People were crying, panicking over children that had been trapped down there. Only with a brief exchange of how to get down (safely), Henry, Thok and Menelwen descended. While working on rescuing the children, the rubble moved to reveal a mole. A very familiar mole. That garnered a severe beating from Thok.
Henry had to reassure a sobbing child who was confused as to why the mole was getting beaten. He eventually poofed back into the druid. A very confused Vega.
After the children were safely out of the sink hole. Menelwen came upon a smooth stone surface. A door. Then managed to open it, intent on investigating further. It opened up into a a long hall. Along the sides there were statues, partially crumbled. They were very intricate.
Deciding against going straight down into a possible attack, the party went through the path on the left. Following the path, it opened up into a room....with rats. Large rats. Rodents of Unusual Size. They were relatively easy to defeat though it was rather gross. On the floor when they were able to look around were bodies. In the forehead of each was:
And it was very clear that it was not post-mortem. These individuals were alive when it was carved.
Almost instantly, Menelwen felt sick. Upon noticing it, Thok asked if she recognized it. "I do. This is the mark of those who killed people."
Moving along, they found a crumbled statue of a large and imposing dwarf. And a small blade. Reszur. Henry took it.
Off of this second room, there was a small door. And movement.
Very carefully they surprised the individual who turned out to be Grund. He had been watching the hallway that they had avoided, ready to pull a lever. Vega shifted to panther form and chased him, blocking off his exit. Thok thought quickly and pulled the lever which dropped a cage around both him and Vega.
"Oh..."
Some questioning later, it revealed that he was a simple minded half-orc. He had been guarding as he was told, as well as watching a young man named Braelen who was being punished by Harbuckler. Henry was concerned for the young man, going to give him aid. Then he became furious.
"I'm going to punch him in the teeth."
Grund seemed....concerned. "Are...are you tall enough to do that?" He was completely sincere.
After giving him a piece of silver (something shiny), Grund told them where to find the ones in power.
They head that way and trick their way past the guard thanks to paying Grund to play tag with him....they move in. It was a large room.
Henry stealths in, getting into position for an inevitable fight. Vega turns into a large spider and climbs up the wall onto the ceiling.
Leaving Thok and Menelwen to stand awkwardly at the door. As soon as they crossed the threshold...a fight would start.
A number of figures; one hooded and several in black stone armor step over, watching them.
Menelwen (having a dumb moment) stepped forward. She tried to talk to them. And earned a bunch of arrows to the chest, nearly dropping her then and there.
Then the fight was on.
Thok cursed, getting her back up and fought hard. Vega attacked as a spider before dropping down. He turned back to his human form. He had fallen, gotten up by Thok (who hated being a healer) only to use Ice Knife.
It impaled the target, but then exploded into shards. It got Vega in the chest and down him again.
"Why?! Why did I help you?!"
Between Thok and Henry, the fight was won. The leader was knocked out and bound for questions.
Henry rushed over and tried to do CPR on their druid. He only succeeded on pushing the ice knife in further.
Luca pointed out the goodberries that had been made before. Feeding one to Vega brought him back. He gasped. "Ice, ice, bad idea."
In gratitude, Menelwen hugged Thok. Vega did the same. Thok accepted the first hug but told Vega to "Get the fuck off".
Taking a moment to look around, they saw that the room was a Dwarven Ruin with workstations . The floor had been enchanted to move large rocks with ease. The cultists had been mistaking them and misleading people to believe they had to do with a religious power.
When the leader came to, they managed to get a few answers before allowing him to escape. They were told a name...and a place.
Marlos.
The Sacred Stone Monastery.
That was their next destination.
But first...
The Believers had been deceiving Red Larch with the stones. They were gathered and put to justice, setting Kaylessa up as the new mayor.
~To Be Continued....~
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