Fredrik blesses the party. Wilhelm stands fascinated with Hiram and Bizzle while Terrill swings wildly at the spirit. Chasik moves in and hits the creature, but only does a small amount of damage to the incorporeal creature.
The spirit reaches out to touch Chasik:
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This transmutation makes a weapon strike true against evil foes. The weapon is treated as having a +1 enhancement bonus for the purpose of bypassing the DR of evil creatures or striking evil incorporeal creatures (though the spell doesn't grant an actual enhancement bonus). The weapon also becomes good-aligned, which means it can bypass the DR of certain creatures. (This effect overrides and suppresses any other alignment the weapon might have.) Individual arrows or bolts can be transmuted, but affected projectile weapons (such as bows) don't confer the benefit to the projectiles they shoot.
Chasik, feels the creatures shadowy claws dig into his skin, and shivers run up and down his spine. He steels his, mind for the assault on his psyche, and for now he quiets the madness in his mind. He retaliates, in sheer anger.
Wilhelm, Hiram, and Bizzle continue to stand in a daze. Fredrik protects Chasik from evil while the warrior slices his blade through the wispy figure.
Terrill's blade cuts into the spirit. It returns by trying to touch him!
Terrill's blade again cuts into the spirit, although Chasik is less luck.
Fredrik channels the power of his deity and the spirit wisps away!
Without a crazed spirit attacking you, you can now properly search the room. The writing on the walls is all poetry circling around the same themes: blood, family, betrayal, and justice. The words do not seem to be written in ink or engraved into the walls but rather some sort of ectoplasmic manifestation.
On the body of the brother, you find a noble's outfit worth 200 gp and a ring of sustenance. His other prized possession is stowed away in an ornate darkwood wardrobe: a +1 longsword, two potions of protection from evil, and an intricate belt of linked gold rings worth 1000 gp.
After investigating the room, the party moves on to the next set of doors on the upper floor. They lead to a large room where sit six fetchlings, lounging about and speaking with each other. Unevenly upholstered furniture fills this large common area, chairs and sofas circled around asymmetrical tables. Doors on both sides of the room lead off into tiny bedchambers.
The fetchlings look up as you enter, most of them dropping out of their conversations to pay attention to the newcomers. "Ah, new prisoners?" one of them asks with a smile. "What are you here for?"
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Terrill grins, then chuckles quietly, finding great humor in the notion that he would be delivering prisoners anywhere. "On the contrary," he replies calmly to the fetchling's question, "we are here to free prisoners. If you've been kept here against your will, we will change that. And if you've been keeping others here, we will change that too. If you try to stop us, you'll regret it."
As he finishes speaking, he uses is Desna-granted ability to see into the hearts of others.
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After the ghost is dealt with Fredrik returns to the proper care of th body. Before leaving the room he speaks.
At some point my friends, I would ask that we rest a little. Pharasma's strength is endless but unfortunatly my abilities are limited and I am getting to the end of those.
When confronted with the fetchlings he observes them with attention trying to guess their intentions.
"Releasing prisoners? Have you spoken with Nicasor about this? I would not do such a rash thing without his consent, although I have a feeling he would be in favor of such an action. Nicasor-like all of us-has been in here for a long time. Too long. Escape would be a welcome respite. Have no fear, we do not wish to hamper you if that is your plan and if Nicasor assents."
The fetchlings point to a door in the corner of the room, some of them shrugging indifferently and turning back to their conversations.
Beyond, the luxurious and urbane apartment would be at home in any lord's palace, were everything not in shades of gray.
Standing tall, especially for a shae, and wearing a gray cloak over lacquered black armor is Nicasor, his white mask polished to a mirror sheen to reflect the faceof anyone he looks at. As you open the door he calmly introduces himself and asks for your names. "Hello, I am Nicasor, I have you have no doubt heard. Who am I meeting with today? Newcomers to the Mirror, I see. Why have you come here? Or have you been sent? You came to me for a reason: what do you want from me?"
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Hiram bows politely. "M'lord Nicasor, I am Hiram Kell of Taldor. I am a Pathfinder and a servant of my crown. We were sent to this town to investigate the lack of communication from a daughter of a family that supports the Society. We have been chasing down leads on a disease they're calling Tallowthroat among the humans of the village. And we discovered the lord of the manor had made a deal with you, a deal he was loathe to fulfill. We've come in to this place to speak with you, and to free you and all who dwell here, if we are able. We need to speak with you; is there a good place to do so?" Hiram speaks with directness, but with a deference due to a lord of a manor, since it seems this Nicasor is the closest thing here.
"But of course, let us discuss," Nicasor waves a hand to a table in the room and retrieves enough glasses for everyone, pouring a dark liquid into each from a flagon on a shelf. "So you were sent by Stepan then? I have not heard from the reneger for some time. It seems you are aware of our agreement to switch bodies temporarily; then you must also be aware that I upheld my end of the bargain. I need not bore you with the details of the matter if you are already aware of the situation. But I do not think it is unfair of me to expect Stepan to do the same."
"Now you said you have come to free me and all else in here. . . how do you expect to do that? I must say, if you are able then I would be very much in your debt. Power, riches, whatever it is you might wish-I would gladly give it to you, or work for the rest of my days to help you achieve your desire."
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"As my friend here says," Terrill adds, gesturing at Fredrik, "and as we heard from the fetchling woman downstairs, we believe that destroying the Heart will free everyone from this shadowy domain. What can you tell us of it? Where to find it, and how we might harm it, would be helpful things indeed, if you know them."
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"Stepan's condition for helping us is that you spare any revenge for his wife and child. I will see that Stepan faces justice for his crimes, but his wife and child are innocent of his abuses and should not suffer for his crime. Other than that, I have no price. The honor of my homeland and my crown demand that I fulfill what the Baron did not, to free the prisoners here in. I do not know what crime you committed to be put in such a place, but I believe time has been served."
"My crimes and the crimes of the others have been paid for many years ago, I assure you. If you have a means to destroy the Heart, then by all means I will abide by your conditions."
"The Heart, as you no doubt surmised as you passed by the stairs, lies in the middle of the complex where the courtyard once stood. The area has been closed off but the adjacent walls bleed with its fury. From what I have been able to gather, many years ago before the Mirror was broken the Heart was nothing more than the slightly conscious soul of the Mirror, as any such powerful item has. When the Mirror broke over a millenia ago, however, it seems the Heart has since desired more and more to take on physical form. It has grown wildly and haphazardly over the ages of my imprisonment. If the Heart is destroyed, however, I believe the prison realm we now inhabit would quickly break apart. We may only have minutes to exit through the portal before the plane deteriorates but there should be nothing stopping us once the Heart is dead."
"So I wish you luck; I truly do. And I hope to see you on the other side. You have my blessing and my word."
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Terrill listens to Nicasor closely, then turns to his own companions and says, "I've little experience looking into the hearts of shadows for the truth in what they say, but I know well the hearts of men, and Nicasor is telling the truth, at least as he sees it. Let us go and attempt to destroy the Heart, and free all those trapped here." A smile of anticipation crosses his face, and an eager look gleams in his eye as he adds, "It is always a pleasure when the duties of the society allow me to serve the cause of freedom as well."
He moves to the door and heads back to the stairs, saying, "We should prepare as best we can for this fight. I can make my weapons baneful to the Heart, and call on Desna to guide my blade in several ways, and I will place a blessed oil on it before we fight. Perhaps Fredrik can protect us from its evil and encourage us in battle. Any other ideas?"
"Ah, yes. You said people were calling it Tallowthroat? Interesting. It has undoubtedly resulted from the tenuous barrier between this Plane and the Material Karpad; ever since the Mirror has been broken the Shadow Plane has eeked into their world bit by bit. It was not I who caused the disease, unless my will to leave this place and outrage at Stepan's betrayal inadvertently fed the Heart's ability to reach into the real Boroi Manor. . . a hypothesis I do not find unlikely, actually. I suppose I have answered your question then. It is a disease fed by rage, leaked from one Plane to another. It is no wonder your healers can not cure it."
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Fredrik consider the shae's words before nodding to him and leaving the room. He walks in silence for a while waiting for a moment when they are all alone to speak. When that happens he whispers.
Shadows are more closer to the undead than the to living. I do not trust that thing. Actually, I dont think I trust anyone from this town. Once we kill the heart our "usefulness" will be over, to all of them. Yet we know too much about their dirty past. We should be ready for some surprises from our allies... just in case.
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"A good point, Fredrik, and one we'll have to keep in mind if we need to make a dash for the mirror after killing the Heart."
Terrill leads the party down the stairs and into the dining room, stopping by the wall where the black ichor leaks through. "Well," he says quietly to his companions, "let us prepare, and break through this wall, and free those who languish in this place."
He studies the wall a moment, then sheathes his blade and removes a black, heavy-headed mace from a hook on his belt, ready to smash through when all are ready.
The party smashes through the bleeding wall in the dining hall. Dark flagstones pave a twisted reflection of the courtyard in Boroi Manor. Walls of thick, writhing flesh fill the archways that would normally lead to adjoining rooms; a layer of seeping black ichor covers each wall. Above, only a black void exists where one would expect to see the sky. What appears to be an enormous, quivering black plant is growing in the central pool. Black tendrils are everywhere, pushing into the manor and running through it like veins into the rest of the house.