Session 23 - Ghouls and Madness

As the Saviors of Sandpoint descended the stairs into the cavern beneath Foxglove Manor, Truett Swan gave them a breakdown on the ecology of ghouls. Jayvielle noticed an expression on the cleric's face as he spoke, and at that moment Jayvielle realized Truett appeared to be fighting with regret. He had come on this journey to be Jayvielle's spiritual advisor, yet Jayvielle had found his true faith in Desna, not Cayden Cailean.

The odd black and green fungus clung to the cavern walls even more than they had in the manor above. Exploring one tunnel, the heroes fought off two giant ghoul bat creatures. Amongst the remains, they found a handful of items, as well as a few corpses. One of them was recognized as the corpse of notorious one-armed bandit Shaz “Redshiv” Bilger, suspected of organizing the robbery of nearly two dozen merchant convoys along the Lost Coast Road over the past decade. Word had it that there was a reward for the bandit, dead or alive. Truett dissected his head and upper torso, placing it in the Bag of Holding to be handed over to the authorities in either Sandpoint or Magnimar.

The party returned to the stairs and selected yet another tunnel. It wasn't far down this tunnel, however, that the Saviors of Sandpoint found themselves ambushed by ghouls that seemed more powerful than the ones they had fought in the barn earlier in the day. Wave after wave of ghouls crashed against them, which led to a number of moments:

• Kilgor became paralyzed by a ghoul. Before his throat could be torn out, Gallious used his influence from Groteus to "bless" Kilgor with madness so powerful, the barbarian was able to recover from his paralysis for a time. This kept him from being killed in a helpless state, while Gallious cackled maniacally.
• Grog used his earth-bending ability to create a large hand of stone and used it to slam against the ghouls, scattering limbs and smashing bodies like insects.
• A ghoul closed in on Kumiko, but Cloud swooped in and touched the ghoul with a Cure Light Wounds spell, channeling divine energy into the undead and turning it to dust.
• Truett, infected with a disease that was more potent than ghoul fever, was viciously attacked and gravely injured. Disabled, yet still on his feet, Truett had only the strength to cast one spell before collapsing. However, he was surrounded by ghouls. Jayvielle, using his incredible agility and defensive martial style, distracted the ghouls and drew them into attacking him. This left Truett able to cast Cure Serious Wounds on himself, regaining health and enabling him to use his remaining divine channeling ability to attack many ghouls at once.

The final ghoul was hesitant to engage. The back of his head had been caved in, and a stone wing poked out of his skull. The heroes recognized it as part of the bloody bookend that was found in the library above in the Manor. Perhaps Aldern Foxglove had found his wife and this handyman together and struck down the handyman before strangling his wife. Kilgor decapitated him and freed him of his misery.   The heroes healed up, assessed their status, and looked behind them. They could still see the stairs leading back up to the manor. If this was what they had to deal with now, what was waiting for them in the darkness ahead?