In the aftermath of battle, Hood and Sparky sneak up to the second floor of the tower where they find two people in cages. It quickly becomes apparent that one is the village of Kursk's shaman, Choutixi, and the other is one of the Exiles, who has shut himself in with the hopes of avoiding death at the hands of the party.
Hood charms the Exile, whose name is Tig, and encourages him to tell Hood everything he knows. Tig readily agrees to tell his new friend everything, especially since his allegiance to the Exiles appears to have been out of convenience rather than loyalty. Here is what Tig offers up:
- The Exiles work (well, worked) for the priests of Pas. They would travel to the temple in the city-state of Viron, pick up dead bodies, and transport them up the Cern River, then through Cernbridge and Kursk to the Forbidden Wastes, where they would dump the bodies in the cavern, no questions asked.
- The Exiles entered this arrangement to avoid the same fate as the party, after they'd murdered some clerics on the road. The Exiles had no allegiance to the One True God, they merely wanted to save their own skins, and it would seem that the priests recognized the value in a band of agnostic enforcers on the outskirts of civilization.
- Tig doesn't know what the party's insignia means, but he's seen others in the temple wearing it, and these individuals are clearly respected--and perhaps even feared--among the clergy of Pas. They are, perhaps, papal enforcers or secret police of some kind. But Tig doesn't think the average layperson would have any idea what the insignia means or represents.
- Viron is currently plagued by a group of insurrectionists who have been attacking the city watch and the clerics of Pas for the past few months. The insurrectionists are protesting the current, alarming state of affairs (darkness, famine, droughts, earthquakes) and seem to be trying to get the establishment to solve--or at the very least publicly acknowledge--these problems.
- It is rumored that the insurrectionists are allied with some kind of flying creatures, but Tig hasn't seen them.
- The Exiles kidnapped Choutixi, the shaman, because Mogroth (their werewolf leader) thought he might be able to create food, but they quickly learned that Choutixi did not have these powers.
While this conversation is going on, Boomer searches the top level of the tower and finds a cache of strange mechanical objects. Asked where the Exiles obtained these gadgets, Tig says they were taken off the bodies of people (including some insurrectionists) that they dumped in the cavern. Being an inquisitive fellow, he quickly puzzles out how the various cyphers work, and also determines that each can be used only once before they become inert (details listed in Discord).
Bear and Maul pack up the lizardfolks' stolen provisions onto a cart and the party returns to Kursk with Choutixi and the two surviving Exiles in tow. On the long walk back to Kursk, Boomer questions Choutixi about the sun. Choutixi explains that the sun began to dim about six months ago. What the party sees now (a heavenly body directly overhead and unmoving, but waxing and waning in steady phases throughout a 24-hour period) is the sun as it has always been--with the exception of the intensity of the sunlight. Before, the sun at noon was bright enough that it could not be looked at directly, and it bathed the land in warmth and its life-giving energies. Since it first began to dim, however, the light had grown steadily weaker, and Choutixi fears that before too long it will burn out entirely, enveloping the world in eternal darkness.
Back in Kursk, Thrixl is overjoyed to see the party's return and introduces them to the village elder, Bougu, who presents the party with the village's sacred artifact known as the Dead Ringer (details in Discord) and his heartfelt thanks for saving the village. Maul, who questions the point of returning the food to the village if they are not likely to survive for more than another month or two, suggests that the party bequeath the Troglit Creche to the village so that they might continue to live. Bear also presents the weapons he salvaged from the Exiles' tower to Thrixl, and suggests that the villagers should take control of the tower so that it is not retaken by hostile forces. Thrixl says that she will take this advice to heart and will begin training some of the younger lizardfolk in earnest. Boomer says that he hopes the party can count on the lizardfolk in a time of need, and Thrixl pledges her village's aid to the party whenever they should require it.
The party journeys to the town of Cernbridge, about five hours northwest of Kursk. And here, at last, the party has reached some semblance of civilization. On the edge of a pine forest the dirt road leads past a bustling logging camp and then through vast tracts of farmland on the way into town, but the crops are withered and look unharvestable. Outside the main gate four humans and one halfling hang from a gibbet; one of the humans has obviously been there for weeks; the others look more recent. Inside the gates, which lie open and unguarded, people walk the streets (mostly human, but occasional elves, halflings, and a dwarf or two). There are a few paupers sitting on the edge of the dusty road or against buildings, begging futilely for food.
The party also spots small patrols of guards or soldiers wearing white robes, half plate, gold pendants in the shape of a sun, and silver face masks. They are armed with pikes and maces, but appear to be at ease. The townsfolk seem to be ignoring the soldiers--but they also give them a wide berth.
The most distinct building in town appears to be a church of some kind. Unlike the rest of the buildings in Cernbridge, which are constructed primarily with timber logs, the church is made of stone. It stands at the center of the town, with the other buildings radiating away from it like spokes on a wheel. Next to the church is a complex of stone-walled animal pens filled with sheep, goats, chickens, and a few cattle. The pens are guarded by more of the soldiers in white robes. The church itself is cylindrical with a spiraled surface like a helix. It is much taller than any other building in town and features an ornamental, stylized sun, similar to the pendant the guards wear, on its domed roof. The large, high-ceilinged main floor of the church is open to the elements, with archways providing entrances at all points. Within, at the center of the room, is a huge circular brazier. On the outskirts of the room are several statues of humanoids, sculpted slightly larger than life, standing on plinths and facing the brazier.
The party determines that, although it's hard to tell, late evening is approaching, so they decide to spend the night at the Gentle Peacock Inn. They are welcomed by a woman behind the bar who sets them up with a meal, a bath, and three rooms for the night. As the party takes a seat in the crowded room, they overhear the locals speaking of the issues plaguing the town: drought has killed the crops, and many are going hungry. Although the lumber trade continues unabated, many worry that their luck, such as it is, won't last. Notable in these conversations is that Pas, and religion of any kind, is almostly pointedly not discussed. Despite all this, the atmosphere is practically festive, and Bear engages some of the locals in drinking games, jests, and revelry.
With the aim of gathering more information, Hood seduces Jasmine Farwater, the inn's proprietor. Questioned about the current state of affairs, Jasmine expresses her concern to Hood about the more militant turn the clerics of Pas have taken since the sun began to dim. In years past, the church was always somewhat restrictive, but to see her regular customers swinging from ropes outside the front gates is both sad and alarming. As far as she can tell, these so-called heretics did nothing more than publicly question why Pas appears to have abandoned them--allowing the sun to fade, the crops to wither, and the end-times to approach.
[At the end of the party's long rest at the inn, they awake with a comforting sense of rejuvenation and remembrance. Aspects of their professional talents, previously lost, have returned: the party advances to level 4.]
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