"A div and a box? and a dungeon? Odd things indeed, and normally I would turn you away as crackpots, but something has happened here recently and maybe it is connected."
She motions for you to follow. She takes you to a small catacomb - a cool, dark room that has yet to be used for any burials. There is a boy in here.
"Recent sightings of a “maniacal disembodied head” caused us to sent this acolyte, Manetho, to cleanse what we believed was a minor undead menace. He told us he handled the threat, but then later we caught him digging up graves. We have locked him up in here to repent. Perhaps he will answer your questions... he has yet to answer ours."
The boy sits in the corner with his arms around his knees.
He relents, and says, "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."
The “Seven Crypts” is a reference to an ancient shrine to Pharasma, which Renofre explains was destroyed long ago, but maybe this is more information Obahar can use.
You head to Obahar's house with some new information.
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. However, before you have a chance to look them over, an unexpected guest arrives.
"Good thing I was around, or the old man would be long dead. Those wounds were a lot uglier before I showed up." The half-orc you see speaking to you introduces himself. [b]"I am Zurnzal. My employer has asked me to come and help you. Of course, he has conditions..."
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 nods and uses his short sword to prick his thumb, uses his blood to draw a simple dagger design just below his throat, and beckons Daeron to do the same. This is a fairly serious oath-swearing gesture originating from Lastwall, where the dagger represents the adulthood, community, and the tool with which to take one’s life if faced with abduction.
Assuming no objections, he gives you three clues.
• The Dungeons lie “beneath the Red Canals,” a reference
to waterways that have existed since ancient times—
though possibly under different names; Zurnzal heard
this repeated by several of Veshtahz’s victims.
• The Dungeons fell under the domain of General
Menetashtor, an infamously cruel general who served the
Pharaoh of Forgotten Plagues; Zurnzal offers an ancient
tablet showing the general’s troops being assigned
“permanent duty” at the Dungeons.
• The Dungeons were once cleansed by Sarenite priests,
who recorded the cleansing but later tampered with their
own records to obfuscate knowledge of the Dungeons;
Zurnzal offers the altered document as proof.
Using these clues, and the documents arrayed on the scholar’s desk, you are able to pinpoint the location of the Dungeons. It takes about one hour to find the references to the various clues and determine the Dungeons lie beneath an abandoned shrine in the middle of the city’s western market and temple district.
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.
|
At the mention of the name Grand Master Torch , Daeron frowns, he remembers the man and his involvement in the thief of one of the jewels... but also his story.
But he knows also that his words even twisted mean something so he decides to agree with the terms.
With the instructions and info they finish to find the location of the shrine. Once there Daeron starts looking around.
Seeing some people making warding gestures he stops one and asks.
What's going on?
|
Graff does not object and if no one else does, he seals the deal himself in the same way.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------
Graff ignores the ward making and instead concentrates on their next destination.
"Shall we?" he rumbles as he approaches the shrine.
Zurnsal response to Deluge. "Not to worry. We'll find you."
When asked about the shrine, the local citizens state, “That spot is haunted by the cries of the dead. I wouldn’t go near it!” before going about their business.
Daeron hears some ritualistic chanting coming from somewhere within the structure.
It takes only a brief search to discover a secret door behind the crumbling altar. 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.
Stairs ascend five feet to a wide, open platform with doors to the west, south, and east leading into the building. Narrow pillars support a stone overhang 20 feet above. The chanting is clearly coming from the south door.
The ritual is complex and involves both necromancy and divination.
You start to enter and find the door is locked. It is a good lock.
It takes 3 rounds for Graff and Deluge to do enough damage to the door that they can kick it in.
Eight stone pillars stand around this room. At the center of the room, a five-foot-diameter spiral of twisted arcane glyphs is charred into the floor. Broken bones stained with blood encircle the spiral, and an onyx gem sits in the center.
Daeron puts two arrows in to the chest of one of the priests and drops him.
Helios makes a significant hit, to be sure, but the second priest is made of sterner stuff.
The priest is looking well beaten, but suddenly you see a glaze in his eyes, and the pain of the injuries seems much less significant.
The cleric's face twists in confusion, but then back to his visage of anger. He steps back and casts a spell, pointing at Helios. A bolt of lightning seems to come from the ceiling, slamming into the halfling.
Party's up!
Helios crushes the priest's skull, ending his ritual and his life.
"NOOO!!!" You here a voice shout out, and then go silent.
Daeron - you can tell the voice was from about 20 feet south of you. You don't see anything there.
With the cultists defeated, the ritual ends abruptly. A crescendo of frantic telepathic whispering spews from the gem: “I am awake! I see you—all of you! My strength grows. Do not forget…” before fading away."
The voice you heard did not come from the gem, though.