Theron's eyes cloud over as he calls upon the power of his goddess to show him good from evil, eventually becoming a glossy black colour.
Not immediately finding anything useful, Karrik augments his mundane senses with arcane ones. A few whispered words and his magic-detection spell pulses to life. He checks the body first, then shifts his study to the cot, then nightstand (with leather book on it), and then the books on the shelves. "This prisoner is a bit of a curiosity to me, I'll admit. Secured as he is, I must assume he was perceived as much of a risk. The chains bearing the names of several good-aligned deities could mean a couple of things. Was he a religious prisoner? Was his power such that it took divine intervention to detain him? Or is it more symbolic?" His black arcane-augmented eyes shift over to the book shelf, "And these books. History. Philosophy. Travel. Novels. We can assume he was a man of intellectual pursuits."
Or do they serve anotehr function? he thinks as he arcanely searches.
the half-orc then steps up to the book shelf, poking the spines of a few random books with his blade. If nothing happens, he -- again randomly -- will pick up a few books, seeing if anything in the pages, covers, or weight seem odd.
Raj leans against the cage and eyes the prisoner's chains suspiciously. "Maybe this was Father Charlatan - the fellow who represented hisself as many types of priest. Would that librarian want these chains? Or his books?"
Karrik's hand hesitates at Charlatan's name; he'd been avoiding thinking about the fact that he was potentially rifling through the killer's personal belongings. Yah, cause avoiding thinking about it makes it any less dangerous...
"I'm more concerned with having an incident like the one with the Piper, but I don't see a way to avoid such an event if we are to investigate thoroughly."
I will show no fear in the face of evil, for Desna is my cloak. No spectre, dead or undead, shall unnerve me, not even in this unholy place.
Lem notes the hesitation and caution in his companions' mannerisms and knows it will be him who must do what others will not.
Raj, it seems this could very well be Father Charlatan, but I fear that one who goes by that moniker might setup such a scene as a ruse, particularly if he could act from beyond the grave. As he speaks he draws forth a vial of liquid, stamped with the symbol of Pharasma. He pours the holy water into the aspergillum, and approaches the bones.
I will do what I can to purge this place, for whether this man is the cause or result of evil, a dark presence surely dwells here. Desna guide my hand, he says simply, holy symbol glowing in response.
Cast Virtue on myself. Cast Resistance on myself.
The priest begins anointing the bones with holy water: Be at peace, go forth to your final rest.
I will show no fear in the face of evil, for Desna is my cloak. No spectre, dead or undead, shall unnerve me, not even in this unholy place.
Lem notes the hesitation and caution in his companions' mannerisms and knows it will be him who must do what others will not.
Raj, it seems this could very well be Father Charlatan, but I fear that one who goes by that moniker might setup such a scene as a ruse, particularly if he could act from beyond the grave. As he speaks he draws forth a vial of liquid, stamped with the symbol of Pharasma. He pours the holy water into the aspergillum, and approaches the bones.
I will do what I can to purge this place, for whether this man is the cause or result of evil, a dark presence surely dwells here. Desna guide my hand, he says simply, holy symbol glowing in response.
Cast Virtue on myself. Cast Resistance on myself.
The priest begins anointing the bones with holy water: Be at peace, go forth to your final rest.
Outside in the corridor, Dragomir's blade swings back and forth as he looks each way to make sure there are no threats coming up on the group.
I hate this feckin' place - makes me feel like me skin wants to crawl off and hide somewhere else, he mutters aloud.
Karrik receives no additional information from detect magic; the books are just books, the chains are just chains, and the holy symbols--while they could potentially be wielded by a priest of the appropriate religion, are not in any way magical in and of themselves.
Karrik pokes the books on the shelves, but none of them explode. He picks one up--it turns out to be a book about the natural history of Canterwall.
He picks another one up, and is momentarily startled when the mouldy book crumbles to piles of rotten paper in his meaty hands.
Any other books from the shelves provide similar experiences, showing themselves to be mundane tomes, or falling apart when handled.
Lem's work with the holy water does not appear to raise the ire of any lingering spirits. The room--in fact, the whole floor--appears entirely deserted.
As far as you can tell at the moment, this room is quite ordinary, with an ordinary dead occupant clad in ordinary chains with ordinary weights attached.
Karrik grunts and dusts his hands off on his pants, "How delightfully uneventful." He looks back out at the rest of the crew with a hefty shrug, "Press on?"
Karrik grunts and dusts his hands off on his pants, "How delightfully uneventful." He looks back out at the rest of the crew with a hefty shrug, "Press on?"
Thank Pharasma for small mercies... yes, onwards.
Theron wasn't sure whether he should be relieved or disappointed. "Interesting... by the first time we came this far we were attacked on all sides. This time we just ran into two stirges. Perhaps we've already made some progress." Theron waits for the rest of the party to leave the room before backing out. He keeps an eye on the chained skeleton the entire time.
Theron backs out of the room, his eyes still a glossy black that makes him look more than a little like a burly elf.
The skeleton's rictus never wavers--which is somewhat unsettling.
Theron finally reaches the hall, where Dragomir props the door back in place--more out of a sense of trying to be neat than any idea that it will actually stop any vengeful spirits.
When the door clangs into place, Theron blinks and his eyes return to normal.
Rose, would you help me with these chains? If these are the holy symbols of Father Charlatan, Sister Iona would be grateful for them. Better to get them now when we are under no immediate danger.
A little earlier...
Lem and Rose laboriously remove the chains from the corpse. Throughout, the room remains silent--and the corpse remains still. Out in the hallway, Dragomir thinks he hears a noise--but it proves to be his imagination.
As Lem and Rose work, they notice that the back of the prisoner's skull is caved in, where it was leaning against the wall. A suspicious dark stain trails down the wall where the prisoner's body was slumped.
###
The stamped weights are affixed to the chains with shackles--you can undo the shackles and take only the weights if you like.
Removing the chains will require about five minutes of work.
You will have to remove the chains before you can get to the shackles to undo them.
Undoing the shackles will take another five minutes.
The chains in total weigh 45 pounds.
The weights themselves are different sizes. There are seven of them in total, one for each of the following faiths:
- Iomedae, 10lbs, affixed to a chain around the corpse's neck.
- Asmodeus, 6lbs, affixed to a chain around the corpse's left forearm.
- Sarenrae, 6lbs, affixed to a chain around the corpse's right forearm.
- Calistria, 8lbs, affixed to a chain around the corpse's waist.
- Pharasma, 9lbs, affixed to a chain around the corpse's chest.
- Abadar, 6lbs, affixed to a chain around the corpse's chest (hanging on the corpse's back).
- Norgorber, 3lbs, affixed to a chain around the corpse's waist (hanging at the small of the corpse's back).
In total, the weights weigh 48lbs.
All in all, the chains and weights together weigh 93lbs. This prisoner wasn't going anywhere in a hurry.
Let me know what you'd like to take with you, and who is carrying it all.
Leave that s&%&e, Dragomir grunts. Its just gonna weigh you down like 'bones' there.
I ain't carrying that lot.
Besides you can get it on the way out.
"We could toss them outside and pick'em up on the way out."
Rose, would you help me with these chains? If these are the holy symbols of Father Charlatan, Sister Iona would be grateful for them. Better to get them now when we are under no immediate danger.
"Of course." Having helped with the removal, Rose will begin to undo the weights as well. "I will carry them. They will be little burden."
A disturbing thought crosses Theron's mind as they begin looking at removing the weights. "I wonder if it is possible that these weights are keeping this skeleton from reanimating like the others. If you remove the weights, it may be wise to smash the skeleton just to make sure. In any case, I think it would be best if I hold onto the one with the symbol of Iomedae."
Theron pauses for a moment in thought before continuing. "Though, it is possible that these weights have been tainted despite their symbols. It may be a good idea to anoint them with holy water before removing them."
Theron: the weights are just weights. No auras are visible.
"Thank you, Theron. And I agree about the skeleton, though it pains me to so deal with a body after death." Rose hefts the weight of her recently acquired warhammer, says a small prayer, and brings it's weight down upon the skeleton's skull. She winces as the bone fragments from the strike.
Walter winced as well. Pure desecration. Blasphemy in a high regard. His keen intellect won over his faith, however, and he remained quietly watching.
-
Walter noted the holy symbol of Norgorber and raised an eyebrow. "I wonder what the god of murderers, liars and thieves had against... well, um, a strong personification of his domain."
Walter: the dark stain is most likely from blood and (what we would call) cerebrospinal fluid. The prisoner probably fell over and cracked his skull open on the wall.
###
I shall assume the weights are anointed with holy water at some point during this operation.
Karrik watches impassively as the team smashes the skeleton's skull, but something keeps tugging at his mind. "It's somewhat possible that I'm simply being paranoid, but I can't dismiss the observation that this man's skull was crushed." His black eyes watch those of his teammates. "Possibly a simple coincidence, but the Mosswater Marauder's signature was the smashing of his victim's skulls." He shrugs his massive shoulders again, "Possibly coincidence… possibly not. Something to bear in mind as we move forward."
"Caution lets you see trouble, speculation makes you see trouble." Rose quiets for a moment, then smiles. "It sounds better in it's original language."
Karrik looks over at Rose, "I couldn't agree more. Just making an observation."
Theron eyes the weight with the symbol of Iomedae a bit suspiciously before putting it in his backpack. I wonder what would be the proper way to deal with this this. I doubt the church would want it...but melting it down doesn't seem proper.
Rajuna (who has been standing still in a corner and watching) nods and heads downstairs silently - scouting for trouble.
The group makes its way carefully down the stairs. Rajuna checks for traps along the way, but finds none.
At the bottom of the stairs, Rajuna and Rose come to a set of double-doors; Raj declares them safe, and after a sharp shove from Rose, the doors open.
The party is in a corridor. There are double doors to the north and south. Judging by what you have already seen through the windows, the ones to the north open into the infirmary. The ones to the south, you're not sure about.
Just south of the doors you entered through, another set of doors opens to a staircase heading down--but the stairs are blocked by rubble, which would seem to be the results of the deadfall triggered by the guards when the prisoners escaped from their cells in the dungeons below, decades ago. The deadfall looks all but impossible to move without putting yourselves in danger.
At the northeast corner of the corridor a door leads to a small closet, under the stairs from the floor above.
There are also doors in the northwest and southwest corners of the corridor. You are unsure where they would lead.
Unlike the top floor, the floors down here are made from stone flags, and the walls are made from stone as well. The ceilings are twelve feet high, and while the timber supports look to be rotted, the building appears mostly sound.
The place is also filthy--fifty years of accumulated dirt, dust and grime coats the floors, and piles in the corners. Mould grows on the walls, and fungi congregate in the darker corners.
###
In sum, the avenues of exploration are:
- Double doors to the north, leading to infirmary.
- Single door to the northwest, leading to unknown.
- Single door to the southwest, leading to unknown.
- Double doors to the south, leading to unknown.
ETA: (map link)
After Raj goes through his now-familiar routine of running his fingers lightly over the door, seeking hidden triggers or mechanisms, the group assembles before the large double-doors to the infirmary, with Dragomir and Karrik at the front ready to kick the door down before Rose and Raj head through.
On a nod from Raj, Karrik and Dragomir each slam a booted foot into the door:
...and although Karrik's leg reverberates with the impact, his door stays solidly shut, while Dragomir sends his spiralling off its hinges into the gloomy room beyond.
As Raj and Rose move quietly into the room, the general shape of it becomes apparent. (map link)
The light in the room comes from a single, narrow barred window in the north wall; effectively it sheds light as a torch, meaning the area near the window is in normal light, the area in the middle is in dim light, and the corners are in darkness. (See the areas of different shades of grey on the map for details.)
In the west wall are three doors, all of which are slightly ajar--presumably they lead to other rooms. A door in the east corner is closed.
Most of the room is dominated by simple cots on timber frames, with any mattresses and linen having long decayed into piles of dirty, mouldy rags.
The group slowly files into the room, on alert for any sign of activity. Finding nothing, everyone feels a little more at ease--until a low chuckle comes from the southeast corner.
Everyone whirls to look, but sees nothing--until a pair of apparitions shimmer into existence at the operating table, one standing and the other apparently strapped down on the table itself. Both are emaciated humans, little more than grey skin stretched taut over the bones beneath. Their hair is wild, swirling as though in an eldritch breeze, and their eyes are glowing orbs buried deep in their sockets. As you watch, their faces waver between skull and skin, as though the skeleton beneath is out of phase with the flesh, which itself looks translucent.
When they see everyone looking, the one that is standing chuckles again, and bends to its work, using a saw in its hand (was it there before?) to hack at the other creature's leg. The prone creature howls in agony, forcing some of you to press your hands over your ears. Within seconds, the deed is done, and the creature acting as 'doctor' turns to hold out the severed leg, which begins dripping translucent blood all over the floor. The screaming continues.
And then, just as suddenly as they appeared, the apparitions vanish. All you can hear now is the same throaty chuckle.
You have just been through the surprise round. Everyone except Raj (he is outside the area of influence), please attempt a DC 16 Will save. If you fail, you are frightened for 1d4 rounds. This is a mind-affecting fear effect; apply any bonuses you have.
Average: 16
Average: 12
Team PC wins!
Have at it. The map shows the last known positions of the apparitions. You know where they are at the moment, but all that could soon change; in future rounds they will not be on the map at all unless you can somehow work out which squares they should be in--given they are incorporeal as well as invisible, this might be difficult.
For reference, your target AC is 12, but remember your 50% miss chance for the creatures being invisible. (Please do go ahead and roll that yourselves, it saves me time later.)
Lem narrows his eyes and steels his soul at the unholy apparitions.
Poltergeists! Malevolent spirits who delight in mischief. They will hound us throughout this cursed prison if we don't deal with them. Best to strike now, while we know their location. Wise Desna, you who sees all things, guide our weapons at these unseen foes, that one more nightmare may be eradicated from this plane.
The priest holds out a magic stone to Karrik.
This will work well against them, if your aim is true.
Round 1
HP 19/19
Arcane Pool 3/4
Effects
Inspire Courage
Arcane Enhancement
A feeling of fear washes across Rose, but prepared to face it this time she stands her ground. Sending the magic into her blade, she sends a bolt of positive energy to where the apparition once stood before stepping in to strike at it. Though in the end, she is unable to connect with the spirits.
; ;
; ;
Raj watches the horror show from a happy distance, pretty sure his blade is all but unless against a spirit. He stares at the blade impotently for a moment before reaching into his pouch and pulling out the magic stone Lem had given him. Feeling like a complete jackass for throwing a rock at some sort of undead creature, he nevertheless lobs the stone at the creature... and watches it clatter through the nearly transparent monster.
"F@%<!" He observes drily.
Karrik--unfortunately Lem didn't begin his performance until Round 1, and the fear effect happened in the surprise round, so you are indeed frightened. I'm happy for Karrik to cower in the stairwell, he doesn't need to either run further away, or open heretofore unexplored doors.
Raj--assume your blade is already lit, no problem there. It was my fault for not remembering to mention it in the first place! I'll adjust the map to reflect the new light situation. Only the very corners of the room remain in darkness, the rest is normal light.
###
I should add, for everyone's benefit, that both the creatures are currently invisible. You are attacking the square(s) you thought they were in.
###
I should further add that I've never seen magic stone actually used before; what happens to the stones after they're thrown? Are they ammunition, and destroyed 50% of the time if they miss, or are they thrown weapons that last for the full 30 minutes of the spell if they miss? I am erring on the side of making them thrown weapons unless someone has a compelling reason to do otherwise. I am assuming, from the language in the duration part of the spell, that they remain 'live' if they miss their targets, as their magic is not discharged.
I agree with Raj; unless someone comes up with any reason to rule to the contrary sometime this round, let's go with the assumption that the rocks are thrown weapons unless you put them in a sling, when the superior force from the sling might smash the rock to smithereens if it misses.
So Raj's rock is probably sitting on the operating table somewhere, still glowing with baleful force. : )
###
Light on Theron's bow, check. I've moved Theron to the stairwell with Karrik. They can huddle together. ; )
###
Lem, yes, you'd still have the stone in your hand. You can give it to Walter or Septimus instead with the same action, if you want. Or if they both flee, I'll let you take a different move action.
Yep, feel free to draw the holy water if you'd prefer.
What he had read last night in The Bones Land in a Spiral terrified him - made his skin creep and his blood run cold... the reality is so much worse.
His courage, already shaken by the eery surroundings, breaks when Raj darts past him, and Dragomir joins Raj in legging it.