Rali nods approvingly. "One less soul escapin' th' cycle."
From Discussion thread:
Ghost Hunting Team
Your loathing of undead is so great that even your allies can
feel it.
Prerequisites: Duskwalker, ghost hunter racial trait.
Benefit: When you use your ghost hunter ability to grant
your weapons the ghost touch special ability, you can also affect
the weapons of allies within 30 feet of you. You can activate
ghost hunter an additional time each day.
Aranor blinks a little in surprise. The specter went down so fast she hadn't even had time to move after getting rid of the spell. "Well done everyone. She hands the crystal over to the mites, and smiles as they do actually keep their word and provide the party with some useful items. "Thank you. We will put these to good use."
Looking everything over, she says "I'll take the shield if no one else needs it. I can't use the arrows though."
The mites jump up and down as Arandor hands them the Crystal. Now, we only wish to get out of here. Will you come back for use when you cleared this place out? We are stuck in here. We went to look for treasure and such and didn't expect to run into a lot of creatures, which we sneaked by, but we can't sneak by them again to get out of here.
Heroes move onto the next room and find a bronze skeleton. Begone intruders, you must turn back.
Treasure: You also find more treasure 270 GP and 4 potions of cure moderate wounds.
it, yes it is a construct if you wish to id it.
Aranor
Justus
Rali
Akku
Grod
Ivan
It goes playing a song Fascinate: all heroes must make a will save dc 13, or be fascinated.
All heroes are up
Akku sits and listens quietly to the bronze skeleton.
Before entering the next room, Aranor tells the mites, ”Yes, we’ll come back for you if we can.”
Shaking off the effects of the song, she grips her crossbow tighter. What is that thing?
With no idea what it is but still worried that this could be a difficult fight, she closes her eyes and reaches for divine favor. Please give us strength! A wave of energy seems to emanate from her, making her companions feel just a bit stronger.
"You sack of jingle bells! stop playing that song or... or I'll destroy you extra hard!!!"
Siiska charges the monster and attacks!
for bludgeoning dmg.
"We're tryin' t' leave ye numbskull."
Rali steps forward and strikes at it with elbow and fist.
The Construct has damaged gears and stops playing. I surrender. I am number three, and I was stationed here by the Psychopump to keep out intruders. I was told a great mortal was buried in these tombs with his retainers and assistants. Of course he is surprised when you show him the empty coffin from the 6th room.
"The psychopomps put you 'ere, eh? I serve 'em too. Can ye tell us where we are and wha' we're doin' 'ere? Are we dead? Or nah?"
I don't know if you are dead, you can't be, but you are in a boneyard, so what are you doing if you ain't grave robbing?
"We woke up in coffins! Can ye take us t' th' psychopomps? I' may be tha' they can sort all this out."
I can't take you to the Psychopomps, but they lurk towards the entrance to this place, and you still got a while to go and many dangers lurk ahead. They are just outside and can answer all your questions.
"We're not intruders, we're the opposite of intruders. We're people who got dragged in here against our will and are trying to get out as quickly as possible." Aranor pauses as something the creature said hits her. "Hang on. If you're number 3, where are numbers 1 and 2?"
Yep, more towards the entrance, so others like me. No I can't convince them to stand down, and yest, they will attack you.
Aranor grimaces. Of course he can't. That would actually be helpful!
"There are some mites that also got trapped in here and wish to leave. If one of our number comes back for them once we've finished clearing out any dangers, would you allow them to pass through? Like us they wish only to leave, but are afraid they will be attacked if they try."
Yes they may pass, oh and the next room has a catepillar that blends it. It will attack if disturbed, but if you want to grab the masterwork sword, without disturbing it, do it carefully, part of it it lodged in a dead Gorgon's hide.
"Thank ye. Up we go. I will grab th' sword, then you lot sneak past it."
Justus looks at Rali and bangs his fist on his armor as sign of approval.
Aranor follows Rali up the stairs, keeping an eye out for potential trouble.
Grod looks incredulously at Rali, glances down at his armor, then looks back up. "Sneak past it. Right."
Rali has grabbed the alchemical masterwork silver longsword and adds it to his inventory, or the party loot pool.
The bug rests and the Starfinders proceed to the Grand Hall. The statue in this room dips his lance and raises his shield while the horse gives a ghostly whinny
The statue of Roslar on top of the horse Abdell.
"This is not alive... it's an automaton designed to move when you get near it."
Rali pads over to the other door and listens at it. If he hears no noise then he peeks inside.
Rali listens at the door and peeks inside and finds no danger or traps.
A small, dry font juts from the south wall of this room, in the center of a mural depicting the interior of a chapel. On the west wall hangs a large square mirror with an ornate gold frame.
Treasure: The mirror is 80 pounds, but is 150 GP
Aranor walks over suspiciously, looking in the mirror to see if it reveals anything new about the room.
"Le's get on t' meet th' Psychopomps." Rali says as he moves towards the exit
Aranor knows nothing suspicous about the mirror.
As Rali enters the exit he is stopped by the Celedons. They are facing the exit but turn around. Halt, by order of the psychopump, we are order, to keep all out.
Them
Aranor
Justus
Rali
Akku
Grod
Ivan
Aranor shakes her head. "These guys aren't going to listen to reason. We'll have to fight our way out."
She loads her crossbow even as she concentrates on blessing her allies, hoping to fill them with courage.
Rali sighs and steps forward. "Nah gettin' out o' this one." He swings his chained kama at the one closest to him.
Justus swings his huge axe.
Pounding into the room, Grod swings his mighty axe as well. "Make way."
Rali takes one down just like that and Grod almost kills it.
Forgot siiska
Ivan and Siiska attacks There AC isn't high and one of these two will deal at least 2 dmg to kill it
Heroes exit the cave. and are greeted by what one of you know as a Pyschopump, though friendly.
“Oh, isn’t this a meeting of obvious fortuitousness! Here you are, and here we are. My name is Umble, and my silent companion here is named Thoot. We mean you no harm, despite the strange harmaments you seem to have already suffered. Yes, yes, this is the land of the dead, and no, you aren’t dead yourselves. You seem to be something of a special case—you seem a touch too vitalitinous for this place.”
The bird peers closely, cocking her head to one side. “Ah, there is a wonderment! Your hearts have something lodged inside them. Something that’s brought you here, but kept you from doing so in the orthodoxiumous fashion. I cannot help but ruminate: what has caused your strange condition?”
Rali is speechless for a moment, overwhelmed by meeting a psychopomp face to face as well as by the information it offers.
"How--why--we--...” He clears his throat. He places his hand over his heart and offers a dwarven bow. "I am Rali Mithralfist. I serve the psychopomps as a humble shepherd of souls, and I am honored to meet you." He allows a response before answering the question. "We have no idea how we came to be here. We were together at a tavern. Then we awoke in coffins here. I take it we are in the boneyard? Do you know how we can get back? If we are not dead then our souls do not belong here."
" Except hers perhaps..." He says under his breath of Siiska. Though he does not point or give the psychopomp any other indication who he might be referring to.
Aranor gapes at the strange creatures. The Boneyard...but we're alive? And they're asking us how this happened?!
"I, um..." she shakes her head as if to clear it. "I don't know what happened. I don't know how we got here, or what could possibly...something's lodged in our hearts?!" There's a note of hysteria in her voice, and she visibly takes a moment to calm herself.
"Rali's right. Forget how we got here; how do we get back?"
That is what we are here to find out, I believe it can done. I don't know how you got here, but I can lead you to places for answers. We cannot fight with alongside you in combat, cause we are bound by rules.
The mites to are able to exit the tomb as I assume you come back for them. Those guys are a different story.
They pause for a minute You came from Roslar's coffin right? Everyone there died, except for you, I can tell you are not undead. There are many ways to tell, but undead don't feel pain, though they do know if they get cuts and stuff on them. You, we felt your pain when you got hurt or rather sensed it. We are in charge of the dead here, but and make the dead accept their mortality, but you aren't dead. We are on our last chances, I know your still living and I can feel your heartbeat. It wouldn't beat if you were dead. But we have to prove it and get you back home. As they place their hands on on of your chest to feel the heartbeat. The two birds are a normal sized crow with a skull beat and the other is a skeleton bird human sized with wings and scythe.[/b]
They pause for a minute. We have a plan to take you to the Valley of the Dead. Some people there think they are still alive, but we know they are dead. You must convince them they are dead, but, careful few of the townsfolk will attack in anger. If you kill a dead person here, they just come back, soul reigncarnation, though not right away and not in the same spot. If you kill a living person here, well then there is a huge mess, cause I have not a clue which plane the soul would go to, Hell, some other Heaven, not to mention they physical body disappeared from the living plane and dying here would mean the body is here, and you are the only living people as far as we know. Agreed to the plan to go the Valley of the dead and convince some people they are dead?
"I will do whatever I can t' help ye, but I mus' admit I dinnae kin how this will 'elp us prove we are alive, nae how provin' we are alive ge's us home."
"I... I believe them. I would like to help..."
"Agreed, 'Akku'... it's not everyday that monsters come bearing gifts and offers of assistance. I'll save my wrath for more... undeserving ones..."
The young girl then opens her umbrella and starts smoking a cigarette...
Aranor was already on the verge of panicking. She's been holding herself together through this whole affair by focusing on the immediate threats rather than worrying about the details of where they were and how they got there. Now these...creatures casually tell her that everyone she knows is dead. Like it's barely worth mentioning.
"No. You're lying. You have to be. An entire town doesn't just die! Even if, even if the orcs attacked again, or, or, or something like that, some people would survive. Like we did before."
Crying now, she keeps repeating, "You have to be lying. You must be."
Grod stands stoically in the in back, looking pensive. What could kill an entire town in a night? Why was no alarm raised? This is...strange, to say the least.
Aranaor and Siiska sense they are telling the truth. No, not everyone you know is dead, unless everyone you knew came from that town. Even then, how do you know they were in the town when it died. You are not on the material plane, in a plane where only dead are suppose to go. Some people think they are still alive, you but you are all actually alive. Others know they are dead.
Heroes reach the valley of the undead and here all of these people you see are solid and their flesh is intact. They look exactly the way they did when they died, and as most died while still pretty healthy, they believe they are alive. None of you see any relatives, maybe a friend or two, but no relatives, at least no immediate relatives, at least not yet.
An unfettered phantom named Garrid is lying to people they are still alive, cause he is part of a trader and pulling some scams.
The mayor pleads with you and introduces herself as Lady Mullana Grive and aristocrate, Please tell the townspeople they are dead.
Aranor trails after the rest of the group, trying to compose herself as they make their way to the valley. They can't all be dead. Not the entire town. The psychopomps weren't lying, but maybe they were mistaken. Maybe...maybe some people died, but others must have made it out alive."
Her hopes are dashed when they actually reach their destination. She recognizes most of the people she sees. Maybe she didn't know them, but she'd seen them before. It looks like the entire town of Rossler's Coffer is indeed here...which means that the entire town is dead. Except for her, and Rali, and a handful of others who'd survived yet somehow ended up in the Boneyard anyway.
Aranor has never actually spoken to the mayor before, but she still recognizes her instantly. "Lady Grive." Her voice is hoarse from crying. She clears her throat and tries again. "Lady Grive, do you know what happened? How...how did everyone die?"
Looking around Justus seeks a desperate soul and slowly moves towards it.
"My friend, your time has come. It is time, you are allowed to move on! Your ancestors wait for you. You might go in Iomedeas grace!"