Rowan uses his 50 movement to skirt the edge of the room and get into flanking position with Ellery.
He throws off a stunning kick!
Should be another +2 for heroism.
Ellery notices that Red Destiny doesn't point to any particular place on the creature. He suspects that it doesn't have a heart.
Rowan solidly kicks the tentacle monster but doesn't seem to be affected at all, it doesn't even move from the force of the blow.
Minuscule tendrils exit the creature all over it's body which start to lap and suck up the blood around it. The mass of blood red tentacles tries to lash out at everyone but Mara. It viciously bites Theophilus, but everyone else manages to escape by dodging the clumsy attacks. Theo manages to squirm out of its embrace tearing his fine clothes.
Mara backed away from the tentacled horror and healed herself, stopping the bleeding and denying the thing further sustenance.
Dervak realizes the creature has stepped into a flank, and tries to take advantage.
He decides against trying to bite this thing.
Dervak's blade cuts at the creature deeply twice, .
Theophilus stands aghast at his tailored clothing being shredded!
The angry gentleman Misfortune Hex the durn thing!
(DC 18)
He Cackles!
Rowan takes a 5 foot step and flurries. He attempts to stun the creature again.
Ellery dodges the tentacles and takes a 5' step. He then attempts to stab the body of the creature.
Rowan's footwork is only mildly successful with his second kick landing and piercing one of its tentacle. Ellery isn't as successful and he's starting to think Red Destiny doesn't like the thing.
The creature focuses on Dervak but it's tentacles work at cross purposes, Theo is almost certain he sees a bow form briefly. The feelers having drank all the loose blood in the area retract and the creature fades from view again.
Theophilus Evil Eye Hex the bad bad creature!
He Cackles.
Now in snake style, Rowan draws his Kama and slashes at the monster.
Mara waited for the bizarre monster to reappear, so she could coat it with stardust.
Dervak continues his attack, trying to rely on his hearing to target the invisible monster.
Ellery take a 5' step and attacks where the sound seems to be coming from.
Red Destiny doesn't pull in any particular direction so Ellery relies on his own skill. Unfortunately he guesses wrong and hits nothing but air. Rowan and Dervak both cut the thing with their weapons and there is a loud thud as the creature falls to the ground, still invisible.
Dervak hacks a few more times at where he thinks the monster is, seeking to ensure that it is dead.
"Quick look for any magic that might be of use, then let's keep going. Theophilus, are you okay? Other than your jacket?"
He draws the wand of Shield and will re-activate and stow it as the party leaves this room.
Mara cast a healing spell on herself and then scanned the room for magic auras. "It's really disturbing that something like that can lurk her invisible like that," she commented.
Mara sense no magical auras and finds nothing of interest in the room.
Theophilus takes out his Wand of Cure light wounds.
Most certainly not! Look at what that foul beast did to my duds!
Mara listened at the door in the middle of the northwest wall and checked for traps. When everyone was ready, she opened it, letting someone else go through first.
Two windows have been shuttered and nailed shut, leaving this hallway dark. A marble washbasin here pours greenish water and Mara can hear the scritch-scratching of some tiny creature in the pipes that feeds it. Three doors line the western wall, while a single door can be found on the eastern wall and at the end of the hallway
"Someone doesn't like the light," Mara muttered under her breath. Using the light spell on her axe for illumination, she moved up to the nearest door,checking the door for traps, and then listening for sounds beyond.
Theophilus always offers the services of Frederick for opening doors.
The gentleman also will cast Guidance.
"It is too bad about your jacket, Theophilus, but I think you can repair it afterwards. Better than ever, once we have time. That thing paid for its offense."
---
Dervak isn't bothered by the darkness in the room.
"Do you think the Nemira-ghost-that-isn't-a-ghost is bothered by the light? That could work to our advantage."
Tiny creatures in the pipes?
Dervak listens warily to the movements of the creatures as he advances through the corridor to the doorway.
He motions Mara to step back from the doorway. "Let Frederick open it."
He activates Shield and takes up position as the door opens.
A strong smell of vinegar hangs in the air of this simple, but well-appointed bedroom. A single decapitated corpse lies on one of the two beds in this room. A large vat of vinegar sits next to one of tye beds. Mara’s suspicions are confirmed when she peers into the neck of the corpse and finds it empty of vital organs, leaving only skin muscle and bone. She surmises that this is the rest of the body of the vampire that attacked them last night.
On one of the bedside tables lay 6 empty glass phials and a notebook. The body is clad in a Mnemonic Vestment and a chain shirt. In the cabinet near a bed are two scrolls of Sepia Snake Sigil, a scroll of See Invisibility, a composite shortbow , 20 arrows, a short sword, and 329 gold.
"So this, uh, dress, it would help me know more kinds of spells?"
Dervak looks at the Vestment dubiously.
He takes the bow and arrows, and stuffs the scrolls, gold, and Vestment in the Haversack.
"Anyone need another sword? Or this armor?" He throws those in the bag as well.
He waits for the scholars to skim through the notebook.
Theo places a handkerchief to his nose. He gathers the notes, scanning the room with Detect Magic.
The only auras Theo finds are the magic items
"Anything important in that notebook? If not, we should go on to the next room."
Mara picked up the notebook and skimmed through it.
Paging through the notebook Mara feels a faint tug of memory as she recognizes Count Lowl’s handwriting. The book has details about the Count’s test subjects, including Ulver Zandelus. He speculates that Zandelus is key to discovering Neruzavin, a lost city in Casmaron which has three Star Stelae similar to those found in Thrushmoor. The last entries detail each of your names, and accurate details about race, age, weight, height and other details that Lowl’s used in administering a potent sleeping agent provided by Miacknian Munn.
Dervak moves and listens at the next door.
He waits for anybody else who wants to check (like Ellery looking for traps).
Then he re-ups his Shield spell (wand now at 44), stows the wand, and prepares for Frederick to open the door.
Mara checked the door for traps.
Theophilus casts Guidance, sending Frederick to task once given the ok.
This room is similarly appointed as the prior room. It looks like it has recently been used. Searching the room a nightstand has 1420 gold, a Pearl of Power (2nd level), and a Stone of Alarm.
"Who do you think lives in here? Another disgusting fiend? Spellcaster, maybe, because of the Pearl. And all that money? Somebody who was saving up for something."
Dervak shovels the gold and the Stone into the Haversack, then says "Mara, Theo, one of you should get the Pearl."
He moves on to the next room, trying to finish the left side of the hall before switching over.
Theo defers to Mara with a tip of his hat. He follows Dervak.
This bedroom looks like it once belonged to a child. Thick dust covers most of the furniture in the room, aside from a single wooden chair. The bed has been tightly made and looks as if it hasn’t been slept in for years. A clay mug sits next to the chair, the interior still slightly moist.
Rowan picks up the mug and gives it a tentative sniff to identify what was last in it.
Rowan is disappointed to find out that it's just water.
Mara graciously accepted the pearl of power. She told her human doll, "Look daddy, this pearl will let me recall a prayer that I've already used! Isn't that amazing?"
She looked around the bedroom and mused, "I wonder if the child died young, and that's why the room has been preserved. Do you think whoever was sitting here is the parent?"
She looked at the furnishings for any clues as to the child's identity.
A single drawing done by a child shows a dark void piercing a number of people's chest with dark tendrils can be found under the bed. It's signed in childish script, Haserton.
Dervak was at first saddened by the thought of a child dying young, but upon seeing the artwork his mood turns angry...
"Hasterton! Count Lowls' room when he was a boy."
The sadness comes back - "I suppose whatever demon has a hold on him began its work early - maybe Nemira or his father were involved. The children paying for the sins of the parents..."
Before swinging back to anger. "He was not damned by their actions. He could have tried to choose a different path! Sought help and redemption. But he chose to give in to the corruption!"
"I don't know. Maybe his demon was too strong."
He looks at the chair a bit. "We can investigate the mysteries of the chair and water mug later."
He listens at the door across the hall and checks it for traps.
Then he re-ups Shield (now at 43) and waits for Frederick to open the door.
Ellery simply shakes his head at the impatient orcs and follows along. Assisting in searching rooms and trusting in his trap sense to tingle if there is one nearby.
This room is decorated in a pseudo-Qadiran style, with intricate patterns carved in the wood paneling. A sumptuous four-poster bed with a minaret-like canopy sits against the southeastern wall. The furniture includes an ebony writing desk and a large, L-shaped armoire.
Theo is drawn to the armoire, but finds that is rather grimy and disorganized but contains an eclectic collection of expensive clothing-an ample cloak, a fur coat, an Qadiran styled frock, a couple of silk turbans, a wide-brimmed hat, and a half-dozen shirts with lace-trimmed collars and sleeves. Theo immediately recognizes that he’s made some of the articles of clothing collected here.
In the pocket of a worn-out greatcoat, hanging from a peg near the door, is a folded piece of parchment-a permit to visit Ulver Zandalus at Briarstone Asylum issued by Administrator Losandro.
On the writing desk lies a number of disorderly stacks of handwritten notes, drafted by Lowls. He describes his discovery of a ritual that allows his mind to travel to the Dimension of Dreams while his physical body remains in the real world.
Many of the notes describe his dream journeys. One in particular stands out, ”I brought the requisite offerings to the Mad Poet but as I suspected it was not enough. I offered him my servants; Dervak, Mara, Theophilus, Ellery, Julius, and Rowan; and he bade me to drown them in the oasis. The sacrifice of their minds put them into a fugue state, but they lived, unable to remember their lives or react to outside stimuli. Once the deed was done he told me to seek a book called the Necronomicon. With this dream journey complete I turned my servant’s bodies over to Losandro according to our agreement.”
Reading the final triggers a brief flash of memory of traveling a dreamlike desert and meeting with this Mad Poet.
A single door lies to the south.
Theophilus marvels at the clothing.
Look at the stitching. Each thread a tiny stream; meandering lazily through the fabric, creating a continuous contract of companionship.
He winks at each member of their group.
He casts Guidance, as they continue.
Dervak fumes.
"They think I am a piece of merchandise, to be traded and sold! The wizard Savin, that alien THING in the cellar, Lowls."
The flash of memory startles him and he is lost in thought for a moment. "So empty..."
"This Mad Poet, did it think it was a god wanting a sacrifice? I think it is no god. And monsters from the Dimension of Dreams can be killed, we know that now."
He looks over the clothes. "Your work, Theophilus? Most of it not my style, but well made. A better job in the Count's employ than I had. If I ever need to look the part of a decent gentleman I know who to ask for help."
Mara speculated, "Could it be Nemira who was here recently? But that would mean she could take corporeal form." She carefully stowed the drawing in her pack, taking care not to damage it. Perhaps it could prove useful in dealing with the boy's mother.
Mara looked around the master bedroom, before inspecting the door on the southern wall.