Aerys begins to hurl another bolt at the creatures, but at Ad'ifaah's shout, changes his casting. He briefly touches his eyes with index and ring fingers, then turns his gaze upon the band.
Taking a cue from both Ad'ifaah and Aerys, Corey also approaches the band, ready to act if one or all of them appear treacherous.
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The final two stirges are dispatched before they can cause more damage. The people who cast detect magic detect no magic from the band, in fact, they appear as startled as everyone else. They stopped playing right on the round after the stirges attacked. The rest of the villagers settle down and disperse and the band members thank you for your timely intervention.
Blegh! Aeleanor says, wiping the guts and blood off of her sword.
Did anyone come to harm? she asks, looking around. She sheathes her sword and walks over to where the stirges came from.
Perception:
Shol'a'saul gazes with fascination at the puncture wound on her arm, where her blood still oozes slowly from. She reaches into her pouch and draws some white powder and sprinkles a small amount on the wound. Soon the flow of blood stops.
"I will recover with sufficient rest." She notes Ricven was also wounded and repeats the procedure on him. "You should recover, given enough time."
Ricven rips the feeding tube of the nasty little creature from his neck, wincing a bit as the wound throbs.
"First, we find out about someone who kills with stirges, then these creatures attack. That cannot be coincidence."
He walks over to see if the creatures nested in the area, were brought in or just appeared from nowhere.
Venedictos comes over to check Ricven's wounds. "You are suggesting that this prisoner, or perhaps his ghost, is restless and seeking to prevent us from doing...something? Perhaps others of these more notorious prisoners are also restless, such as he spirit painting the monument with blood."
"When we get back to the house, I will mix up some herbs to help everybody replenish the blood they lost to the stirges."
He'll do long term care, although the results are irrelevant, since nobody lost more than one point of Con. He channels to alleviate wounds.
"We should ask the spirit board if this attack was able to happen because of the magic we've seen at the statue. They both started around the same time. And we need to speed up the research because I want to enter the prison soon."
Ricven then lies back down so the monk can continue treating him for blood loss.
Shol'a'Saul nods , "Yes...that would be a wise questio to ask. I will be able to consult the spirits this evening."
"Let's hope it's spelling a long word because If this can happen with two letters, who knows what will occur with the full word."
Ricven looks around the professor's house.
[b]"The professor was smarter than I am and he already had researched the prison. Let's take another look around his library and study to see if there is anything helpful."[b]
[ooc]Perception 27 if I can take 20 while resting up.[ooc]
I'll read as fast as I can."
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Discoveries:
The Whispering Way
1) The Whispering Way is a sinister organization of necromancers that has been active in the Inner Sea region for thousands of years.
2) Agents of the Whispering Way often seek alliances with undead creatures, or are themselves undead. The Whispering Way’s most notorious member was Tar-Baphon, the Whispering Tyrant, although the
society itself has existed much longer than even that mighty necromancer.
3) The Whispering Way itself is a series of philosophies that can only be transferred via whispers— the philosophies are never written or spoken of loudly, making the exact goals and nature of the secretive philosophy difficult for outsiders to learn much about.
4) Exact details on the society are difficult to discern, but chief among the Whispering Way’s goals are discovering formulae for creating liches and engineering the release of the Whispering Tyrant. Agents often travel to remote sites or areas plagued by notorious haunts or undead menaces to perform field research or even to capture unique monsters. Their symbol is a gagged skull, and those who learn too many of the Way’s secrets are often murdered, and their mouths mutilated to prevent their bodies from divulging secrets via speak with dead.
The professor's body had its mouth and neck crushed.
Harrowstone
1) Harrowstone is a ruined prison— partially destroyed by a fire in 4661, the building has stood vacant ever since. The locals suspect that it’s haunted, and don’t enjoy speaking of the place.
2) Harrowstone was built in 4594. Ravengro was founded at the same time as a place where guards and their families could live and that would produce food and other supplies used by the prison. The fire that killed all of the prisoners and most of the guards destroyed a large
portion of the prison’s underground eastern wing, but left most of the stone structure above relatively intact. The prison’s warden perished in the fire, along with his wife, although no one knows why she was in the prison when the fire occurred. A statue commemorating the warden and the guards who lost their lives was built in the months after the tragedy—that statue still stands on the riverbank just outside of town.
3) Most of the hardened criminals sent to Harrowstone spent only a few months imprisoned, for it was here that most of Ustalav’s executions during that era were carried out. The fire that caused the tragedy was, in fact, a blessing in disguise, for the prisoners had rioted and gained control of the prison’s dungeons immediately prior to the conf lagration. It was only through the selfsacrifice of Warden Hawkran and 23 of his guards that the prisoners were prevented from escaping—the guards gave their lives to save the town of Ravengro.
4) At the time Harrowstone burned, five particularly notorious criminals had recently arrived at the prison. While the commonly held belief is that the tragic fire began accidentally after the riot began, in fact the prisoners had already seized control of the dungeon and had been in command of the lower level for several hours before the fire. Warden Hawkran triggered a deadfall to seal the rioting prisoners in the lower level, but in so doing trapped himself and nearly two dozen guards. The prisoners were in the process of escaping when the panicked guards accidentally started the fire in a desperate attempt to end the riot.
The skipping song
Put her body on the bed.
Take a knife and lop her head.
Watch the blood come out the pipe.
Feeds the stirge, so nice and ripe.
Drops of red so sparkly bright.
Splatters spell her name just right.
With a hammer killed his wife.
Now he wants to claim your life.
Tricksy father tells a lie.
Listen close or you will die.
The Prisoners (3 of 5)
Father Charlatan (Sefick Corvin): Of the five notorious prisoners, only Father Charlatan was not technically a murderer, yet his crimes were so blasphemous that several churches demanded he be
punished to the full extent of Ustalavic law. Although he claimed to be an ordained priest of any number of faiths, Father Corvin was in fact a traveling con artist who used faith as a mask and a means to bilk the faithful out of money in payment for false miracles or cures. He became
known as Father Charlatan after his scheme was exposed and his Sczarni accomplices murdered a half-dozen city guards in an attempt to make good the group’s escape.
The Lopper (Vance Saetressle): When the Lopper stalked prey, he would hide in the most unlikely of places, sometimes for days upon end with only a few supplies to keep him going while he waited for the exact right moment to strike. Once his target was alone, the Lopper would emerge to savagely behead his victim with a handaxe.
The Piper of Illmarsh (real name unknown): Before he snatched his victims, the Piper taunted his targets with a mournful dirge on his f lute. He preferred to paralyze lone victims by dosing their meals with lich dust and then allowed his pet stirges to drink the victims dry of blood.
Shol'a'Saul frowns at the Spirit Planchette, a worried look on her face. "I am troubled by this developement. It is as if the spirits are...blocked in some way from responding. Troubling, indeed."
Knowledge(aid another):
Knowledge(aid another):
Ok all, lets think about what we have discovered so far. The warden's wife's name was Vesorianna. The first two letters scrawled on the monument so far are V and E. A possible connection.
And look at the strange song that Shol heard:
.
Put her body on the bed.
Take a knife and lop her head.
Watch the blood come out the pipe.
Feeds the stirge, so nice and ripe.
Drops of red so sparkly bright.
Splatters spell her name just right.
With a hammer killed his wife.
Now he wants to claim your life.
Tricksy father tells a lie.
Listen close or you will die.
"Splatters spell her name just right" - sounds like the letters on the monument.
"Feeds the stirge" - we have now fought stirges.
And why was his wife in the prison? There was a riot for bloody sake. I think that the good warden was not so good after all. I bet that he was planning on somehow sacrificing the prisoners and possibly the guards as well. He personally blockaded the prison so that nobody could escape. And then he sacrificed his wife on the altar. Whether she was there voluntarily or not remains to be known.
Furthermore, we have in the song a "tricksy father" - possibly Father Charlaton; a "take a knife and lop her head" man - Vance Saetressie; and a "feeds the stirge" man - the Piper.
This song sounds like either a prophesy or somebody was trying to mimic the horrid acts in the song for unholy ends.
Knowledge Local aid another:
Knowledge Local aid another:
Venedictos' herbs help everybody who was drained, and by the time they wake up the morning after the battle, they feel completely restored (of course, the herbs had nothing to do with it, but whatever).
Shol'a'saul nods in response to Ad'ifaah theory. "These are plausible theories, however we cannot guess the motivations of the warden and his wife. Plus too, the Whispering Way had a strong interest in these past events as well. I fear a trip to the prison is necessary soon!"
"It would appear that at least two of the prison's worst former inmates are beginning to manifest themselves. We've seen vandalism and stirges - I would imagine that if this continues, things will only get worse."
Ricven listens to the old children's rhyme, trying to match the killers to the verses.
"It sounds like this song actually warns listeners about the methods of attack used by these horrible criminals. But is it including the warden, too, or is that another of our killers? The bit about killing a wife with a hammer, that would be how someone in this cult would do such a thing. Not only does it kill, but it prevents speaking with the dead through some magic."
The fighter runs a hand over his shaved head, thinking for a moment.
"Perhaps all the deaths were part of some ritual by the cult, with the warden as the person behind it. This wife killer could have even taught him how to do it. That could explain The Whispering Way's interest in the prison now, when things are starting to happen. But I don't know enough about magic to know if that makes sense or not."
The fighter looks off into the distance for a moment, repeating himself.
"I don't know enough about magic ... and I'm probably not the only one."
So, Ricven is now interested in who ordered the construction of the prison, any blueprints that might have survived and if anyone new had joined the staff in the months before the fatal fire. Because the place could have been built for this centuries-old cult to perfect its craft or taken over for that very purpose. Since this is a group that shares secrets in whispers, it stands to reason that every member does not know everything about the group. That would make this place ideal for a place to learn more about the undead, especially if they wanted to make some new type for their research or if they wanted to find a way to reach their other goal through sacrifice.
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This should pretty much cover his research while the others are looking around, and he'll share his suspicions around the cult's ties to the prison with the others later on.
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On the first day of renewed research, Corey finds some tantalizing hints, but is unable to finish before closing time. However, while researching at the Temple, Abernathus and helpers are directed by an acolyte to go to the mausoleum at the Restlands to look at some old carvings. With that additional information, he is able to find out abot the fourth prisoner:
The Mosswater Marauder (Ispin Onyxcudgel): Only 5 years before his hometown of Mosswater was destined to be overrun and ruined by monsters from the nearby river, Ispin Onyxcudgel was a well-liked artisan and a doting husband. When he discovered his wife’s infidelity, he f lew into a jealous rage and struck her dead with his hammer, shattering her skull and his sanity with one murderous blow. Wracked with shame and guilt, Ispin became convinced that if he could rebuild his wife’s skull she would come back to life—but unfortunately, he could not find the last blade-shaped fragment from the murder site. So instead, Ispin became the Mosswater Marauder. Over the course of several weeks, the cunning dwarf stalked and murdered nearly 20 people while searching for just the right skull fragment. He was captured just before murdering the daughter of a visiting nobleman from Varno, and was carted off to Harrowstone that same night.
Perception:
And now we have the Mosswater Marauder who "With a hammer killed his wife. Now he wants to claim your life." I am guessing that the last person is going to be some type of an artist or mage who likes to paint and then started to paint with blood.
Guys, this is not a child's song, it is some type of a prophesy, probably related to the return of the Whispering Tyrant. Very bad things are going to happen I think.
"I would guess it was a scary song for children that started after the fire, like stories about the monster under your bed."
I do not believe in prophecies and fate...I make my own way. Aeleanor says, looking around.
Perception:
Initiative:
Round 1
Watch out! Zombies! Aeleanor calls, running up to the first one she sees rising from the earth and slashing at its head with her sword.
Curved Blade:
Damage:
Shol'a'saul glances about her and sees the dead rising to life. her heart quickens its pace in fear, but she maintains her calmness. Uttering a swift spell, her hand glows with an eerie blue highlight. She readies for the advance of the undead....
Perception:
Initiative:
Venedictos tries to get all allies within 50' of himself and casts bless, granting everybody plus one bonuses to attack and saves versus fear.
Aerys gags as a dank breeze brings with it the reek of decay. Fighting a surge of nausea, he sights briefly down the length of his arm, sending a bolt of white light through the gathering mists. It arcs around Aeleanor befor slamming into the figure slowly pulling itself from the earth
I draw my scimitar and attack the same zombie that Aeleanor attacked.
Attack:
Damage:
Crit Confirm:
Damage:
Initiative:
"Shelyn!!" Abe yells, bringing his sword across one of the zombies in one fluid motion.
Surprise Round or Round One
Ricven is walking slowly with the group, lost in thought as he tries to figure out just how long the Whispering Way has been involved with the prison when he hears Aeleanor shout.
The fighter draws his greatsword and moves toward the closest group of undead, wrinkling his nose at the wet smells churned up from the graves.
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round 1
Shol'a'saul - casts chill touch and holds the charge
Abernathus - kills a skeleton
Ricven - kills a zombie
Skeletons - attack Shol, Aerys, and Venedictos
Aeleanor - hits a zombie for 7pts.
Ad'ifaah - finishes off Aeleanor's zombie
Aerys - magic missiles his skeleton for 2pts.
Zombies - attacks Abe and Ricven
Venedictos - casts bless
Shol'a'saul stands her ground and waits for one of the undead to move towards her, ready to retaliate in return.
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As the undead burst forth, your group explodes into action. You drop a couple of zombies and one of the skeletons, but you do not escape unscathed as Abernathus, Aerys, and Venedictos are wounded by the undead's attacks.
round 2
everyone has +1 to hit from Venedictos's bless
Shol
Abe
Ricven
Skeletons
Aeleanor
Ad'ifaah
Aerys
Zombies
Venedictos
Corey