Chapter 8: Into the Catacombs

They found Ameiko in one of the nearby storerooms, awake but bound hand and foot and with a gag wrapped tightly around her mouth. The innkeeper looked like she'd been thrashing about trying to free herself, but when she saw the companions step inside, her eyes widened and she nodded vigorously. Calassara knelt in front of her and pulled the gag out, then quickly undid the other bindings.

"It was Tsuto!" Ameiko said, as she got to her feet, a look of fury in her eyes. "He lured me here with a letter, and when I got here he started rambling about some plan to burn down Sandpoint with the goblins. When I told him there was no way in the Hells I'd help him, something dropped on top of me- a goblin probably, from the smell. Next thing I remember was waking up here." She looked around angrily. "Anyone got a spare blade I could borrow? I think I need to have a little talk with my brother."

"I wouldn't be so sure," said Caelum, and Drall shoved the unconscious Tsuto into the room, where he collapsed in a heap on the floor. "Consider it a present from all of us for all those wonderful meals you've cooked for us."

Ameiko's eyes widened, and she shook her head. "Well, I'll be damned," she said. "Looks like you all really did do it properly, didn't you?" Suddenly, she drew a sharp breath. "Wait – my father. Tsuto mentioned him last night when he was rambling; I think he might be in danger. Someone needs to warn him."

An uncomfortable silence fell across the room, and finally Calassara put a hand on Ameiko's shoulder. "I'm sorry," she said, "but it's too late. Your father is dead; Tsuto killed him last night, before we got here. Don't go up into the main workroom until someone's had a chance to clean it out. What he did… it's not pleasant."

Ameiko looked as stunned as if she'd been hit in the face with a wooden plank, and then she stumbled back and leaned against the wall for support. "Damn," she muttered under her breath. "Father was a mean old bastard, but somehow it always seemed like he'd be there, ready to come bursting into the inn and yell at me for not living up to the family name. I always knew there was something nasty in Tsuto, but I never thought… damn." She turned her face away from the companions, but Caelum thought he saw the shimmer of tears in the corner of her eye. Calassara seemed to consider reaching out a hand to comfort her, but then thought better of it. From the elf, Caelum's gaze slid past the others and finally landed on Errezha, who was staring at the innkeeper's grief with an intense but unreadable expression on her face.

Finally, Ameiko raised her head and looked back towards the others, the streaks of tears still visible on her cheeks. "Tell me everything," she said. "I think I've got a right to know. What the hell is going on here?"

The words spilled out of Caelum, with the occasional interjection or correction from Calassara or Harann; when he had finished recounting what Tsuto had revealed, Ameiko's gaze had hardened.

"So, that's what he was a part of?" she asked, and shook her head. "Gods. I'd never have thought Tsuto had it in him. And Nualia's alive? And she's at the bottom of all this?" She shook her head again, then her gaze passed over each of the companions in turn before finally settling on Caelum. "I want to help you stop it. My family helped make this mess; the least I can do is try and see it cleaned up."

"Are you sure you're up to that?" Harann asked. "I mean, after all, this has been a rather trying day for you…"

"Dead sure," said Ameiko; her tone brooked no argument.

"Tsuto said something about catacombs under the glassworks," Caelum said, stroking his chin. "So long as we're here, that might be a place to start – at the very least we could try and make sure Nualia can't get her raiders through there."

"And from what Tsuto said, there may be other things there as well," added Calassara, but the elf's expression was guarded as if she was wary of expressing the true reason for her interest. "I, for one, would sleep easier knowing that there isn't some ancient horror buried beneath this town that could rise at any time and devour us all in our sleep."

Errezha rolled her eyes at that, but no one else made further comment. "All right then," Caelum said. "Let's get to it."

/

Ameiko managed to scrounge a pair of long, heavy-bladed knives off the bodies of the goblins ("Not exactly my preferred weapon," she said, giving them a dubious look, "but they'll do") and stuck them through her belt with an easy confidence; Errezha remembered what Bethana had said about the innkeeper having spent time as an adventurer. Calassara and Shaenn went poking through the small office where Tsuto had apparently been sleeping before they had disturbed him and returned after a few minutes with an old tattered journal that the elf was carrying in one hand.

"Anything interesting in that?" Caelum asked, eyeing the book appraisingly.

"Aside from more information than I ever wanted to know about Tsuto's sexual fantasies?" Calassara asked, a disgusted expression on her face. "Not much; mostly just confirming what Errezha got out of him with that charm spell. Nualia's coming back to Sandpoint with a monster and a lot more goblins, and she's planning on getting here through the catacombs."

"Sheriff's out of town," Ameiko said, "but someone needs to warn the mayor of what's going on. I can handle that part, if you like. And I'll take my brother," she shot a dark look at Tsuto's prone, loudly snoring body, "so that the bastard can face the consequences of his actions." She looked down at her hands and sighed before continuing in a quiet voice. "And I'd better see to my father's body, too. He was an asshole, but he deserves a decent funeral anyway."

"I can help you, if you like," Calassara said, her expression sympathetic. "You don't have to handle it alone if you don't want to."

Ameiko shook her head. "Thanks, but no. Like I said, this part's family business; I can take care of it alone. I need to. What about the rest of you? Going to head into those catacombs right away?"

"Think we'd better," Caelum said; if the situation had been less serious, Errezha might have rolled her eyes and how predictable he was. "This thing doesn't seem like it's going to improve with age."

Harann and Drall both nodded in response, and Shaenn shrugged. "Can't be worse than what we saw up here," she said, then glanced at Ameiko and winced. "Sorry," she said quietly.

Ameiko didn't respond; she bent down and grabbed Tsuto's body and, grunting with exertion, swung him up over her shoulders. "Well," she said, "Desna's luck go with you all, then. Sounds like you'll need it – and maybe before long we all will." She turned and began to head towards the stairs, walking slowly with her burder, but before she got there Errezha caught up with her and surprised herself by resting a hand on the other woman's arm.

"I won't pretend I know what you're going through," she said, "and I'm not exactly Golarion's greatest expert on feelings, but… well, I didn't have the best family situation growing up either, and I know how hard it must be for you. What I'm trying to say is… if you need to talk to someone later who isn't a chattering elf or a youth who thinks he can solve all his problems by hitting them with a sword, I'll be there for you."

Ameiko looked surprised for a long moment, and then gave a weary, knowing smile. "I may take you up on that," she said. "You know, you're not as nasty and bitter as you act, are you?"

Errezha sniffed. "Maybe, but don't tell anyone. I have a reputation to maintain, after all."

/

The entrance to the catacombs under the glassworks lay behind a door that looked as though it would have been very clever and secret had the goblins not left it partially ajar. Shaenn waved the others back and spent several moments studying the door and surrounding hallway – looking for traps, Caelum assumed – and then nodded and waved them through. He drew his sword and went through first, Calassara following with her rapier and Harann with his hammer; Errezha and Drall took up the rear, the half-orc with an arrow nocked on his bow. The corridor was dark, but Harann set his holy symbol aglow once again, while Errezha conjured another small flame in the palm of her hand, creating enough light to see by as they made their way down.

"This tunnel's old, but not ancient," Shaenn said suddenly, breaking the silence. She paused and ran her hand along the wall. "It matches the rest of the basement. I bet Lonjiku had business dealings that weren't quite legal, and this is where he shipped out illicit goods. But I don't think we're in the catacombs yet, not really."

"What's that up ahead?" Harann asked, raising his holy symbol for a better look. Caelum hurried forward in the direction his friend was pointing and found himself at a place where the tunnel diverged; one half went off straight, in a direction he was pretty sure would take it out towards the coast; the other looked like it had been bricked off at some point in the past, but enough of the bricks had been torn down to allow someone to slip through, if they were careful. The tunnel on the other side looked rough and descended downwards into darkness.

"Well, that certainly has an ominous feel," Harann said. "What do you think? These the old tunnels our friend Tsuto was talking about?"

"Well, I've never seen them before," Shaenn said. "And I've lived around here my whole life. Then again, I don't normally go sneaking around rich people's basements, so who knows? Maybe this sort of thing comes standard. But I doubt it. But I'd wager Lonjiku's men found something they didn't like when they were digging this tunnel, so they sealed off that part of it and pretended it wasn't there. And based on the way those bricks are laying, I'd guess someone unblocked it fairly recently."

"Well, don't look at me," Errezha said. "Just because I'm a hellspawn doesn't make me an expert in all things sinister. But I would wager decent money that Harann is right. We've found our catacombs."

"Then I guess it's time to see why Mistress Nualia was so interested in them," Caelum said. Turning, he managed to squeeze through the entrance and set off down the dark tunnel, the others following behind.

/

At first, the tunnel past the fallen barrier seemed little different than the one which the companions had left, a simple blank passage that wound its way deeper and deeper beneath the ground. Still, something in the air seemed to shift as they descended, and Errezha could almost fancy she felt a faint tingling on her skin. This place had known magic, she thought – very old magic from a very long time ago, and yet uncomfortably close to the surface nonetheless. These catacombs were here long before Nualia – Tsuto had said she'd found them, not created them. Now Errezha found herself wondering who had. Not goblins, surely. Modern Varisia was a backwater, a land of wilderness and isolated cities, but it hadn't always been that way – the ruins that littered the landscape were a testament to that. But Errezha didn't know enough about the history of this land to say for sure who might have made them; maybe, once this business was through, she'd find someone who did and ask them.

Finally, the passageway levelled out, and one side of it opened up in the entrance to what looked like a larger chamber. Caelum paused and raised his sword before stepping forward, Harann at his side with his light and the others following close behind. Errezha raised her own flame higher as she stepped inside, and bit back a gasp at what it revealed.

The chamber itself was largely bare, but the walls and floor had clearly been carved and smoothed by hands far more skilled than those who had made the rough tunnel they'd just left. No goblin made this, Errezha knew, and even in Cheliax a stonemason skilled enough to carve such a chamber would have their skills in high demand. But the craftsmanship paled compared to the statue of red marble that dominated the room. Exquisitely crafted, it depicted a woman clad in flowing robes, crowned like a queen; her face was breathtakingly beautiful, or would have been had it not been twisted into an expression of monstrous fury captured so realistically it seemed almost that the statue might come alive and attack at a moment's notice. The elaborate spear she held in one hand, point jammed into the earth, merely reinforced that nation.

"Damn," Drall swore, his rough voice breaking the silence. "Wouldn't want to meet her on a dark night, and no mistake."

"You can say that again," Shaenn said, gesturing to the statue. In the woman's free hand was the sculpted image of a large book, and Errezha now noticed the strange symbol carved on its cover, a sort of seven-pointed star. It was to that symbol Shaenn was pointing. "That's a very old, very wicked symbol," she said. "You see it sometimes on old ruins in this land. I don't know what it's called, but my people know well enough that if you see that symbol, you stay the hells away from it."

"So, who's the statue supposed to be, then?" Caelum asked, holding his sword warily as if expecting an attack at any moment. "Lamashtu, you think?"

"Maybe, but it doesn't match any depiction of her I've ever seen," Harann said, stroking his beard. "And there's no altar or place for rituals; I don't think this is a shrine to anybody. So why bury the statue down here and not put it out where people could see it?"

"I don't know," Calassara said, uncharacteristically subdued; she was staring at the seven-pointed star and though her black elven eyes were hard to read, Errezha thought she seemed troubled. "I think it might be…" the elf's voice trailed off, leaving whatever suspicions she had unsaid.

"Well, it gives me the creeps, whoever she is," Caelum said. "Let's keep moving. I don't think we're going to find anything else here." Privately, Errezha agreed with him, though she didn't say so aloud.

To the left of the statue was another door that led down a corridor; worked like the chamber and not rough like the tunnel. The companions followed it slowly, their way lit by Harann's steady silver light and Errezha's flickering orange flame, and before long they emerged into a larger room. They found themselves standing on a wooden walkway that overlooked a wide, sunken pit, its walls lined with small alcoves with barred gates. Errezha felt a chill when she realized what they must be. "Cells," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"This was a prison," Caelum agreed, his expression dark. "But who built it? And who did they build it for?"

"They're long gone, whoever they were," Harann said. "May the Lady go with them, whatever their fate. I have a feeling they needed someone's grace, whoever they were."

Shaenn knelt and ran a finger along the walkway, then held it up in front of her face. "Dust," she said. "I think layer of it. But not everywhere." Moving forward in a crouch, she ran her finger along the wood, expression darkening as she examined it, and then finally she stood and faced the others, face stony. "There's tracks here. They don't look human, and they're too big to be goblin. And they're fresh. We're not alone down here."

"Why am I not surprised?" Errezha muttered.

"Then we'll keep our wits about us and our eyes sharp," Drall said. "It's harder to ambush someone who's expecting trouble. And there's six of us. We're not exactly helpless."

"And we'll show them that, whoever they are, if they think we're easy pickings," Caelum said. The companions continued along the walkway until it rounded a corner and gave way to another stone corridor. This one was longer than the last, and they walked along it in silence until they came at last to another chamber, smaller than the last, but its walls lined with strange metal implements of archaic design but unmistakable purpose. Errezha's breath hissed between her teeth at the sight.

"Torture devices," she spat. "This wasn't just a prison. This was an interrogation room – and maybe even a laboratory. Someone amused themselves here, at least." She balled her hands into fists and could feel smoke rising around them; it was all she could do to keep from summoning fire and burning the whole foul room to ashes, but she had a feeling it wouldn't be wise to waste the magic. She'd need it for more important things before long, of that she was certain.

The tiefling drew a deep breath and released it, then opened her eyes to see the others staring at her with expressions of open concern; Calassara looked like she'd been about ready to put a hand on Errezha's shoulder but thought better of it when she saw the look in her eyes. "Are you all right?" the elf finally asked.

"I'm fine," Errezha said. "Bad memories. I've seen devices like this before. Never been in one, thank the Prince, but I've… seen them used. Not pleasant. Also, neither here nor now, so stop worrying about it. What now?"

"There's two doors here," Harann said. "One looks like it goes on ahead to another corridor; the other looks like a smaller room of some kind."

"I see it," Errezha said, glancing over at the right wall in the direction Harann had nodded his head; determined to clear her thoughts by doing something, however, irrelevant, she walked over to it and stuck her head through. "There's nothing here," she called back, summoning her little flame back and holding it up. "Just some old broken furniture. Maybe this was someone's office."

"Not quite nothing," Calassara said, sticking her head up beside Errezha's. "Look," she said, gesturing towards the far wall and what was written on it. "I know you can see in the dark as well as I can. You can see what's written on the wall. It's the symbol on the statue again. The seven-pointed star." Her voice lowered. "The sihedron."

"Shaenn said it was a wicked sign," Errezha said, voice pitched too low for anyone but the elf woman to hear. "I thought I was reasonably familiar with that sort of thing, but I've never seen that symbol before today, not even in my mother's grimoires. But I think you have. Don't try to lie to me. You know what it is."

"I told you I was a teller of tales," Calassara said, equally softly. "And some tales are much older and darker than others. I pray to all the gods it's just a coincidence that we've seen the sihedron in these catacombs and that this business isn't what I fear it is, but I don't think so. This isn't a place for storytelling, but when we get out of here, I'll tell you what I know. That, I promise you. But I can't promise you'll like it."

"I think we're all made of sterner stuff than that," Errezha said, "and I'll hold you to that promise. I think we need to know what's going on here. I sure as the hells do."

/

The tunnel beyond the torture chamber proved to contain a long staircase that descended further into the earth. Caelum took the lead once again, sword out, with Harann following close behind with his light. By the time they reached the bottom, the young swordsman could feel the ominous air of the place pressing down on him ever harder; it seemed difficult to imagine that they were still somewhere underneath Sandpoint and hadn't somehow wandered into the realm of the ancient, terrifying past. Finally, they emerged into another large, rounded chamber, bare save for the fact that the floor seemed lined with boarded over pits.

"What do we have here?" Caelum asked, a feeling of dread rising in his belly. Walking over to the nearest pit, he bent down and peered between the wooden slats; within, chained to the wall, he saw what appeared to be an ancient, mummified human corpse. Some poor prisoner who'd been forgotten here when the complex was abandoned by its builders and left to die? He bent for a closer look, but as he did so the corpse suddenly turned its head and looked up at him, chains rattling. Caelum gave a shout and jumped back.

"Zombies!" Harann said from where he'd been looking into one of the other pits. "Chained up where they can't hurt anyone, but still – who put them there? And why in the Lady's name would they?"

"Worry about it later, boys," Shaenn said. "We've got bigger problems. Look!" She pointed towards the chamber's right wall, where another door was now open – and at the creature that stood there, grinning maliciously at them.

"Lady's grace!" Harann swore, and Caelum thought he heard Errezha muttering a similar curse in the name of the Prince of Law. The young swordsman bit back an exclamation of his own, but he couldn't blame either of them. The thing that stood in the doorway was something out of a nightmare. It looked like a goblin, vaguely, but something had gone horribly, horribly wrong with it. The creature's body was hunched and corded with muscle, its face distorted into a permanent manic grin that made an ordinary goblin look downright reasonable in comparison. But the worst part was the third arm that had erupted from the center of the creature's back and now waved an axe high above its head; its other two hands held long knives.

"Longshanks!" the creature spat, its voice guttural and foul. "Longshanks not s'posed to be here! Longshanks not bother the Queen! Koruvus kill! Kill, kill!"

The goblin-thing opened its mouth and suddenly spat a long stream of foul-smelling liquid. Caelum shouted and jumped to the side in time to evade it, and the stuff splattered across the floor, where it hissed and steamed, leaving scarring in the stone floor. Then the monster – Koruvus – was charging forward, all weapons raised, directly at Caelum. He managed to raise his sword in a warding position, but the goblin-thing plowed straight into him, knocking him to the floor and causing the sword to fall from his hands. They rolled across the ground, tightly locked, the monster's foul breath in his face.

From the corner of his eyes, Caelum could see that the others were having their own troubles. Two other creatures had emerged, following Koruvus – emaciated things roughly humanoid in shape, but with fierce talons and spindly, backward-bending legs. Their faces were hideous, with bulging red eyes and slit noses, and gaping maws framed by razor-edged tentacles. One of the creatures was facing Harann, who was warding it off with his hammer in one hand and a long knife in the other, both weapons gleaming with divine power; the other was circling Calassara, who held her rapier before her in a defensive posture.

Caelum had no time to spare for the others for now; he had his own plight to worry about. The goblin creature's jaws were snapping as it leaned closer to his head, and it was all he could do to keep from having his face torn off. He held the creature's two main arms with his hands, keeping it from stabbing him with its daggers, but it raised its axe above its head with its third arm, preparing to come swinging down and cleave Caelum's head in two. That, he thought, won't be much fun. Time to end this! As the goblin raised its axe, Caelum headbutted forward, slamming into the monster's face and knocking it back. As Koruvus stumbled back to its feet and raised its weapons, Caelum scrambled over to his sword and grabbed it, holding it in front of him with blade levelled at the goblin's heart.

"That all you've got, monster?" he said. "If so, not impressed. Care to go another round?"

"Koruvus kill!" the goblin-thing shrieked, lunging forward again. Caelum parried its attack and forced it back, using his superior size and strength to try and keep the creature on the defensive. Koruvus seemed to realize it was on the defensive because it leaped backwards and opened its mouth wide; Caelum suddenly realized it was about to spit acid again, but before it could an arrow took it through the chest. The goblin-thing looked down at the wooden shaft in disbelief, then fell backwards to the ground.

"You're welcome," Drall rumbled, stepping up to stand beside Caelum. "I'd have shot it sooner, but you were in my way."

"Honestly, I'm just glad you did it when you did," Caelum replied, not taking his eyes off the goblin creature that was still tugging at the arrow, glaring murderously at the two men. "What are you, anyway?"

"Koruvus the Queen's chosen, Queen's champion," the creature gurgled.

"Queen?" Caelum asked. "You mean Nualia?"

Koruvus only laughed. "Queen of tunnels. Queen kill you. Queen kill you all! Die Longshanks!" Koruvus stumbled back to its feet and prepared to lunge forward again, but before it could Drall let another arrow fly. This one took the goblin-thing through the throat; it toppled back to the floor and lay still.

Across the room, Harann was forcing one of the monsters back with sweeps from his glowing hammer when Shaenn let fly a pair of knives; one took it through the shoulder, another through the eye. The thing yowled and stumbled forward, but Harann's hammer struck it in the face; the monster fell back and twitched a few times before going still. Calassara had maneuvered the other monster around so that Errezha had a clear line to it, and she let a torrent of flame loose from her hands; the monster ignited and leaped about, howling, until Classara skewered it through the throat.

"Okay," Shaenn finally said, panting. "That was… different. Anyone care to tell me what in the Abyss just happened here?"

Errezha knelt beside the body of one of the dead monsters. "I've never seen anything like these things before," she said. "If they're fiends, they're not any kind I've heard of. But look here on their flesh, these markings. They look like some sort of… runes."

"Runes," Caelum said slowly. "Is that implying what I thjnk it does?"

"It means these things aren't natural," Errezha said. "Someone made them, or maybe altered them."

"And if I were a betting dwarf," Harann said, "I'd wager that whoever did it, they're still down here with us. I think we're starting to see just what Nualia was interested in."