2nd Shift (8/23/18): Getting a Head

Octavius 7, 340 EE.

Timon carefully checks over the pack before grabbing it, and it turns out to contain a pair of small-sized reading spectacles and a roughed-up book that seems to be a manual on how to speak the Draconic language. The PCs double back to the larger, salt crystal strewn cavern corridor and discover a smudged chalk mark near the southern exit, and a broken ribcage from some create to the east. They end up heading southward, where they pass a large stone seal which seems unusual for these caves. Kai identifies it as human masonry, but not anything recent. Further along, they find another seal, broken, in a chamber with a small pool of water gathered. An alcove off this chamber leads to a triggered pit of stone spikes, in which they find the body of Eleon 'Elfchin' Strachys, along with a pile of treasure beneath him which must have been what was hidden in the trap.

Kai decides to get a glimpse through the second broken wall-seal, and so he smashes it repeatedly with his warhammer until it falls down. Several of the PCs seem jumpy to leave the caves, now that they've found what happened to the foreman's son, but they reluctantly follow the dwarf. In this sealed area, they find a pair of shambling, upright corpses which are carrying a head in a jar on some palanquin...in a chamber with a carved alter and lit by an unusual torch. They decide to destroy the two corpses, and a dangerous melee ensues in which most of the characters are either laid low or severely beaten...the PCs persevere only through chance and the use of fire and oil they can muster on the undead things.

After the fight, Timon goes out to find Praetex Protho, and it turns out the salt storm has arrived, the veteran digger and his llama Raf are pinned down in Piss Pot Alley. Timon brings him back into the caves, showing him the battle site and the female head in the jar, and they decide to take a day to care for the wounded while checking occasionally for threats or the storm to clear.

Octavius 8, 340 EE.

Once the sands clear, the group moves out to the tents at the Foothold dig site, and they begin to clean up the damage from the salt storm for whoever has the next shift there. They decide for the moment to leave the corpse of Eleon and the jar in the caves, and embark on another 8-hour rest to continue healing Klytus and Lucrezia. At the end of this rest, three of the other miners from Iosyne show up, and aren't happy about the news of Eleon's passing, though they insist the PCs be the ones to tell foreman Straps. Gross accompanies Kai, Timon and Klytus back in the cave to retrieve Eleon's body. He seems curious about one of the items they found in the pit trap, the buckler with the cat symbol, and tells them it's the symbol of Favhik, god of thieves, and that he can get them more info if needed. They find Elfchin's body, but it's strangely been moved to a different location than where Klytus left it.

Mute rides off with the still-unconscious Lucrezia on the back of his llama, while Gross and Man Handler take another. Praetex takes the remains of Eleon on Raf, and orders the three conscious PCs to 'stay behind and finish cleaning up the site' before marching back to Iosyne, knowing full well they probably want to examine the head in the jar even further. Kai decides to start smashing the glass when suddenly the woman's eyes flutter open, glowing red and flashing white...

PCs: Kai Flintcoat, Klytus Bassa, Lucretia Tertula, Timon Bassa,
Experience: 600
Classes Unlocked: Rogue, Warrior

NPCs

Manius ‘Mute’ Mutilus (human male): Noted for his distinct greased moustaches, Manius strikes a unique figure, lithe and fit and very much aware of this. His long hair has a silken texture to it that he carefully maintains, and his facial hair is arranged into the most ornate of displays, with a carefully trimmed goatee and a moustache that tapers off into six points, giving the impression that he has whiskers. He is the best dressed among the salt pickers by an order of magnitude, with a fancy tunic and breeches beneath a forest green duster that some claim is enchanted. He also carries a silvered rapier in his belt.

Meleagros ‘Gross’ Krispos (human male): Born with a deformity, Gross has a nose that looks like a pig’s, only split in half, and the misshapenness doesn’t end there…his left eye is fatter and lower on his face than the other, and his right ear is also unusually small compared to its partner. Due to these mutations, the man is the most mocked in Iosyne, to the point which he seems to be used to it, shutting up and doing his digs and bottling up as much of his petulant personality as he can. The sharp daggers he brings along on his jobs seem like they’re intended for his tormentors, but so far have only been used to skin some wild animals and fend off a couple giant blood-starved fleas out in the field.

Ravilla ‘Man Handler’ Mutilus (human female): Ravilla could not cut a more opposite picture to her husband Manius, with thick arms and muscular legs and one of the most advanced physiques in Iosyne. She is obviously a foreign-born woman, with dark chestnut skin and curls in her raven-black hair, and has almond colored eyes. Unlike her husband, she prefers to oil her skin and avoid wearing a duster, constantly showing off her muscles as a threat to others who tangle with her family. She is sparse with her words, and wields not just one pickaxe, but two, ‘One for digging, the other for death-dealing’.