"Many thanks. And hopefully I can use the time to pay you back. While our mission is important, of course, so too is keeping up appearances of normality. I would return to my medical practice, if it is all the same to the rest of you. Treating a few patients would be good for me, as I would stay out of suspicion, and good for those in need." The elf said as he completed his purchase.
"Better we take the necessary time and be properly prepared that suffer as a result of being reckless. I'm sure we can all find ways to occupy the time, and allay suspicion by laying low." Arani agrees.
RUINS OF THE LUCKY BONES GAMBLING HALL (14 Desnus)
It takes a few days for your new ally Jolena Solstine to find someone capable of enchanting one of T'chazzar's short swords; buying alchemical solutions to your ghost problem proves easier.
As the party re-enters the gambling hall's ruins, Jessibel coats her blade with holy weapon balm. The bard adds that she'll sing to inspire courage in her fellow Silver Ravens as soon as they engage the halfling ghost.
The spirit is waiting where you last encountered her. As Jessibel scoots forward and begins her magical song, the ghost's eyes narrow. "So be it!" she hisses.
An affected ally receives a +1 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear effects and a +1 competence bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls.
Incorporeal (Ex): An incorporeal creature has no physical body. It can be harmed only by other incorporeal creatures, magic weapons or creatures that strike as magic weapons, and spells, spell-like abilities, or supernatural abilities. It is immune to all nonmagical attack forms. Even when hit by spells or magic weapons, it takes only half damage from a corporeal source. Although it is not a magical attack, holy water can affect incorporeal undead. Corporeal spells and effects that do not cause damage only have a 50% chance of affecting an incorporeal creature (except for channel energy). Force spells and effects, such as from a magic missile, affect an incorporeal creature normally.
An incorporeal creature has no natural armor bonus but has a deflection bonus equal to its Charisma bonus (always at least +1, even if the creature’s Charisma score does not normally provide a bonus).
An incorporeal creature can enter or pass through solid objects, but must remain adjacent to the object’s exterior, and so cannot pass entirely through an object whose space is larger than its own. It can sense the presence of creatures or objects within a square adjacent to its current location, but enemies have total concealment (50% miss chance) from an incorporeal creature that is inside an object. In order to see beyond the object it is in and attack normally, the incorporeal creature must emerge. An incorporeal creature inside an object has total cover, but when it attacks a creature outside the object it only has cover, so a creature outside with a readied action could strike at it as
it attacks. An incorporeal creature cannot pass through a force effect.
An incorporeal creature’s attacks pass through (ignore) natural armor, armor, and shields, although deflection bonuses and force effects (such as mage armor) work normally against it. Incorporeal creatures pass through and operate in water as easily as they do in air. Incorporeal
creatures cannot fall or take falling damage. Incorporeal creatures cannot make trip or grapple attacks, nor can they be tripped or grappled. In fact, they cannot take any physical action that would move or manipulate an opponent or its equipment, nor are they subject to such actions. Incorporeal creatures have no weight and do not set off traps that are triggered by weight.
An incorporeal creature moves silently and cannot be heard with Perception checks if it doesn’t wish to be. It has no Strength score, so its Dexterity modifier applies to its melee attacks, ranged attacks, and CMB. Nonvisual senses, such as scent and blindsight, are either ineffective or only partly effective with regard to incorporeal creatures. Incorporeal creatures have an innate sense of direction and can move at full speed even when they cannot see.
Holy Weapon Balm: This violet balm comes in a small ceramic pot. When applied to a weapon as a standard action, it forms a transparent coating. Weapons coated in this balm deal an additional 2d4 points of damage to undead or evil outsiders. A creature affected by the balm must succeed at a DC 10 Reflex save or take an additional 1d4 points of damage the following round. Any nonmagical weapon coated with the balm affects incorporeal undead or evil outsiders as if it were a magic weapon. Any magic weapon coated with the balm affects incorporeal undead or evil outsiders as if the weapon had the ghost touch special ability. The balm remains effective until you make a successful attack with the weapon or until 1 minute has passed, whichever is sooner. Each dose of balm can coat one weapon or 10 pieces of ammunition.
Having treated a group of her arrows with ghost salt, Arani wastes no time in beginning the assault on the halfling ghost, knowing that she'd soon feel the benefits of Jesse's song if the specter didn't die from her opening volley.
RUINS OF THE LUCKY BONES GAMBLING HALL (14 Desnus)
Even though the halfling ghost has barely manifested--and should, theoretically still be flat-footed--she still manages to dodge two of the three incoming arrows from Arani's bow. She grimaces at the damage she takes before pointing her left hand at the ranger...and suddenly plunging her right one into Jessibel's chest, reaching for her heart! The bard pales noticeably and her song and legs both falter from the ghost's sneak attack.
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T'chazzar lunges forward, using only one sword, trying to impale the incorporeal foe as best he can.
Sporting his oni-mask, Caldariel strode up to the incorporeal foe. He was about to learn whether or not the alchemical solution that was purchased was effective or not.
Arani swiftly sends another barrage of arrows at the ghost, desperate to take it down before it could do Jesse more harm.
RUINS OF THE LUCKY BONES GAMBLING HALL (14 Desnus)
The party lays into the ghost hard, Falina contributing three magic missiles to the cause. While Jessibel steps back to heal herself, Arani fires three more arrows at the ghost. Two hit, with the final one causing the spirit to fade away with a final scream of hatred.
With the ghost vanquished, your party has time to check out and claim the valuables on her skeletal corpse: 240 gp, 119 pp, a bejeweled silver ring, a Small suit of magical leather armor, a magical ring, a magical circlet, and a partial deck of magical cards. Jessibel identifies these as the spade cards from a deck of illusions; the bard fails to ID any of the other enchanted items.
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"How are you holding up Jessibel? Think you've got it in you for us to take on those other creepy undead bastards before trying to navigate that pit?" Arani asks the wounded bard.
RUINS OF THE LUCKY BONES GAMBLING HALL (14 Desnus)
Jessibel doesn't answer Arani immediately, seeming to take mental stock of her condition after the halfling ghost's attack. After casting a couple of cure light wounds spells on herself, the bard proclaims herself ready to proceed.
Back at the second ghost-infested lounge, Jessibel and T'chazzar are quickest to act, though Arani's only a heartbeat behind them. The bard again starts her inspirational song and closes on the nearest manifesting spirit while two more ghosts begin to form farther west and east.
An affected ally receives a +1 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear effects and a +1 competence bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls.
T'chazzar advances on the ghost with Jessibel, stabbing forward with his enchanted blade in a one-handed flèche.
In her rush to do as much damage as possible, Arani's first two arrows split off as she fires them simultaneously, going well astray of her target. She more than makes up for it with her next shot, aiming right between the spectral figure's eyes, and following it up with a deadly third arrow.
RUINS OF THE LUCKY BONES GAMBLING HALL (14 Desnus)
T'chazzar stabs the nearest spirit, lightly harming it. Then, before it can reach out to attack, Arani blasts the thing with her specially prepared arrows, destroying it. The other two spirits draw near. One reaches out an incorporeal claw and strikes deep into T'chazzar . The other positions itself near the entrance before unleashing an ungodly howl of pain and torment!
Your PC takes 1 Con and 2 Wis damage and is now addicted to opium. Interestingly, the addiction allows you to better fight the creatures, as your attacks now do full damage.
Your PC is staggered for 2 rounds.
Staggered: A staggered creature may take a single move action or standard action each round (but not both, nor can he take full-round actions). A staggered creature can still take free, swift, and immediate actions.
Ugh--bad math! Arani finished off the first wretchghost.
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Locking her focus on the screaming ghost, Arani just manages to blot out the worst of it, resisting whatever ill effect came with the horrid screeching, she unleashes a flurry of shots meant to silence the undead.
T'chazzar shudders for a moment, then shakes his head like a wet cat.
Drawing back for a moment, T'chazzar lunges forward again at the spirit that struck him.
He manages another half-effective strike against the spirit.
Falina chanted and gestured then sent a flurry of magical bolts launch at the only of the undead she could see.
Moving in, Caldariel rrealized that the others were waiting for him. Glad that his shame was hidden behind his mask, he attempted to punch the spirit.
RUINS OF THE LUCKY BONES GAMBLING HALL (14 Desnus)
Although the spirit's shriek fails to affect most of the party, it renders Falina staggered. Nonetheless, the sorceress spits out a spell, blasting the undead with a volley of magic missiles. Caldariel strides forward and strikes out, inflicting further damage on the shrieking spirit. Arani fires an arrow into it, dissipating it.
The ranger then takes a quick step forward, firing two more arrows at the final ghost, hitting with one. Jessibel, still singing her inspirational war song, steps up and stabs the last spirit with her alchemically-charged blade, and T'chazzar likewise scores a hit against it. Though it's not likely to survive much longer, the horrid spirit fights to the end, lashing out at Jessibel with two long claws. The bard easily dodges the first, but the movement puts her directly in the path of the second. She tries to stifle a howl of pain as the incorporeal claw enters her side, inflicting its supernatural damage .
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T'chazzar turns on his heel and presses his luck with a strike at the spirit to one side.
... with the usual results.
Arani quickly fires another trio of shots, hoping to take out the final ghost, before it can do more damage.
RUINS OF THE LUCKY BONES GAMBLING HALL (14 Desnus)
Though T'chazzar misses with his twin attacks and Arani's first arrow flies wide of the mark, the ranger's final two missiles strike true, and the last wretched spirit vanishes with a mournful moan.
Time has not been kind to the hookahs and other paraphernalia in this chamber; all of it is damaged and without value. The three skeletal corpses may have once been members of the city's nobility, however, judging from the rings and jewelry still dangling from their bones.
The secret door Arani noticed earlier leads to a narrow hallway that encircles the drug den. Several secret doors connect to the individual cells in the room, as well as to the rooms to the immediate south. Since the Gray Spiders were known to kidnap citizens for future ransom, it's likely these hidden doors were used to secretly whisk away patrons rendered senseless herein.
Three silver signet rings are among the jewelry recovered. Two feature the crest of the Vashnarstill family, while the third belongs to the Jhaltero family.
Once the treasure's been collected, the group returns to the room with the pit. Jessibel seems quite nervous, muttering that the room's definitely a death trap...she thinks. Unfortunately, this room seems to be the only way to penetrate farther into the depths of the Lucky Bones.
Looking at the corpses with clear evidence of noble trappings, Arani removes the jewelry, inspecting it closely. ”By the crests on these signet rings, these two belong to the Vashnarstill family, relatives of the twins. Jess, you might want to reach out to see if anyone else in their family went missing some time ago and hasn’t returned. The third belongs to the Jhaltero family.”
As they move forward, she studies the mold filled pit, trying to consider a course of action. "Any ideas on tackling this?"
"The twins," Jessibel echoes before giving Arani a quick nod. The young bard seems a bit off, distant and jittery. Nonetheless, she takes a peek at the pit and its ledges.
"It looks like the north ledge is the way to go...except that it might be trapped--see those deeper shadows underneath? Might be a mechanism to make it collapse. I might be able to disable the mechanism if I can get to it. Maybe tie a rope around my waist? Or, if we cut the winch's rope, maybe we could just jump across with a running start?"
You recognize the mold to be yellow mold, a potentially deadly fungus that sprays clouds of spores when disturbed. Fire destroys yellow mold, and sunlight renders it dormant.
Jessibel is suddenly showing signs of some kind of addiction withdrawal. She seemed fine when the party entered the ruins.
"Shouldn't we do something about the fungus first? Don't want spores or rot or whatever setting in. Mold and fungus like this is a common hazard in the underground realms and you always need to rigorously clean it out for high-traffic areas," says T'chazzar.
"Yeah, we definitely should. When disturbed, yellow mold releases deadly spores, but fire destroys it relatively well, and it's rendered dormant by sunlight." she replies to T'chazzar.
She turns to glance over at Jessibel, tilting her head slightly for a moment before turning her attention back to the pit. "I guess burn out the mold first, then try disarming the mechanism, with a safety rope tied to you, Jessibel?"
"Be careful in burning the mold. It is not all that burns." Caldariel said.
"Also, Jessibel is having clear signs of addiction withdrawal." He said from behind his mask. With it on, gone was the physician, and as such he had a disinterested tone of voice, stating a fact with the same feeling as one might talk about the mold. "Will this be a problem?" He added, looking at the unfortunate.
"I can give it a try!" Jessibel tells Arani with a nervous smile. When Caldariel makes his pronouncement about her condition and asks if she can function, the young bard gets defensive. "I've never taken any drugs before, let alone been addicted to anything!"
She pauses a moment, thinking. "Actually, I've felt a bit off since that ghost in the last room reached inside me. Could it have passed an addiction it had in life on to me? I think I'm all right...for the most part."
"That sounds like... uh, hm. I've known of some drug-users from my time below, and... if the withdrawal is strong enough, it can kill you. We should make sure to get Jessi some managed care as soon as possible."
Arani turns her head slowly, first to look at Caladriel with surprise, shifting to something just short of a glare as she processes the cold, utter lack of empathy in his tone. Turning to look at Jessibel, her expression softens with concern.
"I guess...that's possible? The supernatural isn't really my area of expertise." she says looking askance at T'chazzar.
Wasn't he the divine servant of some god?
"If we can handle this, then the next step is to figure out whatever they got you addicted to, and get you help. We'll figure this out okay?"
RUINS OF THE LUCKY BONES GAMBLING HALL (14 Desnus)
Jessibel nods at Arani's words and kind sentiments. She says she knows no fire magic, nor does she carry anything else useful...say, alchemist's fire. With a grumpy sigh, Falina confesses that she doesn't have any fiery solutions to the yellow mold roadblock either.
"Hang on, I have some alchemical fire here. We just need to make sure that whoever tosses it at the mold doesn't miss."
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”As addictions are diseases, they can be cured as such”
Slowly Caldariel took off his mask. For a long moment he stood there, barely listening to the bard’s words. When he opened his eyes he was himself, again. Or at least a kinder facet. Without the mask on, his voice was far more kindly and understanding.
”Deal with the mold.” He said to the group. ”And you, young lady, can relax. I am a doktor. Now, if you would step to the side with me, inside my satchel I have alchemical blood cleansers and specialized antitoxins. I will need to ask a few questions about your symptoms so that I can prescribe the right dosage. But I believe that it will alleviate your symptoms, for now. And regardless of how you came across this affliction, we can talk later about a treatment plan.”
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Breathing a sigh of relief as Caladriel reverts to his usual, moderately personable self, that would bear some watching she nods to T'chazzar. "Okay, I have a couple of flasks of oil, that will make that more effective. And a pretty good throwing arm." she says taking out the flasks. "If you hold these for me and hand me another the moment I throw one, I should be able to get all three off before the mold reacts."
Once T'chazzar is ready to hand off the flasks, she rapidly throws the oil flasks, first hitting the area of mold to one side then the other, before hurling the alchemist's fire dead center, igniting the oil with the splash off of the direct hit.
RUINS OF THE LUCKY BONES GAMBLING HALL (14 Desnus)
With everyone else huddled in the hallway behind her, Arani throws the oil and alchemist's fire onto the yellow mold growing inside the pit. A great puff of dangerous spores is released into the air but soon settles back onto the floor. Jessibel uses a prestidigitation spell to clean up any lingering spores and/or oil, making the footing safe. A quick examination of the southern ledge reveals no tipsy-trap there, so that's where the party will pass. To be thorough, a detect magic spell is employed to make sure there are no other traps in the room or treasures at the bottom of the pit (there aren't).
Two pillars support the ten-foot-high ceiling of this chamber. The floor is decorated with five-foot-square colored tiles, the reds and yellows and blues and greens faded with the passage of time and appearing to have no real pattern. The mangled skeletons of two people lie slumped in the center of the room. Another set of double doors can be seen in the north wall.
With his patient seen to, Caldariel donned his mask once more. Properly attired for what might come ahead, he gladly took point, eager to find what was beyond the door.
Falina was concerned with the mold but they seemed to have found an acceptable solution to the nasty stuff. That Jessi may have contracted some ghost's addiction was far more concerning, especially considering who else might have been affected by it. She resolved to keep an eye on Jessi and if needed she would try and shift the addiction to something more pleasurable to help her through it.
With the mold dealt with and a couple going across to get the door open Falina pulled Jessi aside while they waited and spoke to her softly so the others wouldn't easily overhear them.
As her improvised firebombing effectively handles the mold, Arani, smiles to herself under her veil. Turning back to face her companions and waiting until Falina was done with whatever it was she was saying to Jessi, she gestures toward the platform. "Think you can handle getting over to the other platform with me to open the doors to the other room?"
Her hope was that with whatever healing Caladriel had been able to administer, keeping Jessi busy would help to stave off any withdrawal symptoms that might be lingering.
RUINS OF THE LUCKY BONES GAMBLING HALL (14 Desnus)
While Falina and Arani speak to Jessibel, Caldariel takes point. Jessi says she feels weird but is able to continue; she thanks her friends for their concern but says that maybe she ought not take the lead with her diminished capacities. Therefore, Arani crosses the ledge and joins Caldariel at the doors. Upon opening them, the party sees....
...Two pillars support the ten-foot-high ceiling of this chamber. The floor is decorated with five-foot-square colored tiles, the reds and yellows and blues and greens faded with the passage of time and appearing to have no real pattern. The mangled skeletons of two people lie slumped in the center of the room. Another set of double doors can be seen in the north wall.
The masked elf walked over to the corpses and studied them with a practiced eye, so as to determine what killed the unfortunates. It would give some clue as towards what dangers they might face ahead. Were they crushed by traps? Gnawed upon by some monster? Did their bones have the tell-tale marks from the bite of a blade? Such information would hopefully have stood the test of time.
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Arani crouches down to study the tiles looking for any sign of a pressure plate or some other type of trigger for a potential trap.
RUINS OF THE LUCKY BONES GAMBLING HALL (14 Desnus)
While Caldariel and Arani skirt the pit and examine the next room, Jessibel casts a couple of healing spells, fully healing T'chazzar's wounds and closing up most of her own.
Arani holds Caldariel back from entering the unusual room. Examining the area, the ranger finds no traps for certain but feels something's a bit off about the nearby yellow floor tiles. She warns Caldariel to avoid the yellow squares as she and the masked man cautiously enter the room. Behind them, T'chazzar and Jessibel cross the pit ledge while Falina waits her turn.
Caldariel has time to briefly examine the skeletal remains before a dark shape emerges from the northeast wall, a mostly-spherical creature with three eyes, arms, and legs, and a gaping mouth atop its torso. His brain recognizes that the skeletons show broken bones consistent with a powerful bite an instant before the monster's teeth chomp down painfully on him!
Jessibel sings an inspirational battle chant and moves to engage.
An affected ally receives a +1 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear effects and a +1 competence bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls.
The strange creature is a xorn, a (usually) Neutral outsider with the Earth and Extraplanar subtypes. It has good senses (including darkvision and tremorsense), and for these reasons (along with its extra well-spaced eye) it is impossible to flank.
Info from above spoiler plus....
A xorn has many defensive abilities. It is resistant to weapon damage that is not bludgeoning. It is immune to cold and fire and is quite resistant (10) to electricity attacks.
It is also capable of gliding through natural earth or stone.
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Since he can step into combat without risking one of the yellow squares, T'chazzar comes up next to Jessi and lays into the creature with both of his blades.
The blades mostly bounce off.
"Ah, a xorn! Natives of the plane of earth, they consume gemstones and precious metals. Don't both trying to flank it, for it senses tremors in the ground. Likewise, it is immune to the bite of winter and the touch of flame. It is resistant to lightning, and all physical attacks which are not bludgeoning in nature."
The elf said this as if though he were giving a lecture in the safety of a classroom. Unfortunately, his chatting led to the majority of his blows being far less accurate than they otherwise could have been.
RUINS OF THE LUCKY BONES GAMBLING HALL (14 Desnus)
None of the attacks of T'chazzar or Caldariel connect solidly enough to harm the xorn. Falina crosses the ledge and fires a trio of magic missiles into the beast, hurting it to the point of mild annoyance. It responds with a flurry of teeth and claws, chomping Jessibel's torso with gusto and tearing into T'chazzar ; Caldariel deftly dodges two other claws.
As Arani prepares to join the fray, Jessibel, armed with an ineffective rapier, steps back from the xorn while maintaining her inspirational chant. She works a spell into the rhythm and heals Caldariel , adding that she knows another spell that might hurt the monster.
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Once more the elf tried to harm the elemental, though it seemed as if though his fists were not harder than stone.