As Tathane also beats a hasty retreat back out of the room, Lazarus quickly recalls several things about poltergeists. Though their only true means of offense comes from hurling objects - and sometimes even people if they're small and light enough - they also have the ability to briefly appear as a frightening, skeletal-like ghost. Otherwise they are normally quite difficult to handle as they're naturally incorporeal and invisible. While a poltergeist may be destroyed, it will reform within several days unless specific steps are taken to allow the angry spirit to rest in peace. Each poltergeist is different and so are the means required to put them to rest.
_______
Tathane
Yorad (-1)
Thern
Lazarus (-2, Mage Armor)
Grayscales (Total Defense)
Teann + Fluffy
=======
????
Active Conditions: Bless
Thern and Teann + Fluffy are UP!
_______
Of one mind that perhaps regrouping and attempting to formulate a strategy might be a good idea, Teann, Fuzzy, and ThernBot all fall back out of the room as well, leaving Grayscales as the only one still inside the room.
Now, all hell breaks loose! All manner of objects rise up into the air and start floating around aimlessly in a slow maelstrom that begins to pick up speed. The table and bed begin thumping and banging on the floor and two broken beakers suddenly burst out from the whirlwind and launches themselves at Grayscales!
One of the beakers slams against the nagaji's head with a *thud* and the second shatters against the wall next to the door. As the floor is showered with broken glass, the shards tremble as they scoot across the floor and form into a single word.
_______
Tathane
Yorad (-1)
Thern
Lazarus (-2, Mage Armor)
Grayscales (-1)
Teann + Fuzzy
=======
Poltergeist
Active Conditions: Bless
Everyone is UP!
While Thern and Grayscales change places and Yorad deliberates on what to do, Lazarus steps back into the room and sends a pulse of positive energy washing over the room. An inhuman shriek is heard and the maelstrom of floating debris seems to quiver in agony!
_______
Tathane
Yorad (-1, Delay)
Thern
Lazarus (-2, Mage Armor)
Grayscales (-1)
Teann + Fuzzy
=======
Poltergeist (-2)
Active Conditions: Bless
Tathane, Yorad, and Teann + Fuzzy are UP!
_______
|
Tathane peeks into the room again and still can't see the poltergeist. He has an idea. Maybe the ghostly creature is somehow related to the body. Against all better judgement, Tathane slithers back through the door and along the wall. He hopes that wherever the creature is, it is distracted by the others, or simply doesn't see him moving in the shadows. He sneaks over to the bed to inspect the dead body.
Tathane attempts to sneak back into the room and give the dead body a more thorough inspection in hopes that it might hold the key to defeating the poltergeist - or at least finding what they came to find. The body appears to be that of a woman, long-since dead, dressed in a rotted, tattered blouse and work pants, covered by a heavy leather apron. As best as Tathane can tell, there aren't any injuries or other marks on the body that would indicate any kind of violent death. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be any other clues as to the nature of the woman's death or how long she's been dead.
Meanwhile, TeannBot carefully moves up to the eastern door and cracks it open. This room appears to have been some kind of study. A long shelf runs along the rear wall, but all the books have either been looted or long decomposed. The table and chairs in the centre are in similar dilapidated condition as the rest of the tower.
Towards the northwestern corner of the room, you notice a floorboard that happens to be ever so slightly ajar.
You also notice in the southwestern corner of the room that the color of a couple of the floorboards don't seem to match the rest that are in the room.
The druid calls out, "Hey, looks like there's something funny with the floorboards in here!"
Within the bedroom, the maelstrom continues to swirl angrily, sending more debris flying at...
...Lazarus, Tathane, and Thern, battering all three of them! Whether due to having plenty of available outlets for its rage or something else entirely, the apparition doesn't seem to react to Teann peeking into the eastern room.
_______
Tathane (-1)
Yorad (-1, Delay)
Thern (-1)
Lazarus (-3, Mage Armor)
Grayscales (-1)
Teann + Fuzzy
=======
Poltergeist (-2)
Active Conditions: Bless
Everyone is UP!
_______
|
|
"I can't see anything special here." Tathane inspects the body, keeping an arm up to block any potential incoming objects. "I'm going to get out of this room. Lazarus, maybe you can use your divine energy to subdue this thing?"
Tathane stands and makes a beeline for the door. Once out of the room with swirling furniture, he turns into the eastern room.
"That room is crazy!" he points back from where he came. "Anything interesting in here?"
Lazarus continues his efforts to channel against the angry poltergeist, while Thern decides to stay with the samsaran and provide another target for its wrath!
As another wave of positive energy washes over the room, an angry shriek is heard and the maelstrom once again quivers in agony but doesn't dissipate.
From within the other room, Teann points out to Yorad and Tathane a spot in the northwestern corner where a floorboard looks to be sitting slightly ajar. Grayscales, with his keen eyes, not only picks out the loose floorboard but also points out another spot where the floorboards look to be of a slightly different color than the rest of them. The nagaji hurries over and begins prying up the odd-colored floorboards. Beneath them, he discovers a small metal box that appears to be locked. Meanwhile, Yorad kneels where Teann points and slides the loose floorboard aside and discovers a second metal box within - also locked. Surely this must be what you were sent to find!
While Fuzzy waits near the stairs, TeannBot quickly pokes his head back into the other room. "Hey, we found a couple of lockboxes in there under the floor! Maybe we should scarper and see what's in 'em?"
As if on cue, the whirling debris of the maelstrom slows somewhat...and Lazarus, Thern, and Teann feel a surge of horror as they see the ghostly, skeletal form of a woman within, her mouth open in a silent, angry scream!
"See!?" Teann cries. "I think it's time to leave!"
_______
Tathane (-1)
Yorad (-1)
Thern (-1, Will Save pending)
Lazarus (-3, Mage Armor, Will Save pending)
Grayscales (-1)
Teann + Fuzzy
=======
Poltergeist (-4)
Active Conditions: Bless
Everyone is UP!
|
Finally able to see the poltergeist, a ghostly, skeletal woman, her mouth open in a silent, angry scream, Lazarus makes a samsaran mess in his pants. Frightened, he flees the room. Once out of sight of the horror, his fear turns to profound professional embarrassment.
His voice quivers, "I fear I can't face that ghostly woman again, until I compose myself. I need a few moments, please."
With Lazarus suddenly turning and fleeing from the ghostly onslaught and Grayscales happy to take one of the boxes and head back outside, it's beginning to look as though it really is time to go...
_______
As Thern too looses his composure and flees out of the bedroom and back down the tower's stairs, the rest of the group decides that they've had enough. Grabbing the two boxes and hoping they contain something useful, you all turn and hustle down the stairs and out of the tower as fast as your legs can carry you. To everyone's immense relief, the poltergeist does not follow though you all hear one last long, agonizing shriek of hatred and despair emanate from behind you before an eerie silence falls over the tower. You all stumble outside into the light of day, thankful to have escaped with your lives.
Once everyone has had a minute to compose themselves (and perhaps change their drawers), you turn your attention to the two boxes you salvaged from the tower. Both of them are heavy and both appear to be locked.
Upon closer inspection, you realize that the heavier of the two boxes has some sort of gray paste smeared over the lock - likely some sort of trap.
When you open this box, you discover a tidy sum of coins within - about 1,000 gp or so.
This, the heavier of the two boxes, opens to reveal a small fortune - 3,000 gp!
|
|
Yorad walks over to both Lazarus and Thern, clapping them each on their shoulders. Good job distracting that ghost! It allowed us to find what we came for, I hope." He then looks over both boxes closely looking for any signs of traps...
Drawing a knife he points out to the others the heavier of the two boxes has some sort of gray paste smeared over the lock. "This looks like trouble. I ain't touching it, but if someone wants to give it a go then feel free."
As Tathane sits down, he props the heavier box in his lap and begins to use his dagger to scrape the gray paste off of the lock. Just when he feels that he's making good progress in doing so, his hand slips slightly and brushes against some of the goo that remains smeared on the lock!
As the paste absorbs into Tathane's skin he feels a burning, stinging sensation in his joints as they begin growing inflamed and stiff...
|
While Tathane and others deal with his poisoning, Grayscale works on the strong boxes.
Carefully wiping the paste off, the large box.
Grayscale pulls out his picks and works on the small box failing to open it the first time he gets it on the second try.
Working the the large box the lock gives way the first time.
to disable trap on large box.
to unlock small box
to unlock small box.
to unlock small box.
Opening the two boxes, Grayscale comments "We are rich. There are four thoussand gold coinss."
As the poison continues to work its way through Tathane's system, his joints continue to stiffen and throb with pain. Hurrying to the half-elf's side, LazarusBot carefully kneels down and examines the point of contact where the paste touched skin.
"Stay strong! I may be able to help..."
Meanwhile, Grayscales busies himself with finding out just what's within the two boxes. After some quick work removing the rest of the paste from the heavier box, he sets to work on picking the locks. In a jiffy both boxes are standing open and the group now has a small fortune on their hands - plenty to repay Cranstone's old debt and then some!
_______
|
|
The priest of Desna steps back to survey his patient. "There, Tathane, I've done what I can to help you fight the poison."
The samsaran looks at the opened chests. "Excellent work work on those locks, Grayscales."
"Where to next? I wouldn't mind another opportunity to speak to Landis or chat with the lovely Duchesses again."
"Ladies and gentlemen, the Cathedral of Abadar will soon open its doors for the public auction! Anyone interested in participating must be within the cathedral in fifteen minutes. Once the auction starts, the doors will close. This is not an open door auction and no one will be admitted to the auction once the bidding starts"
_______
After a few tense moments, Tathane manages to fight off the poison coursing through his system, with a little expert help from Lazarus. Though his joints are still painfully swollen and stiff, Lazarus can determine that the damage will thankfully wear off in time.
Looking up at the position of the sun in the sky, the group realizes that time is growing short and so you hurry back to the Grand Lodge long enough to deliver the found funds to Venture-Captain Heidmarch and make mention of the restless spirit haunting the old Cranstone tower. Heidmarch reassures you that an anonymous tip will be left at the local church of Pharasma, directing them to investigate the tower so that they might be able to put the spirit to rest for good.
"The auction will be beginning soon, but I think you might have just enough time to go pay Windun Landers a visit," Heidmarch suggests as she too notes the position of the sun. "All you need to do is determine what sort of funds they have at their disposal - hopefully a quick and easy task compared to the last one," she smiles.
Your objection clear, you're given Landers' address and sent on your way. It doesn't take long for you to make your way there and you arrive just as the sun is beginning to set over the horizon. The two-story moderately-sized house stands apart from other residences. Light pours out from a room from the west wing on the 2nd floor, but the curtains are drawn tight. The rest of the house is in darkness.
_______
"Just a minute!"
After a few moments a middle-aged man with droopy jowls pokes his head out the door. He blinks, surprised to see so many people standing outside his door.
"Yes, can I help you?" he asks warily, but without any apparent hostility.
|
|
"Sir, I apologize for our unannounced call at this late hour. We seek an urgent audience with Windun Landers, master of this household. Are you he?"
Lazarus waits until he is sure he is speaking to Landers.
"Let us minimize the disruption to your evening by being mercifully direct, even if regrettably abrupt. This is a matter of utmost discretion, and we assure you your response will be held in strictest confidence. Our inquiry pertains to the imminent auction at the House of Abadar for the artifact known as the Runecarved Key. To wit: What sort of funds do you have at your disposal?"
The samsaran seeks to avoid confrontation. "We do not seek to threaten or coerce, but we cannot leave until we have your answer to our question."
"Yes, I am he," Landers responds, now frowning a bit as Lazarus gets straight to the point. "And while I appreciate your candor, I'm afraid that I haven't the foggiest idea of what you're talking about. Of course I've read about the auction itself - who hasn't? But you must have me mistaken for someone else as I've got no interest in making a bid myself, nor do I have the means to."
Despite seeming cool and collected, Landers seems to fidget a bit as he denies any personal knowledge or interest concerning the auction. He also unconsciously glances over his shoulder towards the northern corner of his house several times.