The Catacombs of Ascendent Court (Part I)

After the defeat and interrogation of the Copper Hand, we were sent to see Captain Runewulf of the Greycloaks at their precinct house, Stoneshield House. Diffused afternoon light pours in through the stained glass windows of this serene hallway in Stoneshield House. The Graycloaks’ leader, Captain Runewulf, sighs as he runs a hand through his graying hair and gazes into the rippled glass depicting the Ascended goddess Iomedae. “Honestly, I’d like nothing more than to chew you out for stepping outside your jurisdiction. I should write you up, send you back to Lavarsus with your tails between your legs, and see you mopping floors for the rest of your careers.” He scowls and turns, his cloak billowing behind him. “But these are special times we’re living in. And I do, in fact, need your help,” Runewulf said. 

“If there’s anything I can’t abide in my quarter, it’s a murderer, and the only thing I hate more than a murderer is someone who kills in the name of their god," he continued. "So yes, as soon as I caught wind of the rumors, I sent detectives to investigate. It’s been several days since my team of Graycloaks descended into the Catacombs to find the so-called Skinner—some kind of priest of Norgorber’s Skinsaw Man aspect. Corporal Quordein is a capable law keeper, someone I’d trust with my own life, and the Graycloaks she took with her are top-notch, but I fear the worst has come to pass."

He paused and then continued. “I will grant you the permission you need to go into the Catacombs, but only under two conditions. First, I ask that you discover the fate of my Graycloaks. If they yet survive, then bring them back to me in one piece. My second condition is this: destroy the Skinsaw cult, bring the Skinner to justice, and show no mercy.”

"Do you have any detail on this 'Skinner'," asked Valcos

"Not much more - She was a beloved butcher, once, so the story goes, by the name of Wrent Dicaspiron. When her husband and son died in the Fiendflesh Siege, she was bereft. A tax collector was found dead in her butchery shortly thereafter, and she was never heard from since.”

The squad made their way to the known entrance to the Catacombs, and entered into the depths. They encountered a statue. The statue of a skeletal humanoid figure stands sentinel at the center of this three-way intersection. Its breastplate, robes, and delicate veil are sculpted in incredible detail, and three thin chains attached to brass holy symbols of Aroden hang around the statue’s neck. The hall to the east ends at broad bronze doors embossed with the Eye of Aroden. The scantest traces of light stretch faintly down the hallway to the north, and the path southwest leads back to the surface. They found two more chains with the holy symbol of Aroden, and Simi thought that each of us should were one,, to show the proper respect.

Off to the northwest there was a chamber. Windows are carved out of the relatively thin stone walls of this simple gallery. Through the windows, one can see into the vast chasm that separates the Ascendant Court from the lonely pillar of earth atop which looms the Starstone Cathedral. The only exit is a finished stone hallway to the southeast.

Ascertaining that they were not leaving foes to the rear, they proceeded to the Hall of Aroden

Prospecti Statues

This spacious stone hall measures well over a hundred feet long, its dusty marble floor tiles punctuated at regular intervals by floor-to-ceiling columns that stretch thirty feet high and curve near the top to form impressive decorative arches. Slivers of light seep through narrow gaps in the ceiling and dimly illuminate the hall. At the chamber’s western end are two enormous bronze-plated doors flanked by stone statues depicting holy warriors wearing distinctive cylindrical helms. On the hall’s eastern wall, a massive symbol of the eye of Aroden looms above a statue depicting a different high priest, this one cast in bronze, atop a wide stone dais. Inset into the hall’s floors are dozens of bronze-plated rectangular burial plates measuring roughly three feet by six feet. Four hallways, each along the northern wall, lead out of the chamber, and a door stands in the northeast corner.  Pump investigates the burial plaques and determines that they are undisturbed. The statues turned to follow our progress, but did nothing threatening.

The distinctive clatter of horseshoes on flagstone echoes from these northern halls.

Down the hall came a Nightmare, upon which was a Headless Horseman. The squad engaged demon horse and rider, dispatching the demo mount, and the Headless Horseman.

The Headless Horseman

The squad then investigated the Columbaria Crypt. Cinerary urns of all shapes and sizes cover the carved stone shelves that line the walls of these matching burial chambers. The columbaria are connected by way of an adjoining hallway, and both rooms sit slightly lower than the rest of the Catacombs on this level. Steep stone stairs to the west, south, and east rise about three feet and lead out of the columbaria. At the northern end of the western chamber, a narrow tunnel winds into the darkness.

The party discovered a scrap of cloak from the Greycloaks, indicating that they had gone this way. 

A doorway led the squad into the Priest Barrows. The west and east walls of this long, narrow chamber have been meticulously excavated to create a dozen narrow burial shafts perpendicular to the chamber walls. The walls of each niche are inlaid with large brass plates. Six undead skeletons rose to attack, their eyes gleaming with malevolent dark magic. The squad laid these gaunt restless dead to rest again.

At the other end was a door that required Simi to force it open.

To the north, a broad portcullis blocks the hallway, which ascends by way of shallow stone steps. East, the corridor terminates in a dense pile of stone rubble. The doorway south of the wreckage is constructed in the same style as the rest of this level of the Catacombs; the northern tunnel, by contrast, is roughly carved from the living rock and winds down steep earthen stairs, presumably to a lower level of the necropolis.

Fixed to the wall between this makeshift tunnel and the portcullis is a plain brass box about two feet square and one foot deep, in the center of which is a vertical slot. The door required a lever to open; unfortunately, they had none.

The Nightmare

Further along they discovered a Treasure Vault. Two bronze-plated iron doors, one to the north and the other to the south, allow access to the hallway that bisects this small hexagonal enclave. Floor-to-ceiling metal bars spaced a few inches apart from one another separate the walkway from the rest of the central chamber. Visible through the bars, dozens of spectacular funerary relics and precious objects line the walls. Urns, rings, lanterns, ornamental weapons and armor, and countless other treasures rest on bronze-plated shelves. The metal bars sport no obvious means of unhinging or otherwise opening them.  Valcos indicated that the bars should not be touched, as they were trapped.

Before the squad could determine how disarm the traps, undead attacked! 

(And the game paused here, given the time!)

The Copper Hand (Part II)

Gribse Burlish

Following the running battle in the corridor, we then set out to examine the rooms we did not have time to look into while fighting. We opened a locked door, containing an engineer and his laboratory. A sturdy wooden table with matching stools dominates this messy, windowless room. The table is covered in scraps of parchment, hammers and screwdrivers, bits of clockwork, and more obscure engineering items. The engineer, named Gribse Burlish, had been taken captive by the Copper Hand, and made to work on projects for them, including Vaultbreaker oozes, held in the next room.

The next room was open; spools of copper wire, tin nozzles, and other bits of metallic scrap are scattered around, flung about as though a tiny, magnetic whirlwind swept through the place. A squat vat of liquid—somehow bubbling despite no visible heat source—sits in the northeastern corner of the lab, its nauseating fumes venting through a series of holes in the wall near the ceiling.

Releasing the engineer to his freedom, the squad secured the room.

Vaultbreaker Ooze

The squad took the staircase to the third floor.  They passed through what they thought was a training hall, completer with traps, that Valcos disarmed. They were attacked my an ambuscade of weretigers, Tiefling illusionists on one side, and a basilisk and two handlers on the other.

Simi and Pump engage the Basilisk while Grimwald, Valcos, and Mr. Gone engaged the weretigers. The One illusionist shot Valcos with a barrage of magic missiles, while the other tried to play "tag" with Mr. Gone using a Flaming Sphere. The weretigers were brought down, one illusionist was slaughtered by Grimwald while the other turned invisible and escaped.

Basilisk

Now it was time to dogpile o the Basilisk! The squad put it back into its cage for safekeeping.

A spiral staircase led them to the fourth floor. The entry was an indoor garden. Valcos found a secret door which led to the guildmaster, a woman named Fayati Alummur and three henchmen. 

 Fayati made Simimel the offer To sway the agents, Fayati claims that she has rigged the evidence with a magical explosion to destroy it if she is not allowed to escape.

Simi declined the offer, and Fayati and her crew decided to run, violently resisting arrest.  The squad triumphed, but not before Jorin suffered the disoperation of Mr. Gone. 

Fayati

Captain Melipdra was grateful for the recovered stolen goods and evidence of the Copper Hands' guilt. The basilisk was turned over to Simi's mother; basilisks are quite useful creatures for parts. 

The  Copper Hand had been working with the Skinsaw cult based out of the Catacombs of the Ascendant Court. The cult is run by the Skinner, and have been murdering citizens all over the city.