Through Nyx's and Narciso's combined efforts, the remaining ratodiles collapse, their lifeless corpses twitching for moment before falling still. With the battle over, all you hear is the crackle of the fire and gentle trickle of the sewer channel.
Short rest...
Nyx is just as relieved as the woman is when she sees that she is still fine, and not plague by similar creatures. Spotting the last of the creatures fall with her fragment, she gives the woman a small smile and a nod. "Yes, it is. They won't harm us anymore," she says, motioning for the woman to follow as she heads back into the room.
Narciso takes a few steps back from the rat monstrosity and collapses to his knees as he takes a deep breath. "That was a close one, eh?" He smiles at his teammates, hoping they might at least see him as useful now.
"Not a scratch. Didn't even break a sweat," Ciraco says in reply to Narcisco as he wipes the blood from his blade on the hermit's rags before sheathing it. Well they at least seem slightly less incompetent than before, he thinks, looking at Narcisco and Nyx.
He then turns his attention to the area around the hermit, looking for the alleged treasure.
"Told you it works," Idrig whispers to Ciraco, a smug grin creeping from under his bushy mustache. The dwarf removes the loaded bolt and holsters his crossbow on the strap around his shoulder, watching the other man pick through the room.
At Narciso's question, Idrig gives the human a once-over. "Those bites, how do they feel? I've tinctures that might help."
Narciso shook his head. "I'll be fine. They hurt a little, but I can manage." He offers a smile to Idrig. "Thank you."
Idrig shrugs apathetically at the man's response, instead turning back to watch Ciraco.
"I suppose we should be more careful for the rest of our time down here. Who's to say what else is hiding?" Luca says, prodding at the creature's corpse with his boot. "How do you suppose these came to be?"
After a moment, Nyx and the injured woman return to the room. Though still visibly injured, she is able to stand by herself and maintain her composure.
"Mutations and generations of crossbreeding, most like." Idrig steps over to the strange rat-like creatures to take a closer look. "You've never seen this sort of thing in Brennis?"
As Nyx and the injured woman approach, the dwarf cocks an eye in their direction. "That blind fool. He was Cru'unish, no?"
Nyx blushes at the woman's words. "Uh, thanks," she stammers. "I'm Nyx," she continues, helping the woman back to the room where the others remain.
"Maybe," Nyx responds to Idrig, looking shocked as the dwarf accosts her with his suspicions. "The thought never really crossed my mind, but he certainly had the sort of magical knowledge that is common in my hometown. And the accent was definitely similar, now that I think about it."
At the suggestion she steps over to the man's corpse, grimacing at the grizzly sight. She looks him over, checking his clothes and facial features, to see if he seems like he might be Cru'unish
Ciraco leaves the others to their conversation as he pockets the necklaces and the coin purse. He then turns his attention to the journal, opening it and scanning the pages for anything interesting. What does a crazy old man who lives in the sewers have to write about? He wonders as he looks through the journal.
"I have no idea what language this is written in," Ciraco announces, seeing he is unable to read the journal. "You two must know some other languages right?" He says turning to Igdrig and Nyx, holding out the journal for them.
"Well he is definitely Cru'unish as Idrig said, so the journal may be in my native language," Nyx says to Ciraco, reaching for the journal. But why does he seem familiar? Have I seen this man before?
"No," Idrig says, kneeling above one of the vermin and pulling out a hammer and a small steel spike. Using gloved hands, he pops free a handful of the scales and teeth and places them in a small gathering pouch at his waist. This should be enough. Once we're back to the manor I can run some tests.
Standing up, he peers over to Nyx, still reading the journal. "Anything moderately interesting, or the ramblings of an old fool?"
Narciso, who doesn't really put much interest into reading, turns to the others. "Anyone find any treasure?" He asks.
Nyx frowns as she realizes who the man is, and her frown only shows more concern as she reads through the contents of the journal. She reads it in its totality before glancing back up at the others. As Idrig speaks to her, she says, "no, the opposite. I know this man, I thought I recognized him before and now I am sure of it."
She closes the book and tucks it under her should before continuing. "He was one of the most respected scholars at the Aetherial Academy at one point, but he was shunned for the nature of the work he was doing. Based on the journal it seems he ended up here only be chance, and then lost his belongings to some thugs. It looks like he decided to continue his experiments in this place, those creatures probably of his own creation."
She pauses for a moment before adding, "though towards the end he did seem to lose his wits. There are mushrooms mentioned that seem like they could be the source. If we come across those, we should probably avoid them."
"A shame," Idrig admits. "One's adamant quest for scientific discovery should never be met with disdain or dismissal."
I will not end up the same as this one. He was too weak to achieve true progress, the dwarf reminds himself. His mushrooms, however, might be something I could use.
"Yes, I think I found it," Ciraco replies to Narcisco. Reaching his hand into his pocket he pulls out the two necklaces and holds them aloft hanging from his fist by the string. "Nothing worth of a royal treasury or a casino vault unfortunately."
"Well that's good to know. I'd rather not spend the rest of my days creating weird rat monsters in a sewer,"" he says in response to Nyx's summary of the journal.
Luca frowns as he listens to Nyx's tale. "A tragic story. Such a brilliant mind turning into this." He shakes his head before turning towards Ciraco's discovered treasure.
"Maybe not, but I'm sure they'd sell well enough."
"That was the intention," Ciraco says rolling his eyes at Luca. "There's not much use for a time piece in my line of work. People trying to kill you or your client don't tend to make an appointment first," he adds with a smirk.
"The other necklace," Idrig says, motioning to Ciraco. "That's no ordinary metalwork." He sniffs the air, making out certain etches of a magical taint to it. "We should get it appraised. And not by one of those scam-worthy fences who want to melt down jewelry and resell it on the open market. A real appraiser."
He smiles. Could be closer to paying off my debts and on my way again with that.
"It might be enchanted," Nyx responds, adding to Idrig's suspicions. "It certainly seems enchanted. Pass it here, I may be able to tell what the enchantment is. I had to study them at the Academy."
Idrig shrugs, looking over the item beside Nyx. "Seems lucky, whatever it is."
Ugh, I should have studied more, Nyx thinks to herself as she realizes she cannot tell more about the item than what Idrig said. "Yeah, seems so. I wish I could tell more about it. Perhaps we can find an appraiser somewhere who will tell us more."
"Yeah," Idrig agrees. He motions toward the tunnel they came from. "Let's get moving. We've got to get her back to the estate and back in time for nightfall."
Not having anything to add, Narciso sheathes his weapon and follows the others.
"An appraiser shouldn't be too hard to find, but that's a worry for another time," Luca says with a nod, trailing behind the others as they begin to move.
The tunnels are quiet as you continue along, the steady stream and your echoing footsteps the only sounds you hear. After awhile, the sewer channel veers northward, but the tunnel continues on west. Eventually, you come across a small alcove containing a ladder. You can just barely make out VS etched into the stone walls. Above the ladder is what appears to be a trapdoor.
The tunnel continue past for a short ways before collapsing. Amongst the rubble, you catch sight of bulbous pink and yellow mushrooms which appear to glow in the dim light.
"Those must be the mushrooms mentioned in this journal," Nyx responds, spotting the fungi ahead. "We should steer clear," she continues, eyeing the ladder with great interest. One of the others can go first.
"Another time," Ciraco agrees with a smirk, pocketing the timepiece. "You can never have enough luck though," he adds, slipping the second amulet over his head and around his neck, tucking it into his shirt.
"Probably for the best," he says in reply to Nyx as he eyes the mushrooms. "What do you suppose VS stands for?" He says, running a finger over the etching on the wall.
"Go on ahead, then. I think I might have a use for these..." Idrig steps over to the mushrooms, donning a pair of thick gloves before kneeling down and attempting to forage for some fully grown stalks.
"It could be any number of things," Luca says with a shrug, glancing at the faded etchings. "But it seems like the only way out, unless we want to backtrack."
"Damnit," Idrig grumbles to himself as he botches his attempt at harvesting the fragile mushrooms. I'll have to come back to this later. He stands back up, joining the group once more.
"Vile sewers," the dwarf remarks, uninterested at the etchings. "Let's keep moving. We need to get our associate back to the manor."
"Who wants to go first?" Nyx asks, not wanting to volunteer herself for the task. One of the men can do that, I'll stay back here until we know it's safe.
"I guess I'll go first then," Ciraco says with a slight roll of his eyes. He starts climbing up the ladder and cautiously tries to open the trapdoor at the top.
Narciso nods and climbs up behind Ciraco, giving him enough space to move if he suddenly needs to climb back down. He readies himself to head through the trap door after Ciraco if he goes up.
Though the ladder's rungs have cleared felt the passage of time, the ladder manages to support your weight with a meager creak under the pressure. Once up top, Ciraco finds the trapdoor firmly stuck. After a strong shove, however, a cloud of dust and dirt swirls and the door flies open.
As you finish your ascent, you find yourself on the surface once more, inside a storage shed. The air smells musty and cobwebs fill the corners. The trapdoor is housed between a pair of shelves littered with assorted tools and furniture. As you step into the aisle, you notice a neatly-kept workstation to your right, with a distillation kit and assorted reagents: Idrig's workstation. Peering through the dusty windows, you make out the unmistakable shape of your base of operations. "I suppose that would explain the VS then. Villa Salucci."
Finding the door, you step outside into the fresh air once more. The sun is low, beginning its daily descent towards the sea, and the warm air tickles your skin. The grounds appear quiet, although you notice the gardener, Fioralba, tending to her flowers. She raises an eyebrow as she notices you, akin to a mother expecting her children to explain themselves.
"I'm surprised we didn't think of that," Ciraco says as they find themselves in the Villa's grounds. "Very convenient though. At some point we should investigate the other tunnels we didn't take. They could give us a good way to move around the tunnel without being noticed," he suggests as he steps out into the garden, giving Fioralba a friendly wave in reply to her scowl.
"Let's go find Gina, I guess," the sellsword says before setting off towards the Villa.
"Hm." Idrig shrugs. "I still think the VS qualifies to be Vile Sewers." Stepping over to his workstation, he jots down a quick note to remind himself of the mushrooms downstairs. "This was a convenient entry, as you said. We'll have to do more sewer spelunking as time permits."
Nyx follows after the others once it seems safe, making sure Alina gets safely up the ladder first. She is shocked to see that they are in a shed and not a street, but glad to be out of the sewers. She nods to Ciraco at his suggestion, before turning to Alina. "Is there an infirmary or something we should take you to? Or do you want to come see Gina with us?"
Narciso stretches out and steps out of the shed, giving the gardner a polite bow before following Ciraco up to the house. "I'm not sure how much going into the sewers is something I want to do again, but... it wouldn't be a bad idea to have it mapped out, I agree."
"My bedroom should suffice," Alina manages, the long journey appearing to have taken a toll on her. She nearly loses her footing, but Luca holds her steady.
"I'll get her there. You can go on ahead. Gina's probably in the parlor again or something." With Alina against his shoulder, the pair soon disappear into the lower floors of the house.
You trail behind, ascending the stairs towards the villa's main floor. You hear the sweet sounds of piano music echoing through the halls, a joyous melody turning more tempestuous as it progresses. You soon find the source of the music within the library, directly opposite the parlor. Seated at its helm is Gina, seemingly lost in the music.
After a moment, the piece is finished and she takes a deep breath before noticing your presence. "You are back. Have you prepared for tonight?"
Idrig waits impatiently as the woman keeps them from their task with her piano music. "No," he replies flatly. "But we've found our ally. She's safe in her room now, though injured."
"There's a bit more to it than just no," Ciraco says looking to Idrig and then back to Gina. "We found a good vantage point as well as access to the sewers which could give us a way in, " he elaborates.
Narciso gave a small stretch. "I think we've got this just fine."
Nyx sighs as the others focus more on the mission than their injured comrade. "Alina had been captured by clowns," she continues. "But they didn't seem like the Buffones. I've never seen anything as dark and eerie as the place they had her kept when I was at the The Carnevale," she continues. "It might be a splinter group within the Clowns, or perhaps an unrelated group trying to frame them." Or, even worse, the Clowns have become much scarier.
Gina watches each of you speak, her eyes momentarily relieved before appearing concerned again. She hmms quickly before standing from the instrument. "It is good that Alina is safe then," she says, breathing deeply as if a weight has been lifted from her shoulders. "Though what you say of the Clowns is of great concern. Tell me, what exactly did you see?" she asks, looking towards Nyx in particular.
Looking towards the others, she adds, "Ah, you mentioned the sewers, yes? We may have an old map somewhere in here, if you care to look."
"I'll start looking for that map," Ciraco says, not having much to add on the subject of the Clowns. He starts searching for the map of the sewers while listening in the on conversation.
