Splashing through the undertunnels, Alton’s posse reunites in the search for Bellemare. Aupti is able to follow Tetzin by her scent and the obvious places where her wings have scraped mildew from the narrow brick walls. They’re able to catch up quickly, and slow down so as to avoid making too much noise.
“He’s staying in human form,” Tetzin reports, her voice hushed. “Can’t say why, but he hasn’t gone smoke on us.”
“I know why.” Elm points at the ground. “Too much water. Vampires are more sensitive to its grounding effect.”
Alton nods, thinking that it also explained how Spawn like Marion could be destroyed by someone so incompetent as Wymark.
Tetzin rubs her bowstring, concentrating on following the tracking spell she’d laid on the arrowhead, still lodged in their quarry. The trio follow her lead, heading uphill. While Tetzin can see perfectly in the dark, Aupti and Alton make use of the dim light shining from the woodforged’s patterns to find their way.
The smell of mildew fades as they ascend through the city’s hill, up and over the level of the streets they’ve just left. With the tunnel drying, the risk of their quarry vanishing into a puff of smoke increases dramatically. Elm quietly assures Alton and Aupti that anything on or in the vampire will go with him if he does become mist, which should allow Tetzin to continue to track his movements.
With darkness their assumed normal state, the team finds nowhere in the tunnels with any kind of light source. There are no places on the walls where one might expect to find a torch or other light source. The walls are not uniformly crafted, with some obviously torn from the earth itself and others supported by brick or stone. Because of that, the change is even more abrupt when the posse rounds a corner and enters a tunnel that has been tiled fastidiously with sheets of marble.
The white marble reflects the light from Elm’s runes brightly, lighting the tunnel ahead in a wash of blue. They catch their first glimpse of the master vampire since entering the tunnel.
Adrien Bellemare stands in front of a gate at the convergence of several tunnels, far at the end of the corridor where they stand. They can see him talking through the bars, but the echoes of his whispered conversation are impossible to understand.
In that instant, Alton freezes. The three contractors with her are significantly better prepared to handle this than she is, and she is very much aware of that fact. The Blackfeather adventurers are highly skilled at working as a unit, immediately falling into a practiced formation.
Tetzin stands with Elm, using its bulk as a shield. She lets loose another arrow, striking Bellemare squarely in the back. It hits not even an entire inch from where the hole in his clothing demonstrates the presence of the other arrowhead beneath his already healed skin. Her feathers obscure much of Bellemare’s reaction.
Elm braces itself in the hallway, renewing its concentration on the area spell that protects Alton and Tetzin from the vampire’s mind control. It takes slow, thudding steps forward, rolling the defenses of the spell toward the vampire, and feeling the magic stop abruptly at the gate.
Meanwhile, Aupti charges forward, spit frothing in her toothy maw. Alton recognizes the fury of this charge as kin to the expression on Durandal’s face when Cook claimed to notice being the target of his ability to smite evil. Clearly, Aupti is not merely a were polar bear with religious leanings, but a paladin of her goddess not unlike Sir Durandal in service to his own.
If she weren’t so concerned with staying out of the way in this moment, Alton would take the time to reflect on the different observational practices of paladins in service to neutral versus lawful good deities, but right now she’s a little busy.
Aupti’s mithril covered claws strike sparks as they scratch the marble floor, glittering obscenely with too many reflections off the highly polished surface. Unfortunately, Bellemare slips through the barely open gate, and it slams closed just in time to stop her charge. The were bear smashes into the sturdy black iron bars with the great force of her momentum driving her considerable weight forward.
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The roar of rage that erupts from their tame paladin’s mouth reverberates throughout the tunnels. Echoes upon echoes assault their ears as the mighty bear makes a second attempt to crash the gate to this much more private partition of the undertunnels. Acknowledging their defeat, Elm and Alton continue to close in on the gate, approaching with caution and staying clear of the great sweeps of Aupti’s claws.
Tetzin releases another arrow, but the narrow bars deflect it off course. They watch helplessly as Bellemare vanishes around a corner on the other side of the gate.
Needing to see to the other side of the gate, Elm increases the brightness of its runes. What they reflect surprises even long time resident of this city filled with death, Alton. In contrast with the pure marble of its approaches, the inside of the tunnel ahead is entirely covered in bones. Millions of bones neatly cover every inch of the walls and ceiling, forming hypnotic patterns made up of the pieces of what was at some point people.
Out of place in the room is a scattering of smaller bones, appearing to mostly be parts of hands, halflings, feet, and the bones of small animals. There’s also a puddle of cloth spilled across the marble floor. Aupti shouts for Bellemare to come back and accept justice. Bellemare, predictable, does not.
The bones scattered on the floor, however, shivver. They scoot across the floor of their own will, collecting beneath the draped cloth and giving it form. The cloth is a hooded cloak, and the collection of tiny bones gives it a tall figure of a man. It rises up slowly, menacingly.
“You are not welcome here.” The deep and raspy voice emanates from within the hood. It clicks and clatters with every syllable.
Alton steps out in front of her posse.
“Unjust Existence Extermination Investigation Force. We need access to this chamber to pursue a fugitive.” Alton holds up her badge.
“I’m sorry, but there are no exceptions.” The voice rumbles.
“And who are you to deny her?” Aupti grumbles right back.
“I guard this place.” The figure made of bones puts what could maybe be his hands on his hips. “Keep it safe from the living. Orders from the governor himself.”
“I don’t have time for this.” Tetzin turns on a heel and leaves, following the tracking spell’s redirection and not needing Elm’s light to see. She heads down a different tunnel, in a hurry enough that the others fail to notice which one. Thanks to how clean this tunnel is there are no tracks to mark her path.
The other two hold their ground. They aim to see this through.
“What is this place, why does it need to be kept free from the living?” Alton gestures at the bars.
“This is the Deep Ossuary.” The figure mirrors the gesture, including the walls and all the bones that line them. “And I am Qhon.”
“Are there other exits?” Alton asks quickly, in a hurry to catch up with the vampire criminal.
“Several.” Qhon tucks his, well they might be arms, back under his cloak.
“Can you tell us which one the vampire leaves through?” Alton aims for politeness in the face, or at least face shaped space in his hood, of this avatar of death.
“Certainly.” Qhon approaches closer to the gate. “He’s currently paying respect to...” there’s a long pause, and the figure shrinks as many little bones skitter and roll away. “...well that’s not respectful at all.
“I’m sorry. There is a sanctuary to Hekahuh here.” There is no mistaking the tone of annoyance. “He’s stealing the offerings.” More of the tiny bones roll away.
“You know I could arrest him for that.” Alton leans on a wall to wait.
“I cannot let you in.” Qhon’s voice is much quieter as his number of composite bones diminishes. “There are no exceptions. The living cannot defile this place with their breath.”
“Fair.” Aupti shrugs. “I wouldn’t let you in one of Luna’s groves either.”
Elm looks confused, but accepts these quirks that the fleshy, and perhaps not so fleshy sorts, have in their prayers.
“Also, there’s no air.”
All three now accept this explanation, and make no further requests to enter the Deep Ossuary.
A few minutes pass while they wait for Bellemare to make his move. Eventually Qhon gives the answer they were looking for. Bellemare is headed up in the direction of the seaward river, but that is a vast territory that they could never cover. He also gives them directions to the closest exit. The posse thanks the collection of bones and gets out on their way again.