Round 2
"Should have stuck to giant flies, friend," says Heck, stabbing his spear at a surviving spider.
Iesha attempts to bash the remaining spider.
Attempts.
Despite vicious wounds from Eloise and Peredur, the mostly mindless and multi-legged/eyed/fanged things persist!
"Give them their due," Eloise says as she takes another swing at the spider she had already stabbed, "these creatures do not know the meaning of the word 'quit'!"
"...or any words at all, I hope," the bard quips.
It’s pretty clear that Sour Heck’s spear-fighting technique revolves around jabbing repeatedly. He jabs again at a surviving spider.
Iesha swings at the nearest spider.
Eloise swipes a bit wide and the spider closes in on the opening to attack. the things fangs sink into her ankle, leaving a vicious looking wound.
Peredur's foe continues to lunge fruitlessly at the ranger, who seems to know just when to dodge the ugly thing.
Iesha steps up and with a vicious overhand chop, thoroughly splatters the spider that had bitten Eloise. One beastie remains.
Round 3:
Peredur concentrates on avoiding the spider to the exclusion of all else, missing miserably in his riposte.
Round 3:
Talia moves to Eloise, a spell on her lips as she lightly touches her shoulder.
Questionable though his technique may be, Heck skewers the last of the spiders. It dies twitching on the end of his spear. As the silence returns to Harrowstone, Kieli the raven flutters down to peck at one of the spider's corpse.
"Dead! Dead! Dead" it croaks in apparent triumph.
The room beyond the broken door seems to have once been a chapel to Pharasma, but now thick sheets of cobwebs drape everything.
Under the webbing, a cabinet in the northwest corner seems to be intact.
Peredur steps past the still-twitching spiders to peer into the room. "See? Yon cabinet seems undamaged." Signing himself with the spiral before he enters, the ranger tries to cut his way through the webs. If the webbing resists his slashes, he won't try to push his way through it, though.
Peredur handily cuts and clears his way to the cabinet.
inside sit five jars of what must be holy water. small glass phials with the spiral symbol of Pharasma etched into them. No dust rests on the glass.
A wand, a straight simple piece of wood, also untouched by dust.
A scroll, as well, the paper preserved by the magic it must contain.
"Well, well, well. Even in th' depths of Harrowstone, th' Lady provides. We have more blessed water, a wand, and a scroll." Peredur steps aside to let anyone interested approach to examine the items.
Iesha is busy cleaning spider-stuff off her weapon.
Scroll
The scroll is of a Lesser Restoration.
Wand
A Cure Light wounds wand, 15 charges. Caster level is 1, so 1d8+1 restored per charge.
The ranger defers to the arcanists and divine in the party.
"May I?" Eloise asks, as she holds out a hand for the scroll. "Ocula veritae," the Chelishwoman murmurs, and she makes an arcane gesture.
After a moment of concentration, Eloise frowns and shakes her head. "I do not know what the wand does," she reports. "But the scroll should prove useful. It holds a single spell of Lesser Restoration; most convenient, since we are tangled up with the undead in this place."
Sour Heck has been contemplating the spider corpse lying in a pool of holy water. "You don't usually see this many damp, hairy legs outside of a Numerian bathing beauty contest," he observes.
He produces his filthy kerchief and shakes it. Suddenly it is as clean as if freshly laundered. He wipes at the muddy puddles on the floor, then squeezes clear water from the kerchief into a clay mug. Soon the floor is dry as a bone, and the mug full of pure water.
"Learned this trick from a court magician. The man hated when he spilled his beer."
"If I may, Eloise?", Talia asks, taking the wand from her and mumbling under her breath.
"My, my," she exclaims after a moment, her eyes widening. "The Lady does, indeed, provide. This is a wand of minor healing; with, I believe, over a dozen charges kept within. I know I and Iesha are able to use such a device. Can anyone else here make use of it?"
Iesha accepts Sour Heck's recovery of the Holy Water with gratitude.
"I can, though 'tis likely best if you or Iesha takes it for th' moment."
"In a pinch, I could use it," Eloise adds. "But only in a pinch. I'd have to... cheat, in a way. Such an item would not obey my commands by design, so I would have to exploit loopholes in its energy matrix."
Eloise looks to see whether anyone understands what she is talking about, then shrugs. "I would have to cheat," she says again. "I agree with Peredur that either of you should take it, and the scroll as well. But let me know which of you has it; in a pinch, I shall try to use it if neither of you can."
“We should give it to the person most likely to be horribly injured or maimed,” says Sour Heck.
He thinks about this for a moment, then sighs and holds his hand out for the wand.
"Any idea what's in there?" Heck asks, pointing with his spear at the triangular room across the hall.
"Something else that will attack us?"
"Ranger first, then."
He leans over to stage-whisper in Iesha's ear. "I think the atmosphere in here is getting to me. I could swear I heard that raven say, 'Dead! Dead!'"
"You did," Eloise says. She makes a gesture at the triangular room and chants a single Word of Power. "If any of you have useful detection spells that you can cast multiple times, I suggest you use them."
"Ranger first, then."
He leans over to stage-whisper in Iesha's ear. "I think the atmosphere in here is getting to me. I could swear I heard that raven say, 'Dead! Dead!'"
Peredur sighs theatrically. "'Tis my lot in life, it is. And 'tis a bad influence you are, Master Heck."
Iesha studies the bird. "Thank you for the confirmation."
She looks across the hallway toward the large center area. "Is it even all one room?"
She moves to the door and tests it.
Peredur also examines the door quickly as the party approaches it. "But one way to learn, look you."
Iesha
Peredur
Sour Heck
Talia
Eloise
peredur reflex
attack roll
The party cautiously enters the room. The chamber is in a shambles, like much of the prison. Old wooden benches lie in ruin along the walls. Rusty chains and bits of rotten rope lie scattered on the floor.
As Peredur crosses the threshold, an unreasonable and irresistable wave of despair washes over him. He hears sobs, and the clanking of chain, before a premonition of cold steel around his wrists.
A sudden clattering of chains announces the supernatural presence in this room. A set of the manacles propels itself forward at Peredur, the wrist clamps open and seeking his arms. The canny ranger, however, still warm from his dance with the oversized spiders, steps away, and the chains fall still.
"Peredur? Are you all right? What was that?" says Talia, peeking into the room.
"And apologies for Kieli, my raven. He likes to think he's useful, and sometimes talks out of turn," she continues, giving a wry grin to the bird on her shoulder, who pecks at her head in mock offense.
The ranger relaxes slightly as the chains clatter to the ground, but rubs his wrists, a shadow over his face. "Another bloody haunt, I'm thinking. Th' feel of my hands in chains, an' th' despair of th' prisoners here...they may have been a bad lot, but it's more vengeance than justice they found here." He straightens. "Back to th' matter at hand. Have we a way to defeat th' haunt? It's thinking I am to break th' chains, but there may be other means."
"What is our main objective here?" Eloise asks as she scans the room. "Maybe we can achieve it without going in, and so avoid this 'haunt'."
[Knowledge: Religion DC16]
Haunts that animate objects such as these are usually only finished when the object they are possessing is destroyed.
Permanent destruction usually only results in dispersing the spiritual energy affecting a general area.[/spoiler]
Aside from the ruined benches and scattered manacles, there is nothing of apparent value in this room, nor is there another exit asides from the one the party entered from.
Releasing the curse affecting the prison as a whole
“A Pharasman excorcist can lay spirits to rest by channeling the goddess’s power at them. This holy water might do the same trick, or the power in this wand--what heals us, harms the dead.”
”But this shabby little poltergeist was probably just confused by dying horribly. Sort out the evil fogging the air here and Pharasma will help it find its way to the restlands soon enough.”
Only one way to find out.
To be fair, the guards did try to burn it down fifty years ago, so i doubt that would happen. the building is mostly stone.