Part 2: Cult of the Dead Gods

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Rage works out that the hell riders were the Elturiel guards

The group starts passing time by looking through the upstairs rooms of the inn finding some private dining rooms. One with an umberhulk head on the wall and the other with a displacer beast head on the wall.

They knock at another door and hear a wet female voice reply asking who is there. Rage attempts to trick the person into opening the door but fails to do so.

The other doors they find are all locked.

Larissa sees the head of the beasts on the wall and gets sad. She makes her way into the displacer beast room and starts attempting to pull the head down off the wall. She manages it and then begins to cut the head from the backing board. The apologises to it as she does it. When it is free she throws the head through the closed window with a great smash.

Thia rushes in and asks her what she is doing and then drags her out of the room and away from the mess.

Rage and Badwalken notice a number of pirates approaching the Inn. These must be the ones that are here for Tarnia. They call her over and she confirms it.

After a quick bit of deliberation they decide that the party will hide and ambush the pirates as they arrive.

A couple of minutes later there are footsteps on the stairs and the pirates see Tarnia. The leader is a brawny man with a cloudy right eye, a cruel sneer, and a pirate’s swagger. The others are an unsavory, rowdy bunch who act as if they own the place.

“We’re looking for an old friend of ours,” says the dead-eyed man. He sniffs the air. “Goes by the name ‘Tarina,’ or so I’m told. Loves to cheat at Baldur’s Bones. Ahhh... there you are."

They move towards her menacingly and Badwalken swings at one missing. The fight is on. The party members pour out of the other rooms and the battle begins.

- Tarnia falls to the pirates - Larissa bandages her - Rage makes mincemeat of the fighters - Garrbaag uses his breath weapon on two of the men killing one of them. - Badwalken is a machine, levelling men as soon as they approach him - Thia casts magic missile and rays of frost damaging the men - Clank comes up in the end preventing the final pirate's escape

After the fight Badwalken picks up Tarnia and heals her waking her up. She doesn't say thanks but gives them the information they were seeking.

“Several blocks northwest of here is a public bathhouse with a walled garden and frolicking nymphs carved into its front gates. Followers of the Dead Three have been seen coming and going from the bathhouse, and I’m told there’s a secret door inside that leads to a dungeon. That’s where the killers are hiding.”

The party decides that they will stay the night and negotiate 6GP to stay at the inn with unlimited beer. Garrbaag, Badwalken and Thia had a quiet night while Rage drank and Larissa did a questionaire of all the patrons asking:

Did they hear the noise upstairs? If you did were you:

a) keen to investigate
b) indifferent to the noise; or
c) used to the noise

The next door the party eats breakfast and then heads out towards the baths.

The bathhouse is a one-story stuccoed building with stained-glass windows and clay roof tiles. Ten-foot-tall walls enclose a large courtyard outside the southeast corner of the building. The closed wooden doors to the courtyard are engraved with images of smiling nymphs dancing and frolicking in water.

The party follow a patron into the baths and find themselves in an L-shaped courtyard that features a trimmed lawn and nicely manicured shrubbery. The yard is decorated with white marble benches and stone fountains, each in the form of a smiling nymph tipping a jug that spills water into a circular stone basin.

After peering through a window Rage quickly moves to the entrance and disrobes, easing his naked body into a bath. The other members of the party inspect the fountains outside but don't find anything useful. They head inside and knock on one of the private massage rooms. The door opens and an androgynous fellow opens the door and asks if they would like a massage. Gaarbagg pushes into the room and begins to interrogate him. The man is nervous and gets intimidated. He quietly directs them towards the massage room opposite.

Rage starts talking to the guy in the bath with him, asking about what he thinks is going on with the massage rooms. He starts mentioning cults and the man gets nervous and leaves the bath. This gives Rage a chance to duck under water and inspect the bottom of the bath. He finds a large plug that can be used to drain the bath. Rage then moves to another bath and starts talking to a dandy in there.

Meanwhile, the rest of the party knocks on the other door and a young woman answers. All of them but Thia push into the room and Badwalken tries to intimidate her but it just makes her laugh. Larissa opts for a massage and gets the best tail massage of her life.

Rage takes the dandy out of the pool and begins to chat with him. He says "Look, I'm not a racist, but I'm really into halflings. Like a mouse with a banana if you know what I mean?"

"Oh I know what you mean... " replies Rage. He keeps asking questions but doesn't really get anywhere.

In the meantime Gaarbagg squats down in a corner of the massage room and the woman seems to relax. So he gets up and moves to the other corner. His axe knocks on the wall and he notices it sounds hollow. He begins to knock his axe again on the wall and notices the masseuse is getting nervous. He then finds a crack that he presses on and his finger goes into a hole with a click. The wall slides back and the exposes a set of stairs leading down into darkness.

Gaarbagg tells Thia to fetch the others and she goes and collects Rage.

Rage says fairwell to the Dandy who replies "Have you ever ridden a horse?"

Then the team regroup and head down the stairs into the darkness. Gaarbaag gets to the bottom of the stairs and realises he can't see so Badwalken lights a torch and comes down behind him. The room at the bottom is carved from limestone with a 9 foot high ceiling. Two feet of water fills the bottom of the room. The party move through it after some debate.

They proceed through a dark tunnel until they find a door. Entering it they see a chamber that is empty but not bereft of decor. Carved into each of its three doors is a full-figure depiction of one of the Dead Three. Lerissa recognises all of the carvings and is shocked at their presence.