Coming to his senses outside the walls, Tolvan, sweating in fear, realizes that Danica is not with the group. Where is Danica? Did she run too? He says this as he begins to move back towards the infirmary as rapidly as possible. Come on! he encourages.
The monk reacts instinctively, knowing the danger before her. She is all alone, ...or is she. Her new friends may have left her but her faith in the Bright Lady is what propels her to do battle.
+1 to hit not added if evil from Celestial Crusader trait
Anna shrieks and dashes out of the room, weaving past the furnace room and into the training room, keeping just enough presence of mind not to go plummeting down through the hole in the floor. Somewhat comforted by the fact that a large percentage of the rest of the group followed her out, she slows up, panting.
That's it! Time to go! she announces, chest heaving and looking wide-eyed at the rest of the group. When Tolvan does head count, and notices Danica remained behind, she swears.
Aroden's shambling corpse! Are you kidding me?!
She turns to return to the room but freezes, her legs not willing to move in the direction of the thing in the infirmary.
You dart in, and swipe at the place the ghost was last before fading from view. As far as you can tell, it has no effect on the creature.
Kimberly darts out of the room finally stopping back at the pit.
she runs to a corner crouched in fear mumbling prayers to Pharasma in celestial
Danica realizes that the sword is useless as it passes through the apparition. She realizes that the best course of action is to flee with her companions.
The female monk goes in the same direction as her friends.
Back to the wall, breathing heavy... Andjela looks from one to the other member of the group.
DAMMIT!
After the sounds of a brief struggle someone bursts into the training room. The terror grips your heart for a moment until you recognize Danica. Through the door behind her the sounds of objects spinning through the air, colliding with doors and stone walls can be heard approaching.
Tolvan flees. Don't you hear it? he says with his voice cracking. It comes for us. Save yourselves! The elf runs from the exercise room and back into the foyer.
Danica stops and turns toward the room facing the poltergeist and shouts. "We are here to help. How can we help you achieve the peace that you deperately crave for?
Come on! Run! Anna yells at Kimberly and anyone else who seems to linger. She follows Tolvan once Kimberly is past her.
Anna sprints to the foyer, the fear consuming her thoughts so much she's unable to think to wait for the others.
Tolvan follows suit.
Andjela
The ghost continues it's slow and steady advance through the furnace room, spotting Danica and loosing another object from the whirlwind of objects around it. The object, this time a heavy stone, smacks into the wall next to the door the poltergeist approaches from.
Danica turns toward the room facing the poltergeist and shouts. "We are here to help. How can we help you achieve the peace that you desperately crave for?"
Kimberly runs after the others, her eyes wide with panic.
Tolvan, panting from his wild run, sweating in fear, and looking around wildly for the ghost looks at those with him. We've run off and lost Andjela. Her armor must slow her.
All kimberly can do is follow Anna and Tolvan out the door. Kimberly runs straight to Anna to hide behind her. covering her eyes.
Pharasma help us, protect us like you did that night with the Doctor.
Danica runs 30 feet to exit in the direction of her new friends. She turns around towards the direction of the poltergeist and shouts "Let me help you."
Round 4 - Resolution
After moving farther away, some with strategic intent, and others in gut-clenching fear, and the ghostly creature still moving after you, those who fell victim to the specters power begin to feel the effects fading, the mind-consuming fear quickly fading to a distant memory.
Anna
Tolvan
Andjela
Poltergeist
Danica
Kimberly
Still shaken from his experience the wizard calms his breathing and talks to his friends. Its some sort of supernatural effect. The fear. We can beat it. Lets concentrate on taking it out. I am not sure regular weapons can hurt it, but we have these. He removes a ghost touch arrow from his quiver. [b]Can anyone else use one of these? ]/b]
Tolvan loads a precious ghost touch arrow into his bow and readies to fire on the ghost if it shows itself or even shows where (what square) it is located.
The young monk shouts out above the rumbling and tumbling of items.
"It's a poltergeist. A spirit in unrest. My weapon does not harm it."
Danica moves another 30 feet towards her companions.
Face pale and drawn, Anna accepts an arrow and holds it in a fist near the point. In a small voice, she replies to Tolvan, It'll just come back. Why should we fight it?
Despite the fear clutching her heart, if the others attack, she'll move in to strike with the improvised weapon.
Kimberly soon begins to calm down not sure what came over her.
Kimberly grabs Anna by the sleeve don't go back in there... Please
Kimberly tries to recall ways to defeat this ghost running through all the things she has remembered in her teachings.
But her fear has locked her senses for the moment and only the terrible vision of the ghost comes to mind
I don't know what came over me... But, time to put an end to this. Having spoken, Andjela verily stalks back towards the apparition, picking up speed as she does and drawing her blade.
Anna waits, along with the others, for the poltergeist to enter the room, and fighting against her fear she stabs the arrow at the space inside the vortex. The creature howls as the point of the arrow passes through its essence.
Tolvan's arrow also finds it's mark in the incorporeal creatures 'body', drawing out another dark howl.
Andjela, mastering her fear, charges in but her expertly swung weapon fails to find purchase in the ghostly form.
The poltergeist tries to harm Kimberly this time, drawn to the childs fear. The flying projectile misses the child by a large margin.
Danica
Kimberly cries out in fear and releases a wave of damaging holy energy. As the wave passes over Andjela it seems to penetrate rather than pass over her, causing pain on a spiritual level. The poltergeists' form seems to waver, and then disipates completely as if it never was. All the objects which spun crazily in the air a moment before, drop to the ground with inanimate finality.
2 fully stocked healer’s kits
3 vials of watery clear liquid, labeled antitoxin
2 vials of foul-smelling, milky tonic, labeled antiplague
3 doses of gooey, pinkish substance, labeled bloodblock
3 doses of smelling salts
2 vials of blue liquid, labeled soothe syrup
4 potions, labeled cure light wounds
After the fight Tolvan explains his thinking to Anna. By "killing" it we can now search the infirmary, and the room(s) beyond it. And we may find a way to put the spirit to rest before it reforms.
Who all is hurt? Should we continue or retreat to rest?
Her knees suddenly feel very wobbly and she sinks to the floor, still trembling. She tosses the broken arrow to the ground and runs her fingers through her hair.
Eventually, she gets around to answering Tolvan. I think I'm okay. Still feel a little off from the cold room. And that thing, I've never felt like that... it was a nightmare. Even in Pitax, it wasn't as bad as that... She stops abruptly, and looks around.
Danica explains, "That thing was a poltergeist, an angry spirit that forms from the soul of a creature that, for whatever reason, becomes unable to leave the site of its death. Sometimes, this might be due to an unfinished task—other times, it might be due to a powerful necromantic effect. Desecrating a grave site by building a structure over the body below is the most common method of accidentally creating a poltergeist. The poltergeist experiences great trauma over its condition; this trauma twists its psyche to evil and fosters an overall hatred of the living expressed in outbursts of rage. A poltergeist is bound to a specific place, usually a building, room, or recognizable area (a section of a cemetery, a stretch of lonely road, and so on). This place typically corresponds to its place of death or the resting place of its mortal remains."
"We must put the spirit at rest. As you can tell our weapons are useless except for those arrow"
Kimberly sits where she is and breathes a sigh of relief. she makes her way next to Anna and sits next to her holding her arm.
I think we are safe for a little while now Kimberly looks around trying to guage if others are hurt
Anna slowly lifts her head as Danica explains about the poltergeist. After she finishes, Anna tilts her head to the side and deadpans, Get the holy water ready. I think Danica's been possessed by the Professor.
When Kimberly sits down, Anna nods at her and forces a smile. Changing the subject, she says, [b]Tolvan, you wanted to search the infirmary? Let's get to it before that thing comes back.
Danica wipes the blood from her leg, using part of her robes. She removes her water flask, pours a little on her wound and then takes a giant slug to wash the dryness from her throat. The lithe woman stands before the little oracle ready and willing to accept any help.
The monk looks at Anna, "I have heard that some clerics of Sarenrae had dealing with such spirits. Some knowledge I picked up during my training."
Right - lets get to it Anna.
Wow,. Look at all these healing supplies we've found. Lets see if we can find any clues about the poltergeist. After searching Tolvan turns to Kimberly and asks her Kimberly, you are in charge of keeping us all well. Will you take the responsibility of taking these healing supplies to use when we are sick or hurt?
Kimberly seeing the blood on Danica's leg
You are hurt, I learned a trick to help
Kimberly starts to hum a little tune as she draws spirals with her finger of Dancia's cut as she does so the bleeding stops.
Kimberly takes the supplies trying to look very "in Charge" and she tucks them away in her bag as best she can.
Yes Sir Mr Tolvan Sir
Andjela looks around. That chill in the cold room was nasty, did it get any of you... What happened to Anna? And, sorry about the irrational reaction back there.
You are unable to determine any worthwhile information about the poltergeist or what's keeping it from staying in the afterlife.
I am not sure there is anything we can do about the poltergeist until we deal with greater evil that is hear.
A greater evil? This hasn't been enough? Andjela dusts off her leather...
Do we call it a day or keep going?
I have spells aplenty. Its Kimberly and her ability to keep us healed that I am concerned about. Kimberly?
Danica looks at her leg as the wound completely closes. "Thank you Kimberly."
The monk looks around and offers any help in the search.
Judging by the prior description, the three doors to the west are the private cells? Which would leave just the double doors to the south. Anna goes back to the door to inspect it for traps or signs of something lurking on the other side. The poltergeist certainly would have made enough noise to alert whatever's there.
Anna doesn't hear, or sense, anything on the other side of the doors.
"We still have plenty of daylight to continue. Eventually, we will need to decide to either camp outside, take refuge in here or head back to town."
"We can decide once we get there."
Danica joins Anna's effort to listen through the southern door, but even together they can't make out anything to clue them in about what's on the other side.
Nodding to Danica and swallowing hard, Anna tries opening the door as quietly as possible.
You open the door to reveal.... a long hallway leading back towards the front of the building. There are several doors on either side of the hallway, two to the east and two to the west, all closed. The door at the end seems to be in better repair than the others you've seen thus far, reminding you of the doors you saw in the foyer.
Anna frowns. We already explored the East wing. Where would those doors go? indicating the doors to the east.
[Ooc]Inspecting the east doors]
The inspection of the doors to the east reveal no traps or anything nefarious on this side of the door. Also no lights or sounds seem to be coming from the other side.
Danica kneels beside Anna and touches the door knob (or latch).
She turns to the others and whispers "Tolvan, Andjela....get your bows ready." The monk indicates that she will open the door.