When your party finishes resting and feasting, Tappy has the following to say when you ask her about other work you could be doing to pass the time...

"I could go find plenty who would put you to work, but I have a gripe maybe you would be willing to help me with?  You see, there's pressure on me to relinquish The Foaming Mug so it can be turned into living quarters.  Fact is, we have more bodies than beds and only the fact nearly half of our population is inside Blingdenstone at any given time makes things manageable.  I fear the day something happens and we all pack into Blingdenstone to protect ourselves.  Once I lose The Foaming Mug I fear I won't get it back when the situation changes.

There are many residences that are off limits because of hostile spirits.  If those spirits can be laid to rest, that will make more places to live in.  And I get to keep my business.  And you get to keep eating and sleeping for free.

If that is something you would be willing to do for me... for Blingdenstone, then you should go speak with Burrow Warden Jaeger.  He... ummm... spends his time in the crypts.  He's an interesting sort.  Just don't, uhh, let's say he's one of the good ones.

But!  I... WE will understand if you don't want to undertake this.  Fighting with angry spirits has a way of giving you grey hairs..."

Beegred: "I was going to say, before we could consider more ghost bashing, we'd need a guarantee from some of your clerics that they could, and would, undo any artificial aging."

“I’d be happy to help you keep your property. What’s the deal with these ghosts?” Orubis stretches a bit lazily. 

Rodolfo says, "We could t least talk to Mr. Jaeger to find out more."

(I assume we are given directions to the crypts?) 

Answering Beegred, Tappy says, "There is only one cleric remaining who can perform great magic like that, and she's old and frail.  If you can convince her, she would be able to cast that kind of healing once before needing to rest for a couple days."

You are given directions to a temple to Segojan Earthcaller, found within Inner Blingdenstone.  When you make your way there, you find several gnomish priests and Narstin tending to a multitude of gnomes that appear to be unwell or crazed, some even needing to be restrained.  There are several ancient ornate pillars, many appearing to be recently repaired, depicting religious symbols.  Some of the clerics are meditating in front of these stones, or are just sleeping where they dropped to the ground in their exhaustion.

At the back of this chamber is an archway leading downward, the entrance to the crypt from the directions that were provided.

Rodolfo looks back at the others and puts a finger on his mouth, indicating for silence.

He seeks out someone alive-looking, possibly Narstin and asks in whispering tones, "We were sent to help out in the crypts with the ghosts. Anything we should know or be prepared for before we head in?"

Beegred also has a question for whichever cleric Rodolfo is speaking to.
He holds out the crystal eye piece that was used in the medusa lair.
"This helped (somewhat) in avoiding the petrifying gaze of a Medusa. Would it be effective against the aging due to a ghost's Unpleasant Expression... Horrifying Visage... whatever that effect is called?"

Skameros nervously stands there picking at some bits of grey fur from the last run in with the ghost.

Narstin leans against the cave wall, in discussion with an official looking cleric.  As you approach the pair, both look haggard and exhausted.  At your approach, Narstin hails Beegred, Rodolfo and Skameros, then introduces himself to Orubis and Grithik.  After a brief exchange of recent happenings** Rodolfo gets to the task at hand.

The priest steps in to answer, "The crypts are not haunted by any ghosts that need taking care of.  The only ghost down there is Burrow Warden Jaeger and we've grown to trust him enough to send our adolescents and children down there to spend their waking hours.  The crypt is the only place that seems free of the menaces and madness that plague Inner Blingdenstone, and the only reason that is possible is old magic and the Burrow Warden's sense of duty.

Surely you were told to speak to Burrow Warden Jaeger, not to help out in the crypts with the ghosts".

Answering Beegred, the priest looks genuinely curious, "That is a novel idea.  I don't think it's ever been tried.  At least not by someone that survived to tell the tale."

** Narstin and most other clerics here spend their days pushing back on the OB Sickness (madness) by casting their daily allotment of Lesser Restorations on the worst cases, then providing magical healing to those that have been injured by attacks, and when there's no magic left... applying good old medicine skills to let the rest heal naturally.

Quote from Kerrec >>

The priest steps in to answer, "The crypts are not haunted by any ghosts that need taking care of.  The only ghost down there is Burrow Warden Jaeger and we've grown to trust him enough to send our adolescents and children down there to spend their waking hours."

 

Beegred looks shocked. "Are you telling us that everyone in Blingdingstein are all kids, but you had this ghost age their bodies into adults? That's horrifying."

(Assuming someone straightens out Beegred.) "And another thing... You send your children to the crypts to meet this Wheelbarrow Judge spirit. Normally you only send kids to a safe place. But you also tell us there might be danger that we should deal with?... Don't you like your kids very much?"

As Beegred talks, Grithik rubs his temples anticipating an oncoming headache.

Orubis pipes up. “Sounds like we need to talk to this Burrow Warden. Where can we go to talk to him?”

Quote from Quasimodal >>

Quote from Kerrec >>

The priest steps in to answer, "The crypts are not haunted by any ghosts that need taking care of.  The only ghost down there is Burrow Warden Jaeger and we've grown to trust him enough to send our adolescents and children down there to spend their waking hours."

 

Beegred looks shocked. "Are you telling us that everyone in Blingdingstein are all kids, but you had this ghost age their bodies into adults? That's horrifying."

(Assuming someone straightens out Beegred.) "And another thing... You send your children to the crypts to meet this Wheelbarrow Judge spirit. Normally you only send kids to a safe place. But you also tell us there might be danger that we should deal with?... Don't you like your kids very much?"

A smile appears on Narstin's exhausted face, and he puts his arm around Beegred's shoulder and pulls him aside, "I not be realizing how I be missing your world view, Beegred.  Come with me and tell me about these two new friends you made.  Let Rodolfo have a chat with the priests."

The priest replies to Orubis, "Burrow Warden Jaeger inhabits the crypts.  He doesn't have a room, or a crypt, so I can't give you directions.  If the Burrow Warden doesn't find you, then one of the children can certainly guide you.  Probably won't be necessary, as you will appear as trespassers.  If the Burrow Warden surprises you, remain peaceful.  He's not the type to strike first and ask questions later."

Beegred gives an intense stare at the priest for a few seconds, then relaxes with a big grin on his face. "Ah, that is good to know. Sorry for being wary, but all that talk about ghosts had me spooked. (Get it? Ghosts... spooks... I crack me up.)

"I'd feel more comfortable with a guide, since we are unfamiliar with the layout of the crypts. If one of the children is feeling brave enough to guide us to where the ghost is most often seen, and back, I'd be happy to pay a silver coin for the service."

The priest replies just before heading towards a restrained thrashing, screaming, laughing and crying gnome having an episode, "The children come and go constantly.  While you wait, if any of you can heal or know how to treat wounds, you can make yourselves useful."

(To wait for a child, you wait 4 hours before one can be seen arriving at the temple and heading in.)

"Skameros can not heal, but can help hold nomes down." he offers

Orubis looks at the others speculatively. “I mean… I can heal, but I’m not sure it’s a great idea to drain all my energies if we’re heading into danger.”

Orubis will cast lesser restoration on three people, and help with assessing injuries the old fashioned way after that. 
medicine 21 

As you all decide to wait for a child to guide you into the crypts to find Burrow Warden Jaeger, Orubis feels the plight of the afflicted gnomes and the exhausted priests.  Calling upon his deity, he goes to the worst individual, tied up, raving, with two priests actively holding some kind of stick between his teeth to keep him from biting his own tongue off.  On the first casting of lesser restoration, Orubis feels the pressure of the madness give way in the individual, but not enough to make a lasting effect.   Casting lesser restoration a second time, that pressure is pushed further back, its hold tenuous on its victim.  The third casting finally pushes the pressure out of the gnome, who slumps and opens his eyes with comprehension once again.

The priests, finally able to relax their hold on the gnome, sigh and sit, taking a rest.  They look at Orubis and immediately observe the prominent features that give away his lycanthropy among his deep gnome visage.  The priests hesitantly thank Orubis, processing and re evaluating their beliefs.  Orubis nods and heads over to the injured, pulling out salves made from his mushrooms, and helps bandage and bind wounds.

Rodolfo asks one of the priests, "Are ghosts common here? We encountered one also in Rockblight. Its proximity brought sounds of battle with it."

The priest replies, "When the drow sacked Blingdenstone, they were cruel to those they trapped or captured.  They tortured or inflicted trauma on those poor souls, which has left their spirits unable to rest peacefully.  Those that simply relive their trauma have gone insane and don't recognize who they were or why they remain.  They are ruled by fear, anger, hatred, vengeance.  Burrow Warden Jaeger knows each of their stories, and if I could unhear some of what I've heard, I would. 

For many ghosts, all they require is someone to lay them to rest in a way that acknowledges they deserved respect.  Those we have taken care of ourselves.  But the other ghosts or whatever they have become, they have to be forcefully ended with finality.  There can be no 'peaceful' afterlife for them.  Fighting those can be traumatizing.  Being possessed and witnessing your own body killing your friends and family is torture in itself.  Or if you're lucky, you can just come out of the battle feeling older than you should be.  

We don't have the resources to deal with them.  Thankfully, it is a problem that is easy to set aside while we deal with other more pressing matters... just stay away from them.  To answer your question, nearly half of the living spaces in Blingdenstone are haunted and uninhabitable."