Zenaida gives the rat a wide berth as she follows Loth. Hopefully the diseased creature will avoid them.
As you all leave the room, the scrambling continues, but dies away as you back out of the bathing chamber.
Loth stands before another room, the rest of the group in the hallway behind him.
"Looks like there might be something here as well. Check the dust. Looks like... a pacing ghost or something like that."
He turns to the rest, unease clear in his face.
"Time to see what's up, I guess."
He then moves in.
@Loth: You are struck by a memory of yours, one frought with worry. Your husband is out late, the weather is bad, and he has been angry lately. This emotion washes over you, strong, pushing away any other things you are feeling at the moment...
... And then you realize that you don't have a husband , that the weather has been normal, and any signficant other you might actually have you've not seen in at least a week.
And the stiring of the dust continues.
What do you want to do?
Loth explains the memory he saw to the others.
"I'd wager whatever is pacing in front of the fireplace is the original owner of the memory.... but what do we do with it?"
Tarphrex raises a tiny clawed hand, ”Find husband?”
Zenaida frowns, quietly chanting an orison to aid her memory. Is this another haunt?
Zenaida frowns, quietly chanting an orison to aid her memory. Is this another haunt?
[dice=Knowledge (Religion) + Guidance]1d20+7+1
Plus a situational bonus for having already witnessed 2 haunts in this building.
Loth nods at Tarphrex's suggestion. "Maybe not the husband himself, he's likely long dead... but maybe something that belonged to him. A wedding ring or something? That sounds appropriately symbolic..."
"Looks like another haunt." Zenaida turns to Tarphrex. "Give it a few shots with your undead-killing spell."
As you decide how to handle this new threat, the house shifts around you.
@Tarphrex: Would you like to take Zenaida's suggestion? And, if so, where do you want to shoot?
@Tarphrex: I shouldn't mess with you on this. Until a haunt manifests, there is (usually) nothing to target.
Tarphrex scratches the side of his head where some of the new black scales are visible. "Tarphrex not sure what to shoot. Maybe leave poor ghost alone to wait for dead husband?"
This obviously has him all sorts of confused.
Loth goes through a few doors to check out the southern rooms.
"Well, as long as we don't get too close, the haunt probably won't bother us." Zenaida follows Loth, keeping her distance so the sound of her armor won't give him away to any watchers.
Loth goes through a few doors to check out the southern rooms.
Whoa, let's slow down a sec there partner. I'll give you the description before you go in...
Now, push forward with the "full" knowledge of what lies ahead.
Tarphrex cautiously peers around the edge of the door into the room, ”Someone hurry from here. Maybe we scared them away?”
Loth narrows his eyes and lowers his voice. "Or they're hiding."
Loth slowly walks through the door and has a careful look around.
Tarphrex nods in understanding, then whispers to Zenaida as Loth moves away, ”Should we hide from who they hide from?”
@Loth: You enter into the room, eyes taking in fine details as you move. The angle bookend catches your notice first; one wing is broken off, and blood is splayed along the break.
Next is the scarf, a beautiful piece of work worthy of a feastday outfit, which you see flutter briefly . . . right before it flies directly at your throat, wrapping around your neck tightly.
Loth drops to the floor, dying, unable to act. Current HP is at -1, unstablized.
@EVERYONE ELSE: As Loth moves into the room, you see a scarf jump from the back of the chair it was sitting on and wrap around his neck. In an instant, he is down on the floor, unmoving.
Alright, Loth takes no action this turn. Razkiv and Tarphrex both have a chance to act before I do something more.
Tarphrex only has one tactic for things in this house. He yells, ”Nononono! Leave Loth-friend alone!” and attempts to disrupt the scarf.
Razkiv rushes over, dropping his ax, and tries to pull the scarf free.
@Razkiv: Welcome back. I was actually starting to get a little worried about you.
@Razkiv 2: Short legs are not determint enough to quick thinking as you rush forward, grabbing the scarf and yanking it from around Loth's neck. It writhes in your grip, straining its length to reach Loth's unconcious body. As it stretches towards the halfling....
@Tarphrex: Your scaly digit(s) flex toward the scarf and blast it with disruptive energy, knocking it further from your new friend Loth.
@Everyone: The scarf movments are slower now, its pull against Razkiv's grip weaker. But it is still trying to reach the halfling. Zenaida is up next.
Zenaida drops her sword and joins Razkiv in grabbing the scarf. "Falayna, give me strength!" Divine might surges into her body as she yanks on the haunted cloth, trying to hold it in place for Tarphrex to shoot.
@Zenaida: We'll count that as an assist roll, and a succesful one at that.
@Tarphrex: You'll get the +2 to hit the scarf should you shoot at it again on your next turn.
... but you slip to -2 hit points and are still dying.
@Tarphrex and Razkiv: You're turns again.
__________
@Everyone: Remember that I'm keeping Krug around as a heal battery, but that is all. If anyone has found someone in the intervening weeks since I last mentioned it that wants to join a game, let me know.
Razkiv waits to pull along with Zenaida.
Tarphrex does indeed try to shoot it again, moving up for point-blank range, if allowed.
Can it crit
______
As Razkiv and Zenaida wrestle the scarf into position, Taprhrex blasts it with holy energy again. With a tearing that leaves no physical damage, the strip of fabric lays still, as does your friend Loth. What do you do?
You just barely stabalize. Still unconcious, but no longer dying.
Once the scarf drops, Zenaida rushes over to Loth and yanks her gauntlet off, checking for a pulse. Screw stealth, he needs healing now. "KRUG! We need you in here!"
@Zenaida: Though wane, Loth's blood still pumps. Krug rushes in as his hands fill with a holy light. A light which passes into Loth's body for....
... 14 HP back for the halfling.
@Loth: Though you are concious, a large bruise of purpled skin stretches across your neck in a dark circle.
@Everyone: The room sits quietly around you all, the silence broken only by your heavy breathing.
”This house is mean. Tarphrex does not like this house.”
Zenaida lets out a sigh of relief, putting her gauntlet back on. "Welcome back to the land of the living, Loth." She looks over at Tarphrex and nods grimly. "I hate it too, my friend. But we must press forward even so." Never let it be said that a priestess of the Warrior's Ring quit when the going got tough!
...Although once they're done with His Lordship and have thoroughly looted anything of value, a bit of arson sounds like an excellent idea.
Loth immediately gasps for air, still reeling from both the strangling and the vision in his mind. Once he's got his bearings, he explains what he saw.
"This place... there was heavy violence here. I saw another memory. The husband, he tried to strangle her with that scarf. He'd already bludgeoned someone." He points at the broken bookend. "Hit a carpenter on the back with that thing. He was still alive, though. Right before I lost consciousness, I felt the woman's anger."
Loth grumbles in frustration. "What happened here? And why is this 'Lordship' showing us this place? It makes no sense!"
...Although once they're done with His Lordship and have thoroughly looted anything of value, a bit of arson sounds like an excellent idea.
No joke, that scarf looks valuable. Probably worth a few dozen gold pieces. Might strangle you at any moment, but it sure is pretty.
Loth grumbles in frustration. "What happened here? And why is this 'Lordship' showing us this place? It makes no sense!"
"What happened here" indeed. The mysteries of this house abound.
Also, do you wish for more healing from Krug?
Considering I'm at 12 now, I could go with a little extra, yes.
_______
Alright folks. You've saved your intreped halfling friend and the room poses no other obvious threats. What next? Search it? Search the dinning area? Move on to the next room?
Loth will search the room!
@Loth: You look around this room to little affect. Beyond what was already mentioned (the books, chairs, bookends, and fireplace), you determine only one other detail. Though the books look in good condition (and the spines hold titles on a variety of subjects), the pages themselves are covered in mildew and have largely rotted away.
Subjects include largely treatesies on trade, local folk-lore, almanacs, copies of trade routes, entire shelves filled with finance ledgers, and one section dedicated to music and dance.
this floor seems to yield no further mysteries. Unless you'd like to double-check any of the previous rooms, of course. But you have located stairs up and stairs down. Which direction would you like to go? Or would you like to explore this floor more?
Tarphrex looks around, thinking. "This Master dead thing, yes? Where would dead thing hide?"
Tarphrex looks around, thinking. "This Master dead thing, yes? Where would dead thing hide?"
Do me a favor Tarphrex. Add "scarf" to your conditions.
"I suggest we check out the top floor first, then finally the bottom. Considering we've been dealing with the living dead, I expect to find 'em closer to the literal six feet under, so I'd like to deal with that last."
Do me a favor Tarphrex. Add "scarf" to your conditions.Tarphrex looks around, thinking. "This Master dead thing, yes? Where would dead thing hide?"
Yeeessss, Dungeon Master. It issss done.
"Tarphrex seems to be the most effective at dealing with whatever is going on here, we should all work on protecting him, even more than we normally do."
Tarphrex nods in fervent agreement at this sentiment.
Zenaida eyes the scarf with obvious distrust. "I suggest you leave the scarf here, Tarphrex. I don't think the haunt is destroyed, so the scarf might come back to life and try to strangle you." She pauses. "In fact, let's tie it to something sturdy in case we need to come back this way."
He frowns, looking at its position on his wrist before trying to explain. ”Tarphrex think that scarf mean something to one because part of house before-times. Want to show it if we find the one. Tie to wrist so not on throat.”
Razkiv looks at the pair with a smile. 'Take care Zen, don't try and stop a Dragon from hording.'
"Okay then. If it tries to strangle you, I reserve the right to say 'I told you so'." Zenaida shrugs, giving the scarf one last look before she turns to Loth. "You're still not looking so good, Loth. I think you should get at least one more healing spell."