Terror In Freeport: Part 5
"I don't think that was Edwin," said Rachel.
"Maybe it was him, but he was under some sort of mind control like Lucius was," theorized Nevroth.
Parika shrugged, though the gesture was useless in the pitch dark. "Well, whoever he was, he left us without any light. I've got flint and steel, but nothing to light with it."
"I have some flasks of lamp oil, but no lamp anymore," grumbled Nevroth.
"Wait, I have an idea," said Parika. She managed to get one of Nevroth's oil flasks in the dark, then cut off a short piece of rope and threaded it through the mouth of the flask to make a wick. A few minutes later, she had a crude but serviceable lamp. The flickering light made the wet stone tunnel look like the gullet of some gargantuan beast. Nevroth looked up at the cleft in the wall. "I wonder who else those things might have caught down here. I'm already wet and nasty, I may as well go take a look."
The manhunter borrowed Parika's lamp and clambered up into the narrow opening. Crawling on his belly, he found a small cave littered with piles of old bones. Most of them were the remains of rats, but several larger skeletons looked like they were humanoid. Poking through the remains, he found several pouches of coins which he tossed out to his companions. He also found a sturdy metal flask with a hinged lid. He could feel liquid sloshing around inside. Just as he was about to wiggle his way back out, he caught sight of a cracked leather scroll case tucked inside some unfortunate person's clothes. He pulled the brass bound case free of the tattered cloth and returned to the sewer tunnel. He tucked the case in his pack. "Whatever's in there, I'd rather wait until I'm less filthy before opening it."
"So what do we do now?" asked Rachel.
***
Nevroth perched on the edge of a pew as a Fargothan priest healed Parika's wounds. The freshly washed manhunter opened his pack and took out the leather scroll case. As he turned it over in his hands, he could feel something sliding around inside.
Leaning over his shoulder, Rachel asked, "What do you think's inside?"
He shrugged. "It could be anything." He twisted the cap off the end of the tube and peered inside. A curled sheet of parchment, yellow and cracked with age, lay within. The mysterious rattling object turned out to be a heavy brass key. He tipped the key out into his hand. The key's handle was engraved with a stylized wave, still clear beneath the thick patina. Carefully, he removed the parchment and unrolled it.
The money is hidden inside the wall behind the bed. We're even now.
"That's interesting," said Rachel. "Too bad we don't know what that key unlocks."
Nevroth returned the note and key to the case. "I don't know what a wave might mean. Maybe someplace on Wave Avenue?"
Rachel shrugged. "It's as good a guess as any."
***
As they entered the temple of St. Uller, the three companions were only mildly surprised to see Lucius alive and well, bustling about among the stacks. They approached him and asked if he had seen Brother Edwin.
Lucius's brow furrowed. "No, not since this morning." He saw the glances exchanged between them and added, "Is something wrong?"
"We were left for dead in the sewers by someone claiming to be Edwin," said Nevroth. "Either is was someone disguised as him, or he's under some sort of mind control"
"Oh no," said Lucius. "If those awful cultists have captured him, there's no telling what they might be doing to him. Where do you think they might have taken him?"
Parika shrugged. "The only lead we have is the route Verlaine's men traced in the sewer. They might have him in Verlaine's basement, for all we know." She folded her arms and frowned. "If that wasn't really Edwin, then that writ he used to get us released is probably a fake, too. If they check it out, we may be back where we were before -- on the first boat out of town."
Lucius nodded. "I see. Well, if anyone comes around asking, I'll try to delay them as long as I can. I don't know how long I can keep them waiting, though, so you need to find out what's going on as quickly as you can. I may be able to call in a few favors and get you some healing elixirs as well. Please hurry; I know what horrible tortures those people are capable of."
***
A few restless hours of sleep later, they returned to the sewers with two new lanterns. Nevroth shone the beam of light down at the walkway where they had fought the night before. "Whoever he was, he left a pretty good trail."
As they followed the trail through the sewer tunnel, they would occasionally find objects half-concealed in the muck. "I suppose these were meant to keep us on the path," commented Parika, "like that shoe 'Edwin' found. I wonder where he was planning to take us."
The trail continued on down the tunnel, following the main sewer line toward the Merchant District. As they passed a short side passage, Parika noticed something out of the corner of her eye. She called a halt and went down the passage, finding a section of wall at the end that easily swung open. She shone the beam of her lantern inside, revealing a small square room filled with large chunks of stone. A quick inspection revealed that the room had a hinged ceiling and wall.
"What do you guys make of this?"
Nevroth shrugged. "I have no idea." He inspected the floor of the passage for a moment. "Whatever it is, our friend didn't go that way. He kept going down the main tunnel."
They followed the trail further, eventually coming to a section where iron bars had been cemented in place across the entire passage, presumably to block access to the underside of the Merchant District. The trail continued past them, so Parika inspected the bars and found that some of them had been cut through. They removed them and passed through, replacing them before continuing on.
After a few more minutes, Nevroth finally came to a stop. He crouched down and looked closely at the floor, but it was cleaner here than in the downstream parts of the sewer and the trail was no longer visible. "Well, this is as far as I can track him."
Parika looked around the tunnel, then turned to face the stone wall. "Let's see what we can see here."
***
The half-elf smiled as she ran her finger along a small seam in the wall. Her meticulous nature had finally paid off. "I think I've found something," she called to the others. By the time they joined her, she had already swung the wall aside, revealing a steeply sloping passage descending into darkness.
Rachel drew her cutlass and started down the passage. The seemingly endless trudge through the sewer had left her with a thirst for action. The narrow ramp was difficult for her to navigate, but she managed to reach the bottom without incident. She looked back to see the others practically strolling down behind her.
Taking the lantern from Parika, Rachel led the way through a winding stone passage. Eventually they found a small storage room to their left. A quick inspection of the crates and boxes found an array of familiar cult paraphernalia.
"Looks like we're in the right place," whispered Parika.
They continued on, finding another small room on the opposite side of the passage. Inside were a number of shelves filled with books marked in the indecipherable serpent tongue. Parika searched a desk at the back of the room, finding a book at the bottom of a stack of papers in a drawer. It was titled The True And Secrette Historie of the Brotherhoode of Free-Port, and appeared to be written in Tavian. She warily opened it, recalling her last experience with cult literature. Fortunately, this book seemed to have no ill effect.
Relieved, the thief scanned the book's table of contents. The chapter titles outlined an intriguing timeline. Apparently, the region around Freeport was once a vast land ruled by serpent men, who eventually brought a cataclysm upon themselves that sank their empire into the ocean.
She showed her find to Rachel and Nevroth. "The serpent men started this Brotherhood of the Unspeakable One, and destroyed their entire civilization."
Nevroth flipped through the book to the last chapter, "The Brotherhoode Today". He frowned as he read the last few paragraphs. "It says here that the Brotherhood survived through the ages, and is now disguised within the temple of St. Uller."
"I never trusted those guys," said Parika. She took the book back and stowed it in her pack. Unslinging her bow once more, she said, "Let's finish this."
The passage continued on, curving back on itself like a great serpent. Nevroth took the lead at the edge of the lantern light. As the passage curved around, they began to see flickering light up ahead. The manhunter peeked around the corner, seeing a disturbingly familiar scene. The Brotherhood's temple had been rebuilt, the hulking statue glowering over its basalt altar in the light of black candles. This time the altar was not empty, however; bound on its scarred surface was Brother Edwin, flanked by two men in the black robes of cultists. Standing guard around them were also three serpent men. Nevroth's stomach tightened as he saw all eyes turn toward him.
DM Notes:
* I decided not to lead them all the way to the deathtrap, mostly because I just don't like deathtraps.
