05. February 09, 2020

Counter-Ambush Setup

We lay a trap. In some empty building, with difficult terrain for the approach (the better to notice footprints from an invisible person approaching). It will have a hidden exit. It will also have a peephole into the room, so that if the rumors of our deaths being greatly exaggerated reach enemy ears, we can slam and bar the door behind them to trap them (we hope).

Bait

Hakkon and Jaindoh talk to the Endshift Tavern’s bartender in the morning before opening (which would be 8 a.m., after the nightshift ends for city guards), to ask him honest questions about who told him about the job. The bartender is surprised--he said that everyone thinks we’re dead; that we started a fire in that house and died. Jaindoh asks; the bartender reveals that a portly man, with scruffy hair everywhere, and dirty clothes, yet very nice shoes, was who told the bartender about the job. The man’s name was something that sounded like “weasel” though that isn’t his name. The weasel-man told him he needed a basement cleared of rats, that was all. Jaindoh reveals the full truth--we didn’t find any rats, but the basement had a giant poisonous spider in it, that teleported, and then an unknown person slammed and locked the house’s door, and then set the building on fire--we think the person tried to kill us. We don’t know who set the fire, that’s why we asked him who set the job. The bartender thinks that the story sounds crazy...giant spiders and people trying to kill us? Jaindoh reveals we found and escaped through a secret exit, like a smuggling tunnel. The bartender thinks that it is even crazier that the person who set the fire trapped us in a basement that had another exit. Jaindoh says if anyone is crying about our deaths, let them know we are okay.

Rumors

They return to the “hideout.” Cam sneaks out to get info from the urchins. The rumors are that one, the news of our death was greatly exaggerated, and two, last night there was an eerie glow over the City of the Dead. Other rumors are that ships offloaded cargo in a warehouse and there was a giant crocodile there that rampaged around and was finally put down by the guards.

Questioning at Guards Barracks Number 1

Reddy returns to work, talks to a ton of people, and returns to the hideout by the main entrance. So if anyone wants to trail us, they can find us. The next day, we all four exit the hideout, and three of us (with Cam hiding to watch) are overtly walking to the shelter. Cam notices a female who is sooty/dirty startles when she sees the three of us, and heads straight to the North Ward barracks. Cam abandons his watch to warn the other three that there might be guardsmen coming. The other three proceed to the shelter anyway, and Cam slips in the back way, so we’re all there. They say they want to question us about an arson, they say. They put us in four different rooms, make us all wait about an hour. We are interviewed in turn, independently, and each answer the guardsmen honestly with the truth.

In response to the questions: Jaindoh tells them we didn’t set the fire. Cam reveals his concern that someone lured us to the hovel and tried to frame us for some reason and kill us; that’s why we laid low for the past few days. Hakon gets confused by the questioning and somehow says that he’s acquainted with the weasel gentleman who’s a friend of the Endshift Tavern barkeeper--from his Loyalty aspect, Hakon says that anyone who’s a friend of the barkeep is a friend of Hakon’s. Reddy talks to the Detective, Frobert Potte, a veteran of 12 years, and convinces him to help in Field Ward and people in the Salt Pork community.

Looking for Tyrant’s Mercy Victims

People who were affected should be showing signs. But nobody in Saltpork shows symptoms.

City of the Dead

We take a meandering path through the graveyard. There are four gates into it. The stone wall is 12-15 feet high in places. It’s cold...there are patches of snow in places. Some mausoleums get lots of foot traffic, some nearly none. We head to the House of the Homeless mausoleum, it’s the largest mausoleum in the City of the Dead and is the one the tall, pale, thin, top-hatted man entered. It’s ringed with steps, it has ornate gates around it. It’s well known that this feeds into a natural cavern system. People who don’t have a place to be buried are brought here. Someday, we expect to be buried here--but not today!

We head inside. It’s huge and open. Lots of murals and paintings on the walls--of faceless, nameless people, to pay homage to the people who are buried here. There’s slate walls and chalk, so people can write memorials to people. There’s a spiral staircase leading below. We go down. There’s a large, central area with niches carved in the wall, with shelves for bodies. There are 7 passages leading off of it. Cam picks a passage leading toward (under) the city. We start walking: there are multiple chambers with 2 or 3 tunnels leading off of each; about 6-10 minutes walking between chambers. In the third chamber there is dried blood. We look up--there is a large blood splatter on the ceiling. In one of the three passages, there are a few drops of drying blood. Using her divine sense, Jaindoh determines that the passage with drying blood dims her divinity. Eeek. And when she attempts to enter it, she wants to back out but her feet won’t move; she is stuck, and it takes a huge effort of will to move back. Back in the chamber, she also senses that undead are approaching from the other two passages!

Undead Attack Us in the Bowels of the Caverns

Three slow-moving zombies come to the passage Hakon and Reddy are guarding; one “moist” undead that is agile and quick comes up the passage Cam and Jaindoh are guarding. Luckily, nothing approaches from the tunnel that we are afraid to enter. The Moist creature moves fast but goes down fast under our onslaught. The zombies take longer, it turns out they are resistant to damage.

Tall Thin Man’s Shadow

Looking back behind us, Hakon *thinks* he sees the shadow of a tall, thin man with a top hat down the passage with the dried blood. He calls out. Nothing responds or moves. We decide to get out of there. We lay the bodies at rest and say prayers.

Tomb on Lockdown

We report the undead encounter to the guards, who put the mausoleum on lockdown. Surely the natural caverns don’t have passages that lead out elsewhere into the city….