Trevor extends his arms to try and keep his balance, or to keep at bay whatever force is approaching: "What's going on!?"
"What the . . . " Luka exclaims, surprised at the sight of yet another specter. However, it disappears before he can react. As things start moving around the room, he says, "Now what," and prepares himself as best he can for what may come next.
Arasmes shudders, but is otherwise silent in the face of another threat.
Aldous sees the objects begins twitchy and trembling in the wake of the skeletal guard and shrieks, "Shut the door!! For the love of Desna get out of there!"
Ghost Initiative:
Initiative Round 1
Aldous- 23
Trevor- 22
Arasmes/Spirit- 16
Evelyn- 6
Luka- 4
Arasmes:
Trevor and Evelyn:
"Run for your lives!" Aldous panics and gets the hell out of that room.
"By the Lady, he's right! We can't fight them!" Trevor runs, following Aldous.
"Desna save us!"
Once again a feeling of dread overwhealmes Evelyn, finally breaking her resolve. She takes off for the door she just came in, looking for the quickest way out of the old jail.
Something speaks out of Arasmes' mouth, a voice unlike the oracle's. "Cowards," it says. Recognizing, however, that it cannot fight the haunt on its own in Arasmes' weakened and damaged body, Arasmes withdraws, following his companions.
An invisible force hurls the items from the floor like a whirlwind.
DM screen:
From within the maelstrom of tumbling items, a rusty pair of scissors goes flying for Luka.
Scissors vs. Luka:
The magus is struck in the cheek, narrowly missing his left eye and drawing a slow trickle of blood.
Luka follows his companions as they all seem to decide discretion is the better part of valor! You all bolt through the wooden doors from the infirmary back into the furnace room, the spirit chasing all the way. It throws rocks, shattered planks of wood, broken glass and any other bit of detritus laying about the prison's floor at your fleeing backs as you hurtle through the rooms at top speed- none faster than Trevor in the lead.
Finally, after several tense moments of pursuit, you find that you've retraced your steps outside to the prison grounds where the first shades of twilight have begun to paint the summer sky, Harrowstone a looming black mass above you.
Trevor gets to the courtyard with a deep sigh of relief. He lets himself down on his ass, out of breath. "I... couldn't... sorry... it was... overwhelming..."
He feels like lying down, but he knows he can't just drop his guard yet... His breath is finally calming down and he takes on the whole scene of the prison looming over him. It just looks like the last place he would like to be at the moment: "It's getting dark..."
"Well," Aldous huffs catching his breath, "I think we can all agree that we gained some valuable insight to Harrowstone today and more importantly that this place is best explored in fullest daylight." He stares off into the twilight of the surrounding countryside, "I for one do not welcome the possibility of finding out what other spirits awake here with nightfall- at least not yet. With time and preparation, perhaps."
"Nothing . . . you learned nothing of that place, Arasmes hisses in that same otherwordly voice, his face a snarled mask of disdain and then he goes blank for a moment. He then seems to return to himself in a fit of painful coughing.
"Hhn," Arasmes looks around, appearing a bit confused. "Well, we are all alive, so I guess it wasn't the worst expedition, but I fear that we haven't learned much about whatever afflicts this place. I fear that I am took weak to return to that place, but perhaps we can acquire a map of the prison and plot out what we have explored so far. Maybe that will shed some light on what we should be doing" Arasmes begins to leave, assuming that the party is planning on returning to Kendra's for the evening.
With some effort Evelyn turns back towards Harrowstone "Evil such as that should not be allowed to exist. Let us rest well tonight, for tomorrow I mean to drive these haunts from this palce. "
Feeling braver after voicing her conviction, Evelyn starts the journey back to kendra's.
Your group leaves the prison grounds behind, walking the short path north back to Ravengro as the hills grow darker and lights begin to illuminate houses and streets. At your passage, the townsfolk take furtive glances at your party- some even
make the spiral sign over their chests.
Kendra has put a lantern outside to illuminate the front door and you can see the bottom floor of the late Professor's house is well lit. You open the door with a creak, smelling the chickpea stew and chicken Kendra's prepared in your absence.
The Professor's daughter pokes her head out into the sitting room as you walk in.
"You're back! Good, I was getting worried.", she says eagerly. Her glance extends to notice Aldous and her demeanor stiffens somewhat.
"Hello Mr. Helmsley. I didn't know you were in town."
Lifting his helmet slightly to scratch his head, Trevor approves of Evelyn's plan: "After all, this place killed the professor, and all would agree that he was a mentor and an example of wisdom to us all. Let's get some sleep while the restless congregate, and come back with the Lady's light backing us."
"I still don't think it was a ghost or spirit that killed the professor," says Luka, "but rather a man, although an agent of evil nonetheless. Regardless, let us rest for tonight, and reconsider our strategy. I think the idea of finding a map of the prison may be a good one, allowing us to better focus our search."
"It smells delicious in here, Kendra, me dear. Thank you, "Luka says upon entering the home. Once inside, he probes his wound with the tips of his fingers and winces, debating how best to approach healing it.
Upon arrived back at Kendra's and hearing her greeting to Aldous Helmsley, Arasmes cracks a smile: "Oh, you two know each other? Wonderful. Perhaps you can fill us in on Aldous here, Kendra. I still think he might be some sort of degenerate."
Then, seeing Luka prodding his wounds, Arasmes offers, "I think I can heal some of your wounds, Luka. If you don't mind."
Assuming Luka says that it is okay, Arasmes will cast cure light wounds on both himself and Luka.
Cure light wounds (for Luka):
Cure light wounds (on himself):
As he watches Arasmes take care of his wounds and Luka's, Trevor stretches and groans as he checks on his own wounds...
"Good evening Miss Lorrimer, always a pleasure." Aldous nods his head slightly while locking eyes with a slightly mischievous grin. "How long has it been? Two, three years? I trust your studies are coming along nicely?"
Evelyn finds a spot to sit and inspects here bow for any signs of wear. She keeps an eye on kendra, gauging her reaction to Aldous, knowing noiw that there is a history there.
"Ah, are you wounded, Trevor? I guess I lost track. I feel like I wasn't completely myself in there for a while."
Cure Light Wounds
Kendra's face is impassive, but the look she gives Aldous is the most withering you've ever seen in the short period of your acquaintance.
"My studies? My 'studies' have had to wait since we put my father in the ground, Aldous. I would have thought one of his best students could make the time to say goodbye, but I suppose that's too much to ask isn't it?"
She crosses her arms.
"If you're here for his research, you can turn right back around and take the road back to Lepidstadt. Assuming that's what the smirk on your face is all about."
"Ah, are you wounded, Trevor? I guess I lost track. I feel like I wasn't completely myself in there for a while."
Cure Light Wounds 1d8+1
As Arasmes offers: "Why, that's very kind of you. Indeed I have suffered, but I could very well tough it out if someone else needs your care."
"Lady Kendra, a pleasure! Is this man not welcome in your house? I'm at your service!"
Aldous finger stops on the spine of the book he had been perusing on one of the shelves in the sitting room and he looks back to Kendra, "I'm paying my respects in my own way. It just so happens that a new book honoring his legacy and following up on his last work is a perfectly good means of doing that. If it happens to enhance my own career so much the better and I'm sure the Professor wouldn't mind. I will admit though that I had not intended to miss the formal service. I was caught up in a breakthrough in my arcane studies and completely lost track of time. When I realized, the ceremony was long finished. I stopped by and paid my own respects."
"But Kendra love, tell me you aren't so angry just because I missed the funeral? If my intuition serves me well, and you know it always does, you are still put out with me over the way things ended between us back in Lepistadt. You know well the girl was simply a pupil of mine. You know I was always working as a tutor on the side to fund my studies." He waves a hand, "Well. We have had this argument too many times to start over now. You'll be pleased to know I have taken lodgings at The Drowned Otter or some such boarding house. It is decent enough if a bit drafty. I won't disturb you further."
Aldous gathers his pack comically slowly while waiting (most likely in vain) for Kendra to call him back.
"Arasmes," Luka interrupts before his new colleague can cast his spell. "Tell me, can you use your magic to inflict wounds as well as cure them? Because of a . . . quIrk in my family history, such spells actually heal me, whereas healing spells cause me great pain."
Trevor is clearly surprised by Aldous' answer. Woah! Things are... intertwined... Best just to shut up!
Later, he'll check with the others: "We're going back at the crack of dawn, right? Not like this morning with the back and the forth!"
Before bed, he'll oil his equipment and make a quick prayer to the Lady and Rafan.
"Bright and Early trevor, and this time, we have some idea of what we face. Some of those haunts seem contained to certaina areas, that knowledge should help us greatly"
"I'm afraid the I can't inflict wounds as of yet. The manifestations of these powers are a bit unpredictable, I fear. I'm still learning what I can and can't do." Arasmes raises a slight eyebrow at the mention of Luka's heritage, wondering what the could mean.
"Do we want to head back in bright and early? Perhaps it would be better to attempt to acquire a map of the prison. Or some other information about the place. I'm not opposed to entering early, but we should, at some point, try to map out what we know and what we don't. I fear that just going to from room to room, dispelling ghosts will be counterproductive. We need to figure out the root of the problems in Harrowstone."
"Woah! Arasmes, do you mean that the ghosts will have re-materialized overnight!?"
As Arasmes offers: "Why, that's very kind of you. Indeed I have suffered, but I could very well tough it out if someone else needs your care."
"Lady Kendra, a pleasure! Is this man not welcome in your house? I'm at your service!"
For a moment, Kendra looks like she's ready to take you up on that offer... but then she sighs and shakes her head.
"Thank you, Trevor, but that won't be necessary. If you're helping out at Harrowstone you can stay for dinner, Aldous, but I'm afraid the guest bedrooms are taken so don't get any other ideas."
You all sit down for tasty, if slightly tense meal.
Trevor eats with gusto, wolfing every bite and asking for more. "We are in the greatest repository of knowledge around these parts! You guys should study those books tonight to see what we can find about those ghosts." He laughs: "In the meantime, I'll oil my equipment."
"Arasmes and Trevor might have hit on a key problem, have we destroyed those things we faced for good? And what about that room with the unnatural chill?"
Evelyn eats slowly, thinking over the days events and trying to see what they might have missed at the time.
Arasmes listens to the voices to see if they have any additional light to shed on the permanency of haunts.
"I'm certain we did not dispel the unnatural chill. To do so would take a metallic object heated by magic . . . I fear that if we focus on removing each spirit individually, we could spend months dragging ourselves through Harrowstone. We should try to locate the root of the problems at the prison. Based on what little we know, I would suspect that agents of the Whispering Way have awoken some powerful spirit at Harrowstone. I guess that the spirit is one or more of five notorious prisoners who died in the fire the closed the old prison. Perhaps one of the prisoner's names began with a V, which was the letter painted on the old statue of the warden"
After that mouthful, Arasmes settles down to eat. After dinner, he will spend some time looking through the professor's books, searching for more information on Harrowstone or the Whispering Way, being sure, of course, to secure enough rest to recover spells in the morning.
"Mmmm Kendra this chick pea stew is... delightful. One rarely finds quality village food like this in a tavern." Between spoonfuls something catches his ear, "What's thus you say about the Whispering Way?"
Trevor does his best to pretend he's following the conversation. "V... It could be... Indeed!"
Responding to Aldous's question, Arasmes begins "Ah, in the professors notes that he left . . . " but then trails off, looking expectantly at Kendra, wondering if she would, with her distaste for Aldous, want to discuss her father's last wishes with the man.
"There is some evidence that the Whispering Way was involved in the professor's death," Arasmes begins again. "A few suggestions that they were involved in some sort of activity at Harrowstone. I must admit I know very little of the Whispering Way myself–they are a cabal of necromancers. Tar-Barphon was one them. That's it. Anything else you know, Aldous? Especially anything that would help us be a bit more directed in our investigations of the prison?"
Luka quietly eats his dinner, distracted from the conversation by thoughts of the days events and being chased out of Harrowstone so easily. "Perhaps we should return to the pharasmen," he mutters to no one in particular, interested in both research and any healing they could possibly give.
Arasmes:
Aldous:
2. The prison's floor plan wasn't public knowledge- after all, it could very easily be used to break in and spring a convict. Records in the capital may have the floorplan- though whether that's the OLD capital of Ardis or the NEW capital in Caliphas is anyone's guess. The only other likely place would be the warden's house on the prison grounds.
3. You spotted a place called the Unfurling Scroll on the way in- from what you've heard in Ravengro it's a schoolhouse for some of the children (the ones that can be spared from the farm and wouldn't be completely lost in the lessons)- history, reading, math and some beginning magical theory. The schoolmaster Alendru Ghoroven is an accomplished arcanist himself and supplements his income by selling minor magical items and scrolls.
"Hmm," Aldous muses while seemingly absorbed with a portrait hanging across the room, "I can't say I am all that familiar with the Whispering Way. Their name comes up here and there in arcane texts, but I have never bothered to follow up on the references. Either way about it we are talking flesh and blood now and necromancers to boot. That would certainly explain the spike in paranormal activity within Harrowstone's grounds and make them the prime culprit for the ritual etching of Lyvar Hawkren's name over and over around the foundation of the prison in blood."
The scholar's gaze suddenly shifts back to Kendra, whom he fixes with a passionate gaze, "My dear Miss Lorrimer would you believe that in one afternoon within the prison grounds we were confronted by a manifestation of those who died in the prison blaze screaming from the wood grain of the doors, flaming skulls (quite real and material) flying around trying to bite us, a restless spirit who tried to suck the warmth right out of poor Arasmes here, and a giant iron furnace possessed by yet more lingering spirits who died in the blaze? I've never seen or even read about such an intense haunting in these parts. This must be a new development or the townspeople would know all about this by now. The more I think about it, the more certain I am that these necromancers were working to set something in motion and Professor Lorrimer, Lady of Graves rest his soul, stumbled into it."
Aldous thinks for a second while glancing at the bookshelves around the room, a queer half smile plays over his features and he licks his lips before continuing, "Kendra... love... you know as well as I that full unfettered access to the Professor's library is the surest way for us to find the scoundrels who did him in and put things right at Harrowstone." He reaches across the table to take her hand looking her straight in the yes, "Furthermore- you know I have always preferred a lighter touch in my arcane manipulations, but now I find myself at a bit of a loss. The dead are generally immune to my strengths in detection and muddled senses and there are far more of them wandering the grounds than I had expected. I fear that sooner or later I will have to expand my studies into the vulgar use of force." He sighs in disappointment then looks up at her in feigned sudden hope, "If I recall though, you did used to dabble in the cruder elements of wizardry. If you ever managed to master anything we might find useful in helping the restless dead pass on to the Boneyard and would be willing to share your technique, you are most welcome to study my own advances in the finer arts of divination, illusion, abjuration and conjuration." He caresses her hand and adds, "And if we find ourselves burning the midnight oil like old times and you should change your mind about the maximum occupancy, I am at your service as always..."
Arasmes listens to the conversation between Aldous and Kendra, trying to appear disinterested, though he is fascinated by the tangled world he has just stumbled into. "Visiting Pharasma's temple might be a good idea," Arasmes responds to Luka, being sure that Trevor also hears. "They might be able to help heal you and they may have more information on dispelling these haunts. I fear, Trevor, that just bashing the spirits with axes–or filling them with positive energy from some divine source–often only temporarily puts them at peace. They often reform after a period of time. Usually, there is some particular ritual or act that will put them at peace. Of course, if the Whispering Way or some other malignant presence is disturbing Harrowstone, it is hard to say exactly what we can do to dispel the haunts, short of dealing with the root problem."
"Before our exit, I did notice some useful items inb that last room. I'd like to try and retrive those, if possible, other than that I have no clue where we shoudl begin our search. Perhaps the place has a basment or lower level. That might be an ideal palce for secret meetings."
Between two spoonful: "Strike at the heart. I like that! I'm ready to head back, but Arasmes is right: I need something better to do than swing through the air... Any more soup left? It's de-li-cious!"
Aldous thinks for a second while glancing at the bookshelves around the room, a queer half smile plays over his features and he licks his lips before continuing, "Kendra... love... you know as well as I that full unfettered access to the Professor's library is the surest way for us to find the scoundrels who did him in and put things right at Harrowstone." He reaches across the table to take her hand looking her straight in the yes, "Furthermore- you know I have always preferred a lighter touch in my arcane manipulations, but now I...
Kendra listens solemnly, maintaining Aldous' gaze. After he suggests burning the midnight oil, she remains quiet for a moment then sighs wistfully. Even Aldous' sixth sense as a diviner doesn't prepare him for when her other hand slaps him hard across the cheek. Her nails dig into the hand clasped around hers as she responds in a low, even tone that nonetheless communicates exactly what she thinks of his suggestion.
"My father apparently didn't tutor you very well on the finer points of vocabulary, Aldous "dear". "Bereaved" and "Insane" are two very different things- while I am certainly the former, I would have to be the latter to take your kind offer. The only reason- and you listen carefully-",she says as she pushes her nails even harder into your hand,"that I suffer your oily, disingenuous, smug presence in my house, at my table, is because I believe my friends can finally make use of what talents you have accumulated at my father's feet for something just and practical instead of your naval gazing and "tutoring". The only time I will be burning the midnight oil with you is when I have doused you in it. Is that understood, darling?"
She releases Aldous' hand and returns to cutting her chicken.
"As for Father's library, I believe Luka and Arasmes have pored over it quite thoroughly and can be trusted to impart what they have found- you may of course make your own researches, but I do expect you to spend the night at your lodgings at the Outward Inn."
Kendra smiles at Trevor.
"Thank you, Trevor. It's an old Varisian recipe- my mother always used to prepare it."
Aldous squirms as her nails dig in and snatches his hand back once she releases it. While massaging his hand he offers a weak smile and declines, "Ah... no thank you. It does seem to be getting late. Perhaps I will take you up on the offer to peruse the Professor's library another night."
"Gentlemen, it has been a pleasure. I have some personal matters to attend to, but I will meet you back here in the morning to continue our exploration."