Skarn places his pick right in the center of the ghoul's forehead, bring it down.
Tylur misses, and leaves an opening for .
Skarn will start in on green...
x4
Cordwin hopes that eventually his luck will change and he will actually hit something...
Well, at least Tylur seems to be benefitting from my help. René couldn't help but let out a snort of laughter as Cordwin continued to swing and miss at the creatures. There was only so much he could do to aid these people after all. "Remember Cordwin, yer short. So when you attack us normal-sized folk, ya gotta swing higher! Pretend yer fightin' a giant!"
Skarn makes a nice solid hit, but the smile disappears from his face when he turns to gloat and sees Tylur's display. The good news is, despite Cordwin's poor showing, you seem to be doing well against these monsters.
Skarn keeps working on green...
x4
"See? Tylur gits 'er done! Though I s'pose he ain't exacty short. But I bet if he were, he could still hit'em outta the ball part, hoo ah!"
Thanks to Rene's efforts, Tylur just managed a hit and Skarn just missed.
Skarn knows green will fall someday...
x4
Cordwin continues his weak showing.
Cordwin continues his weak showing.
[dice=Attack]1d20 + 5 - 4 + 1
[dice=Damage]]1d10
"There ya go, old fella! Now that's how ya do it, yee haw!"
Tylur destroys his opponent, and just as Skarn is about to finish his, a bolt flies from behind, taking the ghoul in the eye and dropping him soundly.
So, you have a further passageway, or stairs leading up.
"Those things are annoying!"
Did I just kill it? Cordwin asks in disbelief staring at his crossbow.
René claps Cordwin heartily on the back. "See, that's what happen when ya listen ta me. They seemed right surprised ta see ya, 'Aldern'. Which way you wanna go? I bet those there stairs lead up ta the house."
"The steps then?"
Unless someone objects, Skarn heads towards them.
No objections here! Cordwin says still beaming.
"Works fer me." René followed behind the others.
The stairs are old, and go for some ways. 80' up, you finally come to a basement. Piles of broken stone, dirt, and a few ruined pickaxes line the edges of this room. The floor in the middle of the room has been torn up to reveal an ancient set of stone spiral stairs, obviously of much older construction than the surrounding basement.
The air here is slightly fresher, as the foul stink of the rotten ghouls you destroyed wafts up on a cold breeze from the darkness.
Suddenly, you see a vision of Aldern, using a pickaxe, digging the very hole you came in from. He keeps muttering, "For you... for you..."
Bursting from the ground are more ghouls, reaching their disgusting hands for you.
Each of you, make a DC 16 Will save.
Feel free to describe in your post. You also take 6d6 points of damage from the assault (half on a DC 16 Fortitude save).
+2 vs poison, spells, and spell-like abilities
+2 vs poison, spells, and spell-like abilities
Skarn falls to the ground, writhing in pain, screaming to you to save him from the ghouls that are trying to devour him. "I'll become a ghoul you fools, heeeeeeeellllpppppp."
As the ghouls start tearing at his flesh, Cordwin yells back, Help you? Who's gonna help me!
"What are ya gits talkin' about? There ain't no ghouls here. You'd be able ta smell 'em." Suspicious that something magical is affecting them, René looks around, attempting to discover if this was some kind of pre-arranged magical device or if someone in the shadows was assaulting his companions.
Eventually, the visions fade, but you still feel a tingling down your back.
You recognize these effects as a haunt. I am assuming you know the mechanics of Haunts, but if not, let me know and I can give you some more details.
Skarn brushes himself off, "what the hell?"
Where'd they go? They were here just a second ago! Cordwin says as he looks around.
"What the hell y'all talkin' 'bout. There weren't nothin' here. Smelled like a ghoul but then you lot just started yelling and screamin' and gettin' all tore up. Maybe it were some kinda magicks? Y'all should check inta that."
While they were (hoepfully) distracted, René subtly cast about with his own magical sight, trying to find an explanation.
You don't detect anything magical.
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René didn't like it. He didn't know what had happened which meant for all he knew, it could happen again. "So afore we head on inwards, perhaps we'd better take a moment ta do some healin'. I suspect it's only goin' ta get worse from here on in." He looked expectantly at Cordwin.
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Skarn looks at the party and assess Tyler to be the worst off, so he casts and heals him...
"My Pappy always said "never 'venture without a cleric." I should have listened to him.'"
Cordwin notices René looking at him. What? Oh right! He will then cast his healing spells.
I only have one healing spell left for the day. He then thinks for a moment. I think that, my friends, was something called a haunt. It is not real but it sure feels real. Usually they go away once what or who is causing it is pacified.
René gives Cordwin an annoyed look as he goes around helping everybody but him. When Cordwin's done and he's still looking bloody and beat up, he exclaims "What am I? Chopping liver? That bat is the last time I bother tryin' ta help any of y'all. Well, go ahead ya healthinesses." He gives a mock bow as he waits for everybody else to move forward into danger first.
Cordwin looks at René sheepishly, Sorry my friend!
Otherwise, things have calmed down now that you are in the basement.
René gives a grin. "I take back my sarcastic comments then. Thank ya kindly. Shall we continue up the stairs, Master Aldern?"
At the top of the stairs, you come to a small hallway, and then through that door is another.
This room looks to have once been some sort of arcane workshop, although it now lies in ruin. A row of soggy books sits on the northern end of a workbench along the western wall. At the other end of the workbench, what looks like three iron birdcages sit, each containing a dead diseased rat.
To the east, two stained-glass windows loom. The northern window depicts a thin man with gaunt features drinking a foul-looking brew of green fluid, while the southern one shows the same man but in an advanced state of decay, as if he had been dead for several weeks. His arms raised and head thrown back in triumph, his rotting body turns to smoke and spirals into a seven-sided box.
The other door from this room is a heavy, iron door - a little rusted, but certainly solid. It is locked from this side, so easy to open. It looks like it might have been difficult to breech from the other side.
"This place becomes creepier as we go."
"Geez, I expected this place ta be overrun with ghouls, but I honestly kinda thought it was, y'know, normal up until recently. Who'da thunk it was already an undead-y worship-y hellhole? Though I guess we have a good place ta sleep or retreat back ta? Shall we see what's in the rest of this here house?"
Cordwin will listen at the door.
As Skarn crosses the floor, he suddenly has an strong urge to read the books on the shelves.
Cordwin does not hear anything beyond the door, but he does notice a small shift in the corner of his eye. He could swear that he just saw the man depicted in the stained glass sneer.
I don't hear anything behind the door, but I think that the stained glass is somehow 'alive'! Cordwin says as he keeps looking at the man in the glass.