“Everybody ready?” Jax asked, getting
nods from the rest of the group. He nodded back, then set off down the western
corridor from the room they’d just searched. It quickly turned to the right,
and he found himself looking into a large room, its ceiling soaring 20’
overhead. Against the far wall was a four-poster bed; near it were a dresser
and a full-length mirror propped against one wall. A writing desk was against
the near wall just to his right. But Jax didn’t see any of this. All he saw was
the old man seated on the foot of the bed. It was a man he knew well, a man who
had been the author of all the pain and suffering Jax had experienced in his
short life. It was Gaedren Lamm.
“You!” Lamm cried, leaping to his feet
as he spotted Jax. “How did you find … I mean …
Jax! Thank god you found me, boy!” His expression shifted from terror to
an oily smile in an instant. “Now we can be partners, start a whole new
operation, just you and me. It was Yargin, and Giggles – they’re the ones who
wanted you dead. I always wanted to bring you into Management, but those two –
they were afraid of you. They knew you were so much better than them. And that
whole thing with Jit – that was Yargin. You know how he was with the girls. But
now we can have a fresh start, be full partners, just you and me.”
Jax eased into the room, his eyes not
leaving Lamm for an instant. “Hello Lamm. I’ve brought several of your old
friends here. They’re very anxious to say hello.” The others were filing silently
into the room behind Jax, their emotions in turmoil at suddenly coming face to
face with the man who had ruined their lives. “We’re sorry you slipped away
back at the fishery,” Jax continued. “Where have you been keeping yourself
these last few weeks?”
If Lamm recognized any of the others, he
didn’t show it; his attention was fixed on Jax. “I came here to hide with R… to
hide out here. But these Derros! They’re awful creatures! They’ve kept me
prisoner! You’ve got to get me out, Jax, then we can start over.”
“Where’s Rolth?” Jax asked.
Lamm gave a start. “What do you know
about my s… er, about Rolth?”
Jax edged closer, and Lamm backed away,
towards the far wall. There was another exit from this room, a passage leading
into another room, and Erin shifted over there, in case he tried to make a
break for it, her eyes never leaving Lamm. “Rolth’s not here,” Lamm stammered. “He
went into the city looking for some supplies. He’s a horrible man! You can't imagine the things he’s done, what he’s planning to do! Get me out of here, Jax!
Get me out, and we’ll start over.” He saw the look in Jax’s eyes, in all their
eyes. “Or just let me go. Let me go, and I’ll leave Korvosa and you’ll never
see me again.” He was begging now, his back literally against the wall. “I need
to get out before it’s too late. Let me go, and I’ll tell you what Rolth is
planning, who he’s working with.”
Everyone was so intensely focused on
Lamm that none of them noticed the figure that silently shambled out of the short
passage leading into the unexplored room until it swung a rotting fist at Erin’s
head. Luckily it was slow and clumsy, and she easily ducked under the blow, but
its attack snapped the tension that had been building in the room, and immeasurable
accumulated rage exploded into a fury of action. There was the twang of a
bowstring, and Tomas sank an arrow deep into Lamm’s gut. Jax charged; all his
training and finesse was abandoned as he blindly hacked at the man who had
killed so many people he had known, and the only person he had ever cared
about. Wren leaped onto the bed, screaming incoherently, and swung her mace down
to crush one of Lamm’s shoulders. Nat and Shadow simultaneously fired volleys
of magical bolts into his chest. Erin whirled her sword and spun in a circle,
taking the zombie’s head off in a single swing that sent black, clotted blood
spraying across the far wall.
Lamm was near death. He reached out one
hand to Jax, as if for support, then jerked him forward onto the blade of his
dagger. “I always hated you, brat!” he hissed, twisting the blade, then spat a
glob of phlegm and blood into his face. An instant later, Tomas’ arrow impaled
his throat, and he slumped lifeless to the floor.
Only Wren, from her vantage point atop
the bed, saw a ghostly hand come floating out over the zombie’s body and lay
its palm against Jax’s arm. Jax didn’t feel its ethereal touch, but he did feel
his life force being drained away. He cried out in agony, and Wren looked up to
see a figure floating in the air in the far room. It looked like another one of
the Derros, but instead of armor, this one wore a strange robe decorated with
bones, and it held a wand in its hand rather than a sword. “There’s someone in
there!” she cried. She conjured a Spiritual
Weapon to attack the flying Derro, but it missed.
Alerted to the new threat, the others
quickly refocused. Nat and Shadow both fired Force Missiles at the spectral hand, and it vanished in a puff of
ectoplasm. Cursing that his means of delivering touch spells at a distance was
eliminated, the Derro retaliated by casting a Sound Burst on the group clustered near the foot of the bed. Wren,
Tomas, and Jax were stunned as the sound blasted them. Shadow, his ears ringing
but his wits still about him, fired off a volley of Magic Missiles. The blue bolts of energy flew through the air, but
evaporated as they were about to strike their target. “Goddamned Shield spells,” Shadow cursed, recognizing
the magical protection.
The Derro caster had flown up towards
the ceiling of the far room, well out of reach. Erin cursed, and dropped her
sword to the ground, drawing her bow and quickly firing an arrow that clipped
the caster’s leg. Nat had a clear line of sight, and fired off a Scorching Ray that bathed the Derro in
searing flame.
Cursing in an unknown language, the
Derro swooped down and rapped Erin on top of her head with his wand. Instantly,
she was unable to move, blocking the passage leading between the two rooms.
Worse, she began to give off a sickening carrion stench that threatened to
disable anyone getting too close to her. Cackling, he rose back up out of
reach.
But that didn’t stop Shadow. Pulling out
a flask of Alchemist’s Fire, he used
it to enhance a Flaming Sphere that
appeared beneath the flying Derro then bounced straight up to engulf him in
flame, catching his clothing on fire. As the Derro tried to beat out the flames,
the others tried to do something to hurt him. Jax, recovering after being
stunned, realized that one of his Force
Missiles would likely fare no better than Shadow’s Magic Missiles, so instead he cast Vanish on himself. He picked up his sword and dashed invisibly past
the stinking Erin, hoping to get a surprise swing at the Derro. Tomas also
recovered and picked up his bow, but the angle to shoot at the target flying in
the next room was tricky, and the shot went wide. Wren cast a Bless as her Spiritual Weapon continued to miss.
Nat was standing right next to Erin, but
he had a long and intimate history with bad smells, and hers was no worse than
many others he’d experienced. He fired off another Scorching Ray at the Derro, but it seemed to have some innate
resistance to magic, and the spell had no effect on him. It dodged Shadow’s
bouncing Sphere as well as the Acid Splash he fired off from his wand.
But it didn’t dodge the two arrows Tomas sent flying in. It descended to an
altitude where Jax could swing up at it, but the swing was awkward and failed
to connect.
The Derro hadn’t appreciated those
arrows, so it cast a spell at Tomas and Shadow. Tomas felt his eyes grow heavy,
but he shook it off. Shadow wasn’t so lucky. He fell into a Deep Slumber on his feet, fell over, and
broke three ribs. The Derro flew back up to the ceiling; Jax managed to slash
his leg before he rose out of reach.
Tomas no longer had a shot at the flying
enemy, so he held his breath and dashed past the still-paralyzed Erin and into
the far room. Jax and Wren both fired crossbow bolts, but only Jax’s found its
mark. Nat followed Tomas into the room, and read a scroll of Burning Hands, but again, the Derro’s
spell resistance thwarted the spell.
Now everyone except the sleeping Shadow
were in the same room as the Derro, so he decided it was time to move. Snarling
at Nat, he pointed a finger and energy crackled. Nat felt his eyes begin to
water, then his vision darkened. “I can’t see!” he cried, stumbling backwards.
With a laugh, the Derro pulled something off his robe and dropped it to the
ground in front of Erin. It looked like a bit of embroidered cloth as it fell,
but as soon as it touched the ground it transformed into a creature – a hideous
zombie that looked like it might have been a gnoll in life. It snapped at
Tomas, trying to rip out his throat; instead its jaws closed on his shoulder
and it shook him like a dog with a rat.
Erin finally recovered from her
paralysis, and the stench (which everyone had fortunately resisted) dissipated.
She stepped back to recover her sword, which she had dropped in favor of her
bow just before being paralyzed. She swung at the gnoll zombie, but her
muscles were still stiff and she missed. Wren and Jax both stepped up and hit
the zombie, but it shrugged off the blow from Wren’s mace. Snarling, it turned
and snapped a Jax, ripping a gash across his chest that sent the rogue to the
floor, unconscious. Tomas took another step back and fired two more arrows into
the gnoll, but as with Wren’s mace, they did little damage. Wren hit it again,
ineffectually, then narrowly dodged its retaliatory bite. Erin took a deep
breath; she had done little to help her friends in this battle, and the shame
ate at her. Calling upon the grace of Iomedae, she swung her sword two-handed.
It sliced into the gnoll zombie’s side, and it had no resistance to the power
of her blade. With a shriek, it collapsed.
As Wren knelt to examine the fallen Jax,
the others finally had a chance to take in this room. Like the room where they
had found Lamm, this appeared to be a bedroom, with a short narrow bed, a small
chest, and a few shelves. There was also a long bench against the south wall.
On it lay a man’s torso and right arm; the arm, still attached, periodically
thrashed and clutched weakly at the air as if still alive. The chest and arm
were covered with vibrant tribal tattoos.
Wren cast Rebuke Death on Jax, and he weakly raised his head. Wren then Channeled the power of Pharasma, and as
the positive energy swept through the room the animated arm stopped moving, and
dropped heavily to the bench.
There were few objects on the shelves,
mostly odd bones and skulls, and a few trinkets the Derro might have scavenged
from dead victims. There was also his spellbook, inscribed with the name ‘Vreeg’. They went back to search the
room where they’d found Lamm. The chest contained nothing but clothing (none of
which looked like it would fit Lamm), but Wren found a niche behind the mirror.
It held a few small valuables, and also a large leather sack. When she opened
it, it was full of gold coins, along with a note:
Devargo
– We’ve been moving a lot of product for you – I expect a discount on future
shipments
The note was unsigned, but Jax knew who
it was from. “That’s Lamm’s handwriting,” he said confidently.
“Devargo!” said Tomas. “That’s got to be
Devargo Barvasi, from Eel’s End.”
Jax nodded. “When we surprised Lamm at
the Fishery, there was a thug with him with the Eel’s End tattoo. And we found
a big shipment of shiver. I’m guessing that we interrupted a delivery, and when
Lamm escaped, he took the money that was supposed to have paid for the shiver
with him.” He nodded at the sack.
“That means that Devargo Barvasi must be
Lamms supplier,” Tomas said excitedly. “Field Marshal Kroft needs to hear about
this!”
But Shadow was looking at something on
the desk. “Hey guys – check this out.” Everyone gathered around. On the desk,
displayed in a place of honor, was a dagger, shaped like a key. It looked very
much like the one they’d found in Lamm’s quarters at the Fishery, except that
this one’s tip was broken off. “Does it have an inscription about a ‘father’,”
Erin asked. Shadow examined it carefully. There was no inscription, but it was
engraved with a pair of initials: ‘RL’. “Hey Nat,”
Shadow called, “come take a look at this! Nat? Nat?”
Nat was sitting forlornly on the foot of
the cot in the other room, still blind. “When will this wear off?” Jax asked
hopefully.
“It won’t,” Nat moaned. “It’s permanent.”
Everyone froze.
“Permanent?” Erin gasped. “You mean you’ll
never see again?”
“Well, permanent until someone dispels it,”
Nat clarified, and everyone let out a sigh of relief.
“Well that’s not so bad then,” Jax said,
clapping Nat on the back. It took him totally unawares, and he toppled forward
off the bed. “We’ll just let you rest here while we check out the rooms we
haven’t explored yet.”
But Nat was not keen on the idea of
being left alone in a den of sadistically cruel Derros, so ultimately he followed
halting along with the group, one hand clutching Wren’s belt while the other
swept along the wall. They had found most of Gaekhen’s body: legs in the otyugh
corpse dump, head with the half-built flesh golem, torso and right arm in Vreeg’s
quarters. But they were still missing his left arm. There was an unexplored
closed door near the golem construction room, so they went there next. Jax
cautiously opened the door and found it full of the most dangerous thing on
Golarion: knowledge. The room was a library, with two free-standing shelves
loaded with tomes and scrolls. Most were treatises on necromancy or the art of
creating golems, but there were a surprisingly large number of books on
diseases and plagues as well. “These could be a really useful reference for
healers,” Wren murmured as she thumbed through one of them.
That really only left one door unopened:
the one that they’d found nailed shut in the alchemy lab. They were naturally
reticent about opening it, and procrastinated as long as they could. In the
process, they found several secret doors they’d overlooked earlier, but they
all simply led to small passages that the Derros apparently used as shortcuts
around the underground complex. At last, everyone positioned themselves around
the room as Jax began prying off the boards that were nailed to the door.
As he removed the last one, the entire
door slowly fell backwards into the room. The room inside had once been a
pantry or storeroom, but it was now in shambles. Broken crates and shelves were
strewn across the floor, along with the foodstuffs and supplies they had once
held. The source of the destruction was obvious: in the center of the room
stood a reeking monstrosity, a lurching mash-up of rotting flesh, jagged bone,
and coarse hair, that seemed to have been constructed from multiple mismatched
corpses. It let out a strangled roar and waved its makeshift weapon: a man’s
left arm, covered in tattoos.
The stench from the thing was
overpowering as it rolled out the open door. Trying not to gag, Jax charged forward.
His sword cut deep into the thing, but the flood of clotted blood, pus, and
other fluids it released was just too much, and he could do nothing but vomit
violently. The carrion golem took advantage of his condition and pummeled him
with first a fist and then with Gaekhen’s arm. Tomas cast Gravity Bow, but his eyes were watering so badly that his shot went
wide, and then he too began to vomit.
The others were reluctant to get any
closer to the reeking thing. Erin fired her bow, but the arrow went wide. Wren
called forth her Spiritual Weapon but
had no better luck hitting with it than she had against Vreeg. Shadow pummeled it
with a volley of Magic Missiles as
Tomas staggered away from the stench, his armor covered with puke. Erin
gathered all her courage and charged into the room, but she was losing her
breakfast before she even reached the thing, and her swing missed by a mile.
“Please
help us, Pharasma,” Wren prayed silently, then
directed her Spiritual Weapon for one
last swing. This time the glowing hammer struck true. It slammed down onto the
golem’s skull, shattering it with a spray of brains and gore. Jax hastily
grabbed Gaekhen’s arm then helped drag Erin out of range of the cloud of stink.
Fifteen minutes later, they emerged from
the Dead Warrens into the fresh air and brilliant early-afternoon sunshine.
Tomas was pushing the wheelbarrow, loaded with the dismembered pieces of the
murdered Shoanti’s body – along with the body of Gaedren Lamm, the man who had
turned their lives into Hell. Could this long nightmare truly be over?
The PCs earned 1,500 XP, putting them at
8,860 with 10,000 required for Level 5.
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