In response to Castiel's words, Rholf replies "Those things are ever upon me, good paladin. However, I do not wish to be taken unawares by more physical threats, either."
"Could be ghosts, could be actual people in actual pain. Either way it merits investigation." Myron nods at Castiel and Rholf. "Lead on. I'll follow right behind - and let me open all and any doors we encounter, just in case they are trapped or unsound."
The doors are open......can't see anything from your angle yet; who does what?.....
Rholf strides forward , and looks through the door across the room to see what he can see. After that, he leans around the corner, glancing through the door(s) behind him .
Perception :
Perception :
Rholf;
(you're able to glance down that one hallway before the doors slam)
Below the four interior doors, smoke oozes under the crack. And the smell of burning meat wafts in. Everybody breaks a sweat, for the room itsself feels suddenly too warm.;
IF you decide your character has entered the first room, read the above spoiler along with your comrade Rholf.
If not, state your position (i.e. outside; don't need specific squares or anything), and read the below spoiler;
Edwin spins at the sound, his eyes flicking from door to door.
"Well. THIS can't be good,..." He murmurs unnecessarily as he thinks rapidly.
Edwin looks about the room calmly. Whether a physical trap or a ghostly haunting, there should be something that triggered this, if he can just spot it,...
There is no. Appreciable. Physical. Trigger.
No wires, no nothing; you're absolutely certain you're not missing anything.
The doors slammed at the behest of......let's call it.....magic.
Alinya enters with Edwin and Rholf. "Oh dear!"
Nigel enters as well.
"by Pharasma's Throne!"
"Either someone has spent a lot of time preparing some clever illusions to dissuade adventurers, or there are loads of ghosts here. My guess is illusion." Rholf sounds matter of fact as he says this, lowering his shield and scimitar, though he doesn't sheath the weapon.
I'm guessing everybody's in there; don't want to wait 3 days or whatever......
whelp, you hear more b$+~~ing and moaning from behind all four inner doors, which have slammed shut. Wafts of smoke are issuing into the room; kinda stinky like burning flesh, but as of yet anyway, nothing damaging is occurring...
Your move.
"Oh I do hope you are right Rholf. Really, either ghosts or illusions is far preferable to actually being burnt alive. It does seem possible that this is some sort of ghostly echo of previous events. The question is, what do we do? Can't exactly throw holy water on a ghostly rise in temperature..."
Alinya starts to fan herself with a clean white hand-kerchief produced from her sleeve.
Look up at the wooden beams of the ceiling; they're not aflame but.....you see that flickering that you see on asphalt in the desert....
Startled by the slamming doors, Larissa jumps and spins around. Seeing everyone else reacting fairly calmly, she makes an effort to steel herself and catch her breath.
Once she's done so, she goes to the door where the inmates seemed to burst into flame and puts her hand to it to see if it feels noticeably hot to the touch.
There is some detritis here and there that shows evidence of a fire, but the room itsself doesn't display any.
For an instant, the door feels as if Larissa touched a burning hot frying pan.
Then, nothing; it feels normal. And she does NOT have a 2nd degree burn on her hand.
"Interesting. An illusion? Or some ghostly effect? Something we can see, hear, feel, even... ugh, smell."
Knowledge (religion)
Something more than an illusion, and perhaps THAT which ILLUSION MAGIC taps in order to work,....and yet something less than a ghost...aye, it is something of a manifestation of sorts though.
"Not a physical trap, nor an activated spell, nor a direct manifestation of a spiritual entity,... but almost like,... an echo of the past? Wait. Wait! I know this! I've heard of this, somewhere,..." Edwin mutters, actually digging the heel of his hand into his forehead as if to help jog loose the memory.
that's.....13 hours from now...
"Ghosts. Spirits," the paladin mutters, looking about warily.
"Interesting. Just in case the fires become more real over time and we need to make a quick escape..." Myron walks back to the door, inserts his greatsword between the door and the frame and shoves, testing the structural integrity of the construction.
"The door - it's not really hot, so I don't think there's any real fire. More of a trick on our minds."
"Ghosts. Spirits," the paladin mutters, looking about warily.
"Interesting. Just in case the fires become more real over time and we need to make a quick escape..." Myron walks back to the door, inserts his greatsword between the door and the frame and shoves, testing the structural integrity of the construction.
He kinda gets the tip of the sword wedged in there finally; the door is solid, though, and anything but a perfunctory prying might snap his steel.
"The door - it's not really hot, so I don't think there's any real fire. More of a trick on our minds."
You hear popping embers above, and the spirits whisper in your ears;
"Meh. Nice and solid - we might need to chop it down with axes. Unless someone brought a battering ram?" Myron looks the party over. "Didn't think so. Let me check the mechanism first..."
Myron can't get it open with the lock.
For him, too, the door key panel feels iron-hot for an instant, then the sensation goes away.
Nigel looks over at Myron
"I might not have brought a battering ram, but I do have my faithful servant Azulzu. Perhaps he can batter the door down?"
Roll the bones if it suits your fancy...
“Come forward spirits,” Castiel calls, standing proudly in the centre of the room. “Tell us what you want from us or leave us in peace!”
Nothing changes; still the moaning, and the smoke slowly seeping into the entry hall...
Castiel tries to remember his exorcist training for the best way to deal with haunts.
Castiel tries to remember his exorcist training for the best way to deal with haunts.
Castiel doesn't remember too much; he hated that class. The teacher was a scrawny little pencil neck with a dweeby handlebar moustache that always had a bit of scrambled egg in it, who got peeved over ending sentences in prepositions, which was exceedingly annoying since he was supposed to be an occult combat instructer and not a grammarian at.
Thanks again – for nothing Father Myers, Castiel thinks.
Rholf approaches the door Larissa has been inspecting, channels positive energy, then tries to open the door.
Channel:
There's a flash of light, and.....any and all smells, sounds, moaning, smoke, whatever, are instantly gone. The place is merely an abandoned building again.
Rholf tries the door, and though stiff due to settling and lack of WD-40 oil, it nonetheless opens easily, and by easily, I mean without the irritation of a die roll.....
50 exp each!
“Ah, that’s right, channelling,” mutters Castiel. He claps Rholf on the back. “Well done Father Kastigarr.”
He peers down the corridor. “This seems as good a way as any ... shall we continue?”
The door on the left, correct?....
There's a ten foot wide hall that goes 30 feet then angles north; doors 1 and 2 are on the north, and doors 3 and 4 are on the west of the square they are indicated in.
Nothing stirs the dust of many decades' abandonment here.
"Yes, I knew I had heard of this before!" Edwin cries even as the good priest disperses the fiery images with a burst of holy energy.
"And that was it, exactly. It was a Haunt. Not a ghost or spirit of any one person, but the ectoplasmic energy given form by the pain of the dying. They can range from annoying to deadly, but are susceptible to the channeled energy of a priest."
"Ah well, at least now we know. My limited knowledge on the subject would seem to indicate that such manifestations are rarely limited to a single occurrence. A heightened level of alertness is warranted."
Edwin gives a wan smile at the blank looks he receives, and rephrases his statement.
"Where there is one Haunt, there are usually multiple others. Stay alert. It is said that they can be avoided entirely if one is highly observant, and reacts quickly enough."
He moves through the door with the others, looking carefully,...
Alright, at least he's looking,... ;P
Aye; he can detect nothing untoward. What would be untoward here, I can't say, but he doesn't see it.
In this new hall of doors,......Larissa's little buddies seem to calm down a lot. They're not making her hair wriggle at the moment.