"The gods are not fools, but they are opposed by the entirety of Hell and the Abyss combined. Sarenrae and our other patrons will guide us as best they can. As eerie and creepy as this place is, we're really just here to talk with Dr. Oscilar."
She looks up at Ashlion. "And if something bad does happen, Ashlion will definitely be able to deal with it."
In response to Rozalia's knock, one ancient door creaks open, revealing a carpeted entryway lit by dozens of weeping candles in floor sconces. Standing in the doorway, with several loose scrolls still in one hand, is an attractive young woman in her early twenties; although her expression is grim and her eyes heavy from lack of sleep. She looks you over, clearly unimpressed, and says "Well, yes?"
Brynn steps forward and introduces herself, while presenting her holy symbol.
"Hello miss. My name is Brynn Everflame. Could we please speak with Dr. Oscilar? We need his help."
T
"We are emissaries from the Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye," Rozalia adds.
Jaksics remains silent, but - if she runs her eyes over him - he gives her a friendly nod. As friendly as it can get, what with his grotesque demonic mask.
Brynn steps forward and introduces herself, while presenting her holy symbol.
"Hello miss. My name is Brynn Everflame. Could we please speak with Dr. Oscilar? We need his help."
The woman looks at you. "The professor is very busy and is not to be disturbed. Come to think of it, so am I. Please excuse me while I get back to work."
"We are emissaries from the Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye," Rozalia adds.
She is about to turn away, when Rozalia's words catch her; she sighs, but opens the door and lets you in to an oppressively gloomy reception room. An unlit chandelier glitters twenty feet overhead. Dusty red carpeting runs down its center, flanked with rows of six-foot-tall iron floor sconces with a few lit candles. At the end of the hall are staircases leading to a second-floor balcony.
"Wait here," she instructs. "I'll bring the professor to you." Without another word she strides away.
After several minutes, a disheveled-looking man in his forties emerges from another room. His eyes are bleary and his clothes are rumpled, but he still strides up to the PCs with vigor and extends his hand. “I’m Dr. Verid Oscilar,” he says, looking each of you in the eye. “But you knew that, didn’t you? Please, explain to me why you’ve come.”
The young woman you just met looks on from behind him, her arms folded across her chest. Dr Oscilar chuckles slightly. "You'll have to forgive Lucvi. She's very protective of my time."
"It is no problem at all, Lucvi," Rozalia says to the woman, inclining her head. She then turns back to the doctor. "We would not be interrupting your studies if the matter wasn't urgent. I am Rozalia Tilescu, paldin of Shelyn, though I was a professional dancer before I swore my oaths. Perhaps you caught some of my performances in Caliphas?"
The paladin concentrates, and her armor shimmers and shifts, seeming to transform into a traditional Varisian costume of silks and scarves. She gracefully spins through a few quick steps, ending with a flourish.
Rozalia's outfit shifts again, resuming its armored appearance. "With me are Brynn Everflame and Jaksics Vilmos, both devout Sarenites, and the Gorumite Ashlion of Vudra. We have come to beseech your aid on behalf of the Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye. They have gained possession of an artifact called a 'countdown clock' and need help deciphering its mysteries. Because of its importance to the Dominion of the Black, they fear it portends ill for our world. Please, Doctor Oscilar. Only you possess the skills necessary to avoid disaster."
Jaksics mumbles something under his breath, "Well, devout." Other than that, he has nothing to add to Rozalia's words.
Though, something about Lucvi concerns him. Maybe he's just being paranoid, a much beloved Ustalavi pastime.
The professor blinks in astonishment at Rozalia's display. "Well, my, er, dear, that's certainly very, er, colorful. I would go so far as to say exotic. But I'm afraid my time in Caliphas was spent in more, er, more cerebral pursuits, you might say."
"Slut."
Her expression lasts for a fraction of a microsecond before reverting to its previous nonchalance.
" We have come to beseech your aid on behalf of the Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye. They have gained possession of an artifact called a 'countdown clock' and need help deciphering its mysteries. Because of its importance to the Dominion of the Black, they fear it portends ill for our world. Please, Doctor Oscilar. Only you possess the skills necessary to avoid disaster."
The professor's eyes widen slightly, and he sighs heavily. "Alas. I am sensitive to the Order’s needs. And to its worries. No one wishes to understand and thwart the Dominion more than I, and I will help you learn more about your countdown clock. But trust me when I say I’m very close to solving my own problem. Once that’s handled, I’ll help you."
His eyes shine earnestly - and wearily - from behind his spectacles. "I suppose I’ve peered into the void one too many times. My mind is restless and disturbed, you could say. I’ve come here to retreat from the pressures of daily life on campus and to do some reading and research uninterrupted, with only my best and brightest students to aid me. I’m afraid I can’t turn my attention to anything you ask until I finish the research before me, and that won’t be until tomorrow morning — at the earliest. Please believe me when I say that if I don’t solve the problem facing me now, I may be of no use to anyone. I can’t say more, but I need only a little more time. A few days, perhaps, maybe even just the rest of the night, if we’re fortunate."
He smiles sympathetically. "You’ve had a long journey — perhaps you’d like to rest in the bedrooms upstairs, and I’ll update you with my progress once you’re refreshed? Lucvi will show you the way."
Rozalia gives Lucvi a patient look. There were always those who misinterpreted the expression of beauty as a lewd pursuit. The Shelynite would have to enlighten the doctor's assistant.
"Very well," she says to Oscilar. "I suppose we can wait until the morning. If there's anything we can do to assist you in the meantime, we would be happy to help." She looks to her companions to see if they have anything to add.
Lucvi sighs heavily. "You can assist the professor by leaving him - and us - in peace. I'll show you to your rooms." She leads you up the curving stairway to a set of richly appointed guest rooms, clearly unused for some time, but tidy and clean.
"The kitchen's downstairs. We make our own meals: the professor sent the servants away to get some peace and quiet." She gives you a meaningful look. "I have to return to my studies."
It's late afternoon; the red sun hangs low in the sky, somehow mournful, like the gently falling rain.
Rozalia places her pack in one of the rooms before turning to her companions. "The letter we received indicated the professor's mind is in a delicate state. Perhaps we ought to explore the manor to ensure all is well?"
A quick look around the manor reveals the following:
1. RECEPTION HALL
The receiving hall is oppressively gloomy, though an unlit chandelier glitters 20 feet overhead. Dust red carpet runs down its centre, with lit candles blazing in iron sconces on each side. Staircases at each side lead up to a balcony/mezzanine level.
Brynn spots levers at the base of each staircase for lowering and raising the chandelier.
2. LIBRARY
The library's centerpiece is an enormous marble column set with towering bookshelves. Dusty divans and tables are arranged for groups to sit and study or read.
3. KITCHEN
The kitchen contains large food preparation counters as well as small fire pits and built-in ovens.
4. DINING ROOM
Floor to ceiling glass panes (a luxury that must have cost a fortune) make up the entire Western wall. A solid mahogany dining table is covered in a thick layer of dust. Smaller serving trays and firmware arranged neatly around the room in clusters.
5. PANTRY
This small room contains two shelves loaded with preserves and cooking supplies.
6 & 7 SERVANTS' LODGINGS
This is where the two younger students accompanying the professor are staying.
8. RECREATION HALL
This small dining area and break room features a table and a few chairs.
9. CLOSET
This unremarkable storage room contains a few scattered, empty trunks that look to have been untouched for years.
10. PROFESSOR'S ROOM
This room is tidy, with bed made and clothes folded on the dresser, as if it hasn't been used in some time.
11. LUCVI'S QUARTERS
These are sparse, but much tidier than the students' rooms.
12. SALON
Once a salon, this is now a fantastically messy study. You catch a glimpse of Lucvi, the professor and two students (both around 5 years younger than Lucvi) before the Varisian woman sharply orders you away.
13. STORAGE
This old store room is filled with trunks of old moth eaten clothes, damaged painting, broken furniture, and so on.
14. UPPER HALLWAY
This balcony has a banister to prevent accidental falls.
15 to 17 GUEST ROOMS
Iron and glass doors open onto expansive balconies with amazing views of the lake.
"Okay, good luck with your studies, Lucvi, and thank you for the hospitality." It is unclear whether or not the sorcerer is smiling, but he calmly waits for the woman to leave. Aaaand good riddance. Lucvi. Ivcul. Evil. Parents ought to know better than to give such accursed names to their children. Must not be from Ustalav.
"If you want to, Roza, sure. The doctor seems to be postponing our business and, with our task and task descriptor in mind, we can expect him to keep on postponing it. Perhaps it is an indicator of my natural disposition, and as such, you ought to ignore my words. Doom and gloom is in my blood after all," he says with a hidden yet clearly audible grin.
"I would never ignore your words, Jaksics. You are a dear companion, and I value everything that you have to say." The paladin favors the dour sorcerer with a dazzling smile.
Later, Rozalia looks through the books in the library for any interesting titles to help pass the time.
Rozalia finds the library is full of leather-bound books on a diverse range of scholarly topics; a few contain general information about the Dark Tapestry, but nothing beyond the basics.
She's about to move on, when out the corner of her eye she spots a loose leaf of paper tucked into one such tome. Most of the handwriting is illegible and shows signs of being written in great haste, but the following is legible:
.... Transformation? ....... Mental cage? ................ Remote connection? ............. Investigate how!........
Frowning at the piece of paper, she shows it to the others. "Does this mean anything to any of you?"
Brynn has armoured down and is now on her way to the kitchen to fix a small meal. She'll pop by the Dining Hall just in case there's someone to talk with. Once she's done eating, she'll look around in hopes of finding a way to take a bath.
From the dust on the table in the Dining Hall, it's clear that nobody has eaten in that room for a long while.
Brynn finds - to her pleasant surprise - that the main bedroom has an antechamber holding a bath, together with a water pump that draws water from the lake, which is heated via pipes located behind the ovens in the kitchen.
Brynn is ecstatic to try out this fancy bath. She locks the door as best she can (she's not all that worried about the boys, but Rozalia tends to barge in when all Brynn really wants is some privacy).
"Can't say it does. Is it important? I do have an elixir with me that ought to help you comprehend whatever you're trying to read. A drop of Hezrou blood is the secret ingredient for such elixirs, they say."
"I don't think that's necessary, Jaks. We can ask the professor about it later. Hmm... Maybe he wrote it? Perhaps we can find something in his room to confirm his handwriting? There may be more going on here than we can see."
The professor's few personal effects lie around his room, but an enterprising search by Rozalia locates a journal concealed under his pillow. The journal mostly details his duties on campus and praises his smartest students, especially Lucvi. However, the last few pages have been ripped out. The last entry is a single paragraph dated 6 weeks prior:
Who is Ramlock? Why can I hear his voice? I must learn what afflicts me, and fast. The gods save my poor students if I fail.
The writing is less scrawled than in the note that was in the library, but it is unmistakably the same handwriting.
"This bodes ill," Rozalia says. "It seems the professor is hearing voices and hiding it from his students. This is dangerous information. We need to confront him about it. Find Ashlion, Jaks. I will fetch Brynn."
The paladin heads to the bathroom and knocks on the door. If there's no answer, she'll open it. "Brynn, dry off and get dressed! Something is amiss here at Sombrefell Hall."
Brynn has locked the door, but upon hearing Rozalia talk about something being 'off', she'll groan as she gets up and asks "How amiss are we talking here? Like jump into armour amiss?"
"Perhaps. Doctor Oscilar is hearing a voice in his head, somebody named Ramlock. And he is concerned about 'transformation' and 'mental cages'..."
|
Ashlion has clanked around the bottom floor, investigating every room thoroughly, mostly by the expedient of sniffing them all... whether this has lead him any discoveries is unclear by the time Jaksics arrives.
"NOT GOOD!" He says, quietly for the usually deafening Gorumite. "I CAN FIX BODIES. MINDS ARE MUCH HARDER. LEAD ON SORCEROR."
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Just as Brynn was finally washing away some of her stress... this happens. She sighs and says "Fine... But I swear, Rozalia, this better be important." She dries off and gets dressed. When she opens the door, she has a towel wrapped around her bright red hair. Brynn raises an eyebrow when she looks at Rozalia. Her frown and tilted head show that she's clearly irritated. "Should I armour up to ask the Doctor about the voices?"
When the talking is done, Brynn grumbles "the water wasn't even cold yet"
Rozalia inclines her head. "There's no telling how he might react. I've seen good men turn violent to try and protect their secrets. Better safe than sorry."
She cracks a smile at the sight of her towel. "Although you do look cute like that."
THUD
THUD
THUD
THUD
The front door reverberates with the force of the knocking against it.
The door to the makeshift study almost flies open in response, and Lucvi marches out, steam practically coming out of her ears. She calls up angrily to you on the balcony: "If this is more of your friends, it won't make us work any faster you know! Research takes as long as it takes!"
Striding over to the door she throws it open. "Yes, what NOW - Oh!"
The new visitors are a mismatched set of humanoid shapes, with corpse-blue skin and long, drooling tongues protruding from rotting skulls. They reach out for Lucvi, who has the good sense to run, rather than stand there screaming.
She pelts down the hallway, back towards the study where the other two students and the professor have just emerged. She barks at them: "Royst! Vittoria! RUN!"
The three of them scramble out of the way, hiding behind the furniture in the library, but the professor just stands there, frozen in horror...
ROUND ONE
"Undead!" Roz shouts. "Doctor, get out of there!"
Without hesitation, the paladin vaults over the balcony, leaping down to the floor below. She grunts as she impacts but lands on her feet and immediately starts rushing towards the manor's front doors.
The sorcerer glides down the stairs and invokes a prayer to the Light, knowing that trouble is afoot. Whatever it is, they'll soon be sorry that they dared cross Jaksics and his companions.
Now fully armoured up, Brynn races down the stairs and keeps behind Jakkey.
ROUND ONE
Dr Oscilar finally snaps out of his state of terror at Rozalia's shout, and he runs full-pelt towards the other staircase.
The undead creatures lope through the hall, chasing after the professor; but when they see you, they rapidly change direction, sensing the threat that you represent. They bring with them the overpowering stench of decay and rot, but both Ashlion and Rozalia have faced worse and it does not affect them.
Ashlion
Brynn
Jaksics (3rd level spell slot used)
Rozalia
ROUND TWO
Rozalia draws her glaive and spins it with a flourish. "By the Eternal Rose, I shall end your accursed existences!" she proclaims as she attacks. Her first attack goes wide, but her second strikes true.
"To Pharasma's arms with you all! Sarenrae's light burn you!"
The sorcerer clenches a fist that immediately starts shaking violently. Then, his arm starts to tremble. Whatever power is building up inside that gauntlet of his is too much for the man to handle and, after hissing out a groan when Sarenrae's light starts burning even him, Jaksics spreads his fingers wide and jerks his arm down.
Sarenrae's wrath rains down upon the ghastly invaders.
Range 120 feet; Area 20-foot burst
Choose an alignment your deity has (chaotic, evil, good, or lawful).
You can’t cast this spell if you don’t have a deity or your deity
your deity is true neutral. You deal 4d8 damage of that alignment.
Creatures that match the alignment are unaffected. Those that
neither match nor oppose it treat their result as one degree better.
-Success: The creature takes half damage.
-Critical Success: The creature takes no damage.
-Failure: The creature takes full damage and is sick 1.
-Critical Failure: Full damage, sick 2, and slowed 1 while sick.
Sick
You feel ill. Sick always includes a value. You take a
conditional penalty equal to this value on all your checks.
You can’t willingly ingest anything (including potions)
while sick.
You can spend an action retching in an attempt to recover,
which lets you attempt a Fortitude save against the DC of
the effect that made you sick. On a success, you reduce
your sickness value by 1 (or by 2 on a critical success).
Brynn strides forwards and creates a tether to Rozalia made of ghostly white energy. "Stay within my reach, Rozalia, and I'll protect you!"
Blue
Green
Red
Leap
Yellow
Leap
One of the creatures reels as the divine spell hits it, but the rest are less badly affected. Two of the grotesques crouch before leaping high into the air, landing on either side of the banisters; clinging on with one arm, they lash out with claw and fang at Rozalia and Ashlion.
The attacks miss Ashlion completely, but Rozalia is not so fortunate and is bitten.
The overpowering stench of dead flesh is too much for Brynn and Jaksiz, who both gag at the smell.
Rozalia feels the chill onset of paralysis from the wound, but she shrugs it off.
Ashlion flanked
Brynn 74 hit points, sick 1, 2nd level slot used
Jaksiz sick 1, 3rd level slot, 4th level slot used
Roz 94 hit points, flanked
Blue 24 damage
Green 8 damage
Red
Yellow 17 damage, sick 1
ROUND THREE
Wincing with the pain of the creature's bite, Roz unleashes the full fury of Shelyn upon her foes.
"Purge them!" The sorcerer hisses in between bouts of dry heaving. The blade of his halberd now shines with a sickly blue sheen, almost as if it heard his call.
As Rozalia gets hit, a rush of red blood flows down the ethereal line from Brynn's heart to help stave the damage.
Brynn draws her sword, then casts forbidding ward upon Jaksics. A golden, translucent shield appears to the side of Jakkey, held by 2 flying statues of silvanshees.
Green
Red
The combined fury of Shelyn and Gorum is overpowering, and two of the undead creatures are struck down, never to rise again.
The sickness rapidly wears off from both Brynn and Jaksics and his halberd nearly slices off the arm of one of the remaining creatures. It snarls in reply and slashes at him with a claw, a wound which would draw blood if it hadn't been turned aside at the last second by the glowing translucent shield Brynn has conjured into place.
The other creature strikes at Rozalia, but her armour and her faith protect her completely, for now.
Ashlion
Brynn 74 hit points, 2nd level slot used
Jaksiz 3rd level slot, 4th level slot used
Roz 94 hit points,
Blue dead
Green 8 damage
Red 30 damage
Yellow dead
DC for paralysis next round is 13
ROUND 4