Chapter One: Bones and Ashes

Only a week after the harrowing events in the seaside caves, you receive a letter from Father Zantus, asking that you meet him at the church for lunch. When you arrive, you are met by Acolyte Jamison, who leads you through the cathedral to the interior veranda where Abstalar Zantus waits at a table laden with food. The veranda looks out to the south over the cathedral’s grassy central courtyard, wherein a set of seven 9-foot-tall menhirs loom around a circular altar stone.

When you enter, he stands up and greets you warmly, "Ah yes, I'm so glad that you were all able to make it!" he says with a wide and sincere smile, "Please, sit down and enjoy the food and fine weather with me. How have you all been? I heard about your escapades in the cave. Quite the name you are all making for yourselves! I've always known you four would do well, ever since you were children exploring the old Valdemar manor house."

Father Zantus returns Winona's hug, "I'm glad you came. I haven't seen you in a while and it doesn't feel the same without you under foot all the time," he says, a fond smile on his face.

He laughs at the Socks' antics and reaches out to pet the creature's soft fur if it allows him to, "That's a cute little addition to your party."

When he's asked about the reason for the invitation, he shakes his head, "Let us enjoy the food and company before we turn to more serious matters," he suggests, getting some mutton for himself as well.

You chat amicably with the priest for the duration of the meal until the last of the plates is taken by another acolyte, leaving you all alone with Father Zantus. He lets out a heavy sigh before speaking, "How much do you know of the events of seventeen years ago and the treatment that Nualia received in this very town leading up to those events?"

Some of you may be aware of the events of 17 years ago, in which Nualia, an aasimar woman who was raised by the previous head priest tried to destroy the town by recruiting several tribes of goblins to do her dirty work.

She had been treated badly by the villagers, even when she was a child: some treated her with reverence while others, particularly children, treated her cruelly and played tricks on her. Eventually, after falling in love and getting pregnant, she was abandoned by her lover and imprisoned by her adopted father. She eventually broke out, torching the church with her father inside before leaving town. She returned years later and tried to have the town destroyed, but a group of heroes stopped her plot, killing her in the process.

"I'm glad you have some familiarity with the tale. It means I won't have to go into all of the details," Father Zantus says, nodding sadly, "Over the past seventeen years, I’ve done much thinking on poor Nualia, as she didn’t deserve the fate she got. I’m certainly not justifying her actions, but I wish it never came to that sort of situation in the first place. That I only came to town after the fire that took my predecessor’s life is no excuse—all of those who worship Desna should know better and treat the children of the world more kindly. My predecessor’s failure to be a father figure is in part what caused Nualia’s fall, but the people of Sandpoint were no help in how they treated her as something less than human—something fit only to soften their own fears, or something to jealously covet.

After her defeat, the least I could do was see to it that she got a proper burial here in town. Some folks blanched at the idea, but I’m glad that most of us were more understanding and forgiving. Only, I feel like it’s not enough. Nualia needs to know we’ve forgiven her... she needs to know that I have forgiven her. She doesn’t deserve an afterlife of torment—her life was torment enough."

He pauses here, looking at each of you in turn to gauge your reaction to what he's said so far. It's clear he has more to say, but he wants to ensure that you are a receptive audience.

Father Zantus looks positively alarmed, "Oh no, you misunderstand," he says, shaking his head, "We shan't be resurrecting her. A simple spell to speak to the dead shall suffice for our purposes."

"I’ve only spoken of this with one other—a friend named Audrahni. Nualia’s been dead for nearly two decades, but time does not pass the same for the dead as it does for the living. Audrahni knows a ritual that can put us in contact with the spirits of the dead and, in her latest letter, she told me she’s willing to perform this ritual here when next she visits, so that I can offer Nualia my apologies and forgive her. I don’t know if that will be enough to help her, or to stave off an afterlife of torment, but I do know that if nothing is done, Sandpoint will have failed her yet again."

"Here’s where the complication comes in. In order for Audrahni’s ritual to succeed, we need a physical link to Nualia’s soul. It’s been years, and any of her belongings are long gone now, which leaves only her mortal remains. As loath as I was to exhume her body, it was necessary to the ritual, to giving her my forgiveness. But when we opened her grave, we made an awful discovery. Her coffin was empty—tunneled into from below, so that when we reached it, the whole grave caved in. Naffer and I were fortunate enough to escape without much harm, but now there’s a hole where her grave used to be—a hole that leads to an underground tunnel below the boneyard."

Father Zantus nods to Jathus, "That's right," he agrees, "I could have asked the sheriff and his men for help, but I don't think they are as resourceful as you all are. With all you've been through, I thought you would be better suited to this specific endeavor."

Winona knows that most faiths don't have the same view as she does regarding speaking to the dead, so this isn't something that would likely be proscribed by most priests, despite how distasteful she may find it, "She was buried in a white funeral shroud with Desna's butterfly sewn into it."

"The subsidence, the claw marks on the underside of the coffin, the missing body, and the tunnel it opens into all suggest ghouls to me. They must have burrowed up from below to rob her grave," he explains further, giving you each a significant look, "Be careful... They are dangerous creatures."

To Zanitina, "It's likely that more have been taken, but we wouldn't be able to know for sure without digging up more graves, unfortunately."

"The monsters have been a problem in the region for decades, although not so much in recent years. I suppose I grew a bit complacent, but at the same time, they know how to hide and avoid leaving traces. By not tunneling in areas of the graveyard that are in more frequent use, and by backfilling those they defile, ghouls can go unnoticed for ages. Had I waited a few weeks more, no doubt they would have backfilled Nualia’s grave as well, leaving me with a mysterious empty coffin but nowhere obvious to go from there, but that says to me that the theft’s recent enough that her remains might still be recoverable."

Looking to Perf, he looks thoughtful, "The first priority is to bring back her remains, but exploring the tunnels is important as well. I would say bring Nualia's remains back first and then you can explore further to see if this threat can be dealt with."