"Well, who is going to go first?"
Ereviss carefully detects magic around the gate.
Spear in hand Domminia says Let's go! as she walks into the compound.
"Given the nature of events of the last few days, I can't deny the possibility of flying flaming skulls appearing."
Merenso draws his bow and proceeds after Domminia.
Standing just outside the threshold of the prison, Fengrig holds out a hand and extends his awareness outward, searching for traces of the restless dead.
When you cross the threshold/cast your Detect spell, you feel a wave of despair roll over you. Suddenly you are on fire! You are burning to death; you can smell your hair crisping, your hands are charring to withered claws. Then you are suddenly back at the threshold again. You are undamaged. But for that brief flash it was so real...
"Maybe we need to try another way in.
Ereviss looks for another way in.
Oddly, you didn't get any Magic reading when you Detected for Magic, just that flash of horror.
Oddly, your Detect Undead only registered a low-level undead background aura. No matter how much time you spend, you cannot seem to localize it.
Angry now and even more determined. Domminia summons Theodoric and tells him what had just happened. He calms her down and gives her the encouragement she needs, now even more emboldened with her Eidolon with her she goes forward Sorry about that. Lets go!
"Strange," Fengrig says. "I feel some kind of undead presence, but its indistinct, diffuse. Like it's everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
He gives his head a little shake and smiles sheepishly. "Whoops! Started rambling there for a moment. One useful thing I can tell you is that I don't think there are any flaming, flying skulls nearby."
"We need to get in and root out this evil, undead menace."
why do i feel like we have bitten more then we can chew with this
You see that despite the flash of horror, Domminia is already through the gates. Whatever it was did not seem to prevent you from entering, and seems to not have affected anyone else besides you three.
Looking right and left, you see the walls stretch away and fade into the cloying fog. It is covered in vines, so you could climb it instead of going through the gates.
Passing through the gates (or over the walls as the case may be), the party moves into the overgrown courtyard.
Moving up the neglected cobblestone way, you suddenly see off to your left a small brick manor house overgrown with thick sheets of gray-green ivy. The roof sags ominously, and the front door hangs askew.
Directly ahead a massive two-story stone building looms out of the fog in the center of the prison grounds. Ivy and moss cling tenaciously to the walls, while above the wooden shingles of the roof are often missing
entirely, exposing the wooden rafters of the upper structure to the sky. Here and there, leering stone gargoyles perch on the eaves, once functioning as drainspouts and decorations but now seeming almost to serve a more ominous role of sentinels.
Many of these stone decorations have crumbled away and lie in ruined piles on the soggy ground below. Windows in the building’s facade are narrow and blocked by grills of rusty iron bars. Stone columns support a slumping wooden balcony over the building’s wooden front doors, both of which hang askew and reveal dark glimpses of chambers within.
Domminia and Theodoric walks over to R3 and looks around the outside.
Perception(D)
Perception (T)
Can't leave the unexpolored shack behind us--Domminia is right.
After crossing the threshold Ereviss removes his journal he has been using to scrupulously catalogue the groups exploits. Speaking for a half-minute about the importance of the task at hand makes you feel more alert as a strange magic seems to be in the air.
Peeking in through shattered windows, you see that the interiors you can see appears to have been looted long ago. You can't see deeper though, or the upper story.
You do NOT like the sag that the roof has developed, or the rotted support timbers. The place is unstable, and doing a proper exploration would likely trigger some kind of structural collapse.
"Some of the guard towers are still standing. Anyone up for exploring those? Maybe something in there has survived the fire."
"That building is a death trap, and will easily collapse. Best stay clear. How about trying those stairs around to the left rather than the obvious way?"
Ereviss makes sure Kendra is fine, "Are you doing Ok? This place is quite unsettling."
Well if you think it is a deathtrap let's go a see what's in the guard towers!
Perception at guardhouse
You can see that the main structure of Harrowstone itself looks mostly intact.
When the fog eddies, you can see that it was the East wing that took the fire damage. It is little more than a pile of rubble.
You can catch glimpses of the two remaining watchtowers along the wall, one to the West and one to the North. They both look intact, but deserted.
Kendra looks sad.
"This... is where they found him. My father." She husks, teary eyed. She makes a vague gesture towards Harrowstone.
"They said a stone gargoyle had fallen off the roof and... killed him."
Kendra, we must be thorough, if we go straight in we may get bushwacked, lets check the guardhouses... better safe than sorry
Check the guardhouses as we circle to the left to look at that side of the house. Going in the front door is so obvious and passee'
"Sounds good to me," Fengrig says in reply to Domminia. "We're not gonna get anymore daylight than we already have."
Remember to keep an eye upward as well, in case anything else might fall.
Lets get a move on
Kendra sniffs and wipes away a tear. She nods in agreement with Domminia.
”Yes; I… I know. You are right of course. I just wish you had been here with him, to guide him as you are doing now with me.”
The fog swirls around you oddly as you make your way West towards the nearest guard tower.
The weeds in the courtyard are strangely stunted; they should be taller and more numerous than they appear to be after almost fifty years of neglect.
When you get closer you can see that this old stone tower has its crumbling walls thickly covered with ivy. Gazing upward you see that its roof, jutting ten feet higher than the wall, has had its wooden roof collapse long ago. You can see the rubble filling its central space through the broken doorway. A few minutes of poking around reveals nothing of interest.
Following the wall around to the North, you make your way to the next tower.
Looming out of the fog, you see that this one too has had its roof collapsed. With one addition.
Several pairs of beady eyes gleam red in the light of your lamps and torches, watching from nooks and crannies in the stones.
Rats.
Ereviss draws his rapier.
Merenso hesitates. "Do we really want to play pest control when there are evil spirits abound?" Seeing the others pressing forward, he sighs and nocks an arrow, aiming it between the closest pair of eyes.
Ereviss throws the door wide.
Ereviss, with Ysabot close behind, approaches the tower door.
The rats... don't move.
Everything you know about rats say that they should be running away.
Closer they step. And then...
A chittering brown carpet of rats floods out of the tower and swarms over Ereviss and Ysabot. The flood seems endless, and looks like they are coming for the rest of you as well...
Domminia attacks with her spear and Theodoric maneuvers to flank q10 and n10
Domminia attacks with her spear damage
and Theodoric attacks with his greatsword damage
five foot step back, take out quarter staff if not out, and cast mage armor, if not able to get away from range,
Merenso instinctively recoils away from the swarming mass and shoots two arrows in rapid succession, skewering several rats.
Ereviss stands in front of Kendra and speaks to her:"Any spells to hold of this mass of rats?"
Ereviss draws his rapier.
Fengrig advances on the roiling mass of vermin and swings down on them with his morningstar.
Xiuj swears in Tien as he takes a step back and grabs for a bottle of Alchemist's Fire and a small phial of catalyst...
Round 1___________________
Domminia Vorsaife
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Domminia attacks with her spear and Theodoric maneuvers to flank q10 and n10 .
Domminia attacks with her spear, But misses hitting any of the rats in the swarm.
and Theodoric attacks with his greatsword, his mighty sweep slashing a dozen rats open in a welter of blood and gore. The swarm continues unchecked however.
ysabot vas
______________________________________
five foot step back, take out quarter staff if not out, and cast mage armor, if not able to get away from range,
Ysabot is able to forcibly step back out of the swarm to unlimber her staff and cast Mage Armor.
Merenso Kull
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Merenso instinctively recoils away from the swarming mass and shoots two arrows in rapid succession, skewering several rats.
I would rule that only the part of the swarm actually in the square with the PC is in melee and targeting them would have the penalty to hit, the rest of the swarm outside that square is not and can be targeted as normal.
Merenso fires into the swarm near Ysabot, and manages to hit one or two despite dropping an arrow as he reloaded.
Ereviss Ladyhunter
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[Ereviss, swarmed over in the initial rush, manages to break free and move around towards Kendra, drawing his sword in the movement.[/b]
Ereviss stands in front of Kendra and speaks to her:"Any spells to hold of this mass of rats?"
Fengrig Salant
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Fengrig advances on the roiling mass of vermin and swings down on them with his morningstar.
Fengrin rushes up and takes out another bunch of rats with a mighty sweep of his Morningstar.
Xiuj-Hak-Leyng IV
________________________________________
Xiuj swears in Tien as he takes a step back. He roots around in a his adventurer’s sash and grabs for a bottle of Alchemist's Fire and a small phial of catalyst...
KENDRA_________________________
Kendra rushes over by Ereviss. She flings a small blue globe of acid into the swarm, melting the flesh off the bones of one rat.
”I’m afraid not.” She responds to him. Then she looks like she’s thought of something and starts opening a belt pouch.
ENEMIES__________________________
>Rat Swarm 1 advances to swarm over Domminia and Fengring.
Domminia takes bite damage. Must make a Will save DC12 vs. Distraction and a Fort save DC12 vs. Filth Fever.
Fengring takes bite damage. Must make a Will save DC12 vs. Distraction and a Fort save DC12 vs. Filth Fever.
>Rat Swarm 2 advances to swarm over Ereviss and Kendra.
Ereviss takes bite damage. Must make a Will save DC12 vs. Distraction and a Fort save DC12 vs. Filth Fever.
Kendra takes bite damage. Must make a Will save DC12 vs. Distraction and a Fort save DC12 vs. Filth Fever.
>Rat Swarm 3 advances to swarm over Ysabot.
Ysabot takes bite damage. Must make a Will save DC12 vs. Distraction and a Fort save DC12 vs. Filth Fever.
Red1: 4
Red2: 16
Red3: 14
"I fear we need to run for our lives. Dying at the hands of rats would be so ignoble and a poor end to the story."
Domminia Will and Fortitude
she then takes a five foot step back and attacks with her spear while flanking
Theodoric moves to flank
Merenso continues to step back and peppers the swarm attacking Dominnia and Fengrig with arrows.
"Sound idea Ereviss, I'll cover you if you decide to retreat"
attack with quarter staff
move action to get away from the rats