Tot doesn't realize what Ari has planned until he's telling her that she'll be the one explaining what is going on below the Glassworks. She nods, knowing that she needs to talk to Ameiko, even if she has no idea what she will say.
"I'll tell her, Ari. I--I just need to talk to her, alone," she tells the young investigator.
Bethana leads Tot to Ameiko's room after the tiefling has a chance to change and bathe. Not sure what to say, she stands there for a moment after the halfling leaves, then wraps Ameiko up in a tight hug.
"I'm sorry," she sobs into the other woman's shoulder. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
Ari's parents can't really understand where his wind powers came from either. "It must be a blessing from the Goddess," his mother says sweetly, but she is clearly beyond her depth. "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth," his father says, falling back on homilies when he doesn't know what else to say.
Back at the Dragon, Ameiko groans audibly when Tot throws herself into her arms. "Still a bit sore, there sis," she says with a weak smile. "Took a pretty good beating and my ribs still feel it."
She listens carefully as Tot explains about the tunnels under the Glassworks. "Well, that's unexpected. A flying demon, eh? Glad your group is taking care of all that. I imagine I have to run the Glassworks now, but the staff is all dead, and having demons in the basement is likely a dealbreaker in recruiting new talent..."
She is making light, but its easy to tell she's dealing with a lot of baggage now herself. "If I were feeling better, I might offer to go with you down below and see what else might be down there."
After sparring with Garen, Grod looks around the small basement. "A bit sparse, but I've had worse. Layed out bedrolls in a forest once, no tents. Woke up to freezing rain coming down on us. At least it's dry in here. We may have to double up on rooms though, unless some folks would rather sleep in the hallway."
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Ari hears his parents' words and nods. "I thought maybe Sarenrae was trying to help. It almost worked. But then when the demon flew back up Tot and I decided to try and jump out to grab it. Tot stumbled and fell so I ran and jumped high and long. Maybe the Goddess was still with me. I grabbed the thing and fell to the ground with it. It hurt, a lot, but I was able to hang on. With the demon being held at ground level Garen was able to bring his God's vengeance against it. He hit it twice, finishing it off. We left the body with Father Zantus."
"Thanks Mom and Dad. I won't look this gift horse in the mouth Dad. A gift from the Goddess after all! but I gotta go now. Tot is fixing up some dinner for all of us. We're staying over at the Glassworks to be sure nothing comes or goes from the structure below. We didn't clear the place out. Just the demon."
As he leaves he calls back. "Whatever happened I hope I get the breezes back around me. They're comforting."
Tot eases up and apologizes once she realizes that she's aggravating Ameiko's injuries. After explaining what is going on in the tunnels, the tiefling hears the strain in Ameiko's voice. It hurts in ways she didn't know she could hurt until a couple of years ago.
"Would Bethana let you," she asks with a chuckle that quickly fades as the tiefling struggles with something in her mind.
"Ameiko, I--" she starts to say, working up the courage she needs to open up. "I know a bit of what you are going through."
She looks up at the other woman and gives her a strained smile.
"I'm not good at hiding things or lying, so you've probably already guessed that I've got secrets," she says, the smile fading as she looks down at her hands. "I was so enraged when I found out what had happened to you that I didn't even see you when you were right there in front of me, and I couldn't face you after that. The truth is that the reason I was so enraged was because I know what it's like to be betrayed by family."
Tot looks up at her employer, red eyes dark with pain that had never come from a physical wound.
"I'm from Cheliax," she says before her courage can waiver. "I've always been the black sheep of my family. I was never as good as my siblings, and my parents treated me like I was a nuisance to them. Still they were my family, and family is one of the most important things to a Cheliaxian. That's what I thought, anyway, until I overheard my brother planning with an Asmodean priest to sacrifice me one night. I slipped away and left, becoming a deserter."
She curls up in the chair she's sitting as she squeezes her eyes shut and struggles to maintain her composure for a moment.
"I remember how you talked about Tsuto and seemed to be close to him. It sounded like you two cared for each other, to me anyway. I lost my temper when I found out that he had betrayed you. I wasn't close to my brother, but it still hurt to hear him plotting my murder. I don't think I can imagine how much it hurt being betrayed by someone close to you."
She shakes her head, frustration creeping into her tone.
"I--I'm sorry. I don't know how to be a good friend, but I don't think burdening you, Ari, and everyone else with my problems is part of it," she says, clearly angry at herself.
After her talk with Ameiko and taking some time to cook up a hot meal in the Dragon's kitchen, Tot returns with a pot full of stew to the Glassworks and finds Garen and Grod in the basement.
"Are you sure it's safe here," she asks the two of them, feeling far more insecure after what she thinks is a poor showing against the quasit. "I've heard stories about the dead rising after being brutally killed."
Tot winces when Garen mentions running away like a little girl.
"Between yesterday and today, I'm not so sure I'd be ready to bet my life on that," Tot says, trying to turn it into a joke, but the strained chuckle doesn't even sound credible to her ears.
"What is it that we've found down here? Do you think it could be connected to that story Lord Foxglove told us about that well?"
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Oblivious to Tot's insecurities Garen barrels on and responds to the second part of the conversation. "I don't know. Could be. There are a lot of old things in this land and many that don't like being disturbed it would seem. If the heavens are with us, we will stay one step ahead of those things which crawl out of the dark."
Ari swings by the Dragon to help Tot carry dinner back to the group. He is surprised that she already carried a pot of stew to them. He asks some of the "little zesty noodles" that Izzy had asked for. "I'm surprised Tot forgot. but Izzy specifically asked for them.... And I like them too. Can I get a couple servings of them for the team?" Once it is ready he heads out to rejoin the group.
"Hey guys, and Izzy, I got the 'little zesty noodles' requested. But I'll want some for myself too."
"I'd forgotten about Foxglove's story. I think this place dates back to Thassilonian days. Maybe it's what I want, but it matches some of the stories I've read. That shrine? And the demon, staying there. And the pool, and the monsters it summoned. That's really powerful magic, the kind in the stories about Thassilon. We gotta be careful."
"ARI, you remembered. I was starving, and no one wondered where I was... and ... I might have named a magic item without checking with you guys. Are any of you good at throwing daggers? Fed Cat might be for you." She goes from Faux sad, to fake apologetic, to excited ... but that's her speed.
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Ameiko listens to Tot's story with sincere empathy. "Family really sucks sometimes," she says when the story is over. "My father brutalized my mother after Tsuto was born a half-elf. He made her life hell, and then she leapt from the cliffs near the manor (allegedly) it was no surprise. Lonjiku then turned his wrath upon poor Tsuto. Nothing he ever did was good enough, and he finally ran away. I never imagined he would conspire to burn Sandpoint though, or to kill my father." she sighs fighting back her own tears.
"I just think everyone carries trauma of some kind, maybe us more than most, sister." She hugs Tot tightly, then wishes her well with the terrible ruins below Sandpoint. "Drinks are still on the house when you are finished down there," she says with her trademark wicked grin. "I'll be up to no good by then, you'll see."
Garen and Grod find enough space to do some light sparring in the Glassworks, and there is room still in the basement, or in the furnace room right above, to bed down for the night. Soon enough, dinner, including noodles, is delivered to the hungry adventurers.
AS the discussion comes to Wisher's Well, Ari tells what he know about that unusual place. Wisher's Well is a Thassilonian ruin in the Sandpoint hinterlands, consisting of a circular stone tower with a 100-foot-deep shaft that leads to an underwater cavern connected to Sog's Bay. Some say it was a powerful castle for one of the rumored Runelords, but there is nothing definite on that topic.
"Calling a devil-spawn your sister seems like being up to no good already," Tot teases, surprised that she can even crack a joke with the whirlwind of emotions coursing through her. She returns Ameiko's hug, mindful of the innkeeper's injuries this time.
"After we finish clearing out the catacombs," Tot says as she goes to leave. "could you tell me more about Shelyn, please?"
Lost in her thoughts as she ponders what Ari has revealed about this place and the well they had seen on their horse ride with Lord Aldern Foxglove, Tot doesn't realize that Ari is casting a healing spell on her until it's too late. She gives him a sharp look, knowing that he is still hurting, but she's too grateful for him and how much he cares for her, even when her darkest thoughts insist that it won't last, to have much power behind her glare.
"Thank you," she says instead, a small, graateful smile curling the corners of her mouth. "Hopefully you won't have to cast that spell for a while."
Healing is dealt, noodles are eaten, and the group spends a relatively comfortable night in the Glassworks, rather than at the Rusty Dragon. Nothing untoward creeps out of the tunnels below Sandpoint, and no threats appear from the surface either.
The first light of morning are just peeking through the skylights above the glass-making floor when you stir and get prepared for the next day's adventuring.
"Sounds good."
Despite the relative peace and safety, Tot doesn't sleep easily. Her dreams are filled with nightmares about the quasit and her brother or her turning into a monster. She wakes and fixes breakfast before trying to work out some of her worries through sword practice.
"Let us hope that the demon was the only one who knew how. We may find more of those strange monsters if she wasn't," Tot says.
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"Should we get a bottle of holy water in case we run into another demon?" Izzy is happy to follow where they go. "I had the weirdest dreams the gods froze the world while we slept."
Tot gives Izzy a questioning look.
"You, too," she asks upon hearing about the gnome's dream.
Looking up at Garen, or as close as she can manage after yesterday's events, she wonders if they should all go, or if some should stay behind.
"I'll stay here," she says after a moment. "Best to not leave this place unguarded."
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"Should we get a bottle of holy water in case we run into another demon?" Izzy is happy to follow where they go. "I had the weirdest dreams the gods froze the world while we slept."
"You were probably just cold. You might try getting a big, fluffy riding dog to sleep next to." Grod says, sounding like he has experience with the use of canine heating.
Father Zantus offers the group 3 vials of holy water after being approached back at the Cathedral. "Not sure if its enough if you face more spawn of the Abyss, but its a start at least. Let us know your findings down below, and we pray you rid Sandpoint of any more of those evil outsiders." Zorlen stays behind once again, promising to read up on the cult of Lamashtu and any references to quasits below the town.
So armed, you head back to the Glassworks and down into the tunnels below. Following the now familiar path, you end back up where the rough-hewn tunnels below the village turn into halls of worked stone.
It comes down to three choices to proceed, past the room where the flying head attacked Tot, northward through the unworked cavern, or through the one door on the north wall of the worked stone hallways.
"Thank you, Father , back to the horrific brink." She claps her hands excitedly and heads back to the glass works.
Ari moves forward, lighting the way ahead with Dancing Lights.
If the way ends he suggests going back through the area where the flying head (Vargouille?) attacked Tot.
The rough-hewn tunnel leads to the north maybe another 15-20 feet before it dead ends. However, above in the ceiling there seems to be a very small round hole, maybe Izzy could squeeze through there, but likely none of the others could. Whatever is above is cloaked in darkness and not visible from down here. The ceiling is about 15' above the floor here, so it may take some effort if the area is worth investigating further.
Ari looks up to the hole. It would require a climb and the larger people, and armored couldn't get through.
"I don't think that hole is worth the risk to check. There could be some creature nesting there that has nothing to do with anything. If so, we don't need to disturb it."
"Let's check the door on the other side of the room where the flying head was."
Tot moves up behind Ari as he scouts ahead.
Ari grins at Garen's words. He had trained to spot traps. But he was certain that his skills weren't as great as a professional rogue. But he would try his best.
Since Garen has taken the front, Grod guards the group's rear.
The group retraces their steps from a prior day, entering the room with a small baptismal sized pool where the foul flying head creature was previously slain. No threat exists here, and no traps are found, so Ari leads them on the west. After descending a small flight of stairs, the group finds a spiral staircase which seems to lead upwards. However, tons of rock and debris fills this stairwell, making any ascent past the first few stairs impossible.
Izzy has gone quiet, flipping the Dagger 'Fed Cat' in her hand. She looks thoughtful I guess you're mine then, Fed Cat. I mentioned you and... well, no answers. Poop. You probably deserve a mighty warrior or a skilled sneak, but we might have a few tales yet. the thought makes her brighten.
Ari glances at the statue again as he passes. He imagines several of the people in town interested in history and Thassilon would want to come and check it out. He checks the door for traps. If he finds anything he tries to disable it.
Once he thinks it is safe he will open the door....
Grod reaches over Izzy's head and snatches the dagger out of the air. He turns it over in his hand for a minute and says "Careful with this, little lady. Don't poke your eye out. Wouldn't make for a good tale, and it'd be a shame to lose one of those pretty eyes." he rumbles, before handing it back to her, hilt first, with a smile.
The door is not locked or trapped and Ari opens it with ease. After light pushes into the room, you can see this large chamber was obviously once a prison, as testified by the twenty cells that line the room's perimeter. A rickety wooden platform overlooks t he room, with two flights of stairs descending to the prison floor ten feet below. A five-foot wide wooden walkway runs from the northern edge of the platform to a passageway to the east.
Two of the same horrid aberrations you saw when you entered seem to be squabbling over a human skull on the eastern side of the prison floor. Light entering the chamber draws their attention, and the look ready to fight.
"Lovely. There's more of them," Tot grumbles as she sees two more of the horrid sinspawn past Garen and Ari.