As Vivian comes back from her escapade
Nothing up there, but the view is indeed beautiful if you're not subject to vertigo.
Teil nods in agreement.
Following Dr. Von Herzog's suggestion to try the stairs leading down, the group moves to what appears to be the first level of the prison. Opening the doors at the bottom of the stairway, you find yourselves in a long hallway with a number of closed doors. In the north, a pair of double doors stand at the end the hallway, but to the east and west of them are two more doors respectively. At the south end of the hall stands another set of double doors, with yet another pair of double doors to the southeast, while a single door stands to the southwest.
"Shall we try the left hand search again?" Teil indicates that Drace should join him to the door at his immediate left (south) and examines the door quickly.
Sentir stands behind the two heavily armored figures, hoping he can help if they find another nasty surprise.
Why not, it worked so far...
Teilaenthis nods to Drace, shoulders his earthbreaker in one hand and throws opens the door.
Finding no traps and hearing no strange noises, Teilaenthis opens the door closest to him and discovers a flight of stairs that once led down toward what must be a lower level, but it’s now filled with a mess of large stone blocks and shattered timbers.
It would likely take several days of backbreaking work to clear out the rubble from these stairs.
Assessing the scene with a critical eye, you determine that the rubble filling the stairwell did not result from a ceiling collapse, but rather it's the result of a manually triggered deadfall that swiftly filled the stairs and blocked them off. This deadfall perhaps served as a fail-safe measure to prevent prisoners from escaping from the lower level.
"This is odd." Sentir says as he pokes around the rubble and timbers. "This isn't natural collapse. This was a planned fall, designed and triggered. perhaps it was a safeguard against prisoners from the lower level? That makes me hesitant to go poking around down there without stocking up on correct tools."
With raised eyebrows, Teilaenthis turns to Sentir. "I didn't realize you had studied engineering, but yes... Teil continues briefly to describe how the deadfall was likely created before interrupting himself. [b]"But for now, we'd best look to the next door.
Teil signals Drace again and throws the southern door open.
Sentir nods and agrees with Teil, still a bit confused at being semi-useful.
The doctor continues to cast dancing lights as needed.
Vivian stays on her guards as the group explore the prison, scouting cautiously and silently
Opening one of the south double doors, you find streaks of mold stain the walls of this foyer, and the floor below is a thick, gray carpet of fungal growth. Sturdy wooden doors beckon from every wall.
'How big IS this place?" Sentir says, looking at the macabre room, not eager to step into the disgusting fungus.
Looking at the carpet of mold, the doctor asks, "Um... does anyone know if that mold is safe to tread upon? Alas, my knowledge of fungus is limited at best."
I'm afraid all I know about fungus is that the plural is fungi...
Answers Vivian with a smile
Hearing someone ask about mold, Tara glances through the door she had been resting on. "Give me just a tick and I'll see if I can identify it." Bending down Tara reaches out a hand to touch the fungus, allowing Pharasma to whisper the secrets about this creature to her. "Oh, spongy." she mutters to herself, as she sorts through the new noise in her head to extract the necessary information about this mold.
Touching the various molds and other fungi near the door, Tara's divine connection allows her to ascertain that they all benign and do not possess any particularly interesting qualities.
"Thank-you for sharing your expertise, Tara! I feel far safer now."
Illuminated by one of his floating lights, Stefan looks into the room and suggests, "Perhaps we should try the doors in clockwise order. Shall we start with the door immediately to our left?"
'Actually, most authorities agree funguses is equally valid, Tara." Sentir added as he crossed the moldy floor.
He nods to Stefan, "One door as good as another."
Teil and Drace move position to the first door indicated by the doctor and open the door.
As Sentir, Teilaenthis, and Drace cross into the room, everyone but Teilaenthis sees the double doors beginning to close on their own. Could this be another haunt?
Initiative (Surprise Round)
Teilaenthis
Tara <= Up
Vivian <= Up
Drace <= Up
Stefan <= Up
Sentir <= Up
?????
Sentir pulls out his Haunt Siphon. "Begone foul shades!" but doesn't use it...yet.
Stefan casts a spell, and a ray of bright white energy shoots toward the doors.
...critical threat
Sentir opens the Haunt Siphon, remembering being paralyzed with fear. Even as the Doctor unleashes a powerful spell he adds the magical devices affects to the attack.
Dr. Von Herzog hits one of the doors with his Disrupt Undead spell which causes the object to sizzle, but Sentir's siphon appears to completely neutralize the Haunt for now, as the item begins to glow green and the doors stop moving.
* * *
With that potential crisis averted, Teilaenthis moves to the northeastern double doors indicated by the Doctor and opens them. Inside the next room there are several rows of wooden benches, all spotted with mold and sagging with neglect, that face a stage walled off from the rest of the room by a wall of iron bars.
"Ah, I seem to have saved us some more trouble." Sentir says as he stows the siphon away. "That said, I think that siphon is used up..." He adds, a bit worried.
"While certainly effective, I fear that we must be prudent in the use of our haunt siphons. We don't have very many at our disposal, and I doubt we could acquire more in Ravengro. It is clear that this prison is haunted, and we will encounter many restless spirits. I would suggest that we hold them in reserve for particularly powerful spirits, like that of the Piper of Illmarsh."
"Shall we see what's in the auditorium?"
”I did not wish to be paralyzed again, my good Doctor. It isn't a fun experience. “ Sentir says a bit tartly then retracts it, ”But I believe you are correct. Let's see what is performing in the auditorium?”
Teil leads the way into the auditorium, earthbreaker ready.
We should try to keep the magical syphons for the biggest threats, maybe... Let's check this auditorium, I promise you I won't try to sing.
As Teilaenthis crosses the threshold into the auditorium, everyone but Tara notices the temperature beginning to dramatically drop from the direction of that room.
Initiative (Surprise Round)
Teilaenthis <= Up
Drace <= Up
Stefan <= Up
Sentir <= Up
Vivian <= Up
????
Tara
"Another haunt?!"
Stefan casts a spell and a white beam of energy shoots toward the doors, in the direction of where the chill originates.
Sentir looks around wildly at the chill, "I think you may be right, Dr."
Teilaenthis hands his unused haunt siphon to Sentir, and channels energy into his Earthbreaker, ready to swing at any manifestation he sees.
Sentir takes the siphon gladly, holding firmly in his burned fist.
As the majority of the group waits for something terrible to emerge, Dr. Von Herzog casts a spell and fires a beam of positive energy into the area. When no satisfying sizzle erupts, it appears that his beam missed the haunt proper.
No manifestation appears, but a large space of the auditorium becomes freezing cold, including the space occupied by Teilaenthis. Unable to anticipate the subzero temperatures, the occultist suddenly finds himself with a moderate case of frostbite.
To perhaps make matters worse, the room remains dangerously cold.
Initiative (Round 2)
Teilaenthis [7 Dmg]<= Up
Drace [10 Dmg] <= Up
Stefan <= Up
Sentir <= Up
Vivian [5 Dmg] <= Up
Cold Haunt
Tara [2 Dmg] <= Up
"I think we should get out here. This 'small' haunts are wearing us down." Sentir shouts between suddenly chattering teeth.