The Scribbler's Rhyme, Part I (Tuesday-Friday, Abadius (I) 21st-24th, 4708 AR)

Considering all that has happened - the bloodshed, the lives lost, and the miles upon miles of Varisian soil journeyed across to stop the machinations and minions of an ancient tyrant - it seemed ironic that the key to defeating Runelord Karzoug had lain dormant below Sandpoint the whole time. Yet in the ruined temple of Lamashtu once hidden below Sandpoint lay a maniacal mind who knew the route to the Runeforge.

Sandpoint had been through a lot, including a goblin raid, slaughter at the local Glassworks, several grisly murders, and most recently a full-blown assault by giants and a dragon. It was certainly a testament to the townsfolk's resilience that they had carried on as hardily as they had. Of course, they had protectors at hand to help them through these times of peril, and when trouble stirred anew in the region, it was to these protectors the good folk of Sandpoint turned.

This new development was something altogether more subtle and disturbing than invasions by goblins or giants. Had this development come before the events of Goblin Day (as it had come to be called), it's likely it would have been ignored. In light of all the recent troubles, though, several of Sandpoint's leaders - in particular a worried Father Zantus - feared that it portended something dire.

This new development began after the giants raided Sandpoint and were repulsed by the heroes. Several weeks after the heroes left town to take the fight to Jorgenfist, an earth tremor shook the Lost Coast. No stranger to earthquakes, the folk of Sandpoint weathered the minor temblor with ease, but then, at the earthquake's climax, a sinkhole suddenly yawned in the middle of Tower Street. A few guards were injured and the sinkhole swallowed a chunk of the Garrison's north wall, but fortunately, the cells in the north side were all vacant. It wasn't the sudden sinkhole that alarmed the leaders of Sandpoint, though. What worried them were the sounds that came from the pit's rubble-choked depths every night. After a group of guards sent into the sinkhole's depths vanished, Sheriff Hemlock roped off the pit's perimeter, established sentries, and forbade anyone else form entering the hole. This would be a job for folk better equipped to deal with danger - folk like the heroes.

The sinkhole appeared the day the heroes defeated Mokmurian. The minor runewell below Sandpoint (in the cathedral of wrath in the catacombs) erupted with power.

Of course, the people of Sandpoint knew none of this, yet - they knew only that a sinkhole had consumed a portion of town, and that the noises coming form that pit indicated something sinister lurked deep within. Since the heroes didn't return to Sandpoint shortly after their triumph at Jorgenfist, they were contacted by a representative of the town as quickly as possible. When it came to it, Father Zantus scraped together enough money to pay for a sending spell to invite them back to town.

The heroes found the note in Mokmurian's lair that spoke of his concerns about the chambers below Sandpoint housing a "traitor to Runelord Karzoug". While the heroes hoped to find in him an ally against Karzoug (certainly he possessed information key to the heroes' success against the runelord), they found that in this case, the enemy of their enemy was not necessarily their friend.

Meeting with Father Zantus

When the heroes returned to Sandpoint, they were greeted by throngs of excited hero-worshipers and grateful citizens. The talk of the town was the Tower Street Sinkhole, although the heroes' return eclipsed some of that - most of the citizens assumed the heroes had returned to investigate the sinkhole, in any event. Once the initial hubbub of the heroes' welcome wore off, they were approached by a bashful-looking acolyte of Desna who gave them a message: Father Zantus wished to speak to them about the sinkhole as soon as possible at the Sandpoint Cathedral.

Both Sheriff Hemlock and Mayor Deverin were there waiting for the heroes at the cathedral with Zantus. They asked for a quick recounting of the heroes' adventures in Jorgenfist since they hadn't learned of them already, listening wide-eyed to tales of giants, dire bears, headless ogres, and horrors form beyond time itself. Soon enough, Father Zantus cleared his throat and spoke upon the matter at hand.

"Of course, we're all very pleased to hear of your successes. Sandpoint owes you a huge debt of thanks for ensuring its safety yet again. And while, I'd like nothing better than to let you relax and enjoy a well-earned break from your adventures, you've doubtless heard about our newest problem. A few days ago, the ground collapsed just north of the Garrison, right in the middle of Tower Street. The north wall of the Garrison took some damage, and while fortunately no one was seriously hurt when the sinkhole appeared, that's not the case anymore. The guards Sheriff Hemlock sent into the pit to investigate never returned. That very night, we all heard something horrible down there: dogs howling - like no dogs I've heard before - and bloodcurdling screams. Sheriff's roped the sinkhole off, and so far nothing's come up out of it, but those sounds are growing every night. Whatever's trapped in there wants out, and by the sounds of it, whatever it is isn't too keen on emerging friendly." The three looked at the heroes with hope and expectation - until the heroes volunteered to explore the sinkhole and deal with whatever's awakened in its depths.

Back into the Catacombs

The sinkhole itself stabilized at a width of 30 feet, reaching the diameter of the street and consuming a portion of the Garrison wall to the south - several basement jail cells hung open in the sloping southern wall of the sinkhole. The sinkhole was 15 feet deep - the heroes saw a narrow opening along its northwest side at the deepest point, which seemed to be a tunnel leading underground. While the rest jumped, floated, or flew down, Thurden used the route form the exposed jail cells. That was the route the first group of guards took into the hole.

Exploration of the tunnel accessed form the sinkhole's depths revealed a short flight of stairs down and a 5-foot-wide passageway beyond. The sinkhole's collapse caused most of the cathedral of wrath in the catacombs to cave in. All that remained was a narrow passage that ran along the northeastern wall. The double doors to the shrine to Lamashtu had fallen, allowing easy access to the rest of the catacombs beyond. Eventually, the heroes reached the blocked stairs of the catacombs of wrath - stairs that until recently were blocked with rubble, but had now been cleared.

Lamashtu's Shrine

The shrine itself had the same architectural style as the catacombs of wrath above. Ceiling height averaged 8 feet in hallways and 15 feet in chambers. There was no illumination in the shrine itself. Time had not been kind to many chambers of the shrine, and in several areas rubble had blocked off passageways or parts of rooms. The entire shrine was warded as follows:

Fog: Thick fog filled all corridors, reducing vision (including darkvision) to 5 feet and providing all creatures with concealment.

Webs: The shrine entrance was clogged with webs.

Writing on the Walls

Thassilonian writing covered nearly every available surface in the shrine - floors, ceilings, and walls. Most of the words recounted prayers, scriptures, and invocations associated with Lamashtu. Among these scribblilngs were hidden stanzas of a rhyme.

Shrine Entrance. Thick webs clogged these stairs. Visible here and there through gaps in the unusually thick webbing were deep scratches along the walls and floors - this, along with the absence of any mold or mildew, suggested the stairway had recently been cleared.

The stairs themselves descended 50 feet from the abandoned catacombs of wrath above. They appeared to end at a dead end, but a successful check of the western wall revealed a secret door. The passageway beyond the door had collapsed, but a narrow tunnel had been cleared through into an antechamber.

Antechamber. The walls, floor, and even the arched ceiling of this place were covered with writing, the words spiraling and trailing in the ancient language of Thassilon. Some of the phrases were immense, with words nearly three feet high, while others were written in tiny, spidery script. The medium for the writing varied as well - sometimes dark ink, sometimes blood, sometimes carved into the stone itself. Passageways to the north, east and west led into fog-filled tunnels. To the west, Shalelu could see through the fog light flickering in what appeared to be an immense cathedral.

The Scribbler made contact with the heroes. He asked them a few questions, while hiding in the fog to the north.

Anyone who could read Thassilonian quickly deduced that the writing on the wall consisted of prayers and scriptures to Lamashtu. The heroes discovered four lines of what seemed to be a larger poem that had nothing to do with Lamashtu. 

"If magic bright is your desire, to old Runeforge must you retire!

For only there does wizards' art receive its due and proper start."

The Scribbler

Xaliasa attempted to extract information for the world above form the heroes before attacking them. As soon as they passed through the secret door in the shrine entrance, he immediately contacted them. He relied on misty vapors, natural darkness and shadows to remain hidden while he spoke to the heroes.

The Scribbler's questions followed along these lines: "What happened to Thassilon?" "What nation has replaced it?" "Who rules the lands above today?" "Where is the seat of their power?" "What became of Runelord Karzoug and Runelord Alaznist?" "Who wields powerful magic today?" He kept asking questions along these lines - when the heroes seemed resistant to answering them, or when they demanded questions in return, the Scribbler played along. He answered what questions he could, proposing a one-for-one exchange of information. The Scribbler could fill in the heroes on a lot of the background of Thassilon and Karzoug's role therein and impressed upon them just how powerful and evil the runelords were. He obviously knew very little about what caused the fall of Thassilon.

Once the heroes proved unhelpful, he announced a shift in plan by declaring "The time for talk has come to an end, my sucklings!"