Polli slips her hand in Dony's, her blue eyes gazing into her loves, with a raised eyebrow "[smaller]is everything okay[smaller]" she askes in GNOME.
"Ah ascared. Oibríonn na giotaí deireanacha sin de gheasa dinna amach mar a cheap Ah go ndéanfaidís. Cad a tharlaíonn má bhíonn Gozreh as mo mheabhair? Oh Polli cad a tharlaíonn má thógann sé cumhacht dom? Cén mhaith mé a bheith ansin"!?
She entwines her fingers with Polli's as she responds, the physical reminder of those she cares about helps her to keep the panic from taking over.
It doesn't take more than a few more hours to reach the longboat and fifteen minutes after that, you climb back aboard the Siren. The crew is relieved that you're all still alive and well. They also seem surprised and suspicious of the madman you've brought with you.
Knowing that Harmony's enthralling magic will only last a few more hours and with no idea how he'll react when it expires, Ederleigh is bound with rope. Harmony then sets about the task of attempting to extract as much information from him as possible. His monkey familiar seems quite put out at the whole situation, but doesn't interfere.
~~~~~
Harmony spends a number of hours with the man in an attempt to interpret his ravings. Within the nonsense and ramblings, she gathers the following bits;
Ederleigh came here with his master, Bikendi Otongu, as part of a group of slavers with the intent to set up a base to store slaves captured on ship raids. His master had another motive, though, something to do with a magical ritual that Ederleigh wasn't very helpful with. The cyclopes attacked in the middle of it and killed almost everyone. After that is when the nightmares and spiders came. That and the pirate slavers that come back every night in his dreams.
Harmony, belatedly realising that Ederleigh has a monkey familiar, encourages Roger to go and make friends with his fellow monkey as she talks to the man. Patience is required in large amounts but she slowly coaxes the information out of him. Once he's done and tired Harmony gives him a ships biscuit and enough slack to eat it with.
She then seeks out Owlbear. "We've got a new guy." She tells the big man gently. "I think you and he might be friends if you like? Try and chat with him when you get a chance."
Then she calls a meeting of the officers in the main cabin to pass on the news.
"So a ritual that went wrong has caused much of the strangeness." She summarises. "We'll have to carry on investigating the tower tomorrow and see what we can find. We only have about three more weeks I think."
When they arrive back on the Siren, Val disappears to her quarters for a little while, though she back out on the deck well before the captain summons the officers for a meeting.
When Harmony conveys what she's learned, Val asks, "so is the ritual what transformed Bikendi? The fairy said that he was still around but in a different form, or something like that, didn't she?" Turning to Polli and Donomsail she adds, "is there any chance that you could figure out what kind of thing he is now ahead of time based on what the cap'n got out of him?"
The sylph runs her hand across Dony's worried forehead "This is what is important." With her other hand, still entwined in her loves, and presses it to Dony's chest. "And this. Dony, love you, that is what matters."
That night, Polli listens to all her worries, holds her, and offers anything she can in advice. But when it comes to faith, she's clueless.
With the evening meal finished and official business seen to, the officers of the Siren enjoy sleeping in their own beds.
- Day 201
Leaving Ederleigh in the mostly capable hands of the Siren's crew, the Ladies of Legend return to the smaller cove the next morning in the longboat. After securing it, they retrace their way back across the island to arrive at the Chelish fort a little before lunch.
"We need to keep clearing this central tower." Harmony says. "If there's some sort of residue from the ritual then we need to find where it happened and clear it up. As soon as possible."
"Val, did you have bad dreams?" Polli asks, her hand firmly entwined in Dony's with worry and love.
Val grins and answers, ”I, uh, didn’t really get much sleep.”
Polli gives the archer a slight smile. "Okay captains ready."
You head inside the compound and enter the central command building. Descending the stairs carefully, you find no threats other than the potential to catch a chill.
At the bottom of the stairs is a rectangular room roughly hewn out of the ground. In the northern, eastern, and western walls is embedded a set of iron bars in a heavy wooden frame separating the main 15' by 25' chamber from individual 15' square cells. Keys to the bars hang on a peg on the eastern wall. The central chamber is empty otherwise, as are the three cells.
*
Not finding anything else of note, you prepare to head back up the stairs when Harmony, Valeria, and Marisan each notice something off about the southern wall. A hidden door is quickly revealed. The portal is opened revealing a dark tunnel heading south and then turning westward. The tunnel is low and some of you have to duck.
Following the tunnel leads you to a door that conceals a 15' x 30' low-ceilinged chamber. The claustrophobic 6' ceiling in this chamber is roughly dug out of the earth and towards the edges of the chamber it's even lower. There is another door on the opposite end of the room and a variety of small chests, crates, and sacks filling the space.
A corpse lies on the floor among the containers.
Four-armed Val keeps her bow aimed at the corpse as she studies it suspiciously. ”Do we have any way to tell if it’s undead?” she asks ”or if it’s some kind of anchor for a ghost or another dream creature or something?”
"I can tell." Tessa says, completely unafraid of whatever it is. She strides right up to it and kicks it with her boot to see if it moves.
"Let's see" Polli will nudge the body lightly with her magic. If it doesn't come alive to kill them she'll cast detect magic on it and then move to see how it died and how long it has been dead.
Tessa fearlessly strides forward and kicks the still body. It reacts as one would expect a dead body - by doing nothing. She does, however, catch movement out of the corner of her eye as a spectral phantom glides into the room through the wall.
Combat Begins!
Round 1
"Ha-!" Tessa shouts, whirling to attack the phantom that has entered the room.
Tessa thrusts at the ghostly figure and stumbles over the dead body it's most likely from, missing it entirely.
The figure looks you over with a malevolent intelligence. With vague muttered words it flings its hand in your general direction and dark particles coalesce around your light sources.
Unfazed by the change in light, Val studies the ghostly figure and begins firing arrows at it.
Harmony waves her hand tiredly and a shower of glitterdust settles atop the ghost, or at least roughly where the ghost was. Then she yawns loudly.
Donomsail sees the phantom and instantly goes through all the knowledge she can recall to help them fight it to the best of their ability.
However whether it's due to the surprise of seeing the creature or her growing self-doubt she isn't able to recall anything. She can, however, help in the battle. Donomsail grabs her Holy Symbol and raises it high in the sky. "Gozreh, miskien is jy kwaad vir my en miskien verdien Ah jy om te wees, Ah weet nie, maar as dit die geval is, vra Ah, moenie toelaat dat dit jou vriende help nie. Stuur 'n ontploffing om energie te help om die spook na onder te neem."
She isn't surprised to feel just a modest amount go through her.
Resisting the spell, Marisan enters her pummeling stance as she charges the ghost, leaping and delivering a double kick to its spectral chest!
Polli stays out of range and casts a quick light spell so the ones limited in their ocular abilities can see, at least a little.
"It's a ghost. Probably from the corpse you just kicked in the gut for some reason that is beyond understands, Captain. They are incorporeal but can still hurt you with its touch."
"All part of the plan, my dear genie!" Tessa shouts gleefully. She then continues to jab thin air repeatedly, missing.
Marisan kicks at the spectral image, but only one of her strikes contacts it. Polli sheds light on the room for the rest to see by. Harmony showers the figure with glittering dust, but it throws off the blindness. Val hits it with two of her arrows.
It's Donomsail's positive energy that seems to really get its attention, though. The spectre's dark gaze turns to the tiefling.
Round 2
Tessa fails to strike the being again and it doesn't seem to give her any further thought, rushing past the others and through the wall to appear next to the cleric and merging with her form.
As the ghost moves away, Tessa slashes again, confident in her attack this time. "Sucker! Just where I wanted you!" she says, lashing out.
Donomsail sees the phantom coming towards her and tries to resist its intrusion into her being. Unfortunately her recent doubts regarding her status with her diety leave her unable to resist and in a vulnerable state.
The tiefling's eyes roll back in her head as the ghost's image fades from view and then they're abruptly focused on the rest of you as if seeing you for the first time.
"Wait," she says, holding up her hands defensively. "I will return your companion back to you unharmed. Just help me end my torment. Please."
When Polli realizes what is happening, she lunges at the spirit but is way too late. Her eyes turn to fury, fire and lighting dance about her, but she is unsure where to throw it. "GET OUT OF HER!" she hisses, ready to kill something, Anything.
Doni turns to look at Polli and a sly smile that she's never seen Doni wear before appears on her face.
"I see you care about ... her. Yes, it is a her, isn't it?" she replies. "That will make this easier for everyone, then. You help me solve my little problem and I'll return her to you without having to resort to anything that might be considered ... self-harm."
Polli's fury slams straight into her fear, making her turn pale white while she clenches her fists in rage. "If you hurt her, your torment will be never-ending. I swear that to you." she leaves the details to the ghost's imagination, leaving most of the threat in her tone.
"WHAT THE F&*# DO YOU WANT?"
"In spite of the fact that you can't really hurt me, I believe you would go to great efforts to try," Donomsail says. "But it would only be your friend ... companion? ... lover? Ah, yes, lover it is ... that would suffer. I can feel her fluttering around in the back of my mind at this very moment." Donomsail looks over the others as if gauging their responses. When no more threats are made, she gestures towards the chamber containing the body.
"Follow me," she says, moving past the others into the chamber. She heads across to the door on the other side of the room and pulls it open.
"My name is Bikendi Otongu," she says as she moves into the narrow passage beyond it. "I am a wizard of no small ability. I came here with my idiot of an apprentice and some others. In my research, I had discovered a way to permanently enter the Dimension of Dreams and so become immortal. No disgusting lichdom or the sort for me."
The passage meanders a bit before ending at what appears to be the rear of a secret door.
"And on this island was the means to achieving it. The one-eyed brutes at the north end of the island had in their possession a magical lens that with the right modifications would become an Imortal Dreamstone capable of facilitating the transformation."
She opens the secret door and leads you into a large circular chamber. Collapsed rubble fills this dusty room, spilling from the two of the walls. Dozens of pale quartz crystals lie scattered among the rocks, and several more decorate the perimeter of the room. A single carved column supports the twenty-foot high ceiling overhead.
"We managed to capture and alter the lens for my purposes and were performing the ritual here when those gigantic baffoons attacked the fort. I left our hired swords to handle them and my apprentice and I carried on with the ritual. Unfortunately, that fool bungled part of it and instead of being shifted into the Dimension of Dreams, my soul was ripped from by body and left here to be tormented by vermin."
"You see, one of the other elements of the ritual was a hag's heartstone. And the one I took it from took issue and sent a bunch of damned phase spiders to harass my apprentice. I've been trying to convince Ederleigh to finish the ritual but my means of communication outside a mortal body are ... limited."
She crosses her arms and looks you over.
"So here's the arrangement. You agree to deal with the rest of the vermin in the fort, retrieve the dreamstone from the cyclopes, and then help me to complete the ritual correctly. In return, I will reward you with all my earthly possessions - no small amount - and I will return your companion to you unharmed and in full control of all her limbs and faculties."
"You return her to us now. Unharmed. Then we consider your request." Harmony responds sharply. "None of us take kindly to what you are doing and you need us far more than we need you!"
Donomsail considers Harmony's words before nodding. "Very well. But also consider that you have a lot more to lose than I do."
The tiefling closes her eyes and then shudders for a moment before collapsing to the floor as the spectral form drifts out of her and into the central pillar in the room.
Harmony glances around at the rest of the group and then leads the way out of the corridor until they are in bright sunlight and well away from the central tower.
"So? What do we all think? Killing him would likely be fairly straightforward if we took precautions and prepared. I am not wholly convinced by this plan of his."
”I’m not an expert on ghosts... at all...” Val confesses, ”but don’t they just come back later when you kill them?”
Polli is tightly wound, holding on to Dony as they leave "are you okay, do you feel him anymore?" as the get out "We could bring in an expert, teleport to a Pharasma church, bring back someone who can exorcise him."
"And stay out!" Tessa says sourly, swiping at the air nearby for no good reason other than to show the ghost that she should not be taken lightly.
Once free and clear of the area, she says "We are going to clear it anyway. Doing it this way nets us a potential reward. I say sw edo it."
Donomsail. looks around and the first thing she can truly focus on is the face of her love, concern and worry etched clearly across it. "Donna worry 'bout me Ah be okay now." It takes great effort but she is able to reach a hand out and caress Polli's face. Then she let's out a loud sigh and stands shakily to her feet. Only Polli can tell, by how much Donomsail leans on her, how much the experience took from her.
"Very well." Harmony says. "We must clear the rest of this place first. Then we can get the crew working on it while we move against the cyclopes."
Polli seems relieved with the captain's call. Not that she doesn't want to go back in there and destroy the spiritual rapist ghost, but she doesn't truly know if she can kill it and doesn't want Dony anywhere around it until she is certain.
Nodding with satisfaction, Tessa says "Excellent. Any chance we could move the cylcopi up in the pecking order? I'm feeling a little antsy." She bounces back and forth from one foot to the other, an abundance of energy still within her.
You return to the fort to finish the cleansing.
South of the command building, are a set of low buildings against the wall. Whatever they were before is unclear, but they've been transformed into holding cells. The next building around the perimeter of the compound is the mess hall.
The ground floor of the building, which consists of a large eating area and a well-constructed (but entirely ransacked) kitchen. As you prepare to head upstairs ...
Donomsail looks around for the source of the voice, not wanting to accept that it came from inside her head. The idea of someone speaking inside her head isn't what is bothering her, she knows that there is magic that makes that possible but as far as she knows none of their crew has a spell for that. No, what concerns her is that the voice belongs to the one who was inside her earlier for who else is interested in a stone?
"Not that...," Donomsail starts to say out loud until she realizes that the thing can most likely hear her thoughts.
"Not that Ah be 'ware of. Mayhaps ye tell me what this here stone be lookin' like. That is if'n ye be serious 'bout us findin' tha damn thin'." While she waits for a response Donomsail looks around at her friends to see if anyone notices her odd behavior.
When Donomsail starts talking to herself, four-armed Val readies her weapons and begins looking around carefully. ”Donm, are you alright? Who are you talking to?”
She turns quickly towards Valeria with a look of panic in her eyes. "Nothin' be wrong, Ah'm jist thinkin' 'loud is all, this here stone we be lookin' fer? Any idea whatsoever what it be lookin' like?" As she responds to Val's question Donomsail continues to look toward Polli, when she sees that her blue haired beauty can't hear their conversation she leans close to Valeria.
"Welp, ta be true there be somethin' Ah needs ta be sayin' ta ye. Over there?" She nods towards an area where they can talk privately.
Polli has more than a bit of worry swimming in her blue eyes. It's deep but a soft worry. "of course" she follows to wherever Dony leads her.
Watching Donomsail and Polli move off into the corner, Tessa stops her ascent and frowns. She waves to motion them back to the group "Hey you two! You can take your clothes off in private later, let's get going upstairs first. There's work to be done yet."