"You aren't supposed to just hit them with these? If they are not magical maybe we could simply try that."
Arval seems to be thinking quite hard although not much useful information is being produced.
"I think with the name Splatterman the hammer might be a better fit?"
Norna brings out the spirit planchette.
"Remember," she squeaks. "We get one question per day from what we've discovered. So make it a good one!"
She sets out the board, and staring at the five items, she closes her eyes and places her hand on the planchette. The doughty little cleric begins concentrating.
What question do you wish to ask?
"How will these five items help defeat the five?
Norna frowns and shakes her head. "We may want to be more specific. The answers are one word and unless it's yes or no, it's often pretty vague."
"Will these work as weapons against the five?"
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"I would ask: Will the use of these weapons put the 5's spirits at rest? Or something on that line. Maybe any of you have any other ideas?"
He looks at the others in the group.
Norna nods over at Kawrock and gives his second question a try.
She begins chanting to herself. "Will these work as weapons against the five prisoners of Harrowstone. Will these work as weapons against the five prisoners of Harrowstone..."
After a few seconds, a chill settles over the room and the planchette begins to move.
Kawrock hands the tarnished silver flute to Eldon. "It's not a dying goose horn but I think you can make it work."
"Let me give it a try," Eldon says as he accepts the flute. He places the flute against his lips and starts playing.
It sounds absolutely horrible, but when Eldon's done playing a short tune he nods appreciatively. "Yes, it's certainly a fine instrument."
Eldon feels a strange pull at his mind but he manages to resist it. The small audience (our famous bard being more used to playing for courts and thousands of screaming fans) makes his playing less impressive than usual, but he blows a few notes out. The flute is an amazing instrument and the notes have a sweet, sorrowful sound.
Arval grabs the hammer and gives it a good swing to test it.
"Would do as a weapon I think. "
The hammer is well-balanced and is of masterwork quality. It doesn't seem to do much else at this time.
"I felt a bit funny while laying this." Eldon holds up the flute as he speaks. "Like something tried to mess with my head."
"I cannot help but wonder how these items will aid us in our quest, but I guess we may soon find out."
Arval looks around the group as the items are distributed through the group.
"Well that leaves you with the axe Kawrock! Do you think you can handle it?"
The last bit he said with a jest, trying to lighten up the mood of the group.
Kawrock looks at the axe, "That is not a sword and looks clumsy and awkward. Probably not very well." He picks up the war razor, "This is more to my liking."
After standing off to the side in quiet contemplation Rustom speaks up and says "I will take the axe." he takes the axe and gives it a couple of good swings. "Good balance."
Lena takes the book.
As you peruse the spellbook, you see one word written over and over again in dripping blood. Faster, and faster you flip through the book. Like the scrawlings of a madman, this name repeats over and over again.
VladlenaVladlenaVladlenaVladlenaVladlenaVLADLENA
Despite this, the book still has many spells remaining in it.
Comprehend languages, dispel magic, false life, gust of wind, illusory script, levitate, mage armour, magic missile, summon monster IV
Kawrock grabs the war razor, which is not one of the 'weapons' against the five spirits. It's just a really good war razor. Norna cautiously takes the holy symbols, jingling them in her hand.
"I feel fine..." she says cautiously.
The bloodstained handaxe lurks ominously on the shelf.
With Rustom grabbing the axe Kawrock looks at the party. "So do we go up stairs or down that creepy hole?"
Full of newfound courage Arval agrees.
"Yes, I agree. Let's go upstairs then. Maybe we will find more treasure!"
He moves from the vault to the stairs. He is still wielding his sword for now.
You make your way to the second staircase, and slowly head upwards. The stone steps are thick with the dust of decades and the eerie silence of the prison makes your footsteps the only sound.
You arrive at the top floor, peering out of a broken door to see dusty, broken-down hallways. Unlike the main floor, this floor is largely made out of wood. The wood sags beneath the group's feet as they begin to peer around.
You stand in a north/south hallway which opens up in either direction. To the south you can spy a guard post. To the north you can see a large table, indicating some sort of public area like a meeting hall or mess.
Arval moves out into the hallway and looks around the corner.
"It's a lot worse on this floor. I fear we may fall on with the floor in this state, what do you guys think?"
Eldon walks up beside Arval. "You think so?"
He takes a good look around, observing the room and its floor.
Although a little unnerving, the floor should easily support all of you without issue. Eldon faintly hears a low buzzing sound coming from the north.
Kawrock draws his sword as he looks down both ends of the hall. "Which way should we go first?"
Both the north and the south look like places to go.
"There's a weird buzz up north," Eldon informs the others. "I'd like to check it out."
Eldon waits for the others to catch up before he gets moving.
"North it is."
The group start to trek northwards. Wooden benches once lined this large hall, but several are now stacked in a jumble and others are overturned in disarray. Weakened by fire, the entire east wall has collapsed away, creating an unintended entryway to a wooden deck beyond and a view of the lake beyond.
The source of the buzzing is almost immediately apparent as five stirge are seen buzzing around the remains of a mess hall. As you arrive, they start flying angrily towards you and attack!
Kawrock
--
Grey stirge
Black stirge
Brown stirge
Green stirge
Yellow stirge
--
Arval
Lena
Norna
Rustom
Eldon
Kawrock moves forward and lets a firebolt off at one of the bugs.
The stirges all buzz in, hungry for the blood of the living! However, their small frames allow everyone ample opportunity to attack before they attempt to feed.
left
middle
right
"Take that, you bloodsucker!" Eldon shouts, and stabs his rapier at the stirge that approaches.
Arval and Kawrock both swing at the air, but Eldon's masterful swordsmanship manages to skewer one of the incoming stirges. Two of them land on Kawrock, the enormous bloodsucking bugs attach themselves to him and plunge their
Both of them manage to attach themselves to Kawrock's feathers and plunge their proboscides into the tengu!
Kawrock casts produce flame and tries to strike one of the bloodsuckers with the ball of flame in his claw.
Rustom Moves in beside Arval and takes a mighty swing at Green stirge
Arval does a power attack on the closest stirge.
...
......
Rustom produces a ball of flame in his claw and grabs one of the stirges, toasting it to a crisp. It crumples up and falls off of him while the second one tries to begin drinking.
Arval swings out mightily and misses, but Rustom is luckier, his massive axe splitting a stirge in two.
"Hyaa!" Eldon leaps forward, and stabs at one of the stirges in front of him with his rapier.
Eldon lunges out with his expert swordsmanship, skewering a stirge out of mid-air! Lena also rushes past and whips a firebolt at the stirge trying to eat Kawrock. The firebolt is a direct hit, burning the stirge to a crisp.
The remaining stirge doesn't seem to care all of its friends are dead, and it lands on Eldon's face and slams the proboscis into the side of his neck!
Rustom aims a blow at the thing on Eldon's neck
Kawrock moves behind the stirge and attempts to strike it with his still burning claw.
Arval tries another attack.