Shattered Star

"That I am!" Cade affirms proudly.  "I've read volumes on the ancient histories of Varisia and Magnimar while working at the Founder's Museum," he continues, "but my primary focus has always been the ancient Thassilon Empire.  The fragmented records, the mythical legends--ancient knowledge lost to time!  I find all of it fascinating, truth be told."

"I get that," Anastasia nods quietly. "I always thought history was interesting."

"Truly?" Cade replies, relieved to have found some common ground.  "Which histories do you prefer, then?  Do you enjoy records of ancient legend or are you more amenable to recent events?  Or, perhaps, do you favor histories of foreign countries?"

Anastasia blinks. "Uh... I mostly I covered Varisian history I guess?"

Terisha leans close to Anastasia and whispers ”You’re welcome for this,” and then begins bolting ahead of Anastasia and Cade at a full sprint as though trying to escape.

Anastasia fights down a rare grin. Out loud, she shouts "Hold it! Get back here!" and takes off running after the gangster.

"Wh--?!" Cade sputters out as Anastasia chases after Terisha. Stunned, Cade blinks in surprise before giving chase as well, though he quickly begins to lag behind.

After running a few blocks and leaving Cade far behind, Terisha slows down and lets Anastasia catch up to her. ”Oh no, you’ve caught me,” she says with a laugh, holding her hands up in an exaggerated fashion.

Anastasia lets out a low, raspy chuckle. "You didn't have to do that y'know. He was a bit overbearing but mostly harmless. Thanks anyway though."

"You clearly wanted out of that," Terisha responds wryly. "and so did I. The dweeb can nerd out on his own time. We're almost out of the city anyway. I just ratted out a bunch of rats, ironically, so that's a good way to die. I'd rather get out of here before they figure anything out."

"It was certainly more awkward than it needed to be." Anastasia shrugs. "Well, again, thanks. We'll get you out of the city, but I don't want to just abandon Cade like that. We'll duck in this alley here and wait for him."

"Yeah yeah, fine," Terisha replies. She ruffles up her hair and grabs some dirt up off the ground and rubs it on herself in a few places. "If he asks, you tackled me."

A few minutes pass before Cade wearily jogs his way into view.  His personal affects jostle as his wiry frame drags itself forward, the noise accompanied by his heavy breathing.  Planting his staff into the ground and propping himself against it, he wheezes "Miss... Miss Anastasia?  Are you here?"

Anastasia steps out, gripping Terisha by the arm. "Good, you caught up. Let's go ahead and get this scum out of the city. We won't be able to chat anymore in case she goes running off again."

"Yes... a-agreed," Cade manages to mutter out in-between breaths. "We should... see her escorted... from the city."

After the pair finishes escorting Terisha out of the city, they go their separate ways for the day. The party spends the rest of the day shopping and preparing for the challenges ahead.

***

The next night the party gathers at a dock near Underbridge. A pathfinder associate of Sheila's greets the party at the docks and shows them to a rowboat large enough to hold them all, but only just. The party rows out under the gentle light of a half moon, with the sea remaining fairly calm for their short voyage. Thanks to the advice of Terisha and Cecilia, they encounter no issue heading toward the Crow, and soon find themselves rowing into the massive pillar.

A tall lancet arch at water level leads into a chamber at sea level within the side of the Crow. Inside is what was once a small, stepped terrace, now filled with sea water to the level of its top step. Three rowboats are tied off to heavy stones placed on this step. Above, the ceiling rises almost all the way up to the top of the monument. An opening leads off this shaft to the west near the ceiling. At the west end of this room lies a small alcove whose floor shows the stains of countless campfires. The back wall of this alcove has broken through, revealing a passageway beyond.

Rubble from the collapsed wall has been pushed out into the next chamber. Traces of recent habitation, bits of trash and rubbish and the odd piece of clothing or equipment, are scattered here and there, though the room now appears to be unused.

The party decides to head right. There, between two curving stairwells, lies a small landing. Three stone boxes, their lids raised, stand lined up against the east wall. A fine yellow powder surrounds them on the floor.

Ali checks the crates only to find that they are empty. "Completely picked clean..."

Deciding to not disturb the strange yellow powder, the group avoids the crates as they delve deeper into the Crow.  With the confirmation that people were actually present in the ruin however, the party carefully quiet their steps as they ascend a stone staircase.  Upon reaching the top of the stairs, the group finds themselves in a tall chamber held up with large pillars. While everyone scans the room, Anastasia notices a startlingly large rat in the far corner, and silently directs the group's attention to the monster.

After a quick flurry of hand-signals, Anastasia leaps forward and draws her blade, which catches the attention of the beast.  Back from the group, however, Meliora steps from one of the far pillars and looses a blunt, slivered arrow into the beast, which shrieks in pain.  The shrill cry reverberates throughout the chamber as the beast strikes at Anastasia, one of its dirty claws gouging into Anastasia's arm.  Ali, meanwhile, makes its way forward, and at the sound of the heavily-armed gnoll approaching, the rat skitters away in a panic up a second flight of stairs.  A quick word from Anastasia informs the group that the monster attempts to flee, and together the group chase after the beast.

The party storm up the stairs after the rat, climbing up three consecutive flights before catching up to the creature, now out of breath.  Feebly, the rat holds up its front paws in a sign of surrender.

Ali is reminded that she didn't silver her weapon and does so. They then put it away and tries to grab the rat. The combination of the silvering and the sudden grab must have freaked out the were rat and she bites Ali. Ali withdraws from the rat and grips the bite. "Ffff!...Damnit"

The wererat huddles back against the wall looking wildly in all directions, seemingly desperate to escape.

"Easy now," Naomi says, raising her arms non-threateningly. "We don't want to hurt you, we just can't have you raising any more of an alarm than you already have."

The wererat doesn’t seem to listen at this point and instead lashes out, biting Naomi. It then screeches as loud as it can.

With the rat being so bitey, the party decides to attack. After missing a bunch, Meliora finally hits and Ana follows up for a knock out. The rat reverts to human form, naked as her name day. Ali decides to tie her up.

With the wererat dispatched, the party finishes heading up the stairs into a set of heavily looted rooms. As they walk forward, Ali notices that two Tower Girls are waiting in ambush behind the corners of the entrance to the next room. The party quickly readies to fight and dispatches the two guards with little trouble.

The group advances into the next room. A small cookfire has been built in the center of the floor there with spits holding the sizzling carcasses of two donkey rats. The broken scraps of a crate now serving as fuel are stacked nearby, and blankets have been pushed together into a large bedroll. Anastasia and Ali are easily able to notice that a hallway off the room contains a secret door that has been ever so slightly propped open with a chunk of wood.

Beyond the secret door is a room covered in murals. The murals in this room are scratched and faded. Several portions of the wall and floor show signs of past chipping. An empty plinth where a statue once stood rests by a small alcove.

Cade eyes alight as he steps into the alcove and sees the murals painted on the walls.  Adjusting his glasses, he hastily requests for the group to give him a moment to inspect the paintings before diving headfirst into his inspection.  Minutes later, his expression dims from giddy exuberance into reigned curiosity.  "...There's not much here," Cade reports, his voice betraying disappointment.  "historically, at least.  These murals--as far as I can surmise--detail the exploits of the a Runelord of Wrath, as evidenced by all the..." Cade flicks his wrist in a circular motion as he gesticulates to sections of faded artwork depicting flames and various bright colors "...elemental iconography.  Wrath, being the Thassilonian precursor to the school of Evocation," he continues, explaining to no one in particular "is the Sin of the elements and destruction, which leads me to believe it depicts a Runelord of Wrath as opposed to another.  This must have been commissioned soon after their ascension, however," he points out, "as most Runelords of Wrath had a tendency to... er, 'revel' in their position of power.  Many Runelords of Wrath were... assassinated due to their volatility..."  Looking over the murals again, Cade ends his findings with "These are most likely vanity pieces, though there are kept in remarkable condition, given the circumstances.  Hopefully we can secure the Crow so that more thorough research can be done."