For Hooves the Bell Tolls - Chapter Two

The Descent into Slime

Quthbert, Volmak, Marinus, Malbrix, & A.G.R.

653 Post Maelstrom

Quthbert and volmak sit at the bar. Quthbert rolling himself some spliffs. They talk of the new ones to the group, Marinus and Malbrix. They also talk about how odd it is that the party are the only ones here.
As the rest of the group wakes, they see Quthbert attempting to make coffee. It's a bit crunchy with whole beans floating in water. They do their best to enjoy it, but it’s difficult. Outside where the group is sitting, taking in the morning and avoiding the coffee, they can see the forge across the street erupt into flames. Quthbert, with little hesitation, runs and jumps straight into the burning building.
Quthbert finds clear evidence of a recent murder. A murder that would look very suspiciously like it would have come from their group. Remembering that the guards were supposed to return soon, Quthbert dashes back out of the burning building.
After what seemed like only a few heartbeats for the rest of the party Quthbert dashes back out. He immediately directs the rest of the group to hide. They all rush back inside of the inn attempting to look more casual.
Back in the Creaky Floorboard - Inn, they are all sitting pretending to drink coffee. The guards arrived and AGR went out front to meet with them but, the guard captain kept asking where the others were. The guards break off from the conversation to go into the inn to get the rest of the party. The whole party was escorted out into the street. The guards skeptical of them try to pin the fire on them, but the group continues to insist they are innocent. Eventually the guards relent and take their words, especially since they are here to clean the slime problem in the sewers.
The guards allow the party to continue their mission, but they force them to take two guards along. The captain calls over two men, James and Jamesethon, and instructs them to go with the party to make sure they aren’t breaking any laws.
The party then heads off to the stable with James and Jamesethon to look for clues, but they find less than the party found the night before. Volmak casts a spell to locate the mounts and finds that they are only a little way to the north. Volmak can sense the mounts are that way, only it seems they are also a little way underground. Realizing this the party prepares themselves and heads back down into the sewers. The party delves down into the tunnels, finding it utterly disgusting, but they nevertheless press on.
Deeper into the dank tunnels they stumble across a group of vicious and angry rat men. A ratzurker and his gang. The ratzuker and his crew are vicious and cruel. During the fight James fell trying desperately to protect the party, but thankfully Jamesethon lives on. Marinus notes after the fight that they always thought Jamesathon would be the one to die.
Another rat sneaks slips out of the darkness once the fight dies down and approaches the party. “Thanks for dealing with those slobs,” says the rat with a bit of a natural hiss “as a thanks I’d be happy to help you. For a price that is.”
The rat then flashes open his jacket revealing several strange things in the inside pockets. “I’m sure I’ve got just the things your party needs” insists the rat man.
AGR and Volmak stare down the rat man for a few minutes before shooing him away. “Get out of here before you end up like them” declares Volmak.
The rat man seems panicked for a moment before collecting himself and scampering back off into the darkness.
Jamesethon, now the only guard left, with James dead, in the sewers. Jamesethon sobbing over his dead brother, trudges deeper into the sewers without even checking to see if the party is following. Volmak points us onward, to follow Jamesethon, but they never saw him after that. The footprints disappear at the edge of the slime, but only Jamesathons sword was still visible sinking into the murky depths. Solemnly the party continues into the depths of the Oldetown sewers.
As the group walked down the tunnel deeper into the sewer, they came across a small antechamber. The room was filled with several bedrolls and there was even a rough fire pit in the center of the room. While searching through the belongs left behind, In the back of the room, Malbrix finds a silver ring. Malbrix just puts it on without even being able to tell if it was magic.
The party headed out of the antechamber, continuing their journey. Volmak does start giving Malbrix some extra room while they walk, just in case the ring is cursed.
Deeper into the twisting depth of the tunnels the party found a door hidden in the wall. AGR attempted to beat that fucker up but was ultimately unsuccessful. Thankfully, Malbrix is able to find where the secret lock on the door is located. Quthbert comes through with some lock picking talent and managed to get the door to open. Malbrix and AGR have a bit of a disagreement over the door dilemma, but ultimately put their differences aside and carry forth.
They see a bunch of statues of people, all made entirely of porcelain, standing all around the room. Appearing as though stuck forever in some normal everyday activities. Volmak finds some magic junk while searching through the clothes of the trapped people and some others that were scattered amongst their belongings, while the rest of the party rests.