As it turns out, the PCs in the lift cage had been saved by one of the Nine Idols' Rest scholars, one Brother Vindex. He cautions them when exiting the cage, and Lucretia nearly falls to her death before the others grab hold of her. Below, Klytus and Kai secure the llama onto the cage, blindfolding and calming it for the ascent, not wanting to leave it behind in the Flats. Then, at last they also make the ride up the cliffside. Vindex escorts them past the Nine Idols themselves, massive and grotesque statues of fell Huguelid deities, into the partially ruined structure where he and the other scholars work. He tells them that he was expecting an Imperial war balloon bearing priests and surgeons from one of the cities, not some miners from Iosyne. He then warns them that there is a strange illness which has taken hold of the reliquary, from which three residents have perished and another is potentially very sick. The PCs hesitantly bring the camel and leave it tied off in the courthouse, and then are brought to meet with two other scholars, Brothers Bibulos and Phestus.
They are brought food by a Brother Scaro, and then introduced to the eldest scholar in residence, a brother Antigenes, who fetches one of his histories and then tells them what he knows of the witch Laothoe, whose undead head the PCs exhumed earlier from a mountain prison. Laothoe was a jealous sorceress and concubine who could persuade both the living and death, and ultimately seemed to have transcended death, after murdering the five wives and a dozen children of an ancient Huguelid king Varho. She was inevitably captured and beheaded, her head and body separated and stored away from one another where nobody would presumably find them. He knows that the city this all took place in was Vulci, located somewhere in the flats. He also tells them that there has been a traveling archaeologist in Ykklesias asking some similar questions. In return for the lore, he requests that the PCs, spending the night here from a saltstorm raging outside, investigate into the strange illness, since most of the scholars are occupied or not able to physically protect themselves well. They agree reluctantly only after Kai's father No-Neck disciplines them.
They rummage through the bedchambers of the scholars, finding some interesting notes and letters that have never been sent outside the reliquary. They briefly make the acquaintance of the gruff half-breed Brother Troga. They get the impression that some of these monks and scholars are condemned, inmates here rather than functioning Imperial employees. They discover that the three corpses of the fallen scholars are missing their left eyes, and that several arcane scrolls have bone missing from Brother Phestus' record room. The PCs then interview Brother Capiton, a paladin of Sanctos, who is keeping himself in isolation from the others in case he's the patient zero. They examine the bodies and find some interesting notes and small stone carvings, one of which is the fell deity Auvla, one of the Nine Idols. With this knowledge they scope out one of the ruined areas of the reliquary, in which some natural caverns lead to a broken off series of rooms underground. They are ambushed by a pair of darkmantles in the caverns, but quickly dispatch them, despite Lucretia being knocked out. They return her to the scholars for care and take No-Neck back with them.
They head back in and find the shrine to Auvla that they have seen on the fallen Brother Gallean's map of the reliquary, and locate a small, hidden cache of Imperial currency and a vial. They decide to deface the malachite-laced obsidian statue of Auvla that they also find there, but whilst trying to topple it, hear a male screaming off in the distance of the reliquary...
PCs: Kai Flintcoat, Klytus Bassa, Lucretia Tertula, Timon Bassa
Experience: 2200
Classes Unlocked: Arcanist, Cleric, Magus, Paladin, Wizard
NPCs
Antigenes (human male): Elderly Antigenes wears the
colors and outfit of an Imperial Tribune, with several badges of rank, but
otherwise does not bear the standard armor or armament of an Ekrysian soldier.
Instead, his arms end in cestus wrappings of ornate cloth designs, and a fancy,
bone-hilted flail is hung at his hip, which seems to catch the light from all
angles and glow near the shadows. Antigenes himself has all the folds of old
age on his face, and thinning white hair with large sideburns; but first
impressions are dominated by his bright green eyes, that burn with a strange
youth.
Bibulo (human male): Bibulo is a 50 year old human with long, auburn hair streaked with grays. He has a round, repugnant face with a short goat patch, and a constant twitch to his left eye. He wears a dulled crimson robe with silver trim, on which he is constantly and nervously rubbing his hands, and has a rusted longsword on a belt-strap. A silver disk bearing a hooded man with a lantern and sword is displayed prominently over his bristling chest hairs where his own robe is parted below the neck.
Capiton
(human male): Capiton is in his mid-30s, with tightly
cropped black hair, a browning bronze skin that betrays a mixed heritage, and a
square, stubbly face. He is well over six feet and has an athletic build, apart
from a sagging gut. His face and knuckles are both pockmarked by blisters, a
few of which weep, making it look like he has tears, and his eye-whites are
reddish as if ill. He is missing three fingers off his left hand, but the other
leans upon a scabbarded longsword. He bears a silvery white robe over what
looks like a shirt of mail, and it’s embroidered with silver fireflies.
Brother Phestus (human
male): Phestus has a
balding, sun-carred head and large, brown eyes beneath a thick and bushy brow,
singed on the left of his face. He has a blocky, misshapen body and walks with
a slight bend, and his tongue lolls about his mouth when he moves. He wears
practical, dun-colored robes, and his fingers and cuffs are heavily stained
with dyes or inks. He has a number of pouches overflowing with quills, parchments
and other scribing materials.
Brother Scaro (human
male): Scaro is a gaunt
young man with a nose that looks as if it’s been broken on a number of
occasions. His skin is sallow and he has pockmarks on his cheeks and running
down the left side of his neck. His hair is feathered but wispy, and he wears a
necklace bearing a wooden owl. His robes are violet but unkempt and even
shredded in a few spots, and he’s missing both of his small toes, evident in
the sleek leather sandals he sports.
Brother Troga (half-orc male): Troga’s skin is a yellowish-brown, and his flattened nose, elongated ear-tips and oversized molars seem to speak of a non human background. His black, receding hairline is tied into braids on his back, each of which is spiked with a piece of fashioned brass or bone. He carries a sling over his shoulder containing several sheafs and books, and leans on a knotted oaken staff with his other hand, to help him walk with a steady limp.
Brother Vindex (human male, wizard 2): Vindex is
usually wearing an elaborate brass mask with built in glass goggles and a
breathing apparatus that helps him outdoors in the salt-storms on the Flats. It
also seems to conceal a heavily burned or scarred face, and he’s reluctant to
take it off even when inside. A thick burgundy cloak is drawn up over the mask,
and is tied tight down his body. He wields a fancy brass club with a single
spike on its head, and a light crossbow is slung over his shoulder with a slender
case for bolts. A sack hanging on his side seems to contain a thick tome and
other implements.
