The Seven's Sawmill, Part 1 (Sunday, Neth (XI) 17, 4707 AR)

The heroes visited the Seven's Sawmill after visiting a few more of Magnimar's districts.

Beacon's Point. The waterfront reaches of Beacon's Point housed many of Magnimar's industries (such as shipbuilding and fishing), as well as housed the city's naval yards. The further the heroes traveled inland form the shore, though, the further they delved into the tangle of slums in Beacon's Point's heart - a wretched region known as Rag's End.

Keystone. The district known as Keystone was a relaxed and relatively quiet one - a mostly residential district that also housed the majority of the city's larger temples (including churches to Desna, Calistria, Erastil, and Pharasma).

Ordellia. Almost its own suburb rather than a fully integrated district of Magnimar, Ordellia was also known as the Foreign District. It was here that the majority of Magnimar's non-human citizens lived, along with many other visitors form other nations throughout the Inner Sea region.

Sawmill General Features

The Seven's Sawmill was one of several sawmills that operated along the shores of Kyver's Islet. The mill was intended to look from outside like a standard lumber mill, but while it did indeed produce lumber, the structure's primary purpose was to give the murderers a cover and a safe place to meet. While the sawmill looked innocuous from outside, the information the heroes found in Foxglove's townhouse alerted them to the sinister truth.

The mill's walls were made of wood, and all doors were standard unlocked wooden affairs, with the exception of the actual entrances to the building, both of which were locked. Floors were wooden and worn smooth by the passage of feet. The mill itself was powered by four waterwheels in the undermill - the grinding and creaking of these waterwheels constantly filled the mill with sound.

Outer Walk. Built over the mouth of the Yondabakari River, this wood building sat on massive wooden pilings driven into the riverbed below. A wooden boardwalk wrapped around the northern rim of the building, and a flight of stairs led down to a door on the east side just above the water level. The churning of four large waterwheels under the mill filled the air with sound and mist.

Loading Bay. The entirety of the first floor consisted of a loading area. An opening to the ceiling into the floor above was filled with a tangle of rope and slings for lowering timber. Nearby, stairs ascended to the next floor. Two sturdy wagons sat to the south, next to a bank of machinery accessed by four low doors; the grinding and creaking of the machinery filled the room.

The stairs provided an easy way to reach the upper floor. The four low doors to the south opened into workspaces where the waterwheel-driven machinery that powered the log splitters and saws on the upper floors run up along the southern wall of the mill. As long as the waterwheels were running, noticing fine sounds that would alert one to danger was difficult.

The partially walled-off alcove in the northeast section of this room contained several large mounds of filthy hay. Fen and Shalelu found that something large - perhaps an ogre or a giant - once used this area as a place to rest.

The Undermill. This was a place of mist and noise. Four immense waterwheels churned steadily in the northern part of this large room, while to the south, whirring belts of leather, gears, pulleys, and thick ropes spun and churned, using the eternal motion of the river below to power pistons that rumbled along the southern wall. There were levers at the west and east ends of the four waterwheels.

The machinery here needed near-constant upkeep and maintenance. This task fell to three cultists. The cultists did not wear their robes while working, but their razors and masks were never far away. They responded to visitors with feigned friendliness at first, saying that if the heroes needed assistance, they should contact the mill manager. When the heroes wanted to know the manager's name and address, the cultists smiled calmly after the heroes told them they were there concerning Aldern's payments, and slowly moved to surround the visitors. They then donned their masks and attacked.

As long as the heroes were in a square bordered by an outer wall, they were safe. When Bruthien moved through any other area during combat, it reduced his speed and he got caught in the machinery. The cultists were intimately familiar with the workings of the room and could move through the machinery safely (although it still reduced their speed).

Most of the cultists cast shield of faith when combat started, saving other spells for emergencies when they needed to slow down pursuit. When one of the cultists was slain, the others attempted to flee upstairs to join their brothers in defending the mill.

Lumber Collection. This large storeroom was filled with stacks of timber, firewood, and other finished lumber products waiting for shipment. A network of pulleys on tracks covered the ceiling, ropes dangling here and there to aid in the shifting of inventory as needed. Machinery churned along the south wall, while nearby two chutes fitted with winches allowed lumber to be hauled up from the holding pools below. Four opening in the ceiling led to the upper floor; chutes extended through each of these from the log splitters in the rooms above. Under each opening was a collection bin.

Combat at the Sawmill. Once the cultists realized that they were under attack, things quickly escalated. The sound of battle alerted cultists on other floors. Once battle begun, the heroes were faced with another wave of cultists - as one group fell, another arrived to continue the fight.