Episode 1: The Salvaged Job

Venturing further into the hallway, Maenor can see that the passage leads to a set of stairs that descend into darkness. The side corridor bends southward beyond Maenor's vision.Map

In general, this place feels like a tomb. Kalis can infer that the acolytes of the Eye of Ios probably used this tomb to inter their dead and perform ceremonies and rites dealing with the passage into the afterlife.

Kalis hypothesizes that the tomb's purpose changed over time. Early chambers may have been to honor the fallen, but later additions were meant to keep the dead within like a prison. The warding eyes do not seem to hold any noticeable magic, but the odd behavior of the skeletons and zombies unable to cross a threshold opposite one of these carvings would imply there is some power behind them. He might learn more given enough time for careful study and research, but it does hint at being a fascinating subject.

Kalis remembers that the old goblin mentioned that something unseemly was within this tomb. Did the goblin venture into these hallways? Impossible, thus far each chamber and hallway showed no passage of anything mortal. How did it know? Kalis decides to try and extend his senses and meditate on his environment, tapping into the energy within these catacombs. Perhaps aided by the proximity to the stairs, he starts to feel something dark and malevolent emanating from below.

Once Kalis points that out, everyone else in the party senses a terrible presence.

Reasoning that the stairs aren't likely to go anywhere, the party takes the side passage. The hallway travels in a brief S-shape before straightening out westward to a large iron portcullis that rests closed.

Beyond the portcullis, in the center of the room, is a smashed stone table. Two large sections lie cracked in the middle, and pieces of the edges have enormous chunks broken off of it. Amidst the rubble lie three skeletons, crushed and sundered underneath disintegrating robes darkened by stains and the passage of time. A variety of knifes and long pointed tools are scattered about the room, along with pieces of parchment.

In the southwest corner of this room is a closed door.

As your eyes adjust to the darkness, you begin to make out a large statue on the far end of the room. Something about its construction seems off, like the sculptor had no plan nor symmetry in mind when creating it. Then it hits you, about the same time as an unbearable stench of long decay assails your nose; that is no statue, but rather a giant of a zombie.

Ogre-sized, its distended belly is swollen to the point of tearing in places, spilling entrails down its waist like an organic loincloth. Numerous scars fill its chest while its arms appear to have been stitched to its body. Its bald head is missing its lower jaw, leaving a perpetual unholy scream in your imagination. Two pale white eyes stare across at the portcullis and your approach, but it does not yet move.Map

Maenor does not see any obvious signs of a mechanism to open the portcullis, but he does see that same worn-down hole in the bottom crossbar.

As the party converses, the creature at the far end of the room does not move.