Chapter Six: The Muster of Caltlikrath

Mordred struggles a bit, but manages to ascend the rope and escape the basement.

In the interest of moving things along, I'm giving Leth a free pass up the rope.

Leth ascends right behind Mordred, leaving Domarc alone in the basement. The carpet in the middle of the floor is burning, the fallen beam laying across it. Ash and embers rain down as the fire consumes the roof of the holy house.

Domarc, you can take an action. If you'd like to leave the basement now, you can shout to Zangua and get pulled up -- no Athletics check required.

The crowd outside gasps and recoils a bit when Mordred emerges from the burning ruin. "Pater! Pater!" the blacksmith cries into the smoking pit below. Leth tumbles out next, followed by Domarc. The blacksmith grabs him roughly by the back of his shirt and tosses him aside, muttering darkly. Then he gets down, grabs the ledge, swings his body down, and drops into the basement.

"Pater! Pater Aeron!" he cries, before losing his voice to a harsh fit of coughing. Then there is no sound but the crackle and roar of the fire eating away at the timbers of the holy house.

The man in burgundy steps forward again. "This monster you spoke of...what did it--"

He is cut off by a hideous scream from within the basement, an all-too-human scream of terror and pain that cuts off very abruptly. In the silence that follows, a large portion of the roof falls down.

The people in the crowd mutter quiet prayers. A few of them are sobbing. The man in burgundy looks at you all, his face as white as milk.

All party members are free to take an action!

The man in burgundy looks back at the crowd. A few of them come closer as if to stand with him in support; others approach the remains of the holy house. The fire is on the decline now, having reduced all the wooden structures of the holy house to cinders and ash, but smoke still pours forth into the sky. He opens his mouth to speak, but holds it for a while, as if choosing his words carefully. Before he can commit to a statement, somebody in the crowd speaks for him.

"There weren't any monster!" a woman shouts. "I seen you go into the gods' house after Dahl brought the Pater his victuals. It was you brought the fire, don't lie to us!"

Another, younger woman steps forward, wide-eyed. "A horde of rats unlike any I have ever seen passed through Maughblin's field just before the fire began!"

More villagers are starting to approach, drawn to the scene from the homes and fields where they'd been working. Somewhere in the distance you hear more screaming and wailing.

"If what you tell us is true," the man in burgundy finally says, "I have...many questions."

Loud cracks sound, and the rest of the roof collapses into the basement. All that stands now of the holy house are its stone walls, encircling a smoking pit of ash and debris. The sky overhead is steely gray, and a crowd of angry, distrustful villagers is gathering around the party.

What time of day is it?

I could have sworn it was nightfall when we got to the church, but now I can't find that anywhere...

It's the afternoon.

Edit: Party Loot doc.

The crowd surrounding the party appears frightened and uncertain. They know something terrible has happened, and they seem quite suspicious of you, but they seem to fear you as well. They outnumber you by a good margin, but none of them are properly armed, and you know as well as they surely do that if they tried to detain you, they might succeed, but it wouldn't go easy for them.

The man in burgundy seems to be running the same calculations in his head. He glances over his shoulder, then over at the burned structure, then back at Felor. "You should leave," he says in a low, gruff voice. "I don't know why you came here or what you did in there, but...this won't go unnoticed. Not after what happened at Solyhill. We want no part of any of this."

Solyhill is where the soldiers were stationed that the Hierophant sent to rescue Martjan, and they all got killed and it's a big scandal. It's not far from where you are now.

Ah, so something where we didn't directly mess up and get people killed

Quote:

Party Loot doc.

"2 potions of fire resistance"

Huh