After steeling himself(themselves?) for the foul trip through the rancid water, Morin(and whoever decides to go with him) dives down into the water and pulls himself hand-over-hand along the prepared rope and through the underwater tunnel. For better or worse Father Kyte's spell allows him to breath the awful water, and soon he emerges under the hot Numerian sun. (DC 15 Fort Save or sickened for 1 minute.)

On the pond's shore he finds a contingent of guards already waiting for him, though it seems he isn't why they are there--a number seem to be properly injured and being treated by others or being loaded onto and carried off in stretchers. Nearby a mass of oil-soaked fungus burns--occasionally twitching as it does and being stabbed by a watchful, spear-wielding guard. A few better-dressed people, possibly from the nearby estates, stand about either gawking or helping to tend the injured. As Morin(and company) regain their composure and take in the sight, the same guard who had greeted the party as they emerged the day before, though now with his left arm bound in a sling, approaches while eyeing the pond's water for signs of any more disturbances, "Good, at least some of you made it out! We assumed the worse when we saw the monster come out."

Only a few steps behind him comes a middle-aged woman in finely made clothing covered by a leather apron and unfortunate smudges of dirt and grease. She passes the guard, unfazed by the stench of the water and the violent surroundings to kneel down and offer a wineskin to the gnome--filled with proper wine--and ask, "Are you alright? And your team? Are there more beasts coming?" She seems genuinely concerned for Morin's well-being though it is eclipsed by her concern for the town and the evils emerging from beneath it.

OOC: I'm not sure how much help Khonnir would need getting out of the cave.  If it seems necessary, I ask Cael to manhandle him through the tunnel.

After he had finished puking out industrial waste, Morin took a long, horrified look at the chaos around him, and felt a pang of guilt over his role in causing it.  Still, he reassured himself, it could have been worse.  From the looks of things, nobody was dead. Well, except for poor Mr T.  Maybe if Synn had been alive, she could have gotten the fungus through town without any kind of disturbance.  But a confused monster, bursting out of that tunnel in a panic and running into the guards posted by the water?  There was only one way that was going to go.  The poor kid never had a chance.

Taking a deep swig of the offered wine, Morin gave the guard and the councilwoman a weak smile.    "Don't worry, everything's under control.  Totally fine!  There shouldn't be any more monsters coming out of that cave.  Mr Tentacles here just...well, he slipped away in the middle of a fight and made it to the tunnel."

He looked the middle aged woman over.  Anyone who wore an outfit that nice as work clothes had to be important.  "Are you with the council?"  He asked.  "I've already met Freddert and Kyte and Baine, which means you must be Solantha Olandir.  Perfect!  We need to have a talk with you in private, but first the good news:  You owe us a scroll of resurrection!"  Clearly enjoying the moment, the gnome made a sweeping, theatrical gesture towards the pool, where the others were still pulling themselves out from the muck.  "Ladies and Gentlemen, I present: Khonnir Baine!"

21:06, Today: Morin Matzylford rolled 5 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 1.  fort save.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:44, Wed 05 July 2023.

Cain waddles out of the foul water while helping Khonnir as much as he can. The dive was as just as unpleasant as he remembered it, but at least he managed to avoid losing his last meal. Or he would have, had he anything to lose after the previous dive inside.

The sight of the mess waiting for them outside worried him for a moment, but it appeared that the guards managed to handle the monster without more casualties. Not exactly an ideal outcome of this situation, but it beats having it go on a rampage through the town. And at least they would not have to search for the councilor and the guards now.

"Khonnir may not be dead, but he is injured somehow. We should get him to a healer as soon as possible. And I guess those three would need some healing as well, but that's up to you." He indicates their prisoners, leaving to the rest of the party to fill in the details on what has happened.

Just managed the save. I guess I could have used Twist Away, but I could not think of a way reflexes could save Cain from throwing up.
13:53, Today: Cain rolled 15 using 1d20+1 with rolls of 14.  Fort save (DC 15).

"Well, if I must." Councilor Olandir jokes to the gnome as she listens to his report. She seems somewhat puzzled by the Gnome's claim she owes him a scroll until Khonnir rises from the putrid water of the pond with Cain. She rushes over to the mute mage, now worse for wear after being overcome by the water, and greets him, "Khonnir, you're alive! What happened down there? ...are you alright?" She looks puzzled as the man returns her a weak, familiar smile but otherwise doesn't respond, his short attention drifting off somewhere else, and instead asks the nearby Cain, "What happened to him?"

Meanwhile, inside the Black Hill Caves Cael takes some time to gag the prisoners' mouths shut since the others seemed concerned about news of the Technic League spreading and begins the process of dragging them through the underwater tunnel.

As the prisoners begin to arrive the councilor looks to the party and asks insistently, "What's going on, did they do this?"

Ionaya looked like a drowned fay as her body was wracked with coughing convulsions. She shook, shuddered, and writhed like a wild thing freeing itself from a corrosive bath. She looked miserable and furious all at the same time.

Stumbling well away from the edge, she coughed up more of the liquid offal that somehow passed for water. Staggering over to Khonnir and the others, her lips moved as she softly coughed out something that could have been a spell or a curse.

[Language unknown: Con te icfor espela ri Eili ersti Ndsi yinthuvor ounwiless lo m ersthuhouand acbe ngasec. Ur antnt avetedtho et Rutthesan holo ne wa. ]
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:29, Thu 06 July 2023.

After a concerned glance at the cursing sorceress, Cain gives an answer to the councilor. "Hmm? Oh, we found him stuck in a... something. Not sure what happened to him there, he seems to recognize us and can walk - more or less - but that's about it. We hoped that Joram might know what is wrong with him, and how to fix it."

He busies himself helping Khonnir and the rest of the party out of the water, letting someone else inform the councilor about the prisoners.

Morin nodded along with Cain's explanation.  "Yeah.  We did our best look him over, but none of us are healers.  So the only thing we could really figure out is...well, that he needs a healer!" 

With a gesture towards Sanvil and the ropefists, Morin loudly added: "And while we were rescuing the councilor, these scumbags were setting up an ambush!  They killed our new girl Synn while she was alone, and they drove that fungus creature out into the town."  That was pretty much all Morin was willing to say in public.  The details could wait until there were a few less people around to listen in.

"Look, we need to get Khonnir some healing.  Would you folks mind locking up these scumbags somewhere secure?  And careful with Sanny, he knows magic.  And, uh..." Morin motioned for the councilor to crouch down, so he could whisper in her ear. "You shouldn't let them talk to anyone, except people you really trust." Letting Olandir stand back up, Morin continued in his normal voice.  "Once you've got them squared away, I would appreciate it if you could round up the rest of the council, and meet us down at the temple.  There's some important business we need to discuss."

Zorden brought up the rear as their expedition once again made its way through the black ichor that was supposedly water which separated the tunnels from the outside world.

As was customary he then spent a short while purging the foul liquid and just about everything else from his insides and then lay in a sodden heap for a few moments until he'd recovered himself enough to get to his feet.

As Morin and Cain appeared to be doing a fair enough job of explaining things to councilor Olandir, Zorden took a moment longer to pull the things he'd tucked into his dry bag for the transition out of the tunnels and ready it for quick access.

There were guards enough he wasn't very worried about the trio of prisoners attempting to escape, but he kept one eye on them while he busied himself none the less.

Zorden rolled 10.  Fort save (DC 15)

The councilor furrows her brow as she looks between the party members with a mix of confusion, disbelief, and sorrow as Cael finally emerges from the water with the body of Synn. After a pause she calls to a guard behind her, "Captain Langer?"

"Yes, councilor?" a stern-looking woman with fiery hair and finely crafted, if worn, breastplate armor heavier than the common guardsmen asks as she approaches.

"Take these men into your personal custody--the highest precautions for Mister Trett--and no one but you or the council is to speak with them."

"Right away." The guard captain affirms before turning to gather a few uninjured gaurdsmen to escort the prisoners.

The councilor looks disapprovingly at the two hoodlums, but then to the bound and gagged merchant and assures him apologetically, "We'll get this sorted as soon as we can, Mister Trett." She then turns to a pair of younger boys gawking from the edge of the recent battlefield and calls out, "Gannek, Jorga!" and waves for them to come. As the boys arrive she instructs, "Gannek, go to the Otterbies' and then Crowfeather to track down the councilor or Father Kyte. Tell them Councilor Baine has been recovered and they're needed urgently at Temple of Brigh. Jorga, go to the Town Hall where Councilor Freddert should be and then the guildhouse in case Otterbie is there. Same message." The boys nod obediently, grasping the importance of the chore, and quickly split up and jog away. The councilor then looks to Cael cradling Synn's body and offers, "We can get a stretcher to carry--" but is quickly cut off by a stern grunt and shake of the head from the barbarian.

The party, lead by the eager Serantha Olandir but slowed by the feeble and confused Khonnir Baine, then make their way through the streets of Torch past Silverdisk Hall gambling house, The Copper Coin tavern, and Market Square. After a turn and crossing the bridge over Seven Tears River they even pass the Town Hall, where the stout Dolga Freddert is already emerging to join them and even the young Jorga can be seen jogging off to the north ahead of them. Finally, they arrive at the Temple of Brigh and upon approaching the domed portico of the complex Councilor Olandir opens a door to the northern building and gestures for the party to enter with a simple, "In here," before moving to enter the southern building--which most of the party knows to be the temple's workshop and storefront.

This northern building, after a small foyer of closets, cabinets, and cubbies, seems to be a hospital or barracks of sorts. There are ten beds lined up in the room, five to a side, but they all lie empty for now--with the Torch out the town's industry shuttered no one seems to be injuring themselves. Cael gently sets Synn down in one of the beds and soon Council Olandir joins the party with Councilors Kyte and Freddert right behind her. The elderly Joram Kyte happily pats Cain and Zorden on the shoulder as he moves to greet and check on Khonnir while the dwarven Dolga Freddert stays back, visibly happy to see her fellow councilor again but staying out of the priest's way.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:58, Fri 07 July 2023.

"Khonnir! It's good to see you! You had us worried! Can you tell us what happened to you down there?" the priest asks the councilor but gets the same dumb smile he's been giving to everyone he's familiar with. Concerned, he takes a small wrench from his tool-laden leather apron and with a whisper causes one end to shine brightly which he then holds up to Khonnir's face, "Can you follow this with your eyes?" But the injured man only winces and turns away from the light. The priest frowns at the alchemage's uncooperativeness and moves on to examine the deep, surgical cuts on his limbs as he asks the party, "Is there anything you can tell me about what happened to him?"
This message was last edited by the player at 02:22, Fri 07 July 2023.

Cain scratches his head, not sure anything he could tell would be of help to Joram.

"Not much I can tell, I'm afraid. We found him stuck in a metal tube of some sort, in what may have been a hospital, though not like any I have ever seen before. Metal walls, strange technological lights, weird monsters and beasts and even weirder machines and tools are everywhere down there. One of those machines must have dragged away Khonnir to that tube after a fight. Ionaya here may tell you more on that, she was part of Khonnir's party."

OOC: I assume we looted the usable items we found in that room?



Maybe something in this junk we found could help Joram? And if not, he may be able to at least identify it for us.

Zorden watched Councilor Olandir deal with Sanvil Trett and wondered if the deference apparently offered was because his connections to the League were known, and he was going to be cut loose in short order in some bid to appease the League, or if she was just trying to keep him from doing anything overly rash.

Once at the temple he stood towards the back as Kyte examined Councilor Baine.  He didn't have much to add beyond what Cain had already stated.  Zorden did worry as Joram didn't immediately seem to know what had happened to the other man, or quick to try something to aid his fellow councilor, which Zorden did not take as a hopeful sign.  Though perhaps Joram Kyte was always slow and methodical about things, and this was just another such example.

Morin nodded at Cain's explanation, and joined him in laying out the wide variety of tech items looted from both the metal ruins and from Sanvil's backpack.  Digging through the various supplies, he pulled out the scroll of technomancy that had been with Khonnir's equipment.  "We've got a big enough pile of this stuff, it might be worth the scroll.  The magic doesn't really jive with my way of doing things, but it might be better off in your hands, Cain."

OOC: Morin can't benefit from technomancy, since he's using bardic knowledge to bypass the technologist feat.  I know Cain has technologist, so it should be good to give him a +10 on checks to identify tech.  Or it might be better spent by Cain scribing it into his spellbook for future use.

Turning back to the councilors, Morin cleared his throat for attention.  "And now for the other reason we asked you all to come here.  I hate to be he bearer of bad news, but you folks have rats in your house.  Sanny's with the Technic League.  He said so himself, when he tried to jump us.  And what's worse, is that he claims to have sent a letter home telling his boss that there's a treasure trove of artifacts hidden below the town.  I'm going to ask around, see if I can find out if he actually did send a letter yesterday.  Assuming Sanvil's not full of shit, can anyone think of a good way to intercept said letter before it gets where it's going?"

Stepping forward to both look over Khonnir and to speak with Joran Kyte, the airy sorceress replied "I am Ionaya. I was travelling with
Councilor Baine to lend what assistance I could. After overcoming many foes, plants, other planer and otherworldly creatures,
we were finally overcome by many large machine monsters. They defeated us because the double-crossing coward Gerrol Sonder fled almost instantly."

After a windy sound of disgust, she continued, "We were taken prisoner and the machine monsters injected councilor Khonnir with many strange fluids
and drained us of our lifeblood and other body fluids."

"Take care, lass. Gerrol is a friend to many in town and braved to enter those caves twice for the good of Torch. Everyone who goes down there is a hero ... even if they lose their nerve." He nods respectfully and eyes each of the party in turn before adding, "But if he hasn't returned I'm afraid he may have met a worse fate than you or Mister Baine."

"Injected, you say?" Father Kyte repeats thoughtfully as he notes the variety of injectors the party begins to unpack and display from their looted goods. "Numerian ruins contain all kinds of healing and bolstering injectors ... there must also be poisons and diseases." He takes another close look into Khonnir's eyes before stepping back and excusing himself, "Please, allow me some time to pray," and leaves the room to head to the Temple's chapel.
07:54, Today: Dungeon Master, on behalf of Joram Kyte, rolled 25 using 1d20+12 with rolls of 13.  Heal Check(ish).