As Lupi approached the dead body with a wand, she said to Phin "Likely a combat spell in that wand, too bad it did now help the previous owner." "Too bad I don't have Detect Magic prepared today... I wonder if Alua sees the spirit of the goblin still grasping that wand.", she added to herself. She then looked to the eastern passage and said "Should we continue?"
"Are we clear of danger? Do we have a moment?"
Baran paused for an answer then approached where the fallen goblin was and gave it a look. He reached out and pried the wand from the dead creature's hands and examined it carefully. "On the windless air came the sound of a tiny flute and so one appeared as if there the entire time." A little silver flute appeared in the boy's right hand. He placed the wand on the ground and played to it, trying to make it vibrate lightly in sympathy with his music. Like a tuning fork he waited for the wand to reveal its' magical frequency.
Phin let Lupi and Baran inspect the wand as it was no use to her. In the meantime, she carefully crept further down the only passable tunnel.
She turned back towards Baran, "Can you send one of your lights with me or should I light a torch? It seems like light is the only thing that reveals those Shadowseed and I don't want to run into any."
Erix lowered Phin down the steep slope - almost a vertical hole, really - to the corridor floor below, while Baran maneuvered one of his lights to float down with her. In the magical radiance, Phin could easily see the corridor continuing quite some distance to the east. She quickly determined this tunnel had to run below the one you had cleared out to enter the ruins. But that was not the thing that drew your attention.
A few dozen strides ahead, a faint light rose from the ground, taking the form of an armored, blade-bearing goblin in the passageway. The phantom hissed at you, its face twisted to a skeletal leer as its flesh peeled away.
"Facecloths, soaked in something that smells good -well, smells a lot. Can you do that Baran?" Erix asked "It'll kill our sense of smell, but down here that's a blessing."
When Phin went down, Erix made sure to have a good hold on the rope. "Tug once to get some slack. Tug twice to retract a bit. Tug three times and I'll get you back fast as I can." Erix promised Phin. You've got a hair under 50ft to look.
Phin's eyes widened in dismay at the appearance of the ghostly goblin and in her nose wrinkled in disgust as its flesh peeled away. "What happened down here to cause such a vein of negative energy?" she muttered to herself.
She didn't wait around to find out or ask the goblin any questions. She gave the rope three yanks and then held on tight as she expected to be pulled up quickly by Erix.
As she's hauled upwards she shared what she'd seen. "There's an angry undead down there. I'm no expert but I think it was more incorporeal than corporeal. Not sure what we can do when weapons may pass right through it." She turned to Alua, "You're the spirit expert. Is it worth trying to talk to it? It didn't really seem very friendly."
"Uh, I've made things move as if by an invisible wind but I've never created a breeze before. I can make things have flavours or improve the flavours they already have. Smell ad taste are very related. Give your scarves or whatever you have to cover your mouth with and I'll give it a try. Ahem, Hidding places of such bitter rankness that belies a foulness of spirit. Even in such dolorous guards heroes such as these, with nobler intent and more brave, will always come through smelling like a rose." Baran passed out the bit and offerings "Did it work???" As his did so he minded his lights and made sure the forward light followed Phin downward.
-----
Baran interjected, "Yes, there is no guarantee we can even touch it."
"Spirit expert?" Alua said with a surprised laugh. "If by expert you mean punching bag." As if to highlight her point, her flowery-smelling scarf suddenly unraveled from her face and flew across the room. Erix saved her by bringing his foot down on it, and she smiled her thanks, then rewound it around her face.
"I can see them, sometimes, and they do what I asks them, rarely. But I can certainly take a peek and see if it's something that can be reasoned with." She paused, then added, "I wonder if it's the same being I caught glimpse of earlier."
Looking at the group, she said, "Will you come with me? If it noticed Phin, it might not let a second person get a quick getaway. We should be ready to fight. If we can fight it."
"Thanks", Lupi said to Baran as her cloth got a rosy smell ..but what spells were in the copper wand?" She was worried that the monster the poor deceased goblin was fighting was still here.
"I've got Magic Missile, that should hit incorporeal too. Other magic ...ummm... is not so effective," Lupi said with some worry. "I will change my spells to some more Magic Missiles."
Looking to Alua, Lupi said "Umm... Sure I will come." Looking at the slope she thought "Ugh... climbing... at least its down this time, I need only one try..."
She paused, then added, "I wonder if it's the same being I caught glimpse of earlier."
"If it is then it must have passed through the cave wall. An incorporeal creature?! Fasinating!"
Phin reluctantly nodded, "I'll come with but I'm not going first. And to be clear, it saw me and hissed at me. We will most likely have to fight. Although there isn't anything I can do if my weapon passes right through it. Hopefully we can find another way to get passed it."
"It's not like we can count on any back up from camp." Her voice held a hint of contempt, "I mean, how long ago did those workers flee the cavern? If help was coming, it would probably be here by now."
"Now Phin," Alua admonished gently, "most of the people here are students and anthropologists. Regular students, not brave adventurer students like our Baran. Not everybody rushes headlong into danger like we do."
Turning to the group, she said, "Remember my light trick, the one I did in the office? If this thing is an evil spirit, I'm pretty sure I can hurt it like that. So let me take the lead. And if that's not enough, magic might be the only thing to hurt it, so we need to shield the spellcasters and take the hits while they fire."
Turning to the edge, the oracle prepared to climb down it.
"Alright. If Lupi is messing with her spells, the rest of you can help me put some knots in this rope. I promise you'll be glad if we end up having to go up or down this thing at speed." Erix's faint smile vanished.
"I'm worried that we don't know what this is, or even how strong it is, we might not all be able to hurt it, and we don't have an easy way to rutreat. Am I right that if this thing is incorporeal, a lot of our best fighters are going to be useless? I don't mind taking a few hits, Alua, but if you and Lupi are the only ones who can hurt it then we're essentially down to two active combatants. Does anyone else have anything we might be able to use to at least distract it?"
Phin’s brow wrinkled in uncertainty as she glanced at Alia, ”Fine, my bad, a bunch of scholars and not fighters. But people experienced in exploring ruins should be used to running into creatures like this, right? Maybe the Professor planned for this and has something that will help us. Are we in a hurry to go back down? Maybe we speak with the Professor first. I’ve heard that there are liquids or spells that can be used on weapons so that they can hurt ghosts.”
”Baran, you’ve been privy to preparatory meetings. Was there any mention about a situation like this to the team leads? Like what to do if you encounter a ghost?”
yeah, okay to go down - Phin knows the dimensions, so we can plan a little. We go down and reform - in which case, what formation are we looking at?
After getting her spells refreshed Lupi helped others to make a knotted rope. Then waiting her turn, she peeked into the near future to see the best knots to put her feet on and then climbed down.
It took you a moment to figure how to attach the rope so you’d have it ready in case you needed to retreat, but eventually you found a suitable crevice where a knotted end of the rope could be wedged tightly. Those of you first down had just enough time to catch a glimpse of the goblin apparition Phin had told you about, before, with a final leer, the creature dove into the tunnel wall and vanished from sight.
I want Alua in the front, as she's most likely capable to deal with this thing. Usually she brings up the rear. Or maybe Phin first to check for traps, with Alua right behind. Up to Phin.
”Baran, you’ve been privy to preparatory meetings. Was there any mention about a situation like this to the team leads? Like what to do if you encounter a ghost?”
Baran let out an involuntary laugh, "Oddly enough, the professor didn't mention to his 'coins-a-day' hires that they might need to fight ghosts of ancient ruin denziens. Must of slipped his mind."
-----Baran took his turn down the rope and scowled when the creature disappeared so rapidly. "Dammit! Did you see it?! What did it look like?! I barely caught a glimpse! Lets get after it." Baran eagerly took his place in line. "Taunting spirits in ancient caves unwittingly showed the way to the invisible supplicants." The four dancing lights rapidly chased the goblin spirit so that the last light was at Alua's shoulder.
Alua stared at the wall through which the spirit vanished. Raising an eyebrow at Baran, she said, "Unless you can make tunnels or pass through stone, we're not following it."
Any clues as to what this is?
"Unless you can make tunnels or pass through stone, we're not following it."
"Only the slow way ...", Baran didn't seem completely deterred but didn't try to follow.
"Hang on. If it can walk through walls, then it can ambush out of walls. That means we need to have at least a few feet clearance, so there's a chance to react. Godsdamned undead."
"Hang on. If it can walk through walls, then it can ambush out of walls. That means we need to have at least a few feet clearance, so there's a chance to react. Godsdamned undead."
Phin looked grim, "Truer words have never been spoken, Cub. But we should also expect it out of the floor and ceiling as well, not just the walls."
She started moving towards Alua, "I know I said I didn't want to go first but it makes sense for me to check for traps and other surprises." The elf threw a look over her shoulder at Erix, "That leaves you as our rear guard, Cub."
The rogue took a deep, settling breath but made sure to breathe through her mouth rather than her nose to avoid the smell. "Everyone ready? Let's go."
Phin scouted ahead and led the procession down the passage, eyes open in case the goblin apparition made another sudden appearance but that was not to be. Instead, what Phin’s eyes noted was that the rough-floored passage was coming to an end – a few feet ahead, another sheer-faced cliff and a drop down awaited, some 10 to 15 feet, she estimated, considering she could see a hint of the ground from her vantage point. And easily, too – there was faint light in the room beyond, deep purple in hue, and Phin’s ears could pick up the sounds of dripping water.
Lupi followed others in the line and wondered, why the ancient goblins had carved all these tunnels into the stone. She looked warily to the walls worrying the phantom would jump out of them at any moment. Nothing happened though and after a short while a new room was found at the end of the tunnel.
Baran followed the team and listened hard like he was expecting to be able to hear the goblin spirit pushing its' way through stone. He was almost surprised when people started to climb down the edge and took his turn in time. "Wait ... is that a light ahead? Lower you lanterns you grim procession." At that the four strange lanterns dropped down and seemed to drag themselves across the floor.
Erix shook his head "Sure. I'm not going to be very useful down there. Do we have a second rope?"
Alua squinted into the strange violet gloom of the cavern. "Maybe we should send the lights down, before we risk the floor? Baran, how far can you send your lights?"
As Phin crept closer to the edge and Baran sent his lights ahead of her, the irregularly shaped cavern lit up in a blaze of color before the elven dancer’s eyes. The steady drip of water became clearly audible, coming from somewhere nearby but outside Phin’s field of view. But that didn’t draw her attention anyway. In the cavern, gleaming veins of purple streaked the walls, and the cavern’s floor and ceiling were lousy with stalactites and stalagmites. Within those tapering stone columns, a grim scene presented itself – like an image seen through fog, goblin bodies were trapped within the murky purple crystal veins, their hands outstretched and their dead eyes wide with horror.
As Lupi got closer she also saw her fellow goblins bodies trapped inside crystal veins. She gasped "What could cause that... and tried remembering a book called "Wonders and Dangers below surface" she once read in Sharn. Yes, it must have been something in that book...
"The procession of lanterns, be they serious, go forth." the lights strung themselves in a line and floated down the wall to the middle of the room. Baran watched and stood quiet for sometime. His voice became very serious when he finally spoke, "Is this the result of some cataclysmic event? The teleporter? Surely it isn't the work of one ghostly goblin. Perhaps they were created at the same time that 'this' happened. Is it more like phase energy? I have read of arcane techniques that allow one to pass through a wall." He consulted with the learned Lupi.
"This could be a haunt, but I am not sure from the distance. We need to go closer.", Lupi said, took a step closer to the ledge and continued "First ´forged are sitting around for decades and now these goblins are frozen in time here. Creepy."
Phin started preparing another rope for their decent as Alua and Lupi discussed what she had pointed out to them below. Her ears perked up at the mention of a haunt, ”What’s a haunt? And will it do to us what it did to them?”
Quiet now, Baran waited his turn to descend.
”What’s a haunt? And will it do to us what it did to them?”
Lupi responses to Phin with the kind voice one uses to tell horror stories:"Ummm... Haunt is a location, where something terrible happened. Say a battleground with many deaths. When someone goes into the area, the haunt manifests... say there is a vision of headless soldiers and the smell of blood... and something happens... like you feel compelled to run away... They are quite interesting, they all tend to be different, can't wait to see, what this one does..." Lupi said enthusiastically. Getting her mind back together and remembering she was talking to Phin she added "Haunts typically do bad things related to what happened earlier, but a kind of lighter version... They tend to trigger somehow... we would need to take a closer look to find out the trigger... I need your keen senses to spot it... there is typically a clue, like a smell or a sound... I'll try to help you out..., she continued climbing down the rope.
Gingerly, you made your way down on the chamber floor, lacking any other means to proceed further. And no sooner than the boots of the last of you had touched ground a menacing chuckle echoed in the chamber and creatures with clear hostile intent stepped out from behind cover – or rose through the floor, in the case of three ghostly goblins.
Picture of two of the enemies in the encounter…
Lupi took a step back and cast a Magic Missile. Two shimmering missiles stroke one ghostly goblin to chest. From the distance she pondered, if she had seen these monsters before.
"Trust me. I think this will work out ok. I just hope their sense of smell isn't too keen." Baran said as he looked to Phin. He then raised his hands palms together and then separated and swept them outward. "Into the graves of ancient animus and faced without warning aberrations and devilry, the brave delvers closed ranks. A scene of puissance, Erix stage left, Alua stage centre, Lupi stage right ... and Phin Exeunt!", as he spoke Baran stepped slowly forward (but a few feet) and at the word exeunt slapped Phin hard on the back. She seemed to turn to smoke and quickly faded to nothing.
Alua stepped forward in front of Lupi, raising her mace across her body. "Lupi, step back behind me."
Instead of attacking, she called upon the spirits to bless them in their fight.
Lupi informed quickly the others on her findings "The ghostly goblins are not incorporeal, you can hit them normally. The tentacle-guy can daze us and the ponytail-guy has many nasty effects like creating undead. The two can resist weapons a bit."
Erix grinned evilly "I can hurt them, then."
He stepped back to put a pie of rocks between him and the spellcasters. Rather than draw a weapon he drew a flask, which he downed quickly with obvious revulsion.
"Gack! Still, worth it for a real fight."
Phin stifled an exclamation of surprise as she disappeared from view at Baran's touch. No one could see her smile of delight as she moved deftly towards the more substantial foes as she tried to figure out how to get behind them.