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I'm always ready to pay my respect to the dead, even if I don't worship Pharasma. I come from another, far away land, but my god and yours share similarities.
Erhun bows to the priestess
I couldn't help but notice on our way to this place that the living seems worried, but no one dared to confided to us the nature of their worries. Is there anything we could help you with, Sister Renofre?
Sister Renofre pauses contemplatively. "There is, actually, though I don't know if it's related. Follow me."
She takes them to a small catacomb where they are holding an acolyte—a cool, dark room that has yet to be used for any burials.
Along the way she explains the situation. "Due to recent sightings of a 'maniacal disembodied head' we sent an acolyte to cleanse what we believed was a minor undead menace. Manetho told us he handled the threat but we later learned that was a lie. We caught him digging up graves and locked him up to repent."
The boy sits in the corner with his arms around his knees only glancing up at you with half seeing eyes before return his stare to an empty spot on the wall.
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Having been raised in a temple of Pharasma, Theolish gave the proper observances when he entered.
At the mention of grave digging, he frowned. "This is the balance of your life so far; Look at what you might expect when you pass under the Lady of Grave's gaze at the end of life, if you stay on this path." Theolish said as he made a gesture and intoned a spell.
"Pharasma accept me!" the young man says, obviously conflicted about his actions. "The Lady of Graves could not help me… I was powerless! It promised to reveal its secrets to me. It asked me to dig up graves. It said that she who wears the spiral of death would come for me… so I am waiting. It said she would take me east, beyond the Seven Crypts, to the Ever-Dying.”
After his outburst he returns to his vacant stare, hugging himself against the consequences of his actions.
"Curious," Renofre says. "The 'Seven Crypts' is a reference to an ancient shrine to Pharasma. It was destroyed long ago."
"I'm afraid I don't know much more. Not even how they were destroyed. It happened so long ago that most information about it, even where it is located has been lost to time," Renofre explains.
Teloish is unable to recall anything else, either, lending credence to the claim that most knowledge about it is lost.
Deciding they can learn no more at this area dedicated to Pharasma, the group heads to the next lead at a place dedicated to Sarenrae.
The Temple of the Redeeming Sun is the largest in the city. It boasts a massive courtyard where the faithful congregate to pray under the open sun. The gold plating on the surrounding buildings focuses the rays of the sun inward on a tremendous altar at the center of the courtyard—the heat at the apex is so intense that the priests require protective magic to survive giving their sermons.
"Greetings, may Sarenrae's light warm you always," a priest says in greeting. "I am Herhut."
When they explain why they are there, he leads them to one of the side buildings that provide shelter from the sun that serves as the hospice wing.
There, you find Mauta, the woman mentioned in their briefing. Mauta lies in a small room separate from the other patients, and her mad screams echo through the halls.
"Mauta started rambling in garbled Ancient Osiriani shortly after arriving at the temple," Herhut explains. "We are doing our best to care for her, but we are unable to ease her wild ramblings and hallucinations."
Neither Nabla nor Charity are able to comfort Mauta enough to get anything any more coherent out of her though she is able to focus on each of them briefly. But as Erhun cradles her, she leans into him like a frightened child, clinging to his neck. Her words remain in an ancient language but become notably more coherent, briefly.
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"'Servants of the Sun'? Has this something to do with followers of Sarenrae?"
"'Spiral of death'... well, Pharasma's holy symbol is a spiraling comet. That fits."
Nabla pauses briefly.
"Sooo... Pharasma and Sarenrae. Is there any history here we should know about? And we should also speak with that alchemist..."
The group moves on to the alchemist shop. It is closed up, all the shelves empty though you can see a sullen man sitting at the counter muttering angrily to himself through a window.
"Go away! We're closed!" he shouts as they make themselves known.
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"Hi, I'm Nabla Ulich. You're the alchemist who was accused of poisoning your customers, right? We really need to talk about that 'demonic face' you mentioned to the authorities. Don't worry, we are not looking to blame someone. We are trying to find out what's really happening here and make it stop. Then you'd be able to reopen your shop!"
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Theolich looked at the barren shelves. "I am sorry to see such empty shelves, I was hoping to get some materials, like spirit of naphtha." he said. "While I am not very diplomatic, I can assist in restocking your shelves, if you would like." hr suggested, answering any questions on alchemist fire as he was hoping to get some.
"City guard confiscated everything," he grumbles in response to Teloish.
"Business is closed! I don't want to talk about it!" he snaps at Nabla an Kroissando.
He still seems reluctant but when he starts speaking, it is like a dam bursting. "I thought I was crazy, at first. Hearing voices, you know? But then, what it was saying made sense. It promised me power but told me I had to poison people. I didn't want to, but I couldn't help myself. The next thing I know, people are sick and the guard is confiscating all my wares! It's not fair! It wasn't my fault!"
"I was just minding my business, making elixirs and oils to sell to my loyal patrons when, all of the sudden, I heard this voice. It told me that it could...further my research but I had to do what it wanted. I didn't want to when I found out it wanted me to poison people but...it was like I couldn't stop myself. I had to do what it said. I didn't even know how to make the poisons without the book it gave me," he snaps his lips closed after the last bit of the confession as though attempting to trap the words after they have escaped his mouth.
Sokari hesitates long enough that it seems he might not do it before finally removing an ancient book from a hidden drawer and begrudgingly handing it over.
Examining the journal contains a few spells as well as the formulas for several alchemical items, including the poisons used on Sokari's patrons.
With the clues they currently have investigated, the Pathfinders return to meet Obahar at his home near the Pathfinder Lodge.
Obahar’s home is a dilapidated, ancient stone structure that seems out of place among the more modern dwellings surrounding it. While originally three stories tall, most of the top story fell away long ago. The front door hangs slightly ajar.
Inside the home, you discover that Obahar lives an austere life—the main floor consists of a tiny kitchen, a sitting room, and a simple bedroom. The second floor is a single large room—the scholar’s study—with a blocked staircase that once led to the third floor. Obahar crouches on a desk in his study, wearing only one shoe and chewing on a scroll. He is addled and unable to speak or understand speech. There are bite scars on his neck and shoulder, though they have mostly healed.
Conveniently, the documents relevant to your investigation—maps of the city from long ago, official records from government archives, and the like—are strewn about Obahar’s desk.
“Good thing I was around, or the old man would be long dead. Those wounds were a lot uglier before I showed up.”
The words come from a half-orc who comes into the room behind you.
"Name's Zurnzal. I'm here to help you out on behalf of Grandmaster Torch. Assuming you're willing to agree to certain conditions," he says.
** spoiler omitted **
Zurnzal explains, “My employer has been watching recent events in Merab with keen interest. The doru attacks seemed to draw the eyes of Amenopheus’ agents, and Grandmaster Torch shares mutual concerns with the Sapphire Sage; both of them think there is more to the sage jewels than anyone dares to believe. I am here to offer information to aid in your search for the Dungeons of the Ever-Dying”—the half-orc smiles knowingly—“if you give the Society’s guarantee that when it comes time to act on the threat to the Jeweled Sages— whatever it may be—Torch will be welcome to stand alongside his, ah, colleagues, in the Society.”
He looks to Obahar then to Charity. "I can only assume his current state is caused by the attack of the doru," he answers her question.
He shakes his head and says, “You Pathfinders are all the same. Don’t expect Torch to give up so easily.” Then he takes his leave.
Putting together what you learned at the Thrice Shrouded Necropolis regarding the Crypt of the Ever-Dying being east of the Seven Crypts, the information you learned at the Temple of the Redeeming Sun regarding the Sarenrites cleansing the location and information both from the journal you discovered at Sokari's shop and Obahar's research allows you to narrow down your search area.
An abandoned shrine to an unknown deity sits where the Dungeons of the Ever-Dying are supposedly located. The people of Merab go about their business in the surrounding area—a relatively unremarkable market and temple district. None of the citizens come close to this shrine, and a few make warding gestures as they hurriedly pass by.
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Having spotted the warding gestures of some of the passerbys, Erhun tries to remember if it's linked to any known religion, and then tries to mimic it.
He studies the temple outside walls too, just in case he could spot any marking that could help identify to which god it's dedicated
Ominous indeed. And ancient too. We'll have to be careful.
The deity to which the shrine is dedicated is too obscure for even the Pathfinders to know who it is.
It takes only a brief search to discover a secret door behind the crumbling altar. The passage beyond is narrow enough that Medium creatures must squeeze through.
A crumbling, twisting tunnel leads deep beneath the streets of Merab past layers of previous occupation before winding down the side of a large cavern. At the bottom, a twenty-foot-high windowless structure occupies much of this space. Stairs lead to platforms on the north and west sides of the building, but no other entrances are visible from here.