"YOWCH!" Wan screeches as the skeleton rakes him. "These field-tests of Proto v3.4 are hazardous to my health!"
Later, Wan thanks Zin for his timely assistance. "Your bedside manner seem to be ebullient, elfy-kins," Wan purrs flirtatiously. "We should compare notes sometime."
"Up! Down! Up again!" Wan punctuates the pursuit of the green glow as he races after everyone. "And yet another secret door - ooooh. That mist appears concerning to my eyes. One short tick!"
Wan produces a piece of chalk from his pack and goes back out to the hall to mark the step of the secret door, both on the outer and inner surface, with a stylised heart.
"We may need to know where we've been, and there's nothing wrong with prettying up the place. I dare say it could use it."
Zin's chest heaves as he frantically looks around. His eyes dart left and right as he gnashes is teeth. "Anyone see it?" He has a hard time seeing through the mist. "And where is this mist coming from?"
Mazul silently tries to help Zin as he heals Toska. She's still not particularly good at it, but she's starting to get an idea of how this whole 'healing' thing works. Which is good, because this old lighthouse is turning out to be far more dangerous than she'd thought.
"Did anyone...what? No, we didn't loot you. Why would we? I mean, I guess if you were actually dead it would be a waste not to, but..." Her own words are getting a little too grim for Mazul's liking, so she leaps on Zin's distraction. "Right! The light! Hopefully it hasn't gone too far."
Okay, she'd been happy about her ability to find secret doors, but this was getting a little ridiculous. "How many secret passages does one lighthouse need? Good idea Wan, I don't think I've gotten turned around yet, but it's hard to be sure. Particularly with that mist around." She shrugs apologetically at Zin. "I don't see a green glow anymore, but we weren't that far behind it. So we probably can't see it because it disappeared into the mist. Besides, the light was weird, and the mist is weird, so they're probably connected. Right?"
The kobold chuckles as Mazul gets flustered. ”Sorry, force of habit.”
Taking it easy for the time being he scampers at a leisurely pace behind the others as they chase after the light. ”Wouldn’t doubt it,” he replied to the Rogue. ”And you can never have enough secret passageways.”
”Ugh. If we can’t see it, then the odds are good that it went into the area where we can’t see it,” Wan surmises, gazing balefully at the mist from beneath Proto’s helm.
As Wan stares into the mist, he sees a single, unblinking red eye staring back. Suddenly, the mist surges forward, tentacles extending from it!
A tentacle lashes out to batter the tengu. A moment later, the cloud of mist congeals and thickens around him!
"No!" Akkaboo shouts as the mean mist tries to steal her best friend. Racing past everyone to the other side of the hallway branch, she yells into the fog, "Give him back, you meanie!" Sparks dance from her hands and race into the fog.
Mazul stares as the mist grows tentacles and suddenly grabs Wan. "What on Golarion is going on in this lighthouse?!" She's explored other ruins and never seen this many enemies in such a short span of time. Or enemies this strange for that matter. What even is that thing?!
Panic later. Focus on saving Wan now. She grips her shortsword, (hoping that a sharp edge will do more against a tentacle monster than a blunt one), and charges into the mist. Or rather, she would charge, but instead ends up carefully picking her way through. The last thing she needs right now is to trip and fall on her face!
Proto-Wan grunts with the force of the tentacle before his colleagues rush to his defense. He admires Akkaboo's electricity, cooing in consternation.
"Yes, I do believe that extreme measures are needed here in order to extract ourselves from this lethal predicament. Fear not - I may have just the thing."
With a hiss and a loud crack, a cloud of super-heated fire bursts out of Proto's form. Afterwards, the unsteady chug of a laboured engine can be heard coming from the armour.
Proto-Wan’s movement is halted by the tentacle, so, after exploding, the tengu pops Proto’s head-piece and pecks down at the appendage.
"Release me, you nebulous, mysterious, twit!"
Toska yelps in surprise, or rather annoyance as Wan blows up. He’s not all surprised that his toys blow up on him. Making him a casualty of the blast as well was a completely different story.
Coughing and hissing Toska rushes under the smoking armor to attack the smoking... smoke thing across from Mazul.
◆
◆
◆
Zin reaches out, one of the small glowing orbs bursts into a sparkle of light that glitters down upon Wan healing his injury. "Take it down quick!"
Zin listens to the stars above for a small bit of guidance. Unsure of what he will receive from the void.
◆◆ Heal (Wan)
◆ Guidance (Wan)
AC 16 (Enfeebled 1; -2 to saves, Grapple, Shoved and Forced Movement)
HP 14/14 | +0 Temp HP
Hero Points 1/3
Focus Points 2/2
Curse Stage: Minor
Spells (1) 0/2 |
The mist creature dodges some of Akkaboo's electric arc, though Wan's miniature explosion catches it full on. Neither Wan nor Toska are able to hit it with their attacks.
Zin heals Wan moments before the thing lashes out with its tentacle again. It strikes the tengu and grabs a hold of him, trying to squeeze the life out of him!
"YAHHHRRRRK!" Wan screeches out as the tentacle crushes the shell of Proto around him. "This.....is.....problematic..."
Proto-Wan goes dark.
”Wan!” Akkaboo starts to move forward, but remembers that Zin is good at healing people and stops herself. Instead, she glares at the cloud and tries to remember if she’s seen pictures of anything like this in a book somewhere.
The little goblin then tries to burn away some of the cloud with a handful of fire!
At this point Mazul is becoming almost numb to the sights and sounds of her allies fading into unconsciousness. I'm getting used to this. Is that a good thing? I don't think that's a good thing.
She squares her shoulders and starts chopping at the tentacle monster thing. Unfortunately the mist in her face makes her start coughing at exactly the wrong time.
◆
◆
◆
Zin releases a beam of dim light from his hands, similar to the cone of stars from before, but this time he brings his hands together to concentrate the beam into something more narrow and focused.
+ Dazzled 1 round (Minute if a crit)
As the moonbeam strikes through the fog Zin moves in behind Wan. "We have to get him out of here!"
AC 16 (Enfeebled 2; -3 to saves, Grapple, Shoved and Forced Movement)
HP 14/14 | +0 Temp HP
Hero Points 1/3
Focus Points 1/2
Curse Stage: Moderate
Spells (1) 0/2 |
Toska lets out a vehement hiss, the kobold equivalent to a roar, and begins hacking in a mad frenzy at the creature crushing Wan as his blade becomes steeped in spite.
◆
◆
◆
Akkaboo is unable to recall anything about the strange mist creature. She does hit it with a ball of flame, scorching its body. Mazul and Zin both miss with their attacks, but Toska lands two powerful blows, badly wounding the monster!
It turns its baleful gaze upon the kobold, but he manages to dodge its flailing tentacles!
Toska cackles, and them promptly renews his onslaught.
◆
◆
◆
Toska strikes the mist creature one more time, and at last, it dissolves into harmless smoke that quickly disperses. The mist clears up, revealing the room clearly.
When you get the chance to look around, Mazul discovers a secret alcove to the west. Inside is a cache of supplies, including two lesser bravo’s brews, two lesser healing potions, a moderate skeptic’s elixir, and a barkskin potion.
As the mist dissipates Toska raises his hands up and screeches in victory, then promptly turning his attention back to Wan. ”Uh, can someone help him again?”
Mazul bites her lip as she drops to her knees next to the unconscious tengu. "I can try? Zin's still better at it though..."
It takes a couple attempts for her shaking hands to manage the bandages, but by the end Wan looks like he's no longer actively dying. Unfortunately he's not conscious yet either. Better than nothing, but when they head back to town Mazul mentally vows to head straight for the library and pick up a book on first aid.
Speaking of which...
"We can't keep doing this." She sits back on her heels. "Someone's gone down in practically every fight. I think we should head back to town, tell Wrin about the green 'I was Otari' light and the mushroom-eyed people, then come back tomorrow. Maybe if we can get a better idea of what we're facing we won't get hurt so much."
"Toss me one of those potions or he will die before we can bandage him up!" Zin grabs one of the potions and pours it down the tengu's beak.
Zin rushes to Wan's side, unsure if it is too late. He strips off another length of bandages and holds it on the wounds.
Wan coughs and splutters as the tender mercies of his teammates bring him back from death's door.
Again.
"Did we manage to eke out a victory against the land octopus?" Wan squeaks. Proto-Wan shudders unsteadily to his feet, a laboured engine chugging rather noisily as he does so. He pops Proto's head-piece and looks around for the corpse of some sea-creature, disappointed to find no such remains.
"Methinks our efforts are better utilised in a reconnaissance vein." The tengu cracks his neck by twisting his head all the way around, and whipping it back rapidly. He then shudders all over. "We should report back to Wrin --- OOOOOH! Treasure...and ANOTHER secret door!"
The tengu heedlessly pokes his Proto-less head into the alcove, intent upon the mechanics of the deceptive door.
"Honestly, how many secret doors does one lighthouse need? Oh, I should probably fix this..." The tengu notices the considerable damage to Proto's form, along with the laboriously-chugging sound of the internal engine. He removes the armour over his head (after detaching the head-piece) and hums merrily to himself as he pulls tools from his pack and takes time to make adjustments and repairs.
Toska thinks it over for a long while. "Yeaaaah, we can't report to Gumdrop, and loot, if we're all dead."
You decide to head make your way back out of the dungeons and return to Otari. The twenty-minute journey back to town passes without issues. It is just before noon when you arrive, having been in the ruins for close to two hours. Wrin is likely at her shop if you want to fill her in on what you have discovered so far, and the town’s shops are open if you wish to purchase anything before resting.
Mazul heads first for Wrin's shop. Once she ensures that Wrin isn't busy with any customers, she proceeds to sit right down onto the floor as she reports.
"So, we haven't found out yet what your ghost light is. We did see a strange green light that formed itself into the words 'I was Otari... save me from below!'" Then it led us on a merry goose-chase through a minotaur skeleton and a weird tentacle monster thing. Which nearly killed us, so we had to bail for a bit."
"We also met up with some mitflits. Their boss was willing to talk to us, or at least unwilling to let us kill him. He said that about a week before the lighthouse started glowing, a bunch of 'mushroom-eyed people' chased them out of their home in the dungeons. Any idea what those might be?
Wrin offers you cups of coffee as she listens to the report. ”Oh, my! It sounds like those ruins are still quite dangerous! I am glad you have been able to handle the creatures you have encountered so far. Unfortunately, I don’t know what those mushroom eyes people might be without more to go on.
“Take some rest while you can. You can visit me tonight for another star reading. And you may want to consider going back to the ruins of Gauntlight tonight. Since the glow seems brighter then, you may be able to learn more clues than you did in the daytime!"
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Good. Sounds...good." Actually, going back to the crawling-with-dangerous-monsters lighthouse did not sound good. But clearly Wrin's spooky ghost vision/sight thing had been correct. There was something strange going on in that lighthouse, and at least if they looked for it now it wouldn't stab them in the back later.
Mazul yawns, conscious now that she's sat down of just how tired she is. Two hours isn't a long time, except it is when you're spending a good part of that two hours fighting for your life. "Alright. I'll come back later for that reading. Does someone who's not me mind hawking the stuff we found but won't use? Then meet up back here a little after sunset?" Hopefully that would be enough time for a trip to the library as well as a good long nap.
Mazul isn't particularly scholarly, so she's rarely found a reason to visit the Dawnflower Library. She is however familiar with the librarian. Vandy Banderdash has a reputation for being able to find any book a vistor needs, often whether or not they know they need it. "Hey Vandy. We're clearing out the Gauntlight for Wrin, she's been seeing weird stuff around there lately. In the process we saw some weird stuff. Specifically a weird green light that formed itself into the words 'I was Otari... save me from below!' Have you ever heard about anything like that?"
"I'm also looking for information on mushroom-eyed people, specifically ones that like living in dungeons and chasing around mitflits. And if you have a manual on basic first aid I could borrow, that would be fantastic."
Mazul has a non-scholar's blind faith in a scholar's ability to figure out what they mean based on the slimmest of clues.
Zin looks quite exhausted, not used to being up for the better part of the day. "Thanks Wrin." He grabs the cup of coffee and takes a slow sip. "I could use a bit of rest and sell some of these elixir's we found."
In truth he was excited for another star reading. He didn't quite understand them completely and Wrin had been teaching him so much.
"No coffee, can't sleep then," Toska says before unceremoniously falling over and appearing to go to sleep.
”I should shore up my armoured shortcomings,” Wan admits to his team. ”I’ll gladly accept the potion to assist my defences, but in fact, I will need coin to make the changes that I need. Perhaps selling the enchanted morningstar would be good ploy? Or....I could try to remove the potency rune and place it on my khakkara instead!”
Wan sounds excited about the latter idea.
Toska angrily grumbles in his sleep when Wan brings up selling the magic weapon.
After meeting with Wrin, Mazul heads to the Dawnflower Library. Otari’s largest temple stands at the town’s westernmost edge, atop an upraised shelf that juts out far below the clifftop. The library is constructed in the Qadiran style of Sarenite temples, with two smaller minarets flanking a golden dome. The building’s position allows it to catch the rays of the rising sun, which transforms the dome into a brilliantly glowing testament to the sun goddess—at least, on days that aren’t fogged in or overcast.
A dozen acolytes of various faiths attend to Dawnflower Library. Shrines to Cayden Cailean, Erastil, and Gozreh can be found in the western portion of the building, while the primary shrine to Sarenrae takes up the eastern portion. The rest of the building contains the stacks. Dawnflower Library has a wide range of books ranging from fiction to history, satire to textbook, and even includes a sizable collection of (mostly) tasteful erotica.
Bella finds the Library's high priestess, the halfling Vandy Banderdash. She listens to the half-orc's barrage of questions.
"A light claiming to be Otari? Well, I suppose it's technically possible that it could actually be Otari's spirit. Of the four members of the Roseguard, he was the only one to die in the battle against Belcorra long ago. The survivors named the town in his honor! But it's also possible that it's a mischievous spirit or wisp trying to lure you into danger. I'd advise against following the light blindly!
"I can certainly let you borrow a manual about first aid. As for 'mushroom-eyed' people... I think I've seen something like that before..."
Vandy searches through the stacks for a few minutes before producing a book entitled Into the Darklands by a Pathfinder named Koriah Azmeren. She flips through the pages before settling on an illustration.
"Here it is. This could be your mushroom-eyed person. It’s called a morlock."
Mazul is normally fairly unconcerned with appearances, but she still makes a disgusted face when she sees the picture. "Ugh. Yes, I can see why the mitflits would flee from something like that. Since we're almost certainly going to end up fighting those things, can I borrow this book too? It might be a good idea to know what their weaknesses are. I promise I'll either bring it back in the same condition it was before or pay to replace it if it gets damaged."
"I'll be sure to take your advice about that light. It did lead us straight into a skeleton...and a tentacle monster...yeah maybe we should avoid it in future." She coughs. "Those, uh, 'encounters' are a large part of the reason I want the book on first aid. Thanks for all the help, you are a queen among halflings."
Vandy beams at Mazul. "Well, I try my best! Happy to be of service."
Mazul is able to read a bit more about morlocks: Originating from humans long lost from the world of light, morlocks are brutal monsters that dwell in the tangled tunnels of the upper reaches of the Darklands. Their wiry frames mask the strength of their limbs and their swift reactions, and their arms are long enough that they can drop into an uncanny, four-limbed shuffle for speed or stealth. They no longer remember the lives their ancestors led on the surface, although many morlocks still dwell in the shattered ruins of their ancient homes.
Mazul thanks Vandy again and wanders out of the library. She swings by the shop just long enough to pick up a waterproof bag, (which she carefully stows both books in), then heads straight to the small room she's been renting for a well-deserved nap.
"Toska, sweetling," Wan says, balancing a gold coin on his wing, "I will wager you the kiss of Lady Luck as to which of us gets the enchantment coming to us via this potency rune that we've recovered. What say you?"
Wan flips the coin.
”Sure... wait, is this a metaphor or are you actually flirting now, I can never tell.” Toska thinks aloud as his eyes stay glued to the coin.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Wan sighs.
"That cracks it, then. I am to shore up my defences as the best attempt at an offence."
Zin returns from the market with five small bags of coins. "I got what I could, though we truly didn't have much." He hands a bag of coins to each in the group.
He looks at the darkening sky. "You may want to find someone to put that on quickly as it is beginning to get dark." Zin begins to gather his stuff and head towards Wrin's place. That darkness always brought many fortunes, but many more nightmares.
Toska nods appreciatively at Wan and Zin, then promptly scampers off to get his weapon enchanted.
Wrin is able to transfer the rune from the morningstar onto Toska’s weapon. That evening, the tiefling performs a star reading for you before sending you on your way.
You return to the ruins of Gauntlight. Now that it is dark, you can look up and clearly see a faint hint of the blue glow around the top of the lighthouse above you.
Zin points up at the light. "Do you see that. Look how much brighter it is now." He begins to slog through the wetlands as he heads towards the tower. "We should probably head back to the top of the tower and check out the light itself."
Akkaboo shivers. "I hope the blood-pool isn't bigger when we go back," she frets. "Or gone..."
The lighthouse is how you left it, with the bloodstain still in place. This time, however, as you enter the room, a ghastly image of a woman, seemingly composed of fresh blood, rises from the bloodstain on the floor and rotates in place like a lighthouse. Beams of cold blue light shine from her eyes and open mouth, causing blisters and decay to spread across flesh!
Success: The creature takes 1d8 negative damage.
Failure: The creature takes 1d8+6 negative damage and is dazzled for 1 round.
Critical Failure The creature takes 2d8+6 negative damageand is blinded for 1 round then dazzled for 1 round.
The woman's beam splashes across his arms as Zin shields his face. He screams and quickly offers a prayer to the stars above. "Help us!"
The voices return with an offering.
******
Ỷ̴̜̜̙̥̥̳͇̣͖̪̬͇̙̮̰̪ͦͪ͘ȏ̶̜̪̞͍͉̖̺̞̘̙̤̠͉͎̗̭̗̩͙ͦ̂̐ͩ̾ͫ̔̀uͪ̌̿́͗̅̐ͫ͒̓̌͂͏̵̢̧͕͙͇̳̟͉ ̪͈̱͎̲̩̥͖͇̥ ̷̰̟̖̞̙̪̻̭̰̼͍͈̟͓̯́ͦ̑ͧ̕ͅẇ̡̺͉̜̻̰̩̘̹̮̯̆̃ͪ͞͝ͅḭ̷̧̧̫̣̞̏ͫͣ̐̓ͥ̔̃͗ͨ͑͌ͥ̓͛́̃͐́š̡̿̑̄̓ ̟̘̜̬͎̘̻̀̕͢ͅh̶͐̽̄́ͯ̉̎̐̎̊͏̭̣̪̭̯͍̹̙̹ͅ ̧̧̪̟̺̖̯̱̤̭̱̠͍͇́̅ͥf̷̧ͧ̇ͣ́͏͖̥̭̗o̷̾̊̆̂̎͂ͥ͘͝҉̜̩̰̫̱r̨̯̩̩͕̞̃ͥ͌̒̃̀̀̕ ͒̌ͦ̎ͧ͂͋̚͢҉̟̘͎̣̰̖̜̣̗̻̳̭̥̻̥͉̕ǎ̵͓̼͙̩͕͓̟̜̻̔͗̿ͭ̉̇̉ͩ̐̄͆͐̚͟i̛ͭ̉̄ͥ́́̚҉̸͎͇̦͕d̋͋ͬ͛ͣ̚ ̧̘̞̮̜̬͇̹̜̝͈̖̺̪̗̳̳̘̟̃̎̔ͯͦ̉̚̕?̢͊̂̍ͪ͆͗̄̓̆̒̉̅͆̕҉͉̭̯̮͕͍͈̠̥̟͇̗͍͍̮͙̼̘
̛͔̩̜̥̮̞̪̘̲̣̠̞͙ͫͩ̽͆͒̕Y̴̞͓̥̻͌͌̽̅͟͡ǫ̷̸̛̻̜̞͓͚̘̯̹̇̌͑͗̈̏̾͛̐̽̓̽ͧͅư͛̀ͨ̔̄̉ͪ̎̀͜͞҉͎̗ ̘̜̯̠͚̩̖̘̲͔̟͚̠ ̺̩̘͓̬̊͑̃ͯ̓̃́̏ͭ͘͠͞ͅw̴̡̯͙̱̠̖͓̗̦̰̜͈͕͉̜̬̖̹͛ͩ̉ͪ̅̏͊͋ͥ͆́̓ͥͯ̇̑̉͜͡͞į̷̛͋̇ͨ͂͛̅̎̑͂ͫ̆̚͞ ̫̫͔͔͉͔̫l̶̷̵̛̙̯̳̳̲͈̹̟̤͕̒̃̿ͯ͊̅ͦ͊ͮ̋ͤ̈́͐ͫͦ͛͟ļ̈̃̈́̀̃ͦͦ̅͆ͧͧ͐҉̲͚͈̘̯̰͍̦͉̣͕͔̮͓̜ͅ ͣ̏̈́̽͂ͥ̄ͪ̆̅̉͊ͤͣ͏̛̥͇͍͙̤̺͙̝̫̤̟̣͇͔̟̩͘͘f̸̣̬̲̘̥̟̠͉͓̮̹̮̞͎̪̖̎̓ͧ̂ͥ̓ͨ̂̐̃́͗ͬ̿̐̂͆ͪ͊i̋̃̚ ̢͕̯͕̻̯̬̥̜̭͐͐ͥ̾̑̑͜͜͝ņ̢̔ͧ̇̐̾̍͐͌ͯ͆ͦ̅͗̏͋̊̀̍̉͏̢̠̬͉̘̼͔͇͉̦͚̻͉̙̥̖ḋ̇͆̈̍͐̃̀ͯ͊͗͛͋̈̓̚ ̛͗͌͂҉̲̤͉̲͔̫̥̫͓ ̷̳̬̣̤̦̣̖͈̥̯̬̣͈̫̝͉̟͑̎̉̈͆ͥ̅ͥ̓́ͦ̈́͐ͬ̆ͅͅo̵̜̪̩̯̞̩ͧ̈́̅͡ņ̴̲̞̣͖̰̥͈͓̻̮̯͓̦ͥͯ̍͒̂ͅl̉ͬͥ̀ ̵̷̸̣͇̖̪̲̦͉͔̓ͮͮ̏̆͛̄ͧ̎́̊ͦ́y̧̝̬̭̬͇̜͕̭̮̻͉̠͍̻̻̣̦͌̔̂̈ͯ́ͅ ̶̞̙̗͔̠͍̈́ͬ̓̓ͥ͞d̿̄ͧͩ̐̇͆̓͐͏͢҉̝͚͔͉̣̩̣̣̲̳͕̹̘̜̰͚̮e̢̨̹͖͙̞̜̺͙͚̭̱͕͉͌̄͐̒̈́ͧ̓̿͛ͯ̋̒ͅa̓̌̔ ̧͇̺̠̼͚̼̒́ͣͥ̾͊̎͛t̐͆̈́̽ͫͭͭ͆ͯͭͯ̔ͦ̀͏̘̗̬͙̗̫͔̩̜͇̙͎̖̣̯͈̫͍h̢̬̤̱͎̹͂ͧͭͥ̿͆̂͑̿͊̾̒͛̿̎̿ͦͨ̽ ͔͎͙̺̖
̶̸̵̆̓̍̄̃͋̌ͥ̾̄̑̈́̉͗́҉̘̯̥̘̺͇̯͓̖D̷̡̧͕̖̜̭̖͍̠̟̟̼͑́ͪ̓̌͑́̿̒ͦ̊̿e̸̠͎ͬ̅ͤ͗ͤ̈ͧ͗̃̃̅̄͒ͤ̕͢͟ ̪̩͔ą̼͍̤̱̼̼̇ͪ̒̽̓͋͌̎ͤͩ̔̅̒̐ͯͬ̏̊͜͟ṯ̳̝̱̘͎̤̘͔͍̤͈̻̂̈́͑̎̎̎̀͘h̵̶̨̯̝̹̠̩͓̐͌̅̈̔́̿̄̌̄ͪ̒ ̗͖̭͈̹̘̜̜̦͕̮ ̴̢̥̥̯͙͈͔̯̲͎̝͚̤̪̫̬͔͕ͬ̒̆͋̐̀̎̽́̈ͮ͂͜ͅa̷̶͇̘̯̝̘͙̜̤̦͎̙̙͙̦̖̹̰̾̄̋ͤ͛͛͊ͧ͌ͧ̍̽̃̓ͨ͆̓̚̕͝n̽ ̢̹͍̣̹̰̰͙̪̰̙ͭͮ̓̎́͢͜d̓͌́͌̐̽͟͏̻̳͖̫̦̱͈̥͕̘̤͓̬͓͉̀ ̱̙̱̪͕ͬ̑͒̃̽͂͐͠͠C̸ͧ̈ͧ̐̃ͩ͂͒ͥ̒ͪ̔͑ͩ̌̐̀̚͡͏̠͚̦͚̞͙̟̫̩͕h̸͚̟̪͉̟̭ͦ̆ͦ̐́ͭ̐͡͝aͯ͑̃̾̌͊̾͒͟͝҉ ̷̡̠̻͔̯̲̩̘̙͕͕̱͎̠͖̳͎ͅò̑ͫͮ̅ͭ͗ͥ͘͏̵̯͍̟͈̭̠̟̥̬͔̯̱̗̺͓̮ͅs̴ͬͪ̈̽̐́̚͘͝҉̤͎̲̝̪̬̺̝̝͚͈̫
̷̯̤̖͇͉͖͍͔͕͎̟͚̺̯͖̠͕̿ͧ̇ͥ̍ͨ̄́͜͠ͅY̶̧̬͚͖̝͇͉͇͕̘̺̱̮̩̝̫̼̞ͣͬ̌̓͗̃̐̓ͥͬ͠ȯ̵̸̧̭̼͊̒̽̍̒̈́̀͝ ̲̤͎̝̜̣̭͚̱̞̺u͌̀͛͊̂ͧ͆͒̊ͨͪ͂̄̄͗̍͏̯̠̫̟̩̗̳͚̟̬̟̥̠͡ ̸̧̨̛̳͎̠͖͓̃ͪͫͤ̔̊̒͆ͤͣ͊͌̃͘sͧ̋̀ͬͨ̂̇̎ͧͪ͝͏҉̶̬̱͍̠̞͉̮̗̲̟ͅt̵̵̶̛̥͙̝ͧͦ̊͐ͮͦ̐̂̄̿ͧ̽̓̋͛ͮ̚͡ ̫̮̱̼̙̼̯̫̙̪͙̼̼a̷̴̢̻͙̤̬͙̱̰͚̗͕͔̳͔̻ͩͨͫ̉͋͆̈́ͭͭͪ̏͢r̶̶ͣ̂͂̂̀̇̿͒ͤͩ̐̏͌ͬ͌ͬ̈̀͏̢̬̰̻͓͍̯̪̮̹ ẽ͕̟̩̮̖̝̪̝͓̪̪̙͎̻̫͙́̒͆ͧ͂ͫͪ̅̿̃͒ͬ͘͢͟ ̈̅̽͊͂̇̓̚̚҉̙̦̱̪̰̻̫͍͎̲͚͝i̵̴̧̱͍̦͍̼̭ͩ̃̐̄̿̓͌̊̎̓̃̀͐͞͠ͅṋ̴̡͓͕̠̩̼͖̙͖͒̀͌̓̎ͣ͋̇̋ͫ̏̆̀t̆ ̴̱̜͉̻͇͉͇͔͉̳͎̤͈͚̆ͫ͑́͢oͭ͌ͣ͛̎̍̈́̂ͬ͏̴̷̷̛͎̲̣̯̘̖̞͈͉̠̟̲̱̰̘̗͚̰͓ ̶̙̫͇̖̰͍̭̭͍͔̘̦͚̰́ͦ̓ͦ̂ͬ̈̂̉̅̾̚̚̚t͔̥͓̖͖͎͔͌͗ͧͨͪͩ͘͡ḫ͇͙̮͚̼͍̘͓̱͑̾̑̈́͒ͧ̓ͨ͛͑ͯͬ͂ͧ͒̃̓ͧ͟ ̣͈̦̤̟̬e̴̵̴̛͚̪̠͓̺͍͖͚̲̠ͦ̏͆̓̉͂ͦ̊͋̆̾̇̌͆ͫ̈́̚̚̚̕ ͉̭̹͉̙̜̦̪͉̝̜͇͔̠̹͍̭̖͕ͫͤͯ̓̅͐̿ͤͯ̄̅ͦ͐̐ͬͤ̓̔̕͘V̴̧͈̝̼̲ͩ͌͆͒̏͌̓̏ͧ͑̑͆ͬ̓̆̚͡ō̽̏̈́ͥͧ̂͊̎̂̚ ̵̢̱͈͚̠̱̻̖̼͈̘̽͑̋̔̐ͭ͠i̱͍̘̦͙̖̰̦͉̮̜̹͉͗̽ͣ̽ͩ̉̀͜d̞̪̲̙͚͎̻̳̒̆ͩ̋͂͑ͧ͋̏̈ͣ͟͞͡
̢̛̭̠̦͆̀͒ͧ͑̇͌͠A̴̵̘͎̦̣̋ͤ̏́̈́̋ͪ̓̏̿̎̀̉̾ͪͣ͢ņ̶̧̯̳̹͙͍̞̳̱̗̹̯̞͆̓ͬ̉͛̋ͮͨ̎͋̓ͣͥ͟͞d́ͣ́̿ͧ̑ ̴̵͎̞͔̥̇ͬͪͭ͗̂̀͠ ̶̛̛̭͖̹̤̗͙͔̼̖̤̥̖͉̦̰̭̇̎̇ͯ̒̇̇ͨͧ̐̊̑͘͘ͅw̡̛̌̑̉ͦ͌̓͐͐́ͩ͏͙͇̙̬͇̕͜ị̡̯̾̏̂́͑̆ͩͬ̐̐̃̂̃ͫ̍͟ ̱̲̘̘̖̻ͅl̸̵ͯͥ͊͌͒͊͐̀̀̎͏̪̝͚̻̹͕̬̭͈͖̪̠̬̠l̵̢̎͋̅̈̏̔͌̀͏̰̹̝͚͚̻̥͙͍ ̷̸̛̟̟̠̝̲͇͖͚̘̲͍̖̎ͧ͛͗͐̏͑͌̀͌ͅf̡̂͂̀ͣ̊̽̍̾͊ͣ̆̑̈ͩ͏̲̫̫̖̯̺̭̳̯̞̺̟̰̰̗̤͟͠i͍̒͋́̃ͣͫ̑ͨ́̚͢͟ ̼̫̗̜̙͕̭̟̙̹̻̮̝̩n̴͕͚͍̟̞͎͎͚͖̗̠͙͉̖͍ͥ͛ͤͦ͋̍͛ͤ͂̃̿͑̇́́̚͢ͅd̸̸̸̬̬̹̊̒̌ͪ̎̅̌̇͗ͦ̎ͤͯͦͨͣ͊̚͜ ͓͎̥̞͉͓̹̱͖͔̫̺ ̵̴̨̮͕͈̤̠̳̺̩̩͓̗̦̜̩́̔̌ͪ̉̀ͫ͂ͯͨ͂ͥ͛̾̾͌͞ơ̵̲̯͔̲̳͌ͮ͊̅̋͆̑̒ͪ̀̃͂̓͛͗͐̀̚͜n̋ͪ͐͗͊̔͋̉ͥ̀̽͑̚ ̥͕͍̗̠͎̞̝͍̔ͩ͘͘l̵͙̰̦͇̣̬̖͔̪̂ͪ̓̇̊͌̄͠y̸͔̥̼̮̮͎̩̤̮͊ͦ̂̌͋̅͑͛̆̔ͧ̆͞ ̍ͮ̏͂̍̽̄̾҉̴̪̟͓̥̲͎͢͞m̢̛͎͔̜͕̥̘̠̦͊̓͛͛͌̀̿̾ͣ͂ͩͧ͌ͧ̔̎̚͘͜͜a͗͋͆̒̆̊̈ͧͭ̓̍̀̒̆̑́̾͆̚͏̶̨̺̦̀ ͖͙̰̼̗̖d̽ͨ̍ͦ̇ͧ̍ͧ͊ͯ͏͇̯͓͚̩̘̠̣͓͓̼̠͖̮̤̰͇̗͜ṇ̵̷̰͖̠͚̾̃̄̂̉ͩ̽͐̋̃̄ͯ̉̿͜é̓ͬ̿͏̥̦̝̲̤̲̦̀͝ ͕͎͙̳̪͍̙̙͙͉̱̮s̨̖͔̯̦͓̣̦͕͚̗͍̙̟͓͕͎̞̤͌̽ͩ͂ͫ̈́ͭ͗͒̀͞͞͝s̴̡͇̮̯̤͉̦̯̳͙͖̻̻̤̪͑ͬ̓ͧ̉̉̔̏̉̏̃́͡ ̻͎̺.̛̊ͧͭͯ͋ͪͣ̑́͋͗ͧ̄҉̶҉̸̦͓͓̭̳̮͙̺̮͍̳̠̝̯̱̠
̵͚͎͔̟͉͍͓̞͓͉ͬ͑͆͒̆̾
The prayer seems to work! The bloody phantom shrieks, then sprays upward in a spiral, dousing the trap door leading the lighthouse cupola before draining upward through the keyhole.
Mazul enters the circular room. Mazul sees a ghastly, bloody woman. Mazul gets as far as "What the-" before the cold blue light drives her to the floor.
She coughs and rolls over onto her back, getting an interesting view of the woman disappearing into the ceiling overhead. She thinks she heard Zin saying something, so he's probably the one that drove the woman off. "Th-th-thanks." She coughs again. "I think...I could use...a little help here."