GM Sarah's Carrion Crown (Inactive)

Game Master Sarah Olsen

Sisu jumps as the faces manifest and the doors slam, then visibly tries to calm down as she wracks her brain for ideas, concentrating on her thought processes and the sound of her own voice to attempt to relax. "I think this is a relatively standard and hopefully harmless haunt. I know I've heard stories of slamming doors in other negatively affected locations. Let me see if I can remember how to deal with them..."

This place is going to give poor Chellian a nervous breakdown if we're not careful. I should make sure to keep talking through things to help keep her focused and hopefully keep her imagination from getting hold of her.

yeah that's right. She's doing it just for Chellian ... /s

Knowledge(Religion) + Inspiration: 1d20 + 9 + 1d6 ⇒ (14) + 9 + (4) = 27
Looking for knowledge on their weaknesses / ways to neutralize them
Delaying my action until after the result of the knowledge check

You seem to recall that this is a rather harmless haunt and that the sprinkling of holy water in the affected area permanently neutralizes the haunt

"If I remember correctly, sprinkling some holy water in the room should neutralize this type of haunt. It's rather harmless and doesn't need extravagant measures."

As I have no holy water and I also have talked/thought/talked a good 6 seconds worth here I'm just gonna count my turn as over

"We need to put any and all undead to rest if we can. It is our duty"

I think I totally lost track of loot. Did we ever get any cash to spend? I don't think I spent it if we did :-(

Can a channel also put this haunt to rest? If nobody else has holy water available (its not on my sheet. Hence the question above :-)) Rahela would channel

know religion: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24

Sisu's reassurances came just a moment to late. She screeched as if they were all chasing her, but pure instinct caused her to lash out with her glaive attacking the closest slamming door as if it personally called her a name.

attack the inanimate door hard: 1d20 + 7 - 1 ⇒ (16) + 7 - 1 = 22
damage: 1d10 + 6 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 6 + 3 = 17

When Sisu's words finally registered with her she sheepishly pulled her glaive from the door.

"Oh... good. sorry door."

She muttered frowning at nothing in particular just sort of focusing her gaze oh, about a foot above everyone's head.

As the doors continue to open and slam shut and the faces of the old prisoners scream and shriek in pain, Malakos takes the holy water in his hand and sprinkles it on the door closest to him and in an arc around the room. As the blessed water hit the door you can see the wood almost shiver and tremble as the haunt infecting this area is permanently dismissed.

There is a set of double doors at the south end of the room. Upon inspection you find these doors to be unlocked. When opened you are able to see the light of day out of the main entrance of the prison. This was once a wide hall flanked by a pair of waiting rooms, but the foyer to Harrowstone now lies in ruins. With little left to hold up the ceiling, the wooden beams above sag dramatically.

It doesn't take much to see that the roof here is all that hold the unstable wooden balcony that you saw from the prison's grounds.

Heading back through the room with many doors ( S2) you notice that there are 2 doors that were not effected by the slamming portal haunt. One to the east and one to the west.

Which way do we want to explore? towards S3 or towards S16?

I cast a mild vote for S3

Rahela makes an incredibly compelling argument. I don't think I can find any reason not to agree with her. Let's do it!

S3 it is! :)

Down the next hallway you find a row of small offices, upon inspection you find remaining paperwork suggesting what was done in these offices. Things such as prisoner files, income, supplies, scheduling and repair requests. it would take 2d4 ⇒ (2, 4) = 6 hours to go through all the surviving paperwork.

S4 There is an unlocked door in the south eastern corner of the hallway. It opens to a spacious room which smells of mildew and rot. A long desk and chair sit to the south, while to the northwest a narrow alcove contains a closed safe. Thick layers of dust cover everything in sight.

Kn(Rel) + Free Inspiration: 1d20 + 8 + 1d6 ⇒ (10) + 8 + (6) = 24

Coloua immediately feels safe as she enters the room. She takes a minute to relax and then begins looking around. "This seems like a safe place. Don't know why but I just can feel it. I think we could take the time to go through this paperwork and see what we can find out about this place. First, though, I'm going to work on this safe."

Disable Device: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (6) + 11 = 17
Some GMs allow take 20 for disable device on locks (as there is no failure condition other than it not opening until another try), some don't. What is your ruling on that? Especially as we might be searching through paperwork for 6 hours and therefore have PLENTY of time for me to keep trying

"Wait several hours to read paper? Are you Crazy. That would be boring. No shineys here, lets move on!"

Kn: Religion: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18

Frowning, "I don't feel the same way, if we are to stay here for a couple hours searching through these papers, I'd still suggest we post a guard. Let us not forget we have the town hall meeting today as well, if we spend the rest of our day reading these records we'll likely be done exploring after that"

when there is esentially unlimited amount of time taking 20 on a lock is perfectly fine with me. it will take you

EEK! for a second I saw 99 and freaked out, then realized that's only 10 minutes lol. Alternatively I could just roll for each round and have it take hopefully less time:

Sisu simply smiles at the thrush as she gets to work on the safe. After fumbling around with her tools for either "a little over a minute" OR "about 10 minutes" she grins as she hears the click she was listening for and the door pops open.

While Sisu works on the lock, Malakos sets about organizing and cataloging the surviving papers, Looking over to Rahela and Chellian, "I know this is probably pretty boring but if you guys want, you can try holding a Seance with this Ouiji board we have, I don't know what it does but if you guys want to try. . . "

When Sisu finally pops the lock, Malakos will look away from his dusty, half burnt pile of papers, "Anything interesting or of note in there?"

"Looks like there's some additional paperwork, a little bit of money, and some potions of some kind or another." Sisu sets the contents on a nearby desk and starts going through them.

Craft(Alchemy) to identify potions: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 19
Craft(Alchemy) to identify potions: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25
Craft(Alchemy) to identify potions: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27
I know you said spellcraft/perception but class ability lets me use alchemy instead of spellcraft :D

"Looks like 4 healing potions, 3 to help recover from random ailments, and 2 to cure diseases" Cure Medium Wounds, Lesser Restoration, and Remove Disease

"So, are we going to dig through this office to see if we can find out more about the prisoners haunting this place, or would you prefer to move on and explore? I know what our avian friend prefers but she might be more content now that we've found her some 'shinies'"

When Malakos suggested a guard she hurried herself to the door. She did feel much calmer in here and the shuffling of papers somehow put her at ease. She did find herself glaring at the noisy bird... though partially amused that it seemed to be able to talk. Normally she would have complained about all the paper shuffling, but today was different. They could take all the time they wanted to read through things if it meant they weren't gallivanting through the creepy jail.

After about 2 hours of going through all the paperwork you realize that this seems to be pointless since you were able learn everything about this place from the resources in town.

Doing the whole 6 hours of work won't grant you guys any new information. this is just another avenue to get a bonus on the knowledge checks, but since you guys got everything you are good to go .

Heading back out in to the hallway you find a door S5 that leads into a small washroom and privy.

Back in the room with all the doors S2 there is a door at the eastern side that leads into a small room S16. A bizarre collection of antique goods rests upon wooden shelves that line the room. Several of the items contain tiny tags with labels written in a careful script.

The few items of interest along these shelves are
a set of masterwork thieves' tools, a bronze war medallion from the Shining Crusade, an unframed Taldan painting of Stavian I, a set of noblewoman's silver hair clips, a masterwork punching dagger, a pouch containing a dozen masterwork shurikens, a masterwork silver war razor and a wand.

Sisu steps into the washroom and takes a quick look around.
Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20
As she is about to walk back out the door it dawns on her that she had seen something unusual in the privy. She steels herself, holds her breath, and reaches tentatively in, pulling out some kind of all purpose tool. Traveler's Any-Tool
Fort: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 2 = 17

After searching through the room a bit to find a towel or something similar to wipe off the tool (and her hand) she shows the tool to the group as they head towards the east.

Fascinated with the different trophies and oddities lining the shelves, she points to the tool kit. "Do you guys mind if I take that set of tools? It would be useful in helping to open locks and such. We should take the rest as well. What we can't find a use for might be worth some money back in town."
Spellcraft: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28
She continues to check out the items and points out another useful one. "It seems that rod there does the same as the potions we found in the office. The ones that help to rejuvenate you if you've been harmed in some way." Wand of Lesser Restoration
Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28
Upon completing the circuit of the room, she notices something odd on the east wall. "Do you see that? There's a small crack here and this portion of the wall doesn't quite line up with the rest."

Wow. I'm gonna let other people take rolls from now on. I feel like I hogged all the fun on this one. I guess that is the strength of the investigator.

Upon further inspection of the crack in the wall it opens to a secret vault room. This small vault was used to store the more valuable or notorious belongings of the various prisoners. Currently there are only 5 objects contained here. All 5 items stored here are tagged with information as to their former owners.

The items:
The Lopper's Bloodstained Handaxe-no amount of cleanign can remove the bloodstains on the blade or handle of this weapon.
Father Charlatan's collection of Holy Symbols- there are a dozen holy symbols on fine silver chains that are extremely tangled together and cannot be untangled no mattere how hard you try.
Professor Hean Feramin aka the Splatter Man's Moldy Spellbook-the covers adn pages of this thick, leather-bound spellbook have become caked with mold over the years and only some of the contents remain legible.
The Mosswater Marauder's smith's hammer
The Piper of Illmarsh's Tarnished Silver Flute

Knowledge Religion: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13

"I'm not sure if these are safe to use and carry or not. That is a beautiful flute - it would be a shame to let it stay here and get dusty!"

"Would any of you mind if I used the silver masterwork war razor? I've worked with silver frequently enough, it seems that silver weapons do a little more damage for me than others."

Looking towards Sisu, "What do you think? Would it be safe to try out the flute? or carry these trinkets back to town to look over in more detail?"

Knowledge Nobility,Stavian 1: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23
Knowledge History,Shining Crusade: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21

"Stavian the 1st - that rings a bell - As does the Shining Crusade."

not sure what all if anything interesting I might have to share with the group

Carefully looking through the five prisoners' items, Sisu glances up as Niralzi speaks. "Well, seeing as how they seem to be the main tools of those five prisoners, it has to be assumed that they have some power. There is also a chance that they have some sort of curse as well. Your hesitance makes sense."
Knowledge(Rel): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (16) + 8 = 24
Thinking about it for some time, she continues. "Perhaps we should use that spirit board to ask about them. It might be the fastest way to determine if they are safe."

She shuddered looking at the prisoners probably cursed items and already started backing away.. you know just in case.

"We... we can't just like toss them in a fiery forge and watch them melt I suppose."

She muttered keeping an eye on the doorway and her path to escape if need be.

Checking his backpack, rifling around clearly digging for something, "Uhh I think I left the spirit blanch board back at where we are staying, let's take these items with us and we can conduct the ritual to commune with the spirits tonight after the city council meeting?"

know religion: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17

"I don't know what these things do, but significant items are often key to putting spirits to rest. I think we should keep them all until we know what to do with them

Sisu, do you know how to use the spirit board? And is it safe to use it?"

"I do know the basics of the procedure, but I haven't actually used one before. From what I understand we will only get one question per use, but that should be enough to determine if they are safe to transport. From there we might get into more detailed questions on future readings."

"Well if we're taking the items, I'd be honored to carry the silver flute. It may have had questionable uses before, but I swear to Shelyn that my use of it would only ever be for the good."

"If people are worried about these items having some kind of residual curse, I am happy to carry them back to town until we can use the spirit board to investigate. In my experience items like that don't manifest their powers until they are used."

Potentially asking for trouble here. I'm still wondering if I got out of the Father's cell unscathed or if something horrible is gonna happen to me when I sleep or something. XD

Nothing happens when you pick up the items. Once they are gathered you all head out the front entrance of the prison and head back to Kendra's.

Sisu, as you guys are walking though town towards Kendra's house you periodically notice your name scrawled in dripping blood on passing door frames and fence posts. When you blink or turn away to have one of your companions look the vision is gone.

Once back at Kendra's she greats you warmly and brings out a try of tea and fresh baked breads and treats. "I'm glad to see that you are all back unharmed from visiting the prison. Not long after you left the council sent another messenger for you. He said that at the meeting at sundown today the council would like you to be their special guests." She sat down with you in the sitting room and helped to serve the food and drinks. "We have about an hour before sunset, so relax, eat and I'll head to the meeting with you later."

you can look at using the spirit planchette at this point or wait till after the town hall meeting.

I cast a mild vote for using it now

Eyebrows raised with a questioning look to Malakos, ”Do you think it’d be safe to use the spirit board?” - shooting glances at the others to see if they’re interested as well.

Way back when we found it, Sisu had a good knowledge roll to identify it so I'm just going to assume she knows the following information

During the trip back, Sisu is very quiet, and once back at the manor she is noticeable disturbed. "It should be safe. From what I remember, you use it to ask a question of the spirits and with this basic type you can only ask one question a day. There are two things to remember though, it can only answer 'yes', 'no', 'maybe', or with a single word so we need to make sure that whatever we ask is very specific. The second thing is that we are just asking spirits a question, so there is no guarantee that the answer will be true, so whatever answer we do get should not be taken as completely valid."

As opposed to writing out an explanation of everything she knows, it is used exactly like a Ouija Board with a one question per day limit.

"It's probably safer to use it here than at the prison since the spirits in town will probably be less apt to lie, but even so there does seem to be some negative activity here as well. I saw some disturbing things as we came back today." She hesitates and looks around at the others as she thinks back to the things she has been experiencing. "It might even make sense for me to sit out this session, as I'm starting to wonder if I was affected somehow when I went into the father's cell even though it seemed safe enough at the time."

Shrugging, eating some fruit held in his tail, while both hands stay occupied getting the Spirit planchette ready on the dining room table, "We might have time to do one or two items, guess it depends on the spirit's readiness to speak with us,"

Looking around, "Sisu, Niralzi, can you bring the items over here, we should decide which item to do first and then separate the items so we don't accidentally get the wrong spirit to answer for a different item,"

Taking another bite before flicking his tail away again to bob and weave behind him, twitching ever so slightly, "I'd suggest either the Flute or the Splatterman's Spellbook, I feel like those two spirits are the most active against us, if we could find some weakness with these associated items, that'd be really helpful,"

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.

And Sisu you are correct One question per day. so pick your item and your question and we can go from there :)

Sisu brings the items that she was carrying over to the table and lays them by the planchette and board. "As I said, I'd prefer to not be part of the actual reading if possible, but if you'd like some help figuring out a question to ask I'd be more than happy to assist."

Holding the spirit planchette, preparing it, "Look, let's ask the flute a question, let's ask it if the Piper's soul is tied to the object? Maybe we can destroy the piper if we destroy the flute"

"There's a chance that the Piper's soul is already destroyed since we eliminated that haunt. It might make more sense to start with one we haven't already encountered."

yeah Sisu is right you guys know that you’ve already destroyed the pipers haunt

Oh so the piper is dealt with like forever? I didn't pick up on that

Nodding his head, "Oh yes, of course, we did destroy that haunt and presumably his spirit along with it," Frowning, "Well let's try and put the holy symbols down, see if we can stop it from haunting you, Sisu. Maybe just ask it directly if its haunting you or has malevolent intentions toward you?"

Despite being far from the prison, she made sure to stay as far away from the planchette as she could. She was already rubbing her arms like they were cold just watching the discussion from as close as she was.

"I hope it destroyed his... ghost? Spirit?"

She shuddered in the doorway.

Rahela watches. Part of her is disgusted at trying to contact spirits. But part of her is eager for the knowledge on how to put the spirits to rest. Perhaps the end does justify the means?

Putting his hands on the spirit planchette and placing the holy symbols in the middle or near the board and separating the other items, eager to start, "Alright spirits, let's do this, Sisu, if you want to step away, I'm going to ask Father Charlatan if he is haunting you. . .OH SPIRITS, HEAR MY CALL, JOIN US TODAY TO ANSWER OUR QUESTIONS, FATHER CHARLATAN I HAVE YOUR HOLY SYMBOLS AND SO BY NAME YOU, SUMMONING YOU TO THE SPIRIT BOARD. YOU WILL ANSWER MY QUESTION, [u]ARE YOU MANIFESTING YOUR MALEVOLENCE ON SOMEONE IN THIS HOUSE?[/u]

He lets his hands be guided across the planchette, hoping for an answer.

Sisu stands in the doorway, hesitantly watching Malakos as he does the ritual. Despite her interest in searching out knowledge she's wary of contacting spirits directly and is especially nervous about this one.

Malakos Will Save to not be harmed by the spirit: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

After a long 30 seconds of watching the planchette move around the board trying to attune it's self to the spirit world, Malakos shakes his head and looks around the room completely confused and babbles incoherently for a moment. While his looks around confused the planchette stops moving on the board and just rests in the center.

Malakos is confused for 1 round and the spirits do not answer. You can attempt to use the board again tomorrow.

As for the questions earlier about the Piper's haunt and really any of the 5 prisoners haunt's once you negate the haunt (destroy to 0 HP) any negative effects that might be on the prisoners item is gone.

Also when using the board the next time the user must make a DC 11 Will save to not be confused and negate the board for the day

well crap

As Sunset approaches the five of you and Kendra leave for the town hall meeting. Heading north on the road you pass lots of very concerned and frightened townsfolk. Arriving at the town hall location D on the town map you see the 4 council members and Sheriff Caeller and about 60 townsfolk.

"Aye, I'm glad ta see that ya made it, Councilman Hearthmount has asked me to make sure tha 5 of ya are to be seated up on tha front stage wit him." Gesturing to Kendra, Sheriff Caeller continues. "And Miss Lorrimor they have a seat saved for you up front since you've been so kind to house our friends here."

Kendra smiles and bows her head,"Oh goodness sheriff, I'm only doing what anyone would have done and since they are dear friends of my father its really nothing."

Heading in you see some of the townsfolk have already found spots in the hall. Getting settled at the seats up front the Sheriff closes the doors because the room is at full capacity and more townsfolk are outside causing all sorts of commotion.

Councilman Hearthmount stands up and raises his hands to silence the room.
"Good evening residents of Ravengrow and our esteemed guests, thank you all for being here to discuss the ever growing problems that have arisen here in town in the past week or so. Strange things have been happening indeed, from bloody desecration's to some saying that the dead are rising."
Interrupting the councilman a man in the crowd stands up and yells "It's true!! my poor dead wife showed up banging on my front door 2 days ago and it nearly killed me to have to put her down again." He is yelling through the tears falling down his face.

Ah yes, many reports of strange and terrible things have been happening but that is why i have called us all here tonight. The council and I have agreed that these 5 visit-err adventurers will be the answer to our problems!" A few in the crowd clap, while others voice their concerns that these rising problems are going to be too much for you guys to handle.

As things progress and the council talks about their plans the townsfolk grow increasingly more panicked and frantic about the safety of the town. Suddenly the 5 oil lamps around the room explode into bursts of burning oil that douses the surrounding walls, lighting the room on fire and causing the townsfolk to truly panic.

The Town Hall Fire: Round 1-Bold may go
Fire
Niralzi
Chellian
Rahela
Sisu
Malakos
Townsfolk/Council members

Hoping that the others will help get the townsfolk to safety, Sisu's first instinct is to turn to the lamp right next to her and attempt to put out the flames.

CMB: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17

Grabbing one of the tapestries off of the wall, she quickly covers the lamp and smothers the flames threatening that portion of the hall.
I assume that we can only fight a fire right next to us so if we want to extinguish the other ones it'll be a move action and then a standard action to try and put it out?

Rahela stands up and speaks in a loud voice. She is surprisingly assertive for once

"Everybody, there really is no danger if you just Calmly move towards the exits. Do not run, Walk to the exits"

Would take 10 if allowed. If not,
diplomacy: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (12) + 11 = 23

yes Sisu that is correct. You all can only move at 1/2 speed while in the hall