Chapter 1: Beneath the Streets

Jasera inspects the debris by the cave opening. The stones are somewhat damp, confirming your suspicion that they have been on the ground for a while.

As you look at the pile of broken rock, some of which appear to be finely carved. Among them you recognize a stone hand broken off at the wrist and half of epaulettes from a piece of armor. The more you look, the more you think this may have been a complete stone statue of a humanoid that was smashed to smithereens.

You also get a glance into the cave. The rough-walled tunnel opens up to a series of
larger caverns ahead. In the dimness of your darkvision, you make out the silhouette of a short humanoid standing still in the dark.

"I doubt sneaking up on the thing will grant us much advantage," Berry pulls his lanterns and lights it.

Warm light spreads from Berry's lantern, filling the cave and tunnel with a flickering orange and yellow light. The figure in the cave now becomes clear: it appears to be a statue of a dwarf looking forlornly at its arms, which have broken off and fallen to the ground. It occupies a small cavern, to which two additional worn-earth tunnels branch off. The cave tunnels are 6 feet high, where as the cavern has a 12 foot ceiling.

Berry approaches the statue and looks for the arms, looking for any details. Was the statue carrying anything? He tries to understand the pose of the dwarf and what it was sculpted to be looking at.

"Strange place to erect statues?"

Tilma readies her crossbow as well while she slowly advances towards the gnome and statue. The way it looks at it's arms seems way too "Real". "Do you think that he was... Alive? That he was petrified or something?"

She tries to remember if she has ever heard of something like that.

Looking closely at the dwarf, both Berry and Tilma are impressed by how lifelike it appears. Your suspicions are well-grounded.

The stone dwarf has a rough, worn look to him. He is dressed for underground exploration - wearing light armour, a rucksack with rope strapped to the side, and a brace of daggers across his chest. His broken arms appear to have been extended as if shielding himself from something below his knees, and his face is forlorn, wearing the expression of someone who knows the moment of their demise is upon them.

Tilma has definitely heard of stories of people turned to stone by magic spells, and there are many creatures that can innately cause this to happen: basilisk, cockatrices, gorgons, and medusas to name a few. But specifically what might have caused this transformation is unclear.

"Perhaps it was a basilisk or cockatrice or a gorgon or even medusa?" she tries to guess. "Or perhaps an evil cult of mages! Nah, probably not those. The dwarf is looking down." she leans to see his face more clearly and then looks at the ground where it was looking "The thing that petrified him must have been small. Problem is, that me personally, I have no idea how to counter petrifaction. So we might be in high danger here."

"I was thinking the same thing. Looks like we might be dealing with more than your average giant rat."

Berry thinks of anything he might have read of in relation to the city and creatures using petrification.

Berry rummaged through his memory. A recent scandal that has been making the rounds in the local broadsheets associated the Bartoz merchant house with the recent plague that ravaged the Old Town district. Their house coat of arms features a cockatrice.In addition to the statue, the cavern you find yourself in is a crossroads of sorts.

* You arrived through the eastern tunnel.
* To the west, a tunnel extends further into a bigger cavern. There is a glowing light of purple and green hues coming from inside there.
* To the south, a longer tunnel winds upward and curves west, possibly rising above or around the cavern to the west.
* You also notice that your lamp flame is flickering. An unusual breeze is coming from the north wall of the cavern.

Berry relays this memory to the others.

Jasera seems uneasy but stalwart. "I don't like the looks of this either- we may be in over our heads if there's something of that magnitude down here" she comments, though she doesn't seem fully convinced. "Though... all this talk of plagues and conspiracies has me thinking. This would not be the first time that someone is conducting some nefarious deed and keeping inquisitive folk at bay with some sort of pet, or spell that leads you to believe that there's something far worse inside."

She pauses and glances at the others to see if they're following along, "Simply put- the House may be up to something and trying to scare any nosy people off. This is definitely worth investigating, but I'm with Berry here- be it creature or clever foe, this is not an ordinary 'rat' matter..."

"The lights leave me curious..." she starts, nodding in the direction of the multihued glow, "...let me creep forward and see what I find. Be cautious of your flanks; the direction of the drop shaft is the only one we don't have to fear. Between the breeze from one side and the winding path from the other, I fear that this crossroad is the most visible, most dangerous, and least defensible position we could be caught in" comments Jasera biting her lower lip nervously. With her eyes shifting about, she leaves her allies with one last bit of advice before advancing towards the west, "Take cover my friends, keep your eyes and your blades sharp".

With a hearty nod of encouragement, the ranger slinks off to the west- barely disturbing the dirt underfoot.

Jasera moves quietly along the western tunnel to the edge of another cavern. A dozen humanoid statues, many of them broken, decorate this broad cavern. Tall columns of stone rise to the rough ceiling, and a rune-decorated gateway of worked stone stands before the rock wall to the north, swirling with magical energy.

Two podiums flank the gateway, holding glowing crystals of violet and green. The green crystal has a large crack in it, and sends intermittent pulses of arcane energy arcing into the stone of the wall and floor.

---

A map of the current area explored (click to enlarge):

Tilma follows her elven companion. Sneaking as silently as she can. The moment she sees the source of the light, however, all the caution goes out the window.
"THAT, definitely isn't just to scare off someone!" she exclaims loudly. She glances around at the statues. "Do you think it was the gate that petrified them? Or that green glow flowing from the green crystal. Or did the creature come through there? Well, in any case this is in no way Natural. Someone is definitely responsible."
She positions herself in front of the gate. "Does any of you have something to eat?"

Petrification and necromancy don't share much in common, and in some ways they are opposites. A body turned to stone cannot be raised, for example. But Tilma does know that this effect is magical and that the creatures that can cause petrification are all prized for their components.

As for the gateway, Tilma's seen nothing like it. Glyphs and writing appear on the front of this gate but at this distance it is hard to tell what they say.

Norran sauntered in the Western cavern trying to look casual, or as much casual as someone who just woke up from a hangover.

Well, they've left me behind...again...and this time, I'm sure it's not my fault...I've only had five mugs of ale last night! five!

IT WAS NOT FIVE! IT WAS TWENTY-FIVE! AND YOU WERE SO DRUNK LAST NIGHT AGAIN YOU TRIED WRESTLING ME ON THE FLOOR OF THAT PUB! YOU FOOL!

The elf barbarian shook his head with the loud voice of Angry Jondalar still ringing inside his head.

Aww man, you're too loud Jon! keep it down will ya? And I don't remember about that..come to think of it I don't remember anything else after my fifth ale...Anyway, what's done is done mayyybe I tried to wrestle you inside a place with a lot of strange people around...but that's all water under the bridge okay? now let's catch up to the others, shall we!

Keep it down he says...as if these other fools with him can hear spirits like me...I am a dignified warrior spirit...not some nursemaid to a wet behind the ears whelp...Why In my time--

Whatever the grumblings of the warrior spirit may have that time, they were cut off short by the loud exclamation that issued forth from the elf. Despite himself, Norran was surprised at the strange room before him decorated with equally weird decorations. These statues almost look life-like and to the untrained eye, they would appear as just that. However, Norran had spent much time becoming observant around things even in his constant inebriated states that he had picked up some details of the statues.

WHOA! Man! radical! this is a dwarf! someone or something turned these people into stones! that's hard!

Angry Jondalar snorted in undisguised derision, A yes a master of the obvious this one is...

Norran ignored the snide remark from the spirit and joined his other companions in observing the rest of the cavern. Not a few steps away from the statues and another remarkable sight presented itself before him: Some kind of gateway with ornate symbols flanked by two podiums at either side. The podiums were emitting each a strange light one of them purple, the other green. If not for their strange appearance, it might have reminded Norran of those ghost lights he used in his parties back at home. He shrugged and noticed his other companions trying to look busy in their own way.

Regardless of whatever they thought about him, the elven barbarian from Taurenairë had a blood debt to these people. Although they might be strange 'outsiders' to him (even though two of them are elves like him) they have helped him survive in this strange great village of Iskander after finding himself almost drowned in excrement and urine after an encounter with irate patrons of an inn in his first day in the city. After that experience, he now knows more about the concept of 'money' and 'payment' in 'civilized' areas like this. Tilma and the others have taught him that and many other things to guide a bumbling barbarian in the harsh reality of a big city. Whatever it takes, he will help them in their quests as long as he is able and as long as it won't take long. He has his own quest to undertake. The village is still in peril.

At Tilma's mention of food, Norran smirked a mischievous grin, a thought in his mind, and approached the other elf woman with confidence. The other woman named Jasera was just too cold. Colder than skinny dipping in the Ghost Falls in winter. He shrugged and sidled over to the 'exterminator'.

Hey Tilma babes! I hear you might be hungry! you can still have MY SAUSAGE if you want...hehehe

The woman looked up from looking at something from the ground and at him with a frown and a look that looked equal parts confused and slightly disgusted...

Ahem...I've saved one from last night's dinner, He said while unfolding a napkin containing a grilled garlic sausage.

I wish she would kick you in the gonads...

The handsome elf she had rescued the other day had finally joined them. Though he still smelled like booze. And probably had a pretty heavy hangover from the looks of it. The moment he proposed his Sausage she was left confused for a second. Sure she found him Very attractive but things have order. One must first know the person a little better.
She took the sausage and looked at the elf. After a quick memory of her past adventures with men she thought, "Then again...". She gave him an enigmatic smile, turned towards the gate and broke the sausage in two.
"Watch out!" she said as she threw one half into the green light of the broken orb and one at the gates to see if any of them would petrify.

The sausage flops harmlessly into the green light and the other against the gates. They roll to a halt, unchanged.

Then, from out of the unexplored recesses of this chamber you hear a scurry of scratchy footsteps. A small bird-like creature, maybe the size of a duckling, darts out and spears the meat with its beak, and the sausage turns to stone! It swallows the other piece whole, and by the time it's done, the stone sausage has reverted to meat and it starts working on that too. It seems ravenous.

You are quite certain this is a baby cockatrice.

Tilma's eyes open wide. "Give it to me!" she practically tore the food out of Norran's hands.
She knelt down and as softly as she could said, "Here. Come. I have some more food for you." she threw a couple of pieces of food on the ground between her an the creature and held a few more in her outstretched hand.

The cockatrice hatchling jerks its head around to you and starts approaching warily. It tests the food, eats it, and continues to approach toward your outstretched hand. It emits a shrill squawk before gulping down the morsel in Tilma's hand. It looks up at you sideways, the way birds do, as if to say "Do you have more?"

At that moment, another hatchling of similar size wanders into the same cavern from the shadows, possibly drawn by the smell of meat. It comes toward Tilma too.

Berry backs away from Tilma, "Seems like the young's talent of petrification is short-lived but where there are babies, there's usually a mother."