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The cache contains:
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, and a thin darkwood case decorated with an image of a scarab with a single eye glaring from its back—the same design that appears on the cover of the Manual of the Order of the Palatine Eye among the books in the professor’s collection. The darkwood case is worth 50 gp, and contains two objects of interest — a spirit board with a brass spirit planchette, and four iron and glass vials containing tiny, churning clouds of vapor. The vials sit in velvet-lined indentations to the left of the spirit board and planchette, along with six empty indentions. The six vials are all valuable magic items called haunt siphons.
Haunt Siphon
Aura faint necromancy; CL 3rd
Slot none; Price 400 gp; Weight 1 lb.
Description
These glass vials are held within stylized cold-iron casings etched with strange runes, necromantic designs, or other eldritch markings. Within the vial roils a small wisp of white vapor, churning as if caught in a miniature vortex of air.To capture a haunt’s energies within a haunt siphon, you need only twist the metal casing to open the vial in the same round that the haunt manifests (a standard action)—this can be before or after the haunt has acted. You must be within the haunt’s area of influence to use a haunt siphon. When you activate a haunt siphon, it deals 3d6 points of positive energy damage to a single haunt. If it deals enough damage to the haunt to reduce the haunt’s hit
points to 0, the mist inside the haunt siphon glows green—if it does not reduce the haunt to 0 hit points, the haunt siphon is still expended and becomes nonmagical. It may take multiple haunt siphons to destroy powerful haunts. A haunt that is neutralized by a haunt siphon takes a –5 penalty on its caster level check to manifest again after its reset time passes. A haunt siphon that neutralizes a haunt can no longer be used to harm haunts, but it can be used as a grenadelike splash weapon that deals 1d6 points of negative energy damage with a direct hit. Every creature within 5 feet of the point where the haunt siphon hits takes 1 point of negative energy damage from the splash.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, cure moderate wounds, gentle repose; Cost 200 gp
Spirit Planchette
Aura moderate divination; CL 9th
Slot none; Price 4,000 gp (brass planchette),
10,000 gp (cold iron planchette), 18,000 gp
(silver planchette); Weight 5 lbs.
Description
A spirit planchette is typically found in a wooden case along with a thin wooden board printed with numerous letters and numbers. Nonmagical versions of these divination tools can be purchased in curiosity shops (typically costing 25 gp); while these items can be used as alternative components for augury spells, only magical spirit planchettes allow users to communicate with the other side. Three types of spirit planchettes exist—brass, cold iron, and silver. Each in turn allows an increasingly potent form of divination effect to be utilized. A spirit planchette requires a board to move upon, but this “board” can be made up of letters scribed upon any smooth surface—it need not be a prepared board for a spirit planchette to work.
To use a spirit planchette, you must rest your fingers lightly upon the planchette’s surface and then concentrate on the planchette (as if maintaining a spell with a duration of concentration) for 2d6 rounds while the planchette attunes itself to the ambient spirits of the area. After this time, the planchette begins to slowly slide in random patterns across the board—at this point, questions may be asked of the spirits by any of the individuals involved in the séance. The consequences of each question asked of the spirits depends upon what type of planchette is used for the divination, as summarized on the chart below. The spirits reply in a language understood by the character
who asked the question, but resent such contact and give only brief answers to the questions. All questions are answered with “yes,” “no,” or “maybe,” or by spelling out a single word from the letters arranged on the board. The spirits answer each question either in the same round the question is asked (in the case of a yes, no, or maybe answer) or at a rate of one letter per round (in the case of a single word being spelled out). A spirit planchette may be used once per day—the maximum number of questions you can ask with it depends on the type of planchette being used (as detailed on the table below). Communication with spirits can be a dangerous task, for many spirits are jealous or hateful of the living. Every time a spirit planchette is used, the user must succeed on a Will save to avoid being temporarily possessed and harmed by the angry spirits. In some areas where the spirits are particularly violent or hateful, this Will save takes a –2 penalty. The DC of this save depends on the type of spirit planchette being used. Anyone who fails the Will save becomes confused for a number of rounds (depending on the type of planchette being used), and no answer is received. The spirits in the area are not omniscient.
Spirit Planchettes
Planchette--Questions--Will save--Confusion--Answer
Type----------per Use------DC--------Duration--True---Lie
Brass-----------1------------11-------1 round---01–60--61–100
Cold Iron-------3-----------15-------2 rounds--01–75--76–100
Silver-----------5------------19-------3 rounds--01–90--91–100
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, contact other plane, speak with dead; Cost 2,000 gp (brass spirit planchette), 5,000 gp
(cold iron spirit planchette), 9,000 gp (silver spirit planchette)
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Securing the items from the crypt, you make your way back to the house and get some sleep. In the morning, as you are breaking your fast, Kendra is in the kitchen when you here her call out, "Something is happening."
Looking out the window, you see a couple of villagers rush by headed towards the river. After a moment you see several more villagers doing the same thing.
Hasmir took a look at the various things they got from the crypt, then tried to get a good night's sleep. He was still a little groggy in the morning, when he hears Kendra's call. He comes to take a look, then blinks. "Hmm, where can they be going in such a hurry, Miss Kendra?" he says with a stifled yawn.
Arigoder rubs his throat, his voice gravelly in the morning, and says, "We should go see what's up... to make sure there's no trouble, or at least stop it from spreading."
"Eh, considering how long we've been here, I'm a bit cautious about making sure the locals behave properly; that kind of thing can backfire." the bard shrugs. "Although I am somewhat curious what this is about; I doubt it's a local holiday or somesuch. Want to go out in a few minutes?"
"Hmm... What is this monument you speak of?"
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You hustle out of the house and follow the vilagers to the river. When you arrive you find the monument to the guards of Harrowstone that died in the fire to protect the village has been splattered with blood. On the base of the monument is a bloody letter "V". The sherrif arrives with two deputies. They have a bucket of soapy water and brushes. The two deputies begin cleaning off the monument. The splatters of blood clean off easily, but no matter what efforts are made, the "V" will not come off. You hear mutters from the crowd and catch more than one suspicious glance directed your way.
"Now that's weird," Hasmir notes. "Magic?"
Arigoder whispers, "Those glances, this situation... I have a bad feeling."
"There is the foulness of necromancy about this desecration." Dryden looks around. "Perhaps we should move along. The crowd seems to be suspicious and we are strangers here after all."
Disturbed, you head back to the house.
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Before Vergil leaves, he tells you this about the prison:
1) Harrowstone is a ruined prison— partially destroyed by a fire in 4661, the building has stood vacant ever since. The locals suspect that it’s haunted, and don’t enjoy speaking of the place.
2) Harrowstone was built in 4594. Ravengro was founded at the same time as a place where guards and their families could live and that would produce food and other supplies used by the prison. The fire that killed all of the prisoners and most of the guards destroyed a large portion of the prison’s underground eastern wing, but left most of the stone structure above relatively intact. The prison’s warden perished in the fire, along with his wife, although no one knows why she was in the prison when the fire occurred. A statue commemorating the warden and the guards who lost their lives was built in the months after the tragedy—that statue still stands on the riverbank just outside of town.
3) Most of the hardened criminals sent to Harrowstone spent only a few months imprisoned, for it was here that most of Ustalav’s executions during that era were carried out. The fire that caused the tragedy was, in fact, a blessing in disguise, for the prisoners had rioted and gained control of the prison’s dungeons immediately prior to the conflagration. It was only through the selfsacrifice of Warden Hawkran and 23 of his guards that the prisoners were prevented from escaping—the guards gave their lives to save the town of Ravengro.
"Good morning, sir," Hasmir greets the man of the law. "I saw there was some disturbance about the memorial today... and it had the smack of the supernatural. If I may ask, did any watchmen see anything suspicious happen tonight?"
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The sherriff scowls, "Bad business that was. Things have been strange lately, people fighting more, that confrontation at the Professor's funeral, short tempers, I don't understand why."He looks at your group. "If it weren't for the fact that several of these thing s were happening before you arrived, I would be suspicious of you. As it is, the regular townfolk will probably not be as discerning as I am. As to seeing who did this, we don't patrol at night, never was much need to. However, I will be from now on until things are back to normal."
Hasmir nods. "Well, it wasn't us, though I can't ask you to take my word for it. I did notice it wasn't just regular blood - it couldn't be rubbed off, for any reason. I'll check with everyone else - would you mind if one of us had a look around the monument as well?"
Arigoder frowns, "Indeed, it is unfortunate that these patrols are necessary. I wonder, Sheriff, if you think we're better off keeping out of site to avoid the ire of the townfolk, or perhaps being out where they can see us to avoid suspicion if any further incidents arise? Maybe some of us could lend a hand with your night patrols, for instance?"
Hasmir smiles and waves his hand. "Ah, I'm sure someone will blame us for it, but I'm not that worried about that - this looks like a decent enough place. Still, it is in our best interests to make sure this doesn't go on, and we all are interested what is going on, so I do ask if it's ok with you if we keep an eye out. Discretely, of course, we won't do anything that might bother good folk."
Arigoder nods his silent agreement and support of Hasmir's words. I should remember to let the bard speak in the future, he's far better-spoken than I could dream of being.
As Kendra opens the door, Morbury, keeping the hood of his cloak raised, allows the others to enter before him. As they all make their way in, he introduces himself, attempting to keep his visage from being seen as best he can. "I am Morbury Dedlock, Madam. I hope you will forgive me for arriving so late. I will bear you no excuse. It is my own fault. If you will Madam, your father was a unique individual and I truly wish I could have gotten to know him better. I am truly sorry for your loss. If you are in need of assistance in any way, please Madam, do not hesitate to ask." He bows and takes a step back so as not to interfere with the others.
"Hi Everybody"! "Names Darcy". "Have you guys found anything fun to do in this foggy, stodgy town"?
Soon after the others arrive a strange new face arrives at the Lorrimor estate .
Upon encountering Kendra she slowly mournfully states, "Why hello dhar' you muast be the child of the late professar Lorrimar he 'ad mentioned you fondly during my associations wuth 'em; I am known as Kayela Rest Bringer." She bows her head in respect upon introduction. " I lament noot being able to ahrrive in time far for a chance to observe his burial, boot mahy 'eart is with you as am sure his spirit has risen unto the great sky. My deepest condolences for your dweadful loss. Might you take pittay on a weary travelar and offer me quarter on this brisk cold night as it seems we are all mourners due to this tragedy?"
....after making her introduction to kendra she follows suit formally to every other visitors in the vicinity in a similar fashion before meekly asking, "I hate to tread uhn a delicate subject, but might one of you inform me on how professar Lorrimar met his unfortunate fate. Dah spirits that guided me here were far less dahn clear on tha mattar"
Before you all make your way to the entrance, a tall man with dark red hair dressed in all black save for a pink sash tied around his waist walks up the path and knocks on the door. When Kendra opens it, she flies into the mans arms, and begins to weep anew.
"There, there Kendy, it'll be alright. My family sends their deepest sympathy." He says, wiping away the tears on her face. When he notices the others arrive, he says "Look Kendy, more people who loved and knew your father have made their way here." trying to put a positive spin on things.
When you all get up to the steps, you notice the man has one silver and one violet eye. After each of you speak with Kendra, he introduces himself "Greetings all, my name is Akydidyka Serrin de Aptal, but you may call me Akydi. My heart is glad to see more who knew the professor come to pay their respects"
"Morbury Dedlock. A pleasure to meet you, Sir Akydi." He nods in greeting.
Kayela studies Akydi for a moment before calmly replying, "It ehs a pleasuar to meet you mistar Akydidyka Serrin de Aptal, I am Kayela Rest Bringer" she stumbles over the pronunciation of his full name with her accent preferring to at least make the attempt at being formal by saying the whole bit. "It warms my 'eart as well to know that the professor had such wide variety caring ef noot eccentric friends in ehs life" she replies sadly.
After a few awkward moments slip by she blurts out, "If you don mind me saying Akydi your eyes ar quite fetchi'n on ya" warmly with a smile.
She then turns to Morbury, "Ets also a pleasar to meet you mister Morbury Dedlock, though I must ask are you feeling vhary well you seem..." as she pauses for a moment with genuine concern in her eyes ".....a bit pale"
Akydi flashes Kayela his best smile "My eyes are my pride and joy, along with my hair" His says, running his fingers through the dark red locks "And my eyes better look fetchin on me. If they were on somebody else, I'd be worried" He says with an easy laugh.
With the 'pale' remark, Morbury angles his head as if not understanding. Assuming it must be the light reflecting from within his cowl, he lowers it in hopes to answer any questions. As he does, you notice what stands out more than his night-colored skin, is his dirty blonde shoulder length hair. "Miss Kayela. The pleasure is mine." He nods in greeting, his voice being smooth and somewhat deep. "And I can assure, I feel quite alright. But I am most appreciative for your asking. Thank you." He nods again.
Hasmir leaves the sheriff's office, and as he picks up the pace he whistles quietly a hearty tune. "So, we get ourselves one mystery after another, and we've been in town for less than a day. This is going to be interesting, ah?" he notes to his companion. As he passes the Professor's - Kendra's, he reminds himself - house, he sees a couple of new faces. Judging by their looks, he imagines them to be some of the professor's more eccentric acquaintances. New arrivals, perhaps? Intrigued, he draws closed.
A tattooed man who looks like a Varisian - one of the strangest Hasmir has seen, and he's seen a lot - a seemingly healthy warrior who manages to be both dark-skinned and strangely pale, a middle-aged barbarian woman (Shoanti, he assumes) who looks like she might be able to break a boar's neck, and a seemingly innocent young dame whom he feels reasonably sure he would trust with a lot of things... just not any belonging to him. Well, that does look interesting, he says, and says a silent prayer to the Song. "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. You are friends of the Professor, I presume? I am Hasmir Talari, and it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
Kayela greets Hasmir with a friendly broad smile "Moarn'en, It brightens mah day to know that people can still find pleasure in these dreadful times."she pauses for a moment... then adds with a slight bow, "I am Kayela Rest Bringer, it is indeed a pleasure."
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Whispering Way
1)The Whispering Way is a sinister organization of necromancers that has been active in the Inner Sea region for thousands of years.
2)Agents of the Whispering Way often seek alliances with undead creatures, or are themselves undead. The Whispering Way’s most notorious member was Tar-Baphon, the Whispering Tyrant, although the society itself has existed much longer than even that mighty necromancer.
3)The Whispering Way itself is a series of philosophies that can only be transferred via whispers— the philosophies are never written or spoken of loudly, making the exact goals and nature of the secretive philosophy difficult for outsiders to learn much about.
Harrowstone Prison
1) Harrowstone is a ruined prison— partially destroyed by a fire in 4661, the building has stood vacant ever since. The locals suspect that it’s haunted, and don’t enjoy speaking of the place.
2) Harrowstone was built in 4594. Ravengro was founded at the same time as a place where guards and their families could live and that would produce food and other supplies used by the prison. The fire that killed all of the prisoners and most of the guards destroyed a large portion of the prison’s underground eastern wing, but left most of the stone structure above relatively intact. The prison’s warden perished in the fire, along with his wife, although no one knows why she was in the prison when the fire occurred. A statue commemorating the warden and the guards who lost their lives was built in the months after the tragedy—that statue still stands on the riverbank just outside of town.
3) Most of the hardened criminals sent to Harrowstone spent only a few months imprisoned, for it was here that most of Ustalav’s executions during that era were carried out. The fire that caused the tragedy was, in fact, a blessing in disguise, for the prisoners had rioted and gained control of the prison’s dungeons immediately prior to the conflagration. It was only through the selfsacrifice of Warden Hawkran and 23 of his guards that the prisoners were prevented from escaping—the guards gave their lives to save the town of Ravengro.
Some other info, the professor's body had its mouth and neck crushed by a falling statue and the monument for the warden and guards that died in the fire has been desecrated by a letter "V" painted in blood that will not come clean.
"Greetings to you as well, Sir Hasmir. I am Morbury Dedlock. A pleasure." He nods in greeting once more. "I knew him but a short time. I truly wished I could have known him greater. But what little I knew of him, it was enough for me to call him friend, yes."
After what information has been acquired by the others and made know to the newcomers, "It seems there is more to this than should be. It's a shame such a outstanding person's death has come under such scrutiny. You all have done well in uncovering what you have. This Whispering Way; it mentions: 'philosophies can only be transferred via whispers'. Which would mean, I would believe, they speak some form of language. Maybe finding information regarding such language and then learning it would prove useful?" He looks to the others as another question comes to mind. "Has there been any understanding on to what this 'V' might stand for?"
Arigoder laughs at Hasmir's joke on the walk home, adding, "It would probably be helpful to try to earn the Sherriff's trust - both for our own investigation and to ensure that nothing... untoward... happens to Miss Kendra once we leave."
Arigoder notes the strangers around the house as he approaches, looking over them with an appraising eye, looking for signs of danger until he sees Kendra and hears the introductions.
It never hurts to have allies, assuming these are trustworthy. I do wish the Professor had vouched for them as he has the others.
Realizing that his delay might be considered rude, he rubs the scar on his neck and croaks, his voice raspy, "Well met. I am Arigoder."
Kayela takes a brief moment to size up Arigoder before responding "Well met warrior" calmly.
"I am Kayela Rest Bringer" she suddenly proclaims boomingly to Arigoder almost as if merely stating her name was some sort of strange challenge to Arigoder.
She then turns to Morbury "Yes tha meaning behind dhat Vandalism es most vexing, bot what troubles mah mind es whar did tha blood come from, en mah experience blood doht not spontaneously appear outside dah body unless coerced from some being in ah usually violent manner" she continues "Ef we can find the wounded shurly we can ascertain tha meaning behind the act and the magics that bind it." she then pauses for a moment looking troubled...."Tis only the case ef wounded still be living, ...in which I believe mere vandalism est not the worst of the crimes perpetrated 'ere in Ravengro"
"Morbury Dedlock. It is a pleasure." He responds to Arigoder as he nods in greeting.
After introductions are over, Akydi enters the house and moves around with a familiarity born of having spent a fair part of his youth here. As he sees this or that object, a picture here, a trinket there, he sighs in sadness. Clearly he is rather deeply affected by the professor's loss.
Finally, he sits down in a comfortable chair and proceeds to read both the will and journal. Once done with both he pronounces "Of course I will stay here and assist you Kendy, I am so sorry I wasn't here before your father went off on this exploration, maybe one of my visions could have saved him. Then again, it's possible his fate was already written in the cards, no matter what"
Kayela notices the charming Varisian Akydi combing over the Professors effects she follows unsure of how to behave in the dead man's home, who left such an impact on her life, while surrounded by the company of complete strangers.
She takes a curious glance at the diary and strange tomes tomes before she begins muttering an incantation to Detect Magic on these strange effects weary of any magical traps or unseen tampering.
She picks up the "Manual of the Order of the Palatine Eye" says a slight prayer and.....
Knowledge History;
After struggling with the lock for a moment and realizing it's locked she remarks to Darcy, "You seem tah be the type o' child who's quite good at stick'n erh nose inta thangs dat don belong tah ya." with a playful smirk as she half hazardly tosses Darcy the tome. "Why don'cha put them delicate fingars tah work on poppin' daht lock, so we might feast on tha knowledge oh what the late professar was readin."... she pauses for a moment almost as if considering something... "I'm sure eh won mind"
She then turns to read the professors Journal... after thumbing through the pages she suddenly drops the book with a look of horror in her eyes before softly seething, "Scripta damnari fatum! Tractans de manu impii a Evocator fundum decoravit. Ego me relinquere debent studere antequam opus hoc periculum et ultionem meam ut auferant eam..." she then turns nodding to the rest of you as if you understood and begins to rush out the door.
Morbury's head snaps around as he hears Kayela speak. Looking at the others, and realizing they probably do not understand her, mainly by their reaction or lack thereof, "Miss Kayela!" He speaks out in an attempt to catch her. "Forgive me, but I implore you to be patient. These good people," he motions towards the others, "that have been at this far longer than we have, deserve at least that from us. I feel we would be far better off aiding them than we would attempting such an endeavor on our own. Remember, we are new to Ravengro. If this town has little acceptance of newcomers, we could jeopardize what this group has accomplished up to this point." He pauses a moment, hoping he's getting through.
"Let us not make a grievous error and hurt our chances of finding out what really happened to the good professor. I believe, with the information that has been gathered, that there is more to his cause of death than a mere accident. And after all, he is the one we are doing all of this for. For him," he turns to Kendra, "and for you, Madam Kendra." He gives a slight bow of his head. Turning back to Kayela, "All I ask is for patience in this, and I ask it for Professor Lorrimer and Madam Kendra."
Akydi looks at Kayela and Morbury, very confused "Umm, I don't think that was anything even resembling a normal language dear lady. Heck, I've heard a bunch of different and exotic tongues in my time, but that was not one of them. Are you ok?"
He takes out a deck of cards, and begins to play a game by himself to pass the time.
"Nice to make your acquaintance, Kayela," Hasmir nods at the Shoanti, then turns towards the strange warrior, and replies. "And you too, Mister Dedlock. No need for a sir, though, I have not been knighted just yet."
He gives the newcomers a bit more time to calm down and get themselves to speed on the will and the rest, and regards them with a curious expression. He raises an eyebrow slightly at "Kendy" - apparently the man was a lot more familiar with the Professor than him. Speaking of which, playing cards in a dead man's house? He does appear to be a harrower - curious enough - but courting misfortune like that is quite strange, the harrowers he knew were usually superstitious to a fault. Unless they were trying to get someone else to risk their luck, but that was another story...
"Indeed, although I think it sounds familiar to one I've heard along the way. Not a very common one, though," Hasmir says, interested. "Well, from what we've seen so far there does seem to be a... possibility of foul play in all that. There was a plan to go to the ruin and see if we can find something at the scene of this "accident."
Anyway, there is more," he continues with a sour look on his face. "There was some commotion around the Harrowstone memorial this morning, apparently someone wrote a "V" in blood, or something looking a lot like it. However, so far they've been unable to clean it off, and there was the slight feel of. ah, magic about it - Dryden believes it a necromantic residue of some sort. I checked with the sheriff, and he said that he'll have someone watching it from now on. However, what with magic being involved and us being strangers here, we should try to get to the bottom of this before it turns into mass hysteria. The sheriff said he wouldn't mind if we looked around a bit, as long as we don't cause any trouble. So, ah, is any of you a bit of a night owl?"