Illes glances around the room briefly and waits for the others finish chatting about windows.
Vethran follows his cousin into the room, looking first at the book but then turns his attention to the scarf.
"Hrm. More evidence of haunting," the mage gestures to the scarf. "It appears to be moving."
The mage reaches into his pack and withdrawls a tiny flask, quickly downing it's contents and then moves cautiously to pick up the fallen book.
Elisile looks at the windows thoughtfully.
“I wonder if there might be some clue to these current troubles here?”
Alwyn follows Vethran as he points out the animate book, ready to act if anyhing odd happens.
Hudak'll go in. He interposes himself between the scarf and Vethran,
blade out.
"This isn't right at all. That thing shouldn't be moving."
His superstitious heart starts racing.
Having finished her search of the room with the windows, Elisile enters the library room.
“I have had a thought,” she says. “Leaving aside the representation of the creatures on the window, if that box does represent a lich’s phylactery … then perhaps the architect of the undead threat that plagues Sandpoint is a lich.” She looks significantly at Vethran, figuring that he, best of all, would understand how dangerous that would be.
“On closer examination the windows are not new, quite the opposite. If this house was once owned by someone who became a lich, and has perhaps lain dormant for some time … Foxglove coming here to restore the house may have re-awoken it. This could be very dangerous. Also, did anyone else notice that the phylactery bears a resemblance to our recent opponents Sihedron Rune?”
She has completely failed to notice the moving scarf, but now finally realises that everyone is looking at something. She follows Vethran’s lead and pulls out her potion of protection from evil, but does not yet quaff it.
"The 're-awakened house' is an interesting idea. If it happened recently, it could explain why the haunts we see" - he nods at the fluttering scarf - "seem relatively minor. Having said that, we might want to keep moving, before the house awakens further."
Alwyn wanders back north and then turns west. "Let's see where these doors lead. We can deal with the scarf-ghost later."
"The 're-awakened house' is an interesting idea. If it happened recently, it could explain why the haunts we see" - he nods at the fluttering scarf - "seem relatively minor. Having said that, we might want to keep moving, before the house awakens further."
"Oh! I meant re-awaken the theoretical lich, not the house itself. Can houses be aware? I am unfamiliar with all the nuances of human architecture."
"Human houses are not sentient. Having said that, anything that's haunted can lie dormant and then wake up again, be it a house or something else. And this place is clearly haunted by something."
"The 're-awakened house' is an interesting idea. If it happened recently, it could explain why the haunts we see" - he nods at the fluttering scarf - "seem relatively minor. Having said that, we might want to keep moving, before the house awakens further."
Alwyn wanders back north and then turns west. "Let's see where these doors lead. We can deal with the scarf-ghost later."
"There are a wealth of books here," comments Elisile, gesturing to the shelves, "although they are in a state of disrepair. If the answers to what is happening here lie in the past rather than the present, perhaps this library can help us." She looks at Vethran, wondering what he thinks about the books.
As Elisile lingers in the library, an horrific shriek suddenly fills the air and the brightly coloured scarf launches itself into space and wraps unerringly round her throat.
(Elisile, DC 16 Will save.)
(Meanwhile, for those who followed Alwyn:)
A rather gruesome antique - what appears to be a mummified monkey head - hangs on the northern wall here. A bellpull extends from the monkey's gaping mouth. A ratty rug partially obscures a foul stain of dark mould on the floor.
(Doors north and south, and west is the entrance hall. There seems to be a large creature in the middle of the hall, unmoving and hard to make out in the shadows.)
As Elisile lingers in the library, an horrific shriek suddenly fills the air and the brightly coloured scarf launches itself into space and wraps unerringly round her throat.
(Elisile, DC 16 Will save.)
"Gnnh!"
Elisile panics, dropping her bow and the potion bottle, trying to rip the scarf off.
As Elisile grabs the scarf, eyes bulging, she is suddenly rigid and paralysed with terror.
Aubrey:
With a force of will, Elisile shakes of the horror and rips the scarf away from her neck, and heaves huge gasping, live-giving breaths. The scarf flutters to the floor and simply lies unmoving.
Hudak's where he gauges to be equidistant between Alwyn and Elisile...he started following Alwyn.
"You okay, Ellie?" He's ready to go to town.
Illes darts forward to make sure Elisile is ok while looking around nervously expecting books or firepokers to lash out next. "I don't know what's going on in here, but I think it's time to find whoever we are looking for and get out of here. This place is cursed- filled with restless dead or both! We don't have any business messing around with that."
Hudak's where he gauges to be equidistant between Alwyn and Elisile...he started following Alwyn.
"You okay, Ellie?" He's ready to go to town.
Vethran gasps as he witnesses the scarf attacking Elisile. By the time he reacts, she has already freed herself from it.
"Definitely haunted," he says matter-of-factly. The mage glances around the room once more and picks up the open book on the floor to examine it's contents.
Dravite grabs the scarf off of the floor and begins tearing into small bits. "Ye nae be hurtin' de lady!!! If'n dis house be 'alive' an be doin' dis, I want ye ta be knowin', house, if'n de elfin woman is hurt agin I'll be knockin' ye doon ta yer foundations wit me bare hands!!"
He then turns to Elisile, "Are ye harmed, lass?"
Dravite sticks extra close to Elisile in the house from here on, being extra protective of her.
Alwyn comes running back as he hears the party's shouting, catching the tail end of Elisile's predicament. "The haunting's getting deadlier, eh?" He nods at Illes. "We might want to speed up a little, then. THere are a couple of doors up west."
Dravite grabs the scarf off of the floor and begins tearing into small bits. "Ye nae be hurtin' de lady!!! If'n dis house be 'alive' an be doin' dis, I want ye ta be knowin', house, if'n de elfin woman is hurt agin I'll be knockin' ye doon ta yer foundations wit me bare hands!!"
He then turns to Elisile, "Are ye harmed, lass?"
Dravite sticks extra close to Elisile in the house from here on, being extra protective of her.
“I am … alright,” answers Elisile, rubbing her sore neck. “Wait, Dravite, do not destroy the scarf . It may mean something. I do not think it was the scarf itself that was dangerous, but a spirit that haunts this house.”
She bends to pick up the scarf (or what’s left of it). “While this was around my neck, I was not myself … I was … my name was Iesha, and Aldern Foxglove was my husband. He tried to kill me – her – with her own scarf. I think it is the spirit of Iesha that haunts this place.”
Hudak turns pale at her pronouncement.
"I don't like this place now."
"The place is becoming aware of our presence. Stay away from the little haunts from now on."
"Can we kill them?"
"Probably not. But, as you saw, they can kill us. We need to find the source of this infestation and clean it out."
“Wait, Dravite, do not destroy the scarf .
"Alwyn," the Varisian speaks, "perhaps you should attempt to turn the lingering spirit if we encounter signs of it's presence again? It might just save our lives."
Elisile picks up the bookend out of the fireplace and returns it to a shelf, before retrieving her dropped items.
“Let us be on then,” she says, although she waits to see that everyone (including Vethran, perusing a book) is ready to leave before heading out.
Alwyn nods at Vethran's suggestion. "I'll give it a shot when we encounter more haunted activity, though I fear that an entire haunted house id beyond my ability to contain or drive back. But I will do my best." He looks over at Elisile. "Whenever you are ready."
Let's check that door to the west...
This cozy-looking drawing room is marred by the unnatural dampness and the thick sheets of mould that cling to the curtains closed over the southern window. The curtains move slightly, as if in a breeze, though the air is otherwise still and musty.
"That....breeze....isn't right."
Nervous, Shoanti? Man-up. We be needin' yer strength so keep yer wits aboot ya. Ye can be scart next time ye be wantin' ta drink doon some disgustin' concoction from a dubious source.
"Searching the rooms only seem to give us trouble." Alwyn gives the room a once-over to make sure nothing is hiding. "This place is empty. Let's keep moving, and eventually come back later."
The door exits into the entrance hall. The sound of the house straining and creaking gives this long, high-ceilinged room an additional sense of age and decay. The place smells damp, the unpleasant tinge of mould lacing the air as surely as it stains the wooden floor, walls and furniture in pallid patches. A curving flight of stairs to the south winds up to the upper floor, while a pair of large stone fireplaces brood to the north and south. Heavy dark-blue hang over the windows, and the frames above each of the two doors are carved with dancing gargoyles and skeletons. Trophies hang on the wall to the north-east: a boar, a bear, a firefelt cougar, and a stag, their glassy eyes accusing from fur crusted with mould and cobwebs. Yet they pale in comparison to the monster on display in the centre of the room. Here crouches a twelve-foot-long creature with the body of a lion, a scorpion's tail fitted with dozens of razor barbs, huge bat-wings, and a deformed humanoid face. The stuffed beast's poorly-maintained fur has fallen away in places, allowing the sawdust filling it to sift out into tiny mounds on the platform below. Strangely, the air is filled with the smell of burning hair.
Nervous, Shoanti? Man-up. We be needin' yer strength so keep yer wits aboot ya. Ye can be scart next time ye be wantin' ta drink doon some disgustin' concoction from a dubious source.
"You're scared too!"
up the stairs? anybody wanna search th' taxidermy?
"One second - let me see what's behind this door. If there's nothing there, we go upstairs." Alwyn kicks open the north door.
"Sounds good."
"This is it! It seems to me that in order to find the dark heart of this place, we must go down."
Vethran produces the everburning torch from his pack and offers it to Alwyn with a smile.
I'll go second, or first if Dravite's scared.