The Godsmouth Heresy [Pathfinder]

This is a thread to continue gameplay of The Godsmouth Heresy. The original thread can be found here, though a neater archive will be pending.

Returning to the room with the statues and their hidden corridors, the group spends some time going through the hidden rooms in-depth. Besides the skeleton's half-plate and masterwork ranseur, they find 90 gold's worth of grave goods. They also find a couple of hidden doors, one leading back to a crypt they'd already explored, and the other into an unknown room. Deciding they'd rather not tangle with that tonight, they retreat back into the central room and make a quick camp.

Once camp is set up, Fayth patches her own wounds then makes the rounds to seal everyone else's wounds. Once she's satisfied with her work, she returns to her bedroll and takes a seat.

Ottazer lookks at the ceiling while laying back on his bedroll and tries to get comfortable on his bedroll, but finds the task herculean in his new mirrored body. "So... I think I might have forgotten already, uh... what were all those statues? They were runelords, right?"

"All but that one," Fayth says, pointing to the black statue while remembering Sumner's comments from earlier. "That one's Pharasma."

"What are Runelords?" Ottazer asks. "I know they were like, really super powerful mages from back in Thassalon, when that was still around, but I don't know anything else really. Like why's that one so ugly and fat?"

"They ruled over Thassilon," Sumner clarifies, "by using sin magic. Each one embodied a different vice. Pride, envy, greed, sloth, wrath, lust, and gluttony- hence the fat one."

”Huh. So... what stopped them from being in charge?” Ottazer wonders aloud.

"Earthfall," says Sumner. "Thassilon and Azlant were destroyed, and the rest of the world spent a long time struggling to recover."

"That sounds pretty disastrous." Vyara frowns. "But it can't have been all bad, if it took out something that used a kind of magic called 'sin magic.' Something like that sounds like it's better off being ancient history."

"Can't disagree with that," says Sumner.

They rest, and in what passes for morning, they move to the secret passage they found in the crypt of Pharasma. Following the passage, they come across a macabre gate of bleached bone. Looking it over, they don't seem to notice any traps, until Vyara tries to open it - at which point, a bone spear shoots out, hitting her hand before resetting.

"Agh!" She winces back, waving her hand to get the pain out. After a moment, Vyara inspects a bit more closely. "I think this door would probably be hurt kind of like undead, if we were to hit it with positive energy. It definitely wouldn't like it."

Sumner uses some magic, and the gate swings open at the touch of positive energy. The group is able to pass through.

Repeated lines of footprints mark the dust on the floor of this crypt, all leading to an alcove in the northeast portion of the chamber. The burial niches lining the stone walls are mostly empty save for ancient scraps of yellowed linen.

As they pass through, the group realizes some of the niches aren't truly empty, as skeletons leap to attack them.

[Roll initiative!]

The resulting conflict is brief but quite damaging. Varya passes in and out of consciousness a few times as she is knocked out and healed back in short succession. Vials of holy water are thrown to great effect. And the entire conflict ends with one final well-placed stone hurled by Fayth's psychic energies. In the end, as Fayth patches up the downed and they stand over the alchemy-scented bones of their foes, everyone finds they feel a bit stronger for the effort.

After the fight, Sumner sees a hidden door to the northeast. He points it out and says to the others, "Shall we?"

Fayth rolls her shoulders, working out the last kinks of the healing session. "Might as well, we're already here after all."

The acrid stench of chemicals and reagents fills this chamber, and the walls are marred by strange stains and scorch marks. Several tables are scattered about the room, covered in a bewildering plethora of glassware, alembics, retorts, tubes, simmering cauldrons, and smoking beakers full of brightly colored liquids. Scattered pages of written notes in a crabbed hand lie strewn about the chamber. Three large glass vats stand against the eastern wall, filled with bubbling green fluid. Floating within the vats are three grotesque objects — putrescent corpses, tubes and wires embedded in their rotting flesh, their skin discolored with decay and chemical stains. A large alcove in the northwest corner contains a bookshelf groaning under the weight of heavy, dusty tomes and scrolls.

It's here that a man stands, hunched over his books. He turns around on hearing the party enter the room. His hair is mangey and grey, and his eyes narrow at their appearance. "Thought I heard something," he mutters, grabbing a nearby spear. "You are intruding on my work. Leave, and never return. Mr. Morrow can show you out." At the name, a zombie stands upright, taking a step forward.

”I’m not going anywhere,” Ottazer answers, which Orl punctuates with a growl. ”What is all of this?”

"An abomination is what it is," says Sumner. "This man is responsible for most of the undead we've encountered down here."

"Would certainly explain the smells," Fayth says.

"Oh, sure, I'll tell you exactly what I'm doing since you asked," the man answers Ottazer with a fake smile, quickly shifting to a snarl. "If you won't leave, you can die for all I care. Get them!" he rasps to Mr. Morrow.

[Roll init and form up in the box in the room]

A second zombie emerges and attacks the party along with "Mr. Morrow" while the alchemist himself drinks a mutagen, making most attempts at attacking him futile. Still, he and his minions are eventually defeated by the combined efforts of the team sans Sumner, who is largely useless.

Sumner frowns at the man now laying unconscious at their feet. "So, do we kill him, or hand him over to the church of Pharasma?"

Ottazer shrugs, panting heavily after the battle. "Did we... have specific orders?"

"Just to clear any threats, and that we should give them first chance at sacred items," Fayth replies.

Sumner begins to speak, but then simply nods in confirmation of what Fayth said. "Frankly, if we deliver this man to the Pharasmans, they will probably execute him anyway. I was just thinking we might receive a larger reward for delivering him alive."

"No matter to me, so long as he... doesn't get a chance to hit us again. Not sure how much more Orl can take," Ottazer explains, though Orl's stern glare seems to contradict the statement.