Johannes is able to determine that there doesn't seem to be anything inherently harmful about the spellbook; it does, however, contain every Neromancy cantrip of the first and second level, as well as all Necromancy cantrips. It also contains all spells of those levels that have the evil descriptor.
Upon receiving the information, Jian votes for the group to leave the spellbook. They can destroy the book when they burn the compound.
You all make your way to the other door. Johannes deems that it is not trapped. Opening it up, you find a relatively short hallway leading towards a spiral staircase going down.
Jian, you go forward first, and you notice something strange; a rusty knife. As you look at it, curious, the knife, as if snatched back by a string, flies down the hall, rising into the air...and coming to a stop in the hand of a man that none of you had noticed standing there before. He is wearing a hooded cloak of feathers, mumbling and knocking his head against what you can now tell is a blood-smeared wall. He turns to you, showing hollow, bloody eye sockets, blood dripping from his mouth. He pulls a small knife out from under his bird feather cloak and charges!
Jian, you are able to see this for what it is, however. This is not real...this is merely the shade of a long-dead murdered still lusting for blood. This fragment rushes at you, attempting to use the knife to carve your flesh...but you simply know that it is not real, not substantial, and you are not harmed.
Ilysaria, you merely see Jian tense for a moment, and that is all.
Jian, you continue down the stairs. Eventually you come down to a cavern. Water fills some of the area below, and you can see, though it has fallen into disrepair, what was once a small dock; clearly, were you to follow the water, it would lead to the ocean outside. In the cavern, down the path from the stairs, there is a large set of doors with intricate bird carvings. Johannes inspects the area and deems that there are no traps.
What do you do?
Lys holds her everburning torch high so that the light shines over over the much taller half-elf's head to illuminate their descent. She notices it when Jian flinches, and while she might ordinarily overlook the the slight reaction or write it off as him brushing against a spiderweb, Lys's intuition tells her it's nothing so innocuous as that. "Are you alright?"
Downstairs, Lys gives the cavern a cursory once-over before focusing on the double doors. "A room in a underground cavern hidden under a secret trapdoor. This can only be good," Lys comments sardonically. Still, despite her grim attitude, the priestess knows they have little choice but to investigate whatever foulness might await behind the doors. "Shall we?"
"I...some phantasm. Some shade of that murderous bastard, still lingering. It came at me with a knife...had I not seen through the illusion, I don't know what I would have done. This place is beyond foul, Lys."
Jian groaned at her words, agreeing.
"Right, of course. What could go wrong? Better to get it done than live with the fear of it."
Jian braced himself and opened the door.
The heady air wafts the scent of mildew and rot in this dingy room. Tiny bone carvings of horrific winged creatures lay scattered about room. A moldy blanket in one corner indicates this room was once inhabited. Leathery papers lay scattered amidst the rubble and shards of bone.
As you move into the room, the sobbing that you heard in the room with the demonic statue returns...louder this time.
Unlike before, however, you do not hear only sobbing; though they are as whispers, you hear a multitude of voices, all at once. Some are whispering insults...others are begging for their lives. Still others utter limericks while some simply cackle with unfettered madness.
No source of these sounds is currently visible.
What do you do?
Jian grits his teeth, expecting the worst.
"That blanket...Lys. Watch my back."
Jian then goes to move the blanket and see what is underneath.
Something...shifts. Despite the lack of wind, there is a breeze in the room. It is not refreshing. No, this wind bears the stench of death and decay...from behind you.
Turning around you see a horrifying site. A child...or something in the shape of a child. It wears only a long, tattered homespun tunic. It's skin is transparent, and beneath it you see only bone. The face is shrouded in shadows that seem to move with the creature, though the shape looks less like a human skull and more like a bird.
The sobbing stops.
Then, all at once, you hear them all together at the same time; a vicious cacophany, threatening to overwhelm your senses...
Jian, make a Will saving throw.
Jian, your mind is assailed by...something, but you manage to shrug it off. You are all right, and the shadows around the creature, and indeed most of it's countenance changes, revealing a frightened, sad looking boy.
Ilysaria, you still see the same monster, and now it is time for you to roll a Will save...
"Ugh!" Lys instinctively tries to cover the lower half of her face with her free hand as the stench hits her. If this were another time, she might be impressed by her own fortitude; that the smell only made her lose her composure and not the contents of her stomach was amazing considering she spent most of her time in the perfumed halls of Korvosa's salons. As it is, the disturbing disembodied voices certainly put a damper on any sense of accomplishment she might have felt.
When Jian points out the blanket, Lys reluctantly lowers her hand from her face to rest on the handle of her whip. "What about it?" she asks, trying to peer around the man's sturdy frame from the safety of a few paces away.
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Ilysaria, you say "What abo-" and,suddenly, your voice is simply gone. Your mouth works, you try to make a sound, and-
She was sick. She needed help. In Sandpoint, there was a healer that could help. You went with her. The first night you arrived, using some of your last coin for a room at an inn, you slept, exhausted...and then felt something tight around your neck.
Darkness.
Darkness, and then you wake up, chained to the wall, your mother on a table, arms and legs restrained. Some device is in her mouth, forcing it open. A bit of spittle runs down her cheek. A kind looking old man stands before you, watching you wake up. He smiles warmly, gives you a wave...then grabs his tools.
Forceps and scissors.
Before your eyes, he grabs your mother's tongue, bringing it out of her mouth, and neatly cuts it out.
She screams, blood mixing wit saliva and tears and the sound rends your heart.
Then he turns to you, kindly smile still on his face.
"Now...what to do with you?"
Jian, you see Ilysaria lose her voice, and then her eyes roll upward into her skull and she collapses, writing on the ground. What do you do?
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Jian had thought, before, that he had known anger. Seeing the cruelty of the goblins of Thistletop, witnessing their pointless sadism and petty deprivations had infuriated Jian.
That was as a candle next to a raging fire.
Jian's eyes go wide with rage, and he moves. Years of training, of precision and technique, are gone. Jian bellows, almost more animal than man, as he attacks the creature.
"YOU CANNOT HAVE HER! NOT HER!"
Jian, both hits connect, and in a puff of mist, the apparition is simply gone.
Ilysaria, your vision ends, and you snap back to reality. You see Jian, pausing himself in mid-attack.
Your voice is still gone.
What do you do?
Ilysaria comes to with an anguished scream, only no noise leaves her lips but for the sound of her rapid, shuddering breaths. Panicking, she scrambles to sit upright, her hands flying up to grasp at her neck. There was something around her throat, choking her! She couldn't speak, couldn't breathe. And whatever was around her neck was only getting tighter, she was sure! Lys tries to pry whatever it is off and, in her desperation, ends up clawing on the delicate skin of her neck instead.
Jian was able to discern what was effecting his companion, and, seeing her panic and injure herself, Jian rushed over, grabbing her arms to prevent her from further harming herself.
"Lys...Lys! Stop, you'll be fine...look at me. You're okay. Just breathe. Calm down, and just breathe. You can do it. It's a magical effect that steals your voice but it will come back. Just be still, and breathe."
It was an entirely surreal experience. Being so close to Ilysaria, even in such a situation as this, was heady, and Jian could not help but allow a smile to quirk at the corners of his mouth.
"Now, to confirm I am devastatingly handsome and witty, don't say anything. Why...thank you for such a compliment!"
He hoped that a bit of irreverence and humor might shock Ilysaria back into a more controlled, reasonable state.
After having dreamed or hallucinated being tied down, Lys's first instinct is to fight against Jian as he tries to pin her arms. And she does, valiantly, but ultimately the strength she is able to muster simply pales in comparison to his. The struggle, though brief, still manages to drain the fight from Lys and leave her much more receptive to Jian's soothing assurances. And soon enough she realizes she can breathe.
After a few deep, centering breaths, Lys gathers her composure and wipes the unshed tears from her eyes. Whatever she had seen while she was unconscious was merely a figment. The Chopper hadn't taken her, hadn't forced her to watch as he cut out her mother's tongue and eyes. Her mother was safe in Korvosa, ever the vapid noblewoman without a care in the world. And Lys herself had found Calistria. As if she needs to prove the last point to herself, Lys calls on the Goddess's favor to heal her of her self-inflicted wounds.
Feeling much like her old self once again, Lys gives Jian a sidelong glance at his poor joke. She tries, and fails, to groan at his humorous attempt, and so has to settle for an exaggerated eyeroll. Shoving playfully at his shoulders, Lys gets to her feet and dusts herself off with the faintest of smiles gracing her tearstained features. She turns to Jian afterward and attempts to say something, but again, no words leave her lips. Then, remembering their ability to communicate with each other while Jian was shifted into an animal form, Lys makes a series of slow gestures.
What were you punching at just before?
Jian relaxed once Ilysaria seemed to come back to herself a bit. Her shove, of course, did little to displace the mountain of a man, but he smiled, happy that she seemed back in control of her wits.
Rather than answer in the same sign language, Jian spoke.
"I think it was...whatever was causing your episode. I'm not exactly certain what it was...I think it may be the twisted soul of...of what I fear is underneath that blanket. I think that's Simon's corpse under there, Lys.
We can't leave this place like it is. Everything here is wrong...corrupted. I'm going to burn this to the ground...but not before we take Simon, and bring him home."
Jian did not mention the near berserker rage that had been woken in him when he saw Ilysaria under true threat.
The half-elf will walk over to the blankets once more, and, gritting his teeth and preparing for the worst, will check under them. Assuming that it is the skeleton of Simon, Jian will utter a quiet prayer for the boy's soul, then gather up the skeleton in the blanket and gently, almost reverently, carry the body in his arms and make to leave.
You are correct in your assumption, Jian. Withing the blanket is the skeleton of what looks to be a human child.
If you two wish to leave, you may do so. It will take some doing, but you could probably set the place alight as well. Do you wish to do so?