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 Finch 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 Finch comes and starts kicking his pieces away, as it appears to be trying to reform itself
- Avercrumbie Finch 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 Finch 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 Finch 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 Finch 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!

session, TOF