Leeoli watches the Father closely as the old man studies Rufus. He sees no open malice in his eyes, only a very strong curiousity and a palpable fear. It seems as if he has the full intention to rid Rufus of his demons however he can.
Father Grimburrow nods after some deliberation. Very well...perhaps that is best, but only time will tell. I won't suggest we lock up one of the very people sacrificing himself to save our community. I will continue to research for some way to rid you of this evil, and of course I'd ask that you please report any others to me so that I can further research.
Now, is there anything else that the Temple of Pharasma can do for you in this endeavor?
Thank you father Grimburrow, yes there is. When blades do not suffice, sanctified water makes for a potent weapon against the undead. If you would supply us with as much holy water as you can spare, we would put it to good use. We can buy as many glass vials as you can fill.
The Father nods quickly. That, I can certainly provide. I have enough blessed water to fill a dozen vials right now, and if you'd like to wait a few hours, I can prepare a dozen more...it just takes time for the proper rites.
Fantastic, I will buy two dozen glass vials. The second dozen we can pick up tomorrow morning Shortly, Leeoli returns with emptied glass vials, then the party leaves to do purchase their equipment. The early morning spent, Leeoli suggests they return to Lorimor's home for a lunch before setting out to the prison.
After sharing a light fare of cheese, grapes, and a bit of spitted lamb, Leeoli turns to his friends. I share Father Grimburrow's fears about Rufus. While I think we must go back to the prison today, we should see if we can find a way to cure Rufus, without waiting for the Father to finish his research. Leeoli feels a sudden drop in his stomach.
Let us activate the Spirit Planchette.
How does it work?
Dura is happy to help pay for the holy water. She also thinks a little lunch is a good idea before heading back to the prison, but she doesn't want to wait much longer than that. Nightfall seems perilous.
She seems very uneasy when Maleye mentions the planchette. "I'm not sure I trust that contraption as far as curing Rufus. Can spirits lie to us? It seems most of the spirits around here aren't particularly friendly or helpful. Can we not just burn the cursed items, maybe in a forge?"
Yes, they will lie quite often Leeoli realizes from a bit of text from a dusty tome at the Maleye library. and they only answer yea or nay. Still they tell the truth more often than they lie, and if we repeat the question a few times, we might establish some level of certitude...and who knows. Maybe we'd get Professor Lorrimor, using it in this house.
Leeloli looks away in thought at the suggestion to melt the axe in a forge [b]Artifacts can sometimes be destroyed this way, and I was set to try, but Grimburrow seemed to think that this artifact would not be so easily destroyed---or its curse.
Rufus had managed to calm himself a bit, especially after Grimburrow had agreed not to place him in jail and to provide holy water.
"Yes Dura, we've seen the extent to which spirits may deceive," he agrees, remembering his encounter with the False Priest. Even though it had only been the day before, somehow it felt as though months had passed.
"But we are out of our element here. All, perhaps, save Zazaria, who traffics matters of eternal rest, and Leeoli, who's family may or may not carry a curse of their own." He shoots an apologetic glance toward Leeoli, meaning no offense.
"And so if Leeoli thinks we ought to try the spirit board, I am with him. How many are needed to make it, er, work? Any who don't wish to be a part of the ritual are free to keep watch outside."
This is hardly my element either, Rufus, Zazaria chides gently. But what I can do, I will do. I agree with Mr. Maleye's plan.
It sounded like a good idea earlier; I now realize that I have not the faintest idea what to ask.
Leeoli stands, pulls the vials of sanctified water from his pack. He distributes two to each member of the party. We should go to the prison. Perhaps we will find a good question to ask there.
Hefting his pack onto his back, and buckling on hilt, and slipping into the chain shirt. I will buy 200' of rope on our way out of town.
Father Grimburrow is good to his word, and within a few hours, the group has a full two dozen vials of holy water, and the old priest's blessing.
Leeoli sees to the mundane needs of the group as they head out of town and back to the lonely hill upon which the prison stands. The grounds are no less imposing than they were the day before, but now they are oddly familiar, and the sense of foreboding darkness is at least more manageable given the realization that some of the spirits within had already been put to rest.
Rufus gulps as the hulking prison comes back into view. While they may have conquered some of the spirits lurking within, he wonders what is yet to come, and whether it is even more terrible than those they have faced.
"What do you think we should ask of the spirit board?" He asks the others as they approach the entrance.
Ahem. Well. I don't know Rufus. But I am sure I don't want to use it here, near so many malevolent spirits. Back secure in Lorrimor's home is what I planned. I only meant that we may discover something here today to inform our thinking on the matter.
"Right! Me too," Rufus lies (badly). "Later..."
Let me refer to the map we scratched out....ahem yes. We should go back to the basement we marked as u2 on our map...where we fought that fiery skeleton
Leeoli bring out his newly purchased rope and begins knotting it every two feet Let's not fall this time.
The rope makes the effort so much simpler than it had been the first time through. The group takes its time headed down into the dark interior of the yawning hole. One by one, you splash down into the shallow few inches of water at the bottom.
You proceed, unhindered, to the west, and into the large room in which you had fought the flaming skeleton. Four dark hallways exit from this large empty chamber, each striking out in one of the four directions of the compass, and each decorated with a soot-caked brass nameplate affixed to the ceiling just above the entrance. A rubble-choked stairway leads up in the middle of the room, and the bones of many former prisoners or guards line the floor.
The nameplates read as follows...to the north lies "The Oubliette." To the west lies "Reaper's Hold." To the south lies "The Nevermore." To the east, from which you'd come, lies "Hell's Basement."
Dura blanches a little at the plaques. "Such colorful names of prison wings. Have you been through any of these previously?"
Shifting from one foot to the next Leeoli watches as Dura reads each plate in turn. Odd and prophetic. Leeoli murmurs, and weighs the meaning of the two wings Reaper's Hold. The Nevermore.. But his mind is too cluttered from worry. Leeoli after a lost moment responds to Dura andthen nods.Yes, the Oubliette is where we defeated the Lopper
Needlessly repeating what had been endlessly discussed the night before, Leeoli continues We've defeated what we think were the Piper of Illmarsh, Father Charlatan, and the Lopper. The Splatter Man and the Mosswater Marauder remain. As he goes over these details, Leeoli brings out colored vials, and with quick practiced hands begins to prepare an extract of heightened awareness. Continuing.. The Splatter Man may not be in Harrowstone, as he is likely the one behind the bloody letters defacing the statue on the edge of town. The MossWater Marauder, though, he is most likely down one of these passages. But which? Swiftly bringing the vial to his cracked lips, Leeoli swallows the herbal-infused extract.
Leeoli frowns, rubbing his temples as light begins to explode before his eyes ah good. The extract was prepared correctly; this will pass momentarily If I were to gamble based on names of these wings, I'd bet we would find the MossWater Marauder in Reaper's hold. That is, after he murdered his wife, the Marauder embarked on a crazed quest to return her from death...to return her from the Reaper's hold, so to speak.
"Tragic," Rufus admits. He watches Leeoli consume one of his concoctions, and his hand travels absent-mindedly toward a coat pocket where his white essence is kept. He pulls his hand away, instead attempting to smooth his tufts of salt-and-pepper hair. He is still tainted with a curse, or else the undesired effects of his own drug, and he isn't certain which. He knows he should not even considering using it. But it does take the edge off. And it's good to have the substance at hand.
Just in case.
Drawing his great sword, which is nearly as tall as himself, he smiles hopefully. "To the Hold then. Let's prepare to meet this Marauder." He steps carefully in that direction.
You continue down the corridor to the west, your heavy footfalls echoing through the ten foot wide corridor. Your meager light scours the walls, showing dust and debris covering black and soot stained surfaces. The crumbling and cracking walls hide black shadows that seem to move in your periphery. When you direct light, however, only empty crevices greet your gaze.
In the distance, dim, and pale glow of your light you see that the corridor branches out into corridors leading to the north and south. Before that, though, are wooden doors - one leading to the north, and one to the south, both closed, albeit not well.
Dura heads to the northern door. "Have you had any trouble with the doors here? I would assume they aren't trapped. They look like a good shove would practically shatter them."
Daniel hangs back a bit, clearly not happy with the smells of this place.
"Dura, wait!" Rufus calls, reaching for her shoulder. "Much of the prison is crumbling to pieces, but that hasn't stopped it from nearly laying us low. We should be careful." He looks down the hallway, tring to determine if the doors look dangerous.
Leeoli does a quick search around the northern door, and tries to listen for any movement behind it. While he is at it, Leeoli inspects the southern doors.
After looking at the broken doors, Leeoli sighs with impatience. I'd use a detect undead spell, but I'm sure they are all around us.
Dura nods. "Thanks for the warning. I'll be careful."
Aside from the natural foreboding nature of this dark place, and the knowledge that within are very real spirits that want nothing more than to make the living suffer, you find no immediate threats to your existence.
The doors themselves are indeed in disrepair, due mostly to the age of the building and rot. Soot from the fire stains all of the walls. The doors are unlocked and don't seem to be trapped.
Unless these undead start getting creative, the main enemy will be further to the west. However we may find something of interest Leeoli shrugs impatiently. Let's clear out the northern then southern doors?
"What was that?" Rufus asks, spinning toward what he could swear is movement in the shadows. Finding nothing, he assists Leeoli in examining these rooms. Leaning his sword against the wall, he retrieves a torch and lights it. Then, one hand clutching the torch before him and the other his weapon, steps further down the hall.
Dura shoves the door to the northern corridor open. Daniel seems to whine a bit as he follows a few steps behind.
This is apparently a guard room, with a table, a few chairs, and a pair of cots. A winch is affixed to the western wall, thought what it operates isn't apparent.
To pull or not to pull, that is the question
"I dread to try. We may alert everything that hides, or awaken all that sleeps." Rufus eyes the device suspiciously.
Dura considers the winch. "A portcullis? Or a dumbwaiter perhaps?"
Leeoli inspects the lever for inscriptions that might indicate function, or an open/close position.
If this were a normal prison, we could be sure that this lever is meant to securely open cage doors. I can imagine that those cages have undead skeletons within, and we would be foolish to let them out. I have a feeling that we will end up needing to pull the lever to get at our target. Let us proceed further before deciding to pull it.
Neither Rufus nor Leeoli find any traps on or about the device. A quick inspection shows no external parts beyond the few chains and whatever mechanisms they attach to once they travel through the walls. The links themselves are huge, indicating a very heavy load.
The southern room
"South it is." Dura marches to the southern door, allowing her companions to check for traps again before she tries to open it.
Rufus steps through the hall to the southern door, examining it before attempting to open it.
Vrilli ambles through to the South.
Rufus examines the door but finds no traps or apparent surprises. Cautious nonetheless, he leads the way through the unlocked door.
This guardroom contains a single large table with two chairs astride it and a single sagging cot pushed up against the eastern wall. Several battered cabinets line the northern wall, with a few arrows and bits of chainmail lying scattered on the floor nearby, yet the most eerie sight are the three fractured skulls sitting on the table next to a heavy hammer. It looks as if someone has arranged the fragments of the skulls in some sort of pattern, as if an attempt had been made to construct a fourth skull from the broken fragments of the trio on the table. The leathery body of a long-dead dwarf, his wiry red hair and beards still strangely vibrant in death, lies slumped on the ground behind the table.
Well it is obvious who that was Leeoli involuntarily glances upwards, half fearing that he'd find a ghostly hammer coming down on his skull. We are getting close, I think..
Leeoli decides to take precautions, and quaffs a prepared extract of shielding. [ooc]If we are not yet in combat rounds[/b]
"Ispin Onyxcudgel, the Mosswater Marauder," Rufus replies, recounting as much for himself as anyone the known detail's of Ispin's terrible massacre.
Watching Leeoli consume his extract, Rufus reaches, perhaps a little too eagerly, for his own located within a breast pocket. He holds in his palm and stares at it for a long moment before sighing and popping it into his mouth. He turns his face to the wall, leaning his ahead against it and clenching his fists tightly for a moment. He turns back, his eyes once again coal dark, and nods.
Dura looks confused at the others preparing for combat. "So, what happens now? The dwarf is supposed to jump up and attack us or something?" She doesn't look convinced. Daniel sniffs the air and makes a low growl.
"Very well." She draws her mace and prepares to strike should the corpse move.
It is merely a sign that danger is near. We can look here again later, for loot and such, let us move down the hall, where the dwarf's shade undoubtedly awaits.
You back out of the macabre room, both on edge and somehow satisfied to be finding what you think may be one of the last of the vile spirits that keep this place in a state of perpetual horror. A quick walk down the hall to the west brings you to what you knew you'd eventually find...a lowered porticullis.
A brass nameplate, its face caked with soot, hangs above a porticullis leading into a large cellblock. At the extent of your light, you see that many of the iron doors along the walls within the cellblock hang open, revealing empty cells within.
I suppose we have to open it?
Rufus tries to reach the nameplate and wipe away the soot.
"Let's stay together, then. I have a feeling turning the winch might raise more than the gate." Rufus turns back to return to try the winch, encouraging the others to stay near. He enters the room, sword drawn, and gives the winch a good crank.
The old winch still works surprisingly well, though it no doubt takes a bit more work than it used to. Rufus is up to the task, and cranks the winch over several times, raising the old porticulis with each turn. As the portal comes to a groaning halt at its raised position, an additional sound comes floating out on a barely perceptible breeze - the sound is like an exhalation of breath held for far too long.
Now, the way to the west is clear, and waiting.