Moonday, Rova 23, 4707; Glassworks basement, Sandpoint; Late Evening
A moment’s rest after the battle in the underground cathedral and we were once again ready for action.
Our first order of business was to search the body of the little imp-like daemon, where upon we found the following items.
[100] curved dagger (magic)
[101] tiara: a rub like gem set in a circlet of silver
[102] black silk gown, embroidered with the symbol of a seven rayed star
[103] bracelets (poorly made and of little value)
[104] necklace (matching in quality to the bracelets), with an obsidian holy
symbol for Lamashtu dangling from it
Sedjewick concluded that the seven rayed star represented the seven deadly sins, and from what we had already seen of the place, we agreed.
The runes and language used in this cavern complex was Thassilonian, which I had learned while exploring the ancient ruins of Magnamar. Sedjewick also knew this tongue, and together we translated the runes that had been carved over every square inch of the cathedral walls as invoking or celebrating hatred, warfare, murder, wrath and the like.
The two small doors opened unto small closets, one of which was empty and the other contained ancient and tattered robes and a cheap ceremonial dagger. All were old and had not been used for a very long time.
Despite being tired, bloodied, and mostly out of spells, we decided to press on with the exploration of the caverns.
We gathered in the statue room, where Rigel peered intently at the heavy iron bound wooden door and muttering something about iron mongery.
Meanwhile Nolin and Trask took the eastern passage that led up a series of short steps before ending at another door. Nolin boldly opened the door and found a small circular room with another shallow, circular pool of water encircled with skulls set on spikes. Hearing comments about the door Rigel was looking at, the two rejoined us in the statue room.
With a small click, Rigel unlocked iron bound door and then, almost as an after thought, pressed her ear against it. Hearing nothing she silently opened the door and we peered into the gloom within to see a large chamber with a wood walkway leading from the door off to the right. Stairs on either side led down below the boardwalk. The unmistakeable sound of steel against stone echoed up from within.
Rigel crept out to the edge of the walkway just as Avia quietly announced the presence of evil within the room. Two of the clawed creatures pulled themselves up and slashed at Rigel, who quickly retreated back to the door.
Moving fast, Sedjewick shot one as Avia and Nolin charged in, each slicing at a foe. Sabin and I also entered the fray and the we over powered the creatures, efficiently slaying both.
Rigel and I descended the stair case and realized we were in a prison, with cells lining the perimeter. Skeletons with rotting fragments of clothing clinging to their boney remains were all that we found.
The walkway to the east, however, led to a torture chamber that was well equipped with rusting cruel devices for inflicting pain and agony. To the south a doorway opened into a small chamber with three more doors. To the east a door opened to a set of long stairs heading down into large dark space, ice cold, and reeking of corrupted flesh.
Out from the darkness a pair of red glowing eyes flashed in our direction and a booming voice yelled “None shall invade my chamber!” Avia bravely descended the stairs with myself, Sabin and Kyras close behind.
Waiting for us at the bottom of the stairs was a giant of a goblin, but with extra deformed appendages protruding from unexpected areas. The sight of it was sickening, and it gathered itself up as we advanced and spat a huge globule of blood at Avia, which hissed and sizzled like acid.
The four of us hacked at it viciously, and it dropped under our onslaught.
Now that we were down in the room we could see that there were some eleven pits carved into the floor, each with a rotting wood lid, and each containing an animated corpse; honestly, who thinks of these things and then goes through the effort of creating them? We quickly killed the zombies, and looked over the remains of the bizarre goblin giant, where we found a handful of useful items.
[105] long sword (magical)
[106] hand axe
[107] Silver dagger (Trask is now using this)
The room also had a passage leading south, but we decided to wait until our team regrouped before tackling another unknown tunnel.
All this while Rigel and Sedjewick were busy in the small room to the south, where they found that each of the three doors had a symbol representing one of the seven deadly sins. Within each cell were the skeletal remains of a sadly disfigured human, one with a misshapen skull, the next with an elongated rib cage, and the last with three arms.
The floor of the room was littered with torn bits of paper with writing, which Sedjewick and Sabin determined were instructions for casting arcane magics.
We gathered together in the torture room and discussed our next course of action, and decided to explore the circular room Nolin and Trask had found.
I found myself in the lead as we trudged back to the statue room and then up the stairs to the round room. No doubt these circular pools ringed with skulls have some significance that is eluding us. We stared at the pool for a while, feeling somewhat easy about the smears of dried blood along the rim and speculating over what it might mean, and then turned our attention to the stone door on the opposite side of the room.
As I opened the door some giant bat-like creature fluttered into the room and attacked, but it was quickly dispatched by Nolin, Sabin and Trask.
A short hall with a short flight of stairs up ended at another door; this one locked. Rigel stepped up and worked her own brand of magic on the lock and opened the door. Beyond was a turret with steps leading up, but the way was blocked a short distance on by a cave in. We guessed that the top of the turret at one time must have opened onto what is now Chopper’s Island.
It was now so late that we decided to return to the Glassworks for the night and continue our exploration in the morning. We retraced our steps back to the basement and set a watch.
Sabin used this time to identify some of the items we had uncovered earlier.
[ 90] potion of Cure Light Wounds (Kyras has this)
[ 92] +1 ring of protection (Nolin wears this)
[100] +1 returning curved dagger (in my pack)
[105] +1 long sword (Avia wields this)
Moonday, Rova 24, 4707; Glassworks basement, Sandpoint; Late Morning
In the morning light it was decided that we should report to Mayor Deverin and Father Zantus.
I met briefly with father Zantus and quickly updated him on what we had found since our last meeting. I took the little daemon-imp corpse as evidence, which certainly got Zantus’ attention! While I omitted Tsuto Kaijitsu’s name, I did let Father Zantus know that it was a town insider who helped stage the attack on Sandpoint, and shared with him the contents of the diary, especially where it pertained to Nualia and her father, Tobyn. I also explained how Nualia’s hatred of her heritage had spilled over to encompass all of Sandpoint, and while the attack we had expected had not occurred, this plan had likely been disrupted by our interception and execution of her partner.
Father Zantus was most interested in the underground cathedral, and I have promised to bring him there later so he and his clerics can destroy the place.
I met up with Trask, who had a meeting with the mayor as I spoke with Father Zantus, and asked how it had gone. He appeared to blush, as if his conversation had not gone quite as smoothly as he would have liked, but I gather from his stuttered reply thatthe mayor was now suitably informed of our actions and status.
We are now back in the Glasswork’s basement, preparing for another trek into the tunnels to explore the southern passage we had skipped the night before.
We’ve decided that depending upon what we find there, we should consult with Ameiko to see if she can offer any insight into what we have found since we last spoke.
