"There used to be a wooden stairway that went up the nearest face of the island. If you look close you can still see the footings. After the shack burned down and everyone left the island, we burned the stairs down too. Nobody wanted to go back up there ever again."
"The chopper left his victims body where he found them, taking only his little grisly trophies. Except for Simon, of course."
"We might be able to arrange for some nautical travel, but I worry that superstition and rightful fear over the island may push the townsfolk away from helping us. Thank you for showing this to us Das. I think we will be on our way now. We will come by after we've returned from our trip," Flo says as she moves to leave. Hopefully with some closure for you Das... 10 years of suffering? That's awful!
________
Colvyn mounts his riding rat and scales the cliff. He ties the ropes to a tree and allows the party to climb up.
The surface of Chopper’s Isle is roughly two acres of land that is unfit for farming. Heavy moss sags from the branches of old oak trees. Nearly every tree has limbs that have been carved in the shape of hawks, eagles, and vultures; a few long dead trees have been shaved down leaving only delicately carved cranes that seems to have aged well enough over the past five years. There are few significant landmarks on the island aside from the remains of Chopper’s house.
+3 vs traps
Everyone notices some strange claw marks in the hard earth that lead to a cliff edge, where a cache of bones, mostly animal, but some human and goblin, is nestled in a pile of rocks.
There is little oc interest on the island aside from the tree carvings, the bones, and the ruins of the Chopper's house.
You approach what is left of the Chopper's cottage.
The burned-out remnants of this once quaint cottage sag beneath a growing tangle of weeds and vines, the charred timbers and collapsed slate roof show signs of having once been intricately decorated in pastoral scenes of birds in flight. You can even make out a ruined pigeon coop amidst the detritus.
+3 vs traps
+3 vs traps
+3 vs traps
The group begins to search the cottage. Among the wreckage, Floredana finds a tool box with a set of masterwork artisan's tools for woodcarving. This tool set is more elaborate than most (and is worth 100 gp).
Floredana also easily spots a 5' x 5' stone slab under the timbers of the floor which looks like some kind of trap door. But before she can examine it closely, Colvyn stops her, haveing noticed at the last second that the area around the stone slab has a weak floor that could give way.
This place feels wrong, but nature appears to be doing its work to reclaim it... Flo stands with her hands on her head for a moment, catching her breath after such a long climb. Catching sight of the bones, she crouches motions for everyone to be quiet. "Those bones... they've been chewed on by something with quite a bit of teeth and have been there for about a month, I'd wager," she whispers, before pointing to the tracks. "Looks like three claws on a big creature with four legs. Let's get in and get out before it finds us!"
"Thanks for the warning Colvyn, that... could have been bad for me. And possibly an alert for whatever seems to be living here!" Flo responds, still whispering, while she backs up to give her companions space to come up with a solution to their predicament.
________
Kargas examines several of the tracks near the bones, letting out a low whistle. "Three claws, and big too, same size as a horse more or less." the half-orc rumbles, standing and brushing the dirt from his breeches. Pointing to a nearby collection of more tracks, he continues. "The tracks are spaced far enough apart that it can either fly or jump real good. Whatever it is, keep a sharp eye out. I want it's head on a pike."
could we use something to lay over the boards to support our weight or maybe even wedge under the boards to brace it from falling? What about a rope over the rafters to lessen the amount of pressure we put on the boards?
Case tries to make a few suggestions.
It would be tricky to place some kind of support under the floorboards without just pulling them up, but placing something solid that bridges the weak area would work, and likewise using ropes is always a good way of mitigating potential falling damage.
"Good thinking, Cade." Kargas will start rapping the most intact-looking timbers around the cottage, looking for one that seems solid enough to handle a person's weight but is also able to be pried loose without destroying it.
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You watch enough tall folk fall through the boards of halfling establishments...you learn a thing or two about getting them out of said hole...
Cade says with a bit of humor behind his smile.
Kargas sees no beams left from the house that look sturdy enough; the fire plus ten years of rot has left them in bad shape. But there are plenty of saplings on the island and it takes the group little time to fell two of them and trim them. Laying the saplings across the weak area creates a bridge that allows the group to reach the stone slab.
Prizing it up, Kargas can see a cylindrical shaft below, about thirty feet deep. The ceiling of the shaft is made up of wooden timbers holding up a thin layer of earth. There are wooden stubs sticking out of the walls indicating that there was once a ladder going down the wall here, but the ladder has rotted away. At the bottom of the shaft can be seen the top of a spiral staircase.
Carefully watching for traps, the group descends into the shaft and heads down the staircase. Floredana casts light to give Cade the ability to see.
A steep and winding staircase leads down into a dark antechamber, with walls of hewn stone decorated haphazardly in primitive paintings of vicious birds. Two stone doors, each bearing a strange symbol that resembles a seven-pointed star, stand closed on the eastern and western walls. The room is dominated by a looming, man-shaped wooden statue, with legs and talons of a giant eagle, two sets of eagle wings, a twisted, gem-studded avian head, and a snake in place of genitals.
Detect magic reveals no magical auras in the chamber.
+3 vs traps
Everyone can hear the faint sound of whispered sobbing mixed with laughter, though you can't tell where it is coming from.
"This place seems far older than the surrounding area. Like the catacombs beneath the glassworks. I wonder what exactly was going on out here with these murders." He glances at the statue. "That right there would give me nightmares for quite a while. Umm, do you guys hear something?"
"I agree Rig, haven't we seen that star before too?" Flo points out as she gestures to one of the figures. "The Chopper's bird obsession appears to have been more than just benign..." If only Laurana were here, she would know what all this means.
"I hear it too... Let's look around here quickly before getting deeper in, I'd hate to get... stuck in here," she says just above a whisper, trying to keep the edge of fear out of her voice.
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Colvyn blinks a few times and tilts his head on one side. "That's a statue of Pazuzu, a demon lord of avian creatures. He's a rival of Lamashtu. I wonder why there is a statue of him here." Looking from one door to the other, Colvyn wonders out loud. "So, right or left?" When someone gives him a direction, he inspects the door for traps.
Colvyn discovers no traps on either door.
Cade points to the right hand door.
"As good a choice as any," Flo says as she heads that way. Once Colvyn is ready she takes hold of the handle and looks back at the group. When she gets the nod that they are ready, she opens it wide and steps aside.
"You sure you don't want me out front, Flor?"
"What? Of course! Just figured I'd get the door for you," she quips with a wink before bowing deeply and gesturing for the mighty warrior to lead the way through.
Floredana opens the door wide and Kargas steps through.
Beyond is a 10' wide corridor, with more of the same markings along the walls. Some damage to the structure is apparent up ahead, as after 20' the south wall has given way in one spot, spreading rubble across the corridor. Across from this a passageway heads north but is blocked by rubble after only 5'.
Beyond is a circular chamber with a domed ceiling, about 30' in diameter.
This room is a ghastly scene. The entire wall is covered in small alcoves; half are filled with numerous pairs of preserved eyeballs and humanoid tongues, remarkably preserved. In one corner of the room there is a pedestal with a dusty tome filled with pictures of bird demons. Scattered about the pedestal are similar unbound writings.
Colvyn believes that the demons portrayed in the tome are minions of Pazuzu, though he is not familiar with most of them specifically. Nor is he clear on what ritual involves removing someone's eyes and tongue. It can't be something good though.
A search of the room reveals no secret entrances or anything magical.
This doesn't bode well for the child... Having seen enough, Flo barely makes it into the room before turning around and walking right out. "This is too much for me... I'm sorry. If you need anything from me, I'll come back. Otherwise I'm going to stand back in that first room..." A little pale, she trudges back.
________
"Lotta demon worship around here...wish the fire had gotten this too." Suppressing a shudder, Kargas does a quick search of the room, trying to avoid touching the jars of eyes and tongues as much as possible.
"Gods above and below," Rig murmurs, seeing the horrific trophies of this room. "I think I understand a bit more about why the townsfolk are so reticent to talk of this incident."
Cade looks around with disgust.
Anyone able to tell how long this has been like this?
Not seeing anything worth investigating further, the group opens the doors to the opposite passageway.
A similar passage is revealed, 10' wide, with crude avian drawings on the walls. A narrow north and south corridor clearly once branched off this passage, but they have collapsed and are choked with rubble.
The passage ends after only 35'. A pair of doorways opens onto a spiral staircase, going up and down.
"Let's take a look down there," Rig says, pointing to the stairwell.
Case nods in agreement.
Flo takes up her usual position in anticipation of her companions starting down the stairs. Desna protect us from anything that decides to bar our passage back up...
Hefting his falchion, Kargas sets his jaw in a grim line and pushes aside his fear of ghosts as he takes a careful step down the stairway.
Once again, the group heads into a dark stairwell, with Colvyn taking the lead checking for traps.
The spiral staircase heads downward for about sixty feet, at which point the stairwell ends in murky seawater. Floredana checks beneath the water and sees that it is only about ten feet deep and then blocked by rubble. The water seems to be coming in through the cracks in the stone but there doesn't seem to be a route out of this stairwell.
However, a variety of coins are on the bottom of the pool. Floredana is able to collect 70 copper pieces, 53 silver pieces, and 9 gold pieces from the bottom. Perhaps someone used this pool as a sort of wishing well?
After searching around, the group is confident that there is nothing more to see, and they head back up the stairs. Passing the level of the chambers they visited, the begin to climb upwards. After ten feet, Colvyn sees a horrific sight ahead!
At the edge of the shadows you see a man wearing a hooded cloak of feathers, mumbling and knocking his head against the bloodsmeared wall. He turns to you, showing hollow, bloody eye sockets, blood dripping from his mouth. He pulls a small knife out from under his bird feather cloak and charges!
Just as the horridly mutilated man turns to attack, Colvyn spots a knife sitting on the stairway, and it is the exact same knife as in the man's hand! Colvyn realizes that the man is not really there, but is actually a haunt, a necromantic "echo" of some horrible event, and it is not a creature. However it is dangerous, and aside from just "toughing out" the haunt's effects, a wary adventurer can disrupt a haunt by using positive energy, such as cure spells, lay on hands, or channeling.
Surprise Round Initiative:
Block 1: Colvyn
Block 2: Haunt
What is going on up there
At the sight of the charging madman, Colvyn first reflex his to take aim with his bow. Just before he sends the arrow flying, he notices the light reflecting of the blade of the discarded knife. Realising that this encounter is more than a physical one, he quickly thinks back at he learned as an apprentice. "We are facing a haunt. I will try to disrupt it before it can affect any of us." Letting the nocked arrow fall to the floor, he starts reciting the prayer required to change the energy of one of his prepared spells into a curing one.
A what...what the...a haunt...disrupt...That thing is not going to explode is it. I like my clothes to remain slime free.
Colvyn senses that the knife is the source of the haunt's energy. He casts his spell and touches the knife with positive energy...
The spectral image of the Chopper leaps ontop Colvyn, jabbin at Colvyn with his knife, trying to carve some kind of markings in his flesh. But Colvyn is already aware that the Chopper is not really present, and its attacks do nothing. The spectral image begins to fade, continuing to stab with its knife as it vanishes.
Colvyn can still feel a malevolence coming from the knife on the stairwell.
"My healing abilities weren't strong enough to render it dormant, but it is over for now." Still looking at the knife, Colvyn circle around it to let the group pass. "Flo, Rig, do you know of a safe way to completely disable the haunt. It is tied to that knife here."
"I can try," Rig says. He also summons a bit of positive energy, focusing on the blade.
Kargas edges warily into the room, eyes searching every corner for a sign that the spirits weren't as subdued as Colvyn thought. After a few long moments of this the half-orc turns to peer over Rig's shoulder at the knife. "Is there some reason we can't just break it?"
"Breaking the physical object wouldn't put the spirits and energies that are fueling this darkness to rest. Perhaps if we bury it or throw it into the sea it will leave this place be? I would hate for some foolhardy children to succumb to this during a misguided adventure..." Flo responds as she gives it a wide berth. "Let's toss it into the atrium for now and keep heading upwards."
________
Cade looks at the blade and then around the area. Expecting the haunt to jump out at any moment.
If this thing is tied to the knife then let us move it to another area..maybe up top in the open.
Cade stops for a moment and then continues
I thought your disrupting it would kill it.
He looks at the two who attempt to cast spells at it.
Look, we have done a lot for the locales and I do not mind calling in a favor to get a priest to come out here and banish this thing to what ever hell hole it came from. If that is what it takes I am all for it. I do not think we should move it from this place nor toss it in the sea. It cou...ld. Wait a minute...do you think?
Cade looks at the dagger and then back at the others and then back at the dagger.
I know next to nothing about undead and s++% like that. Could it be that this dagger itself is Chopper. Could Jervis Stoot be innocent. He stumbled on this dagger and it took control of him. Everyone was surprised that he did these things. With the man dead the killings stopped...right? I may not know undead but I know weapons and some magical weapons can have a mind of their own. If powerful enough, they can take control of a person. Could the killing be the result of a person controlled by a magical weapon. Jervis Stoot is in such anguish over what he was forced to do he haunts the area not in joy of killing but to make sure no one succumbs to the dagger's influence again. It attacks us to stop us from starting the Chopper killing spree all over again.
Kargas blinks several times as Cade weaves his theory, opens his mouth, closes it again and blinks a few more times. "I...what? Are you drunk?"
"I don't doubt the possibility of such a weapon existing, but it would take some powerful magic to convince someone to devout their life to the machinations of such a deranged god for what appears to be a long time," Flo points out. What if Cade is right? A weapon that powerful just lying on the floor, waiting for someone to pick it up and start murdering again?
She somehow manages to put even more space between her and the dagger.
Cade looks back at Flo
that is the thing...it could have been the weapon doing the killing and Jervis Stoot was just a shell watching everything...the killings..everything and he could do nothing to stop it. He was a puppet and had no control over the strings the dagger was manipulating. I am jumping to a lot here as I am no expert...but the though is enough for me to want some higher power involved here.
Cade looks from Flo up to Kargas with a slight smile.
Drinking and climbing rarely go hand and hand. I think the question you want to ask is am I sober...no I am not into my cup this day.
He looks down at the dagger
No yet at least
"Hmm. A fascinating idea. Just in case, I suggest nobody touch the dagger at all." Rig shivers at the thought of such an entity possessing one of them.
"I can try," Rig says. He also summons a bit of positive energy, focusing on the blade.
clw: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4
Rig touches the blade and feels the energy release from his hand, burning away the negative energy of the haunted knife. The sense of malevolence fades away.
But Colvyn knows that it is unlikely that the haunt is pernamently destroyed, and it will probably return given time. Examining the knife with a detect magic spell reveals no magical aura, but since a haunt is not an enchantment, this may not mean anything.
"Hmm. A fascinating idea. Just in case, I suggest nobody touch the dagger at all." Rig shivers at the thought of such an entity possessing one of them.
Bypassing the knife, the group follows the stairs upwards. They only travel about 25' before opening onto another hallway. The hallway runs east for 40' before ending in another pair of double doors. Colvyn examines the doors and declares them free of traps.
Opening the door reveals another cicular chamber.
The air wafts with the heady scent of mildew and rot in this dingy room. Tiny bone carvings of horrific winged creatures lay scattered about room. A moldy blanket in one corner indicates this room was once inhabited. Leathery papers lay scattered amidst the rubble and shards of bone. In the center of the room is a small hole in the floor.
The hole in the floor looks down onto the chamber with the statue of Pazuzu, and you figure this chamber is direcly above the first one.
Scanning the room with detect magic reveals that one of the leathery papers is magical.
Once some others enter the room, Flo takes a moment to peer down the hole and search for signs of someone's recent use of the chamber. "This doesn't sit well with me... Didn't we hear crying? We easily could have been watched from here!"
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