Desdemona paused by the corner, freezing in place as she pondered anxiously. Was the shadow saving her? From what? For what?
More to the point, did she dare cross its will?
Backing away, she announced with brittle cheer, "Oh, oh dear. Death and betrayal, secrets forgotten. No, no. I think not."
Then her eyes fell on Lachen, and she paused again. An unfamiliar cold anger bloomed in her mind. Why should she fear the shadow? What had it really done, so far? What would happen were she to cross it?
And there was a perfect guinea pig.
"There, in the corner. Something... something hidden." She backed fully out of the room, but stayed in the hall to peer inside. If Lachen were to seek out whatever the shadow had warned against, well... Who was he, really? No one.
Who is he? the shadow chittered, laughing at her. She gritted her teeth.
Only then did she realize that Broom hadn't followed her out.
John helps search the junk room. He isn't too interested in helping clean up, but there might be something useful.
(+1 for traps)
"Something"? Can you be a little more specific? I supposed you were an educated girl...
Nevertheless, Lachen readies his massive hammer.
Before the man acts out of sheer, foolish bravado, the soldier, or perhaps the scheemer, asks, with a voice cold as steel, more aticulate than usual
Which corner was it in? I must know where the ambush might come from. Have you seen nothing than can help identify it? You're aren't someone who panic easily, and I've seen the result of your fighting. You're still alive, your foes aren't. So there is something bad in there. Something dangerous. And you asked directly to me to get in the room. Not to anyone else in particular, not even to the group in general. Just me. Is it a test of blind loyalty you are tricking me with? There is really something in there, you are not lying to me. So am I just a sacrificial lamb?
There were, a second before, a flicker of red in Lachen's eyes, as if his pupils were burnin from the inside.
John found no traps but he did become fairly convinced there was a void behind this section of wall.
Broom looked at her friends who seemed to have become oddly on edge all of a sudden. Puzzled, she took a closer look at the room as Us continued to explore.
In a flash of inspiration it suddenly occurred to her why they were uneasy. "It will be fine, We completely understand that this room's condition is upsetting. It is dusty and there are lots of things that are old and need to be mended, but we have all seen worse. At least its not like Briarstone. Everything hasn't been smashed and the room is intact. Other than the crumbling wall that is.
Broom took out her broom while Us went over to the corner and began investigating closer.
"There is no need to be upset or angry. We can have it cleaned up and stuff mended in a couple of hours. We might not be able to fix the wall though, and there are a few items that would need a carpenter but We could do our best and get most of it in order. We can even start in that corner if you want."
John knocks on the wall and looks back over his shoulder.
"Sounds hollow back there...." he tells the others.
rapping lightly on the wall with the hilt of my dagger to determine the outline of the open space beyond.
"Something"? Can you be a little more specific? I supposed you were an educated girl...
Desdemona graced him with a look that suggested he'd gone from "interesting and potentially useful" to "hopelessly imbecilic." She didn't bother to answer his prodding; there was no need to pry at what hid in the darkness, to her mind.
But finding Broom going in, she cleared her throat. "I think perhaps it's best that you come with me, Doctor," she said, stressing the title a bit.
Nevertheless, Lachen readies his massive hammer.
Before the man acts out of sheer, foolish bravado, the soldier, or perhaps the scheemer, asks, with a voice cold as steel, more aticulate than usual
Which corner was it in? I must know where the ambush might come from. Have you seen nothing than can help identify it? You're aren't someone who panic easily, and I've seen the result of your fighting. You're still alive, your foes aren't. So there is something bad in there. Something dangerous. And you asked directly to me to get in the room. Not to anyone else in particular, not even to the group in general. Just me. Is it a test of blind loyalty you are tricking me with? There is really something in there, you are not lying to me. So am I just a sacrificial lamb?
There were, a second before, a flicker of red in Lachen's eyes, as if his pupils were burnin from the inside.
Desdemona shot Lachen a disdainful look. "Strange, that you weren't at Briarstone. I'm sure you'd have been right at home."
Like you.
She shivered momentarily, her mind veering away from what they'd found there. Must the damnable dark read her every thought?!
...Could it?
What did it have to gain from helping her, then? Or at least, warning her? Did it need her as a host?
Suddenly the reality of what she'd been contemplating made her stomach drop, cold as a stone in a well.
It's the darkness. Not I. I would never...
Who are you?
That opened doors she didn't want opened.
Much less by the dark.
Her entire demeanor changed, ever so slightly. From the cold and calculating look, the air of regal command, her eyes and posture became hunted - not so that anyone not looking at her would notice it.
"No, you misunderstand. That corner, there - it's dangerous. We should all step away," she said from the doorway, though she made no move to leave. She seemed hesitant, not from the idea, but from whether or not she should trust what the darkness had told her. What if the truth to their identities actually lay hidden somewhere beyond that wall?
Indecisive, she haunted the doorway as Broom and John investigated, seemingly too preoccupied to notice the red flash in Lachen's eyes.
While Broom was still back near the door, the inquisitive Us took an interest in John's probing of the cracked plaster.
After he started tapping, Us waved her little claws and gave a little eerie squeaky screech.
Broom whispered rather loudly "John! Us says she heard muttering behind the wall, but its quiet now."
Lachen frowns when Desdemona admonishes him. He turns his back to the corner, a brief moment, concerned by the fear displayed by the woman
Are you all right?
There is no mockery or scorn in his voice, just genuine concern. He even puts what seems to be a reassuring hand on Desdemona's shoulder
Desdemona didn't tense - in fact, at first, absorbed by the conflict in her mind, she didn't appear to notice Lachen's grasp at all. But after a moment of distracted staring into the middle distance, her brittle smile grew more prominent, and she looked up at him brightly.
"Yes... yes, of course," she lied, and the act was so habitual at this point that she barely knew it was a lie. "But I don't think we should... the shadows..."
Closing grey eyes, she frowned. "I have the power to r... to sense when other minds are present," she admitted. "I had a rather bad spell of it the last time I attempted it, but it would be worth it to lean if anyone awaits us behind the wall. Stand back, if you please, Doctor, John, Lachen." She shot a quick, guilty glance at Lachen, still feeling cold at her own actions... or those of the dark? Was there any difference, any more?
To Lachen, it must have seemed like she was a completely different person than the haughty, calculating one he's spoken to only moments before.
Raising her voice, she called for Reine to join them. "Please come, if you would, Reine. Just in case... something goes wrong."
Unconsciously, her eyelid twitched as she prepared to begin the spell that had nearly lost her her own mind and grasp on reality, previously.
Lachen doesn't seem to hold a grudge over Desdemona action or words.
I understand. I am quite usually in two minds about things myself.
Nicely said, Lachen. Maybe you should introduce us to the girl before she detect us? Aren't you afraid to show how much a bad boy you are, Lachen?
The warrior, speechless, shivers, and step aside as Desdemona readies herself to cast a spell. He studies her, trying to recognise the magic, and how dangerous it could be for him.
But he has no clue, and gives her a wide berth
Desdemona detected only a single mind on the other side of the wall but it was ANGRY. Alone, abandoned, and full of rage and the unbridled need for anything other than revenge. All it wanted to do was to cause pain, to hurt someone, to find someone to let all that HATE out on.
And it had just heard something moving on the other side of the wall for the first time in years.
It was coming.
Desdemona straightened, eyes wide. She hadn't felt such rage since she was tossed in Briarstone-
Wait. What?
Confused and alarmed, she managed to get out, "There's someone or something behind that wall, and it is full of hatred, wrath, and malice."
Like you?
Ignoring the dark, like whistling past a cemetery, she went on, "Regardless of who or what it is, it's been behind that wall for years. It wants vengeance, probably for being bricked up in there. It's coming out now!"
John steps back away from the wall.
"Something mean and angry back there .... sounds like we might ought to let it be."
He places his right hand on Red Destiny's hilt.
"Wrath, malice?" Reine quirked an eyebrow.
Still, standing outside the room, she looked suddenly interested and alert.
"Back out," she snapped, while poking her head into the doorway.
John shoos his dog out of the room.
"Get lost Lucky!"
Broom continued to lurk near the doorway as Us skittered back to her and crawled under her pant leg before melting into her shin. Despite the suddenly tense mood, she involuntarily giggled as Us began slowly moving up to her shoulder.
Slightly embarrassed, she cleared her throat and put on a serious face as she ignored the ticklish sensation and focused on the wall that everyone was staring at.
Desdemona looked askance at Broom as she... giggled? Just how well are ANY of us attached to reality? she mused.
No reality. Only the void. Only the dark.
Desdemona bit her tongue in an effort to quell the feeling that she should tell the dark where it could stuff itself. How could she even imagine doing that?!
Who had she been, once?
Even as her mind wandered, her mouth was warning John of what was coming. "Get away from the corner, John!"
The pale, washed out specter of an emaciated man suddenly appeared in front of John, as if it was slipped right through the solid wall. John could see its features clearly and he looked for all the world like someone who had starved to death, his cheeks hollow and eyes bulging. And he looked hungry as he reached out with two rictus claws for John's well-fed face.
Desdemona quailed, but not from the hideous spectre - rather, from the sudden lurch forward of her own shadow, which nearly carried her into the room as it changed into that elongated, armed serpent that had haunted her since Briarstone. A word burst from her lips, making her teeter on the brink of memory of gibbering nonsense that made perfect sense - from the right angle. But there were no right angles...
The moment she spoke the word, the shadow swelled, growing horribly. It stopped behind John, but rose up like a cobra, and struck at the ghost before the thing could so much as turn John's hair white.
Large:
-1 AC, +2 Str, -2 Dex, slam reach 15', bite/2 claws reach 10'
Defense:
20% miss chance in bright light, 50% miss in any other lower level of light. Immunity to death effects, disease, and poison. Evasion. Cold/electric resistance 10.
Offense:
Slam reach 10', bite reach 5', 2 claws reach 5', increased by 5' each when Large. Melee attacks affect incorporeal creatures as if it had the ghost touch weapon property. All attacks are treated as magic. Combat reflexes (3 AOOs).
John quickdraws Red Destiny and slashes at the form coming from the wall.
(power attack, favored enemy)
He then takes a 5' step back towards the door.
Desdemona's shadow stretched terribly across the floor and curled up like a wave to smash one huge fist right into the angry spirit's chest, just as John slashed Red Destiny through the ghost. While it looked insubstantial, John could feel it as his magical blade cut through the ghost, though it felt more like cutting through fabric than slicing through flesh.
Lachen moves, his face strangely serene, and the fighter uses his magical big hammer to strike the undead
Let's see how it react to that..
Lachen slammed his hammer down onto the angry ghost, feeling that same there-but-not-quite resistance that John had. It certainly wasn't the same as hitting a physical opponent, but Lachen definitely knew he'd smacked something.
Broom watched with trepidation as Des' shadow and the two men with their magic weapons seemed to be more than a match for the spectral form. She almost jumped out of her skin as she was startled by the screechy whisper in her ear. She still had to get used to Us' presence.
Us apologized for not knowing much about the ghostly apparition, she had done a quick survey of the local thoughts and although there were many minds knew stories about such things she wasn't able to figure out which were of any use at the moment. She did however helpfully suggest that Their magical protection spell might be of some use against the disembodied soul's attack.
A chilling black mist coalesced around him before flowing down to the floor like a cold vapour and vanishing leaving behind an invisible suit of magical armour.
As Broom's spell takes effect and the ghost armor takes shape, John gives a start.
He looks over his shoulder and tells her: "Thanks Broom!", then refocuses on the evil spirit.
The ghost reached out with hands that looked like they'd been dehydrated, mummified into rictus claws. It reached right for John's chest and the only thing that stopped the ghostly attack was Broom's magic. Instead of sinking its transparent fingers into his heart, the invisible armor flared up black and cold to repel the deadly attack.
"That," Reine said, stepping fully through the doorway now that Broom had cleared the path, "will be quite enough of that!"
The tall woman glared at the spectre, willing it to meet her gaze (not something most people aimed to do with powerful undead spirits, usually).
"You think you know pain? You think you know rage? You think you have the slightest inkling of what it means to crave vengeance?"
Rein's words were so heavy with contempt as to be nearly tactile.
"You seek to traffic in the realm of nightmares, Spirit? Very well. You may have mine!"
And with that, Reine manifested an effort of her will, and a subtle chime rang once in the minds of everyone within 15 feet of the spectral spirit, the clear, soft, musical tone of a crystal bell ringing...
And an invisible tidal wave of horror, rage, and pain engulfed the spirit.
Attackers receive a +4 bonus on attack rolls to perform combat maneuvers against a stunned opponent.
The ghost's incoherent anger was nothing in the face of the finely honed, leashed monster of Reine's rage. It froze in place, unable even to flee from Reine's weaponized fury.
Desdemona's shadow swelled from a giant cobra of darkness into a tidal wave of black, gnashing teeth and tearing, ripping claws. It flowed over the floor, the walls, the ceiling, and down into the ghost. The unquiet spirit couldn't move, locked in place as it was by the sheer terror unleashed on it by Reine's razor-sharp rage, but it could still scream.
"No, nooooo!" The ghost tried to ward off the monstrous shadow but couldn't move, slow as a dreamer in a nightmare as the hungry darkness ripped strip after strip out of its insubstantial substance.
Other, less baleful shadows slipped and slid around John, making him hard to see as he and Red Destiny stalked the unfortunate ghost.
John slashes at the ghost's insubstantial for with his enchanted sword.
(power attack, favored enemy)
Red Destiny ripped through the ghost's transparent silhouette, sweeping the tatters left by Desdemona's shadow into swirling rents that faded like morning fog burned off by the sunrise. With the tortured spirit's denial still ringing in their ears, the Briarstone survivors found themselves once more alone in the storage room.
By the skin of her teeth!
Instantly back to curious now that the perceived threat was over with - abruptly and oddly so, in fact - Desdemona entered the room, giving the shadow a wide berth. "An unquiet spirit! How interesting. Though if we'd like to be rid of it, finding and giving funeral rites to the body will likely serve us better than... AAAAAAAH!"
The shadow had swung around "toward" her, and only now did she show fear. She backed hurriedly out of the room again - or less charitably, ran. But the shadow's return was inevitable, and it swooped after her.
Nicely done.
Lachen keeps his own weapon ready to strike, unwilling to let his guard down
he seems totally baffled when Desdemona suddenly flee, and asks John
Is there something I should know? I understand fleeing a powerful foe, but a defeated one...
Reine turned to follow Desdemona as the smaller woman darted past her and back into the previous room. Here eyes narrowed as Desdemona's shadow aggressively returned to its... mistress? Who was in control there, she suddenly wondered.
But when Desdemona (eventually) returned to herself, Reine simply gave her a nod. Of support, or simply of acknowledgement, wasn't immediately clear.
"Shall we see what's on the other side of the wall?" Reine asked.
"Scary broad ..... the ghost I mean....." looking away from Reine.
John turns and pokes around on the other side of the wall.
(+2 for traps)