Only then does the druid lower his voice, slightly more wary of discussing his capabilities aloud. "Not much other than a strong will. In the past, we've relied on protection from evil to drive away shadow demons. And Ary was able to strike them without harming their vessel, but..." Ehren stops himself and shakes his head.
The gnomish ghost reappears further down the hall attempting to grab at Beatrix's ankles, but his tiny fingers fall short. He stares up at Beatrix from the floor with a crazed grin.
There is then a loud stomping noise as Narikopolus walks over to the door and throws it open, apparently furious. "I have nothing to do with whatever this queerness is!" she says, shrilly.
The Chelish name Narikopolus is mentioned in the 10th Act of Iomedae. When the head of house Narikopolus went missing, Iomedae defended the Chelish city of Kantaria against sieging hordes of faceless monsters for a year and a day.
Obscure information for anyone who lived outside of Mendev - but Mendevians throw various re-enactments regarding each Act in festivals annually.
House Narikopolus rules over the Archduchy of Menador in Cheliax. They have since before the rise of Infernal Cheliax, though they pledged allegiance to House Thrune without contest. They are well known for their skill with a bow, and currently derive most of their wealth from selling slaves to neighboring Nidal.
When Dehliana approaches, Unafe gives her a thin smile. "You're still a suspect, if that's what you're wondering. Come on now, let's get this place cleaned up."
Once she can get a bit away from the medium, she leans in to Lann (and also to those she's linked to on the message. "We learned a bit, but I suspect we've only scratched the surface. Nordvick confessed to a killing, after being threatened into it by a devil named Zirzip. He seems genuinely distraut about it, and doesn't know how to contact the devil.
"How are things upstairs? Should we all reconvene in the common hall, to guard people together?"
"Whatever do you mean?" asks Dehliana, aghast, though it is hard to hear her too well over the loud noise of all of the Crusaders arguing. "Is there anything that I have done to earn such suspicion?"
The gnome in the floor swipes once more at Beatrix's feet, then vanishes fully into the floor once more. There is a loud moaning sound that echoes down the hall. The female ghost reappears on the opposite end of the hall. She groans, and then raises a hand, throwing an entire hall-table straight at Beatrix! The tiefling was not prepared for this one, and she is slammed into the wall by the table. Her torso is covered in painful bruises.
Miss Narikopolus impatiently waits for one of the three heroes to answer her. She cranes her neck around the doorframe when she hears the moaning ghost down the hall. Her eyes widen as she sees the tiefling crusader struck by flying furniture. She screams out, and then backs away from the doorframe, shaking. "That came from the direction of the stairwell! I'm not going downstairs, are you people mad?!? Why won't you people just do your jobs already and get rid of that thing?" She slams the door in Hinagiku's face.
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"Nothing strange down here," Auraelia responds via message after a minute. "Apart from Li'an trying to cast divination in the middle of all this. She's doing a wonderful job of ignoring all the distractions!" The Lyrakien shakes her head at the ever growing cacophony in the room as the crusaders fall apart without guidance.
She gets up and flits towards the middle of the room. She conjures up a series colorful motes of light and directs them to zip around the room, blinking wildly. She coughs and clears her throat and then does her best to yell in her tiny voice. "Will all you crusaders please shut up and stop trying to tear the place down? You're supposed to deal with actual demons and you're panicked about something that might be a ghost and some sealed doors? I can only imagine you would all be crawling under the tables, crying and soiling yourselves if we were at Pulura's Falls."
"May the Maiden's shimmering lights guide me into the depths, but I swear these things only ever happen when I take my armor off," she harrumphs. Li'an manages to stifle a laugh, and returns to focusing on her divination, though she can't help but wonder if it's futile at this point with everything going on.
The gnome ghost pops out again from the wall behind of Ehren. He grips onto his shoulder, and the Archdruid's blood suddenly runs cold as he feels his very lifeforce being sapped away from him. He remains half-suspended out of the wall, grinning madly, his hair an utter bird's nest.
Beatrix ducks around the corner and knocks angrily on the door. She did not have much of a way with words, unlike Myrna, and could be a little blunt about things as well. "MA'AM, please come out and come with us right this second! It will be safer for you, I promise! We really just do not want for you to die!" she yells. She tries the door, but it is locked.
The paintings on the walls start to tremble and vibrate, and Beatrix instinctively ducks, but the paintings do not come flying at her, at least for now.
"I am not coming out there! There is no flying furniture in here, thank you very much! You are not doing a very good job of making me feel like you can protect much of anyone, Miss Crusader!" yells the noblewoman right back.
Beatrix whispers into the message. It is pretty obvious that she is feeling irate. "I would love to come back down to the common room, but this Chelish noblewoman has locked herself in her room and is not going to try and run for it with us. The ghosts keep attacking us in the hallway. What should we do? Should we come back downstairs and wait for Li'an to finish casting her spell or stay here and try to fight? Or maybe we should we try to force the noblewoman to come with us?"
Auraelia flies around, squeaking out orders at the Crusaders with her tiny voice, but fails to project her voice enough to really even be heard over the din.
Auraelia sighs and flies over to Li'an and begins poking her. The rate at which things were going meant it was just unreasonable to be attempting to cast such a long spell, and she wasn't having any luck getting people under control, so it was time for her charge to start doing something.
After a few moments of relentlessly being poked, Li'an finally decides to give up the spell with a sigh. In an instant the magical energies she'd been focusing on dissipate, losing the spell entirely. "Kül meşəsi! Things couldn't stop from falling apart for just ten minutes?"
"Captain Riversoar, can you please get the other crusaders under control?" Li'an asks Myrna directly, knowing she'd be unlikely to be able to get everyone to calm down and be quiet. "I will go help upstairs. Arie, you stay down here with Myrna and the others."
"I am coming up to help dispatch the ghosts," she says as she drifts off the ground and takes off towards the stairwell."I would just force her door open and bring her down here however it takes."
"They'll come back or we'll make things better, one or the other." Opal responds.
"We should be able to fight them a little more effectively, and maybe get a few more character breaks from the little mime." Sana explains to the others as her shadow begins to dance once more, elongating even amongst her own brilliant light, cascading down Opal and obfuscating her surface for the first time. After a moment, the energy coalesces, and Opal returns to being opalescent, though the rainbow of colors has shifted, like oil in water.
"Fine," Ehren mutters with a pained grimace, the ghost's icy grip draining his vitality. Annoyed as he is by the circumstances, Miss Narikopolus does have a point. He can only hope that she will be more amenable once the immediate threat has been dealt with.
With the gnome within his reach, the druid concentrates, his eyes and veins glowing softly as he draws on the ley. Invoking the memory of a spell he does not have prepared, Ehren's hand is suddenly engulfed with a nimbus of positive energy. He was once able to manifest spells of its kind with ease, but doing so now requires a substantial amount of power.
Glowering at the ghost, Ehren swipes his hand at it, only needing to make the barest contact for his spell to be effective.
Li'an ceases her spell, stands up, and walks to the door that she saw Beatrix and Sana walk through earlier to head after the Chelish noblewoman. She tries the door, but finds that it is locked.
Dehliana brightens and stands behind of Li'an. "Ohhh, where are you going? Are you going to check on the others? Can I come help, too?"
There is an unearthly shrieking noise as Ehren channels positive energy directly into the ghost. The gnome ghost's flesh blackens as though it were burnt.
To Dehliana, Unafe shakes her head. "No idea yet what anyone's done. I think we need to handle these ghosts first. Do you have a way of calming them?"
When she sees Li'an blocked by a locked door, Unafe turns to the innkeeper. "Nordvick, do you have a key to that door on you?"
Hinagiku squeezes between Ehren and Beatrix to get close enough to strike at the gnomish ghost. Thanks to Opal, this strike is more effective, but it isn't enough to banish the ghost entirely. The gnome swipes once more at Ehren, but his arm is too short to reach him from the wall. He bows his head and vanishes back into the wall, disappearing from sight.
Nordvick was in the middle of a conversation with the cook behind the bar when he realizes Unafe is talking to him. He jumps to attention. "Uh... y-yes!" he stammers out, fumbling for his keys. He moves across the common room, then unlocks the door for Li'an. "H-here you go, miss." He doesn't make eye contact with her.
Li'an sighs when she finds the door locked. When the 'medium' asks if she can come along to 'help', Li'an rolls her eyes. "I doubt a charlatan who can't even afford real divination implements would be of any use a real ghost, so no," she responds haughtily.
She begins pondering the source of the door locking until Unafe thinks to ask the Innkeep if he can open it. She is surprised when the key actually works, raising questions in her mind about what had happened. If the door had been barred with an arcane spell it was unlikely that the key would have been of any use at this point. But given that it worked, and the presence of ghosts, she had to wonder whether the building itself might not be haunted.
"Thank you," she tells the innkeep before looking at the doorframe itself and then back around the room.
Meanwhile Auraelia flits over to Myrna, waiting for her to take command of the situation.
There are cases of haunts forcefully barring windows and doors, so it is possible, but also there have never been any accounts that you have heard of that are quite like this one. Generally, channeling anywhere near the haunt is actually active is what one must do to dispel a haunt.
Beatrix knows that only one thing would really help Ms. Narikopolus come to her senses and come out of her room: defeating the ghost.
Beatrix was no ghost-hunting expert, but she does have some strength. She summons some of the power granted to her by the Inheritor, and she unleashes a burst of positive energy, aimed at eliminating the ghost.
Some work should keep these people from being so nervous. She hoped they took her commands to heart -- she didn't technically command these soldiers, after all, rank or no rank.
On the off chance that it might actually be a haunt, Li'an focuses on drawing upon her divine energies again, this time focusing them on expelling any evil spirits or undead in the room. A wave of iridescent energy fills the room, this time washing over the inhabitants without any noticeable sensation. To any undead or haunts within the room the effect would be decidedly unpleasant however...
Hinagiku had been about to strike the ghost when it vanishes into the wall. Holding to her strike, the monk awaits for its return to release the blow and hopefully release it from its undeath existence.
”Thank you… hummm… Mrs. Amber? I can feel new spiritual threads clinging to my body, it is an interesting power you have.”
Unafe nods in thanks to the innkeeper, and then rushes over to try the keys.
As she runs past, she gives Myrna a thumbs up. "Can you keep the crowd peaceful here, Myrna? If so, I'll join the fight against the ghosts upstairs...assuming I can get through this door."
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"Because you're both beautiful, now, back to ghost-hunting."
Sana simply stands still for a moment, looking to each person near her clenching her fist. The shadows leap away from her gauntlet as it flashes, sending Sana's shadow leaping to each person in the hallway, a dancing shadow and rainbowy hue effusing Hinagiku's teeth and surging through her skeleton, skittering along Sana's starknife, curling around the Lieutenant's longsword, and surging through Ehren's aqueous form, causing rippling waves of light to dart along the walls for a moment. And just like that, the light and darkness vanish.
"It's a shame she's in such a large room. If it were a bit smaller we could ward it against ghosts." Sana says, before being significantly more quiet for a moment. She can't help but think that the woman would likely fit inside of her trunk, which she definitely could shield against the undead, though...
Dehliana briefly rolls her eyes. "Skeptics, skeptics, of course," she says, gesturing vaguely. "Well, when you're stumped with all of your conventional approaches, you can come crawling back to me."
The various crusaders stop their arguing and suddenly stand back to attention. They had let their fear of the situation cause them to forget their hard-earned training. They gather back together into groups - Fenton's group included - and start to individually discuss a plan of approach. This time, in much lower, calmed voices.
Meanwhile, Li'an channels positive energy across the room, though there is no immediately obvious effect that anything has changed.
At the same time, Unafe leaves the room, and hustles out into the hallway. She finds it to be extremely dark. None of the hallway lanterns are lit. The only light is that which trickles in from the common room. She could try to follow the wall until she finds a door or stair?
Beatrix channels positive energy across the room, healing her wounds, since there were no ghosts present for her to smite.
Hinagiku watches her surroundings carefully for the ghost to strike again. She immediately imposes herself between it and Ehren when the gnome's smiling face reappears, this time through the red door in the hallway. Almost effortlessly, she gracefully dodges out of the way of painting that comes flying down the hallway at her. The other ghost moans and wails, about fifteen feet away from the kitsune monk.
”Watch out” Hinagiku calls out as she avoids the painting, concerned that it might hit someone behind her.
At the very same time the last word escapes her lips, she digs her feet into position and her upper body roils forward, arm outstretched, palm open, as she strikes at the ghost.
Not giving the spectre any time to escape back into the wall, HInagiku brings her other palm forward before unanchoring one of her feet and spinning with her whole body to gain momentum and bring her heel crashing down at the ghost’s head.
Ehren withdraws his hand, satisfied with the results of his spell. Unfortunately, it is not a trick he can afford to repeat, lest he exhaust his reserves of power. Falling back to his original plan, the druid's body suddenly shifts into that of his favored earth elemental form; a large, humanoid form chiseled from sparkling white stone, with emerald eyes and a crown of molten silver.
He looks down at one of his large fists, giving it a perplexed look as Sana's power envelops it.
Str 19
AC 29, touch 23, flat-footed 27 (+2 deflection, +2 Dex, +3 druid, +6 natural, +6 Wisdom)
Bonus Feat Power Attack
Other darkvision 60 ft., burrow 20 ft., earth glide
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As the painting flies past Hinagiku, Sana just leans slightly to let it pass. She maintains her power pose and clinches her fist tighter, an act she undoubtedly thought would make her look cool, but that was completely underwritten by a giggle from Opal. "Stop, that tickles!"
Despite the living steel armament's protests, and an eyeroll from Sana, the gauntlet flashes once more. With Anna's shadow goes light and rippling waves of color. This time, some lingers on Opal, while more coiling shadows snake, twist, and curl along Medici's armor, and across Ehren, Hinagiku, and Sana's full forms.
"Starting to feel a bit drained." she comments as her starknife rocks back and forth between her index and pinky fingers, balanced on her middle fingers at the hilt.
Unafe pauses to listen and smell, hoping to figure out where her companions have gone.
Unafe hustles to catch up with her comrades and the ghosts they've mentioned.
"Someone check and see if the windows are still stuck shut," Li'an calls to the crusaders before heading after Unafe. Though the darkness of the hall poses little issue for her vision, she draws upon her inner light to fill the hallway with bright light.
"Lets hurry upstairs to join the others," she says as she continues into the hall towards the stairwell.
Despite the lack of emergent danger, no calls for help, and no screams of pain or danger, it seems that the group upstairs was having some trouble dispatching the ghosts that had appeared.
Myrna had an interest in going to help... but she also had an interest in seeing Dehliana's room. She heads up the stairs after Li'an, but keeps an eye out for the blue door that the innkeep mentioned.
Her magic running low, Beatrix takes a few steps back, behind the other members of the group who were more suited to fighting ghosts. She looks back and forth between the two ghosts, and considers how to get Narikopolus forcefully downstairs and out of her room. The woman was being weird and suspicious, for sure, and everyone had to stay together, for safety.
When Unafe realizes that Myrna is heading upstairs, the Demetae clan-liege decides to stay to guard the common room.
To Myrna, Li'an, and all those on their message link, Unafe says, "I'll stand guard in the common room for now. Call upon me if necessary, and I'll do the same."
Then, raising her voice to those gathered, "My companions are skilled with matters such as this. Stay calm and stay together where I can help protect you, and let me know if you see something troubling.
"Now I will pray to the sacred ancestors for their blessings in protecting us. Do not be alarmed, for they and I are bound to one common path."
With that, Unafe begins to pray, and the saurian spirits flash and buzz into action around her.
Li'an and Myrna head into the dark hall, shimmering light filling the hallway thanks to the elf's magic. Li'an moves faster than Myrna, vanishing into the stairwell and around the corner and out of sight.
Hinagiku strikes again at the ghost, then twice more before it can react. Her strikes are imbued with Sana's magic, giving her the sensation of making contact with flesh and cloth though she had not. The gnome's smile vanishes and it grunts once before vanishing into wisps and smoke.
The other ghost screams, throwing a large stone bust of a severe looking man right at Hinagiku's back. It slams into her with a thud. The ghost then vanishes into the wall behind of her and out of sight.
As Unafe finishes her prayer, she hears Anna's message. "I'll ask Nordvick, and I'll be on alert here in case one of the ghosts comes this way."
She turns to the Innkeeper. "How many people do you have here at the Inn now? Anyone not accounted for, other than Narikopolus and my companions?"
Unafe does her best to ignore the commotion in the Inn and keep her ear peeled--at to sniff the air--for the ghost appearing in the common room.
Hinagiku grunts softly and flinches as the bust crashes on her shoulder. Straightening back up, the monk waves her hand dismissively to reassure Ehren before adopting a defensive pause and awaiting for the spirit’s return.
While expectedly waiting, and without taking her eyes off where the ghost disappeared, Hinagiku responds to Sana:
”I simply suggested that we were there to help and not destroy it… but that is it.”
"Thanks, Unafe," she says when Unafe volunteers to keep watch in the main room.
She then continues up the stairs and on towards Ehren and where the ohers presumably were.
Nordvick gestures broadly with his arms. "Ten of our twelve rooms are checked out, ma'am. I can go get you the guest list if you'd like?"
In the common room, the crusaders have split up into three groups of six. They stand apart from Lann and Unafe and are embroiled in separate conversations. Lann doesn't attempt to group up with any of them, unsure of what protocol called for him to do in this situation. He has seen four separate Captains, including Myrna, though only the tiefling was apparently willing to take charge of the others. Li'an was the only other Crusader that he had traveled here with today.
Dehliana is the only one other than the chef who remains seated. She sits in a large comfortable chair and watches Unafe intently, her fingers clasped together.
Myrna is not as fast as Li'an is, so it takes longer for her to catch up with the others. She walks across the hallway and then enters the spiral staircase. She pays special attention to the doors she passes, but none of these doors have any numbered plaques on them. She figures there are no guest rooms on the first floor.
Beatrix walks across the hallway and reaches out so that her fingers brush Ehren's stony arm. Her eyebrows furrow as she focuses, infusing his arms and fists with holy Iomedaen magic.
A few seconds pass and no one can see any signs of the ghost. They can hear the creak creak creak noise of someone walking up the stairs, though.
"Careful, there is a spirit nearby.... and it has been throwing objects at us... heavy ones." Hinagiku calls out to the people climbing up the stairs.
Myrna will keep going upstairs, still on the lookout for Dehliana's room. If any of the other members of the group call for help, she will instead run up the stairs to o to their aid. If uninterrupted she will continue searching for the medium's room.
Beatrix steps back, frowning. "This thing seems to be playing with us," she says. "Can any of you open these doors, so it can't keep hiding behind the walls from us?"
"Or it is just acting out of self-preservation," he replies, doubting that these ghosts often encounter people capable of harming them.
The druid opens his spirit sense and peers at the walls, searching for any auras that stand apart from those of his companions. At the very least, he could figure out what direction the ghost is lurking in.
Unafe nods to the Innkeeper. "Thank you. If you find that anyone other than Narikopolus is unaccounted for, please tell me."
With that, Unafe says another prayer to the ancestors, and then scans the room again for signs of ghosts, devils, or other disturbances.
Li'an finally catches up to the others up top, landing next to Beatrix and Ehren. "I'll take care of Hinagiku," she responds to Sana's message. She quickly unleashes a wave of healing energy which washes over Hinagiku and the others in the hall, salving any wounds they might have.
"Where are the ghosts now?" she asks the three in the hall with her. "Any idea?"
While Unafe prays to her ancestors for guidance, Nordvick walks over to the bar. Fenton and Lann head to the main door. Fenton tries to open the door to the outside, but finds that it won't budge. He looks up at Lann. "Do you have a hammer, or some sort of blunt object?" he asks. "Ary always carried one.... I wonder if I can have something similar made for me," he continues, half talking to himself.
Sana turns the corner and out of sight from the other heroes. This room appears to be a spacious common room. The wallpaper is intricate, but faded, and the room is accentuated by many marble statues, mahogany bookcases, and framed paintings.
She heads to the room's only door, which is next to the fire place. She tries the knob but it is locked. The door is blue and is labelled '1D'.
Li'an evokes Puluran healing energy, soothing Hinagiku's aching back. There are no ghosts to be seen. Myrna appears at the top of the stairs. She looks around, reading the plaques on the doors. Spotting a green door that is labelled '1C', she heads straight to it, and then attempts to open the door. She finds that it is locked.
Anna briefly considers simply walking through the door, but opts to retain that capability as a just-in-case... and perhaps to use it to explore a bit after she gets through the door. Besides, leaving a locked door behind her and heading into a room that was one of several possible hiding places of the ghosts was a great way to have a horrible time.
Anna runs her finger along one of the spines of her glove and small tools spring out from the tips of the connected fingers. She kneels down in front of the door and begins to work at the lock. If she manages to quickly spring the lock, she stands back up and turns the knob once more.
Seeing that no one seems to know where the ghosts might be at the moment, the only other option was to try to get Ms. Narikopolus to head down to the main room so they could protect everyone together.
"Which room is Ms. Narikopolus in?" she asks Beatrix and Ehren, "We should try to talk her into heading downstairs while things are calm."
Once she knows which room to knock on, she walks over to try to talk the woman into joining them downstairs.
"Ms. Narikopolus, the issue was been dealt with and it is safe to come out now. We need you to come downstairs with us."
Having waited long enough for the ghost to reappear, Hinagiku slowly relaxes and let’s go of her defensive stance, straightening up into a more comfortable posture.
”Thanks Mrs. Va’ardalia.” the monk says after the wave of healing washes over her. ”We are not sure where the remaining ghost is, but Mrs. Sans is looking into it… Mrs. Narikopolus’ room is here.She seems to want to stay in there though, despite us asking her to come into the main room… hopefully you will be more successful than us. I will go with Mrs. Sana to look for the other ghost.”
With that said, Hinagiku goes around the corridor to where Sana is and watches silently as she works on the room’s lock.
Beatrix wordlessly indicates for Li'an which room the Chelish woman was behind. Meanwhile, Ehren intently scans the hallway with his spirit sense, hoping to locate the ghost. He initially senses a presence, then realizes there are two...
"Is that so?" the woman responds, calling loudly through the door. "You can call me Annavinia, by the way. I know how you Mendevians struggle with proper Chelish names." You can hear footsteps, then a click! as she unlocks the door.
Your pronunciation is fine, she's being snobbish.
Meanwhile, down the hall, Myrna simply kicks the door open, revealing a small one-bedroom innroom. The bed is neatly made. There is a large chest at the foot of the bed that is partially propped open. There is a small armoire with a mirror, and some open vials and pots of make-up is left on a stand.
Shortly after Hinagiku heads down one hallway after Sana, a large vase comes hurtling down the other hallway straight at Ehren. It collides with his stony hide with a loud crash and shatters, but otherwise doesn't harm him through his armour-like flesh. Ehren peers down the other hallway, ceasing concentration on his otherworldly senses. He sees the female ghost lurking in the darkness on the opposite end of the hall.
Sana swiftly unlocks the door with a soft click!. It is a very rudimentary lock, she could pry something like this open in her sleep. She opens the door and peers inside finding a dark, run-down suite that contains a bunk bed, a mahogany chest of drawers, and an iron woodstove filled with smoldering coals. The bedsheets are undisturbed, and a metal tray containing a portion of the evening's meal languishes untouched on a small table.
Sana sees Kellvar face-down on the floor next to the bed in a pool of blood, his throat slit open. His muddy riding boots are discarded nearby. There is a rolled up piece of parchment on the ground next to him, partially stained with blood.
Nordvick pulls out a leather-bound tome from beneath the bar and then walks back towards Unafe, who is still lost in prayer to her ancestors.
Sana eyes the body and room carefully, checking for any signs of movement, before she heads deeper inside, moving to pick up the note and read it. Her movement seems to have slowed considerably from before. "This isn't how an average ghost works." she whispers for Daisy's benefit, "So, either it's a slasher post-mortem or pre-mortem, probably. If it is a ghost, we can at least take its weapon if we can find it. Could also have been Telekinesis, so we should search the room for the weapon. Can you see in the dark?"