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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Zad" data-source="post: 3171344" data-attributes="member: 90">Flood Season – Chapter 4OOC Notes:Exp is 683This Week’s Adventure:It was late in the morning before the Blue Tygers started dragging themselves downstairs. A night’s rest and a warm meal did a lot to erase the strains of the last days. Astrid and Glyph went with Elizabeth to sell the spoils of the trip. Elizabeth didn’t say anything but she didn’t really need to; the entire thing felt dirty to her as if she’d robbed a grave. She couldn’t justify keeping the plunder as a reward – she just didn’t know what else to do with it besides sell it. The soggy run around Cauldron was routine and unremarkable, save for when Glyph caught sight of a blonde man watching from an alleyway for just a second. Astrid and Elizabeth were both getting impatient with the “constantly being followed” bit, and I think they were likely to act on it soon.Not long after we left the Drunken Morkoth, a watchmen arrived from Captain Skellerang who wished to speak to the Tygers. Bellsin, Krisfallion and Maris went, and since it involved the Lucky Monkey, Shensen accompanied them as the sole witness to the events. Their excursion was more grim. Captain Skellerang wanted them to sign a statement confirming the events at the inn, which were part of the death warrant for the two captives we had brought back.  Kris showed some hesitation at being presented with the warrant, and made an idle remark about mob justice. This, it seems, was very much the wrong thing to Captain Skellerang."Mob justice?!? I'll have you know we have the rule of law here in Cauldron. These men have committed crimes and if found guilty will pay for their sins. If you think there is no justice in Cauldron you are quite wrong and I won't have you stand here and question the justice I have worked my life serving." Kris apologized. "I did not mean to give offense. I only wondered if there is no room for mercy but I do not suggest it is my place to decide."Skellerang was only partially appeased. "St. Cuthbert is the god of Justice, not mercy," he said, and left it at that.Skellerang did have some slight knowledge of Triel. He knew her when she used to be part of the guard. She was a little too enthusiastic about her work, and was nothing more than a bully five or six years ago. She’s a fugitive as far as Cauldron is concerned.Everyone arrived back at the inn around the same time. This was quickly followed by the arrival of Brother Duos, who informed us that High Priestess Jenya had consulted the Star of Justice and wished to speak to us.The new, and reluctant, High Priestess was waiting when we arrived. “I’ve consulted the Star of Justice, and it has given me another cryptic riddle. It was my understanding that this was not the usual way the Star behaves, but it has done so for me every time I have consulted it so perhaps it is my faith that is weak. Nevertheless here was the divination.”Down among the watery deadThe mayor must go for the first timeHis people long since deadThe cultists keep the fruits of their crimeTwo are still living and one deadTo find them search it in time“Liduton,” someone said. Apparently our education for the Demonskar Ball was not totally wasted. The town of undead from the dance contest – the contest which two of the Blue Tygers won, and were therefore Mayor.“We’ll leave directly,” Elizabeth said. The High Priestess gave us letters of Mark that could be used in the temples in nearby Redgorge or Hollowsky, and we left.We returned to the Morkoth and gathered what we’d need. Fortunately Liduton was close – perhaps 20 miles. There were two choices – one involved taking a road most of the way then cutting across hilly terrain, while the other came in from the other side and was disused road. We elected for the hilly terrain since it would be less likely to be watched. We stuck to the trees and fog where possible, and the rain helped conceal our approach as we came through the valley to Liduton. As we got closer we could start to hear… sounds. Whispering, a woman screaming, gurgling, and so on. There was no doubt that Liduton deserved its reputation as being haunted. At times, we could see shapes in the fog, which then would run off before being fully seen.The buildings in town were each made of a single piece of stone. Glyph theorized that magic had been used to shape them as opposed to any mundane carving or construction. The buildings were pointed towards a central avenue and town circle and from there a road led to the lake. In the town circle, there were remains of creatures both human and inhuman. The dock area was barren and in ruins. In the lake we could see some islands and began looking for an old boat to use to get there. Hidden under some foliage was more than we might have hoped – three boats, all of recent make. In one of them was a quiver of arrows of the same fletching as the hill people used. It was our first solid indicator that we were on the right track.We took two of the boats and rowed wordlessly out to the island. Whatever tormented creatures haunted the town, they seemed content to ignore us for the time being and let us slip into the lake without menace.The island was as ruined as the town. One building however had some recent work done – a small bit of roof to cover a set of ancient stairs descending into the darkness. The grass in the area was completely worn away, suggesting quite a bit of traffic recently. The stairs descended into a lava tube which had been minimally worked to serve whatever purpose its creators had in mind. The tube emptied onto a small ledge overlooking a vast chasm. A hundred feet below, glowing green water lapped against the walls of the cavern which were covered in glowing algae. The ledge had some planks piled up on the edge, and a building carved into the wall to one side. Coming from this structure were ropes that descended across and downward and hanging on the ropes was an iron cage of sorts. The building itself had no windows and no conventional door but there was an inset area carved into the rock roughly in the shape of a door. Pushing on it made the rock pivot. While the noise wasn’t loud, it wasn’t quiet either. A voice soon said “Quiet! I heard something!” There were some footsteps then “The door is open – sound the alarm!” The girls shrugged and focused, while Bellsin pushed the door open. They rushed the room to find one guard throwing a lever on a large winch mechanism. Whatever alarm he was going for, he never got there – he wasn’t unskilled but the girls cut him down all the same. The other guard tried to defend himself but had nowhere to go and he met the same fate without triggering any alarms.Glyph and Bellsin spent some time pouring over the winch. Whatever the guard had done had rendered it inoperable, but they were able to reverse it after a few minutes of tinkering. The entire trolley seemed worn, rickety, and something that no sane person would set foot in. But it was the only way to go. Astrid, Bellsin and Maris got in first, and Glyph struggled to work the winch and send them down. It was with more than a little jerking and swinging that they finally reached the other end – a small shack on the beach of the lake down below. Those above piled into the cage and waited.The lake was rippling with strange currents and unidentifiable things floating by, or at least mostly unidentifiable. Maris was able to see a half-chewed body floating in the lake and it was clear it hadn't been there overly long. The buildings seemed as though they had been half melted and whatever built these things was inhuman and alien in nature. The ropes however lead to a very conventional wooden shack that was clearly not an original feature of the place. Astrid checked the interior and triggered a small plate that brought half the walls down on her. She was badly hurt but at least it wasn’t fatal. Once recovered, she worked the winch and brought the rest of us down. The beach revealed the traffic in the area – much of it went to a large set of double doors in the cavern walls. Some went to two other doors but we elected to go in the front. The “front” unfortunately was loaded with traps. Bellsin fell in a pit and barely avoided triggering several other unpleasant surprises. [OOC: It was traptacular, and is now called “Trapsylvania”.] After a bit of creeping around, the group found one door with a fair bit of noise behind it. It might be a barracks or common room. Whatever it was, trouble would be on the other side.Loot:2 sets chainmail2 mw large steel shields2 mw longswords2 potions of cure moderate wounds</blockquote>

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