"OY! DISENGAGE AND RETREAT! DISENGAGE AND RETREEEEAT! I'VE OPENED AN ESCAPE ROUTE!" the necromancer hollers back down the tunnel.
"No need to tell me twice! Let's get out of here!"
But before he takes off, Roman sings a healing song for Silvio.
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Hank rapidly gets up from where he was messing with and cursing at his contraption. He runs straight for the door, but then suddenly stops. "But...but, how do we know that there aren't just more ghouls down there? How do we know what will happen next???"
The thought gets derailed as more ghouls throw rocks and loudly gnash their teeth as they close on him. "Ah well, I'm sure it's perfectly saaaaaafffffe....." he yells, disappearing into the darkness.
Another rock bounces off Hank's head as he flees . In his hurry, Roman ends his song prematurely, causing the energy to rebound back into his face, causing temporary blindness.
Amy's eyes go wide as fear of her staff kicks her flight or fight instincts to kick in. She sees the secret escape route and flees blindly in that diction. She is fleeing from the staff that her hand will not release due it being locked in fear. As she runs, the staff stuck in her hand follows her. Thus causing her run blindly past the rest of the group. As the fear runs through her, Amy stops contrasting on the spell and it will run its course then stop.
Roman screams, "Hey! Who put out the lights!?"
The bard tries to figure out which way he should go.
Silvio atempts to keep the undead back with a flurry rapier, buying some extra time for the party to flee. Once everyone has fled through the opening, Silvio tries to push off and heading through the secret door as well. Once through he will try and find some way to shut it, blocking the way for the ghouls to persue.
Amy's headlong flight takes her down a winding passage. By the time she's managed to end her spell, she's out of sight of her companions. In front of her is a book-filled room lit by torches.
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With his characteristic agility, Silvio tumbles away from the ghouls and enters the secret opening. As he works to close the door, Roman (turned around in confusion) stumbles directly into him. The added force is sufficient to close the door, but both the Bard and the Dashing Hero will have nasty headaches for a bit .
"I swear I didn't know she was married," Roman muttered, sounding a little punch drunk.
"Silvio is pretty sure that lady Amy is unmarried, but fail to see the relevance to this situation", the chelaxian says and affords himself a well deserved breath of air. "All though Silvio suggests that we find her quickly as she was our source of light."
Silvio deftly reaches into his sling bag and produces some matches, a spare shirt, a stick and a bottle of spirits. He wraps the shirt around the stick, douses it in alcohol, takes a swig for himself before passing the bottle over to Roman. He then proceeds to light his makeshift torch and ventures down into the passage to search for Amy and Hank.
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Finding the passageway once again plunged into darkness, Hank twists a single dial on the Molecular Manipulator. The end of it begins to glow and emit a trace amount of heat.
"Eh? What's that? Roman and Amy are to be married? Well congratulations then, good sir! I admit, that would explain a great, great deal. Have you picked a day yet? I have some experimental lighting arrangements that have been just begging for a chance to shine."
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"Quick, we need to after lady Amy and gather outselves. Silvio knows that splitting the party is a bad idea!" Silvio says and darts down the tunnel while urging Hank to light the way.
Amy looks around a the rooms and tries to read the tiles of the books to see if there was something important. She also looks for anything that would be important while she waited for the rest of the group to get up with her.
I wonder where I am at? Where is everyone else?
Fleet follows as well, glancing over his shoulder nervously for the ghouls behind them.
Roman follows Professor Hank. But his gait is a bit awkward.
As you look around the room, it quickly becomes clear that there are no other entrances or exits. Whoever you've been following has to be somewhere in here. Everything in the area is covered in a thin layer of dust, as even the best magic can't ward off time's influence forever. Nothing's been disturbed for countless centuries - except for one shelf where all the dust has been blown away. From what you can gather, this is a section for storing old maps. Nearby, you see familiar footprints in the dust, although they abruptly end in-between two shelves. There's no place to hide there, and everything in the immediate vicinity is unnaturally quiet.
The passageway ends at a large, well-lit room filled with bookshelves. Amy is inside, examining the contents.
"Another mystery," Fleet comments when Amy points out the footprints in the dust. He studies the blank space on the walls between the two shelves where the footprints culminate, then moves to the shelf that has no dust remaining on it. He begins to critically examine the shelf for a button or switch of some kind, opening books that were found on that shelf, or unrolling maps to find some way forward. Is a roll needed or is it enough that I'm searching that particular area carefully?
"Most curious indeed. There most be some kind of hidden passage, yes?" Silvio states but searching isn't really his thing so he is content with just watching John and Hank investigate.
John is unable to find any secret switches of hidden passages. Hank, meanwhile, more focused on the footprints, notices two more appear approximately a pace further down the aisle. This happens again when somebody moves closer.
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Hank, fresh empty on his sense of humor, chrarges up his Zero Cannon. "So it seems that there's nothing here! So, if I point this deadly weapon right THERE," he points the cannon at the last set of footprints, "then I'm sure that NOTHING will happen. Unless someone wanted to, say, STOP SCREWING AROUND and present some new evidence to stop me!"
Immediately, a brown-haired Varisian woman appears, looking panicked. Amy and Silvio recognize her as Ieanna - one of the presumed-dead passengers of the Jenevive. "Whoah, whoah, whoah! I'm unarmed! Don't shoot!"
Roman perks up upon seeing the beautiful woman suddenly appear.
"Now, now, Professor. Surely there's no need for violence. Clearly this fetching lass was simply trying to protect herself from the ghouls. I admire a woman who knows sound strategy."
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Hank doesn't lower his weapon. 'Good day to you, ma'am. I'd offer you a chair, but we seem to be out of those. I'd offer you some tea, but, again, fresh out. So too we have neither crumpets nor kringle, but we do have a whole peck of flesh-eating monstrosities guarding the only way out of this place, and I'm guessing that you know something that we don't so please do start TALKING RIGHT NOW about how you are invisible, why you were observing us, and what exactly you know about the island."
Hank keeps breathing deeply, unsure if this is a friend or foe.
I assume she's the woman that the Captain was courting on his ship before it wrecked, yes? The woman from all my brain-visions?
The woman keeps her hands up. "Hey, hey, there's no need to be nasty. Put your weapon up, and I'll tell you what you want to know."
"Specifically, regarding how you and the Captain of the ship you landed here on came to be lovers," Fleet says, in a calm voice. He has his weapons sheathed but his hand hovers near his skull dagger.
Amy says in the back comes and watches. She tries to figure out the purpose of the lady.
Roman tries to set the woman at ease. "You'll have to forgive us. We don't mean you any harm. It's just been a few trying days. So please, share you story."
✴On a 7–9, they will do what you ask, but need some concrete assurance of your promise, right now.
"Lower your weapons, everyone. We can all be civilized."
The woman continues to look nervously at Fleet and Hank but gives Roman a friendly smile. "I don't know what you mean. The captain was quite enamored with me, but we were never intimate. I ... may have encouraged him a little." She pauses to blow a kiss at Roman. "Little things like that, you know? I'd just wanted a cabin upgrade, was all. Then one night there was a huge crash, and the whole ship shuddered like a wounded beast. Thank heavens the captain was there; he found a lifeboat for me."
The woman is clearly flirting with you, and you find yourself flattered by the attention. She's obviously completely trustworthy. Such a sweet innocent woman could never do anything to harm you. It's quite rude of your friends to be so suspicious of her. Surely there's something you can do to show them the error of their ways. You do have quite the silver tongue, after all. If they can't be convinced, you'll have to insist - violently if necessary. That would be quite the tragedy, but a valiant hero slaying enemies in order to save a beautiful damsel in distress is a classic tale, and always well-loved. And, really, she is quite the beautiful damsel. Perhaps the most attractive woman you've ever seen. And she appears to have feelings for you! How delightful!
Something seems ... off ... about the woman. Her fear is a bit over-exaggerated, and her movements aren't quite right. It's almost as if she's slightly too big for her body.
"Makes perfect sense, Milady," he says with an adoring smile.
"See, guys? No need to get violent, is there? It was just a misunderstanding."
"Are you injured, Milady? I can heal you. I have a magic," he finishes sounding slightly too eager.
It's almost as if she's slightly too big for her body.
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Hank stares at Roman agape, wondering how things got so off-track.
Eventually he regains his facilities and starts speaking.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, here. Roman, can you...can you just keep it in your pants for like 2 freekin' seconds? Hey lady, that story about the captain was heartfelt, touching...and COMPLETELY irrelevant to what the F-bomb you are doing right here in Ghoul-town central.
Now, how did you get here?
And what is your purpose for being here?
We didn't see you come in, so you either have another way in here, or you just shadow-walked past 8-freekin-billion ghouls.
So let's have it lady!"
Roman stand in between the Professor and the mysterious woman.
"Hey, hey, take it easy, Professor. There's no need for hostilities."
Amy offer the lady water from her belt. You look thirst. Have some water.
"Hank, she was invisible until you threatened her with your gun. I'd wager that's how she got past the ghouls." Fleet would go on, but Amy douses her with holy water first, making him forget what he was about to say as he stares dumbfounded.
The world seems to move in slow motion as Roman dives in front of the liquid spray heading for his darling one.
"Noooooooooo!"
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Hank spins on John, unsure of how the world suddenly turned upside down. "And??? Did she hide her smell as well as her sight? And what of her sound? To stand motionless in a room is one thing. To sneak by a full score of meandering eat-kill nature machines in a cramped confinement is quite another!
And how she turn invisible? Is that even a thing??"
The holy water vial shatters across Roman's chest, covering him in liquid. Oddly, it burns him - something that should only happen to evil creatures.
Roman's new best friend lets out a terrified shriek and bolts for cover. "She's trying to kill me, dearest! SAVE ME!!!"
Amy runs after the lady. Amy pulls an other vial of holy water and throws it at the lady.
The lady is evil and Roman is under control. Try not to hurt him to bad as we take the lady done.