As the last enemy falls an eerie quiet falls over the manor grounds.
Theophilus puts both fists out; ol'school boxer-style, and begins circling the immediate grounds.
Put'em up. Put'em up.
Ant-thony joins him.
From the bodies you find four potions of cure moderate wounds, two breastplates, two masterword battleaxes, two potion of vanish, two +1 chain shirts, four masterwork daggers, three masterwork rapiers, four sets of fine clothing and jewelry worth 400 gp (Theo can repair the rips and tears from combat easily, or mending would work), several three armed triskelions which the cultists were using as unholy symbols. Asa had a mithral shirt on him. Daelene had a wand of scorching ray (13 charges), a ring of protection +1, and an amulet of natural armor +1. Daelene also had a key that doesn’t match any of the keys you’ve collected so far.
Mara checked to see if any of the fallen enemies were still alive.
"We should check the building that the kuru came out of," she suggested.
Theo waves goodbye to Ant-thony. The gentleman does seem to be distraught over viewing the ruined garmets.
Moving past the carriage house and stable the party goes to the building the Kuru appeared from. Long tables covered with various utensils and food line two of the walls of this large kitchen. A fire crackles in the massive stone hearth. The kitchen is a disaster. A pile of nearly spoiled horse meat sits on the southeastern worktable, and the room smells like something else has gone bad long ago. A flight of stairs lead upwards and a door leads to another room on the western wall.
Ellery finds a trap door in the northeastern corner.
Mara checked the trap door for... traps!
Theophilus waves at the door.
Frederick, just excels at opening doors.
Seeing no traps on the trap door Frederick opens the door. After descending down a 10 foot ladder the party finds a bitterly cold room with walls clad with raw wooden boards. Many blocks of hazy ice and wooden crates of various sizes are stacked near the walls. A single locked door lies to the south.
Appears to be a suspicious door! Stand back, my friends!
The (over)excited gentleman casts Detect Magic.
He then searches it for traps.
Guidance.
The White Rabbit begins to assist; but he stops, shaking and giggling.
Theo finds no traps but does detect an abjuration aura. At the door's threshold Ellery sees the tell tale sparkle of diamond dust, he's sure it's trapped.
Clutching her human doll, Mara implored, "Daddy, help Ellery disarm the trap!"
Ellery pulls out a tool and begins working on trying to disarm the trap.
dice=Disable Device, Trapfinding, MW Thieves' Tool, Guidance]1d20+13+3+2+1[/dice]
Ellery pulls out a tool and begins working on trying to disarm the trap.
Ellery takes some tools and tries to carefully mar the invisible marking that compose the magical trap. After about 30 seconds he realizes he's just chipping away at the door. Theo sees no change in the magic aura.
Mara re-cast her Guidance spell on Ellery, so he could have another try at disarming the trap. Having done so, she did stand back in case something went wrong.
Ellery takes a deep breath and gets back to it
Taking 10: When your character is not in immediate danger or distracted, you may choose to take 10. Instead of rolling 1d20 for the skill check, calculate your result as if you had rolled a 10. For many routine tasks, taking 10 makes them automatically successful. Distractions or threats (such as combat) make it impossible for a character to take 10. In most cases, taking 10 is purely a safety measure—you know (or expect) that an average roll will succeed but fear that a poor roll might fail, so you elect to settle for the average roll (a 10). Taking 10 is especially useful in situations where a particularly high roll wouldn't help.
With slow and steady work Ellery removes the glyph warding the door. Theo confirms this seeing only a lingering aura. Ellery easily pops the lock after spending a little time with it.
"Frederick, can you open the door please," Mara asked. She wasn't sure that Theo's unseen servant could understand her, but thought it best to humor the mad hatter.
Theophilus bows to Mara.
Frederick, open that door, my good man.
Theophilus casts Guidance.
Dervak follows along, ready to go through a door when requested.
After a short hallway the party sees an underground storage room that is furnished with two large wooden shelves on the west and east walls. They hold many small chests, caskets, and several loose objects. In the middle of the floor lies a wooden coffin. In the room is a black-clad figure with a pale, puffy face from which its yellow irised eyes glare with equal parts intensity and insanity.
No one has a clue as to what this obviously supernatural being might be. It turns to you expressionless and says with a ragged voice, "Have you found the Yellow Sign?"
Dervak is hesitant about striking first, not knowing what this creature is. However, he readies to attack if it comes within reach.
"No. Who are you? What do you want? Stay back."
Dervak also takes a 5' step, so if it comes to attack us, we can get more attacks on it (rather than Dervak blocking the doorway).
The man in black approaches silently but not close enough for Dervak to strike him. The man's unblinking guise makes you anxious. Dervak starts to feel the pressure from both within and without; his hands start to shake.
The man’s eyes flash and all of Dervak’s doubts and insecurities are ever present in his mind. Every time he’s failed or let the Whisper take over is fresh and ready to be re-lived.
Ellery assuming the others will want to talk to the creature takes a 5' step next to Theo but follows Dervak's lead and readies an attack in case it gets too close.
Having noticed the fear aura from the fella, Theophilus frowns.
Not a nice thing to try!
Theo Evil Eyes him (-2 Saves).
He Cackles.
Mara came forward to talk to the creature, trying to get some idea of its motivation. "Hello, my name is Mara. I am unfamiliar with the 'yellow sign'; can you tell me more about it?"
When Theo attempts to invade the mind of the Man in Black all he sees is the man's yellow eyes staring back at him, blocking the attempt.
The man does not respond to Mara, he just sits there unflinching and continues to block the hallway.
Theophilus looks down at the White Rabbit.
The White Rabbit shrugs.
Theo rolls up his sleeves.
He Cackles.
Theophilus seems excited.
Rowan enters snake style and draws his Cold iron Kama. He readies a flurry in case the creature comes within range.
The strange man's eyes flash again and oily tendrils of darkness slither across the floor and through the air. Snuffing out any carried light sources returning it back to the unlit darkness of the cellar. The party is engulfed as he steps forward. Dervak and Mara can still clearly see in the darkness thanks to their mixed heritage but the rest of the group is effectively blind. He continues to block the hallway saying nothing more.
No one has a clue what it was other than some form of magical darkness.
"Pull back!", Mara cried, moving away a few feet. "The darkness doesn't extend very far — I'm out of it now."
"NO! Kill it now!"
Dervak casts Long Arm.
Panic overtook Mara as her light went out. She prayed desperately to the Heavens Spirits, and touched her axe, causing a blazing light to replace the weaker light spell on it previously.
Mara's effulgent light burns away the darkness, the man locks eyes with Mara and she can see the slightest hint of a smile on his face.
Again the man denies Theo's curse.
Suddenly being able to see again, Rowan slips past Mara and attacks the apparition.
If 17 hits, Rowan will use drunken strength.
Rowan lands his punch against the unarmored man, it feels like he's punching a bag full of sawdust. The man doesn't flinch.