After a good night's rest, we decided to carry on with our investigations at the last places each of the missing personages were seen. We knew that Sachell was last seen at his own house, so we didn't need to return there as we had already been yesterday.
Day 31 - Early Morning in Neverwinter
Our first port of call this morning was the House of Knowledge. Despite spending a lot of our time there yesterday researching other details we did not get to question any of the regulars. Upon asking around this morning, we were informed that Umberto spent a great deal of time studying and researching various deities and histories. One night, he left suddenly and headed towards Helix Street, halfway between the House of Knowledge and the graveyard.
Not being able to find any more clues at the House of Knowledge, we headed to the Dolphin Theatre to try to find out more about Indrana's story. The people there thought he was a bit up himself but otherwise harmless. He too was last seen heading towards Helix Street.
Finally, we ended our investigative journey at the Winged Wyvern and asked our questions of the patrons and bar staff there. We were told that Eldon was right at home with the rest of the robed gentlemen that frequented the inn, reading scrolls and various tomes. He was last seen reading some books when he suddenly got up and said that he was going for a walk. He too headed towards Helix Street.
Not getting anything more concrete, we decided to head to the graveyard via Helix Street to look for more clues.
Late Morning
Helix Street turned out to be a busy, wide thoroughfare that led from the castle to the graveyard. We looked for clues as we walked down the street but it was full of daytime vendors and local traffic so it made things difficult. However, down one side alley between an undertaker's shop and a florist, Gladreth and I noticed an old, soft stone brick with an "eye" symbol scratched into it - similar to what we were looking for. It was quite an old and worn carving so probably meant nothing.
The graveyard, when we found it, was surrounded by an eight foot tall wall with the occasional supporting column of stone.
Early Afternoon - The Helix Mausoleum
We passed through the open iron gates beneath a sign that stated "Neverdeath Graveyard," and into the pauper's graveyard. There were a few people wandering around paying their respects at one or other of the many simple grave markings; mostly wooden headstones with names carved upon them. Luckily we bumped into an old groundsman who, upon questioning, was able to tell us a little about the history of the graveyards: both graveyards were about 400-450 years old but the richer one was built slightly earlier and housed the original Lord of Neverwinter. However, he was unable to tell us whether any of the symbols we showed him matched anything in that particular graveyard. We decided to head to the older graveyard.
In the older section, the graves were far richer, with many families having mausoleums, so there was more likely to be details that we might be able to gather alongside the clues we already had. Navda managed to find a mausoleum with the family name of Helix written in an ornate scroll work. It was worth investigating as it matched the street name if nothing else.
On our way there, we bumped into another groundsman and asked him a number of questions too. He told us a bit more of the history of the graveyard; Lord Neverwinter had a big mausoleum at the highest point in the graveyard that overlooked the rest, he mentioned several other unimportant (to us) dignitaries from hundreds of years ago, but when we asked about Vecna he was taken aback and asked why we would be talking about him when he wasn't even entombed there. We made our excuses and left.
When we saw that no-one was looking we headed towards the Helix mausoleum; an unassuming square block situated right by the wall of the cemetery. We noticed a number of footprints and scuff marks that looked like someone with a limp had walked up to it, as well as dark hand prints on the occasional wall or upright stone. When we got to the big, stone double-doors, we noticed that the area out front had been swept clean of leaves and that a rusty chain and padlock had been cast aside. Navda investigated the doors to make sure that they were not trapped in any way and he found that the hinges were well-oiled. When he pushed on the great iron handles, the doors swung in easily.
We looked around to make sure no-one was watching and stepped into the pitch black of the interior and closed the doors behind us. I cast Light upon my holy symbol to illuminate the way, and we headed deeper into the mausoleum.
The first thing we noticed were a number of booted footprints upon the floor and six large sarcophagi arranged around the walls. Upon investigation we saw that they were old and were engraved with a variety of Helix and Holt family names with their dates of birth and death; the latest was more than forty years ago.
Not finding anything of interest we headed to the downward leading steps to the south. At the bottom of the stairs we discovered a huge subterranean chamber. There were six more sarcophagi, but more importantly there were five walking cadavers who had noticed us because of my light.
I noticed that they appeared to be undead warriors, so I tried to turn them. This was to almost no avail - only one backed away from my holy symbol. The other four advanced to attack us drawing their black-bladed long swords.
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| A Wight - courtesy of Fantasy Grounds |
Druss ran in to protect us and took the brunt of their life draining sorcerous damage, whilst Gladreth and I cast whatever spells we thought appropriate, and Navda and Dharion shot at them with their bows from the shadows. We destroyed them fairly quickly despite a fair bit of fumbling around in the less than perfect lighting conditions. Once they were dispatched, we searched the bodies for anything of value, but decided against taking their swords in case they were cursed. The sarcophagi had all been opened and all but one had some kind of remains in the form of a few gnawed bones and rags of clothing. We did, however, find four woollen cloaks and two hats in good condition; these were not original contents of the cists.
Whilst searching in the coffins Navda noticed a faint breeze emanating from behind one of them. A quick search revealed a catch that opened a secret doorway. Dharion and Gladreth had headed off in the other direction to investigate the western-most chamber only to find a lot of collapsed earth and stones that covered a set of stairs to the south-east and a doorway to the north with a brand new padlock and an eye symbol above it.
We had a quick chat and decided to follow Navda beyond the secret doorway first - there was no way we were going to split up just in case there were more of the undead about. The corridor beyond led south to another doorway, this time made of metal. He could still feel the breeze coming from beyond the doorway. A quick check for traps showed clear and he easily slid the door aside to reveal a room full of pipes and interlocking cogs that appeared to need to go clockwise but were jammed. It seemed to be some kind of control room.
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| Inside the Helix Mausoleum - using the newly found (for us) "fog of war" feature |
The only other curiosity in the room was the presence of four wheel-like handles attached to the pipes that could be turned by hand. Not wanting to tempt fate, we left them alone and headed for the door to the west. We noticed that a pipe ran through at ceiling level from the control room, above the door into the room beyond.
Navda set foot in the room beyond to see a large, deep stone basin with ethereal looking creatures moving about in the water. They didn't seem to bother him as he walked in so he traced a few of the pipes to see where they led. The control room seemed to hold the answers, but when we turned the handles nothing seemed to happen except for a few gurgling noises; most likely made by the water in the pipes.
