For a moment, Jun-Mei's reflection looks twisted, angry. Then it becomes clear that the angry thing and her reflection are separate, the former superimposed over the latter. Then, with the smallest, distant scream, the angry spirit is gone, exorcised, and Jun-Mei's reflection perfectly mirrors the woman herself. As would normally be expected of a mirror.
Success.
The chest proves uninteresting, containing ordinary things one might expect to find in a chest in a bedroom--mostly extra blankets and spare bedclothes. Hesla's beside table, though, bears something more interesting--a lock. It might also have something more interesting inside, but that is not immediately apparent, due to the lock.
Thievery to open.
Zuzzak also points out something that the rest of the Pathfinders missed (um, wow; the scenario assumes you'll find this--there's no instructions what to do if everyone fails!): The corner of a rug is pulled up a bit. Pulling the rug up reveals a trapdoor with a single keyhole in the center. Inscribed above the keyhole is the following:
Follower of Alglenweis, you need not stay.
Her crafty fingers open the way.
The Pathfinders remember determining that Alglenweis is known as the Princess of Rime.
On the desk is a box of keys, each one labeled with a parchment scrap. The labels are Watcher, Princess, Huntress, Queen, Dancer, Witch, and Priestess.
Gunslinger 8 / HP 98/98, Perc +16, AC 26, Fort +15 Ref +17 Will +15 / Ghost charge lesser 4/4, Elemental ammunition 5/5 / Active conditions: Darkvision, resist negative damage 1, Sonic 3
The danger one? And there. Is still a kick to pick up there
F Human | Cloistered Cleric 7 | ◆◇↺ | HP 71/71| AC 25 | F +12 R +10 W +15 | Perception +15 | hero 1/3 | Focus Points 3/3 | Fire Resistance 3 | Speed 25(35) | Divine Font 5/5 Active Conditions: Vital beacon 4d10, Tailwind |
Qen has some difficulty opening the lock. It's a simple one, but sturdy. She gets it open after a few tries. Inside the drawer is a diary that appears to have weathered many seasons, with pages full of entries.
These diary entries show Hesla’s true loathing for the cult she commands—their grooming of her did not succeed in burning out the fire of losing her family. She wants vengeance. This evidence is both damning and sad, as it shows that while Hesla is not a devout cultist herself, she is willing to put countless others in danger to get back at the cult that raised her.
A few notable entries wrote:
4699 AR
Mother told me to hide, so I hid. Now, I wish I hadn’t. All I can see is their faces—eyes wide with terror, cheeks splattered with blood. And the grins of the cultists, the firelight flashing on their scythes as they found me. New blood, they called me. The next generation.
4705 AR
Playing along has gotten me far here. The Screaming Grub is a disconnected, disjointed group—they needed a leader. In raising me to become that leader, they’ve given me the very tools I wanted. They think I will bring Deskari back to glory—that I will elevate the cult to new heights of power.
They do not realize that the same hand that builds can also destroy.
4725 AR
Patience has always been one of my strong suits, and now, finally, I see the flowers of my work begin to bloom. Money to fund my work, money to buy the minds and hearts of Absalom, and access to seemingly infinite resources. Once Ingalor arrives and the ritual is ready, I will bring an end to the Cult of the Screaming Grub once and for all.
Gunslinger 8 / HP 98/98, Perc +16, AC 26, Fort +15 Ref +17 Will +15 / Ghost charge lesser 4/4, Elemental ammunition 5/5 / Active conditions: Darkvision, resist negative damage 1, Sonic 3
I'm going to take that to mean you'd like to try the princess key?
The key fits into the lock and turns, and the trapdoor reveals steps leading down. The staircase is steep and goes fairly deep, though occasional torch brackets provide dim lighting.
At the end of the descent is a basement hallway that, while decrepit, seems to see much more use than many of the rooms above. Moisture drips down the walls of this stone hallway, the smell of decay filtering over from the rooms beyond. There is a thrum in the air, barely contained energy crackling beneath the surface. The end of the hallway has collapsed into rubble, blocking off one of three passages.
Immediately to the left a short set of stairs leads up, though the chamber beyond is hidden from sight by hastily hung threadbare fabric curtains. No sounds can be heard from behind the curtain.
Just before the collapsed section of hallway, another set of stairs leads up.
F Human | Cloistered Cleric 7 | ◆◇↺ | HP 71/71| AC 25 | F +12 R +10 W +15 | Perception +15 | hero 1/3 | Focus Points 3/3 | Fire Resistance 3 | Speed 25(35) | Divine Font 5/5 Active Conditions: Vital beacon 4d10, Tailwind |
GM Super Zero wrote:
I'm going to take that to mean you'd like to try the princess key?
Gunslinger 8 / HP 98/98, Perc +16, AC 26, Fort +15 Ref +17 Will +15 / Ghost charge lesser 4/4, Elemental ammunition 5/5 / Active conditions: Darkvision, resist negative damage 1, Sonic 3
Seeing Song moving to the stairs the dwarf simply nods.
F Human | Cloistered Cleric 7 | ◆◇↺ | HP 71/71| AC 25 | F +12 R +10 W +15 | Perception +15 | hero 1/3 | Focus Points 3/3 | Fire Resistance 3 | Speed 25(35) | Divine Font 5/5 Active Conditions: Vital beacon 4d10, Tailwind |
Jun-Mei moves to the curtain and carefully pulls it aside.
Clear that's the way you were leaning, yes. Clear that someone was ready to try it, not quite.
Cots are packed close together here, with clear signs that this has been used as a living space very recently. There are a dozen cots in this room, each with bags of clothes and personal goods stowed underneath. It is obvious that these beds have been used as recently as today, and that they see regular traffic. There isn’t much of value, in either the usual or the information sense, to be scrounged from the belongings, but anyone who spends a minute investigating the room can gather up a few coins.
There is another exit to the room, behind another curtain.
This corridor runs a circuit around the central holding chamber, with magically reinforced glass windows every ten feet offering clear view of what is held within.
The large, central chamber of the basement is entirely filled by a fossilized demon corpse—a thick, chitinous exoskeleton with barbed plating and a mass of limbs uncountable to the mortal eye. A rotting, dark hole in the center of the corpse seems to be teeming with maggots and grubs, creatures of decay.
There are stairs at one end of the hall that lead down to a door into the lower chamber, and stairs leading down to other rooms off of the observation area all along the corridor.
It doesn't look like there's much room to maneuver in that room given the size of the corpse, and it's pretty clear that the Pathfinders could not possibly transport it in any case. They might be able to collect a sample (Medicine check), but noting its location will probably suffice.
F Human | Cloistered Cleric 7 | ◆◇↺ | HP 71/71| AC 25 | F +12 R +10 W +15 | Perception +15 | hero 1/3 | Focus Points 3/3 | Fire Resistance 3 | Speed 25(35) | Divine Font 5/5 Active Conditions: Vital beacon 4d10, Tailwind |
Jun-Mei steps into the central chamber. She points to the west. "I see some steps over there. It looks like we might be able to enter the area beyond the tunnel collapse."
Gunslinger 8 / HP 98/98, Perc +16, AC 26, Fort +15 Ref +17 Will +15 / Ghost charge lesser 4/4, Elemental ammunition 5/5 / Active conditions: Darkvision, resist negative damage 1, Sonic 3
The corpse is ancient and in extremely rough shape. It's not possible to determine a cause of death at this point, but it must have happened long ago.
This is presumably the "fossil" the party was sent to retrieve, though the unexpectedly immense size means that won't be entirely possible either. The fact that it is still rotting probably hints at the nature of the demon, though it is likely unique. Perhaps this is the "Ingalor" mentioned in Hesla's journal.
Zhamie also determines that the stench on other other side of that door is likely overbearing.
Anyone who wants to attempt collect a sample can make a Medicine check--and a Fortitude save--but you don't think it's strictly necessary to complete your mission.
Gunslinger 8 / HP 98/98, Perc +16, AC 26, Fort +15 Ref +17 Will +15 / Ghost charge lesser 4/4, Elemental ammunition 5/5 / Active conditions: Darkvision, resist negative damage 1, Sonic 3
F Human | Cloistered Cleric 7 | ◆◇↺ | HP 71/71| AC 25 | F +12 R +10 W +15 | Perception +15 | hero 1/3 | Focus Points 3/3 | Fire Resistance 3 | Speed 25(35) | Divine Font 5/5 Active Conditions: Vital beacon 4d10, Tailwind |
Jun-mei waits for everyone to finish with the demon corpse before moving to the first alcove to the west.
The problem isn't just touching the corpse, it's the noxious poisonous fumes that leak out as soon as Zhamie opens the door.
Zhamie and Qen both take 2d6 persistent poison damage.
Which lasts for up to a minute, though I assume you'll resolve it in less time then that...
Jun-Mei finds a storage room. A collection of boxes and wooden crates fills this room, some bearing shipping labels from Sarkoris.
A crate can be opened with an Athletics or Thievery check.
She can also see into the partially collapsed room from there. She notes a smell like rotten eggs coming from that direction.
Zhamie chokes from the noxious fumes. After about 30 seconds of coughing and choking, she overcomes the toxin.
Treat Wounds, Zhamie and Qen, DC 20:1d20 + 15 ⇒ (5) + 15 = 20 Ward Medic Healing:2d8 + 10 ⇒ (2, 6) + 10 = 18 18 + 10 from her Aeon stone = 28; she should be back to 100% in 4 more minutes
Also none of her Alchemical Formulas is an antidote...
Female Ysoki (Tunnel Rat) Core Alchemist (Toxicologist) 7 | HP 56/83 | AC 25 | Fortitude +14, Reflex +15, Will +13 | resist poison 3, +1 saves vs. poison (succ -> crit) | Perception +11, low-light | Speed 25 | Default Exploration: Avoid Notice +3 | Advanced Alchemy 2/10 | Versatile Vials 4/6 | Bend Time 1/1 | Hero Points 2 | Active Conditions: None | ◆◇↺
Quen has poison resistance 3, +1 to saves against poison, and successes on saves against poison are instead critical successes. So if the DC is 23 or lower, she should take nothing.
Qen opens one of the crates and finds 1d6 ⇒ 5 shattered pottery—it looks as if this box was damaged during shipment. The crate also contains a shipping manifest signed by Hesla Embersplitter. Opening additional crates, she finds other things like dirt and rocks from the Sarkoris Scar; ritual daggers with leather-bound handles; a book about the excavation and preservation of bodies; and chalices carved from wood and bone, stained a dark brown red. Each has a signed shipping manifest.
None of these things is clear proof of wrongdoing, but they'd still be useful to back up other evidence.
Gunslinger 8 / HP 98/98, Perc +16, AC 26, Fort +15 Ref +17 Will +15 / Ghost charge lesser 4/4, Elemental ammunition 5/5 / Active conditions: Darkvision, resist negative damage 1, Sonic 3
Coming from the other side of the room the dwarf lets two circles of smoke move up in the air.
Gunslinger 8 / HP 98/98, Perc +16, AC 26, Fort +15 Ref +17 Will +15 / Ghost charge lesser 4/4, Elemental ammunition 5/5 / Active conditions: Darkvision, resist negative damage 1, Sonic 3
Do we proceed to continue? does he ask with another circle of smoke.
One wall of this chamber has collapsed inwards, leaving the room unstable. A smell of sulfur effuses the room, leaving a sour taste in the mouth. Crossing the threshold causes something to shift in the chamber.
Jun-Mei realizes that the loose stones and displaced earth, along with the slope formed by the blasted floor and walls, have created some extremely treacherous footing.
Anyone entering the area can make a Reflex save against the hazard. Instead, the hazard can be Disabled using Survival to plot a safe path.
Gunslinger 8 / HP 98/98, Perc +16, AC 26, Fort +15 Ref +17 Will +15 / Ghost charge lesser 4/4, Elemental ammunition 5/5 / Active conditions: Darkvision, resist negative damage 1, Sonic 3
Well I think Zhamie found the right path.
He smiles before to put the cigar back in its place.
She has indeed, and the party is able to move past the treacherous scree.
The air in the next small, dimly lit room is stale, tinged with rot, blood, and wet earth. Everything is stained a misty red, and there’s the distant bubbling of some sort of font, though the water sounds murky and strange.
Gunslinger 8 / HP 98/98, Perc +16, AC 26, Fort +15 Ref +17 Will +15 / Ghost charge lesser 4/4, Elemental ammunition 5/5 / Active conditions: Darkvision, resist negative damage 1, Sonic 3
Gunslinger 8 / HP 98/98, Perc +16, AC 26, Fort +15 Ref +17 Will +15 / Ghost charge lesser 4/4, Elemental ammunition 5/5 / Active conditions: Darkvision, resist negative damage 1, Sonic 3
Looking at the map with a circle of smoke moving in the air: Mmhh yes over there we still have something to see.
The first room the party finds is a library. Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves fill this space. A desk in the corner has several books open, pages of notes and dry inkwells accompanying the tomes.
There is an overwhelming amount of information to be gained from the books in this room, but not nearly enough time to ingest it all.
The open books and pages of notes likely give the most direct information about Hesla and the Cult of the Screaming Grub’s plans in any case.
In fact, looking there the Pathfinders immediately find something. Standing in the open, written in an open book, are somebody's notes on recent events.
Library Notes wrote:
Riftcarver was carved from Ingalor’s very exoskeleton, created during the birth of Deskari. It is nearly indestructible—legend states that it can only be destroyed if taken up against the resurrected corpse of Ingalor himself. Rotcarver design has been modified now that Riftcarver has been returned to us to imbue the scythes with greater power.
Ingalor, Father of Decay. Locating his corpse and arranging transport took Lady Embersplitter many months, but she has succeeded, as we knew she would. Using Ingalor, Deskari can be remade.
Reviving Deskari is more than a simple resurrection. Demons of his caliber cannot simply be revived or brought back from the Boneyard; he must be reconstructed in a manner similar to his birth. By carving him out of Ingalor’s corpse with his own blade, Lady Embersplitter will return his greatness to the world and bring about a new age of rot and ruin.
There is also another hallway out of the library. Down that hall and to the right is another room. It's hard to make out what could be in there from here, but it does seem to be where the bubbling sound is coming from.
F Human | Cloistered Cleric 7 | ◆◇↺ | HP 71/71| AC 25 | F +12 R +10 W +15 | Perception +15 | hero 1/3 | Focus Points 3/3 | Fire Resistance 3 | Speed 25(35) | Divine Font 5/5 Active Conditions: Vital beacon 4d10, Tailwind |
"Hmmm...It seems that the plan is to revive Deskari. That doesn't seem like something we want to happen."
Gunslinger 8 / HP 98/98, Perc +16, AC 26, Fort +15 Ref +17 Will +15 / Ghost charge lesser 4/4, Elemental ammunition 5/5 / Active conditions: Darkvision, resist negative damage 1, Sonic 3
Most of the books seem to be about demons, ritual magic, or history. It certainly corroborates what the Pathfinders have learned so far, but doesn't prove much of anything without that context.
