Although the outdoors market in the center of the village is set up, all of the vendors tending to their booths as the company arrives, the activity within the marketplace is notably subdued, with only a few customers circulating and examining the wares on offer.

Many of the villagers are gathered outside of the Foul Pheasant, the two story gambling hall which is situated to the east of the Brazen Strumpet. Many appear to be talking excitedly among themselves and it is apparent that something has transpired at the establishment that has attracted a great deal of attention. Drawing nearer, the company can see a pair of men-at-arms, doubtlessly soldiers loyal to the village’s widely disliked ruler, Krothos Ironguard, posted at the Foul Pheasant’s entrance.

Further east, the company members observe a few wisps of purple smoke wafting out of the uppermost window of Mazzahs’ tower.
This message was last updated by the GM at 15:53, Thu 04 Aug 2022.

Barnabus finds himself to be no different than the costermongers and the villagers who have swarmed the entrance to the den of games. He, too, wants to know what's up even though there hadn't even been anything to prick his curiosity. Sidling up the the crowd, he listens to their excited babble before choosing which questions to pose.

Malivoire found the quiet of the market slightly unsettling, and the crowd gathered outside the Foul Pheasant doubly so.  He had not forgotten the wailing track the gem's spirit had fled, and suddenly worried something grim may have come from its arrival in Helix.  Less cautious than Barnabus, the elven mage turned to the closest villager and asked directly, plucking on a shirtsleeve to gain attention as needed.

"What has happened here?  Why are there guards on the 'Pheasant?"

The dwarf slips through the crowd, his ears open to pick up any chatter, gossip and murmurs going on in the commotion of the crowd.

Dax looks at the crowd gathered around the gambling hall, "Looks like some sort of disturbance," he notes, pointing at the guards.

The ranger keeps back from the crowd, relying on his comrades to determine what happened and if there was any need to delay their return to Mazzahs' tower.

Barnabus and Ishmael move into the crowd, hearing snippets of excited conversation as they do so.

”…said ‘e cut the poor fellow’s ‘ead clean orf.”

”…told Otger that that Reinald fellow stated talkin’ in a language nobody could understand…”

”…all dead ‘fore they could even stand up from the table…”

”…shot ‘im right in the forehead, she did…”

The man that Malivoire addresses, a wagon driver the mage has seen in the village previously, turns to the adventurer and shakes his head regretfully. ”I han’t heard all of it, mind Good Sir. But best as I unnerstand, this fella name of Reinald, one of the chaps from the mercenary guild, was up at the Pheasant late into the evenin’, playin’ cards with four other lads. Quite a bit of coin changin’ hands, so it’s said.”

“Some says the door of the hall blew open, brought in a wind like that o’ wintertime. Then this Reinald, he stands up an’ starts hollerin’ at the others at the table, speakin’ in some manner of tongue none of ‘em’s ever heard afore. Before anyone knows what’s happenin’, he draws his sword and kills every last one of ‘em. Cut Tarfer Biggrove’s head right orf his shoulders.”

The driver shudders, then continues. ”They said Reinald was ready to rush out the door, but Perni Ticklebottom, the owner, comes out with a crossbow, tells ‘im to stay right where he stands. He made like ‘e meant to come at ‘er with that blade o’ his and she shot ‘im straight between the eyes. Pinned ‘im right to the wall. Some are sayin’ e’s still hangin’ there now.”

“There’s a couple that says there was this awful howlin’ that was heard right after Reinald died. But you know how some are, Good Sir. Quick to tell a ghost story.”

He nods toward the men-at-arms at the door. ”Krothos Ironguard’s supposedly all sorts of angered ‘bout it. The Pheasant’s his favorite place in Helix. Spends all ‘is time there gamblin’ rather than watchin’ after the folk what make their home ‘ere.”
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:49, Mon 08 Aug 2022.

Moments later a young human man, no older than twenty five, dressed in fine, but somewhat disheveled, clothes emerges from the Foul Pheasant’s front door, a look of irritation on his face. He is accompanied by a slender man in black robes and another man-at-arms. His annoyed expression deepens as he regards the crowd gathered in front of the gambling hall. The adventurers immediately infer that this is Krothos Ironguard.

Turning to the man-at-arms to his left, he says, ”See to it that that mess is cleaned up in there. Take the bodies over to Brother Othar at the shrine.”

Looking back to the crowd, he says, ”Everyone back to your daily business! There’s nothing further to see here! Merely a gambling dispute that got out of hand!”

One of the men-at-arms creates a path for Ironguard who proceeds through the crowd, his path apparently leading toward The Brazen Strumpet.

”You heard ‘im!” another of the armored men shouts to the crowd, ”Off with you, now!”

Murmuring continues among the villagers as they begin to slowly disperse, slowly moving away to other corners of Helix.

As the crowd disperses, Dax calls out to the group, "Let's get on with our errand, shall we?"

"Bloody, bloody, hells." he murmurs under his breath.

Even with the sharing of eyewitness snippets and the teamster's summary, much of the circumstances surrounding the quadruple murder remain shrouded in the mist. Had the baleful spirit slaked its bloodlust? Was that bloodlust born of past transgressions of the murdered quartet? Had the spirit itself belonged to a member of the mercenary guild, hired to accompany other tomb raiders?

He decides he needs to keep a closer eye on Searlait. She had not exactly been responsive to his call. Might she have a purulent agenda?


Barnabus nods his ascent. They had much to confess discuss with their patron.

The seemingly crumbling spire with the magical interior is much the same as it was when the adventurers last visited their patron. Both Lander and Ynes are clearly surprised by the difference between the tower’s exterior and interior, the pair looking about in curiosity as the party ascends the winding stairwell.

Mazzahs is seated at his writing desk, inscribing information into a leather bound tome when the adventurers reach his sanctum. Setting his quill down, the aged mage regards them solemnly. ”Shadows have escaped the catacombs,” he says simply.

"Greetings Master Mazzahs. Barnabus will be able to provide a full explanation of how that happened.

We have brought you several more items, and we also need any history you might know on a Lord Varghoulis. We may have inadvertently awakened him. And  Nildeyr, defender of the Thornswild, friend of the elves. He's still at rest."

Dax unloads the items that he was carrying, onto one of the tables.

---

• 15 platinum coins
• 3 polished skulls
• well-used axe
• 2 canoptic jars, brass, inscribed with runes, lids resemble the head of a falcon and the head of a frog.
• Death mask, bone, runes etched in a neat line along its forehead.
• Dust of a defeated robed skeleton

Mazzahs' comment was cutting to the elven mage, even though it was said simply and without obvious recrimination.  It took Malivoire a few seconds to also realize the wizard had spoken in the plural.

"I'm sorry, shadows?" he asked, emphasizing the ess at the end of the word.  "Have there been other events like the one at the Foul Pheasant?"

Coolly, the temple raider produces, "If there are ways in, there are also ways out. We only seem to be discovering the latter."

To Dax's items, he adds the banner he had snatched from the Tomb of Varghoulis.

He sits down and rests his right arm on the table. It doesn't seem inclined to any movement and readily slips into a semi-catatonic state. Overly animated, the left arm makes up for the right's lassitude.

He has a lot to say. He starts with a few straight statements.

"Before Nildeyr's tomb was a deadly trap and guardians beyond it. We fled from them."

"To the south of the entrance was a family tomb with a statue of a one-armed gargoyle. There there was a warning in chalk: 'Make no sound. They will seek you out.'”

"Lord Varghoulis ventured forth with his grand plans of conquest. We'll see if he left anything behind."

Soberly, he admits that their discoveries seem to precipitate calamities. The sapphires imprison "damned spirits" that can reanimate their skeletal hosts. If the gems are removed from a destroyed host, they radiate an "infernal cold" before exploding, freeing the trapped soul to wreak vengeance on the "deserving" or the merely "unlucky." He avers that there must be ways to bring the gems intact back to their patron.

"It's a curious thing," he rounds out, "that there seems to be some sort of extortion or moneylending gang operating in the crypts but that members of this gang are being preyed upon," pausing here to point at the skulls, "by servants of some necromancer."

"And then they become intermingled? It's confusing."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:15, Sun 14 Aug 2022.

“One shadow that made its way here to Helix, drawn no doubt by the ill intent of some who linger in the village,” Mazzahs explains, ”The other, far greater darkness, remains out in the marshland, hungry for conflict with other powers that dwell within the catacombs. The terrible Lord Varghoulis.”

Still solemn, he adds, “Something will have to be done about the death knight eventually. If he achieves whatever ends he seeks within the Barrowmaze, he will look for other places of conquest. Probably among the living.”

The wizard looks over the prizes brought out of the tombs. ”You risked much to retrieve these items. I am extremely grateful for each of your courageous efforts.” He handles the banner, studying it closely. ”This, in particular, will require research.”

He pauses, listening intently to Barnabus’ account, scratching a few notes on an unused parchment. When the priest finishes, the wizard climbs the spiral staircase to his observatory above, returning with a small octagonal box which appears to be made of lead. ”Should you secure another of these sapphires, place it in this. It will trap the unwholesome spirit and shield you from the unnatural cold. It works against heat, as well.”

He gazes down at the collected dust from the robed skeleton. Looking up at Dax, he says, ”Can you tell me about the creature this came from?”

"There's not  much to tell. There were two of them, skeletons in grey robes, huecuva, I think Barnabus or Malivoire called them. They were accompanied by two of the warrior skeletons with the blue gems in their skulls.

We attacked with great intensity and when the huecuva were defeated they disintegrated into dust, and not piles of bones like their comrades.

They were in a room where we found those three polished skulls, as well as two recently decapitated men. Whose skulls might have been destined to be cleaned and polished as well, although we cannot say with certainty."

---

Actually the DM put the name in the combat notes, but this is a reasonable IC way to justify it!

”Huecuva.” Mazzahs says the word slowly, his brows knit in a frown.

”They are exceedingly rare. Said to be the temple servants of certain malevolent gods which continue to serve their patrons even in death. Perhaps they still seek to safeguard things that are sacred to their terrible creed that lie within the tombs. Their very touch is said to bring decay.”

“Those that were recently slain, who were within the room where you confronted them, were any of these other things in their possession?” He gestures to the assorted items taken from the catacombs.

He looks to each of the adventurers in turn. ”Do not punish yourselves for what happened with Varghoulis. I have no doubt that your intent was to rid the world of his evil. He simply proved beyond you. But only for now.”

“Though some of his origins are lost to time, stories of him linger in this area. A ruthless warlord, according to those accounts which have persisted. Knowing it is he will help me to keep watch for him, though he is difficult to see within the Barrowmoor. But should he seek to depart it, I will know.”

He pauses. ”I would ask that you not return to the tombs immediately. You need rest. Time to recuperate. And…there is a task I would ask that you see to here, in Helix.”

"The first headless man held a bag containing these old-looking platinum coins. He also had this note^*, by which we assume he was Swen.

When we returned to room, after a second human was beheaded, his corpse was holding this leather bag, containing these brass jars and this mask.

The huecuva dust is wrapped in a piece of the robe that one of them was wearing.

Come to think of it, Malivoire asked if Swen was wearing an insignia. He wasn't but both he and the other wore striped tunics; Swen's was yellow, the other's was green.

And, I believe Barnabus has Swen's head in his pack!"

---

I just noticed that last part after re-reading the posts for the 10th time! I hope Barnabus is not keeping the heads secret from Mazzahs - they could be part of his demon-worshipping rites! :-D

^* Swen, I’m not listening to any more of your excuses. If I don’t have what you owe me in my hands by the end of the month, you won’t like the consequences. I promise. Alzo
This message was last edited by the player at 22:34, Tue 16 Aug 2022.

"Nine times out a ten, I suppose" is Barnabus's offhanded reply.

Sheepishly, he retrieves the head of Sven from his pack, with his left arm doing the preponderance of the work.

"That's what I meant about the intermingling of loansharking and necromancy," the priest comments, obviously referencing Dax's precis.

"There isn't some kind of occupancy limit to the octagonal box, is there?"

When Mazzahs speaks of a delayed return to the maze, Barnabus can scarcely conceal his disappointment. What could possibly be more pressing than returning to the Barrow post-haste?

Malivoire looked at the lead box with interest, wondering at its properties.  Natural or mystical?  He saw not special markings, so perhaps lead itself was a natural inhibitor of undead energies?  Despite his reverence for Mazzahs accumulated knowledge and power he couldn't help but think, Would have been nice to have this beforehand.

When the wizard added that he had something for them to do aboveground, Malivoire crinkled his brow and tilted his head a little.  "Something to do with the escaped spirit?" he asked curiously.

Mazzahs blinks several times as he silently regards the deceased tomb robber’s head. ”Perhaps it would be best to hand that over to the clergy at the Shrine of St. Ygg for proper internment.”

“I do not know if there are any here in Helix with ties to whatever fell rites are being observed within the tombs. Although I do not keep up closely with rumors within the village, I know that there has been persistent talk of a thieves’ guild operating here, as well as in Ironguard Motte and Bogtown. Some have claimed that a few of the tomb robbers who ventured into the Barrowmaze and never returned undertook the journey to pay off some obligation they had to the guild. But I cannot say for certain if that is true.”

Tapping the octagonal box, he says, ”I would place no more than three of the gems within it, should you be able to secure that many.”

He nods to Malivoire. “It does have to do with the lingering spirit. I would like for you to linger for a day or two and keep watch here in Helix, particularly at the gambling den. It is the spot where some of the more disreputable sorts that visit Helix tend to congregate. I suspect that the spirit will seek to find another host. If you could take the host alive, perhaps the entity could be coaxed out of them and done away with. I would need Brother Othar’s assistance with such a matter. But if you could bring the captured host here, I could see to it.”

Much like the hound that finds his master does not relish the offering dug up and presented after a week's burial, Barnabus's face droops at his patron's rejection.

"Well, yes, I suppose that would be the proper course of action," the priest concedes, contritely stowing the head back in his pack, fully intending at the very next opportunity to do just that. On its way out, the right hand finds a deck of playing cards and proposes the party repair to gambling den for for a game -- should the saloon be open for business.

Once again, he has lost track of time with so much delight to be had with the eyes open rather than closed.

Malivoire nodded thoughtfully at Mazzahs request.  He felt responsible for the release of the spirit upon Helix, even though it was not directly by his own hand.  If he could help stop and further damage caused by that error, he would.

"Very wll, I will help with that," he agreed aloud.  Then he looked at Barnabus, now with cards in hand.  "You'll have to teach me some games," he said innocently. "I'm not well versed in gambling halls."

"I will help, although I wonder how will we recognise a body hosting the shadow? Do we have to wait until someone decapitates someone else before acting?

When our business here is finished, I will take a room at the Brazen Strumpet and clean up before heading to the Foul Pheasant."

---

Were we staying at the Strumpet? I've forgotten!
This message was last edited by the player at 07:16, Tue 23 Aug 2022.

The dwarf sat quietly as the other bantered about spirits and gems and bodies, his mind wandering, though he was careful to keep his hands from doing so.  He only starts to come around when talk of money comes round.  "Gambling halls, I know."  He says.  "Can't promise you'll win, but I can keep ya from losing too much."