The group lurks and plots. Several different avenues are explored. Leads are chased and contacts are developed. There is a swirl of activity in Ptolus – as there always is – and the group intercepts information and tries to discern which way the wind is blowing.
Bayga is insistent that some of the local noses get bloodied before they turn their attention to the looming threat of the General and the undead horde. Acting on information from a person of interest, they plot an attack on the Deathmantle Cult and/or The Ebon Hand. The Necropolis seems to have a reputation as an unsavory place that sees a fair amount of unlawful, immoral or unnatural activity…a home away from home for the party.
Investigation of the Necropolis’s perimeter yields an interesting location complete with flayed victim. The dead are returned to life and questioned, then returned to the dead. It seems that the ruined structure is the site of ritual sacrifice to a demon. Other interesting items like a windy obelisk are bypassed.
The group camps outside the city walls and spends the nights overseeing the area, looking for any signs of comings and goings. Undead roam freely and there is a distinctly unsettling air to the place after dark. On the night of the new moon, there is activity. Sniffle’s enhanced vision picks out figures coming over he wall with rope ladders. She alerts the camp and Bayga becomes a bat to go scouting.
He crosses over the wall and becomes aware that there is a demon already lurking in the sacrificial area. He doubles back and the group hatches an audacious plan. They’ll creep over the walls, then split the party to assault the demon in a pincer move.
All goes better than planned. After Zall and Sniffles distract the creature with a pair of mostly ineffective lightning bolts, Kael shoots the demon through both lungs and both hearts. In less than five seconds, the creature is slain. The companion quasits flee in terror and the group enacts part two of the audacity.
The body is dragged out of sight and Fingers replaces it with an illusion. As the cultits file in, bringing their latest sacrifice, the group is hiding and readying themselves for an assault. The nave is full when the lead figure steps forward and says something – but doesn’t get a response from the image. Fingers emerges and casts a Webn spell, trapping the lead three. There is a flurry of activity and the encounter ends within a minute. All the cultists are dead, except for two prisoners.
The group engages in elaborate erasure of clues by hauling all the dead bodies over the wall and reanimating most of them over the following days. Then, once the captives are drained of useable information, they join the dead. The skeletal crew drags he demon’s corpse several miles to the cliffs before throwing it – and themselves – into the ocean. No loose ends here.
The next few days have them following leads and acting on the extracted information. They arrange for a meeting with the Warden of the Prison under the city. He encourages them to explore the tunnels to the west, but the party decides his vibe is terrible and they bail.
Instead they follow the cobbler’s tale and discover that the murderous shoe repairman is also ground zero for a dig operation. Some clues in the basement give the party the impression that the cultists and the recently resurrected prisoners of days gone by might be intertwined.
They pause at the winch and assemble a plan of action. SHould they be hasty – is there a ticking clock? Should they be methodical – are there subtle clues to be discovered? Should they just burn down the manor house and embrace their inner murderhobo?