Father Toth seems in better spirits this morning, giving the apothecary a brief smile. "I have not come to judge you, Jorminda. I have made mistakes of my own in the past as Pharasma well knows. We have come for your services. The very vermin from the walls of the prison rally against us and we could use some alchemists fire to purge the swarms. Also, seeing your tea makes me think I could use some herbal remedy. I'm feeling slightly off this morning."
She shrugs. You can see she just is beyond caring due to her own burdens and troubles.
I have 3 Alchemist fires on hand. Thats all I can give you for now - a bunch of them are already set aside for farmers for burn offs before spring planting. If you are feeling unwell? Got this remedy thats good for most illnesses. 100 gold for the lot.
Jaru weighs Nighteyes' jangling pouch in his hand. "We are short in gold, but I'll offer you 50 coins and two vials of holy water in trade. Those might prove invaluable should you receive another visit from a stranger in the night..."
You can see her internal conflict, frustrations and woes - it takes no special skill, so close are her feelings to the surface. She wants to hate you, she wants to hate herself, she has some sentiment and regard for you and she wants to help, possibly even atone for past ills.
I'll take 50 now and an I.O.U for 50 gold later - written in your hand Father Jaru - the Holy waters are of no help to me but gold is.
Jaru nods and signs the scrip.
"Hello Wise One. I've opted to help those young lads a bit. I've some coins left; a parting gift from the Watch. Perhaps I could forward some? And what about preventive remedy? We watchmen used to carry some herbal remedy. Taste like s- Well, it's helped us when we had to eradicate vermin. Did the Watch get those from you?"
Its the same thing Mister Escheus, she says.
"Good. Then how much would it be for each of those herbal remedies?"
anti plague is 50 gold each. Father Jaru's one at 25 was due to old regard for him
Nalun watches the bargaining carefully.
She gives Elidal a grateful nod but says nothing more.
And with that you should be free to pursue your exploration of the prison.
The trudge up to the prison is a slippery one, the ground having been soaked the night before but you arrive in about half an hour and it is around 10 in the morning. The clouds are heavy overhead but are patchy enough to allow the sun to peek through from time to time.
As usual the prison seems to be a brooding, menacing structure, with the aged heavy gates swung all but closed, likely from the storm the night before, though you could have sworn that one of the gates was on one hinge before.
Nalun hums a slow tune to himself in a low whisper as he sees the foreboding structure.
Roses love sunshine violets and you
Angels in the heavens know I love you
Write me a letter send it by mail
Send it in care of Harrowstone jail
Jaru frowns at the change in position of the gates and readies a flask of fire as he moves forward.
Emmett secures the antitoxin he's bought, simply shrugging at Jorminda's implied criticism.
Once near the prison, he frowns at Nalun's singing, then asks: "So tell me where you were attacked by vermin and skeletons. By the way, who's got the vials?"
Emmett pushes on the gate.
And goes pale, frozen there for an instant, shock engraved on his old face... and thats when the huge door tears from its hinges with a groan and crashes down.
It slams into the ground with loud crash as Emmet manages to leap away and avoid harm... leaving the way into Harrowstone open.
By the Lady! That looked...deadly. Nalun says when the door falls. He murmurs a cantrip designed to detect magic and scans the door.
No magic
"Welcome to Harrowstone." Simeon says quietly, gazing intently at the fallen gate.
Hitching his pack higher on his thin shoulders, he looks appraisingly at the startled man, "Are you able to continue? Steel yourself, there will be more of the same inside...."
"I- ... I'll be okay..." replies Emmett with a shaky voice. With effort, he forces his mighty husk straight and steps forward, though more slowly than before.
"I- ... I'll be okay..."
"You will," Jaru reassures. "Keep your wits about you though. The haunts are often proceeded by some strange sensation -a cold spot, tapping or hissing."
The ground is littered with dead rats and the charred bones of your last visit but everything seems to be as quiet as a tomb.
"Let us finish our exploration of the ground floor. That is where the foul spirits await and do not wish to waste more effort on the vermin that infest the outer ruins."
You climb past the rubble and into the building. A stillness fills the halls that is barely broken by the echoing sound of your footsteps.
Your presence does nothing to dispell the emptiness that conveys a sense of loneliness to what should be just a plain abandoned building.
Yet under lying that impression is another one... that somehow the building itself is holding its breath, waiting.
You press beyond the foyer into what seems to be the central corridor, your breathing audible as the sound of it bounces of the hard cold stone walls.
Emmett's eyes grow wide when he sees the bloody runes drawn on the prison walls.
What have I gotten myself into!?
Nalun murmurs a light cantrip and summons a globe of light.
Such a congregation of spirits....surely the Professor was here studying for a reason when he was.... Nalun trails off
The Professor died here...
Emmett, with heavy legs, move in the direction offered by Elidal: "Why not. Trouble awaits; that's for certain."
+2 vs Undead
Jaru follows switching over to his crossbow.
Jaru gestures, "Let us proceed clockwise through the unexplored area."
Nalun nods in agreement with Father Toth.
Tell me Father, would the clockwise motion have an effect on divinitory spells? Nalun asks, tracing a pattern of Pharasma's spiral in the air with a clockwise motion.
Jaru gives the elf a sly smile. "Not directly, but I find it an auspicious direction."
"Clockwise it is, then..." shrugs Emmett, not wanting to give too much credence to superstitions.
He looks around at the bloody runes though, and quickly makes a spiralling sign on his chest.
You never know!
The door before you is heavily padlocked and quite stout. The lock is in some disrepair but looks like its was of good quality back in the day.
"May I try?" Emmett says, cursing as he painfully gets a knee down on the floor and studies the lock.
Emmett has studied locks and mechanisms during his career, but never bothered to get a set of proper tools. Now he regrets it...
"Someone has tools for this kind of work? I'm afraid I don't..."
You dont find a trap but you absolutely know that without tools you have no chance at all.
Jaru frowns. "Perhaps we could break it down, but let us continue and come back to this later."
"No way..." Emmett shrugs and makes a mental note of getting tools as he gets up and moves on.
But where? I could ask the sergeant... But he'll become suspicious...
Simeon shrugs as the question of the direction of exploration is discussed "Whichever way we take, the destination remains the same."
His eyes alert he waits pensively as the gentelman examines the lock then responds to Jaru's comment "Though the denizens of this ruin are mostly dead, the racket of beating this door down may bring unwanted attention upon us..."
"No way..." Emmett shrugs and makes a mental note of getting tools as he gets up and moves on.
But where? I could ask the sergeant... But he'll become suspicious...
[dice=Knowledge (local) to find where I could purchase these in Ravengro]1d20+6
Adventurers, trouble makers that they are, generally have access to such disreputable objects or may know where to find them.
How do things without ears hear? Skeletons for example. Nalun ponders aloud. Have you some theory Professor?