Xyrfaen reaches into his pack, retrieving a pair of manacles and using it to bind the cultist's hands behind his back. "That is step one. Either we take him up top and have the guards take him in, or we take him along as we explore further. We'll have to gag him, then, and he might cause trouble regardless. Or we leave him here and pick him up later, but who knows what might come along... if a pack of rats get to him he'll stand no chance."

Brask takes a cloth and starts wiping the blood from his maul.  Up to you guys.  You want to hand him to the guard?  I thought you and Sam would want to... you know... do your thing with him.  He kicks one of the corpses that is blocking the door, to move it out of the way, and laughs. These idiots wanted their blood to feed their 'prince'.  It feels good, helping a fellow achieve his goals, you know?  He looks over at the others.  How're you guys feeling?  Up for more?

"Well, I think we certainly need to see what they had locked up on the other side of this door," Sam rubs his chin thoughtfully as he surveys the aftermath of the fight. He finally leans down, inspecting the manacles Xyr placed on their prisoner, nodding in approval. "Judging from their ranting, I'm not sure we're going to get much out of this one, but it might be worth taking him back to the cathedral...but do we drag him around for a bit or tie him up here and hope the rats don't eat out his eyes?"

Brask picks up the lucky idiot who didn't die, throws him over one shoulder not very gently, and heads to the exit.  Come on then.  Let's dump this chump.  We can come back if you want.

"Agreed. We can't take him with us and we can't leave him here." He then turns Xyr, "Can you lock up the gate again and set something up so we know if someone passes through?"

He casts light on part of the cultists clothing, allowing Brask to see clearly and just in case he tries to run.

"I'm not sure I'm ready for too much more tonight. A bit of rest and I could power through, but my powerful magic has already been spent."

"Hm...fair enough," Sam looks around at the five corpses. "I don't think we're going to be able to adequately clean up this mess. Let's just hope nobody stumbles upon them before we get back down here. I'd hate for them to know we found...well, whatever is down there."

Xyr nods at Burik. "Good thinking." He'll take the keys off the unconscious man, then cuts a half-inch piece of cloth from the clothes of one of the corpses, wedging it between the gate and the wall about a foot off the ground before locking the gate. "There, now if it is opened that piece won't stick."

OOC:

OOC: There were pipes entering the sewers back where you fought the rats, but nothing big enough to stuff a body. You hide them as best you can in one of the corners of the room.

Sam cuts off the hood from the cultist's robe, just in case they draw unwanted attention up on the streets. You follow your way back out of the sewer without incident. The rats are still dead, although you find a few more stray vermin starting to eat at the corpses of their fallen kin. Back up on the street you make your way through back alleys up toward the cathedral, with Sam leading the way. It's late now and you don't pass many people, save for the occasional street urchin - and they don't seem to care that there's a hulking minotaur carrying someone on his shoulder.

The cathedral is heavily guarded by the time you get back, with both military personnel and with paladins from the church. Sam exchanges brief words with a few of them, and they escort you inside. The cathedral itself is quite extravagant, with painted ceilings, gold inlay on the pews, and enormous, ornate candles burning in all of the stained glass windows. Two paladins lead the way as you follow them to a back room behind the altar, which then leads to another room and a set of stairs going down. 

The first level of the basement has a series of small rooms. "You're all welcome to rest up here for the night - or as long as you need to," Sam offers. "I'm probably going to set up a cot in one of the cells downstairs to keep an eye on this one." He gestures toward the cultist. 

Good enough for me, says Brask, looking around the rooms for a nice spot to sleep, and at the others to check they're happy to stay here.  Where do you want the cargo?  He pats the unconscious cultist, not too gently.  He might wake up any moment.  It would be fun to see him try to run, though.  

"See you all in the morning." Burik sets down in one of the small rooms quietly, and quickly falls asleep.

Sam turns to the paladins. "Can you bring him downstairs? I'll be down in a bit." They nod and take the prisoner from Brask. "Well, see you all in the morning. I think we've all earned a rest."

Brask frowns at Burik as he heads off to sleep.  I'll be taking first watch, and waking you up in about three hours, he calls after dwarf.  And you're after that, he says to Xy.   Unless you've forgotten that there's killers and lunatic cultists in this city.  He settles into a comfortable position at the door to Burik's room, and watches as people pass by.  Perception 8

5

The hours go by without incident. Brask stays relatively alert, but doesn't notice anything out-of-the-ordinary or anything that would cause concern. He wakes Burik in the middle of the night to take over the watch, and the bleary-eyed cleric does just that. Brask takes his place in one of the rooms and dozes off.

About an hour later, Burik stirs when he starts to feel a tightening in his chest. Just then, he hears a blood-curdling scream from the stairs, emanating from the floor below.

OOC:

Burik will shake Brask awake gently , quietly letting him know about the scream, before quietly moving towards the sound, weapons ready.

Brask does not wake easily or happily, but once roused he smiles a grim smile and follows Burik.

You head down the stairs and find a heavy door on their left with a small window. Bars run along the window, but you can easily see inside. Sam and one of the paladins are inside, along with the cultist, who is lying on the floor smiling with blood running down his chin. The paladin is holding his hand, blood dripping. "When I feed, our Prince feeds," the cultist cackles as he spits blood at his captors. 

Sam hears you outside the door, and he nods to the paladin. The door is opened, and the guard walks past you, muttering to himself as he goes to clean out his fresh wound. 

Hah! snorts Brask. What in the hells were you doing, fool?  he asks the paladin.  Cleaning his teeth?  That'll teach you to keep your holy fingers away from the mad dog cultist. 

Entering the room, he goes over to the cultist.  Your 'Prince' sounds like a bottom-feeding sack of shit.  Does he have a name, dog?

He sits up, hands still shackled together. He takes on a somewhat more serious tone, although an eery, bloody smile still adorns his face. "He is the Lord of Savagery, the Beast of Butchery, the Prince of all Demons. He is the Destoryer, the Ruler of Ruin, the Gnoll Lord," the cultist looks down at the ground, eyes glazing over. "His hunger is all that matters. It is greater than me; it is greater than us all. He eats what we eat. He kills what we kill. He will come if we eat well...if we kill well. And we shall be never alone, never hungry."

Worthless, says Brask, meaning both the cultist and his Prince.  He looks at Sam.  You need any help with him, or can we go back to sleep?