Vael looks to Tulia. "Ken ye circle tha area from above? Hopefully thar's nae locals around. I dinna think it's safe."
She nods, then takes flight.
Tulia comes back after a few laps above, and confirms that there's no one around.
Ham strides up and enters the front doors
Ushyle follows closely behind the hunter Ranger.
Vael keeps about 10ft back from Ham.
Doxon will take up the rear.
Hamilton simply strides up to the door and opens it. You weren't sure what to expect, but it's a let down when you open it up. There's a hallway running the length of the building. It ends in a T-intersection. To your right are a pair of double doors, and slightly further on the left is a single door.
Ham moves to the double doors, stealthfully...
Stealth:
and listens at the door
Perception:
The only sound is of you and your friends.
Two rows of scorched, wrought-iron bedframes take up most of the space in this soaring chamber, resting between a fireblackened altar to the southwest and double doors to the northeast. A second set of double doors leads to the northwest, and a single iron door exits the chamber to the southeast. Brightly colored holy figures stare down from the stained-glass windows built into the blackened stone walls, their visages noticeably less damaged than the rest of the room.
Ham moves to the alter and examines it. The top, behind it and underneath.
Ushyle shrugs at Whistle Pig's question, moving along the north wall as ham moves into the center of the room.
Vael moves just inside the room. He notes the stained-glass window. "I wonder..."
The dwarf utters a brief, gutteral chant and makes a few twitching gestures. His eyes go pitch black and his brow creases in concentration as he looks around.
Doxon will examine the windows and the alter, trying to identify their significance.
Though the priests fought valiantly, the church was burned to the ground almost immediately by the rampaging orcs, and all three of its residents were slain. The church stood as a burned-out husk for decades, then 50 years ago was hastily reconstructed as a place
to hold those afflicted by a plague sweeping the town. Though removing the sick from inside the town walls doubtlessly saved many, the plague house burned down in a mysterious fire only a few nights after its completion, taking with it a score of patients and healers. Whether the fire was an accident or the work of an arsonist attempting to stop the plague for good, no one knows, but no one ever proposed building on the site again.
Today, the site—known as both the Burned Church and the Plague House—is left alone, save for the occasional children’s dare to stand in the center of the blackened beams at sunset. However, lights have recently been seen moving about in the church at night, but even the best trackers unable to find any evidence of tracks there the following morning. The whole town buzzes with wild speculation
after each new sighting.
The party carefully makes their way into the room. Hamilton heads to the altar and gives it a thorough look (it's 1 square really so I'll give you the Take 20.) He doesn't find anything except dust, and that funny feeling you get in the moment the light goes out at night....
Ushyle looks high and low, including the floor under the beds. He finds silver coins scattered about, a little more than 50. He also finds a gold locket in the corner just a little past Hamilton. Finally he spies a hopeknife....
And that's not all. The bed closest to Ushyle is placed over a rather poorly hidden trap door.
Meanwhile Doxon struggles to remember the details of the church, but Vael fills him in....
Ushyle more or less ignores the coin (though he can make a fairly good estimate of the count; he works for the Countinghouse, after all) as soon as he sees the hopeknife, which he moves to pick up at once. He also points out the trap door to his companions. Ham, check this out, he notes, recalling the ranger's hunting prowess. Not very discreet.
Ushyle and Hamilton alike detect the stench of burning flesh. It grows like a fire in your nostrils.
The Plague House IS haunted!!!!
Ushyle: TBD
Hamilton: TBD
(LLV)
(Darkvision 60')
(Darkvision 60')
---> (LLV, Scent)
(Darkvision 60')
Ushyle reels at the scent, whirling about to try to find out who's on fire. He doesn't see any of his companions aflame, so he checks himself — still no fire.
Raen's curiosity is piqued as well by the hopeknife--but more so by the locket. She moves to see who it belongs to
The two who smell the burned flesh can do nothing to prevent the horrors that follow. The burnt corpses of plague victims appear on the bed-frames, The all sit up simultaneously and begin to scream. The sounds are horrid as ash spills from their mouths and the roar of fire gives their burning throats a popping sound as they die all over again....
Will saves DC 14.
You keep your insides on the insides, and stand your ground. The horror still hits you, and you are shaken for the next 6 seconds.
Ushyle sees the victims on their beds and memories of that fateful day after arriving in Trunau — the day the kindly couple who had taken him in were slaughtered by an orc raid — come flooding back.
He drops the hopeknife he had picked up and dashes from the room, his face buried in his hands. Nothing else enters his mind but to run, run like he did when he was eleven — memories long buried, but now all too vividly returned in full.
Raen backs away from the fire as speedily as she can. Impossible! But before her eyes is the burning face of Rossier, a dagger still in his belly. His eyes lock with hers. His mouth opens, to scream or shout she will never know. She runs.
Vael sees the burnt corpses and is awash with fear. "I... I..." he whispers, shaking his head. The moment they spew ash and fire he realizes that he will join them if he doesn't leave. He runs for it, heading out the front.
Tulia follows her master, racing ahead of the slower dwarf.
The haunt effects everyone:
Raen: Fail
Ushyle: Fail
Vael: Fail
Tulia: Fail
Whistle Pig: PASS
Doxon: TBD
Hamilton: TBD
Will Save:
Stand your ground!
Most of the party flees for half a minute, running out the way they came. The three remaining stand their ground, but the haunt is out of the way for now.
There's no way to tell when the energy of the haunt will recharge. For now though, you're free to return to your investigation into Rodrick's death.
Vael slinks back and pokes his head back in. Seeing Hamilton and Whistle Pig bravely standing their ground, he says, "Ye... ye've got balls. I was sure we were all goin' ta burn."
He looks around for a moment. "I see nae more damage than thar already was. Nae more fire and ash. Strange magic. Tha spirits here be restless. I dinna like it."
Finally, the dwarf makes himself useful and collects up the valuables found (silver coins, locket). "Ushyle, ye looked at that hopeknife. Be thar an engravin' on it?"
Ham moves to the trap door, pushes the bed aside and opens the hatch.
As Whistle Pig asks about what just hapened, Hamilton opens the trap door to a ladder heading about 20' down.
This ladder has seena lot of recent use. There's no dust and recent boot marks.
Embedded into the floor of this chamber is a ten-foot-diameter granite emblem of a faded gold and white longsword. Four passages lead out of the chamber in different directions. A portcullis blocks the southern exit, and a sturdy wooden door leads west. A ladder in the southern corner of the room leads upward, and a small chest and decrepit bookshelf face one another from opposite walls.
At the moment, the room is devoid of creatures.
Vael takes a look at the locket. There's nothing personalized on it, and it looks like it's worth about 45 gold. Th hopeknife is ornate, and there too is nothing personal on it, Vael thinks he could get 100 Gp. There are 65 Silver coins.
Survival:
There's no dust on this ladder and boot-prints. We're not the only ones who have been down here recently. Look sharp everyone, and stay quiet.
Vael takes a look at the locket. There's nothing personalized on it, and it looks like it's worth about 45 gold. Th hopeknife is ornate, and there too is nothing personal on it, Vael thinks he could get 100 Gp. There are 65 Silver coins.
Ham skulks to the portcullis and gazes down the passage through the bars.
Stealth:
Perception (if needed):
If it's TOO dark, Ham will crack a sunrod, but if there's ambient light, he'd prefer not to.
"Maybe we shou' make sure thar nae dangers up top fi..." Vael starts, then sees Hamilton descend. He shrugs, then adds, "Or let's git down below and nae waste any time."
He'll descend after Hamilton, using his dwarven ability to see in the dark if needed.
Indeed, beyond the hushed ambient light from above, there is little light down here. There is a level near the portcullis. Hamilton hears nothing beyond though.
Vael can see the ends of the hallway, but nothing else after the briefest of looks.
The big sword painted on the floor is the symbol of Iomedae.
Religion:
Can I pick up any sort of trail? Survival is +5. If Orcs are involved, more.
Hamilton detects some recent footwork in here. Someone wears cheap boots, they leave scuff marks. There's also another set. It's harder to pick out exactly, but whatever it is it's barefoot. There's a hint of dried mud in places where it stepped.
Doxon hustles back into the house after everyone, slightly embarrassed for his departure. Seeing everyone descending, Doxon follows.
"I recognize that symbol on tha floor. Iomedae. Nae real surprise. This must have been tha underground portion of tha old church. Buind ta be a crypt or somethin' nearby," Vael pauses. He pulls out his warhammer from the noose that keeps it by his side. "And with this place bein' haunted by tha spirits of tha past, beware tha walkin' dead."
Red-faced, the half-orc returns to the scene, silent but angry at himself for running away.
=======================
Advantaged with darkvision, Ushyle looks first down the hall with the portcullis, then, if nothing interesting of note, moves on to the hall near Whistle Pig.