- GM’s note: Grant and Ethan enter the river caverns.
- The menacing Greg decides to take charge of the situation. They know that Greg is a debt-collector, and they can see why. He is powerfully built, his face is scarred, and he carries a mace with him. He cuts an intimidating figure. He leads them into the caverns where they can rest out of the rain.
- Tellurian is resuscitated and needs a few minutes to catch his breath. Gareth doesn’t seem particularly keen to follow Greg’s lead, but he sees little alternative. Grant hangs back, helping Ethan to walk. Ethan’s injuries look pretty bad, but Ethan says that he’ll live (Grant knows that Ethan will be subtly using Eidolon to heal himself).
- The opening leads to a maze of tunnels. Tellurian uses magic to create a light source and they begin exploring, trying to find a way out. Grant and Ethan find that their Wayfinding isn’t working very well here. This sort of interference must be related to why they came here – there is something that will happen here, or near here.
- Greg, Tellurian and Gareth lead the way. They find a group of goblins who are in no mood for a fight. Their leader, Boz, explains that two of their number have been eaten by a creature in the catacombs. They are trying to rest before trying to get past the creature to escape. While the discussion goes on, Grant slips away (he can see in the dark with his Umbra mastery) and he finds a locked door nearby. This is no barrier to a Master of the Stair, and he finds a bolthole inside with a bed, some dried rations on the shelves and some wood for a fire. It looks like this is a hiding place for unknown persons.
- Returning to the group, Grant persuades Greg that they should avoid the dangerous monster that has eaten two of the goblins and they start exploring other passageways. They quickly find the locked door, which Tellurian can open with a simple spell. Inside there is a place to rest and get warm. Even though there is only one bed and not even enough food for all of them, there is firewood here and a place to light it. Hence, they warm and dry themselves. Ethan sits quietly and uses Eidolon to slowly heal himself.
- They decide to wait out the storm before moving on. Hours later, probably close to dawn, they begin moving again. Wary that the monster that the goblins spoke of may be hungry again, they move carefully. This time they all have torches of wood which they have salvaged from the firewood.
- They find many passageways, some of them collapsed but Boz and the other goblins have left. Unwilling to face the monster in the dark, they try to find another way out. This leads them into a section of the catacombs that is less waterlogged and appears to be man-made. Unfortunately, poor Gareth triggers a trap and is shot in the chest with a crossbow bolt and gravely injured. The trap itself is not old – it’s been recently armed. Grant joins Greg at the front of the party whilst Ethan assists a badly wounded Gareth.
- This new section of catacombs appears to have partially collapsed, just like the rest, but it is not natural. They find torch sconces, a hidden alcove with a fountain which spews brown muck from a fish-faced creature.
- Travelling deeper, they find a chamber where they find a meditating robed figure. The figure appears to be deep in a trance but there is an old tapestry on the wall which Tellurian identifies as ‘ancient Nyrath’. Smeared in blood are words which the others cannot read, but Grant and Ethan read part of a prophecy.
- “Five Deaths as Five are the Points of Its Star.
The First Death an Innocent One.
The Second Death a Servant of the Merciful.
The Third Death the Hand of Justice.”
- Greg attempts to confront the robed figure but just as he is about to land a hand on him, the figure whirls and snarls at him. It is a fish-faced creature like that seen in the alcove. There are crude teeth in its maw and it casts a black spell, casting bolts of energy and hurling Greg back.
* A Lurker. Image sourced from Google Images
- Greg is more angry than hurt and he swings his mace at the creature, doing a serious wound to its head. However, the creature goes berserk and swings a stone axe of its own, catching Greg full in the face. Greg crumples and the creature takes a further step before succumbing to its own injuries. Staggered by the loss of Greg, Grant steps up to take charge.
- They search the rest of the chamber and find that a good section of this place has collapsed, but there are two damaged statues here. One is of a woman who appears to be holding snakes, or perhaps eels. The other is of a woman holding a large stone ring. It looks like there was once a third statue, but it has been crushed when the roof collapsed.
- Exploring further, Grant runs into more of the fish-men. They appear to have performed some sort of human sacrifice. With the others out of eyesight, Grant cuts loose and kills them all. He can’t find the sacrificed body but he finds clothes and belongings of the poor fellow. This man was Sheriff Thaddeus Tystamere, a ‘man of justice’. Grant quickly guesses that this is the prophesized third sacrifice and that these fishmen have two more kills to make before something ‘bad’ happens.
- They find the body of poor Thaddeus and his horse being slowly devoured by adolescent fishmen in the next room, in a shallow pool. Grant decides to kill them all, and they work together to wipe out the creatures.
- On the way out, Grant senses the presence of magic and he is able to find a secret stash of over a thousand copper pieces. At last they are able to find an exit to the surface. The stairs leading upwards are covered by a wooden sheet. Once removed, they find that it is daytime outside and they are able to reach the woods only a few hundred yards from the bridge.
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