01-21-963: Talking Swords and Bishop's Robes

In the midst of a crowd of Bishop Torrannes's followers, a masked elf stands beside a street urchin with darting eyes.  The masked man asks a fellow elf what he thinks of the Bishop's preaching, then loudly proclaims his own agreement.  The elf, known as Dr. Sinata Venma, launches into a verbose and impassioned speech about the plight of his grimy, young companion.  As his speech rises to its crescendo the crowd is taken in, moving the pious Bishop to cut off the bottom of his own robe to give to the urchin. With a few coins to the child the Bishop reinvigorates his preaching, not noticing an eclectic group of people following after the child.  

  Nexus was quickly able to fashion a sturdy jacket for the boy, while discretely removing the cursed hair.  All breathe a sigh of relief with the last cursed item in their possession. But what to do next? Luci thinks they should go deal with the hag straightaway to deal with the problem at its source.  Sinata is very resistant to this and demands they investigate the cathedral first, even stating that he would stay in the city if the group went to search out the hag. 

Deciding to check out the catacombs first, the party descends beneath the cathedral and meets Brother Leonte, an antiquarian who proved very knowledgeable about the catacombs and their history. After admonishing the group that they should under no circumstances touch anything in the newly discovered section, they set out.  After a surprisingly long journey past and through narrow hallways, the group arrived in a corner of the catacomb complex, where a section of wall had collapsed outward, revealing a small chamber.  Reliefs depicting the life and deeds of the man who would become Saint Mattathias filled the walls, and an altar stood empty now that the documents and other relics had been removed.  After some investigation around the room, the sharp-eared of the group began hearing rocks shifting behind a portion of wall.  A more careful look revealed the hilt of Mattathias's sword acted as a release for the wall, which slid down into the ground.  Nexus interpreted sounds like dirt and rock moving as speech, and heard three creatures talking about returning to the mistress after they found what they came for. As this was happening, Dendra was greeted by an enthusiastic voice in her mind, celebrating finally seeing someone after days of being alone.

A fight ensued, during which several of the group got to show off new tricks to great effect.  Dendra moved with great speed, unleashing more ferocity than ever before. Nexus seized the shadows themselves to break the psyche of his enemies and closed off their escape by pulling down the ceiling. Chedvah utterly defeated the last gargoyle with tendrils of a mysterious dark magic. Sinata managed to send Leonte and two guards off for help, leaving the party alone to do as they wished. Luci punched a whole bunch of rocks, and wasn't terribly hurt by the experience.

In the aftermath, Dendra was led by the voice in her head to a pile of rubble, and a sword with a black handle and white metal scabbard. It greeted her, excitedly asking if she wanted to go destroy some evil? Understandably confused why Dendra was talking at a sword, Nexus used his arcane skills to see what he could discern. Responding to his prodding the sword, who by this time had introduced itself as Rasen, greeted Nexus warmly and asked him the same question. Relieved this wasn't some sort of dark mysterious sentient weapon of lore, Nexus said he trusted the sword, and the group began to consider what to do next.

  Who sent the gargoyles and why were they after St. Mattathias's sword of old? How can the party find a hag who seems to be found only by chance? What made Granny Preant want the second page of the Mattathian documents? What can Dendra's new friend do and what does it want? The only way to find out is to delve deeper into the happenings in Stenbalan, City of the Gods!