1; -1 penalty on Athletics checks)
Vildran
Reassured by the mundaneness of the door, and the lack of any nearby noise within, Autumn is about ready to open it when San hisses an urgent warning. Not knowing exactly what the danger is, she relies on her instincts—and her instincts for self-preservation tell her to run—or at least to not face this unseen threat in the open, exposed. In any case, she most certainly isn’t going to move closer to whatever it is.
She waves at San to retreat down the ladder, then quietly cracks the door open and peeks inside, just to make sure it’s safe to enter before gesturing for the others to go in. But noticing that the archer seems frozen in place, she scowls and twists her hand into a silent spell, her long slender fingers seeming to coax an opaque mist out of the air surrounding San. Hopefully the illusion will help protect him until he snaps out of it.
As soon as she hears San's urgent whisper, Morga hustles to the ladder and begins to climb. It's a little awkward with the shield on her arm, but she manages.
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The three floating heads creak and groan as they swirl about. After a brief delay, they fly forth, entering the fog-figment and trying to bite San. They batter at him as he tries to evade their gnashing teeth, and they only score a single small nibble A third one heads for Morga, though she's able to fend it off.
||| INIT |||
San (6 dmg, Rust Creep - Stage 1; -1 penalty on Athletics checks)
Vildran
Morga (4 dmg, Rust Creep - Stage 2; -1 penalty on Athletics checks)
Autumn
Blue Floating Head (Captain Perrios)
Green Floating Head
Pink Floating Head
Not enjoying being swarmed by the floating heads, San dashes to the other side of the roof before turning back to fire an arrow.
Seeing Morga rush up the ladder, and then hearing the soft twang of a bowstring, Autumn sighs and realizes that her companions have chosen fight over flight. Strangely she doesn’t hear the noisy clang of swords clashing against armor, but she closes the door nonetheless as a precaution—it would not do for the faint sounds of battle to drift downstairs.
And then she sees it—a disembodied head floating over the edge of the rooftop. Stifling a surprised gasp, she ceases concentration on her illusion and reacts by firing a stuttering phase bolt at the flying abomination.
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Morga steps away from the ladder, trying to draw the heads away from Vildran and Autumn. She draws her starknife and jabs at Blue's eye socket.
Oh...
Vildran looks up and sees why Autumn chooses to close the door for now. The floating head.
I guess we're doing this.
He moves towards the ladder and climbs up.
As soon as he reaches the top and steps off, one of the heads is immediately in his face!
He reflexively tries to whack it with his staff!
His balance at the edge of the roof seems to make him hesitant.
While this all is going on, Vildran tries for the rooftop. In his haste he misses a step or two, and he doesn't make it all the way up.
The only remaining head screams as it dives for Morga. Its decaying jaws have enough foul supernatural strength to bite hard upon her face.
||| INIT |||
San (6 dmg, Rust Creep - Stage 1; -1 penalty on Athletics checks)
Vildran
Morga (8 dmg, Rust Creep - Stage 2; -1 penalty on Athletics checks)
Autumn
Green Floating Head (6 dmg)
Autumn shudders as a head tumbles past, landing lifelessly in the sand pit. But before she can properly react to this, she hears another head scream. Wonderful. She winces, hoping against hope that none of the Gorumites heard that, then hurries to help finish off the abomination before it can scream again. With the ladder clogged with flailing wizard, she instead backs away from the second story, far enough to see another floating head attacking Morga. With a twist of her slender fingers, she summons another ephemeral blast of flickering magic and fires it at the head.
Why couldn't they just have steps out here? Vildran grumbles about the ladder.
He steps up next to Morga to make room at the top of the ladder, and attempts to burn the remaining head by summoning a bolt of fire from his staff.
As Vildran pulls himself up to the roof, a phase bolt from Autumn passes through the edge of the roof and slams into the final remaining head. It shatters from the power of the impact.
Combat Over! You each gain 60 XP.
With the three heads destroyed, you find little remains of them other than the captain's hat, adorned with a now blood-soaked feather. The barrels on the other hand each contain a composite longbow and fifty arrows.
The earlier scream from the severed head was loud enough that it likely drew some attention, but you don't hear anything or anyone approaching yet.
San breathes a sigh of relief as the last skull bursts. At least being on the roof, they should have some warning if someone approaches. He takes some time stowing arrows and testing out the bow they found. It might be harder to use in close quarters but it should be stronger.
"Autumn, did you see anything when you opened the door? I would have run but jumping down from the roof seemed like a bad idea."
With combat over, Autumn exhales sharply, then clambers up and joins the others on the roof. The archery range seems to confirm her suspicions about the function of the sand pit. “What were those things?” she asks her companions in a low voice, wondering how severed heads could not only move on their own, but fly.
To San, she shakes her head in reply. “Just a stairway down, and three or four closed doors. No guards, but we should move fast—I’m sure someone heard that scream. They’ll be looking outside, so we should hide inside the keep.” Upon noticing the hat of Captain Perrios, she sighs. “So much for getting any help from the captain. The other two heads must’ve been the crew who accompanied him.” She shakes her head. “I suppose we should bring his hat back for Janis.” Despite the suggestion, she seems reluctant to pick up the bloodstained hat of a dead man herself.
"...Right." Morga gingerly lifts the hat and tries to wipe some of the blood off on the rooftop before stuffing it in her pack.
"I can't use a bow, but I suggest we break the other bow if we're not taking it. Even a notch in the right spot will make it worthless."
"Let's patch up." Morga grimaces at the bite wound on her face, then casts Heal on San and herself.
Her face falls. "That...was pathetic. Do we risk it to spend ten or twenty minutes up here, or should I use my last healing font now?"
"Do we risk it to spend ten or twenty minutes up here, or should I use my last healing font now?"
Autumn shakes her head, even as she starts climbing back down the ladder. “There’s no time—for all we know, those heads were put on the roof as a warning system. Save your healing for when we really need it.” Perhaps the sorceress means if they need it, but given their track record thus far, perhaps not. Once she’s back on the second floor, she tries to remove evidence of their presence by spending a few moments to bury the severed head in the sand pit.
What indeed... Vildran repeats as he thinks on the nature of the heads.
It doesn't take but a moment for the feeling of urgency to return.
Autumn is right. It's best to presume the Gorumites are on the move.
He descends the ladder again and listens at the doors while she buries the head in the sand .
"Yeah, you're probably right." Morga grumbles, taking her turn on the ladder. She positions herself, shield raised, right in front of the door. If any Gorumites want to barge out, they'll have to get through her first. She strains to listen for sounds of trouble for a moment.
Once everyone's ready, she quietly opens the door and peeks inside.
Nodding, San climbs down off the roof with his new bow in hand, his old one stowed in case it is needed later.
Standing with a good view of the hallway, he readies an arrow and waits for the door to be opened.
After picking up a bow and a hat, you descend down to the earlier door. Morga doesn't notice anything when she checks it, so she opens it up to reveal the stairwell and the various doors. All still remain closed, but once the outer door is open, you can hear the muffled sounds of activity from within - likely from the southern door.
Once it’s clear that there are no guards in sight, Autumn quietly sneaks inside. Hearing some activity to the south, she holds a finger up to her lips and points to the door on her right. She places her ear against the western door, then gladly makes way for Morga, their self-appointed shield and door opener.
San follows the others in, bow at the ready while doing his best to keep his equipment from banging around as he walks.
Nodding to show her agreement with Autumn, Morga gestures to Vildran to close the exterior door before trying to slip quietly to the western door. Unless Autumn indicates she heard something in there, Morga carefully opens the door to peek inside. If it looks clear, she open it wide and gesture for everyone to hustle in. The goal is to find a quiet, safe-ish place to hide for a bit and assess the situation.
23, 20, 16, 17
-
20
A gorumite acolyte blinks in surprise before calling "They're in the senior barracks!" He doesn't have a weapon at the ready, but he has a rusty sickle at his waist.
Autumn, having heard the doorknob turning, is the least surprised by this confrontation. She acts first.
||| INIT |||
Autumn
Blue Gorumite
???
???
San (4 dmg, Rust Creep - Stage 1; -1 penalty on Athletics checks)
Vildran
Morga (6 dmg, Rust Creep - Stage 2; -1 penalty on Athletics checks)
“Heinous,” Autumn mutters a curse under her breath. Hoping against hope to silence the acolyte before he can draw any more attention, she quickly steps forward and unleashes her trademark stuttering bolt of magical energy.
Behind the eastern acolyte, you see a familiar face. Vanda, the gorumite who had escorted Ordwi from the docks to Stonehome. Unlike the other gorumites you've come across, Vanda has no sign of illness and her full plate armor and greatsword are still clean and shining. She gives your group a grim scowl but says nothing, holding her greatsword at the ready for now.
||| INIT |||
San (4 dmg, Rust Creep - Stage 1; -1 penalty on Athletics checks)
Vildran
Morga (9 dmg, Rust Creep - Stage 2; -1 penalty on Athletics checks)
Autumn (6 dmg)
Blue Gorumite
Red Gorumite
Yellow Vanda
Great. I'm half-dead already, and can barely heal them even if I don't die like last time. Morga grouses internally as she raises her shield, draws her starknife, and jabs it at a gap in the acolyte's armor.
Not particularly excited to be facing enemies on both sides, San raises his bow and takes a shot at the acolyte attacking Autumn. "Make some space! Get away from them!"
Wincing in pain, Autumn is only too eager to take San’s advice. The elf has hardly finished speaking when the sorceress dashes after him, all while trying to staunch the bleeding with a hand placed over the bloody gash on her arm. Once she’s next to the archer she stops and spins around, thrusting a bloodstained palm out as she channels another piercing blast of arcane energy at the acolyte who just entered. But the pain shanks her attack well wide, instead smashing into the wall just inches away from Vildran.
The red acolyte sees Vildran hesitating and switches targets. He steps in and lands one slash before Vildran evades the second . Meanwhile the blue acolyte to the south tries to break past Moga's defenses to finish her off, but she holds him off with her shield .
Vanda steps in, and enters a guarded stance, calling out "Focus on the less armored ones. I will deal with the rest." Despite her order however, she doesn't fully close the distance and attack. She almost seems... conflicted?
||| INIT |||
San (4 dmg, Rust Creep - Stage 1; -1 penalty on Athletics checks)
Vildran x2 (4 dmg)
Morga (9 dmg, Rust Creep - Stage 2; -1 penalty on Athletics checks)
Autumn (6 dmg)
Blue Gorumite
Red Gorumite (3 dmg)
Yellow Vanda
Autumn! Vildran shouts in fright as her arm is slashed with the sickle.
His gaze darts back and forth, taking stock of the gorumites closing in on them. Now two of them are right on him, and he gains a healthy concern for his own safety.
Waving his staff towards the two behind him he emits gushes of flame that wash over them .
Thinking this bought him some time he runs past Morga.
Don't mind me, not at all hiding behind you...
Peeking back around the corner at his pursuers he begins a bit of a different incantation. His hands face flat out in from of him, motioning to convey a large rectangle and then...
pop
A large wall, floor to ceiling, wall to wall, appears between him and Vanda. It seems to completely block their passage to persue.
With a grin, he turns to Morga's new foe, threatening him with his staff...
Why is sister Vanda hesitating? San's contemplation is short lived as a wall appears out of thin air. I didn't know he could do that! With only the one target left, he fires two arrows at the man threatening Morga.
Morga's about to snap an angry retort about being "dealt with" when the wall pops into place. Wha--?! She immediately switches her attention to the acolyte visible to her. She takes two quick jabs before raising her shield again.
Autumn watches with respectful admiration when Vildran unleashes a massive gout of flame at the Gorumites. But unlike San or Morga, she isn’t at all surprised by the sudden appearance of a massive wall—from the wizard’s gestures and incantations she knows exactly what spell he cast, having relied upon it herself. Concealing a knowing smirk, she focuses on the acolyte next to Morga. Twisting her fingers, she thrusts her will into the man’s mind.
With the illusory wall buying them some time and space, she reflects on Vanda’s odd demeanor, and her unrusted armor and weapon. Perhaps there’s still hope for her? Acting on a hunch, Autumn whispers into Vanda's ear. “Does Gorum preach killing your guests and animating their severed heads?”
-
-
Morga takes careful aim and plunges her starknife into the acolyte's chest, slaying them in particularly definitive fashion . Right before Vildran puts up his wall, Autumn strikes at Vanda with a daze spell, but it seems to have little effect. Her message also gets no immediate response beyond a fairly subdued expression of surprise on her face.
Vildrans wall forms and you hear Vanda changing course to avoid the obstacle. She reappears to the south next to Autumn, raises her greatsword, and...
She lowers the blade to the ground. "I surrender. I will not stand against you."
||| STATUS |||
San (4 dmg, Rust Creep - Stage 1; -1 penalty on Athletics checks)
Vildran (4 dmg)
Morga (9 dmg, Rust Creep - Stage 2; -1 penalty on Athletics checks)
Autumn (6 dmg)
Yellow Vanda (18 dmg)
Vildran is cautious, but he sees that Vanda isn't eagerly hostile, perhaps only as is necessary. He does not lower his staff, but...
Vanda... what is going on here? Loved ones are held here with no contact for days. No information about their conditions is relayed back to the community.
San moves to have clear line of sight on Vanda but doesn't shoot... yet.
"Where's Ordwi? She came here to help and hasn't been seen since. There's cultists at Rusthenge spreading this disease and you Gorumites either don't seem to care or, judging by the state of the gear here, are in league with them."
Startled by Vanda’s sudden appearance beside her, Autumn is ready to bolt when the Gorumite surprisingly lowers her sword. The sorceress eyes Vanda for a long moment, suspicious that this might be a trick, but ultimately decides that such a ruse would be decidedly unGorumlike. She gestures for San and Morga to lower their weapons. “We accept your surrender. If I may?” Autumn gives a meaningful look at the greatsword and, after making sure there is no objection from Vanda, takes the weapon for safekeeping. “Just for the moment while we figure out the situation,” she reassures the priestess in a deliberately friendly tone—she doesn’t want to spook their new prisoner.
She pauses, listening intently for any further sounds of commotion, hoping that the rest of Stonehome is unaware of their presence, before asking in a soft voice “Who killed Captain Perrios and his men, and then animated their severed heads? And why?”
Relieved, Morga wipes off her blade and sheathes it, then turns aside to cast Rousing Splash on herself so Vanda doesn't feel threatened by the casting.
Turning to face Autumn and Vanda, she interjects: "Before we get into it: Is this a safe place for a conversation? If not, how easy is it to get to one?"
Vanda submits to the "temporary" confiscation of her blade and you draw her back into the senior barracks and close the door so you can talk in relative privacy.
Combat Over. You each gain 120 XP.
----------
Vanda says "This place will do to talk." before launching into answers for each of you. "What has been happening here... I hardly know where to start. The townspeople, the other sick, I don't know where they are. Their illnesses would get worse, and then they would disappear. All part of the trial, Lord Ragnulf said." She scowls, then her expression softens at San's question "I'm sorry. Lord Ragnulf had dinner with her, but I saw what happened afterward... A cowled creature I now know as Azomi took her down to the basement. We didn't see her again. And Lord Ragnulf made us swear to secrecy." She closes her eyes, regret plain on her face.
"Everything changed so gradually here, and then all at once. Before I knew it half my fellow acolytes were foreigners and acolytes in name only, and Azomi openly walked among us." She shakes her head "I'm no storyteller, but you deserve to know what transpired."
"While there were things that seemed strange to me for months, it was the arrival of that man Meitremar that really started this nightmare. After he arrived High Lord Ragnulf... well, he wasn't himself after that. I didn't realize for a while, but now looking back that was when things changed."
"Lord Ragnulf was the one who introduced Meitremar to us, and he was the one that told us the sickness we were starting to see around town was a test from Gorum. He brought us all together in the worship hall, and his new friend Meitremar opened a bottle that filled the hall with foul air. All to supposedly identify who among us was harboring the illness, and would undergo Gorum's trials. Some of those who became sick after that must have realized the ruse, because they took up arms against the Lord." She shakes her head "This must not matter all that much to you all. It is enough to say that Stonehome and it's leader have been hollowed out, with those few of us original acolytes well outnumbered. And yes, fooled, for far too long."
"The Thassilonian captain and his men spent the night here, and were mounted on pikes by the morning. Lord Ragnulf said they'd drawn steel against him after accepting his favor. Maybe another lie."
Vildran listens intently but is not entirely satisfied with the details of the tale told.
What can you tell us of the relation to the cultists who reside at Rusthenge. Do the tunnels of that complex lead back to under Stonehome? What are they working at over there?