Tessa pokes one and it bursts, but she leans back Keanu Reeves style and the fluid flies over her shoulder, missing her. She regains her footing and dashes up beside Marisan to thrust her rapier into the creature, but slips on a pool of disgustingness and executes her strike poorly.
Val studies the surviving hand and continues firing.
Harmony lobs her harpoon, making sure to stay well out of spraying range!
With Harmony's harpoon, Valeria's arrows and Marisan's kicks, the last hand is finished even before Tessa saunters over to it and stabs it for good measure.
Combat Ends!
After ensuring that the crawling hands are now truely dead, you check through the wreckage of the barracks. Either there was nothing of value here in the first place or someone's already looting anything worth someone's time.
Moving up the stairs, you find a meeting room with a commanding view of the inner courtyard. There's a large table and chairs and two smaller rooms. One is a simple storeroom with a variety of common goods - as well as a large cast-iron washtub. The other room is blocked by a locked solid iron door.
Harmony examines the door closely and then pulls out her tools and gets to work.
After a bit of work, Harmony is rewarded with a satisfying click as the lock turns over.
Opening the door reveals a windowless room filled with weapon racks that are festooned with weapons. Shortswords, longswords, bows, quivers of arrows, crossbows, etc.
Amid the crude, common weapons you find some of much better quality ; a light crossbow, a cutless, rapier, shortsword, and trident.
"Well... I guess we could arm people with these if we ever brought in settlers or something?" Val offers when the room proves to hold nothing of real value. "Speaking of which... can you talk to the Sea Witch through that map or just see where they are? If we could send them a message somehow it might be worth asking them to bring out some masons, carpenters, and laborers? The fort isn't great in its current condition but it could be a nice little hub once the island and the bay are safe..."
Polli is whole-heartedly disinterested in the weapons. "Where to next?" she asks after an acceptable amount of armament talk.
Continuing clockwise around the inner courtyard, the group moves to the building next to the barracks. Entering through the nearest door, you find a large space filled with broken chairs and tables. Doors lead from this room in four directions. The ceilings rafters rise fifteen feet overhead and a narrow set of stairs by the north wall leads underground.
Before you get a chance to explore further, an indistinct figure drifts through the distant wall into the room with you. As you look at it, it begins to take on a nightmarish shape, not quite human, animal, or fiend.
Combat Begins!
Round 1
Before her mind really even process what she's seeing, Val has an arrow knocked. She doesn't know much about ghosts, but she hopes her magic bow will be enough to injure it. Quickly studying it otherworldly movements, she begins firing.
"Oh this place is full of splendors." Polli's frown is less than normal and her eyes light up in interest. "That is someone's dream, well most likely nightmare. One so powerful it became sentient! IT is staggering to imagine the amount of emotion that was required..." she stops realizing most of her companions do not care about discussing the formation of such a wonderous creation, only how to kill it. "It is Incorporeal, mundane weapons have no effect upon it. They're also resistant to magic. They will attack with sleep and terror so those of you will low willpower need to be careful..." she specifically does not look at a certain member of the crew.
Harmony reaches out to inspire Tessa with heroism and then backpeddles tactically away from the dream.
"Ohhhh, I like that!" Tessa says excitedly as she shivers, whirling and twirling as she leaps towards the creature that Polli talked a lot about, lunging forward as she closes the distance with Wayfinder.
With a confidence that well-placed arrows can deal with any threat, Valeria releases three that each plunge through the incorporeal shape. The image shimmers. Tessa assumes a similar philosophy, substituting Wayfinder for arrows. Harmony bolsters her companions with reassuring words.
The shape responds to the various assaults by shifting form, each Siren seeing that which they fear greatly.
As the...thing...comes through the wall Donomsail starts to panic but manages to keep it under control. Grabbing hard onto Polli's arm keeps the scream in her throat. Once she knows for certain that she can remain in control of her emotions she starts thinking of a way to help her friends. "Gozreh, Ag bid dat u ma's sal help om diegene wat ons ag'in 'te belemmer."
Polli is way too fascinated (dreams come to life!!!) to be scared. Though she still appreciated the warm comfort of Dony's prayer. The wizard wishes she was under a controlled environment to study it but... with a sigh she sends a spray of force missiles into the lovely thing.
Harmony blanches for a moment, but recovers quickly and tosses her harpoon at the thing.
"No! Noooo!" Marisan shrieks. Eyes wide with terror, the brawler flees!
Gasping in horror, Tessa staggers backwards several steps, holding her hand out in front of her defensively before turning tail and fleeing the room behind Marisan.
After shrugging off the fear that welled up in her fairly easily, Val grows concerned when Marisan and Tessa take off. Aware that the ghost must be dealt with before they can be helped, she takes a deep breath to steel herself and continues firing.
Polli sends a set of force missiles into the apparition and and staggers back. Marisan turns and races away from the building towards the front gate. Domonsail invokes a prayer to Gozreh to strengthen the group.
Round 2
Valeria sends more arrows at the creature, two of them passing through it and disrupting its form even further. Tessa turns and flees from the fearful spectre, trailing after Marisan. It's Harmony's thrown harpoon, though, that finally finishes off the manifestation.
Combat Ends!
After another minute or so, Tessa and Marisan return to the group, shaken but unharmed.
Moving around the building, the room to the northeast was a quartermaster's office at one time, but if there was ever anything of value here, it's long gone now. The room to the northwest was once the commander's office and the windows provide a good view of the courtyard. There are a set of stairs leading to the second floor here.
Donomsail watches as they all regroup, careful not to say anything for she too has been frightened in the past. "I think we should head upstairs." She says, trying to get them moving once again. Then she stands there waiting for her leaders to make a decision.
Harmony nods. "Good plan Dony. Let's get the best view first."
Polli also keeps quiet, mainly because she was shifting in the dreams astral corpse. "yes, upstairs, I'll just be a moment..." she mutters to no one, but allows herself to be dragged away.
As Tessa and Valeria begin climbing the stairs to the second floor, they both notice that one of the treads half-way up is the trigger to a trap that would affect all of them. Harmony looks it over and notices the magical runes enscribed along the edge of the tread. She could attempt to disarm it, but it's just as easy to step over it to continue up to the second floor. Three doors surround the upper-floor landing. The northern door leads out to an open-air balcony overlooking the courtyard. The other two doors lead to the east and to the south.
"This way." Harmony says, picking east at random.
As they step over it, Tessa remarks "Keep in mind this is still here on our exit. Do NOT come running back this way."
Tessa leads the way east.
"Memory over perception" Polli reminds herself and counts the steps to the trap, which Dony points out to her.
The view from the upstairs windows doesn't seem to reveal anything new. It is a nice view, however.
Tessa opens the eastern door and steps through into what was the quarters for officers or someone similarly higher ranking. She doesn't have a moment to really take in the room, though, before two blades come slashing down to strike at her from the sides of the door.
It doesn't take much for Harmony to prevent the mechanical trap from resetting. Searching through the room produces nothing of interest or value. There's a door to the south but it seems to be stuck or jammed. It could be forced or, perhaps, there's another way into the room.
"Let's work our way around." Harmony suggests once Tessa has been patched up. "The people who built this place had an awful sense of paranoia, and interior design..."
Donomsail gives up Control Water to cast Cure Serious.
Grumbling about all of the stupid traps in this place, she shouts "We're getting this place seriously cleaned out. Thank you Dony."
Tessa gets a running start and throws herself into the door only to be rebuffed and bounce off onto the ground.
She stands up and brushes herself off, clearing her throat. "Ehem. Marisan. I've tested the door and it requires your attention forthwith."
"Uh... if we're going to make this our fort, we're going to have to fix anything we break," Val offers thoughtfully. "There's another door to the south in the room we just came from; maybe we should check if they're connected before we break the door down?"
"Tessa, stop." Harmony says firmly. "We'll go round and if Marisan has to batter the door down later then at least we'll find some tools to help her do it."
Marisan is about to kick the door when Harmony stops her. She shrugs, letting the captains determine what to do.
"Here" Polli pulls out a steel rod as long as her forearm and hands it to Marisan "In case you need it on the door, it changes to any tool you need, crowbars, shovels... " her eyes dart her love briefly "... um... other things"
Moving back into the hall and examining the southern door, Valeria finds another trap trigger. Harmony's able to disarm it enough to open the door. At one time this would have been the commander's private room, but now the furniture lies battered and broken around the room and several overturned beds barricade the windows, blocking out most of the natural light. The trigger on the door was tied to several crossbows aimed at the door.
There's another door leading to the east which also seems to be jammed or braced closed.
*
Gathering in the room, preparing to force open the door, Valeria, Marisan, and even Doni hear faint whimpering on the other side.
"Someone really does not want company." the wizard marvels a bit at the attempts to keep them out.
Val burst into a wide grin at Polli's accidental confession, though she doesn't embarrass the sylph with a comment. Instead, when they start walking to the other room she quietly mentions, "நீங்கள் என் தொப்பி வசியம் என்று மாய நீங்கள் இருவரும் விரும்பினால் 'மற்ற விஷயங்கள்' உங்கள் சொந்த கருவி மாற்ற அனுமதிக்கிறது தெரியும் அதே நேரத்தில் அந்த அனுபவிக்க ..."
When they arrive at the other barred door she quietly adds to Polli's report, "Cap'n, it sounds like someone's alive in there still, and scared... they might open the door for us if you can convince them we mean them no harm?"
The tips of Polli's pointed ears go bright red. She mutters a quick [in Aquan just being lazy] "We have our... own methods, but thank you for your kind offer."
"Hello? Can you hear me?" Harmony calls out. "We're here to clear out the cyclops. We mean you no harm."
"You're trying to trick me! I don't know what you want or where it is. Go away!" a man's voice responds. As Harmony is debating how to respond, she catchs a glimmer of movement on the ceiling. Before she can shout a warning, four large spiders with unusually human-like faces surrounded by red hair appear on the ceiling out of thin air.
Combat Begins!
Surprise Round!
Before anyone can react, the spiders snap venom-dripping fangs down at some of the Sirens. And then they vanish again as if they were never there.
Round 1
Marisan shifts her stance and readies a stunning kick for when the spiders return!
Polli looks up and screams as horror of horrors a red-headed spider leaps on her and bites her face. Holding her rapidly swelling wound, she mumbled snaps "phase spiders... they bite obviously... with poison... they can jump into the ethereal plane too... kill them please."
Harmony closes in to stand next to Polli and starts reviewing exactly what she can do to stop this. The solution comes in a flash and she snaps her fingers, making everyone within ten feet disappear from view.
Tessa manages to resist the venom ... this time, and readies an attack for if/when the spiders reappear. Marisan follows suit.
Sure enough, two of the beasties appear a moment later. Marisan's formidable feet fail to find their foe, but Tessa's blade strikes true and a gout of green ichor sprays across the wooden floor. One stabs down at Donomsail and the other at the brawler - both successfully deliver their toxic cargo and vanish.
Donomsail cries out in pain as the spider's sharp fang pierces her skin and injects its poison into her and then sighs in relief when she feels her body fight off the poison. Keeping herself calm Donomsail starts casting a spell. "Gozreh, lig 'n bietjie mis op sodat hierdie griezelige kruipies ons kan sien."