What the shagulites left behind...
It was the second month of the year of 612. Perrima, who was still with Tindri, had compiled a folder of notes copied from whatever journals and reports she could find in the great library of the Pionder monks in Isakra. The sources included official reports from Trakorian administrators and agents of the Animist inquisition , as well as witness statements collected by various interested individuals, like local Inasthar priests. Included in this was her own composition of a map of contemporary Vumbra, with the approximate location of the Shagulite hospital marked as it was described in the sources.
The two scholars had met Raori in Milacke. The wolfman was travelling to and fro on the island, taking odd jobs, sometimes as a bodyguard, sometimes as a craftsman, and sometimes just living off the land as a hunter, and the meeting was a happy reunion, even though the circumstances were challenging. Tindri and Perrima did their level best to help ease the suffering for the Milackan peasants. Their suffering seemed never ending. First the ravaging of Cymba's condottiers, then the rebellion against Trakoria. Starvation threatened. The roads were unsafe, too, as many desperate peasants and unemployed condottiers had taken to robbery to survive, while rebels and Trakorian troops did their best to destroy each other, regardless of whomever happened to get caught in the middle.
The three decided to use this time to travel to Vumbra and see if they could find any remains of the Shagulites, as that was where the sect had been created and operated before being thrown out a century before. The dangerous roads were easy enough to circumvent for the three companions, as all of them were used to journey through the winter wilds without attracting too much attention. Once in a while, they would see the tell tale signs of the ongoing conflict as they made their way through the Hymbergond mountains - burned out villages, patrols braving the winter weather, unlucky travelers cut down by...someone and left in the snow.
Eventually, they came to the foothills in Kark, which were generally much safer. The Trakorian grip over the province was still unchallenged, though rumour had it that local nobles might still join the rebellion. Still, it was clear to anyone that Trakoria took the unrest seriously, as the three saw when they approached Vumbra - a full fleet, including no less than ten heavy galbalons lay at anchor outside the harbour, and no less than three armies lay encamped around the city, protecting this important gateway for the export of Hymbergondi metals.
Perrima, enthusiastic as always, wanted to go straight to the hospital site before finding an inn, and the others agreed. The house was still there, just by a market square, a heavy stone building (like most in the city) with three stories (unlike most other houses). It didn't take long for them to recognize that the house still functioned like a hospital, with many people with all sorts of ailments coming and going, and a range of healing experts and imposters doing their best to attend to their needs. A brazier, dedicated to the glory of Inasthar, was placed outside the main gates.
Tindri took the lead, walking confidently into the main lobby just inside the gates. There were booths for apothecaries, healers and priests everywhere, with a great mosaic of the goddess of Inasthar inlaid in the floor, but none of that interested the three. The desk with the clark in the back, however, did interest them and they headed straight for it to talk to the elderly lady manning it. Not beating about the bush, Tindri asked about the building's Shagulite history and if someone could enlighten them about it, perhaps?
The lady hesitated for a moment, but recognizing that the person asking the questions was an elf left her somewhat tongue tied for a few moments, but then she recovered and said that she would be happy to help, guiding the trio to the downstairs library and archives. This facility was very humble compared to the great temple of the Pionder monks - just a small square room with four bookshelves filled with scrolls, clay tablets and a few books and binders. A class was underway, with the Elder Syntald, an whiteheared, stooped old man lecturing some students on anatomy. The elder was in a bad mood, barking at the acolytes time and time again, when the three adventurers entered. First, he looked at them angrily, but then he brought out his eye glasses and recognized Tindri as an elf and immediately told his students to scram, approaching the immortal lady with great interest in his eyes.
Tindri got to the point right away and the Syntald, by the name of Piter di Vumbra, explained that his old teacher had joined the Hospital as a student just after it was inaugurated after the purge of the Shagulites. After thinking a little, he was able to bring out some of the documents from the shelves. Tindri and Perrima studied them together, and eventually the elven druid found an interesting passage concerning something horrible that had apparently been found in North Wing of the hospital when it was closed down a century ago. Unfortunately, the relevant passage was destroyed by mold and water, making it impossible to read. She asked di Vumbra about the North Wing, but he just shook his head. He explained that nobody knew what was down there, because it was locked down and had always been, except that something was alive in there. That caught the imagination of the three adventurers, who immediately headed towards that part of the building, Elder Syntald Piter trying his best to keep base on his old legs while mumbling about how it was not allowed for visitors.
After a bit of searching, she found a locked heavy oak door in the right area and surmised that this might be what she was looking for. An attendant asked what she was doing, trying to open this door, and she quickly fast talked him into running to get the maester, keeper of the key. This venerable person, another elderly man, but this one with a mid-section revealing his love of ale, came at about the same time as Syntald Piter caught up with them. His large physionomy loomed large over the short and slender elf woman, who didn't even notice the difference in physical stature and just went ahead and wagged her finger at him while she delivered a tirade about the horrible ethics of keeping living creatures locked up for a century and how he now had to give her the key so she could do right by Creation. The charming innocence of Perrima and towering muscles and fangs of Raori helped her, even as the elderly gentlemen tried desperately to produce new arguments sometime when the elf gave them a chance to interrupt her, which she did not.
When she was done, stunned silence followed, and the maester gave Tindri the key with shaking hands, clearly not used to getting a dressing down from an elf. Tindri didn't waste any time, and only when the three were walking down the stairs into the darkness below did the maester regain their composure and as they descended they could hear him mumbling something about demons...
At the end of the stairwell was a dank corridor, and that's when they started hearing the wailing, snickering, and laughing from somewhere ahead. It came from behind a bricked up wall, with one hatch and chest level and another down by the floor. Tindri went up to the wall and opened the top hatch, but could see nothing but inky black darkness beyond. She started mumbling an incantation, asking the spirits of fire to come to her aid. They gathered around her and when she asked them politely for their service, they happily complied and flew through the hatch. Then they materialized as a shower of small sparks, like a swarm of fireflies. Their glowed lit up the space beyond and revealed....