After healing their wounds and examining the rest of the balcony, the group descends the slick stairs again and begins to make their way around the back of the structure.
MAP -
The group passes two windows on the back side of the building, each, as with those on the side of the building, is about 8 ft off the ground, though here they are a bit larger. The first of the window's comes early, just before the prominence in the wall that marks the base of the narrow upper balcony that juts out from the roof. The second window comes just a little ways after.
Just before the grounds give way to the lake, a blackened hole can be seen where the stonework has collapsed on the lower portion of the wall, leaving an open air entrance to the structure's first floor. As the group gets closer, they can see that it appears that the fire that burned out this structure was so intense here, that it cracked the mortar and burst outwards from the building in this location. The hole that is left is perhaps 8ft across and 12 ft tall, and reveals a dark soot encrusted room within.
Just beyond this fire rent entrance, the small lake begins. It hugs the building right up to this corner, meaning that should the group wish to continue circling around the structure, they will have to swim, or retrace their steps and follow the edge of the building as far as they can from the other side.
Lighting his ioun stone, Val steps carefully up to the hole and peers inside.
"Looks like we found our entrance," he mutters, sounding unconvinced of his own words.
This place is even worse than the city... such dread surrounds it. Is it just my own nerves, making it worse?
"Is the flooring safe?" Ember asks, ever cautious. "The front door may be preferable to uncertain footing."
Agnar thinks for a moment after hearing Ember before saying "Any have a pole or large stick? We could use it to check, the floor."
It is difficult to decern any features through the gloom within the chamber, even though the western wall appears to be mostly missing, and the sound of the lapping waters can be heard issuing from the pond. As you speak near the entrance, the subtle echoing of your words and of the sounds of water moving combine to lend a sense of a large space within. Though the paving stones you can see are blackened by soot, and cracked by the ancient fire in many places, they are still perfectly level and even. There is no sag to the floor, no holes, and no pits to indicate the floor has anything but solid earth and stone beneath it.
Val will enter slowly, using the butt of his spear to check the floor ahead.
Ember will stay in her place in the martching order, moving as it moves.
She keeps an eye out for any other haunts that may present themselves.
Valachi cautiously enters the room, tappng the floor ahead of him. The paving stones feel to be as sturdy as they appear. Moving inwards in marching order, the rest of the group starts to slowly enter the room as well. A huge stone furnace dominates this room in the wall directly in front of you, large enough for a child to climb inside. An ancient fire has burned away the entire east wall the room, providing a panoramic, if eerie, view of the lake beyond. That same lake has gradually expanded into the room, flooding its eastern half.
Father doesn't like the look of what he sees ahead, and acts by moving Delia aside as he steps into her place. As he does so he tries to push Kendra closer to Riff, since she is not familiar with his tendency to jump in between Delia and the threat of possible danger. His only warning, a simple, "Heads up, the furnace doesn't look right."
"Beware the furnace, it may be haunted," Ember says, preparing to deal with this new threat.
"Or, just our nerves playing tricks with the light," Valachi grumbles. "Can any of you sense an undead?" The ranger continues slowly forward, keeping an eye on the creepy furnace, but conciously scanning the other parts of the room as well.
Suddenly, the vague face made up by the furnace coalesces, and can be seen by all. The vague smell that wafted through the air becomes stifling, and now the smell of burning meat hangs heavy enough to make one want to retch. A fire bursts into life within the belly of the furnace, lighting the eyes and mouth with a macabre light. A tongue of flame rolls upon itself, doubling and redoubling in thickness, and then lashing out.
The tongue of flame arcs out of the furnace's 'mouth' and swipes at Valachi. However, having expecting him to continue walking forward, the flames pull short a pace in front of him and return into the grate.
Initiative:
"Well that answers that, any idea how to slow it down?" Agnar asks after seeing the fire attack.
"Well that answers that, any idea how to slow it down?" Agnar asks after seeing the fire attack.
"Hit it! ...and hard!"
Valachi looks around, cursing the flaming thing, when his eyes settle on the lake. "Or maybe we can douse it. Anyone have a bucket?" he suggests aloud.
Ember steps closer to the furnace, and off to the side.
"If it is a haunt, this should damage it," she says, channeling Pharamsa's power again.
Round 1
Ember holds forth her silver symbol of her faith, and channels Pharasma's power. The face grimaces and shrieks as the light washes over it.
Kirill steps forward and sidesteps out of the entrance, allowing room for those behind him to enter, or for those ahead to fall back. He then draws fletching to his cheek, and looses an arrow. In his haste to move, the arrow goes wide and splinters on a wall.
Zhan steps into the space left by Ember, draws his firearm and fires. The shot hits part of the grating and deflects off, to no apparent effect.
Riff stands ready with his sword drawn, but can see little.
Delia stands with Father and Kendra, waiting to see what happens.
The Ember Maw opens it's mouth shaped grating again and the tongue of flame coils to strike. An eerie disembodied voice begins to wail, seemingly from within the furnace. The flames gather again and strikes out at Ember and her holy light. The tongue reaches out and strikes her, her hair catching alight and her skin blistering and peeling back from where she is touched. Her clothes catch afire and even as the tongue pulls back, she continues to burn.
Agnar takes his action or stands still uncertain of what to do.
Valachi dashes across the room, yelling to Agnar to attack, and shielding himself from the sight of the Ember Maw behind the corner of the stone wall. As he moves he sees into the mouth of the furnace. The flames stretch back some 20 ft from the grate. This furnace is large enough to have once heated the entire structure. His idea of dousing the fire evaporates as he sees the size of the flame; it would take a train of buckets to smother this.
Round 2
Screaming at the pain, Ember splashes into the pond next to her, trying to douse the flames. Almost by instinct she half staggers, half swims around the pile of rubble, out of sight of the furnace.
Valachi stays under cover, wincing at the burns Ember is suffering. "Any ideas?" he shouts to the group.
Delia thinks quickly about what to do against a haunted furnace, before an idea hits her full on. She grabs her bag and draws out one of the holy water vials they had found earlier. She hands the vial to Father and gives him quick instructions, "Throw this into the heart of the flames, maybe the mix of blessings and water will help."
Father takes the vial and rushes into the heat of the room. He tries to toss the thing just right, to get into the mouth of the thing, but his aim is off.
Agnar looks at the furnace as he speaks "Other than throwing water or dirt into it I have no idea how to stop the fire." He than moves to stand near Ember.
Taking a cue from Delia and Father, Valachi will try the same. Leaning around the corner, he hurls a holy water at the haunted furnace.
Ember turns, the movement causing her cloak to snap like a whip, and the flames go out. Still reeling from the pain of the burns, she dives into the shallow water and swims and wades to cover.
Kirill moves up next to Valchi, out of site of the furnace and next to the door. He takes a moment to examine the door then shouts out, "The lock is rusted out, but the wood's rotten; it looks like it would easy to force open if we need another way out of here!"
Zhan takes another shot with his revolver: . The shot hits the grate again, but again has no visible effect. "Physical attacks don't seem to do anything!". He steps back out of the line of fire.
Riff pokes his head around the corner to see what is going, but seeing larger and more equipped fighters unable to do anything against the furnace quickly steps back again.
Delia issues her commands to Father, and gives him a vial of holy water.
Agnar moves further into the room to cover Ember's retreat.
The Ember Maw coils it's tongue of flame for another attack while the disembodied voice continues to wail.
The tongue of fire lashes out and strikes at Agnar, who is presently the only visible target. . . As happened before with Ember, the fiery apparition coils around Agnar, and lights his clothing ablaze.
Father runs forward with the Gail of holy water and throws it at the furnace. The furnace seems to react to the water that splashes upon it, and the 'face' within the grill distorts as if in pain.
Valachi leans out from his cover long enough to hurl a vial of holy water as well. His throw is off balance, but luckily his target is immobile, and he is essentially trying to hit a wall from only a few feat away. Again the face reacts with a look of pain, somehow even more grim for the lack of any accompanying scream, or any disruption to that odd disembodied voice.
Delia waits at the ready to see if Father gets burned by the thing so she can render assistance. As Father, by his nature, steps front and center up to the furnace to draw its attention and prepares for the worst.
Ember continues around the wall, stumbling out of the water.
She pulls out the wand entrusted to her, and heals herself.
"I have more Holy Water, and a possible way to get close to the Haunt without provoking it more," she gasps.
"This is my last vial, but it seems to be working!" Valachi calls, before tossing another vial of holy water at the furnace.
Round 3, Init 10, 11/29 HP
Agnar roars in pain after being burned. He than moves a step back.
Round 3 Summary
Ember climbs somewhat wearily from he water, her cloths scorched and dripping. Her skin is red and blistered, and the wounds look angry. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she heals herself with her wand and calls out her information to the group, "I have more Holy Water, and a possible way to get close to the Haunt without provoking it more."
Kirill pulls a vial of holy water from his bag, steps up and tosses it into the fire. .
Zhan returns his revolver to its holster and digs in his own bag until he comes up with the holy water vials. He eye the distance from himself to the furnace, and decides its too far to risk throwing . Instead he turns to Ember who is now beside him, "I'm ready, what is your plan?"
Riff continues to hold cover behind the fractured wall, unsure what else to do.
Agnar extinguishes his clothes, moving back a step.
The Ember Maw's face turns angry, displaying a look of silent rage. The flames within the furnace look dimmer now, as though the intensity is dying down. However, when the tongue of fire begins to coil, it is as bright and intense as ever it was. It lashes out, seeking a target, the figure of Father being the most obvious. . The flames whip out and around him, but the attack is clumsy and the tongue strikes against the wall on Father's right. The disembodied voice continues to wail, but perhaps a bit quieter now, "Not alive, please, at least that, don't let me burn! Kill me first!"
Delia, waiting to see what would happen to Father, see that the furnace's strike against him has missed.
Father takes a defensive posture, bracing himself for the furnace's next attack.
Valachi calls out, "This is my last vial, but it seems to be working!" and hurls another vial of holy water into the furnace. The flames flash, and dim perceptibly.
Delia, relieved to see that the tongue's lash did not hurt Father, moves closer into the room so that she can be nearby for the next strike. She ducks around the corner behind Valachi, ready to rush to Father's side should he be hit
Ember pulls a scroll from her collection.
"This should hide you from its perception," she says, and proceeds to cast the Hide from Undead spell from the scroll. "Make haste, for it will not last long."
Valachi takes a deep breath, then jumps out into the open, waving his arms and ducking left and dodging right. "Hope this gets your attention!" he yells.
Round 4, Init 10, 11/29 HP
Agnar looks at the furnace as he figures out what to do.
Round 4 Summary
Ember reads out her scroll, hopefully hiding Zhan from the sight of the haunted furnace.
Kirill sees Zhan approaching, and holds his action, ready to throw his second and last vial of holy water if the furnace survives.
Zhan dashes into the room, a vial of holy water in each hand. At point blank range, he throws one of the vials at the furnace facade. . . The water steams and sizzles, and the grating warps and groans in reaction.
The Ember Maw writhes, the sound of twisting metal shrieking and piercing to the ears. It is accompanied by the disembodied voice, screaming for all the world like a human being being burned alive. The fire within the great furnace fades low and blue, dropping the light within the chamber to an eerie hue, before it finally winks out. The tongue of fire coils into itself, becoming a ball of orange within the distorted 'mouth' of the twisted grating. Slowly, two balls of fire form within the 'eyes,' changing slowly from blue to orange to red. Then all three balls of fire merge in the center and explode outwards, lashing everyone in the chamber with fire.
.
After the light of the fireball fades, the furnace is completely dark, the heat mysteriously absent as well. Its soot covered grill looks only like normal metal, twisted in some ancient fire; no hint of the face remains.
Father doesn't even act to get out of the way, appearing to have attempted to take the brunt of the flames for the others.
Agnar grunts as the fire hits him before saying "The souls of this prison seem very angry."
"Indeed..." Val grunts. But why? Something terrible happened here, surely.
Delia looks around at the others, waiting to see if someone says anything, before she speaks up herself. "Was it just me, or did it sound like someone crying out for help? Begging to not be thrown in the fire."
Ember moves up and gives Agnar a touch of the cure wand.
"This haunt is of those who must have been burned in the furnace instead of being beheaded. But even if we have silenced it for now, given enough time it will return, unless we can determine how to put it to final rest."
Ember, your knowledge of religion cannot seem to bring an answer to mind In this case.
"Then lets search the area and get out before it does," Val suggests. He walks over to the furnace and executes a thorough search of the inside and nearby area.