"Hmmph, as if, Shoukichi. I bet Mr. Fancy-britches over here has much more important things to do than go into a spooky prison and get rid of all the nasty ghosties...here, let me look at his event calendar." Steef thumbs through an imaginary book. "Yep, see right here-11:30, wake up. 12:30, eat. 1:45 to 5, be holy and/or insult the elderly. 5:00 on, bugger all. The lad's booked solid. He doesn't even have time to spare for a quickie, even if there was anyone here who'd give him a second look..."
"Now, I'll go back to my researches for the betterment of this town, a worthy cause that I'm sure you'll never come close to besting."
Shoukichi tries to open up his books again to research, but takes extra care to feign his "handicaps" from earlier.
"Hmph."
The Priest pointedly returns to his work.
Ezekiel gathers the crew together. "We are not done with Harrowstone yet."
You head back.
Azrin goes to S12.
Several rusty iron tubs sit in this room, along with washboards, metal buckets, and heaps of moldy clothing.
It appears to be a laundry room.
Ezekiel notice some of the laundry bulging, as if a child or animal is struggling to get out of the pile.
Ezekiel gets ready to smash - while putting himself between the laundry and his friends - and pulls the laundry off if the pile.
Ezekiel approaches the pile...and it explodes into action!
A straitjacket pops out of the laundry and goes on the attack!
Ezekiel rocks the jacket...but it stays up!
It lashes out at him twice, and hits with one of its sleeves!
It wraps its sleeve around Ezekiel's neck and squeezes!
Azrin slashes the jacket with his trusty dagger.
Azrin slashes it.
It looks to be fairly damaged, but remains active.
Steef punches the jacket!
The straitjacket is tattered and torn, but remains standing.
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Shoukichi goes in with his Rapier to stab.
And stabs the air surrounding the jacket.
The jacket lets go of Ezekiel and flails at him again.
It hits him twice, hard, but fails to grab on again.
SMASH AND BITE
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Ezekiel smashes the straitjacket, sending tatters of cloth flying everywhere.
None of the other laundry seems malicious.
Azrin leads the way to the next room over .
Tangled mounds of moth-eaten fabric sit on several wooden tables, each surrounded by workbenches. Various sewing tools— shears, needles, rolls of thread, boxes of chalk, and other objects lie scattered over the floor, while the arm of what appears to be a skeleton protrudes from a stained heap of fabric to the west.
As soon as you enter the room, there is a flash of blue light, and a figure of a woman appears over the heap of fabric to the west. She floats over to you.
Tears roll down her face constantly, and as she starts to speak you can hear her voice tremble somewhat.
"What are your intentions here?"
Steef opens his mouth brightly, then closes it, looking a bit confused.
"You know, I can't remember for the life of me what we actually came here to do...what with all the animated clothing, skeletons, attempted puppicide, actual homicide, and irritating librarians. Huh. You alright, ma'am? You look a bit blue-I mean...sad. Oh geez, I'm so sorry. I'm Steef!"
"You seem nice."
Ezekiel cracks his neck. "We're trying to get to the root of the bad mojo."
"You are hear to clear out the bad spirits?" she looks somewhat relieved to hear this, but the tears never stop flowing.
"Thank you. They've been growing ever more powerful since my husband's spirit was-" she stops for a moment, taking a long slow breath and holding back a sob. "Taken. Or destroyed, or sent on. They did something to him and the Prisoners have been growing in strength ever since."
"I'm holding them back for now, but if left unchecked...I don't think I can for much longer. I'm not as strong as my husband was, and the Splatter Man grows ever stronger, while I falter."
She stops and thinks for a moment.
"Did they ever catch the robed men who was here when my husband disappeared? Their leader killed that poor old man with some kind of foul illusion, and I could do nothing to stop him." she looks genuinely regretful.
"They did it right outside this window, but I can't even leave this room, much less the prison itself."
"Iunno. Can you tell me what's goin' on? I don't exactly get it."
"The men in robes came, and began drawing some kind of spell on the base of the prison. The old man tried to stop him, but was killed, his head crushed by a gargoyle to hide the evidence. They completed teh spell, and there was a great storm. It felt like I was being ripped apart. When it was finished, my husband, the Warden of this prison in life, disappeared. He was the only thing holding the malevolent spirits back." she sobs deeply and doesn't go on for several seconds.
"I'm trying to hold them, but the Splatter Man is doing something. Every few nights he grows stronger, though there's been a longer time between the last time and now than usual. At the same time, I weaken. I know the spirits have already begun to affect the town, though not the specifics."
"If the Splatter Man succeeds in whatever he's doing, I have no doubt he'll be set free. And all the spirits that have been kept suppressed by my husband all these years will be able to leave the prison, spreading havoc over Ravengro, and likely beyond."
"You must act quickly. If you defeat one of the five spirits, I will be able to keep that one suppressed. You'll need to destroy all five for the immediate danger to be over. I know now how to permanently remove the spirits, including myself, from this place however. Bring me my husband's badge of office. I can feel it thrumming with power in his office, just off the library. I think if you defeat all of the spirits I'll be able to use it to end the haunting of Harrowstone forever."
"Wait, the Splatter Man? Does that mean that the other prisoners are still roaming these halls as well? Actually, if you don't mind, who exactly are you?"
'The old man'...that must be the Professor!
"I am Vesorianna Hawkran, the Warden's wife, of course."
"Ok, so we gotta stop the Splatter Man. Who died. Erm...my pappy always said "That which is dead may never die"...seems like it'd apply here. And I really don't think this-"gesturing to his longbow-"is gonna do a lick of good against anyone of the spiritual persuasion, you know?"
"If we come back tomorrow, I could make three of our weapons magical."
"I also have these." He points to his flasks of holy water.
"Ok, so we gotta stop the Splatter Man. Who died. Erm...my pappy always said "That which is dead may never die"...seems like it'd apply here. And I really don't think this-"gesturing to his longbow-"is gonna do a lick of good against anyone of the spiritual persuasion, you know?"
"Some of the spirits' personal effects may help you defeat them. I suggest checking the property room. It's southeast of here, not too far away. Be warned, however, that while helpful, maybe even necessary, they may also be cursed. Be wary when using them."
"Right then, lads. Guess we know where we're going next. All's well that ends well and all that. Mrs. Hawkran, thank you for your help, we'll be sure to get those nasty little...things. I had something for this, can't for the life of me remember what it was..."
Steef leaves to go to the property room, at first going in the completely wrong direction before doing a 180 and going the opposite way.
You don't quite know exactly where the property Room is. You know it's in the Southeast of the 1st floor though, in areas you haven't explored.
"We'll take care of the spirits, ma'am. And I'm certain you'll be reunited with your husband soon."
Azrin opens more FACKIN' DOOOOORS
Azrin opens the door and is assaulted.
With a foul stench. He's found another privy, left uncleaned for over 50 years.
Several moldy cots lay strewn around this room, while doors to smaller, more private sleeping cells hang askew to the west. Judging from the rest of this room’s decor, this must have once been the prison’s infirmary.
This is also the final resting place of Julaezeron Jericho, his corpse lying shattered and broken in the middle of the floor, piled up like so much dirty laundry.
I'm starting to think anyone with elven blood should avoid joining these guys...
"Let's...keep going."
Azrin leads the party to the two most southeastern doors.
Steef follows Azrin. "I know it's not polite to speak rudely of the dead...but what sort of moron goes in here all by himself? He had it comin...let's go, fellas."
Everybody notices a sudden chilling of the air, just before it intensifies...
Shoukichi looks over to the shattered corpse of their former elven ally.
"You know, he wasn't that bad of a guy after all. Still can't respect him for eating foxes, but that's how cultures work right? I say we bring him back to Ravengo. We can't deny a friend of a proper burial, after all, it's the least we could do."
Suddenly, a cold chill in the air weakens Shoukichi.
"Eh guys? I'm not feeling so well again. Just let me catch my breath."
Azrin attempts to open the door, but finds that it is locked.
Steef tries to pick the lock.