"Oh great, now we've got a ghost. Gilda, can you do anything with it," the halfling asks, as she holds her dagger out in a threatening manner.]
"I will see what I can do, with the blessing of my goddess."
Channel positive energy at the spectral figure.
Another burst of energy from the cleric halts the song of the piper briefly, and the sound of rattling skeleton bones settling can be heard to the south.
I have the arrows, buuuuut we failed to I'd them all, unless our new friend gives it a go
Gilda looks around, to see if there are any other nasties about, then begins to back towards the exit.
"I'm not sure we are ready to take on much more today," Shel says, following Gilda as she starts to backtrack. "Let's get out of here, rest up a bit, then come back and give it another go, why don't we..."
Agreed. Perhaps you can look at these little one. Vachordi gestures to his arrows
"Sounds like a plan to me," Awnara quickly agreed. "We confirmed that Harrowstone is filled with the unquiet dead, and at least one prisoner is still haunting its halls. Let's get out of here before we become its next victims, and come back once we know how to put them to rest."
[magic GM handwaving]
The haunting piper's melody follows you down through the stairwell. A brief, terrifying moment makes you fear for life and limb as all of the doors slam shut in the hall. Fortunately the slamming haunt is only dangerous if someone is standing in the doorway. The piper seems to have lost interest when you reached the entryway and retrieved your mounts. You can hear the melody echoing in your head for hours after.
The rest of the journey back to Lorrimor manor passes uneventfully.
Vachordi has some realizations with magic and he looks at the arrows again.
Once back at Lorrimor Manor, Awnara slumps onto the first seat she finds in relief. "Goodness gracious! That was incredibly frightening! Now, we need to find some way to put these poor souls to rest. I'm going to spend some time going over the Professor's books, maybe he's got some ideas."
I think I had best pray over this. Perhaps the Goddess will direct our actions.
"Awarna, we had found a cache of magic earlier. I don't suppose you could figure them out could you?"
Kendra Lorrimor is a diviner; she could have identified all of the gear you collected, if you had asked.
A dozen silver arrows, four sun
rods, six flasks of holy water, 10 +1 arrows, five +1 ghost
touch arrows, two +1 undead bane arrows, five potions
of cure light wounds, two potions of lesser
restoration, a scroll of detect undead, two scrolls
of hide from undead, a scroll of protection from
evil
6 of the ornate bottles that glowed with necromantic energy
and the brass planchet (oiji board).
Though grumbling somewhat at the prospect of having to retreat, the wisdom of making a strategic retreat is not lost on Edrik.
"How long before we can get back at Harrowstone? I'll rest uneasily knowing such evils haunt this place."
"I think we made pretty good progress for the first day. Unfortunately, it seems clear what happened to the Professor as well. So, we learned that as well. We can pick up tomorrow where we left off, if that's okay wit everyone."
Once it becomes clear that the group will be staying the rest of the night. she wanders into the kitchen, tying on her apron before gathering up cooking supplies and mixes up some batter to bake some bread. Two handfuls of raisins and nuts go into the batter, as do a generous amount of spices. Within an hour, the house is filled with the homey scent of baking spice bread, and she has set to work preparing some meals for everyone to take on the second trek to Harrowstone tomorrow. "That's what this house was missing," she muses. "Now it's a home again."
As Kendra worked her magics over the items, Awnara approached quietly. She sat and watched in awe as the young woman openly performed magic in front of them. "I'm sorry, Miss Lorrimor," she apologized when she was inevitably caught gawking. "It's just I've never seen anyone else casting magic. I mean, other than the Professor, that is!", she quickly added, awkwardly explaining away her admission. "If I might ask...how does it work?"
Gilda sleeps the night through, arises early, dresses, cleans herself as well as possible, arms herself, says her prayers and then shows up wherever breakfast is being served.
Kendra gives a rather winded (Professor Lorrimor-esque) description of the various planes of existence, and how arcane magic allows the user to tap components of energy planes in conjunction with the energies that unite reality in the prime plane. Essentially, wizards draw their magic from multiple sources- evokers, for example, often draw directly from the elemental planes to fuel their spells. The difference between arcane practitioners is how they tap into such powers, or rather which catalyst is employed: wizardry through unlocking the puzzle that binds arcane energy together, sorcerers through the components of their blood.
Diviners tap into the interconnection of bodies on the material plane, and how they interact. Essentially they're magical astronomers, only their heavenly bodies are objects on the planet. In some cases, they can even turn their telescope down to microscopic level.
If questioned about divine magic, Kendra describes the catalyst as the entity drawing the power and filtering it directly into the host user. In some circumstances the risk to the caster from the direct energy is much less, but the trade off is the obedience to the granting deity (or patron, etc).
Her hour long lecture of introduction to the magical arts often oscillates from trade jargon to broadly simplified examples (See this grapefruit? Imagine it's the prime plane) when she sees confused looks from her audience.
She concludes with Of course, it's not all that simple, but I think I've covered the basics. I would have thought father would have covered this when you first met him! I mean, it's all so very important! she claps her hands with enthusiasm. Clearly, she's meant to practice in the library or classroom rather than applying her magic to the adventuring field.
Vachordi asks Garin to ask her to identify the arrows.
Fr the frat time, Shel saw the Professor in his daughter. When she was lecturing, she was so like him...
After Shel broke her fast with Awarna's meals, she gathered herself, and was ready to head back to the jail.
Wide eyed and quite clearly lost, Edrik listens quietly while Kendra and Anwara converse all things arcane. Leaning over to Garin, Edrik whispers "Do you know what in the nine hells they are talking about?"
Shaking his head bewilderingly, Edrik turns on his heels and starts towards the kitchen. "I'm going back to the kitchen to finish of the left overs from earlier. Come grab me when you're done talking about... whatever the blazes it is you're talking about." With that, Edrik heads back to the kitchen and continues eating the meal prepared by Anwara earlier.
"Thanks for letting me borrow your dagger, Edrik. I'll give it back when I have a chance to find one of my own." The rogue looks around at the others. "Is everyone ready? Hopefully we will learn some more clues at the prison today. Kenda, you don't know the best way to permanently kill a ghost, by the way, do you?"
Garin whispers back to Edrik. "Not a single clue."
He still claps politely when Ms. Lorrimor seems finished, a lot of the lecture going over his head but pleased that she seems to have found an enthusiasm, even as he remembers that much of the townsfolks is not so kind towards magic.
"That was . . . very informative," Garin says, managing to look like he completely understood what was being said, a skill honed from his years in classrooms. "You wouldn't happen to know any tactics for how one can defeat the incorporeal, such as ghosts? Much of what I've learned was on the material undead. I admit I didn't quite listen when they spoke of channeling energies and the like as I was incapable of it."
Awnara listens attentively to Kendra as she goes over the basic theories behind magic, but gets a bit quiet and sullen when she mentions the Professor. "Our first meeting was cut rather short. Father didn't approve of him. We corresponded by post, and he gave me some lessons to work upon, but I've never had any formal schooling in magics." She furtively glances around as she mentions magic out of habit, only relaxing when she realizes that the only people here are the other strangers and an honest-to-goodness wizard. "Before we head back there tomorrow, we have actually met one of the souls haunting Harrowstone, Miss Lorrimor. The Piper himself. There didn't seem to be any way to communicate with him, but we do have that planchette board. Do you think you could show us how to use it?"
"If you need an appropriately sized knife, Miss Whispertongue, I can loan you one of mine. I'm all a-fumbly with them, to tell the truth, and if a beastie gets close enough to me for me to use it, I'm already in trouble."
The next day, Awnara wakes up early and heads into the kitchen. Within an hour, the house is awash with the scent of freshly cooked flapjacks and apple butter, and she is working on a large batch of scrambled eggs and cheese for the heartier appetites - such as her own.
The professor's daughter identifies all of your magical items (read the link above).
To Shel and Garin's questions about how to hurt spirits:
It depends on whether they can manifest themselves as a non-corpreal body. Some ghosts are tied to places or objects, called haunts. They tend to be weaker and can be disrupted by positive energy, or even sometimes holy water and other forms of magic. Greater haunts can manifest as ethereal bodies- a normal person falls right through them. I'm told they are terrible to behold! Some magic can touch them, but is weaker than against the living. What other weapons do you possess?
If you have more than the kit from the cemetery (I don't believe I've been very forthcoming with toys) remind me.
She looks over your inventory.
These magic arrows pointing to the +1 bundle can harm, but are weaker. These others are 'ghost touched' pointing to the second stack and have the property that they exist as normal matter and ether- they do full damage. And these the two arrows alone can sometimes destroy the unliving outright. Holy water, magic spells, other magical weapons- they can all injure the ghosts if you can hit them.
However, entities like this Piper you confronted are not likely permanently destroyed if you damage their incorpreal form. They will likely regather their strength and come back time and time again. Father must have known how potent these haunts were, this must be why he built his manor here. What has changed to rile them up? What allows them to escape beyond their prison walls? Surely if they had been a danger before, Father could have called in a strike force of Pharasman priests. The town simply doesn't have the kind of holy power to fight back ONE medium persistent haunt, let alone five or more! Every haunt has a specific way to permanently dismiss it- by easing the suffering of the spirit, you prevent it from returning.
She picks up one of the six glass and metal containers which are cradled in the box This is a soul siphon. It's a powerful object for trapping unholy energies in them. Once opened near a haunt, it can drain off some or all of it's energy. Then it glows, charged with negative energy- and can be thrown as a grenade to harm the living. Be careful, though, such energy often heals the undead. Father clearly had a hand in the construction of these. They will be potent, one use items on your quest.
She adjusts her glasses to inspect the planchett. Normally these are silly toys fit for parlor games. she casts a quick cantrip But this is actually an enchanted version, which can tap into spirits on the other side. You and a few others can touch your fingertips to it and once it begins to move, you can ask it one question, once a day. Careful, though, not all knowledge from the spirit world is safe to trust. Also, you run the risk of contacting an angry spirit. Here in the manor, it may be safe- but certainly not in the prison itself! Bah, 3rd layer of the Abyss... the manor might not be safe with how far the range of the prison's influence has grown!
Shel nods. "That sounds like a challenge," she replies, fearless as most of her kind. "Does anyone have any thoughts on what to ask the planchett? I say we fire it up and give it a go...worst case scenario, we have to fight the Piper's spirit here instead of in the jail, I'd guess."
Garin listens attentively, or perhaps it's his classroom skills at play again. "I unfortunately have no weapon than can injure the incorporeal then." The cavalier frowns.
"But I don't suppose you know where I can get weapons 'ghost-touched' or have my own imbued with that property? While I don't have the money to fund it, it may be wise to know ahead of time where such a service is given." Garin looks thoughtful for a moment as a thought occurs to him. "Though I suppose I can ask the planchett where I can find a ghost-touched weapon.
"Still, it seems wiser to ask a question about the current circumstances. About those haunts . . . how do we know when we're near one? Is there a device that lets us know or can specialized people like, say," Garin pauses to look at Gilda, "a cleric able to identify the gathering of negative energies?"
Using the planchett seems dangerous. But thank you for the information. What do we do now folks?
"What we need is holy water."
Not with that roll.
Re-entering the room and still eating a slice of pie that Anwara had baked earlier, Edrik listens intently to the others. Raising an eyebrow inquisitively, Edrik finishes off his meal and cleans off his hands before adding "Ghosts? Aye, they're tricky alright, but not impossible to overcome. We sometimes had to deal with them at Lastwall. I'm just trying to remember exactly what worked."
Edrik: your roll tells you that for each 'type' of persistent, anchored ghost (known as a haunt) there are different ways of neutralizing it. You've seen the "slamming door" haunt, that will hold fast a door. A sprinkle of holy water is enough to neutralize that.
Others that you've heard of suck all the warmth out of the room, often chilling those in the area to the point of harm. The counter is to touch the area with a weapon affected by the heat metal spell.
The Piper, you guess, was similar (although much stronger) to the stationary haunts. You remember that Gilda's channel energy harmed it- so positive energy is definitely one way to combat it.
And yes, your smite will allow you to harm a ghost/haunt with a normal weapon.
The question is: do you want to try and find more supplies or talk to anyone in the town about what you've seen?
Also, with the new level, you can roll research checks to find more out about the infamous prisoners. Let me know where you're doing your research and roll.
"It might offer us more information on what keeps the Piper and his ilk still bound to this world instead of moving on to the Boneyard," Awnara counters. She glances around for a few moments before, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "I will try using it tonight to contact the Piper, so we might learn what he knows." She reopens her eyes, sitting back in her chair with a focused look on her face.
Know. local
Perception
While the others discuss options, Shel again looks through the Professor's library for the names of the prisoners before, looking for something she might have missed the first time.
local
Vachordi joins Shel and helps her look. Little one! Look at this! He says pulling down a book.
Two months prior:
It is as I had feared. The Way is interested in something here in Ravengro. But what could it be?
One Month Ago:
Whatever the Way seeks, I am now convinced their goal is connected to Harrowstone. In retrospect,I suppose it all makes sense—the stories they tell about the ruins in town are certainly chilling enough. It may be time to investigate the ruins, but with everyone in town already being so worked up about them, I’d rather not let the others know about my curiosity—there’s plenty of folks hereabouts who already think I’m a demonologist or a witch or something. Ignorant fools.
Twenty Days Ago:
It is confirmed. The Way seems quite interested in something—no, strike that—someone who was held in Harrowstone. But who, specifically, is the Way after? I need a list of everyone who died the night of the fire. Everyone. The Temple of Pharasma must have such a list.
Eighteen Days Ago:
I see now just how ill prepared I was when I last set out for the Harrowstone. I am lucky to have returned at all. The ghosts, if indeed they were ghosts (for I did not find it prudent to investigate further) prevented me from transcribing the strange symbols I found etched along the foundation—hopefully on my next visit I will be more prepared. Thankfully, the necessary tools to defend against spirits are already here in Ravengro. I know that the church of Pharasma used to store them in a false crypt in the Restlands at the intersection between Eversleep and the Black Path. I am not certain if the current clergy even know of what their predecessors have hidden down below. If my luck holds, I should be able to slip in and out with a few borrowed items.
Seventeen Days Ago:
Tomorrow evening I return to the prison. It is imperative the Way does not finish. My caution has already cost me too much time. I am not sure what will happen if I am too late, but if my theory is right, the entire town could be at risk. I don’t have time to update my will, so I’ll
leave this in the chest where it’ll be sure to be found, should the worst come to pass.
Vachordi unearths some information on Father Charlatan:
Of the five notorious prisoners, only Father Charlatan was
not technically a murderer, yet his crimes were so
blasphemous that several churches demanded he be
punished to the full extent of Ustalavic law. Although he
claimed to be an ordained priest of any number of faiths,
Father Corvin was in fact a traveling con artist who used
faith as a mask and a means to bilk the faithful out of
money in payment for false miracles or cures. He became
known as Father Charlatan after his scheme was exposed
and his Sczarni accomplices murdered a half-dozen city
guards in an attempt to make good the group’s escape.
Shel finds more about the Mosswater Marauder, named Ipsin Onyxcudgel:
Only 5 years before his hometown of Mosswater was
destined to be overrun and ruined by monsters from the
nearby river, Ispin Onyxcudgel was a well-liked artisan
and a doting husband. When he discovered his wife’s
infidelity, he f lew into a jealous rage and struck her dead
with his hammer, shattering her skull and his sanity with
one murderous blow. Wracked with shame and guilt, Ispin
became convinced that if he could rebuild his wife’s skull
she would come back to life—but unfortunately, he could
not find the last blade-shaped fragment from the murder
site. So instead, Ispin became the Mosswater Marauder.
Over the course of several weeks, the cunning dwarf
stalked and murdered nearly 20 people while searching for
just the right skull fragment. He was captured just before
murdering the daughter of a visiting nobleman from Varno,
and was carted off to Harrowstone that same night.
Gilda goes off in search of a high enough level cleric to make Holy Water.