Martenin the 19th, 888 ID.
Our heroes emerge from the Tooth Marsh to the Great Westermarch road west of Floivin Keep, where they run across some farmers harvesting their late summer crops. An unusual minstrel known as The Speckled Grouse is stranded with a broken cart, its mule having wandered off in the accident. He offers to perform some music for the PCs with his balalaika if they can help carry his luggage through the city to the Seven Flood Inn, and they agree, Masaka transforming into a mule to take the brunt of the load. They hike through the western gate of the Keep, met with the scents and sounds of the most populous settlement in the Province. After passing through the wealthier districts and the Cathedral of Blades, they arrive at the Inn, relieved to put down the Grouse's considerable luggage. The bard tries to put in a good word for them, but when the PCs ask for a room, it's still quite costly, so they decide on two nights. As they part ways, the Grouse tells them they can always track him down again for a favor if it's one he can provide.
After securing room #8 at the Seven Flood Inn, the PCs are given directions to the Gravers' Guild by a snotty waiter named Brand, who refers to the Gravers as a useless drunken rabble that won't last long in the Keep. Perturbed, the PCs head over to the Guild, to find the first level of the building nearly empty. An unusual bartender named Oskar Eelfingers is hiding behind the bar, but rises up to greet them, seemingly happy that a bunch of 'normal' folks have come petitioning for membership, for once. After fooling with them a bit, the eccentric man tells them there are really only two 'official' members at current, and then some others who have been interesting in pledging to the Guild. He claims they have a particular dig in mind to explore, but need to put together some sort of divination spell to scout the area out before they can commit to forming an expedition. He tells our heroes that if they can find a patch of grave moss from the tomb of a dwarven bishop, the eyes of a crow (or, preferably, the whole bird), and the oil of an Electrum Eel in the Well, his superior, and local Chapter Master, Sir Stratton 'The Hat', will undoubtedly offer them membership. Oskar gives them a few tips on where to possibly find these objects.
The PCs agree and head out to the Saints Acre cemetery, where they are later to meet with an informant and fellow guild petitioner named 'Tess'. She is found only after hours, so in the meantime they search for any graves of dwarven lineage which might have some religious symbolism attached to them. They also inquire nearby at the Cathedral of Blades, with Bishop Helix, who tells them that there haven't been many dwarven priests of Eleste for a couple decades, ever since the dwarven faiths re-emerged around the Gnarlbottoms and their discoveries, and the construction of the Hall of Mercies on Greataxe Isle. Unsuccessful in finding the 'bishop' they seek, they head over to Sheoldred the Sage's shop. The old man is occupied in some compromising position on the loo, so asks them to scribble a question on some parchment on his desk and where he can contact them. They explore his over-stuffed shop a bit before heading back out to pursue one of the other objects. They speak to a Last Eidolorn guard about a local raven messenger service run by one of their rank, a Sergeant Skarth. They're told the old man is quite protective of his birds but will often send messages for non-military.
They decide instead to head to the Floivin Pet Shelter to see if there are any crows available to adopt, and once again come up empty. Finian looks over the dogs, and notices they also have a strange lynx in captivity, as well as a large, thrashing reptilian creature kept in a large, boarded-up cage on the main floor. The creature is becoming increasingly restless as they talk to one of the volunteers, and decide to duck out before the thing might escape. They finally head over to the raven messenger Skarth, who resides on one of the Last Floivin guard towers surrounding the city walls. He tells them he doesn't have any dead birds to sell them, that he feeds them to the dogs. Finian decides to send a message off to Brofous Bellowbroth at the Hall of Mercies, informing him of his fallen cousin Thelgar. They then decide to take matters into their own hands, finding some chicken carcasses in the trash bins behind The Fiery Rat tavern and then heading out the East gates to the Crown Pasture. They dump the dead birds and lie in wait for crows. Indrid has to ward off a hungry, mangy mutt which smells the chickens, but eventually he and Finian are each able to net one winged scavenger with their bows: one a crow, the other a sort of crow-robin hybrid.
They take their trophies back into the Keep because the city gates are shut, and night has fallen, so they head to the Saints' Acre to meet their contract. They decide to sneak over the northern wall of the cemetery, since the gates are guarded and closed at night, and they are spotted by a young waif who blackmails them into some food for his silence. Masaka purifies some of the bird-chum they had from earlier, and Finian tips him a few silver, and the boy, named 'Silas', takes off. They try to scale the cemetery walls and fail, then Indrid remembers his gargoyle grappling hook and they easily get over the wall. They wander around a bit, Indrid calling out for 'Tess', when he's surprised by a bony hand clasping his ankle. It turns out that this is 'Fleshless Tess', an animated skeleton who is thrilled to discover that the Gravers found a use for her! When asked about any graves for dwarven clergy, she tells them she's unsure if it's a tomb for clergy, but she knows of a hidden dwarven crypt that isn't visible from the surface of the Acre. She takes them down through the grave she was squatting in and through a network of earth tunnels burrowed below the graveyard, and they come across a finished stone crypt with a dwarven symbol on the door.
They enter, and find that a large tomb and stone chest right in the central area. The cover of the tomb seems too large to slide, and the chest has already been looted and propped open by an unlit torch that some grave robber left behind. They head west to find an old well that's been covered by a strange sheet and some cobwebs, and to the south, another small chamber with a square sarcophagi that's covered in ancient dwarven markings which resemble those on the urns they opened with Lester. In that same chamber, Masaka finds the grave moss on the walls, but while he's scraping it off the sepulcher walls, his companions are attacked from the well! The sheet covering it animates, and several ghoulish undead with acid-dribbling tongues claw their way through the webs below! With the help of Tess and some sling action from the druid, they are able to drive back the quartet of undead assailants, but not without taking a few wounds. Masaka offers what limited healing he can, to himself, and then they decide to press on through a door to the north, making note of the tunnels they can spy beneath the well.
After forcing open the door bearing a holy symbol, they find a stone block altar with six impressions on the top, each containing a candle sconce. The third candle from the left is actually lit and emits heat! Confused, Indrid spies about the area, but no one in the group can actually read the dwarven script, so they decide to press on to the eastern side of the tomb. They push open a double set of stone doors and find another larger chamber with four more dwarf sarcophagi, covered in script and numerals, as well as a half-crushed skeleton draped over one of them, clutching a sack. Masaka moves to look at the sack, and finds it is full of candles and a few other decayed items, when a pile of bones in the corner of the chamber stirs, and four animated, flying sets of skeletal arms, each wielding a warhammer, lunge towards the PCs!
PCs: Finian Redfoot, Indrid Hosspotch, Masaka Reddenbalm
NPCs
Bishop Helix (human female): A stern looking woman of some 40 years, she wears
dense white robes of her faith emblazoned with six silver swords, each with an
actual malachite stones sewn into its hilt. Her dense, graying blonde hair is
hung back with several iron braids, and she wears spectacles with deeply green
shaded lenses. She has a longsword slung at her waist, as well as an unusual
Morningstar with a head shaped like a tower.
Brand (human male): A twitty, slender waiter of thirty-something summers
at the Seven Flood Inn. He is known for a precocious attitude of superiority
towards the guests, and harries them to vacate their tables so he can keep
ahead with his duties. He is also known for his witty repartee with the
clientele. Brand is about 5'10" with curvy dark blond hair and a straight,
expressionless face unless he becomes heated.
Fleshless Tess (undead female): An animated human skeleton standing five and a
half feet tall, wearing a female-shaped bronze cuirass and other random
pieces of armor that have formed a
patina, and seem strapped to the bones. ‘She’ carries a half-rotten wooden
shield, the blue griffon painted on its surface now chipped away in places.
‘Her’ helmet has a single spike, and she wields an unusual short sword and
three javelins.
Oskar Eelfingers (human male): A short man, late in his 30s, with a curly mat
of brown hair and a face like a patchy porcupine. His right eye is clouded and
milky while the opposite is brown and piercing, and his smile reveals several
missing teeth, and others on their way out. His stubby, ringed hands have a lot
of scars and burns on them, and he wears a tight suit of leather armor that
tucks in a developing beer gut. He sports a club which is fashioned with the
upper body of a voluptuous woman, and a peculiar hand-sized crossbow hangs on
his belt.
Sergeant Skarth (human male): An aged man with a thick mane of gray hair
dangling over the back of his Last Eidolorn uniform, he keeps it tied up in a
white headband and other strips of cloth. He has a messily trimmed beard and
moustache and deep coal eyes. Various white splotches stain his hair and armor
and he has about a hundred or so scratch marks on his cheeks, arms, hands and
fingers.
Silas (human male): A bedraggled waif of no more than 10 years, with sandy blonde hair and dark brown freckles all over his left cheek and neck. He seems destitute and stalks the eastern district of Floivin Keep looking for vittles and drink for he and his sister.
The Speckled Grouse (human male): A long-nosed man in his mid to late 30s, he’s
draped in a thick cape of dark gray feathers covered in patterns of white dots,
with a pair of patches, copper and silver on the shoulder. He wears a black
tudor flat cap slung with pearls, and a single, enormous white owl-feather
above his matted, thinning hair. His deep green eyes are set a bit too close
together, and he has several ratty gray strands of hair hanging from a weak
chin. He anxiously chews a tobacco root, speaks in a strange accent and has a
damaged balalaika hanging across his shoulder.
