GM WhtKnt's Darkness Within: A Carrion Crown Adventure Path

Game Master WhtKnt

"No, not really. I was a little busy having a bunch of rocks fall on me and then having my blood sucked out." Judah said looking angrily at the ladder. "It's safe now though. Have Ed take a look."

"Aye...I trust you, Eleanora. You'll make him behave," Lorant adds with a weak smile.

Cassiel readies his sword & shield.

Now, watch--he's going to take my request/demand to shut up to an extreme and refuse to warn us of danger. Just to spite me.

Of course, I'd be happy to be wrong.

Edmund, grumbling, begins to ascend the ladder even before Ella tells him to. She waits with the others at the bottom, neck craned back to watch him go. Oddly, he climbs it more or less like a person would, hand over hand, although his legs trail away into floating blue smoke beneath him.

"I suppose as even as a ghost, you still do things the way you did when you were alive," Lorant comments.

"More to the point, I can't friggin' fly," Edmund growls as he climbs. "You'd think being murdered and then unwillingly bound to this mortal coil would have some benefits--at least flying around and slowly driving your sister mad--but nooooo." His head disappears through the door.

"Go figure. He can't even be a ghost right." Judah said weakly, leaning against the wall and waiting for his head to stop spinning.

Lorant frowns and crosses his arms as they await Edmund's appraisal.

Edmund reappears and shrugs. "Nothing but bits of debris," he says with finality.

"Someone else mind taking point?" Judah said, still leaning against the wall feeling weak.

"Cassiel? You're in the best health at the moment," Lorant adds.

"Yeah, probably."

Cassiel takes point again.

Ella nods, raising her torch high. "Very well, then. ...Which way from here?"

"Aren't we still going up? What is this ladder even here for if it leads to nothing?" Judah said.

I was under the impression Cassiel was taking point to climb up the ladder?

The ladder leads up to a 10-foot wide balcony, about 20 feet off the ground and moving along the rooftops towards the rear of the building. The wooden floor of this walkway seems intact, although here and there the moldy, sodden timbers sag ominously. A cool wind washes over you and, for a moment, it is nice to forget the horrors of the old asylum.

Ella breathes in and out slowly. "Well, I'm glad to be out of that foul ruin...sort of, at least," she says softly. "I have to admit, much though I want to learn what happened to the Professor, I have no desire to spend much time in there..."

After a moment, she steps gingerly toward the rear of the building. "Come, this might go somewhere interesting!"

"When fighting the darkness, you must occasionally return to the light to remind yourself of what you're fighting for," Lorant says as he follows Eleanora.

The walkway leads only to a small balcony at the far end, overlooking the cesspit.

Judah took a deep breath of the clean air. He still felt weak but he was adjusting to it. Mostly he felt tired, but he'd learned how to deal with that pretty well in the last few months.

"This is nice."

Just so we're all on the same page, we've only technically been in Ravengro for less than a week, right? Is the few months referring to what Judah's been through before the game started?

Correct from my side.

Yes. You might remember from the beginning that when Judah showed up he was pretty haggard from lack of sleep. He still kind of is, but it is better than it was. Bad things sometimes happened when he slept,
so he stopped doing it. Now bad things are happening all the time,
so he's decided he might as well start sleeping more. :)

Okay! Thanks for the clarification. :)

After a few moments of rest, Ella sighs. "Back into the darkness, then?" She frowns as she stares down at the cesspool. "I can't help but wonder what happened there..."

"The Whispering Wankers. Their whole deal seems to be about cracking open the barrier to the afterlife and letting in any old thing that wants to come through." Judah snarks as he heads back to the ladder. "Nothing but a pain in the arse if you ask me."

Going back down. How about we head to the hallway and clear it out?

Once back in the hall, Judah looked the door over. Then he stood aside and let Lorant and Cassiel take over.

Take 10 on perception and disable device for the door my token is in front of.

Each of the doors marked with a green dot leads into a cell. Within each cell is an animated skeleton of a former prisoner (you can tell this by looking in a small barred window in each door). They cannot reach you and will be unable to get loose unless you open the doors for them. There is little of interest in these cells, so I marked them such that we can speed through them.

...I admit to not having the best memory of where we have and have not explored among the immediately adjacent options. :|

"The Whispering Wankers. Their whole deal seems to be about cracking open the barrier to the afterlife and letting in any old thing that wants to come through." Judah snarks as he heads back to the ladder. "Nothing but a pain in the arse if you ask me."

Going back down. How about we head to the hallway and clear it out?

Once back in the hall, Judah looked the door over. Then he stood aside and let Lorant and Cassiel take over.

Take 10 on perception and disable device for the door my token is in front of.

Lorant suppresses a laugh with a PFFT!

"That's a good one, Judah! Maybe if more people called them that their recruiting would be harder."

He calms a bit and his face takes a more serious look.

"Though it's a bit more like they want to cut off the afterlife. The world they seek to make is one where nothing is born because everything is already dead and risen. An eternal, unchanging world where they can indulge their petty quests for personal power without the chaos of life slowing them down or getting in their way."

After finishing his statement, Lorant frowns.

"That's...not better, I am sorry."

Cassiel doesn't have much to offer.

Clearing out the hallway sounds fine to me.

"Yeah, definitely a bunch of wankers. I don't think any sane person really likes the idea of dying, but there's certain folks out there who really need to be dead and stay that way. Like, for instance, fruitcake necromancers who are so scared of dying that they spend thier whole lives f*%&ing up other people's ability to just lice."

As he ranted he walked down to the end of the hall to a room they hadn't checked yet.

"This one next."

Take 10 on search and disable.

"Just lice?" Ella murmurs, "Perhaps Tourrette's in addition to the other mystic afflictions?"

"Live. I meant live. Sneezed at the end there." Judah said, a little embarrassed.

"It is no trouble, Judah, we know what you meant," Lorant says.

"Lead the way."

No apparent traps are on the door, and Edmund pokes his head through the door. "Nothing but a robed skeleton, chained to the wall. Inanimate."

"Do we investigate?" Lorant asks the others, barely acknowledging Edmund's reconnaissance.

"Why would we want to investigate a dead guy in a cell?" Judah asked, already moving on. He walked next to a door next to a table and started checking for hazards and locks.

"To see if our quarry will manifest within?" Lorant offers.

"The Piper has to manifest somewhere."

"I really hate how hunting the ghosts of mass murderers is what we are actually doing..." Judah grumbled.

So, are we investigating the room or moving on? It's up to you folks, but I should point out that the cell is much larger than the others that you have seen.

Lorant takes a look into the room, tentatively stepping in, and looking at the skeleton.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18

Judah did a double take behind him as Lorant went into the cell. he made a strangling noise and reluctantly moved to back up the group.

On a scale of one to OH S#&T! how likely is it that one of us is gonna die soon?

I'd say it's about an even 50 percent. :)

Been extremely busy, but I will have a post up today.

Judah, I moved you out of the enclosed area because it is blocked by iron bars. The LBL (light-blocking layer) on Roll20 let you enter because of the gaps in the bars, but in reality, they would be too small to squeeze through.

Although this cell is rather spacious, it contains no concessions to comfort. A skeletal body dressed in the rotting remains of a prisoner’s robe lies slumped against the eastern wall, wrapped in numerous chains on which are affixed numerous weights emblazoned with several different holy symbols.

As Judah's torch illuminated all the chains and holy symbols he blanched. "Oh, you gotta be f%+&ing kidding me...?" he muttered.

Lorant strokes his chin as he takes in the disturbing sight.

Holy symbols...of so many different faiths...either this man was a blasphemer or...some kind of priest...Priest...Father!

"Tricksy Father tells a lie, listen close or you might die," he says, recalling the rhyme.

"These must be the remains of Father Charlatan. They must have decided to give him one of those "ironic" punishments Ustalav has a reputation for: a false priest chained by the same icons he was not bound to. And I'd bet gold they threw in a joke about the weight of his sins while they were at it."

"Ha. Ha." Judah said flatly.

Ella smiles faintly. "You have to admit there is a certain poetic justice, to it, Judah." Her smile fades. "...though we should all wish for less, ourselves. Where are you from again, Judah? It does take some time to get used to our way of life."

If there's nothing further of interest in the cell, Ella casts a few disinterested looks over the bones of the Father and then steps out again, looking for the next door.