"If we want to hole up, I would suggest we find an attic or loft, or something hard to get to."
"But if we have these berries, we could keep going a little longer. We could try to finish our sweep."
"I dunno if I'd push our luck like that. What if we get swarmed with more monkey-goblins and we have no magic to put 'em to sleep?" says Tobar skeptically.
"We could just try to be more watchful, more careful, before entering a building. Look through a window or stand at the door and look all around, make sure it's clear before we take a step inside."
"If we get in any further fights, we will be at a disadvantage." Calvin says. "As much as I'm willing to go, we dont have a way to patch me up if things go poorly again."
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"Hmm...I suppose you might be right...what if we take too long to get back to the ship, though? We're supposed to be going overland to meet back up with them, right? Is there any risk they would assume we're dead and leave?"
"Not right away. I dont even think we have enough supplies for them to make the trip back." Calvin replies. "Galley was more than half empty last night."
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Gideon sighs, finally acquiescing to the other members of the group.
"Alright, you've all made good points. We shouldn't continue exploring until we've rested some. But we need to make sure we're holed-up good somewhere, barricades, whatever. I know we avoided it earlier, but I think the best place might be that pantry we found earlier. Go use some alchemist's fire and kill those roaches. Animals aren't likely to smell us over the food, no windows, only one entrance. It seems like an ideal place to hole up for the night."
"Suits me fine," says Tobar. "I've got a pretty good eye, I can throw the alchemical stuff."
From outside the food storage hut, Tobar hurls flasks of alchemist's fire at the swarm of roaches. As the insects ignite, they scurry around in a panic, crawling and clacking all over each other in an attempt to get away. But they still refuse to emerge into the bright sunlight, making them easy pickings for the bolt ace. It takes three flasks, but he manages to incinerate all of the roaches.
Weyve waves his hand in front of his face, trying not to inhale too much smoke.
"*cough* That looks like it did the trick! And the building is still standing, no less."
"We may as well examine the stuff we couldn't get at before."
Weyve carefully picks his way through the dead roaches.
"I'm not sure I'd want to eat toasted roach, but maybe we can use all this as bait? Ah, here we are."
He looks over the material on the shelves, his eyes glowing faintly blue.
Nothing on the shelves registers as magical. There doesn't seem to be antyhing else of value here beyond the foodstuffs.
"Alright, we've got ourselves a hidey-hole. Let's find some kind of barrier we can wedge into the entry to keep stuff from slipping in on us in the middle of the night."
During the bombing, Calvin stands over 20 feet away from the action, seemingly interested in watching the waters as Tobar works the fiery stuff.
You are able to move some of the barrels and crates in front of the door to form a makeshift barricade. The food house is relatively cramped and stinks of rot, but seems secure enough. You camp there to rest and recover. The sun sets after a few hours, and the sounds of nocturnal insects breaks the eerie silence of the abandoned colony. The night passes without event, and you awake refreshed and ready to continue your exploration.
Weyve looks around at the others after he rises.
"I think I could use a swim," he says.
"Aside from that, I'm ready to finish our search of the place. I think there's not much left."
Tobar eats a goodberry and says, "Well, I'm stuffed." He hefts his crossbow, checks the tension, and says, "Let's finish checking the last couple buildings."
When you are ready, you continue on your counterclockwise circuit. This large building is durably built in a log cabin–style construction with a thatched pitched roof and three gables. Its several open windows are uncovered, and the sole entrance on the east side of the building is bereft of a door. A small porch covered by a gable shelters this door, though the porch has not been swept and dirt and dust have started to accumulate, while one end of the gable is starting to sag from neglect.
The interior of this building suggests a modest place of worship—not quite a temple but more than a mere shrine. A table near the center of the west wall appears to serve as an altar, draped in a white but dusty cloth. Behind the table, a large wood carving of a humanoid figure with a stag’s head leans against the wall. Two rows of benches face the altar, although some have been knocked over and two piles of ashes are visible in the aisle between them. Scattered throughout the room are assorted objects related to public worship, such as a chalice and a ceremonial rod. An ornately carved longbow hangs on the wall near the altar, as if on display.
Against the north wall is a smaller shrine. Nearby is a wooden statue roughly three feet tall that depicts a male half-human and half-avian creature. One carved wing hangs partially broken from the statue.
"Hm... a church of Erastil. Fitting for a community like this, I suppose."
"Do you suppose Erastil would mind us borrowing his bow? We are on a quest to find his flock."
It takes Gideon a moment before he recognizes the statue, then it suddenly clicks on his memory. "Ah! From the Annals of Andoran History! Of course! It's a statue of Talmandor, the patron celestial of the Andoran nation." he declares before turning his attention to the bow. "It does seem of high quality; unfortunately, I never could get a handle on longbows. Shortbows I'm good with, but not their big brother." he says.
As Gideon passed by the altar, he smells the lingering stench of rotting flesh, though no obvious source is apparent.
A chill suddenly fills the air inside the chapel. A low moan echoes from all around, and a sepulchral voice seems to whisper in your ears.
"Get...out..."
The wooden statue of Talmandor shakes for a moment before flying at the bard, smashing into him!
The sudden smell of rot and the chill in the air, not to mention the disembodied voice, is enough to distract him so that he doesn't notice the statue lifting up before it's too late, the object smashing into his head with a loud thunk.
"Ow! What the devil..?!" Gideon cries aloud. "I don't have anything to deal with lingering spirits! Anyone else??"
Calvin shakes his magic sword around. "Just this thing! But I can't hit a thing I can't see!" he says. "Retreat! We can have one of the priests purify the chapel when we bring them here."
Calvin backs out after everyone else has, his sword raised and ready to swat down anything flung at them.
"Yeah, this is not for us," says Tobar. "Seems the patron spirits are pretty mad. Or else someone left a trap. Either way, no sense hanging around."
He glances at the longbow and says, "I c'n use it, but not as well as my crossbow here."
Leaving the chapel for now, you move to the last building within the palisade. This large house has three shuttered windows and a single door, which is unbarred and slightly ajar.
Simple wooden furniture is in disarray throughout this residence. Tables and chairs are knocked over and pushed aside, though none appear willfully broken. Articles of clothing and household items are scattered across the floor as if they were examined briefly and discarded. A large pallet bed is visible in a separate room through an open interior door. A third room with no windows is next to the bedroom but is completely empty.
Although the home has been ransacked, there is no evidence of foul play or personal violence. A casual search reveals any number of common domestic items, such as boots, spare cloaks hung on pegs, cookware, and plates and mugs—sundries that one might find in any dwelling. You also find a gold wedding band left sitting on a windowsill. “My dearest Livvy” is engraved on the ring’s interior.
In the bedroom, you spot a small metal chest shoved far under the bed and against the wall. It is locked.
In the empty room, you discover a few large circles on the floor where no dust has accumulated. The bare circles correspond to the size of an average wooden barrel, if set upright on end. No barrels can be found in the house, although there is a clear path to the door.
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"Well, can't say I'm disappointed to find the room empty of other sentient life-forms." Gideon remarks as they search the room. "Something has clearly moved some barrels or something out the door, though. I don't suppose it's anything we should really be concerned with for the moment. Just need to earmark that temple for a priest to look at later."
"I... think the booze that choker was drinking came from here." Calvin states. "Otherwise, it's clear."
The small chest contains five bags, each of which holds 5 pounds of powdered silver (worth 25 gp each), four blocks of incense (worth 25 gp each), and a pouch with 100 gp worth of diamond dust. Weyve recognizes these as expensive material components for bless water, augury, and restoration, respectively.
"I feel a little bad about rifling through all of the colony's special stuff," says Tobar, "but at least it'll get put to good use, I suppose?"
"I have a bad feeling about this. This means their cleric never got a chance to use any of this." Calvin says. "I hope we can find the source of the problem."
The signs seem to indicate that a poltergeist is haunting the chapel. A poltergeist is an angry spirit that forms from the soul of a creature that, for whatever reason, becomes unable to leave the site of its death. The poltergeist experiences great trauma over its condition; this trauma twists its psyche to evil and fosters an overall hatred of the living expressed in outbursts of rage.
If you could somehow resolve the source of the spirit's trauma, it might pass on to the Great Beyond.
"I think we may be able to put the spirit in the church to rest, if we give it a chance."
"If we had a chance to get in there and look around without being ambushed by whatever random articles try to clock you in the head, we might be able to help the spirit. I don't think that swarmsuit would do anything to protect us from thrown objects, though."
"Well it talked... didn't it?" Calvin asked. "Maybe we can talk to it?"
Tobar looks skeptical, then finally says, "I dunno. Wasn't that one local god of Andoran statue broken? Maybe it just wants the place fixed up and not... wrecked."