A large number of planks of wood, rope, and other repair supplies are stored here. The ceiling above sags noticeably; in several areas patches of the sky above are visible. Dozens of ceramic urns and metal pots sit on the floor below to catch leaks.
Each of these rooms is stacked with old furniture, sheets and linens, boxes and crates, and other bits. Nothing of value can be found here.
The ceiling of this room angles down steeply, leaving only four feet of headroom to the southeast. A low cot and a dresser are the room’s only furnishings.
As you round the corner past this door, a sudden and unmistakable shriek of pain echoes through the attic, emanating from the door .
Wyam's eyes widen and he bolts down the hallway to the room with the echoing shriek of pain.
"Come on, hurry!"
"Careful, it may be another Haunting." Spectrum said, moving behind Wyam.
"At least try to be cautious," Isme says dryly before flapping over to follow.
The door is cruelly locked!
Yet with a single deft twitch of her beak, Isme jimmys the lock open perfectly
This room is cold and damp; a few crates sit near the north wall. The ceiling slopes down to only four feet high to the northeast, leaving little room for a small window, while to the southeast, a mold-encrusted pillar of brick marks the passage of a chimney. A full-size mirror in a dark wooden frame of coiling roses leans against these bricks, angled toward the tiny window.
Cowering in front of the mirror, half-wrapped in a filthy white sheet, lies a shambling living corpse with fingers of sharpened bone. Its barely-remaining long hair and lumpy form reveals it was once a woman; it leis on the floor, hands clasped over its face, alternating between staring in horror at its own appearance in the mirror and weeping.
Wyam's divine vision detects a creature of evil composition.
Wyam stopped short. His mind racing momentarily as he recognized the revenant.
Wyam recognizes a revenant, a corpse that rises from the grave fueled by hatred and vengeance, driven to hunt and kill its murderer. It has a supernatural ability to track its target, and can be dissuaded only by its own reflection or objects important to it in its previous life, overwhelming it with self-pity.
Isme waits to see what Wyam will do.
Isme's keen eyes and local knowledge pick out enough details to realize that the revenant bares a strong resemblance to Iesha, wife of Aldern Foxglove. She was last head of when Aldern said that she was away visitng friends in distant Absalom.
"That's Iesha Foxglove," Isme whispers. "Aldern's wife.She was the last heard of when Aldern said she was away visiting friends in distant Absalom. Aldern... hm."
Wyam nodded slowly at Isme, not turning his gaze away from the revenant. "And so it would seem she has become a revenant. A dangerous undead, but mostly only to those who the revenant hunts. Somehow it knows where its murderer is and seeks to slay them. It will be destroyed should it find and slay its killer. It is helpless now, weakened when it sees its own reflection or something it cared about in life."
Wyam hesitated, torn as to what to do next.
"I am not sworn by the duties of Iomadae to slay this creature... freeing it and following after would lead us to its killer, but it would also become much harder to stop then, and we might never know the truth of the matter. On the other hand stopping it now would be but a swift task."
"Would it not return to animated life if destroyed? Or would destroying it free it from torment?"
"I'm mostly curious as to the identity of her killer."
Wyam shook his head. "It is not like a ghost or a lich, if destroyed, it would be done for good."
"Releasing it from the mirror would allow us to follow her to the location of her killer?"
"An interesting idea. Dangerous, but if we hide ourselves beforehand it may be single minded enough not to notice us."
"Wyam, go mount your horse. Glimmer will go with you for communication. When she reports that you are in position, I will cover the mirror and follow the Revenant's pursuit. Array and Isme will scout from above to ensure we do not lose track of it. We will follow behind."
"Does this plan suit you?"
Isme shrugs. "Good enough for me."
"Assuming the murderer is not, in fact, in here somewhere at the moment, yes. But we all have to take risks sometimes. I'll heed your plan this time." With that, Wyam turns and starts to quickly make his way back down the hallway
Glimmer went with him.
Array moved to the nearest window and opened it, ready to do his part if the Revenant began to leave the house.
Spectrum moved to the side of the mirror and cast Vanish. Then, he dropped his cloak over the mirror to break the creature's view of itself.
Wyam leaves the room, and heads downstairs to the hallway to head past and retrieve his mount.
Wyam fails to spot a subtle flame; suddenly it flares and he turns. The stuffed manticore lurches to sudden life, its face shifting to resemble Cyralie Foxglove, its fur erupting into flame. Its fiery tail strikes at Wyam.
As quickly as it awakes and strikes, it shifts into stillness again.
Wyam gritted his teeth against the flames, a faint holy light surging up around him helped further shield him from the fire.
The fire kicks up around Wyam, but his holy force enables him to fight off the worst of it.
Normally Wyam wouldn't be in the camp of breaking something that wasn't his, in this case he wanted to. But potential timing restraints held him back. Hoping the dangerous haunt wouldn't rejuvinate in short ordern he moved past to reach his horse.
Opening the door and heading out into the coastal air, Wyam gets a shiver down his spine. He looks around, and spots the remains of the servants' quarters, stone walls still sticking into the air. Atop them now sit ravens. Hundreds and thousands of them, covering every inch of the ruins. All of them to a bird staring at Wyam, eyes fixed, silent and still.
Wyam stares shaking his head. "This can't be real. There's too many..."
Wyam marched forward to the far too large murder of crows, intent on dispelling this haunt.
Wyam moves forward towards the ruins, intent to dispel this vile haunting deception. The birds shift, spotting his movement... and fly straight at him.
Disregarding the distraction of the swarm, Wyam summons golden light in an explosion which scorches the entire swarm, scattering thousands of raven bodies to the ground. On close inspection, many of the ravens have bits of feather and flesh buzzing around them which fall silent, and eyes no less lifeless after the blast of energy.
Wyam retrieves his mount.
Wyam felt the last of his healing energies leave him as the haunt was dispelled. He breathed heavily as he pulled himself up on Fearghus's saddle. Although the haunts were dispelled for now, the pains of dealing with the haunts did not.
The multitude of wounds from the crows had left a great deal of bleeding wounds all over his nody in addition to the burn wounds from the manticore. He wasn't sure he had the stamina to contine this sort of punishment much longer. Pulling out his holy symbol of Iomadae he willed the power of his goddess to replenish his own power.
After several seconds white light filled the symbol and tranfered over to him. He then called on that energy to heal his wounds.
Fetching his mount, Wyam mounts up and readies himself along the thin manor path for the revenant's arrival. In the attic, Spectrum sees his signal, goes invisible then covers the mirror. The creature looks up as a moment of human emotion crosses its face- gratitude and shame- before inhuman rage and hatred consumes it. Her mouth opens far too wide, tearing her dead skin apart partially as a cry emanates forth- "ALDERN! I CAN SMELL YUOR FEAR! I'LL BE IN YOUR ARMS SOON!"
Iesha moves through the house as Spectrum follows, Wyam waiting outside to continue pursuit. She heads down the stairs to the upper floor, then down further to the rear of the stuffed manticore. Instead of heading for the front door, her long-nailed fingers claw open another door, and she descends a staircase down deeper into the house.
They went into a basement. Come on! Glimmer said to Wyam, relaying Array's message telepathically.
Spectrum followed the Revenant, Array moving with him.
He stopped at the dark staircase to conjure a number of small glowing orbs to light his way.
The armored paladin huffs and puffs, Spectrum summons lights to see by as the creature tears down the basement door. The wizard and his flying companions descend deep, a few steps behind her; they find her at a locked door, in the process of tearing it open.
Taking the delay as an opportunity, Spectrum cast a spell to accelerate his movement.
Isme waits, perching on something nearby.
The revenant tears down the door and disappears inside; it turns and opens another door, heading down a staircase.
This room looks to have once been some sort of arcane workshop, although little remains but broken glassware, shattered jars of pottery that contain dust and mold, and several rusty instruments and tools. A row of soggy books sits on the northern end of a workbench along the western wall. At the other end of the workbench, what looks like three iron birdcages sit, each containing a dead diseased rat. To the east, two stained-glass windows loom. The northern window depicts a thin man with gaunt features drinking a foul-looking brew of green fluid, while the southern one shows the same man but in an advanced state of decay, as if he had been dead for several weeks. His arms raised and head thrown back in triumph, his rotting body turns to smoke and spirals into a seven-sided box.
Isme glances around the room quickly, searching for any immediate danges as they follow after the revenant. Her first thought is a necromantic workshop. Her gaze catches the movement in the windows and she immediately warns Spectrum in terse words. "Movement in windows, possibly a haunt. Wait for Wyam or continue following, facing it ourselves—either way, delayed. Suggest wait."
The book titles and window are unhelpful; it will require a more precise examination before Isme can determine anything.
Spectrum stops, waiting on the stairs for Wyam. "We wait."
Wyam catches up.
Huffing, Wyam rounded the corner as he caught up to the others.
"Thanks for waiting... those Dragons are really handy, Spectrum. We have to keep moving. When the haunt activates... just keep running."
He then took to the front and moved into the room.
Glimmer landed on Spectrum's shoulder and puffed out her chest.
I'm handy!
Entering the room, Wyam suddenly feels a supernatural urge to cross the room and read the books on the workbench.