Rise of the Runelords by DM Doctor Evil (again)

Game Master DM DoctorEvil

Marcellano after staring at the windows hard and long it finally dawns on you that all five of the subjects in the windows as classic spell components for necromancy magic(scorpion venom, vampire's breath, the tongues of deathwing moths, bellodonna, and the heart of a maiden slain by poison).

Close enough I decided to DM Fiat lol

I'll take it. :P

Marcellano snaps his fingers. "Aha! Not a story at all...these windows depict common spell components." His voice slows with trepidation as he finishes the thought. "...All of which are used in the casting of foul, necromantic magic. Yet another sign that all is not well in this house, and we should be on guard."

With that identified, he casts a quick glance around the room, muttering the charm to detect magic under his breath.

Nothing magical to be found here.

Search: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (11) + 10 = 21

After a search of the room Cadas indicates the door. Lets continue our search.

"So maybe the thing causing all these ghouls is based here after all?" Robin checks out the room with Cadas. Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (17) + 9 = 26.

If there isn't anything interesting, he moves on to the next door down the line, checking the door for traps or other interesting things. Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24

Sorry for the delay but I have the updated map for you guys. I am going to email customer service again to see if they can switch the campaign back over to me(for some reason it reverted back to its creation settings). If that map doesn't work please let me know.

Updated Second Floor, Foxglove Manor

Cadas and Robin find nothing more of note in the room and Robin starts heading to the room next door. The doors are unlocked and not trapped. This bedroom features a child-sized bed, a chair next to a toy box, and a looming stone fireplace big enough for a child to get lost in. Robin you swear you hear the crying of a child and then you get the overwhelming feeling that your parents are trying to kill each other and that who ever wins that fight is coming after you next.

I missed the bedroom in the first reading of the map so we're going back to cover it and then we will go in counter clockwise fashion around the rest of the rooms. I appologize for the mix up.

"That seems like a distinct possibility," Marcellano says grimly in response to Robin's observation. The wizard lets the others precede him into the child's bedroom, glancing over all of the room with another detect magic spell. His gaze lingers on his halfling friend. "Robin? Is something wrong?"

Map looks great! I can't move my character token, but that's not particularly relevant right now.

"Sh... can you hear that? There's a child crying." Robin turns left, then right, as if he's trying to find something. Then he freezes. "No, wait, I'm the child. My parents, they're trying to kill each other! *Gasp!* And whoever wins is coming after me next!"

Worried about what might have happened in this very room, Robin starts to pace around, looking for a safe place to hide, where he might find some evidence of what happened to the child. He checks out the bed, looks inside the toy box, and peers into the giant fireplace, trying to find anything that might be helpful.

Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11

Though he seems to have the perceptive powers of the baby spirit possessing him.

"Robin?!" Marcellano exclaims, clearly concerned. "Are you still yourself? I have no abjurations prepared to ward off a possession," he tells the others. "Though I could set him on fire..."

The wizard glances around uneasily, looking out for anything that's out of the ordinary or could be causing Robin's possession.

Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20

Robin shakes off the feeling that comes over him. "I'm okay, I'm okay," he repeats, as if to convince himself it's true. "You know, that wasn't all bad. It was probably the best acting job I've ever done!"

He continues to look around the room. "But really, that feeling I had was very real. First it seems like there was a murder downstairs, and now maybe whoever was alive came here to go after the child!"

Robin you aren't able to find much in the room but if you look in the bed you find the skeletal remains of a child. The sheets under him seem to be soaked in blood and the remnants of decomposed skin.

Aah!" cries Robin, visibly disturbed at last. "The child's body is in this bed!"

When he pulls himself together, Robin tries to discern the cause of death, to try to understand who or what had indeed killed the child. Perhaps a sign of injuries, or a murder weapon, or something the killer left behind. Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16

Marcellano stoops down quickly to see what Robin's looking at, then blanches and takes a step back. "It seems that your...intuition...or whatever it was, was accurate," he says hoarsely. "Would that we had a diviner here! Someone who'd studied that sort of thing could likely determine what happened just by casting some spells on the sheets or the bones...but I have no such magic."

The wizard clutches his crossbow grimly. "Unless there's anything else of interest here, I think we've done all we can do...best to just continue on and try to make sure that there's nothing in this house to continue the work of whoever it was that did this."

Robin nods, ready to move to the next room as well.

Robin you notice that the boys neck was broken as you see the fractured spine.

The next room you explore looks to be a guest bedroom. The entire bedroom is caked in a thick, spongy layer of dark green, blue, and black mold.

Updated Second Floor, Foxglove Manor

I worry that there are clues we are suppose to be picking up but are not...

Nope this top level doesn't have much on it

Robin pinches his nose when he sees and smells the mold. "Ugh, gross. Maybe we should try another room."

Robin gives just a quick glance before moving out of the room. Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25

Nothing to see here as the mold has pretty much taken over this room.

Satisfied that there's nothing there, Robin checks out the next door, and will open it if it seems safe! Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15

Qetsiyah shakes her head sadly when they find the body of the child and pats Robin's shoulder soothingly as he comes out from it's influence. "Poor dear..." She says, her voice low.

Sorry for not posting, got sucked into a book series. ^_~
I'll keep better tabs from here on in.

Kizzy joins Robin in looking over the next door.
Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20

"Indeed," Marcellano mutters, peering into the moldy room from no closer than the doorway. "Let's move on..."

Before he does, though, he casts a quick detect magic on the room in question.

The mold radiates magic but its very very faint.

The next room is a bathroom with an iron tub that sits in the middle of the room, the floorboards around it sagging with the tub's weight. Anyone want to go in to take a look around?

The mold radiates magic but its very very faint.

The next room is a bathroom with an iron tub that sits in the middle of the room, the floorboards around it sagging with the tub's weight. Anyone want to go in to take a look around?

That's not ominous sounding at all!

Robin tries to see if the floor looks safe to walk on, or whether there's any concern about the floor collapsing, or some other sort of danger. Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 13

Robin you are pretty sure if anyone other than you were to step out onto it it would give way.

Robin taps the floor a few times. "Hm... suspicious." He then pulls out a rope and begins tying it to himself. "But nothing that a hero of Sandpoint can't handle! I'll take a look around for clues. You all stay back, and hang on to this rope!"

Robin hands off the rope to one or more people (probably Kizzy), takes a deep breath, and tries to explore the room.

Standing well back Cadas will take one end of the rope. tying it off to her midsection.

"Interesting..." Marcellano mutters to himself. "What's that? Yes, yes, Robin, you look in there, I'm just going to...see what I can figure out here..." He continues to stare at the room covered in mold. What sort of arcane signature is this?

Knowledge (Arcana) check to figure out the school of magic!

Knowledge (Arcana): 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (8) + 13 = 21

Kizzy wound the rope around her left forearm and fed the slack gradually with her right hand as Robin moved deeper into the weak-floored room. If the floor gave way, Cadas would certainly keep him from plummeting down to the floor below, but the sudden jerk such a fall would cause would not be comfortable to either of them and might cause more of the floor to crumble away. She kept her dark eyes trained on his slight frame as he searched, ready to extract him quickly if he were threatened. "Easy does it now..." she murmured, sounding as if she were speaking to herself rather than Robin.

Marcellano you are able to determine that the mold is radiating necromancy magic. Its very very faint now but you have a feeling it would have been overly powerful when the mold was created(like making you go blind when you try to detect it powerful).

Robin as you explore the bathroom the floor shifts uncomfortably under your feet but it never gives way. You don't find anything of interest but some of the mold from the adjoining room(the one you explored before the bathroom) is starting to eat its way through the wall and show up in the bathroom. With the help of Kizzy and Cadas you are able to make you way in and out of the bathroom safely.

After carefully navigating the bathroom, Robin is happy to find himself back on firm ground without incident. "Nothing much there except some more mold. I guess we'd better keep on moving."

Moving to the next door in line, Robin does his usual bit of inspecting for traps or other things of note. Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (5) + 9 = 14. Then he opens the door!

"Don't touch the mold!" Marcellano calls, rejoining the others. "Its suffused with necromantic energy...probably barely harmful right now, but whatever created or altered it was incredibly powerful. Keep away from any of it that you see from here on out."

Robin checks the room for traps and you find that there are none. This once fine chamber has been destroyed. The bed is smashed, mattress torn apart, walls gouged as if by knives, chairs hacked apart, and paintings on teh walls torn to pieces-with one exception. A portrait hanging on the northwest wall seems to be untouched, although it hangs backward, its unseen subject facing the wall.

I have a bad feeling about the mold. Could it somehow be tied to that diseased rat we found earlier?

Heal: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (13) + 11 = 24

Seeing the turned portrait Cadas sighs. Well, its likely turned for a reason but we need to see it don't we. Can you turn it with a mage hand or the like Marcellano?

Marcellano frowns, looking slightly embarrassed. "Well, er, I don't, ah, actually have that particular evocation prepared today...but let me see, it can't be that hard..." Muttering some charms under his breath, he stares at the painting.

First up: detect magic to see if the painting (or anything else in the room, for that matter) detects as magical. If nothing does detect, then I'll attempt to use prestidigitation to lift the painting off its hook (the spell can lift up to 1 lb. of material...how big is the painting?). :P

Qetsiyah nods in agreement with Cadas. "I don't like that mold either. I hope we have not made a grave mistake just breathing in this dank air."

Her lips quirk up in a smile she can't repress as the wizard grumbles over not being prepared. "If I were to wager a guess, I expect it's something like a happy family portrait. Probably whomever went on this murderous rampage could not stand to look upon those he had slain."

If Marcellano's cantrip doesn't prove up to the task of flipping the painting, she will step up and do it herself.

"Tsk, tsk, Marcy," says Robin, shooing the mage aside. "Let's let a professional take care of this one. Woohoo!" Robin rolls up his sleeves and begins to wiggle his hands in an exaggerated motion, with the goal of flipping over the portrait. Mage hand!

Although he blushes slightly at Robin's chiding, Marcellano smiles. "Well, I'm glad that you have the skills necessary to handle this situation, Robin," he says. "In future days we should be more careful to intentionally coordinate the spells that I prepare with the few you know. I'll keep it in mind, to be sure..."

Or maybe I did glance over your spell list before prepping spells for today and that's why I didn't prep mage hand! Yeah. That's my story. I'm stickin' to it! :P

Works for me! We don't actually overlap except for the inescapable Detect Magic and Read Magic

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Ran out of room on the "race/class/level" lines in my profile so from now I have created a macro to list the maps for each campaign. Here are the maps used here:

Having explored several rooms on this floor, you see there are two more single doors and a double door remaining to be opened and explored.

Next?
Tactical Map Updated

"Okay, let's go to the next room!" Robin inspects the door, then opens it up! I think it's B-16?

I think we already opened this next door and saw the room with the painting, but happy to re-do that process.

Robin, having previously inspected the door opens it and peers in. This once fine chamber has been destroyed. The bed is smashed, mattress torn apart, walls gouged as if by knives, chairs hacked apart, and paintings on the walls torn to pieces — with one exception. A portrait hanging on the northwest wall seems to be untouched, although it hangs backward, its unseen subject facing the wall.

Next?
Tactical Map Updated
Everyone please roll a perception check, thanks

Perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (1) + 10 = 11 Well, foot.

Qetsiyah peers into the ruined room and promptly gets a dust mote in her eye. Swearing in Varisian under her breath, she gropes at her watering eye and tries to oust the offending fleck.

Perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (3) + 10 = 13

"Someone sure did a number on this room! I wonder why they left that painting alone?" Stand back - I'll flip it over from here! Curious but not wanting to touch the painting, Robin will see if he can turn it around using magic. Casting mage hand to flip the painting.

Marcellano peers into the room, muttering a cantrip to detect magic under his breath as he watches Robin cast his spell. "A good idea to do this from a distance, I think," he murmurs.

Marcellano casts a spell to detect any magic in the room and looks around, however he observes no magical auras.

After a few rounds, as folks cast spells and look around the room, Kizzy stumbles every so slightly but recovers.

Next?
Tactical Map Updated