If the Lopper is still standing, I will use Magic Missle from the wand again.
Raising his sword above his head,Franc again channels a blast of divine power.
Round Three - continued
21 Darren
20 The Lopper
20 Shanoa
20 Karl
13 Roland
08 Franc
07 Oorin
Franc concentrates and raises his sword, channeling power into a massive burst.
Oorin launches another magic missile, drawing a roar from The Lopper.
Round Four
Darren seems to be gaining confidence with his new weapon, and he dives in and leaves a large slash in the form of The Lopper.
The Lopper nimbly moves around the battle and comes face-to-face with Franc - the ghost slashes at the his throat and leaves a bloody gash. Some of the blood from Franc's wound becomes smoke as it drops to the ground, and floats toward The Lopper, seeming to seal some of the tears in his form.
Shanoa shoots another spell at The Lopper, but his movements in combat continue to frustrate her aim.
Karl moves in to flank The Lopper with Franc, and finds the balance of the axe, unleashing a massive attack that leaves a massive tear in the creature's ectoplasmic form.
Oorin uses the wand to fire another magic missile at The Lopper, punching another hole in his increasingly ragged form.
-----
The Lopper is looking very bad right now; I'm going to give Roland and Franc a chance to post before DMPCing them.
Attack
Damage
"Get back here you insignificant waste of supernatural energy," Darren growls in anger at seeing the Lopper attacking his allies. "Here's the head you should want to Lop!"
Franc withdraws as he feels the blood gush from his neck. Placing a hand upon the wound he calls for forth a healing wave.
Watching the others batter the Lopper's form, Roland has been watching the ghost's movements, trying to get a handle on it's unearthly movements.
He makes another half-hearted stab toward it's form.
Why can't I predict this monster's movements?
Tsking a little that the foul apparition still stands, Oorin will use a 5th charge from the wand.
Karl tries one more time to put an end to the Lopper, but whatever proficiency he had found with his weapon seems as elusive as his foe.
Mustering the last of his divine calling,Franc brings forth one last mighty wave of healing and destructive light.
Round Four
21 Darren
20 The Lopper
20 Shanoa
20 Karl
13 Roland
08 Franc
07 Oorin
Round Three - continued
Franc moves back and casts a spell, his hand briefly glows with a white light.
Round Four
Darren moves forward, slashing again with the short sword, and tearing another hole in The Lopper.
The Lopper charges Karl, but his attack misses.
Shanoa continues to cast the spell at the ghost, but her attack once again passes the creature without hitting it.
Karl attempts a powerful swing, but it passes to the right of The Lopper.
Roland deftly moves around and attempts to stab the creature, but it avoids the attack and his dagger only pierces empty air.
Franc channels once again, this time drawing a high-pitched shriek from the ghost.
As you all watch, the form of the ghost shatters and begins to disintegrate, with tiny motes of light drifting upward and disappearing from view.
The Lopper is no more.
-----
Searching the room, you discover the following at the bottom of the bottom of the pit:
A human skeleton with broken legs
Another human skull
120 gp
Masterwork heavy crossbow (currently broken)
Masterwork longsword
Masterwork heavy mace
A smooth round stone
Ring of keys
As the Lopper fades away, Darren lowers his sword satisfactorily. Suddenly he cocks his head and spins around, looking around confusedly.
What's that, is someone there? "Did you guys hear something just now?"
Karl carefully places the handaxe into his pack, a weary smile on his face. I thought I'd never be free of it. Thank you Darren! Thank you all! Franc, are you well? Oorin, might I see that Scythe you've been carrying around?
Karl perks up his ears at Darren's query. Can't say I did. What did you hear?
Roland breathes a sigh of relief as the Lopper ceases to exist, and sheathes the magic dagger.
"Did you guys hear something just now?"
Roland's ears perk up and he looks around.
"I'm afraid not... what did it sound like?"
Even as he asks, his ears strain to see if he can hear anything unusual.
Franc moves to the plunder and calls on his patron to aid him the search for magical auras.
Darren says, "Someone is... talking to me?"
He concentrates hard and tries to respond inside his own head. If it doesn't work, he will repeat his message out loud.
After several minutes, it appears the voice has stopped talking to Darren.
Despite everyone's efforts, there is no evidence of a voice or being in the immediate vicinity.
Oorin hands Karl the magical scythe. "Glad to be rid of it quite frankly.
With Detect Magic, "The large mace and the stone are magical but I don't know how."
"I wouldn't worry too much about hearing voices in a place like this. No doubt tricks designed to unsettle are quite prevalent here."
|
Shanoa looks at the weapons they found. Shame that's not a morningstar... "If no one else wants it I can hold on to that mace. It's not exactly my preferred weapon but at least I know what end to hit with. And if we have to fight more ghosts like that a magical weapon will be useful - I couldn't manage to hit that fiend with a single spell." She catches herself as she notices for the first time that she's absolutely trembling. "I...I was just so frightened! I've seen them before but that doesn't make them any less terrifying face to face." She swallows hard and manages a weak smile. "I'm just glad I'm not alone this time. Thank you all for being here."
Darren looks around as the voice inside his head dissipates. "I know I shouldn't think into it too much in this place, but she sounded like she needed help. Then again, if she's been here for long, there's probably not much we can do for her anyway..."
With an eye turned to the their newly-acquired loot, he says "If nobody minds, I'll take that longsword. It's much better than mine. Pity about that crossbow, I haven't got any weapon in case our fighting takes our enemies out of range of my blade. Maybe we can have someone fix it when we get back to civilization."
Turning to Shanoa, "You fought bravely, Shanoa. We all did. It's an honor to fight alongside all of you -- and it's the least I can do for my rescuers from this dark, desecrated place."
Lifting his visor and smiling as he rest a hand upon the hilt of his sword, Franc says, "A fine battle. A fine battle indeed. Bravo on your efforts. Karl, the fiend did his best to relieve me of my head, but Ragathiel saw fit to keep upon this plane and to banish the beast in the same instant. Though I do believe I will be adjusting my prayers this eve. Hahahaha." Looking to the others, he says"I am afraid the battle has drained me of most of my powers. I have a spells I may still call upon should we need them, but they are few in number. Before we venture further is there anyone who might benefit from a healing hand?"
As he waits for the others to respond Franc looks to Darren saying."Take the crossbow with you, friend Darren. I may be able to call upon Ragathiel to give the skills necessary to mend its shattered remains."
Karl makes a few swings with the scythe to get a feel for the weapon. Thanks for carrying it all this way, Oorin.
At Franc's words, Karl comes close to blushing. My thanks, Franc, and I'm well enough truly, but I think it's plain that we've only come this far from working as a team. It's strange to me. Half the time, I'm almost too scared to be afraid, he says with a shy smile for Shanoa. And the rest of the time, well, let's just say that seeing the rest of you fight on gives me courage when I need it. Darren has the right of it, it's an honor to fight alongside the rest of you. Now, Darren, what was it that you were hearing, for I swear, I heard nothing.
Oh yes, I almost forgot, who still has an unused spirit siphon? Or another oil of spirit interaction? Those are quite useful against these haunts, and we would probably do well to make sure that they are in the hands best suited to use them.
Roland keeps quiet as the others divvy up the treasures they've found, leaning against a wall and trying to stop trembling.
I am amazed I've survived this far. If the others weren't here...
He glances back, noticing for the first time how shaken Shanoa is, as Karl and Darren offer her words of encouragement.
Perhaps I am not as cowardly as I think if the others are as frightened as I am...
... or perhaps you should use some serum. That will calm your nerves and give you confidence.
Roland looks down to note he's clutching a faintly glowing vial of blue liquid and gulps.
Yes. Some serum would be good right now.
The alchemist shakes his head and pockets the vial, turning to the others.
"I, ah, believe I still have one of those siphons in my pockets somewhere, Karl." He wrings his hands a bit, nervously. "Well. Three down."
Even as he says the last two words, Arthur, Michael and Cassandra come to mind.
Three down, indeed.
"It sounded like a woman, and she asked for help... she said, 'Please, it's dark in here and I don't know where I am.'" He rubs his chin. "Whether it's a trick or not, I hope we can get to the bottom of it. I don't like the thought of leaving without knowing the story behind that voice."
Turning to Franc, Darren offers his hand. "I'm sorry I haven't officially introduced myself yet, but this place has me constantly on edge. As you've learned, my name is Darren, and I'm very pleased to have you on our side -- in fact, it's inspiring to see you fight with such faith in the face of such evil. I hope I can achieve glory in this sense someday, if we ever make it out of this prison."
"Sir Franc DuMein, faithful servant of the empyreal lord Ragathiel. It is with the guiding hand of my five winged master I find the courage to take the crusade for light to the darkest of holes."
You move back into the central area facing a choice of unexplored tunnels. The southern tunnel appears to have signs of fire damage - apparently the flames from the collapsed area to the east made their way into that tunnel. The hallway to the west appears unlike the north and south tunnel in that it has several doors instead of just one. Additionally, it does not seem to have been damaged by the fire.
Which direction do you choose?
Karl looks from the charred walls of the southern tunnel to the multiple doors of the western hallway. Which shall it be? Roland, can you sense any more of the restless dead? Oorin, you command the flames, can you tell us anything of these ones?
"Which shall it be? Roland, can you sense any more of the restless dead?"
"Unfortunately, the, ah, extract I was using to help detect negative energy forces has worn off. I'm afraid I'm not much help this time."
In case it helps, the nameplate over the southern hall reads "Nevermore" while the eastern hall is named "Reaper's Hold".
"I say we check the burnt area first -- if the voice I heard was a spirit, maybe she was killed in the fire and has never quite escaped." Assuming nobody objects, Darren begins to head south. As they approach, he whispers, "Karl, could you have a look at this door before we barge on in?"
As you will, Darren.
Karl looks over the door, and into the interior.
Steeling himself for what may lay beyond the portal, Franc readies his blade for the next fiend.
Karl searches the doorway but doesn't find anything out of place.
Entering the hallway, you notice a doorway leading to a small guardroom. A quick search reveals the room to be empty of anything remotely useful or interesting.
Beyond the guardroom, several iron doors line the walls of this partially ruined cellblock — the doors themselves hang askew on their hinges, revealing empty cells beyond. Partially burnt wooden support timbers still function to the north, while to the south they’ve collapsed and caused cell walls to crumble as well. Rivulets of water drip down the southwestern wall to create a shallow pool in this ruined portion of the room, with overflow filling an oubliette hole in the middle of the room nearly to the rim.
Oorin uses Detect Magic on the blood.
Karl moves toward the eastern wall of the northeast cell.
Perception
Perception
Darren doesn't notice anything, and stands looking bleakly at the ruined room before them.
Franc, concerned with the water rolling into the room fails to notice anything of merit.
In spite of his high state of nervous paranoia, Roland is still too focused on Darren's mystery voice to notice anything amiss.
As the group looks around the room, the letters forming on the walls become more pronounced... "O", "K", "F", "D", and "S".
These letters seem oddly familiar, as if some of you had seen the same shape and style of before...