Oathday, Rova the 7th, 4711 A.R.

The Village of Ravengro

The next morning, tensions are still quite high after Yala's departure the previous evening. Everyone is well-rested, at least, and ready to uncover some information of real significance. Once Zooglub prepares his daily supply of alchemical concoctions, prayers are completed, and Yala has communed with her familiar (and through him, her elemental patrons), everyone heads out to perform their assigned duties. The witch still seems silent & dejected, but she agrees to stay at the manor house with Zooglub.

Valamir and Tatyanza visit the Unfurling Scroll where the proprietor, Alendru Ghoroven, is busy instructing some of the children from the town. The man tells his students to continue their studies while he speaks with "these strangers." Tatyanza introduces herself and Valamir. She asks if the libraries of the Unfurling Scroll are available for research. Alendru is annoyed and untrusting at first, but when Valamir presents a platinum coin, the man takes it and shows the companions where they may conduct their work. "Just do not disturb my pupils!" He then returns to his teaching.

Meanwhile, Kendra and Wilhem go once again to the Temple of Pharasma where council members Mirta Straelock and Shanda Faravan are already in conversation with the priests. Wilhem apologizes for interrupting, but then once again requests use of the temple's archives for research. "My friends and I only wish to protect this town from the same dark forces Professor Lorrimor spent his life combating." The priests remain skeptical, but with the councilors' help, they reluctantly allow use of the archives. One of the acolytes volunteers to lead the investigators to the records room.

Before leaving to perform their research, Wilhem asks if they may have permissoin to explore the rumored false crypt in The Restlands. To this, the priests answer with an emphatic "no!" One of them turns to Faraven and says, "you've been wrong before, Shanda... you had better be right about them!"

Meanwhile, back at the Lorrimor estate, Yala has already grown weary of waiting for the others. "Zooglub, how many times can you read these books? You've done nothing but pour over them since we arrived."
"Yala, my sweet, the Professor has an extensive library -- the volumes contained in the chest are particularly rare -- I may never get the chance to reference these works again." He looks up from the pages and stares at her. "What are you suggesting we do instead?"
"The Professor knew something of what we would face when we were invited here. He brought each of us to Ravengro for a reason."
The goblin puts down the book. "Go on."
"You were proven right about the chest. We were meant to open it. I don't think the Professor would have the two of us sit here being of no use while the others try in vain to convince these townsfolk to trust us."
"What avenue of investigation do you have in mind? Because I think going back to the prison would be..."
Yala interrupts him, "not the prison. The crypt. The priests will never permit us to dig up a sacred site. We need to go there undetected, and two can go unseen better than six."
The goblin ponders Yala's words for a few moments. He hops off his cahir and says, "what you're proposing is utterly foolhardy and dangerous! And not only that, but if the townsfolk learn of what we've done, they will chase us out of the village -- if we're lucky! Folk around these parts enjoy the aroma of burnt witch, I am made to understand."
Yala replies, "we're trying to help these people! They'll never understand that if we don't at least try to do what we can."
Zooglub grins, "I'm not saying 'no.' Let me gather my things."

Meanwhile, back at the Unfurling Scroll, Valamir was not much use in the research. He seemed too occupied with poking around and muttering things like, "can you imagine, instructing children in a place such as this?" or "look here -- magic potions and wands -- this place is a den of sorcery, not a schoolhouse!" Fortunately, Tatyanza was having excellent success with her researches. She found out a great deal more regarding Harrowstone.

Besides the information they already knew or suspected (the prison burned down in 4661 and the townspeople believe it is haunted), she learns that not only did warden Hawkran die in the fire, but his wife did, as well. All of the prisoners and most of the guards perished in the blaze, which collapsed one entire wing of the underground levels. Many criminals imprisoned at Harrowstone were not there for long because public executions were carried out there, as well. Tatyanza realizes that the warden and 23 of his guards sacrificed themselves to prevent all of the prisoners from escaping. Why Hawkran's wife was there is a mystery.

Kendra & Wilhem did not discover much more at the church about Harrowstone or the Whispering Way that the others did not already reveal or was not learned at the professor's private library. However, Kendra was confident that there was still more to learn. It would just take more time to go through such a dense collection. They agreed to continue their research the next morning. When the researchers returned to Lorrimor Manor that evening, they were all exhausted. While the work was not completely fruitless, they all had an itching feeling that there was still so much more to know. Hopefully more would be learned the next day so that the heroes could be better prepared to face the perils of the abandoned prison. After dinner, most of the companions were eager to go to sleep. Yala told everyone that she was going to the old oak tree to commune with the elements, while Zooglub curled up in a corner of the library wrapped in a blanket. With a candle nearby and a thick book cradled in his arms, he set to reading (as he has done every night).

But once the others had dozed off, the witch and the alchemist stole quietly away and made haste to the Restlands, heavy cloaks obscuring their features. Zooglub, being much more stealthy, scouted ahead, but Yala was not far behind him. When they reached the old cemetery, the goblin used his darkvision to lead Yala to the intersection of the Black Path and Eversleep. There they found a large granite mausoleum, complete with leering gargoyles. Now much deeper in the graveyard, the witch felt safer to summon a simple light cantrip.

Examination of the lock revealed that it had been broken (apparently by melting) and then disguised to make it look intact. Zooglub remarked, "hmm... acid," before opening the door. Within everything is dusty and there is a flight of stone steps leading below. Yala gently closes the door behind them, but not tightly (and Zooglub keeps the lock for now). The goblin notices footprints in the dust leading across the crypt and towards the stairs. They both notice that all the burial niches are empty. "It doesn't look like anyone had ever been buried here," Yala says. The goblin just nods as he descends the stairs. In the lower chamber, a stone sarcophagus is found. "I wonder if this is empty, too?" Zooglub ponders. The two of them manage to slide the lid aside (it was not sealed), and find a cache of items including some bottles, scrolls, several arrows, six strange, mist-filled vials, and a darkwood case. Before they can begin collecting the gear, two black centipedes (each over four feet long) scuttle forth from cracks in the walls and attack the visitors.

The goblin sees them with his night-eyes and yells to Yala, "get back!" He takes out one of his alchemical bombs quick as a blink, and hurls it at the advancing horrors. The bomb misses both creatures, but the flames that spread forth from the impact is enough to burn the critters and cause them to curl up squirming on the stone floor. "Thanks," says Yala, as she replaces her dagger in its sheath. "Let's grab this stuff and get out of here!"

Zooglub does his best to replace the lock, and the two adventurers sneak back through the sleepy village and towards Lorrimor Manor. Zooglub asks, "so... have you thought about how we're going to explain this to the others?"

DM Notes:

XP = 40 xp each for research at Unfurling Scroll. Wilhem got no credit for the research at the church since he did not participate in the successes (it was all Kendra's work).

Zooglub & Yala receive 200 xp each for their dispatching of the centipedes.