Like Everon, Lym floats and isn't affected by the shaking edifice. "We follow Thordak."
"L'Noor, you will go out and defend us against whatever is causing us such distress, won't you?"
Lym floats down to the door.
Getting out of dodge seems to be the popular consensus, so Praxim and Rexil head for the exit. Praxim’s not looking forward to finding out how much this blizzard messes with his archery, however.
"Okay, we need ta find shelter somewhere. We can't do nothin' out in this blasted blizzard." Thordak then studies the landscape a moment in an attempt to ascertain which direction might prove more fruitful in finding shelter.
For those outside , vision is nearly zero. The cold is so intense that exposed skin feels like it is instantly freezing solid.
The hammering begins again, even with the door open, as it seems obvious now that the noise has an otherworldly origin. The cabin is in fact not collapsing despite the blow struck earlier, but far worse problems begin to arise...
...faint images of starving dwarves begin to appear on the edges of your vision. When you turn to face them, they disappear, only to reappear out of the corner of your eyes. Violent pangs of hunger strike each of you, inside and out, as if you had not eaten in a month.
Tomaru taps Thordak's shoulder and retreats back into the cabin.
"It's supernatural in origin."
"This place is haunted by dwarves, victims of some famine-related tragedy." Everon frowns hard at the specters, concerned, if not shaken.
Even with the magic aiding him against the cold, Thordak can't help but still feel the biting of the massive blizzard - though it may be only mentally.
Catching the tap from Tomaru, Thordak nods and follows him back in.
"This place is haunted by dwarves, victims of some famine-related tragedy." Everon frowns hard at the specters, concerned, if not shaken.
Thordak angles his head in Everon's direction. "How in the blazes do we put 'em ta rest?! Or at least put a stop ta seein' 'em?! I'm tired of seein' me dead brethren. This blasted cabin is nothin' more than a really bad nightmare that ya can't blasted wake up from," the dwarf seethes, the cabin clearly wearing on his nerves the longer they remain. "We can't stay here and we can't blasted leave... what in the blazes can we do?!" The dwarf's frustration starting to boil over.
Thordak angles his head in Everon's direction. "How in the blazes do we put 'em ta rest?! Or at least put a stop ta seein' 'em?! I'm tired of seein' me dead brethren."
"Well, I certainly have a solution for you there..." Everon thinks of his blindness spell...
Thordak looks to the elf, waiting. And he waits. And waits. He then continues to wait. And he still waits. Waiting. Waiting some more. Still waiting. Waits waits waits. Waiting waiting and waiting. He can then be seen rolling his eyes at the massive amount of time he has had to wait. He fidgets from one foot to the other a few times. Takes a moment to look at his fingernails to see if they need chewing. Scratches an itch on the back of his head. Fiddles with his beard a moment. A yawn then blindsides him from out of nowhere due to him having to wait for so unbelievably LONG. After what has been pretty much an eternity to the dwarf - about 17 seconds real time - the dwarf's patience comes to an immediate end. "Well?! What is it?! What's yer blasted solution, elf! We haven't got all day! Don't say you've come up with a solution and then do nothin' about it! That just doesn't make any sense! 'I certainly have a solution for you there', - he repeats in his 'best' Everon impression - you say but yet you're not doin' nothin'! Or are ya just talkin' like that other blasted elf," motioning over to Praxim, "who likes ta hear himself talk?! Talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk is what he does. He just won't shut up. Gripes, moans and complains about pretty much everything and does it a lot but doesn't really solve nothin'. Sheesh. Where do we find you lot? It's a mystery." The dwarf can only shake his head in frustration at it all.
After a moment of contemplation, the dwarf cuts his attention back to Everon. "Seriously though, do ya have a solution? Because that would be, ya know, helpful," he nods matter of factly, truly curious if the elf does have a solution.
”I like to hear myself talk?” Praxim mutters to Lym, partially shocked, partially a little hurt.
"Hmm? Did you say something, Praxim? Not to be rude, but I can't talk right now. I'm trying to figure out what this is and how to overcome it."
Trying to figure out what could be causing this, if not the undead dwarves.
Arcana +26
Nature +13
Planes +20
Religion +20
"Well...I could permanently remove your vision. You certainly wouldn't have to worry about seeing them anymore." Everon suggests in a helpful voice.
Praxim, great chatterbox that he is, raises an amused eyebrow at Everon’s plan, then leans back and waits for the taciturn dwarf to quietly reply.
Voices drift into your consciousness, at first just moans of agony, but soon snatches of words can be heard.
'...so hungry...'
'...stay away!...'
'...it's just meat...'
'...must...eat...'
'...no! by the gods, no!...'
The hammering continues all over the cabin as the walls buckle and window shutters quake under the pounding.
Now the ghosts seem to notice you all for the first time. The mob surges forward, hands reaching out...
...hungry.
Also thought it was for those outside.
Does the bone devil require a Fort save too?
"This is a powerful evil. More than the hauntings we have previously encountered. We must be rid of it."
Lym
Bone Devil
"Well...I could permanently remove your vision. You certainly wouldn't have to worry about seeing them anymore." Everon suggests in a helpful voice.
Thordak simply gives the elf a cold stare for a moment. "Really? That's the best you can come up with? Blind me? What are ya, takin' funny lessons from Mr. Funny Elf over there?" he motions over to Praxim. "What are you lot, some type of 'comedy tag-team'? Well I've got news for ya, lad, don't quit yer day job! In which that means that, yer not that funny. And seein' how yer not that funny, if you've got a job you'd better keep it and not try to go off and be some kind of funny man. Or elf. Or whatever. Because you won't get paid very well because yer not that funny, ya see?" The dwarf harumphs, shaking his head at the ridiculous solution. "'Blind me'. What the devil good does that do, blindin' me? Sheesh. And here I thought he might've had a good idea. Ya know, Thordak, that's what ya get for trustin' an elf. They think they're soooo funny." The dwarf then turns his attention back to the outside, wondering if this insane blizzard is going to die down.
Voices drift into your consciousness, at first just moans of agony, but soon snatches of words can be heard.
'...so hungry...'
'...stay away!...'
'...it's just meat...'
'...must...eat...'
'...no! by the gods, no!...'The hammering continues all over the cabin as the walls buckle and window shutters quake under the pounding.
Now the ghosts seem to notice you all for the first time. The mob surges forward, hands reaching out...
Thordak then hears more of the voices and the constant hammering and the feeling of the cabin collapsing and it's all he can do to cover his ears as tight as can with his hands. "Make it stop! You've got ta make it stop, lass! How do we be rid of this blasted... well... ALL of it! I can't take much more of this!" The totality of all that is happening is starting to affect the dwarf mentally which one might wonder how much longer he will last before cracking.
”Try channeling again?” Praxim asks, clearly at a loss for how to deal with this threat.
As the ghosts of the starving dwarves swarm around you, there is a sensation of a malevolent will attempting to enter your pysche. With effort, you shake off the intrusion. All except one that is...
The bone devil thrashes in agony as the dead swarm reaches it. Thrown into the corner, the devil slumps in a heap. When it looks up slowly at the party, it's eyes are dead in it's skull. It utters a single word...
"Nevermore."
It attacks the surprised Lym with it's stinger, the wicked barb lodging in her side.
The mental intrusion intensifies.
Praxim takes a step up next to the devil and puts two arrows into it at point blank range destroying it.
[dice=Will]1d20+20
Praxim takes a step up next to the devil and puts two arrows into it at point blank range destroying it.
[dice=Arrow]1d20+30+1-2-4
[dice=Confirm]1d20+30+1-2-4
[dice=Damage]3d8+51+2d6+2d6[dice=Arrow]1d20+30+1-2-4
[dice=Confirm]1d20+30+1-2-4
[dice=Damage]3d8+51+2d6+2d6[dice=Arrow]1d20+25+1-2-4
[dice=Arrow]1d20+20+1-2-4
Perhaps it would be better to remove his speech. Everon thought after the dwarf's long-winded rebuttal.
Lym dismisses the bone devil. "Useless. Return to your infernal realm and know that I shall command you attend me again in the future."
Almost forgot
Tomaru does try to Channel Energy again.
Thordak, with his hands remaining over his ears, shakes his head vigorously in an attempt to kick the voices out and can be heard mumbling in a sing-song voice, "I'm not listening, I'm not listening, I'm not listening, I'm not listening, I'm not listening..."
Two arrows. A snap of the fingers. The bone devil is gone.
The hammering on the cabins reaches a fever pitch. Dust and snow fall from the ceiling with each blow. The walls bulge as if a hundred massive fists are beating against them.
The starving dwarf ghosts surge around each of you.
'...must...eat....'
'...a curse on you...'
The feelings of desperate hunger, of despair, threaten to bury your psyche in a wave of utter anguish.
”Agreed.”
Uh oh.
Thordak, unable to tolerate it any longer, pulls out his longaxe. "Blast ya!!! Blast ya, all!!! Just go to yer rest!!!" He then swings at the ghosts, hoping to accomplish... something.
Tomaru is shocked that his divine abilities seem to have no effect on these ghosts. He casts Fly and tries to get out of reach of the ghosts.
Lym casts Mage's Sword and has it attack the ghosts.
Confirm Crit
The ghostly horde is not bound to the earth, flying will not avail you. The horde surges, reaching out...
Lym's Mage Sword hacks and slashes about, but the weapon merely mere parts the air around the ghosts without any effect.
Rexil’s eyes go haunted. He grips his club in desperation at the hunger that fills him. His eyes light upon his elven “master” and out of nowhere he swings!
Fortunately, his sudden hunger throws off his aim.
Everon frowns down at the panicking adventurers. He reaches into his spell component pouch and pulls out a small crystalline bottle, unstopping it and putting some drops into his eyes. "Vis ocuirir."
Everon's eyes flash with arcane power, but he is perplexed, for there is nothing to see. The lower part of the cabin, with the exception of the party, is completely empty.
And yet the waves of anguish are very real. Rexil steps down onto the floor, a mad look in his eyes. The young stone giant's face looks gaunt, as if he hasn't eaten in weeks. He swings his greatclub at Praxim with wild abandon, trying to kill something - anything - so he can eat. Lym slashes about with her spell sword, while Thordak screams dwarven curses as he hacks away at air.
Then silence...
In an instant, all is quiet. The hammering on the cabin ceases, the ghosts melt away into the floor.
Before you, a lone figure begins to slowly materialize. A solitary dwarf, balding with a few scars. His dark brown beard is full and separated into two lengths by gold rings. A dwarf whose image you have seen in the hauntings of the cabin, and in the picture in the main room above.
Silas Vekker.
”Damn! Rexil snap out of...” Praxim trails off as the ghosts fade. He takes a 5-foot step out of reach of his own cohort, activates smite evil, and starts sending arrows at the phantom.
If any of those hit, the first does an extra 15 damage, assuming it’s an undead. If it’s some sort of outsider pretending to be a ghost, it’s going to do even more.
Rexil follows Praxim and continues trying to bash his brains in?
Everon straightens up the robes around his wrist. "Tomaru, I will bow to your permission and wisdom since I am new to your group. Would you like to me disable them?"
Thordak, finally relieved all is silent, relaxes. But then is taken aback by the sighting of the dwarf. His attention then snaps toward Praxim as he swears and he notices he's pulling an arrow out. "WAIT!!! WAIT A BLASTED MINUTE, ELF!!! ALL OF YOU LOT JUST WAIT!!!" Thordak yells, raising his hands up in an attempt to get them to stop, while still holding his axe.
He then waits a moment for things to calm as he looks around, waiting to see if they actually will, before turning his attention back to Silas. Narrowing his eyes at the dwarf in curiosity, he sheathes his weapon and walks over to him. Thordak studies him a moment, wondering about a million things. "Silas Vekker as I live and breathe. Name's Thordak. Why are ya here? I mean...," he pauses, looking as if he's trying to come up with something more but there's just so much jumbled within his mind he really has no idea where to start. "Why? Is there a reason for ya bein' here?"
"Restrain the giant." Tomaru calls to Everon. "He's being possessed or something."
Tomaru keeps his attention on the spectral dwarf.
Lym causes the sword to stand next to Thordak ready to strike if the ghost proves hostile.
"Take care, friend dwarf. This one may not be your friend."
I guess Praxim also holds off at Thordak’s intervention, unless the ghost outright attacks, but the arrow doesn’t leave his bowstring.