Cassandra will move over to the bloody and battered Roland and cast Cure Light Wounds on him
CLW:
Roland's eyes flutter and he looks up at Cassandra with a dazed expression.
"Pharasma? Am I dead?"
Karl rubs at the cuts on his forearms as he offers Roland a hand getting up.
You should be so lucky! Instead, you're still here, although I never thought the Lady of Graves would be as pretty as Cassandra.
He grins and turns to the warrior.
Well struck Darren, we're lucky to have you with us. Shanoa, are you all right?
|
The glow enveloping Shanoa fades along with the piper, the fierce light of the rose is once more dark under her hair. Something aches in her chest as Karl compliments Cassandra - a pang of...jealousy? She blushes slightly at the thought when Karl calls her name. "I...I think so. He didn't hurt me too badly, but I'm afraid I feel a bit drained after that ordeal."
[ooc]Internet crapped out in Ireland again, will try to post later (soon)[ooc]
Take it easy, he says with a smile, oblivious to anyone's feelings but his own. We have a lot more ground to cover here, and we'll need your strength and courage.
"You had a telling blow, as well, Karl. Quite impressive." Darren sheathes his sword and walks over to the flute that Roland dropped. "A curious thing -- must have been cursed before, but now it seems like it's likely quite valuable."
Appraise
"This is platinum," Darren says, turning it over in the light. "Must be worth at least a thousand gold pieces. A lucky find, to be sure." He hands the flute back to Roland as soon he's standing once more.
A familiar voice breaks the relative silence of the prison...
::hehehehehehe:: Shanoooooa, did that mean Piper try to hurt you? He was crazy, you know. A murderer! Killed people for fun! Not like me, I helped people. But those priests were jealous of me. Jealous of my help! But I want to help you, Shanoa. I want to help you and your friends. Come see me, come see your Father. I will grant absolution for all your sins! ::hehehehehehe::
The voice seems to be coming from somewhere to the east.
The voice remains quiet and silence fills the upper floor of the prison.
"Well then," Darren says, slowly drawing his sword from its sheath. "I think I'll just keep this close at hand."
"I guess we should oblige this angry spirit: find it, fight it, and put it to rest."
North or South? Karl whispers to the others after gathering up the javelin he threw at the stirge. Although, I don't think we have much chance of surprising it...
He puts the throwing spear back into the quiver on his back and selects a new one for his right hand. His left remains firmly gripped around the Lopper's axe.
"I'll say North," whispers Darren in return. "And I believe you're right... the sooner we get face-to-face with this thing, the sooner we can even the odds. Right now, though, I feel like a rat caught in a maze."
The group moves toward the northern door (T5), and looks inside to see a kitchen containing nothing more than the burned and charred remains of pots, plates, and utensils.
Cautiously, the group edges to the southern hall (T6) and finds several locked cells. Each of the cells contains a skeleton, all of which appear to be "seated" against the far walls of their cells, "facing" their doors.
As the group looks into the cells, the lower jaw of one skeleton suddenly clatters at it slams shut. As you watch, the lower jaw slowly opens, then violently closes again. Across the hall, another skeleton exhibits the same behavior as its jaw starts opening and closing. The noise is starting to become unsettling as even more skeletons join in the hideous symphony.
Darren enters the room cautiously, keeping a wary eye about him.
Perception
"They don't seem to be quite dangerous, just... creepy."
Karl checks the doors to make sure that they are, in fact, locked.
All of the doors are locked... but Karl notices that all of the skeletons turn their heads to watch him as he approaches the doors to check the locks.
Roland accepts Karl's proffered hand.
"You should be so lucky! Instead, you're still here, although I never thought the Lady of Graves would be as pretty as Cassandra."
The alchemist turns back to Cassandra, blushing furiously.
"Ah, thank you Miss. Cassandra. Sorry for my momentary, ah, confusion... I'm in your debt."
He pulls a handkerchief from a pocket and begins trying to wipe some of the blood from his face and hands.
"This is platinum! Must be worth at least a thousand gold pieces. A lucky find, to be sure."
Roland looks over to where Darren has retrieved the Piper's Flute. He stares at it blankly for a moment as the warrior offers it back to him.
The Piper is slain. Can his flute, an instrument of evil, be put to good use now? Can it be redeemed?
"Ah, yes. Thank you," Roland takes the flute back and tucks it back into his coat. "It may prove to be worth more than the sum of it's materials. Time will tell."
With Roland joins the others as they continue along the hall, relieved to see a series of empty chambers... but the chattering skeletons cause him to once again go pale.
Oh, ye Gods what now?
"Well that is just downright unnerving."
"They don't seem to be quite dangerous, just... creepy."
"If we're lucky, creepy is the worst we'll encounter from now on."
I somehow doubt it, though.
"hehehehehehe! Do you like my toys, Shanoa? They sure seem to like you and your friends! hehehehehe!"
Karl tries the door to the abandoned guard post. I don't like this, he murmurs softly to Shanoa. It feels like this wretch is trying to lead us around by the nose.
The door is unlocked, and the group enters the small guardroom. Karl notices several braces on the inside of the door, providing additional support to the hinges and lock.
Three chairs surround a wooden table, and a small weapon rack rests on the south wall. It appears the bars separating the "room" from the rest of this floor are reinforced, providing extra protection for anyone inside this area.
The doors to the south lead outside to a small balcony that overlooks the entrance to the prison.
"In a place such as this, any choice we make can come to ill. We don't know what...they are planning while our every move is likely being watched. It's difficult not to second guess any decision we make."
Oorin looks around somewhat nevously trying to banish the memory of the Bleaching he witnessed long ago.
He hold up the cursed spellbook. "Perhaps if we can "cleanse" the other objects as we did the flute, that will be enough to disrupt their plans." Thinking back on Rolands experience with the flute, "It fills me with a bit of unease though and what I might undergo when we try to cleanse this spellbook."
Darren pauses a moment at the balcony, looking longingly out at the outdoors. "At least we can get a breath of fresh air, here," he mutters, then turns back to the group.
"Well then, what other evil items have you collected thus far?" he asks, eyeing the spellbook that Oorin holds. "And must we fight off their original owners in every case, do you think?"
Karl sucks in his left cheek as he thinks, Well, Roland played the flute once the Piper was in our midst. Maybe when we find this Charlatan, you use the holy symbols for a god? I don't even know how you would do that.
Karl wanders over to the weapon rack and inspects it.
Darren, the flute belonged to the Piper. Oorin has the Spellbook. Shanoa has Charlatan's tangle of holy symbols. I have my axe. And there is this hammer. It belonged to the Mosswater Marauder.
"Darren, the flute belonged to the Piper. Oorin has the Spellbook. Shanoa has Charlatan's tangle of holy symbols. I have my axe. And there is this hammer. It belonged to the Mosswater Marauder."
"All five items were closely linked to each of the five criminals in life," Roland nods, mostly to himself. "Perhaps there's a paper in this. Ectoplasmic Synergy between Momento Mori and the Manifestation of Incorporeal Undead has a nice ring to it..."
Roland pulls out a notebook and jots down a few things.
"Hmm," Darren says, nodding at but clearly not understanding a word of the title Roland just said. "Anything on that weapon rack, Karl?" he asks, trying to chance the subject before more input might be expected.
"We'll just have to track down these angry spirits, one by one, and be done with them all. We owe that to Vesorianna, or if not her, at least to Arthur." Darren turns to press on east from the guard post.
Karl moves toward the weapon rack, but it appears that anything of value had been taken many years ago.
As he is turning away, Karl notices that one of the stones in the wall appears to be a slightly different color than the ones surrounding it. Investigating further, he discovers the stone is actually a wooden panel, cleverly carved to resemble stone. It opens to reveal a hidden cache of items. From the dust and grime covering them, these treasures have rested in their location since the disaster fifty years ago.
The group finds:
A pouch containing 24 gp, 3 pp, and a single citrine (50 gp)
Two healer’s kits
Vial of antitoxin x3
Vial of antiplague x3
Vial of soothe syrup x2
Bloodblock x3 doses
Smelling salt x2 doses
potion of cure light wounds x4
-----
Moving toward the east, you see a heavily reinforced door to the south, and a hallway leading north. There appear to be more cells in the hallway. Like those on the west side of the floor, these cells also contain the mortal remains of people who died while trapped like animals, locked up inside a tiny room while the prison around them burned and collapsed.
"Good find, Karl!"
"At least Michael's death has been avenged. It was the Piper and his stirges that killed him; in his sleep no less."
Karl passes around the potions and other gear to whomever seems able to get the most use out of it.
He even goes so far as to hand Darren the enchanted short sword off is belt, hilt first. The way you fight with that sword and shield, might be you could get better use of this than me.
And thank you Oorin, although, if the Piper's death could bring Michael and Arthur back to us, I would kill him a thousand times over. He shakes his head and sighs. I do not like leaving Arthur's body there, but I suppose we must until we deal with this damned Charlatan, but still...
He trails off, then ventures back outside the cage to lay Arthur in repose, the corpse's steel-clad hands gripped around the blade of his strangely curved sword. He spies the haunt siphon hanging from Arthur's belt and takes it in hand as he whispers, I hope you won't think ill of me, but we will probably need this more than you. Rest easy friend, I'll make sure you're buried properly.
Once that is done, Karl returns to the others and says, Let's keep going; balcony first?
Darren accepts the sword, "It's not what I'm used to -- not the chosen weapon of her Ladyship the Inheritor, that is -- but it is clearly a magnificent blade."
"And yes, we'll return Arthur to the light of day once we've vanquished this place of its evil. Nobody should be left down here to rot, whether they are dead or alive."
Darren moves to the east, "I wonder if the Charlatan's creepy theatrics are on display in these cells, as well," he says rigidly.
Karl listens at the door directly east of the guard's station, and opens it if he hears nothing.
Karl holds up his hand and backs away past the guard post.
He gathers the others around him and whispers, There is a tapping sound in there, like something hitting a table. Maybe we should check out the rest of the level before we open the door.
Darren nods and continues toward the cells on either side of the nearby hallway.
As the group moves into the hallway, the dead once again begin clacking their jaws at you and turning their heads to follow as you pass by.
Reaching the end of the hallway, you notice that two of the rooms appear to be different than the other cells. The room in the northwest () contains a heavily reinforced door. It appears to be stuck in the doorframe, but you catch a glimpse of sunlight through a small crack at the bottom of the door.
The room at the end of the cells to the west () contains an iron ladder leading up to a trap door in the ceiling. Gentle pressure yields nothing - it appears to be stuck or barred from the other side. Perhaps a more determined attempt would open it?
Finally, the room at the end of the cells () appears to be a privy.
Roland jumps again when the skeletons begin to clack their jaws.
"Ah! Stop that you infernal things!" He blushes fiercely at the glances from his fellow adventurers. "Insufferable things. My nerves are already on edge."
Looks like we could try to force that door, or that access to the ceiling. Which should it be? Karl asks in a low voice. I'd prefer the door, if that's all right with the rest of you. I've had bad luck with roofs.