Most back out of the room carefully. Camil, unperturbed, picks up the scarf, grabs the bookend from the fireplace and walks out. As soon as he crosses the threshold the scarf shifts, a horrific shriek breaks the quiet, and then the scarf leaps from Camil's hands and flies at Forest. It wraps around his neck and begins to tighten but he just stands there frozen with a panicked expression on his face.
Aldern, in his normal form, stands before you gripping either side of the scarf pulling it tight. Your breasts heave as you struggle for air and your dress seems to restrict your every movement. How could your husband do this to you.
drop to -8 hit points and make a Fortitude save to stabilize.
Kizzy closes her mouth as the scarf attacks Forest.
And this is why we don't bring items out of necromancy filled rooms
Kizzy will attempt to grab an end of the scarf to loosen the hold on Forest.
"Memorable melody amidst a discordant chorus, Kizzy."
I can hear mother's voice now... 'I told you so...' Mother never liked Aldern... Why didn't I listen to her?
Forest takes a half-hearted swing at Kizzy, then collapses.
Isabella is instantly kneeling by forest, her heavy falchion clattering to the ground to one side.
Runt steps toward Forest, pulls out the wand of infernal healing, and taps him with it.
"Hopefully that will help keep him alive. Beware the scarf, it might try for someone else."
Yes, Runt, truly a discordant chorus! Kizzy says as she attempts to grasp at the scarf. She would have laughed at the very clever turn of a phrase under other circumstances, but Forest needed their focus now.
Forest's pulse is rapid and he has taken on a pale pallor but the magic has stabilized him. The scarf went slack as soon as Forest collapsed and now hangs in Kizzy's hand, limp and lifeless. After about a minute, Forest comes to thanks to, the infernal healing.
Well done ladies! Kizzy says as Isabella and Runt save Forest from near death. Kizzy begins a song to cast a spell, reaching out she touches Forest as white tendrils sparkle and flow out towards him.This should help. she says with a gentle smile as she tucks the scarf away out of sight.
Despite our encounters, we should continue listening to the dirge of the Foxgloves here to learn all we can before our trek to Magnimar... which makes me believe we may want to put torching this place on hold, lest Magnimar points us back here to learn more. Ash holds no clues.
"Do we save the books before we burn the place to the ground, or do you all think they are tainted with the madness of the place?"
I think we should save the books, and I still think waiting would be wise.
"You mean waiting a day, or sticking around and completing the exploration before we move on?"
Camil looks about sheepishly, Sorry Forest, I figured taking the things out of the room would make it less awful, but clearly not. I do hear what Kizzy's got to say, maybe we need to follow up the leads in Magnimar before we burn this place down. Bring a cart, and load up the books for review once we know we're done with the spot.
He runs his hand through his hair and blows out a long breath. We only have a very few rooms left to explore here in this awful place then we can get out of here. Should we keep on?
"I say yes. There might be someone still alive in there and we should not burn it down until we find out."
I think that was the right thing to say; it feels right. People around here are so different from where I come from. They would have fried a whole city to get a bag of gold.
To clarify, I think we should finish exploring, collect the library, go to Magnimar and search there, and only burn this place upon our return if needed. But will follow your lead.Kizzy gestures to the group as a whole.
You seem to harmonize brazenly pushing open doors and prudent caution- which door is next? she question she directs to Runt.
Runt moves tot he other side of the room and points at a door.
"How about this one?"
She checks the door out for oddities and gives a good listen.
Forest is woozy from his brush with death or ghost death or whatever it was. He did not think he would miss the simplicity of fighting trolls and the occasional orc. He rubs his throat where there surely must be a horrifying bruise from his strangulation. With shaky hands, he unstoppers his waterskin and takes a few gulps. "I think the house is effecting your minds." He finally says with a ragged breath. "The longer we are here, the more evil things we see, the more you all are convinced that house needs to be saved." He shakes his head. Ensuring there was no one else alive in the house is sound enough, but he can see no good coming from leaving the building standing when they leave.
Kizzy does a twirling dance to end up beside Runt, bowing low at the waist with her arms outstretched towards the door in the exaggerated movements of a ballet stage production, or of peasants before a queen indicating her approval for them to continue on...
Runt looks on with envy as the attractive woman does her dance.
Show off
Runt opens the door after confirming all is quiet. This dusty room features a long couch, its cushions caked with white sheets of wispy fungus. The couch faces a stone fireplace with caper- ing imps and birds carved along its mantel. eddies of dust skitter along the warped floorboards as if caught up by a slight breeze, yet no wind is noticeable in the air.
The dust seems to be being disturbed, as if an invisible person were pacing violently back and forth before the fireplace—footprints even manifest momentarily in the dust with each step before fading from view.
"More spooky ghosts." Forest says to Runt, nodding towards the phantasmal footprints by the fire place. "How are you supposed to deal with these things? Where do they even come from?"
Nope! Camil exclaims, shutting the door hard. There's another haunt or something in there, or an invisible pacing person, we shouldn't go anywhere in there. Let's see what else there is.
How do we silence these echoes of the past? I am unknowledgeable in the unliving, ghosts and spirts that haunt after their time here has passed. What can you tell us of how to remove these unseen plagues. And do they perhaps tell us of their dark secrets in the visions they share?
Kizzy asks Runt, looks to Isabella and back to Runt; hoping either can fill in gaps she cannot.
A haunt can only be permanently destroyed when the negative energy giving it life is destroyed. There is typically a greater haunting spirit such as a ghost that is in the area. You would need to put that creature to rest in order to shutdown the resulting haunts. For a ghost, find its bones and bury it or bring its killer to justice. It can vary depending on the means by which the offended spirit died.
"Positive energy does the trick, if you can get enough of it to happen before the haunt fully manifests. Some haunts are more tenacious and you really have to find out why they are haunting and deal with the underlying issue. Since there are so many of the dang things here, I think that they are all bound to some greater haunt and they will just keep popping up until that one is dealt with. so if we can find the greater or master haunt, figure out how to send it on its way to the boneyard, then we can probably cleanse the house."
"Though I still think it would just be simpler to burn the place to the ground. that might work too."
"Is the fake manticore thing downstairs the greater haunt? It ain't Aldern - he's already dead."
With the windows depicting various necromantic rights, the pictured box sucking in creatures, the broken box which looks a lot like a lich's phylactery, and the pervasive aura of necromancy throughout the house; you surmise that it is likely the spirit of the would be lich, Aldern's father, bonded with the house instead.
Any additional room searching? If so, which one.
"No, the whole house seems to be a focus, like someone was really attached to it. The whole place stinks of necromancy. Just had a thought. Whoever built the house was really into necromancy and trying to become a lich. Maybe even became a liche, but when that box was broken he became a haunt instead?"
We know something bad in in that room, let's loop back around to the main hall, there was a doorway there we didn't go through? Runt's guess seems really reasonable to me. Let's try to avoid the wanna-be lich however. the gambler suggests to the others.
"If the house is a 'focus', I'd wager that the source of the magic is in the foundation or below the house, but we've already been there." Forest shrugs. He is a hammer, it's not his job to figure out how to uncurse evil old houses.
If the spirit that was to achieve lich-dom failed to enter the box, then perhaps it is the evil that resides in the house. I fear that burning the structure would not release that spirit, and instead of the spirit lurking within the walls, it would simply reside within the charred remains. Let us continue our search. Listen for notes that echo from the past and perhaps we can find a way to silence them.
Kizzy looks to Runt for any additional wisdom.
I should have included that destroying the house, like destroying a lich's phylactery, will likely destroy the possessing spirit.
"I am out of fire spells today, at least anything that may be able to start a significant fire."
Camil smiles, patting his pack, I've got two alchemist's fires left in my pack if we do decide to burn the place to the ground... Let's be about this and put this place to our backs. he says, progressing through the main foyer to that unopened door.
"Actually, if I'm right then destroying the house would remove the focus and set the spirit free to go to the boneyard. And leaving it intact is inviting trouble unless we post guards around it."
Nods to Camil, "Well I do have a scroll or two that might work... if we can find enough kindling or oil" He smiles, "yes, oil would be good... anyone got any or remember seeing some?"
Then fire it will be, Kizzy agrees as Runt provides her insights, But may we save the library, if it is the house that is the source of the evil, the books should be safe.
Camil moves to the unopened door and swings it wide to reveal an east-west running hallway. Like so much of the house, a nasty mold grows on the walls and the hall smells musty. Two doors are on the northern wall.
"Yea, why not, though I would have it checked out by a holy person. In case of curses or diseases or other mischief."
Runt opens the door on the eastern side of the hallway, and seeing Camil, makes a gesture that seems to mean, 'shall we?'.
Kizzy moves to follow Runt, to be backup as much as the bard could do so. With Camil and Forest at one end, and Runt and Kizzy at the other end, whatever goes wrong next should be covered... she hopes.
Camil points at Runt to open her door first, while he inspects the one closest to him for any signs of trouble, or clues about what may lay behind it.
Runt in her usual direct manner opens the door. This is a simple washroom. An ancient metal washtub stands to the west, a ring of mildew crusting its inner surface. A strange, furtive scratching comes from inside the tub.
"Guys, I know we are supposed to explore this place, but I don't know. Something is scratching about in a bathtub, and I'm thinking we just leave it there."
In a rare display of common sense, Runt does NOT enter the room, but instead stands at the opening waiting for some horror to emerge from the moldy basin.
Kizzy can’t resist, and her curiosity gets the better of her; so she cautiously peeks into the tub…
"Oh boy, here we go."