Vrilli walks gingerly up North to join Zazaria and Leeoli, shaking his head in an attempt to clear it.
Leeoli pulls out the siphon and activates it
Please, O Pharasma, let this be enough to break this enchantment. I must not fail here. I am needed.
Leeoli opens the final siphon, and immediately the device begins to work its magics. The dirge in the chamber stops instantly, and the siphon seems to pull towards the north, as if countered by something with a strong anchor as it tries to pull it in. Leeoli, similarly, could be that anchor on the other side, as he struggles to keep the device from flying from his hands.
After several tense moments, a fierce keening sound floods the cellblock, then...nothing. The mists within the siphon now show a bright green, and they swirl and flash with purple light, as if from a storm within.
Zazaria staggers if struck, and blood flows from her nose, mouth, eyes, and ears. However, she can move.
Zaz, are you ok? Then, [b] I am sure we all agree that a beer and bed are in order, but Zaz if you have more channeling energy, before leaving we might just take out these remaining skeletons lest they create mischief in the future.
Zazaria droops wearily, and gives Leeoli a pain-glazed stare. I can do that much for these...poor damned souls. But I must first see to myself. Pharasma's blue luminescence suddenly spirals around Zazaria's head.
Although the damage is not completely healed, Zazaria straightens up and sets her shoulders, drawing readiness around her like a warm cloak. Beer she smiles wanly at Leeoli. And bed. But first...
Pharasma, I am so tired. An improper conduit for your might.
Leeoli walks north, rapier handy and looks around.
Vrilli sets about dispatching the remaining skeletons with a mixture of disrup undead and cautious sword use (through the cell bars)
Zazaria and Vrilli set to cleansing the cellblock of the animated prisoners with a mixture of spell, blade, and holy power. It only takes a few minutes, but is tense, grisly work.
Leeoli examines the rest of the corridor and finds a small privvy of no real note and also the room from which the giant stirge came. In this room, there's a ladder leading up to what was once a wooden trapdoor. It appears to have been completely destroyed by the stirge in its fanatical desire to come to its master's call. Now, the ladder leads up onto the roof of the prison, and cold, open air.
Let's make our escape before another arrives to investivate the commotion. Let's retire and see how we feel in the morning.
Leeoli turns to lead the tired party out.
Vrilli collects his equipment, and thoughts, and prepares to follow Mr Maleye.
"So that was the haunt siphon you've mentioned. Amazing! What powers its abilities? Is it magic?"
"And this prison. Rumors of its haunts are seemingly true. Gods, the visions. I was in a coffin! It's much better to be alive, I think..."
Rufus rattles on, describing his strange hallucinations, balking at the prospect of ghosts, and inquiring further into the nature of the haunt siphons...
Leeoli puts his arm on Rufus's back I thought you were dead, my friend. We nearly all were.
The western cellblock cleansed, the group heads back down the stairs and out from the accursed place with something akin to relief. The outside air, chill and silent, seems to carry with it the ominous nature of the prison, both still and threatening at once.
The trek back to the town proper is mostly unmentionable, for those few that are out, still working their fields or going about their daily business, afford no time for the group, particularly as battle-worn and weary as they are. The people of Ravengro seem to be in their routines, though more than one seems to be particularly downtrodden or filled with melancholy.
Even before Leeoli can knock, Kendra sweeps open the door and ushers in the group in a rush. She even has a kind embrace for each one, the relief evident in her lack of her typical social decorum. She tenses a bit as she hugs Rufus, then looks down in mild embarrassment and shows the group into her study.
I'll get tea of course, something to warm your bones. You must tell me everything about the prison...is it all that we thought it may be? The sheriff has found more lettering, by the way...he did want me to tell you.
The words come out in a rush, and she nearly bobs with anticipation of news of her late father's work
We've done for the Piper of Illmarsh, at least, Zazaria sags into a chair, scrubbing absently with one sleeve at the dried blood around her ears and nose. The true foes lie beneath though, and it is there we must return. Her voice cracks with tension and weariness. After some rest... She smiles tiredly, but her eyes remain haunted, and her hands and feet twitch, as if she is afraid of a recurrence of the paralysis that had so recently stricken her.
Then she sits erect, eyes widening. More letters?
The ghostly lady told us only one was above, but I believe we vanquished both the Piper and the false Father Charlatan.
Kendra's eyes widen in surprise. Obviously up till now her belief in the fell ghosts of old prisoners was as insubstantial as the late warden's wife. She sighs as she comes to terms with this new reality.
Two of these awful things...and you say there are even more? My, a dark time has indeed come to Ravengro then.
Yes, the sheriff said that the letters now spell out VESOR. He's posted men around the clock, but has yet to see the perpetrator in action. He...or she...is either very sneaky or of some other means.
I cannot help but feel we are racing against time. Will we be healed of our injuries by the morning?
Kendra, do you have a healers kit and skill? With your help, we can be ready to go out again in the morning at something like full strength.
Kendra nods, then quickly gets to her feet. Of course; I'm sorry, in the moment I forgot your injuries. We keep some useful items about that I could use, and I've tended to father enough times that I'm sure I could manage.
My thanks Kendra.
Leeoli looks about him, noting their worn yet determined faces, then sighs. I worry that the threat in town is the threat we should fear most, but we do not yet know it's form or substance. We do know that the prison is seeped in evil. I suspect that the evil is yet held back from invading Ravengro by some power, perhaps related to Vesorianna, but which now is being threatened.
Leeoli.closes his eyes. I fear the prison's evil will be unleashed on the town when Vesorianna's name is spelt. I believe our choice is to either find a way to stop that dark ritual from completion here in town, or eliminate the threat from the prison directly.
Rufus hides his disappointment at Kendra's stiff hug as best he can. By now, hit alchemical mutagen had worn off, so it couldn't be the appearance of his preternatural eyes. No, he knew the reason.
What did you expect, you fool?
He listens to the conversation with a dark expression. "A blessing, that Vesorianna's name should contain so many letters," he adds with a grim smile.
"It seems we have a better lead on the goings-on within the prison itself. We know for a fact there are fel presences within its walls. What lurks in the depths of its cellar may indeed hold the key."
Let us then be on our way again to the prison in the morn.
Leeoli looks down in shame. We almost were defeated by being ill-prepared. I will be sure to have prepared ways to detect the dead. Let us distribute our holy water among us. Finally, how many haunt siphons have we left?
Vrilli shyly approaches Kendra away from the others (when he gets the chance). The stirges fed well from me today he tells Kendra, in an unconvincing attempt to appear unperturbed. If Kendra is willing to check out his back he shows her his wounds
Kendra nods, and examines Vrilli's back closely, shaking her head in frustration. She obviously doesn't like to see her friends in pain or in need. I think you may need some attention from Father Grimburrow for wounds such as these, Vrilli. I'm sure he'd be able to offer some assistance, for a small donation to the church.
Leeoli looks at Vrilli closely. How bad off are you?
we've little money.. Leeoli thinks practically.
Zazaria wanders over to Vrilli. I have learned much from our ordeals in Harrowstone, Vrilli. If I may...?
She does not wait for an answer, instead holding her symbol above his injuries. A cool light caresses his back as she prays quietly.
Leeoli's eyes drift open as sharp sunlight flitters from beneath a heavily curtained window. He allows his hand to move to his bruised abdomen. I'll keep.
He swings his legs over the side of the bed that feels much too comfortable to leave, finds his worn leather boots, and begins dressing for a hard day.
After a wide-eyed but relatively cheerful thanks to Zazaria, rill retires for the evening. He wakes in the morning and after cleaning, packing,and checking his equipment he is ready to go.
Kendra prepares a veritable feast, at least, it certainly seemss like it as yesterday took so much out of each of you. She sends you away with promises that she'll check in with the sheriff about any events in town and the bloody letters.
The morning reflects your mood as you set out - rejuvinated, eager, and with a sense of accomplishment from the day before. Still, the foreboding prison nearly steals your breath as you cross onto its grounds, so palpable is its ominous presence.
Well, when we left, I spied a further way up. We might want look there, before investigating the lower levels.
The route up to the upper floor is clear, and the cellblock itself is still and silent as death. The room that Leeoli mentioned does indeed provide access to a balcony above, including a wooden walkway that affords a better view of the surroundings about the prison.
The wooden floor of the walkway seems largely intact, although here and there the moldy, sodden timbers sag ominously. You can see beyond it to the north an open pit that appears to have once been a receptacle for the prison's waste. Though it appears ominous and emits a foul stench in the right wind, it seems harmless.
A cursory glance around the rest of this upper floor shows nothing but an old, charred kitchen, now empty, and more empty cellblocks.
Thought the wooden walkway has seen better times, it was well built and can bear the weight of the party, in Leeoli's estimation.
The evil lies below, as I feared. Should we not descend and see what awaits us?
I suppose so...although...
You are right of course, Zaz. Let's find a way down.
Vrilli, I think you are correct.
You head through the north door of the corridor, and into what looks to have once been the prison's infirmiry. Several moldy cots lie strewn about this room, while doors to more private sleeping cells hang askew to the west. The remainder of the room's decor hints at its former use.
A door at the eastern wall leads to the north.
Vrilli searches the infirmary and the sleeping cells before heading over to check out the door that leads North...
Leeoli nods, and follows Vrilli
Finding nothing of note, Vrilli proceeds into the chamber to the north. A huge stone furnace dominates this room, large enough for a child to climb inside. An amcient fire has burned away the eastern wall of the room, providing a panoramic, if eerie, view of the lake beyond. That lake has gradually expended into the room, flooding its eastern half.
There is a door to the south, leading out of this room.
Leeoli pulls out a prepared extract of heightened awareness and swallows it, then looks at the furnace closely before proceeding to the southern door, examining it for traps, and intending to open it.
As Leeoli nears the furnace, it seems to animate into a leering skull-like visage made of metal and bars. It roars, then a sudden orange glare begins to build from within its form.
At the same moment, back into the infirmary, , the twisted, nearly skeletal ghost of something formerly human coalesces, as if rising from the floor. It shrieks and lunges at Anyi.