"Then maybe we should pick up a knock scroll or two for the vault?
"Wish I'd thought to buy some rope, but I didn't," Eloise says. "Yeah, let's pick up some scrolls; Knock is a good spell."
Sour Heck boots a small rock over the hole's edge and contemplates the clatter below.
“If you heroes want to leave this deathtrap after seeing those ghosts, I’m certainly not going to try to talk you out it. Though with our luck, there’ll be rope in that last room and we’ll end up going down anyway.”
"It's doubting I am that we have th' price of such a thing between us, unless we sell some of our findings."
"Perhaps,, still, if you believe Lady Hawkram, we need the personal items of the major five spirits to help combat them."
"From my training, I think she's right. We need to get into that vault. Hm. Maybe we can try to break the walls...they do seem damaged, perhaps they're weakend enough that we can get in that way.
"She did say th' vault keys are likely with th' Warden's remains, along with his badge. Though th' walls may offer an easier path, and they're to hand." Peredur eyeballs the rough sketch he's made of the layout. "And I'm not mistaken, th' vault lies behind these walls here, on th' northwest corner. Do any of you know aught of architecture? For it's surely not a thing I've studied, myself."
"Nor I," Eloise says, shaking her head. "All I know 'bout architecture right now is: knock away the foundation and the rest comes tumbling down."
"I'm afraid I know little of architecture myself, sadly," Talia says, shaking her head as well. "But we can try to get to the vault another way; if that doesn't work, we can sally forth and try to find the key below."
"In either case, up or down, there's still one door to open here."
“Assuming the spirit you saw was the helpful spirit of the warden’s wife and not Father Charletan scheming to get us all killed, and that she’s correct that the badge and keys are down below rather than upstairs, then going down does sound slightly less likely to get us killed in the short run.”
“If there’s no rope in the last room, we could toss all these dummies and furniture from here and the infirmary down the hole, and make a big pile of junk that we can scramble back up. Harder for someone to trap us down there that way...they could just haul a rope up, but even if the junk gets knocked over we can just pile it up again.”
“No sense making plans until we see that last room, though. Might all die there, which would save some trouble. Lead on!”
"It comes to me that we still have th' haunt siphons, which we can use 'gainst th' Piper, and mayhap we'll find rope upstairs. What other magics do we have?"
"I have two spells left," Eloise says. "One of defence, one of offence. The attack spell only works if I can hit a target, so it's probably not as much use against haunts. The Shield spells works for two minutes at best, so I'd like to save it for any really big battles we need to face."
The Chelishwoman snaps her fingers and smiles. "And oh yes; I can still put magic in any weapon I'm holding three more times today. Lasts three minutes, I think. Sorry to say I can't share that bit of wealth."
“I suppose I’m expected to take the Piper on in ferocious bard-on-bard combat,” Sour Heck says, as he wrestles a training dummy over to the edge of the hole, then boots it over the edge to splash down below. He peers over the edge critically. “Going to take a lot more than that, but it’s doable.”
“If he’s got necromancy in his flute music, I might be able to counter it. Also, I know a few charms to help with his pet stirges and any shambling dead we meet up with. We still have plenty of holy water, Iesha’s friendly god, and Eloise’s magic sword. Just hope the Piper doesn’t jump down a hole.”
Sour Heck throws an old cabinet down after the dummy and makes a face. “That one didn’t hold together well at all.”
Heck, in his own odd and destructive way, is able to discern that the drop to the next floor is roughly twenty feet, and the pool of water below is somewhat deep, judging by the splash the various pieces of the room make when they fall.
"I'm not after jumping into that," Eloise says, looking down into the hole. "Ruddy anything might be in there. Let's check that last room, then head back to town for some rope. If we're going down, I want a quick way back up, and not have to duel my way through burning skeletons to get to a barred door."
"That's reasonable. Let's see if we can get in that last room, then, if we can't get magic to help us get into the vault, we'll try to find the keys."
She looks down the hole. "Maybe we should look for a water-breathing spell?"
She looks up suddenly struck by an idea. "Hey, maybe there's a copy of the keys in the town hall?"
“I say we have a peek at the second story before we head back to town for rope, in case we need to pick up something else obvious. We’ll look like a bunch of fools marching back and forth to the general store several times a day.”
"Upstairs it is, then. Who's got th' art to use th' haunt siphons? Best Iesha, Sour Heck, and Talia carry one each, and only use th' things if channeling and th' like doesn't stop th' spirit."
Sour Heck accepts a siphon and puts it in his shirt pocket for easy access. "Lead on!"
"Let's go. At least we can inspect the lay of the land, as it were."
She pauses, thinking about something. "Maybe we can use the prison records to see where each of the Five were being held. It might help us prepare for them."
"Agreed," Eloise says, nodding. "Well. Shall I sing a song for the Piper to play to, or do we proceed in silence?" The Chelaxian woman smirks a little at her own question.
Marching up the stairs, the strains of the Pipeer's song sound louder and clearer with each step. but once the party reaches the door at the top of the stairs, the music stops.
Peredur pushes open the door, and the party moves out into the area.
to the Northeast, wooden benches were once arrayed in this large hall, but several are now stacked in a jumble and others are overturned in disarray. Weakened by fire, the entire east wall has collapsed away, creating an unintended entryway to a wooden deck beyond. The view of the lake would almost be beautiful, but for the eerie silence.
To the south, the guard area is blocked from the cellblock by an arc of iron bars. Within sits an old wooden table and a few chairs.
To the west, row upon row of square prison cells line the walls, each seperated from the passing hallway by a series of iron bars, fitted with a narrow iron door. skeletons slump in many of the cells, the bones scattered where they lie and coated with a mixed layer of ancient ashes and fresh mold.
"Occultum Video," Eloise mutters as the group enters the area, and she looks around.
"Our musical accompaniment appears to have taken a break," the Chelaxian woman says with mild sarcasm. "Let's see if I can't encourage him to come back out and play."
Eloise starts to sing a sappy, sugary song of true love and effortless joy between those who find it...
Sour Heck raises an eloquent eyebrow at Eloise’s singing. The bard seems considerably less interested in drawning restless spirits out for a fight. Still, he stows his longspear on his back and brings out his funeral drum.
"I'd be less concerned about the Piper than his pets. If I remember correctly, he's the one who poisoned travelers and fed them to his stirges. And we've been attacked by stirges in town while someone was playing music."
Iesha looks around, cautiously.
Iesha
Peredur
Sour Heck
Talia
Eloise
stirges
No music rises to meet Eloise's challenge. As predicted by Iesha, and not a moment after she finished speaking, the buzz of three fat stirges announces their presence. The oversized insects lazily drift from behind the pile of wooden benches toward the party.
Talia smiles at her companions' quips in the face of the unknown while she follows behind them.
"Well, let's keep both eyes and ears out for both the Piper and the stirges..." She, took, keeps a ready watch around her.
“So if these are the Piper’s pets, what do you think he named them? Spot, Fluffy, and Cuddles? That fat one headed for you defininely looks like a Cuddles, Peredur.”
Round 1:
Cuddles, hey? All business now, the ranger advances toward the airborne trio of bloodsuckers, eyes narrowing as he focuses on the foe. As he closes within striking distance his sword flashes out and hits one of the three.
[dice=Attack roll on "Cuddles," incl. inspire courage]1d20 + 5 + 1[/dice]
"Me, I'd name them Sucker, Bloodbag and Flutter-Tick," Eloise says, the smirk still on her face as she advances at Peredur's side, her blade still out and seeking a target.
Peredur, moving effectively toward the stirge, swats Cuddles / Sucker out of the air. It collapses into a twitching pile on the floor.
Eloise, following up, takes off three or four of Bloodbag / Fluffy's legs. The stirge responds by lunging for her, and missing badly.
Flutter-Tick / Spot, lured by the bard's music, flits over to him, then randomly dives at Iesha. It's barbed claws catch in her clothes, and the jagged probiscus sinks into her neck.
Travel with the Sczarnis for any length of time and you’ll hear the phrase “Tal sich!” The free-living nomads use it to encourage and taunt, inspire and belittle. It’s used to mean, “Don’t let THAT hold you back!”
But it’s not a phrase of Sczarni. It’s not a saying, exactly. In the mouth of someone with a bit of the old powers in his veins, it’s an invocation. More precisely, it’s a transmutation. Even more precisely, it’s a command. A Liberating Command.
As the stirge grabs on to batten on Iesha, Sour Heck cries out, “Tal sich!” His voice is surprisingly deep and masterful.
Round 1:
Talia's fingers move in an intricate pattern, her voice strong as she speaks an incantation and a shimmer in the air around her flashes into view and fades.
"Kieli, keep an eye out for that Piper!" she says, looking around herself for the foe.
Not completely surprised by the stirges, Iesha lashes out with her glaive, hoping to take out the critter before it latches on.
As the stupid bug latches on, Iesha twists desperately to try to shake it off.
Round 2: Fight!
Sour Heck draws his rapier as he circles around Iesha, trapping the stirge that attacked her between them. "Quick, Iesha, kill it before Eloise adopts it!" he stage-whispers, then darts his blade at the fluttering bug.
"No fear, Sour Heck!" Eloise says as she slashes at the stirge again. "These bugs aren't cuddly enough. I'd sooner adopt a nice Goblin Dog!"
With Heck's quick reaction, the bug never quite latches on. Iesha manages to wrench it free. Her counter-attack, however, finds no luck, and the stirge dodges easily.
Heck is unable to skewer Spot. It decides he looks far more tasty, and dives at him. The bug finds purchase, and begins to leech away the bard's blood.
Round 2:
Peredur pivots and swings at the wounded stirge, but it flits out of his reach.
And it responds with a lunge for his neck, and finds a red feast waiting there for it!
Iesha attempts to cut away the stirge on Sour Heck.
Iesha scores a hit on the bug, narrowly missing Sour Heck!
Blood spurts from the Stirge's wound (Sour Heck's blood!) but the creature retains its grip.