====== Tof-240612-eric ====== - [[Hamnefi the Icefist]] says that [[Harrogate]] is sort of rotting, things are going bad faster than they should, almost like the place is cursed - He wants to know why we're there, I tell him to get his permission to enter the trench lane - He says he can't get into [[Harrogate]] because he's too heavy, so he tries to lure the cultists (which he calls "termites") out - He says that if we get rid of the cult, without destroying [[Harrogate]], he would give us permission - He says they have been using the elevator a lot, but he disabled them - Now, they've retreated into the catacombs - He hasn't sniffed any out from the underdock in a few weeks, but the rot is continuing to spread - He thinks they have some sort of dark magic - We ask him how to get to the catacombs - [[Cerelia Windweaver]] offers to show us, which [[Hamnefi the Icefist]] is grumpy about but agrees to as long as we keep her safe - She says she'll show us the entrance but that's all - We get back aboard our ship, and head into the docks - The harbormaster shouts out asking who we are and what we're doing here - I let him know who we are, and that we're here to go into the catacombs - He opens some docks and directs us to the back left - We sail in and dock - [[Cerelia Windweaver]] lets us know that these are literal catacombs, so we decide to stop and do some shopping - We once again run into "Any Store in a Port," complete with Salty Pete - He once again leaves his ring on the counter - I decide to take the bait and put the ring on - It is definitely magical, and it feels like it belongs on my finger - I buy a shovel and some caltrops - We're led the rest of the way to the catacombs - We start sneaking through the catacombs, with [[Milhouse]] taking point - [[Ell]] trips and disturbs a grave, but accidentally discovers something shiny - It looks like a bird - It's some sort of mechanical parrot - We continue exploring until we find some staircases going East & West, with some light and faint sounds coming from the Western one - [[Fish-Kicker]] sneaks ahead to check it out, and warns us that he saw a large room, with some cultists - We head down - There is a large room full of more dead bodies, and several cultists - One of them shouts "Keep looking, we have to find the source!" - [[Avercrumbie]] says that these catacombs supposedly had some source of power set up by a High Captain in the past - We get into position, and launch our attack - [[Ell]] turns into a giant snake - One of them with a tentacle thing makes a lot of loud, creepy noises - [[Fish-Kicker]] seems to be afraid of him, unnaturally so - [[Crawn]] fucks some up with Eldritch Blast, I step in to get a cultist off of her - One tries to stab me, but misses and kills his ally - We make our way through the cultists, and then their leader comes out and claps, saying "Perhaps this will be entertaining" - He has enormous hands, he's Johnny Longhands, and he's going to fight us - After we defeat him, [[Avercrumbie]] comes and starts kicking his pieces away, as it appears to be trying to reform itself - [[Avercrumbie]] says it's called a Boneclaw, and we can't fully kill it - [[Milhouse]] says they are failed liches - Apparently we have to find its master, and destroy that, to keep it from re-appearing - It only needs to be within a few miles of its master to re-form - We start to explore the area to find some of the important things that were supposedly hidden in here by the creator of the catacombs - [[Ell]] finds a possible hidden door, [[Avercrumbie]] and I try to help him figure out how to open it - [[Ell]] finds some runes in the wall, which I recognize as holy markings of some sort - [[Milhouse]] says that this entire place is some sort of ritual chamber, to drain bodies of their fluids into the west wall (and likely a hidden room inside it) - We decide to try this with the bodies of some of the cultists - We are able to get the door opened, we see a blue glow coming from inside - We go to investigate, [[Avercrumbie]] runs ahead - We see some kind of glowing runes on the floor, between some pillars of skulls - There is some sort of electric energy coming from them, hitting a circle in the middle of the room, leading to a drain - [[Avercrumbie]] thinks that this is used to fuel the city using the dead - We head back upstairs to look for the end of this route that the fluid / blood is taking - We start exploring, eventually we find a casket with chains on it - I manage to open the chains ,opening a secret door, but a vampire pops out and tries to bite [[Crawn]] - We fight it a bit, and then it gets pulled back into its casket, but the door behind it starts to close - We head down through the door and find a desk with a paper and 5 vials on it - The journal page reads: *"Kamangara has convinced Lintu to join them on combined front, they mean to take Harrogate and cripple our hold on Northsea. I will not let them take my port, nor will I allow them to advance to Binsogim. Guanyin is too stubborn to not face them on the sea despite her injuries, so I will personally end the advance of both navies.* *I go to see Rahn, and I will take all of my possessions with me save this one page as a warning. Leave my work here intact or Harrogate will surely fall. No one can use my work against me or my port or my sailors. I have seen to that.* *And beware, old crow, choose your next actions carefully."* - We head back upstairs, and we find the mechanical parrot from earlier again - I pick it up, and suddenly there is a cold breeze and someone shouting "My bird, my precious bird! I can't rest without my bird!" - A ghost appears in front of us, saying it wants the bird back - [[Ell]] points out that the bird seems to be following us - I convince her that the bird should be allowed to have its own adventures if it wants to - She agrees to let the bird come with us if we give her another bird, so [[Ell]] gives her the paper bird he had - The bird is named [[Polly]], after her -- Polly Cogsworth - Suddenly, we hear a shrill scream from the entrance of the catacombs! {{tag>notes:session camp:TOF}}