While waiting in the hall, Renae and Henric notice that after several more seconds, everything in the sewing room goes quiet and falls to the ground.
Hal and Kiley spend several minutes searching the room. They don't find anything until, suddenly, a ghostly, skeletal figure appears before them, filling them with dread!
This is a poltergeist, a type of invisible, incorporeal undead that is capable of telekinetically throwing things around and scaring people.
Hal sees an expression Kiley has never worn before in front of him, but Stryn, Henric, and Renae know it all too well. It's the same expression she wore when fighting the Attic Whisperer. Her ears are flat against her skull and her tail is fluffed to three or four times its normal size as she rushes out of the room and tries to leap the bannister.
Her feet catch and instead of a graceful landing, there is a loud crash and a cry of pain and terror that quickly turns into sobbing as Kiley tries to pick herself up and continue running.
Renae immediately recognized the panic in Kiley's eyes as she sees the slayer run out of the room she and try to towards the stairs.
Too both Kiley's misfortune and luck she doesn't quite make the jump and instead falls gracelessly on the stairs, giving Renae the time needed to catch her friend before she can dash back to the first floor.
"Kiley, she calls out as she tries to get the other women's scattered attention."Don't run away! I'm here, and I'm not going to let to face this alone."
Even as Kiley is about to get back up and make a run for it, Renae puts a hand to her shoulder and casts a abjuration spell upon her, hoping that it can suppress the malady that's come over her.
"Otuuk fe`saign!" the cleric cursed in Elven as he recoiled in shock. The sudden appearance of the ghostly skeleton startled him terribly!
"Honestly now," he said, looking vaguely annoyed, "What do you think you're doing? An attempt at our lives I can understand, but just jumping out and scaring us? That's just rude. Kiley, are you al... Kiley?"
Hal only barely caught the look of abject terror on the woman's face before she bolted out of the room, leaving him alone with the spirit. Oh. Well, this wasn't good.
Hal sees an expression Kiley has never worn before in front of him, but Stryn, Henric, and Renae know it all too well. It's the same expression she wore when fighting the Attic Whisperer. Her ears are flat against her skull and her tail is fluffed to three or four times its normal size as she rushes out of the room and tries to leap the bannister. Her feet catch and instead of a graceful landing, there is a loud crash and a cry of pain and terror that quickly turns into sobbing as Kiley tries to pick herself up and continue running.
Hal is again pelted by a swarm of debris, this one far more effective in battering him with bits as the creature fades from sight.
Hal - 1/10
Kiley - 10/10, 3 Nonlethal, frightened for 4 rounds
Stryn sees Kiley bolt out of the room and botch her attempt at escape. He calls out to the others "What's going on?"
As if in answer to the goblin's question, Hal staggered out of the room clutching his side. Fairly versed in medicine as he was, the elf was pretty sure a number of his ribs were broken. That's what happened when an entire dresser flew into your chest.
"'Nother spirit..." he said across blood flecked lips. "Some invisible skeleton... Very rude. Very unpleasant. Is Kiley alright?"
While somewhat anxious that the gespenst might follow them unlike the tailoring tornado, the elf decided he wouldn't be much use to anyone dead. So given that he was about to keel over, he slipped one hand beneath his ill-fitting robes to the massively sore spot that was his entire upper body.
Pale golden light shone through the clothing as the cleric's breathing returned to something approaching normality.
Henric is dredged from his current musings at the chaos that unfolds in the current room. Nearly avoiding a direct collision with Kiley before she leaps over the railing to the stairs, he gets closer to the doorway to get a better look, nearly running into Hal and the flying armoire. "Why is it that we have to face the previously dead? Can't they go haunt someone else and let us fight a good dragon or giant or something?" He gives Hal a moment to heal himself and looks back to see Renae trying to help Kiley before adding, "Should we try to dispose of it?"
Stryn shrugs "Can't stab ghosts..." is all he adds "Maybe need to get advice yes?"
Even though the abjuration spell doesn't dispel Kiley's panic, Renae at knows that it should at least ward her from whatever else the poltergeist might quite literally throw at her. She can't do the same for all the others, but she can give them another form of help.
"Everyone!" she screams from the stairs. That's a poltergeist in there. Physical attacks won't harm it. Only magic weapons and spells, and then there's a chance they'll just go right through it too. Renae pauses for a moment trying to think of how they'll be able to fight the spirit with Kiley still in a panic and Stryn's weapons useless. "Henric and I can hit it with our spells but Hal divine magic is probably our best bet here. Unless we want to retreat?"
Kiley looks from Renae to the door, then back to give her a heart-wrenching expression.
"I... I can't," she whimpers before running for the door.
Stryn shakes his head "We leave, more important things. Come back when better to fight."
"Henric and I can hit it with our spells but Hal divine magic is probably our best bet here..."
"I have what magic?" the elf said, still feeling slightly rattled after unrattling his ribs. "Oh right, divine. That's me. Yes."
The cleric hadn't gotten accustomed to thinking of himself as a holy man. He just wanted to help people the only way he knew how. Although on the subject of divinity, this gave him a thought.
"What about the holy water?" he queried whilst fishing a flask out of a pocket, "That's all sacramental and stuff too, right?"
Despite this potent ammunition against the undead, Hal wasn't feeling any more confident against this ghoulie Renae had referred to as a poltergeist. After all, it didn't address the chief obstacle, namely the darn thing being both invisible and intangible. All the brawn in the world didn't help against a target that couldn't be struck.
When Hal mentions the holy water Stryn shrugs especially after Hal doesn't seem to confident in its use. With a deep sigh he gives up on his half-intelligable talk "Alright, well it seems like we will need to get some advice on how to deal with these things since none of us appear to be experts in ghosts. Until then, let's close the door and see if maybe it will leave us alone..."
The poltergeist, having driven Kiley and Hal from the room, seems content to slam the door behind the cleric and remain.
"What about the holy water? That's all sacramental and stuff too, right?"
"Alright, well it seems like we will need to get some advice on how to deal with these things since none of us appear to be experts in ghosts. Until then, let's close the door and see if maybe it will leave us alone..."
Distracted by a fleeing Kiley, Renae had forgotten all about their vials of holy water. "If we apply the vials directly on the poltergeist than perhaps we could dispel the spirit from here..." the wizard answered Hal hesitantly. She didn't like the idea of having to fight more undead while also looking out for a terrified Kiley who very well could hurt yourself again while running away.
"... but I think Stryn has the right of it. If were lucky we won't even have to have that fight if the poltergeist stays within its room."
Kiley keeps running, even after the supernatural influence of the specter has worn off. Her flight lasts until she trips over a root and slams into the ground. Her breathing comes in deep shuddering sobs as she stands and staggers to the side of the path. It continues until memories of the night her family died tear an animalistic scream from her. Exhausted from the run, then reliving her worst nightmare, she leans against a tree beside the overgrown path. She whimpers for a little longer before sliding to sit in the crook between two roots.
I left them, she thinks, I ran away and left them to die!
That thought runs through her head over and over again as she curls up and tries not to cry.
"I'm not sure leaving them be is the right call," Henric responds regarding the Poltergeist in the previous room, "but neither am I the 'guns blazing' kind of guy." He emphasizes his point by following Stryn to the next room and waiting for whatever is on the other side.
Before opening the door and seeing Kiley not returning he looks to the others and asks "Should we go find Kiley before I open this or just want to give a quick peek and then go track her down?"
Renae looked at the door Stryn and Henric were about to enter and the stairs that Kiley had just ran down. It didn't take her long to make up her mind on where she wanted to go. "We need to find Kiley first, she urged the others, pointing down the path Kiley took.
"The poltergeist won't follow us and Sir Roderic has already given us clues to where we did to go next. Making sure that Kiley doesn't get hurt again or taken advantage in her current state should be our priority. We own that to her."
Renae wasn't sure that her compatriots would follow but she was already moving down the stairs to the first floor in search of Kiley either way.
Stryn nods giving up on the door. He figures they can always come back later since it doesn't appear these ghosts are going anywhere anytime soon.
She follows behind Renae to go after Kiley.
Henric nods in agreement with the others. "I'm just starting to get used to having allies around. I'd rather not lose one already."
Stryn follows Renae out as he asks "Any idea where she went?"
He looks around for any signs of her departure or tracks to where she ran off to.
Kiley's tracks are easy to follow, they lead straight away from the front door towards the Cove. Following them for a few minutes, you see a cat-eared woman with a tail and a greatsword curled up into a ball, rocking back and forth and seemingly scared for her life. You can immediately tell that it's Kiley, and she still seems to be feeling the effects of the poltergeist's fear.
With Stryn leading the way they were able to find an always still terrified Kiley quickly. "We need to her some time, Renae said sadly. The wizard desperately wanted to console her, but wasn't sure that Kiley was even in a state that she'd be able to listen to her words or respond positively to her touch. "Once she's recovered we can decide on whether we should go back in there or move on to this Stone House. I for one am more than tired of this miserable place."
As Renae talks, Kiley curls into an even tighter ball.
You manage to hear her mumbling apologies over and over again.
She's not looking up solely out of fear. There's a lot of shame and self recrimination there too.
Stryn walks over to Kiley when he sees her announcing himself on the way over "Kiley, we're all ok. You'll be ok too. We don't need to go back to that place now, but we need your help. There is still important work for us to do."
After it's clear she recognizes his approach she will move over and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
Kiley looks up, her lids red and puffy from crying, when Stryn touches her. She pulls him into a hug, her head about at his shoulder.
"I still left you. Some friend I am," she mumbles into his shoulder.
Renae shook her head at Kiley's words. "You were enchanted by a literal poltergeist, Kiley. You have nothing to be ashamed of.
"I couldn't go back in there," Kiley mutters, obviously not believing she wasn't at fault.
Stryn krinkles his nose at the continued bear hug but doesn't struggle if it helps his friend feel better, at Kiley's words he nods "We don't need to go back, at least not anytime soon. Let's go deal with some people and places not haunted instead yeah?"
Kiley sits back and lets go of Stryn to wipe her tears.
"I think I could get behind that," she says with a chuckle. "I'd like to get some food, and some dry clothing," She adds before looking from Heric, to Stryn, to Hælador and blushing.
"Umm, Renae, c-can you help me out with getting me some privacy," she asks.
Henric leans on his staff, just off to the side from the others. "At this point, facing off against anything other than ghosts and spooks sounds like a picnic. Just so long as we stick together, we should be just fine."
Once Kiley gets herself under control enough, she's able to position herself behind a tree - with Renae helping to screen her - and change into dry clothes while redoing her scarf and headband to hide her tail and ears.
Once that's finished, you head back to the Cove. As you walk towards the Creekside Tavern, you hear a voice says, "Hello, there! Might I bend your ears for a moment?" Turning, you see a fairly dirty human man walking up to you with a pleasant smile on his face.
You recognize the man as Kolton Lovekin, a worthless flayleaf bum who wandered into town 5 years ago.
You've heard that Kolton used to be an adventurer, and his homelessness is a choice. He seems to love the land, and whenever someone calls him homeless, responds, "How can I be homeless when I have Varisia?"
"Hello, Mr Lovekin. Still a worthless flayleaf bum?"
The damning assessment was delivered with all the pleasantry of a lightly demented grandfather recognizing his favorite grandchild - or in other words, the same way Hal said most anything. And he really didn't seem to mean anything by it either, as he smiled, bent his crooked back down just a bit further, and flicked one of his own long ears good-humoredly in response to the man's comment on 'bending one's ears'.
Or maybe it was all an elaborate act, a healer prodding at a sick substance abuser, provoking him into action, any action, in order to mend his ways. Perhaps it was both at once. Perhaps it was neither. The elf was a sick man himself, after all. Regardless, he stood there politely waiting on the vagrant to continue, only occasionally distracted by a passing cloud.
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While Kylie changes behind the tree, Henric turns his back not only on her, but on everyone else as well, tipping the brim of his hat to hide as much of his blushing face as possible.
------
At the Creekside Tavern, Henric turns at the grungy man's greeting, then addresses the Groetusite , "Is this a friend of yours, Hal?"
Helping Kiley get some manner of privacy was... an ordeal, one that left Renae blushing the entire time as she suppressed a barrage of lewd Sorshen thoughts.
When Kolton showed his weathered face and hailed she was rather glad for the sudden distraction. Better a chat with Kolton than her mind thinking about about terrifying ghosts or her friend in the nude.
"Of course, Kolton," she answered kindly. Kolton may have been a bum, but he was also a former adventurer and Renae knew him to be a man blessed with a decent heart if not a lot of sense.
You notice a few, faint scars on Kiley's back and limbs. She's also pretty well toned, which doesn't really help with the lewd thoughts, nor does the lacey underwear that replaces the more practical set that had gotten soaked.
Renae and Henric aren't the only ones blushing as Kiley quickly changes out of her still wet clothes and into a dry outfit behind the tree. She wraps up her adventuring outfit and mail shirt in her blanket and straps it to her pack before coming out from behind the tree and showing the party the outfit she'd grabbed from her pack, a white, loose-fitting shirt with a black skirt that fell halfway down her calves. Different scarves, blue and black, now hide her inhuman features and her face has gone from just red in the cheeks to pure scarlet all over.
"Okay, now that I've embarrassed all of us, I think we can continue now," she says in a flat voice before continuing down the trail.
===
Seeing the others stop, Kiley does as well. She's curious as to what the man wants, and why Renae and Hal seem to know him. She stands by Stryn, as much to put her out of the way as to keep him company.