Rhia awakens and breathes deeply, realizing that today wold be the beginning of what might be a dangerous exploration into the darkness that seemed to loom over the town. Slipping out from under the covers, she stands up, the clothing she had removed the previous night scattered across the floor, as was the norm for anything she put down, tossed by the more restless of her spiritual entourage.
She stretches, leaving the blinds drawn shut, and lighting a candle in the dark room, she sits crosslegged on the bed, skyclad as she uses the flame to draw her focus, reaching out to the spirit world, her morning ritual, part meditation, part communion with a world with which she possesses a unique bond.
There was far more spiritual activity in Ravengro that she had ever encountered before, a sign of.... something, though she did not know what. The spiritual energy around Ysmerelda was especially notable, a powerful boon of some sort, perhaps a gift from her goddess. Overall, she had an interesting group of companions to get to know.
Perhaps an hour later she opens her eyes, smiling at the spirit of her grandmother, watching over her. It was fitting that as a cleric of Pharasma her spirit would be walking with her today.
She rises washing with almost ritual care, appying an appropriate perfume ,myrrh based carrying the spiritual energy of final rest. She dons formal black robes of silk, lined with silver an elevated version of what was customary for servants of the Lady, a long flowing cloak completing her outfit.
Leaving the majority of her gear in her room, she takes her crossbow, a couple of empty vials and a few pieces of chalk, along with a field journal and quill, before makes her way down the stairs to join Windom.
Amidst the standoffish stairs from the freakish looking folk of Ravingro, Windom and Rhia make their way through the sleepy little town toward the town hall.
Arriving at the Ravengro Town Hall the two of you are greeted by a stuffy, suspicious looking old crone who wrinkles her nose at your request to see the town halls records. Use of the Town Hall is prohibited by visitors, the stuffy old woman proclaims rudely.
Aconotius and Ysmeralda fare only slightly better than their counterparts. At the Unfurling Scroll, a building which appears to be a combination schoolhouse and magic item shop, the two comrades are greeted by a surly looking, late to middle age dark man, who introduces himself as Alendru Ghoroven.
Ghorven looks at the two of you skeptically,while rubbing his hands together. Harrowstone, ghosts? Hmm, yes, I have a small library here which might provide you with some information, it will cost you though. 10 gold crowns per day to use the schools library.
Back at the Lorimor manse Raldora and Dr. Alderly pour through the professors books, notes and documents looking for anything related to the prison and its prisoners.
10 Gold pieces, A DAY? To use a library? Are you daft? Not to be rude, but is this something you would charge regular citizens as well?
Aconitus studies how the man reacts to come up with the proper approach for negotiating the use of his library.
Ysmerelda dresses quickly, donning only those clothes appropriate for social discourse, not combat.
Ysmerelda winces slightly at the town clerk's abruptness. "Perhaps you might be able to enlighten us then." She replies, her normally sunny disposition somewhat dampened. "Well, me at least."
"I understand this town once housed a prison servicing the whole of Ustalav, but some manner of tragedy struck, slaying many within, including the guards?"
Shaking her head slightly at Aconitus' explosive response, Ysmerelda interjects. "I'm sorry, my...
friend & I were simply a bit surprised, you must have a very impressive library to be so certain of it's value. Perhaps you might be willing to answer a question or two before hand?"
Windom's can't roll a 25 even if he wanted to so he will just aid another.
[Ooc]Diplomacy
Dr. Alderly says little to Raldora as he pours through books and tomes. He occasionally grunts in surprise or consternation as he seems to find something, then something else throws a kink in it ...
knowledge history
After a few failed attempts to start any sort of communication, Raldora similarly focuses on paging through the professor's notes. In a way, it was almost like he was still alive; she had only met the professor once, and they had communicated via letters after that.
Ysmerelda and Aconitus at the Unfurling scroll
10 Gold pieces, A DAY? To use a library? Are you daft? Not to be rude, but is this something you would charge regular citizens as well?
Aconitus studies how the man reacts to come up with the proper approach for negotiating the use of his library.
Sense Motive: 1d20 ⇒ 3
Ghorven, sneers and shakes his head as if saying no, but simply answers with a wise-ass,Yes ...
The dark man running the shop and library turns toward Ysmeraleda, Humph, yea, there was a fire at the prison. Killed 23 guards, the Warden and a bunch of prisoners. That's the only question ive time for. Im really busy here.
________________________________________________________________________
Rhia and Windom at the Ravengro Town Hall
At the Town Hall, the hold crone shakes her head as Windom and Rhia attempt to persuade her to let them research the Halls records. Nope, youll need to leave now, she says rudely while pointing at the door.
________________________________________________________________________
Raldora and Dr. Aderly at the Lorimor house
Back at the Lorimor manse, Dr. Aderly and Raldora pour through the professors compiled research notes and books. and come up with some potentially useful information regarding Harrowstone.
-Harrowstone was built in 4594. Ravengro was founded at the same time and served as a place where the guards and their families could live and produce food and other supplies used by the prison.
-The fire that killed all of the prisoners and most of the guards destroyed a large portion of the prison's underground eastern wing, but left most of the stone structure above relatively intact.
-The prison's warden perished in the fire, along with his wife, although no one knows why she was in the prison when the fire occurred.
-A statue commemorating the warden and the guards who lost their lives was built in the months after the tragedy—that statue still stands on the riverbank just outside of town.
looking around the office she keeps, for religious ideology, art, trinkets, anything to spark up an interesting conversation.
Other than the womans obvious dislike for strangers, its hard to get a read on her as she has not provided anything other than a hostile attitude.
Regarding elements within the environs, you see a small tapestry hanging on one of the walls, it looks like a swirling shooting star or comet. Other than the tapestry and some furniture, the place is rather tidy and bereft of trinkets.
If you make the check include another diplomacy
That is a lovely tapersty on your wall, if I may explain our case. My name is Windom of the order of Pharasma and have traveled to this city by request. I need to verify a few older documents to complete a task for the church. I can understand and appreciate not wanting to allow access to strangers to the archives. If it will lessen your suspicion I can return with another of my order from the local church to vouge for me. But either way I assure you I am doing the goddess's work.
Windom will pull out his holy symbol and make a holy gesture.
.
Aconitus stands stunned at the reception he has received. Not used to this sort of behavior, he tries to formulate an idea for how to convince the man to let him see his books.
Alendru, may I call you Alendru? We are about to venture into the prison, and of course it is very dangerous. Now with the books you provide here, it would behoove you to assist us so that we may be better prepared to deal with what's inside.
He pauses for a moment to let it all sink in.
I mean think of the opportunity, a group of would be do-gooders enter an old haunted prison. The fire burned everything to the ground, and I am sure the haunting has kept grave robbers away. What sort of treasures would have been left behind that are untouched and forgotten?
Once he sees Alendru catching on.
And here we are, all we are requesting is access to your information so we know where to go. If we get in there and don't have a clue about anything. Then we could be wandering for days, find nothing of importance, and could never bring you anything from inside. Learning the layout and the... history would be powerful in uncovering some of the secrets and... artifacts that may have been left behind. So I ask again, will you allow us to peruse your books, with the idea that we would use you exclusively to handle any sort of monetary item, or privileged information held within the walls?
Rhia and Windom at the Ravengro Town Hall
Windom will pull out his holy symbol and make a holy gesture
Squinting, the old woman's head bobs and moves in a similar motion as Windom gestures with the holy symbol.You venerate Pharasam , do you. She seems to chew on her own words for a few moment, wavering ...
_________________________________________________________________________Ysmerelda and Aconitus at the Unfurling scroll
The dark man listens to Aconitus, then leans forward ... So, you are in Ravengro to explore the prison are you. Hmm. Some say the hauntings are only tales to frighten children from venturing into the ruins for fear of injury. Yet some swear that the tales are truth. I for one believe the place is haunted. Yes, I will cut you a deal, 5 gold pieces and you and your friends may use the library for two weeks.
At the Librarian's barter, Ysmerelda sighs in relief, quickly pulling out the requested coins & thanking him for his aid before all but plunging into the books for the afternoon.
Yes miss I am a devotee of the mistress, I hope to see you at the next service.
Windom gives a small bow of acknowledgement of his title to the women.
Aconitus looks very bored as he is reading through the books on history and starts to nod off. When this happens he looks for books on Nature and Arcana to try and fight off the slumber.
"Hmm. Interesting. Why do you suppose the warden's wife was at the prison? An interesting tidbit, I think. They didn't live there, of course. She must have come seeking her husband, but she didn't leave when the fire occurred. The fire killed most of the guards, plus the warden, besides the prisoners. It damaged the underground but left much of the above ground structure intact. This would lead me to believe that all, or at least most, of the people who died were underground at the time. That is probably where the prisoners' cells were located, so for some reason the guards and warden went down there. Perhaps they feared the fire would release the prisoners? Or ... the prisoners were already out? Perhaps they were trying to save the prisoners from dying in the blaze?" Alderly looks expectantly at Raldora, waiting to hear her theories.
"I would guess that whatever caused the fire, it cut off the exit swiftly, otherwise you'd at least see the guards, warden, and his wife get out... it's impossible to know from just this, but I get the feeling the warden and his wife were underground already when the fire started. That or they were killed from falling debris. It'd help if we knew where they were found..."
Ysmerelda and Aconitus at the Unfurling scroll
The darkman frowns as he takes the coins from you, he then admits you behind the counter and leads the way to the school library.
Through a combined effort of research, Ysmerelda and Aconitus are able to find some potentially useful information regarding Harrowstone and the prisoners.
Most of the hardened criminals sent to Harrowstone spent only a few months imprisoned, for it was here that most of Ustalav’s executions during that era were carried out. The fire that caused the tragedy was, in fact, a blessing in disguise, for the prisoners had rioted and gained control of the prison’s dungeons immediately prior to the conf lagration.
It was only through the selfsacrifice of Warden Hawkran and 23 of his guards that the prisoners were prevented from escaping—the guards gave their lives to save the town of Ravengro.
The five most notorious prisoners in Harrowstone at the time of the great fire were Father Charlatan, the Lopper, the Mosswater Marauder, the Piper of Illlmarsh, and the Splatter Man. Rumor has it that their spirits now haunt Harrowstone, but skeptics beg to differ.
________________________________________________________________________
Windom and Rhia at the Town Hall
Very well, if you two are on a mission for the church, then you may use the Town Halls record. The old crown takes you to the Town Hall stacks, where you are free to research the archives.
Hope you found some interesting information, I'm afraid all I found was useless dribble. Anything specifically of note in the books your are reading?
Aconitus says to Ysmerelda.
"I would guess that whatever caused the fire, it cut off the exit swiftly, otherwise you'd at least see the guards, warden, and his wife get out... it's impossible to know from just this, but I get the feeling the warden and his wife were underground already when the fire started. That or they were killed from falling debris. It'd help if we knew where they were found..."
"Yes, or if they were found. How they died at the prison would be most ... informative ... by the gods! Why didn't we ask this before? I am dumbfounded by my ignorance and idiocy!"
Without really explaining to Raldora, Alderly springs up from his chair and immediately begins calling out, "Miss Lorrimor! Miss Lorrimor! May I please have a quick word with you?" He searches the home until he finds the professor's daughter. When he does, unless she's indisposed, he quickly begins asking her some questions without invitation.
"Miss Lorrimor, can you tell me how your father died? It was the night after his final journal entry, at the prison, yes? Who found him? Where was he found? How did he die? And a related question - do you know if the priest who performed his funeral has the ability to communicate with the dead?"
Can I take 20 on researching the archives?
"Hmm?" Ysmerelda responds to Aconitus' query, her eyes seem a bit too bright & liquid for a moment as she hastily blinks. "Yes, I would say so. I fear we definitely need to begin taking notes. We're going to need to compare with the others. Might be best if we returned now so I don't mis-remember anything."
Yes, Dr? Kendra sniffles, and wipes at her eyes before answering the Dr. Yes, my father was killed at the prison. A Statuary fell from the ruins of the walls and crushed him. He was found by some children who were daring each other to touch the prions iron bars.
Father Grimburrow, communicate with the dead? Uh, I am not sure if he can do that.
Windom finds some information regarding the structure of the prison.
Although now much of it is in ruins, Harrowstone contains, a prison grounds, a ground floor, an upper floor and a dungeon which is constructed of brick lined walls supported by a combination of wooden and stone infrastructure. These supports burned away the dungeons eastern wing back in 4661, resulting in the collapse of the eastern cell clock. The chambers that remain were used primarily to house the most dangerous criminals. Ceiling height averages 8 feet. All of the surviving doors on this level are metal or stone.
Rhia, you find an article written about one of the 5 most notorious criminals, The Lopper, aka Vance Saetressle.
When the Lopper stalked prey, he would hide in the most unlikely of places, sometimes for days upon end with only a few supplies to keep him going while he waited for the exact right momentto strike. Once his target was alone, the Lopper would emerge to savagely behead his victim with a handaxe.
A strange note accompanies the article which reads, fire spooks the spook.
After Windom feels content with the research, he will go to the old woman and speak with her. At first it would be all religion topics, then about the town where he grew up. Hopefully the lady will start to enjoy his company and loosen her lips about any rumors about the jail. Windom will not hide the fact he will be investigating the ghosts to lay them to rest, doing the goddess's work. He will leave her with a blessing and a smile.
After Rhia is ready, he will mention heading to the church.
Yes, Dr? Kendra sniffles, and wipes at her eyes before answering the Dr. Yes, my father was killed at the prison. A Statuary fell from the ruins of the walls and crushed him. He was found by some children who were daring each other to touch the prions iron bars.
Father Grimburrow, communicate with the dead? Uh, I am not sure if he can do that.
"Hmmm. My thanks, Miss Lorrimor. Sorry to bother you." He walks away after their brief discussion, and heads back to where he left Raldora.
"Miss Lorrimor explained to me that the professor was found dead at the prison by some children who had gone there on a dare to touch the bars. Apparently, a piece of statuary had fallen on him and crushed him. Conveniently, it crushed his mouth as well, so any kind of speak with dead magic wouldn't work. What do you think of that?"
Might I suggest we take notes now, then head off to lunch. It will be my treat of course, and perhaps we could get a feel for the mood of the locals while on a stroll through the town.
Aconitus hand's Ysmerelda an empty book and a quill so that she might record her notes. He flashes a somewhat awkward smile while waiting for her to take the book.
Rhia remains in the stacks allowing Windom the opportunity to gain the woman's trust. As superstitious as the old lady appeared to be, Rhia's spiritual companions were unlikely to be welcome here. When ready shegoes with Windom to the church.
Raldora is very clearly... not amused. "You have a distinct lack of tact is what I think. But, since you got that information anyway... It honestly doesn't change anything. It was either a perverse twist of fate, or a malicious act by a cultist or spirit. The cultist is most likely I would imagine, but any of the three are possible."
Aconitus and Ysmerelda depart from the Unfurling Scroll and stroll into the hub of town, the town square. There are a few people out and about in this part of town and every one of them seems to stop and stare impolitely at you. Also situated about the town square you see a number of buildings, most of them businesses. These business have signs hanging over their front doors for convenience, Ravengro General Store, The Forge, Jomindas Apothecary, Jail, The Outward Inn, The Silk Purse, The Laughing Demon.
Windom and Rhia find the Temple of Pharasma easily enough. The buildings elaborate eastern facade displays an intricate stained-glass mural depicting a stern looking aristocrat. Inside the temple a host of acolytes are busy at work cleaning, sweeping, dusting and scrubbing away.
Windom will find and acolyte and introduce himself, holy symbol out, and ask to speak with a higher up to discuss some private church business in the town.
One acolyte stops sweeping underneath a nearby pew and approaches. The acolyte nods once as you introduce yourself. "Wait here." He says, before turning toward the alter and room beyond.
Accepting Aconitus' journal, Ysmerelda quickly scribes out her notes before hastily following him out the door with am airy 'Thank you' to the grumbling Librarian behind them. Her open smile slowly becomes somewhat forced as the townsfolk's responses seem to range from indifference to outright hostility.
As they await the return of the acolyte, a faint choral singing can be vaguely heard, a hymn to Pharasma at least 2 centuries out of common use.
The old preset comes out squinting and looking worried. With sincere concern he asks, Friends of Dr. Lorimors. Is everything okay? More trouble with the locals you have?
Father Grummborow sticks a finger in his ear, then motions the sign of Pharasma, obviously taking to the hymn produced by Rhia.
Are you familiar with The Whispering Way? The professor died investigating them, he feared they were interested in something here in Ravengro at the prison. We are concerned with what they could be up to that the professor risked and lost his life to discover. I need to ask you to be a resource, we need information on the people that died in the prison fire and written Permission to spend the night in the rest lands to watch over the professors grave, and keep an eye out for anything that could help us against The Way. People around here are superstitious and I would like no difficulty with the people of the area thinking I am up to no good. Also a blessing to free the trapped spirits in the prison. We are most concerned, we found the professor's journal and he states this "Town being at risk". This worries us, if it is nothing then it is nothing, but if those necromancers are up to no good I would like to avenge my friends death and prevent any ill conceived plans they may have.
Raldora is very clearly... not amused. "You have a distinct lack of tact is what I think. But, since you got that information anyway... It honestly doesn't change anything. It was either a perverse twist of fate, or a malicious act by a cultist or spirit. The cultist is most likely I would imagine, but any of the three are possible."
"Correct; it may not change the fact that we need to get up to the prison as soon as possible. But a murder made to look like an accident means the danger level has increased dramatically, as it implies the cultists are already active there. Once the others are back, we should make plans for a visit there."
”My family has defended the public in the name of Pharasma for generations, and I personally assure you that any action we take will be in The Lady’s name.” Rhia says sincerely.
Aconitus escorts Ysmerelda through town holding onto her arm tightly so as to show he is trying to protect her. He tries to ignore the stares, and guides her to one of the taverns in town. When he arrives he order them both a drink and some food.
Smiling faintly at Aconitus' solicitude, Ysmerelda smirks up at him. "I'm not quite so delicate as all that, sir. Besides, they have yet to even reach the level of unpleasantness of the townsfolk where I was raised." She does heartily enjoy the viands however.
I would not expect otherwise of you M'Lady. But I thought it clever to keep unfriendly eyes from seeing you as easy prey. Besides I feel luckier having you close by.
Aconitus says quietly with a smile as he pulls Ysmerelda's arm closer.
Well chaps it was good when it lasted.