Dmitri takes up a stance behind Dashil, hoping to protect against the strange creatures attacking them.
My eyes!
The thought was instinctive - he had once spent years blinded after a similar attack.
Falling back, hand pressing against his eyes, Aduard realises the pain is not the icy agony of a ruptured eyeball, but the raw, scalding pain of a scalp wound.
Angrily he calls upon his magic. Still accustoming himself to his new body's aura, he can draw only a trickle of power.
Enough for a single dart, perhaps?
But the Bookman has centuries of tricks and techniques to draw upon.
Darkness! Speed! Reflexes! Nothing will stop my vengeance!
The dead birds begin to dissolve, their feathers melting and running between the cobblestones.
Radag takes a moment to make sure the scene is secure before sheathing his sword and looking at Brogol, "Nothing to worry... I took care of it. Let's get going before the parents come by."
Radag will make his way back to the mansion as quietly and sneakily as possible.
Dmitri lowers his weapon slightly once the strange creatures fall. "Th' hells was that?" he asks, eyes peeled for further attack.
"No idea." Dashil is getting juuuust a little tired of saying that. She nods (grudgingly) at Aduard. "Nice shooting. Any thoughts on what those things were?"
Suddenly remembering Lereia, Dashil kneels down to the girl. "Hey sweetie, can we walk you home? Doesn't look like it's safe out here..."
Brogol sighs and lets the adrenaline leave him while Radag secures the scene of the battle. "Aye, Master Irefist. Aye'd say yer took care of it just fine."
Gathering his part of the professor's armory, Brogol follows the ranger out the crypt, keeping to the shadows, thankful the gruff half-elf was with him on this trip to the boneyards.
Aduard nods gruffly in acknowledgement at Dashil's comment, and presses a clean white handkerchief above his face. "A few ideas, yes." he answers
Wakati only catches sight of the avian threat at the last moment. The image of the crimson birds swooping down on the party causes him to freeze in place.
After the shouting is over, he recovers, and watches as the bodies dissolve into nothing.
That's odd. Ghost birds attacking a ghost child? Or were they attempting to protect her? One more mystery.
Turning to Aduard: I may not be handy in a fight, but I can help with that wound. Hold still.
Wakati places his hand over the cut on Aduard's head, and murmurs a few words.
"Ectoplasm?"
Aduard nods once, decisively.
"Yes. Lereia. We're going to leave here, now. Dashil, take the girl. Nahodha, Zorya: I think we're dealing with a Haunt. If I'm right, it'll re-manifest any time now. Let's come back properly prepared - and without Lereia. Till then, keep an eye out."
Aduard immediately starts travelling back along the path. His head swivels and bobs as he tries to both look to the sky and keep an eye on the ground.
Almost always"
Dmitri frowns heavily, gripping his longspear protectively. "Let's move, then," he agrees, ushering Lereia after Aduard.
Dashil runs a hand through her long blue hair. Picking the girl up - still wrapped in her cloak - she walks with the others. "Which way is home, Lereia?"
Aside to Aduard, she mutters "Almost always? Do I want to know about the ones that don't?"
"Aye, this is it. Have the others returned yet?" Radag asks rubbing his chin. "Wait, I forgot where they were headed in the first place already."
Brogol takes his portion of the Professor's goods and lays them carefully on the dining table. "It seems yer father were preparing for a war."
Sighing, the apprentice makes his way over to the ever present teapot, and hangs it from the rod over the hearthfire, to bring the water to a boil.
The feeling, half whistful, half anger, comes over the half-human, a large, crashing wave of emotion, staggering Brogol, causing the young man to lean heavily on a nearby chair to steady himself. I wish the Doctor was here! Damnable man, why did you abandon me, abscond in the night without any guidance? You'd know the way through this fog, and you'd be able suss out what the Professor was up to. Me - I'm just...
Brogol's thoughts tail off as he notices the Lady Lorrimor's haggard appearance. She looks worse, I think.
"M'Lady, Aye know this time is rough fer yer. Are yer feeling ill? Yer look a little haggard..."
Staring hard at the woman, Brogol tries to look for signs of illness, or worse, madness.
"Brogol, that's no way to talk a lady, especially knowing Kendra's circumstances!" Radag places a firm hand on Brogol's shoulder, "Lest not forget how haggard the years have made you." Radag cracks his 'too proud for even him smile,' giving Brogols shoulder a few good intentioned, but still solid, pats.
Brogol blushes at Radag's scolding, but keeps his eyes on the Lady Lorrimer. "Of course, Master Irefist. Forgive me, Miss Lorimore. Aye'm merely concerned for yer well-being."
There is something amiss with the lady, I know it!
With the knowledge that you've improved your reputation around town, and that something sinister is haunting the fountain, you return to Kendra's home.
"Ah, yes, tha case. Thank yer, for tha reminder, Miss. Lorrimor." Brogol sets the box on the table, and lowers himself to the table's level, in order to get a closer look at it. Slowly, he turns the case, looking at it from all angles, and listens for any signs of the contents as he turns the case.
Lifting the case from the table, the appentice walks it outside, and sets it in the backyard, as far from the house as possible. Sighing, he closes his eyes and lifts the lid on the case...
Leaving the case on a stump, the young man steps back into the house, and in his bedroom, removes his studded leather armor before heading back outside. Pulling a slender lockpick from his pack, Brogol sets the box on a stump and begins tinkering with it, trying to spring the lock...
I found myself warming to the girl Lereia. Her attitudes - especially towards what I suspect was a familiar - leads me to believe that Stockl may have been right in his assessment. Unfortunate for her that she should so early have been intercepted by Petros' judgemental comrades.
I did what I could to steer her onto a less dangerous course. If she requires a mentor it is something I can help with later, in private.
My first thought when the ectoplasmic ravens appeared was to look to the girl. A near textbook first manifestation. However, she displayed none of the lassitude or exhaustion one would expect. This led me to believe that it was, indeed, a Haunt.
It is possible this madman Dashil encountered had found the same Haunt. It would certainly explain why he might have killed Lereia's Raven.
"We have returned!" Aduard called out from the entranceway, peeved his servants had not awaited him.
Turning to his comrades
"I believe a post constitutional drink was discussed. Shall we see if Stockl and Irefist are back and impose upon our hostess?"
Dmitri nods. "Yeah, I could use a drink right 'bout now," he sighs.
Radag is attending the box with Brogol in the back of the manor.
Dashil is in an oddly contemplative mood as they walk from Lereia's parents back to Kendra's home. Standing guard over the child and wrapping her own cloak around her was the right thing to do. More than that, it felt like the right thing to do. She wonders if - in a small way - it begins to make a start in her penance. She snorts. Right. In the same way that a drop matters in the ocean. How many dead children (let alone the other civilians) are on her conscience? So she looked after one - big deal.
Actually, it IS a big deal, for that one child; and the ocean is made up of drops.
Dashil blinks. She's pretty sure that thought didn't come from her. Dammit, in some ways Sarenrae's forgiveness is harder to take than punishment - at least with punishment you know that you deserve it.
Arriving back at the Lorrimer home, Dashil carefully removes her armour and weapons, hanging them up by the door. She moves to hang up her cloak as well, but for some reason she hesitates, instead keeping it with her, draped carefully over her arm. Walking into the main room, she sees immediately how exhausted Kendra is looking "Hey, Kendra; are you alright? Is there anything we can help you with? A drink, for instance? My grandmother always swore by a hot whisky and lemon. Actually, she swore by a lot of things, but that's the one I remember that actually worked. She was a pretty odd woman." Dashil smiles, her first in some time. She does her best to gauge the mood of the room.
Wakati is in a contemplative mood as the group makes its way back to the manor. He turns to Aduard to discuss the matter: So, the girl herself wasn't a ghost, that was just the prattling of a superstitious bumpkin. But the girl was haunted, as evidenced by the demon birds. You seem to have had experience with this sort of thing, as you expected it to re-manifest. Any suggestions on how to get rid of it permanently? I have a hunch it has something to do with the girl's pet raven, but that wasn't clear to me.
Returning to the house, Wakati briefly recounts the experience at the fountain. Though we disrupted the entity, Aduard believes it is likely to reform. Perhaps you found something in the Deadlands that might provide some insight?: addressing Radag and Brogol.
Aduard talks, musing on Wakati's questions as he leads the other gentlemen to join the ladies in the main room.
"Just because we found Lereia does not mean there isn't some ghost girl by the fountain, possibly even linked the the Ravens. Child mortality in a hamlet like this is likely to be high."
"Sadly post-corporeal phenomena seem to be as diverse as ensouled beings. Is Lereia haunted? Or was it simply that there was a Haunt that also involved Ravens? Without knowing the full story, how can we stop it?"
"It seemed to me that she was as surprised as we were - though unfortunately I was more concerned with observing the higher resonances at the time. Was anyone looking at the girl? Was she surprised, or shocked? Has she seen similar manifestations before?"
"Whatever the answers, there is a book in this. The Blood Ravens of... hmm - actually 'Raven Blood' is an excellent name for a protagonist..." Aduard trails off in thought, allowing others to break into his discussion.
Dmitri blinks as Bookman talks, the discussion a bit over his head. "Well... how do ya kill somethin' that's already dead?" he asks, before running a hand through his beard and thinking about it.
Aduard blinks
"Fascinating question. It seems like everything has its own, special method. I suppose if I had to answer simply, I would say 'Research'."
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The darkwood case is neither locked, nor trapped, and holds several interesting items: a ouija board decorated with ornate letters and phrases complete with a brass planchette and four iron and glass vials containing tiny, churning clouds of vapor. The vials lie in velvet-lined indentations to the left of the board, along with 6 empty spots.
In addition to the darkwood case, Radag and Brogol's find includes a dozen silver arrows, four sun rods, six flasks of holy water, ten +1 arrows, five +1 ghost touch arrows, two +1 undead bane arrows, five potions of cure light wounds, two potions of lesser restoration, a scroll of detect undead, two scrolls of hide from undead, and a scroll of protection from evil.
Kendra is about to respond to Brogol when the rest of the party enters the parlor. Her smile brightens a touch. "Thank you, Dashil. I'm simply tired. Sleep is a rare commodity it seems. It would seem that Brogol and Radag have found my father's arsenal. Did you find the ghost?"
Her eyes widen when they land on Aduard and his still bleeding forehead. "Lady of the Graves, what happened to you?"
"Hmm?" Dashil's definitely distracted by something. "Oh, yes - sorry Aduard - I sometimes forget I still have the power. It's been a long day. And no, I don't think we found a ghost, exactly - Aduard can probably describe it better."
Shaking her head, as if to dismiss something, she approaches him and seals the cut by touching her holy symbol to it.
That done, she returns her attention to their hostess. "Trouble sleeping - you haven't been having weird dreams as well, have you, by any chance?"
Radag enters the study (or wherever everyone has gathered) raising a brow, and smiling smugly. "About time, took you long enough. Get anything useful as Brogol and I did?" he boasted more than asked.
Dashil shrugs, elaborately. "Depends what you consider 'useful' - we saved a little girl from ghost ravens and got her back to her parents; but they didn't pay us and the ghosts didn't have any loot, so, you know..." She shrugs, again.
Her mind is definitely elsewhere: being called a 'hero' by Lereia affected her more deeply than she cares to let on. Her almost brutal comments to Radag about not being paid are her way of trying to cover that.
"There isnt all that much wiggle room when it comes to the word 'useful,' but you deserve recognition for whatever usefulness that is to you." Radag chuckled crossing his arms.
After a moment of quiet smugness Radag's brow furrows as he is looking at Dashil, "Where are you off to? Something the matter?"
Aduard winces a little when Dashil turns to him. The injury was all but healed by Wakati - he hadn't considered that his face must have been a mask of blood by then. Still, it soothed the ache of scratched bone.
"I ... Thank you, Dashil. Very decent. I should go wash up before I join polite company."
Aduard ducks upstairs to his room, expecting that a towel, mirror, basin and jug of water will have been laid out for him. Quickly he splashes his face with water, dries it with the towel and inspects it in the mirror.
A stranger stares back.
It's always disconcerting when first getting used to a new face - one of the reasons he avoids mirrors. But this one, this one haunts him. It looks at him judgementally. Like it might look at a thief, or a murderer.
Like he might look at a thief or a murderer.
No time for this. He shakes his head and returns downstairs
"I believe someone said something about a drink? What have you found, Mr Irefist?"
"Aside from the arsenal of implements for un-undeadification, we found a ouija board with a brass planchette and four iron and glass vials containing tiny, churning clouds of vapor along with 6 empty vials. Care to take a look?" Radag says regarding Aduard.
Brogol produces the ouija board and vials with a small flourish and smile, obviously pleased with the work that he and Radag accomplished. Setting the board on the table, the young man talks absentmindedly, happy to have the company again. "We also found a couple o' vermin - centipedes as large as my foot. Radag swatted them aside like junebugs. As fer tha board here, yer guess has ta be better than mine. Looks like we're missing some vials o' this vapor."
"Centipedes the size of dogs Brogol." Radag corrected. "Had they been the size of your foot, I would have been cleaning the heel of my boot and not saving your arse." Radag said half jokingly as he jabbed Brogol as he came to stand beside him to see the spoils in better lighting than that off the crypt.
Kendra leans in and looks at the case. "I know what the vials are. My father called them 'haunt siphons.' They're designed to drain and suppress the necromantic energies of a haunted location. I wonder if my father took the other six with him to the old prison."
Dmitri continues to run a hand through his beard for a moment, before a thought seems to jolt through his mind. "Then! Then we could test it on th' haunt at th' fountain!" he states, looking supremely proud of himself for putting one and one together to get two.
"The fountain?"
"We went t' check out a supposed ghost, but all we found was a sad l'il girl," Dmitri begins, though his face clouds as he speaks of the girl who'd lost her pet raven to the town madman's ravings. "But then a bunch of ravens made o' blood jumped out an' attacked us. Tore poor Aduard up pretty bad. Said it was pro'ly a haunt, and if these l'il dealies are for handlin' 'em, then we should go try 'em out."
"I would like to see that!" Radag chuckles to himself as he looks to where Aduard went off to, sounding more interested in ravens attacking Aduard than seeing a bottle trap a haunt.
Brogol takes a vial and holds it to the firelight, peering at the churning cloud of vapor within it. So. Ms. Lorrimer, or anyone else really - if we open tha vial, does tha haunt in there get out? Can we use a vial wit' vapor in it ta trap another haunt, or do we need a empty one?"
Dashil watches Kendra closely as she leans in to examine the treasury of arcana that Radag and Brogol have found. "Haunt siphons? I have never heard of them; can you show us how to use them please? Like Dmitri said, we encountered a haunt earlier - or at least, Aduard confidently identified it as a haunt. As I recall, he was a little less confident about its range and when or whether it would actually come back."
Aduard carefully examines the items, concentrating on their auras.
"I did indeed identify it as a Haunt, and I stand by that conclusion. While a scholar is always nervous about extrapolating without sufficient evidence, I dare say I'd be prepared to risk money even if I wouldn't risk my repuation. I'd give excellent odds that it will reoccur, and good odds that it's stationary."
He coughs
"That reminds me Stockl, can you see me when you're free? No urgency."
Dashil - somewhat uncharacteristically - smiles at Aduard. She's in an odd mood. Maybe this hero business has its upsides. "It's OK, I've done investigating; I know how it feels not to have all the information and still be expected to have answers. I was just..." she trails off, with a wry expression. "Maybe I've spent too much time around Radag."
More seriously she adds "So if its stationary, we can go back there and kill it - end it - whatever? Should we do that sooner, rather than later? Those things were nasty - if we hadn't been there, someone could have been badly hurt." She looks at Aduard "More badly hurt, I mean."
Goddess! What am I doing, all this talk of going around righting wrongs?! This is : I could die an old maid - well, old - and be no more than just a drop in the ocean. Get a grip.
"Haha, no such thing as too much time with Radag! You all are good for a laugh if nothing else. Are we planning on going to this fountain or are we going to talk about it until our ghosts haunt this place too?"
Kendra and Aduard can explain the haunt siphons and the brass spirit planchette.
Kendra looks at the assembled group. "Are you going back out tonight?"