Gaarm stands brushing the dirt from his cloak and rubbing his sore rearend. Yes, lets find these tricksters Gaarm walks through the western door with his greatsword drawn.
Gaarm enters a decrepit hallway. The carpet is burned in places and moldy in others. Looking inside each of the room to his left, he finds that these were small offices that were each dedicated to handling one of several key aspects of the prison’s operations, such as prisoner files, income, supplies, scheduling, repair requests, and so on.
Consulting with the group, it is believed that with eight hours of work, the surviving paperwork in these offices can be organized into a central repository that can be used to research Harrowstone or the prisoners (although, obviously, no information from after the fire can be found here).
Phyton peers with interest at the files, flipping through some at random spots. "This could be a trove of information. Shall we spend some time organinizing it after we finish our exploration?"
Hmmm ... That it may. Good call Phyton
Gaarm looks in all of the offices for something useful before moving on and peeking in the two western doors of the hallway.
"Maybe take some of this with us already...just in case we need to make a hasty retreat later and we don't have time to get back here?"
(not sure how much paper work there is..trying to at least take some prisoner files with me)
The door to the left at the end of the hallway leads to a spacious room that smells of mildew and rot. A long desk and chair sit to the south, while to the northwest a narrow alcove contains a closed safe. Thick layers of dust cover everything in sight.
It appears to the Warden's Office and you feel a sense of peace in here. You hadn't quite realized the physical toll that the necromantic energies of the prison had on your bodies until you entered the Warden's Office, but it seems that this area is safe from them.
---
A quick look in the other door shows a sink filled with brown mold and a rotted wood door leading to a toilet. Gaarm hears whispering in his head.
The door creaks open as it blown by the wind.
Sir Thomas detects the room for evil and magic.
He searches the office as well looking for any clues or items that may be of assistance.
He avoids the bathroom and the smell of mold, at least for now.
Sir Thomas sees nothing of value outside of the safe in the Warden's Office and there are no magical auras or evil auras (aside from the massive evil aura that permeates the prison).
Naxx that is a lot of paperwork. It would take us hours to even begin to organize it.
Gaarm shakes his head at the voices and returns to the wardens room. I just had another door blow open on me... Looking around the wardens office Gaarm begins to feel at ease. You know this room feels different than the rest. Like a room we might be able to calm and reorganize ourselves if we run into too much trouble. Whats in the safe?
The safe is locked.
"I don't know, it's locked. Anyone good with opening saves?"
Perhaps we could take it with us when we leave this place, best to leave it here for now. Sir Thomas will continue exploring the ground floor. He will explore to the west first unless there are any objections.
Gaarm grasps the door of the safe, but to no avail. Yes better to just take it with us later.
Showing the rest of his companions the next room. I heard a voice in this room about returning to my "throne".
Surely they don't mean the toilet.
"I have no skill with locks. The most I could offer would be to assault the locking mechanism with conjured acid, in the hope of burning away the latchings."
Naxx ponders Phyton's words
"I can't come up with a better course of action, other then try to find the "normal" way of opening it..but that would mean we need to be very careful that the acid doesn't eat through the safe's contents as well"
Sir Thomas pushes the group into exploring through the door and to the left. The group of adventurers sees an iron door with a large lock, but the door is slightly ajar.
Peeking inside the room, Gaarm and Sir Thomas sees a stark room that contains a low stone bench against the north wall and a ruined desk to the west that sits under three narrow, barred windows. An old brass brazier lies on its side to the south, surrounded by several rusty branding irons.
Phyton moves cautiously into the room, checking the desk and brazier.
Tom will quickly scan the room looking for magic and evil.
If he sees nothing too disconcerting he will give Gaarm a nod as he opens the door.
" ...hmm..that desk might be a good place to look for the key to this safe"
Perception:
Initiative:
Nizvit, Naxx and Gaarm smell the slight odor of burnt flesh.
Gaarm, still frightened from the doors slamming open before, Stumbles back out of the room as he heaves on the floor from the nauseating smell of burnt flesh.
Gaarm suddenly runs from the room and starts to dry heave outside. Sir Thomas and Phyton seem a bit puzzled by this reaction.
Initiative:
Naxx & Nizvit
"..does anyone else smell that?"
Naxx then backs away around the corner having no idea what's going on..but assuming that if Gaarm makes a run for it..it's most likely a smart idea to do the same
"Nizvit zmells cooked meat... now Nizvit hungry..."
But just in case, he will find a hiding spot
Sir Thomas looks about curious what could be going on.
As the two men flee the room and the kobold hides under a table, the metal branding irons rise up from the brazier. Their brands looking to have already been heated.
The four brands lash out at the intruders to the room, but the metal rods all clatter aimlessly around.
Initiative:
1st: Haunt
2nd: Everyone
After hearing the noise gaarm peers back into the room. Is everyone alright? I smelled burned flesh and it sent my stomach rolling.
Sir Thomas tries to hit the haunt back . He reaches out and tries to touch the non hot end of the brands and hit them with the holy power of the Empyreal Lords.
Phyton casts a spell, trying to dispel the haunt.
Still unsure on what we are fighting Naxx will inspire everyone to fight more valiantly (inspire courage)
The little kobold surrounds himself with magic defenses!
Phyton's Disrupt Undead misses the brands, however Sir Thomas is able to successfully destroy the apparition, but he knows that it will only remanifest unless they can destroy what caused the brands to animate in the first place.
Sir Thomas looks around for any clues as to what may have caused this haunt. If he finds nothing he suggests, Well lets keep on moving
Gaarm will begin to look in the next room to the north with Sir Thomas as his breathing becomes slightly heavier, obviously a tad bit spooked from the unexplained phenomena. I wonder what the professor was looking for in here?
Sir Thomas investigates the room for the source of the negative energy, but doesn't find much. He does think it would be wise to avoid this room in the future unless they have a plan for defeating the haunt.
Gaarm moves down the hallway and tries the next door, but finds that it is locked. However, the door has suffered serious decay and looks relatively easy to break open. Gaarm summons his inner rage and breaks down the door.
As the group cautiously enters the room, an apparition manifests immediately before them, rising from a mound of moldering fabric. The apparition appears as a beautiful young woman dressed in a tattered but lovely blue dress. In fact, much about the ghost is blue, including her hair, the tears that run from her pale blue eyes, and the clouds of smoke that drift from her lips.
Blue mist swirls about the room, enveloping the feet of the group.
After he stops inspiring everyone Naxx follows after the rest and his eyes open wide when he sees the lady in blue
"hmm..Hello..beautiful lady. I hope we are not disturbing you?"
asks Naxx as he looks quite disturbed himself
Once again Sir Thomas finds himself racking his brains for any scrap of insight that might help him understand the situation.
Ma'amHe says as a greeting bowing his head slightly.
More guards from Harrowstone? Hmph! Haven't you done enough to me during my life AND my afterlife? The ghost looks longingly out the window, tears streaming down her face. You should be worried more about the inmates...
Naxx looks out of the window (just wondering if there's something to see there)
"..why should we be worried about the inmates? Could you enlighten us?"
Gaarm stands back watching Naxx communicate with this spirit, his nerves on edge.
"May I ask who you are madam?" Phyton asks.
My, my... They have sent an incompetent lot this time around, haven't they... The ghost absentmindedly waves her hand. I am Vesorianna Hawkren, wife of Warden Hawkren and new Warden of this prison, whether your kind realizes it.
She turns slowly to Naxx, a look of incredulousness. My, my. You lot really are ignorant of Harrowstone, aren't you? Most of the hardened criminals sent to Harrowstone spent only a few months imprisoned, for it was here that most of Ustalav’s executions during that era were carried out. The fire that caused the tragedy was, in fact, a blessing in disguise, for the prisoners had rioted and gained control of the prison’s dungeons immediately prior to the conflagration. It was only through the self-sacrifice of my husband and twenty-three of his most loyal guards that the prisoners were prevented from escaping—the guards gave their lives to save the town of Ravengro. She pauses a second, clearly remembering the events as if they were still happening.
She steels herself as she continues. At the time Harrowstone burned, five particularly notorious criminals had recently arrived at the prison. While the commonly held belief is that the tragic fire began accidentally after the riot began, in fact the prisoners had already seized control of the dungeon and had been in command of the lower level for several hours before the fire. Warden Hawkran triggered a deadfall to seal the rioting prisoners in the lower level, but in so doing trapped my love and his men. The prisoners were in the process of escaping when the panicked guards accidentally started the fire in a desperate attempt to end the riot. You can see a hint of pride in her eyes and tone.
When she speaks again, there is a palpable distaste in her voice and her face rises to a sneer. These are the inmates you should be worried about: Father Charlatan, the Lopper, the Mosswater Marauder, the Piper of Illlmarsh, and the Splatter Man, not me. I spend all of my energy to keep their spirits bound to the prison, since my husband's ghost was stolen. Poor Hawkren... I will keep them bound as long as I can.
I am so sorry my lady. Might there be anything we coulddo to help take this burden from your shoulders?
And who stole your husbands ghost. I have never heard of such a thing?
Phyton listens intently, curious about the answer to Sir Thomas's question.
Vesorianna floats down and stands in front of Gaarm, tears flowing from her eyes before dispersing into blue smoke. Every day since the theft of my husband's spirit, the spirits of the murderers and sadists trapped within the walls of Harrowstone have grown more and more powerful. I know now that my husband’s presence kept the others in line, and that with his ghost gone, they work to escape to wreak unimaginable havoc. I have stepped to fill his position of Warden of Harrowstone, but I am not as strong as him.
She looks beyond the party into the hallway. I don't know much about the prisoners beyond their names, but I can feel their presence. The brief absence of a Warden allowed them to amass power, enough to manifest. They eat away at my power and resolve with every passing day. If you can confront them and defeat them, then there power will be reduced to nothingness and I should stand a chance of being able to contain their powers once more.
Vesorianna moves to each one of them as she speaks. This is what you should be doing, lest these ghosts are released.
All of the sudden, she looks to be wracked in pain and she exerts a great amount of internal fortitude to quell whatever force was causing her this pain. The Splatter Man is the greatest of the ghosts here. He constantly fights against my will and is slowly growing in power. I will not be able to contain him without his defeat and some form of ancient authority over the prison.
She sits in a chair after weathering the pain and turns to the Paladin. Sir Thomas, was it? My husband's ghost was stolen for his great power. Utilizing the ectoplasmic nature of ghosts is nothing new and my husband's power is well beyond that of any of those ghosts in Harrowstone.
She thinks back. Unsettling visitors—men and women in dark robes who spoke only in whispers—came to Harrowstone not long ago and began to work strange magic around the building’s foundations. I was unable to leave this room, but was able to observe through the walls to the northwest as these strange people inscribed runes along the ground. An old man, not associated with these whispermen, came here frequently but was finally detected. The leader of the whispermen seemed to strike fear into the heart of the old man through foul magick. The cultists bashed in the dead man’s head and face with a fragment of gargoyle from a roof above in an attempt to make the man’s death seem more like an accident, I suppose.
She sighs with a bit of sadness. Later that night, after they murdered the man, the black-robed cultists finished their ritual. Whatever they did, they did so out of sight of my view through the walls, but I felt the repercussions immediately. It felt like a horrific storm, yet one with a wind that chilled the soul—it felt to me as if my very being was being pulled apart. Yet the horrific sensation passed in an instant... and when it had, the presence of my husband’s spirit was gone. I can only assume that the black-robed cultists somehow managed to abduct my husband’s spirit, for since that hateful day I've felt no sign of either my husband or the whispermen.
We will do what we can to assist you my lady. Do you know of any artifacts within the prison that may assist us against the prisoners?