It seems the voice has been forced out of Lem by Theron's impromptu appeal to his goddess.
Beside Theron, Lem and Dragomir, a shimmering portal rotates into existence. Through it, you can see a dusty plain with a towering spire in the distance. A silvery line runs in a meandering course toward the spire.
A voice thunders in all your minds, not so much speaking as it expresses finality through a single word.
A pallid hand, almost a translucent blue and large enough to grab Dragomir easily, extends from the portal, and closes around something--a something that until now you had been unable to perceive. A rotund, balding man in priestly robes screams silently in the hand's grip as it retreats through the portal.
comes the mind-voice.
And then, the portal rotates closed again, leaving only a phosphorescent spiral hanging in the air. It too soon fades to nothing.
You are alone in the prison once more.
Lem slumps to the floor as Dragomir puts him down, coughing and hacking. The insubstantial butterfly wings unfurl from around him, beating a few times before they, too vanish.
There is no sign of Theron's holy symbol, but when Lem sits up, breathing heavily, he rubs at his chest.
###
Lem sits up, coughing and with his chest itching like a healing wound.
He looks around, gaining his bearings, and speaks quietly and solemnly.
Back here again, huh? Thank you friends. For a long time there I thought I was lost...
He steadies himself for a lingering moment before standing slowly.
A long while there I thought I had passed, beyond this world into Desna's waiting arms. There was a woman, a woman of the faith, who told me you'd paid to have me brought back to life, that the evils of Harrowstone were vanquished. I was all prepared to scold you for wasting your money on an old man whose service was complete, but there was another presence there--dark, sinister. Sefick, and that's all he is to me, for I will never call him 'father', when he could not destroy my faith he sought to destroy my will.
The priest looks at his companions in turn, smiling with pride.
But Desna alone does not guide me. You all saved me from his machinations--your faith is stronger than Sefick's evil, and that is why he now awaits judgment. Walter, I heard a voice speaking to me, protecting me, and I know it was yours. Rajuna, I could feel Sefick's anger directed to you, and I thank you for the respite from his attentions. And as for the others...
Lem pulls down the neckline of his robes to reveal a newly-formed marking over his heart, a butterfly with a spiral-pommeled longsword for a body.
My flock sees me as an instrument of Desna, wielding vast powers, but it is not so. I am merely one of the many voices who carry her word. It has always been the faith of the people that moves the gods to action, as they have here today. Your prayers were answered, and another evil has been stamped out of this place. I am honored to be with you, and I will stand with you until Harrowstone's spirits have all been laid to rest and their souls judged in the Boneyard.
Theron had fallen over in shock when what he assumed was Pharasma's hand snatched the spirit of Sefick. The combined shock of this, his holy symbol's burst of power, and Lem's wings made Theron sat there for several long moments as he tried to comprehend what had just happened.
That was... direct intervention by three gods. I've heard of occasions where Iomedae directly intervened, but I've never heard of three gods intervening at the same time! The inquisitor made a sign and silently thanked Iomedae for answering his call for help.
Lem sat up and began speaking before Theron could check on him. The halfling was fine it seemed. Thank goodness.
Back here again, huh? Thank you friends. For a long time there I thought I was lost...
"Glad to have you back Lem." Theron said with a worn out voice. "Luckily, it seems that when I told that charlatan that the gods were arrayed against him, I had no idea just how true that was."
Theron stood up listened silently as Lem explained what had happened to him, and was surprised when the priest showed the mark over his heart. Well, now I know where my holy symbol went.
I am honored to be with you, and I will stand with you until Harrowstone's spirits have all been laid to rest and their souls judged in the Boneyard.
"I am honored to be with you as well Lem. All you you actually." Theron said while looking around at the group. "Lem, I think that mark on your chest is a symbolic message to us. That we need to work together, and probably for something greater than just purifying Harrowstone."
Rajuna's emotions swing between anger and relief. Not trusting himself to speak yet, he shares a baleful glare with Karrik and then returns to the podium room and vents his anger trying to break open the far door.
Dragomir knelt in the aftermath...eyes closed in prayer but with tears streaming down his cheeks. Something definite had changed within him, something as terrifying, painful, wonderful and joyful as any birth.
He knew that his life would now be a living sacrifice to the majesty of The Lady of Graves, that he was to devote his life to Her.
Walter breathed a sigh of relief and sat down, his back to the door frame. "I'm glad you're okay," he said, and then glanced at the group and said, "I'm glad we're all okay."
He tried to gesture to the door in the other room, but found Rajuna already trying to kick it in. The point was moot. Maybe he heard the same voice. Walter sat, fingers numb from cold, trying to catch his breath.
When you open your eyes, you find yourself in another place--a room filled with workbenches. The only light comes from guttering lanterns hanging on the walls. An attractive brunette Varisian woman--maybe ten years older than you?--is leaning back on a one of the tables. You think she is using the table for support; she is panting as though she has just run a mile, and her head is bowed. Your gaze drifts up from her heaving chest to the choker she wears at her throat. Wait...
...your mind drifts back to yesterday, Lem showing you the painting he'd found...
...this is Warden Hawkran's wife. You're certain of it
She seems to notice you for the first time, and stands up, looking startled, before she relaxes and gives you a not-unkind appraising look.
So young... you hear her say under her breath.
She closes her eyes for a moment, and then opens them again.
Three left, she says as the vision clouds over and she disappears.
You open your eyes again, back in the auditorium. But you know now that the voice you heard urging you to explore the next room was Mrs. Hawkran's.
To Rajuna's surprise, the door doesn't just open, it shatters into fragments. As Raj dusts himself off, he can see that each piece of timber is shaped like a crude longsword, each one identical to the others.
The only part of the door that remains intact is the lock. To Raj's trained eye, it looks as if it was a very good lock indeed.
The room beyond is filled with shelves, and superficially appears similar to a library. The items on the shelves, however, aren't books--they're items with tags on them, each tag written in cramped script that takes you some time to decipher. The tags appear to be names--presumably names of prisoners. These must be their personal items, confiscated upon their arrival at Harrowstone.
After a few minutes of exploration, you come across a few interesting items.
Raj comes across a bronze medallion depicting a flaming longsword set amongst a broken shield. It appears to be a war medallion from the Shining Crusade. It's worth 40 gp.
Lem discovers an unframed Taldan painting of Emperor Stavian I, worth 100 gp.
Dragomir finds a pair of silver hair clips worth 35 gp.
Rose opens a pouch that Septimus discarded as junk to find a dozen masterwork shuriken.
Septimus finds an array of weapons including a masterwork punching dagger, a masterwork silver war razor, and a masterwork sword cane. The blade of the sword cane appears to be made of what looks like a translucent green crystal.
Walter finds a wand hidden amongst what looks to be a pile of mundane sticks.
Theron finds a scroll tube festooned with Pharasmin markings that contains a scroll of raise dead.
Karrik finds a dress that has miraculously escaped the ravages of the rot and mildew over the last fifty years. It's brocade, and looks to be worth around 120 gp.
You are alone in the prison once more.
"Good omen after good omen..." Theron says with a smile when he sees the remains of the door.
"This room should be bigger..." He says a few moments after he finishes inspecting an interesting scroll case. He looks around for a few moments before walking up to one of the shelves. "There's something behind this, could one of you help me move it?" He says after trying to peer behind it.
Karrik says little after the events play out. His orcish features don't reflect Rajuna's fury, but there is some annoyance that he tries to bury when every seems alright.
"All things considered," he grunts as he picks up the old dress and looks at it quizzically, "I suppose everyone still being on their feet is a positive end to any encounter."
He looks over at Walter's find, then whispers a few words.
Though whether due to fatigue or some other issue, he can't identify its magic.
Raj grunts at the blasted door, Huh. Weaker than it looked. He finds the sword-shaped fragments interesting enough to pocket a few on his way into the storage room. He helps Theron open the hidden compartment and then starts eyeing the prisoners' goods with professional interest. "Don't we owe that librarian something from Sefick? There's gotta be something here."
"I'm glad that you're okay, Lem." Rose opens the discarded pouch, a passing recognition, before examining the wand and relating it's function.
"Don't we owe that librarian something from Sefick? There's gotta be something here."
"Yes, his holy symbols. I had thought the weights may be them, with the symbols adorned on them. But now I'm not as certain."
Raj helps Theron to empty the shelves in the way, and then hauls them away from the wall. After a few minutes of expert examination, Raj's probing fingers discover a hidden latch--when he presses it, a section of the wall swings open revealing a room no larger than a closet.
It's hard to see what lies in the dark interior, but a judicious light spell solves that problem.
The room contains floor-to-ceiling shelves, which are mostly empty. Only five items remain.
The items you find in the hidden vault are:
- A masterwork smith's hammer, tagged 'Ispin Onyxcudgel'.
- A tarnished but still playable masterwork silver flute, tagged 'Piper of Illmarsh'.
- A mouldy book, bound in leather and chased with silver, tagged 'Hean Feramin'.
- A set of silver holy symbols on chains, including those of Asmodeus, Iomedae, Sarenrae, Gozreh, Sun Wukong, Cayden Cailean, Calistria, Pharasma, Abadar, Norgorber, Erastil, Yamatsumi, Desna, Tsukiyo, Shelyn, Abadar, and The Black Daimyo. They are tagged 'Sefick Corvin'. When you pick them up, they initially seem to be stuck together in a tangled, rigid mess, but after a moment they slither apart and fall to the floor.
- A +1 handaxe covered in blood that seems fresh, but which no amount of wiping or scrubbing seems able to dislodge. It is tagged 'Vance Saetressle'.
Only five objects remain on the shelves.
Theron picks up the tangled mass of holy symbols. After making a brief effort at pulling them apart he turns to hand them to Rose. "I think these are..." he begins to say, when suddenly they detach from one another and begin raining down onto the floor. He does his best to hide his embarrassment and quickly picks them up.
Walter tried to discern the properties of the magic wand in Rose's hand, curious himself. He called up one of the few cantrips he'd managed to master during his time at the Quatrefax Archives and set to work.
He took a moment as everyone looked around the room and then boldly announced: "S-so, I know it sounds a bit... well, actually, it sounds completely normal considering Lem was just possessed so um I think I just saw Mrs. Hawkran in a spectral vision and she pointed out the door and said something about there being "three left" pretty weird right? I mean for a second I was in the room with her, and then, back here, so it was kind of jarring, but, I figured you guys would like to know."
He laughed nervously, once, to the silence of the room.
He added "She was one of the voices in my head," which was probably the worst thing to say. Walter backtracked: "No, I mean, she was a voice that was... she was talking to me I think," he clarified with an embarrassed wave of his hands. "In my head. Which isn't much different than... the other... voices."
Walter looked defeated.
Feel free to continue your conversations; alternatively let me know if you want to head back to Kendra's, or continue exploring the prison. The remaining areas for exploration on this floor are:
- The corridor near the front of the prison, and the many rooms coming off it. Accessible via V29.
- The rectangular room in the centre of the floor. Accessible via R24.
- The triangular room in the centre of the floor. Accessible via Q24.
- The brazier room near the west wall of the prison. Accessible via I23.
- The oddly shaped room near the west wall of the prison. Accessible via M18.
- The laundry in the northwest. Accessible via N17.
- The square room in the north. Accessible via Q13.
It is approximately 10:30 am.
Theron puts the holy symbols into a sack and hands them to Rose.
He took a moment as everyone looked around the room and then boldly announced: "S-so, I know it sounds a bit... well, actually, it sounds completely normal considering Lem was just possessed so um I think I just saw Mrs. Hawkran in a spectral vision and she pointed out the door and said something about there being "three left" pretty weird right? I mean for a second I was in the room with her, and then, back here, so it was kind of jarring, but, I figured you guys would like to know."He laughed nervously, once, to the silence of the room.
He added "She was one of the voices in my head," which was probably the worst thing to say. Walter backtracked: "No, I mean, she was a voice that was... she was talking to me I think," he clarified with an embarrassed wave of his hands. "In my head. Which isn't much different than... the other... voices."
Walter looked defeated.
"Three left..." Theron repeated after taking a few moments to figure out what exactly Walter was trying to tell them. He intentionally avoided commenting on the 'voices'. The kid was lucky that Theron wasn't like some other inquisitors.
He glanced back into the hidden room. "We've dealt with the piper and the charlatan so far.... so this must mean that we will have to deal with three more evil spirits like those two? I really don't like the thought of that."
After a few moments, he added: "We should leave and rest before we meet another one of them."
Lem, at first quiet in thought at the discovery of the items, notices Theron cautiously eying the axe.
The Mosswater Marauder seemed the most likely to be a spirit with a chance of redemption--he's obviously dangerous, but I have some hope that we might ease his suffering. If I'm not mistaken, that leaves the Splatter Man and the Lopper. The Splatter Man seems to be somehow not confined to the prison, which makes him the most pressing concern, but I fear that axe may be cursed. A man who would call himself the "Lopper" and whose spirit would linger in undeath seems the most likely to impart some curse to his weapon of choice. Perhaps we should wrap the axe up in something and take it to the church? If we could consecrate the weapon, it may disrupt the spirit's hold on the physical realm...
"Maybe. If the wards on the walls are keeping something in... I'm a little worried about what taking cursed items out might do. Maybe one of those spooks is riding one of these trinkets and waiting for a chance to get free. I'm thinking maybe we should hide some of these items in the prison but not where we found them."
Theron picks up the tangled mass of holy symbols. After making a brief effort at pulling them apart he turns to hand them to Rose. "I think these are..." he begins to say, when suddenly they detach from one another and begin raining down onto the floor. He does his best to hide his embarrassment and quickly picks them up.
Rose lets out a small as they fall apart, helping Theron pick them up. "It will be good to get these to Iona, the task accomplished."
"Agreed, two of...of them outside would put the town in danger. Perhaps the book has some clues as to how to stop the Splatter Man? Is it safe to even look at?" She turns to Theron even as she goes over it with her own spell to search for magic on it.
Karrik doesn't seem to have anything new to add, and he stands off to the side seeming to brood as he watches for additional threats.
He pauses his watch to interject in his rumbling tone, "The caution regarding removing these items is intelligently-considered. My resources are all but expended, however, and I would to rest and recover if it's possible."
"Maybe. If the wards on the walls are keeping something in... I'm a little worried about what taking cursed items out might do. Maybe one of those spooks is riding one of these trinkets and waiting for a chance to get free. I'm thinking maybe we should hide some of these items in the prison but not where we found them."
"I don't sense any evil from any of these items, but that doesn't necessarily mean it would be safe to take them with us." Theron says after looking them over. "However... studying these things may help us find a way to defeat the remaining spirits here."
Theron takes a closer look at the underlying magics of the bloody axe to make sure the thing isn't dangerous to the one who wields it.
Karrik studies the axe over Theron's shoulder before going back to his watch.
###
As far as Karrik and Theron can tell, the axe is just an axe. A spooky axe, but an ordinary axe nonetheless.
To recap on the items:
- +1 handaxe, detects as magical, former property of Vance Saetressle, aka The Lopper.
- Mouldy old leather-bound book, does not detect as magical, former property of Hean Feramin, aka the Splatter Man. As far as I'm aware you have not yet opened the book so don't know what's in it.
- Tarnished silver masterwork flute, does not detect as magical, former property of The Piper of Illmarsh.
- Eighteen silver holy symbols, do not detect as magical, former property of Sefick Corvin, aka Father Charlatan.
- Masterwork smith's hammer, does not detect as magical, former property of Ispin Onyxcudgel, aka the Mosswater Marauder.
None of the items detect as evil.
###
###
Weary from a morning of frights and the near-death of Lem at the hands of one of Harrowstone's most powerful denizens, the party agrees it's time they went back to Kendra's to regroup. Raj leads the way back up the stairs and across the top floor, then out through the western door, across the balcony past the quiescent weapon racks (and that encounter seems a lifetime ago, even though it was only yesterday), and across the grounds.
You all separate as agreed, in an effort to reduce the chance of anyone from Ravengro discovering you've been poking around their notorious haunted prison. Outside, the late morning has become positively bucolic. The sun and a light breeze have chased away the heavy cloud that characterised the morning, and the air feels clean and fresh after the cloying, mildewy atmosphere of the prison. In the sunshine, it's even warm enough that you no longer need a coat.
An hour later, you have all reassembled in Kendra's sitting room.
Lem! Kendra cries in alarm, as he is the last to make his way in. Are you well? You look like...well, you look like you've seen a ghost.