04. Dues for the Dead

The Doomguide bows his head curtly as you pledge your help, "We do not have a map, but you can get keys and a guide", he turns around to look outside and motions for another person to join. A young woman enters the chapel and smiles at the sight of you. Yovir introduces her, "This is Cassyt, she can help you around".

Upon the discussion falling on their previous trip to the catacombs, Yovir concedes that they only investigated the newer parts and didn’t go too deep, seeing that none of them had much fighting experience. That was the main reason behind the call for aid from more experienced adventurers.

Yovir motions with his hand out of the chapel door, "Then I will let you get to it. Cassyt will show you the way. Just a final thing, please be as respectful of the burial sites as you can and please do not remove any belongings from the deceased. Thieving from the dead is strictly forbidden. We will pay you 100 gold pieces to share, that is unfortunately all that we can afford, as well as this". He pulls out a strange looking set of goggles in the shape of an owl's eyes. "These are Goggles of Night, they may come in handy in the darkness for some" , and he looks particularly at you Augustine when he says that.Cassyt leads you over to a stone structure that resembles many of the mausoleums that are scattered throughout the graveyard, however this building doesn't have a door and instead just has an open archway that leads down a wide stone staircase. Out of earshot of the Doomguide, Cassyt seems much more animated than she first appeared, "How exciting that you could help, the situation really is grave...", she glances back at you with suppressed smile, clearly she has been thinking of that joke for a while. Her expression does become more awkward as it seems like she remembers the dead Kelemvorites, "I mean, of course it's terrible, the whole thing is...". She looks around and changes the subject, "Did you know that these catacombs are much, much older than they appear? This building is a couple of centuries old, but the stairs are easily four times older...". Before descending the stairs, she grabs a lantern that is leaning up against the wall, but before lighting it she turns to you, "Do you prefer the darkness or are you okay with me lighting the way?"

Cassyt frowns a bit, "I know a few spells but sadly not that one, but the holy water I can do! Give me a second!". She runs off and comes back a few minutes later and hands each of you a flask of holy water.

As you start to descend the stairs, Cassyt gives an awkward chuckle at Augustine’s question, "Well…no. But I’ve read a whole bunch about them". In the light from the lantern you can see her cheeks grow a bit red.

The base of the stairs opens up into a large, irregularly shaped chamber. Stone ledges are carved along most of the walls to serves as tables. The far wall is covered in a huge fresco. The painted tiles portraying people from every race and walk of life, arranged with no sense of perspective or relative scale. The design has suffered heavy damage from water damage and mildew over the years. There’s a door on your left side and the light at the back of the room fades into darkness to reveal a tunnel that takes you further into the catacombs.

Cassyt, who is walking at the back of the group, lifts the lantern to better light up the room. "This is usually where the loved ones get a chance to say their final goodbyes to their loved ones".

You move forward into a hallway of sorts. On either side there are a series of crypts with doorways sealed by locked iron grates. Within you see scenes of normal daily life: richly-dressed people seated around dining tables, or at writing desks, or in luxurious chairs. All of this would be completely normal, except that all of the participants in the macabre dioramas are the skeletal remains of the affluent—carefully posed and interred among their favourite possessions. At the end of the hallway, a series of stairs that leads further downwards, past a door on the right and then again further downwards.