Almost Overwhelmed
Duskmeadow Fringe - March 31
Drake's accounts
The group opened the door the centaur creature was so excited for them to open, and all the centaur creatures rushed through it, their hooves fading into the distance as the ground beneath them changed to soft earth. The door on the opposite side had reliefs of fat individuals like the statue hanging above the trap door, with faces in different expressions. Drake and Razzy went through the door and tried opening it from the other side, but could not. They banged on the door and yelled and when the others opened it from the other side, it was established that the door does not open from the outside of the church and no sound travels. The door on the far side of the church room was the same.
Through the carved tunnel out of the church is a cave with a wall carving of an octopus eating a person and another tunnel that leads to another cave, deadend this time, with bioluminescent mushrooms that glow blue and grow on the walls and a marble statue of a Weeping Saint with red tearstains running from the eyes, as is the common symbolism of the faith. There are drag marks on the floor, as if the statue was dragged here.
Up the spiral steps in the room where the centaur creatures were, they found a corridor that ended in a partially finished mosaic. They discovered it was a false wall and went through it, finding themselves back in the false floor trap room. Wet footprints on the floor around the trap disappeared into another wall, and proceeded out into the cave where the crocodilian creatures were. They pushed aside the second false wall, being tipped off by the footprints, and found a corridor with alcoves in the wall full of small, delicate birdcages with tiny, desiccated bird bodies inside. Movement from the end of the corridor betrayed one of the crocodile things, which let out a yell in alarm, causing them to retreat back to the false floor room as the creatures swarmed them from outside the complex.
A brief but savage fight afterwards, they followed the corridor again to a metal door with a string tied around the handle - an obvious trap. They could not open the locked door however, and decided to leave the trap in place and come back later with some way of getting through the door. The lone corridor that branched off the one with the birdcages led to a pile of coins and gems, which seemed to move and slither when Yarrow poked it with her spear. With a hiss of compressed air, lamprey creatures lunged at them through the air and managed to down all of them but one - Razzy, who burned the last of them to death after a brief fight with everyone. As she picked up the rest of the group, they all had a rest, filled their packs with as much treasure as they could, and headed back to Sigisfarne, injured and limping but alive and significantly wealthier.
People
Factions
Locations
Folklore
Ugly images
The insect centaurs are excited and anxious for the party to open the east door. They seem unable to do so themselves. Once Drake opens it, all three flee as fast as they can towards a dark cavern. They leave the underground temple.
Drake and Razzy go to the other side of the door. It has images of the fat woman from the statue above in different positions. The door has some enchantment, but the party cannot open it from the outside. Their voices are also not heard.
Yarrow keeps the group moving and navigates towards the northern cavern. In the first chamber, a carving of a mollusc eating a man. They see some dim light from another chamber further north.
A beautiful image
The walls are covered in bioluminescent fungi. In the middle lies a marble statue of a saint. The group recognise her as one of the Weeping Mother’s Sisters. This statue seems dragged from the cathedral through the broken wall.
When Indigo tries to move the statue, he sees a vision of the Sister. But it quickly disappears.
Fighting Reptiloids
The group goes to the room where the insect centaurs were mating before. They climb a spiral stone staircase and navigate tight corridors. It ends in a wall of glass mosaic. Yarrow finds out that this wall is moveable and gives access to the room with the fat woman statue.
Around the pit trap, they see several muddy footprints. A few of them go into a wall up a flight of stairs. The wall is also moveable, and the group finds a reptiloid. It eats human limbs in a corner and quickly warns the others, who come from the main entrance.
Three repitiloids start hostility against the adventurers who invaded their space. They seem to have magical powers, like Razzy. They squeak and grunt when the group ambush them on the spiral staircase. In the end, they are bested by the adventurers.
A pile of gems
The group finds a trapped, locked door where the repitloid was eating human limbs. They are unable to open it or fully disable the trap.
Going south, the group finds a large pile of gems. Carefully, Yarrow pokes it, and innumerable worms attack the group. Yarrow falls, then Indigo and shortly after Drake. Razzy bravely sets them on fire with two torches and is pleased to have saved everyone.
The worms remind the drawings around the woman’s images. Most gems in the pile are fake, but the group can collect some valuable ones.
Epilogue
Before leaving, the adventurers look at the tunnels west and east of the cathedral. To the west, a collapsed corridor hides an iron door. To the east, a long cavern ends in a large pool of water to the northeast. This is where the insect centaurs went.
The pool becomes deep quickly. A large iron door (almost a small iron gate) is in this same chamber. Under inspection, there are no traps, but it is closed, has no handle and does not move with force. There are no signs of the creatures.