Seeing his blade have no impact Gaius stabs at the creature's eyes, trying to distract them and help Signe.
Signe tries to take advantage of Gaius's lead and cleaves at one of the undead.
"Myrtu will judge you." She declares, moving behind the creature to flank it.
Signe's blade cleaves through the damaged creature, splattering ectoplasm everywhere as it falls! The other one groans and lunges at her, splattering her with horrifying ooze!
"Over here vile thing!" Gaius yells, slapping at the creature's head with his thinner blade.
Signe spins to cleave through the next creature.
Signe cleaves right through the second ectoplasmic undead, annihilating it!
You press on through the burned-out dungeon. Four dark hallways exit from this large empty chamber, each striking out in one of the four directions of the compass, and each decorated with a soot-caked brass nameplate affixed to the ceiling just above the entrance. A rubble-choked stairway leads up in the middle of the room, while eight skeletons dressed in scorched prisoners’ robes lie on the ground.
The brass nameplates that hang above each of the four hallways leading out of this room identify the cellblocks that lie beyond, although the soot must be wiped away to reveal these names. To the north lies “The Oubliette.” To the west lies “Reaper’s Hold.” To the south lies “The Nevermore.” And to the east, where you have come from, once stretched “Hell’s Basement.”
"Well this is certainly a choice." Signe says, with an unamused laugh. "What do you say, nothing can be worse than Hell's Basement, am I correct?"
Signe spins on the spot, pausing at each sign again, pondering a direction before deciding. "Reaper's Hold, just because it is a straight line from where we came from."
Signe takes a few steps forward, before glancing at Gaius to gain his approval.
The western hall to Reaper's Hold passes by a pair of guardrooms. One room contains a winch that opens the portcullis at the end of the hall, allowing access to Reaper's Hold. The other guardroom contains a single large table with two chairs astride it and a single sagging cot pushed up against the eastern wall. Several battered cabinets line the northern wall, with a few arrows and bits of chainmail lying scattered on the floor nearby, yet the most eerie sight are the three fractured skulls sitting on the table next to a heavy hammer. It looks as if someone has arranged the fragments of the skulls in some sort of pattern, as if an attempt had been made to construct a fourth skull from the broken fragments of the trio on the table. The leathery body of a long-dead dwarf, his wiry red hair and beard still strangely vibrant in death, lies slumped on the ground behind the table.
A few seconds after you enter this room, the three shattered skulls rattle about, then rise up and reform into three solid skulls that begin to scream as they fly towards you. At the same time, you feel a sudden splitting headache and realize a haunt is about to manifest!
Gaius nods his agreement and moves into position just behind Signe so as to not obstruct her much larger blade.
------------------
"You get the skulls!" Gaius yells, flipping the top off yet another haunt siphon.
Signe steps forwards to intercept the skulls and brings her blade down at them, hard.
The skull narrowly dodges Signe's attack, letting loose a bloodcurdling wail! The three skulls swarm around the inquisitor, one managing to bash into her.
Gaius's haunt siphon weakens the haunt but does not destroy it. A spirit seems to rise up from the dwarf skeleton, appearing as a sobbing dwarf wielding a ghostly hammer--the Mosswater Marauder! A ghostly skull floats in the air nearby, its cranium laced with cracks and missing a knife-shaped shard of bone along the side.
The dwarf swoops towards Gaius and swings his hammer at his head--
--but he misses!
Gaius unstoppers a second haunt siphon, judging the Mosswater Marauder to be the greater threat, and then circles behind the skulls to support Signe.
Signe continues to focus on the skulls, trusting Gaius to do as he said and deal with the haunt.
Signe destroys one of the skulls with a powerful swing, which seems to weaken the Marauder's spirit. Another haunt siphon from Gaius seals the deal. The dwarf disappears with a final wail, and the haunt siphon's mists turn green with the trapped spiritual energy!
"Well that makes two of the spirits. The Piper and the Marauder I believe." Gaius says, tucking the siphon away. "It is a shame we only have two of these left. I would prefer to return upstairs and collect the bones, remove them to consecrated ground or some such. That might destroy Father Charlatan's spirit without further issue, but I am no scholar of such things, so I will defer to you Signe."
"Gaius, I believe your plan is certainly wise, and correct given what we have found here today. Its unfortunate we did not find more given the circumstances, but at least we know that the Professor was indeed here and that others were also here on the night of his death." Signe says, before letting out a heavy sigh. "This was certainly not what I expected to find to be truthful. How much of this do we tell Kendra for now? I do not wish to worry her until we have more certainties, however she has the right to know."
"Then let us proceed." Gaius suggests. He holds any further discussion until they've left the lower level and are headed back upstairs to collect the bones.
"I'd suggest telling her the truth - that the Professor was here and that he had discovered something important. That will reassure her that her father died for a worthy cause. I suggest we don't explain any more for now. We still need to finish exploring here, so any conclusions would be premature."
Signe nods her head slowly. "That seems sensible. I don't want to upset her unnecessarily. Let's collect those bones and make haste for the temple."
You bring Father Charlatan's bones to the church of Pharasma to be consecrated, ensuring the trickster's spirit will not harass any unwary victims. Then, you return to Kendra Lorrimor's home. She sits up from where she was reading a book and quickly approaches, wringing her hands with worry. "You're back! What happened in that accursed prison?"
Gaius looks to Signe to start the explanation and slips out of the room to make a new pot of tea. It is the done thing for news like this!
Signe has never had to explain such bad news to another before, not when her investigations back home consisted of affairs and missing pets.
"Kendra, I'm very sorry... You should sit down...." Signe's voice trails off and waits until Kendra takes a seat. "Your father - he was murdered at the Harrowstone Prison. We do not know enough about it right now, but we have made it our personal mission to investigate your father's death as he was a good man." Signe's face is full of concern, as she watches for Kendra's reaction. "I know that right now, this is terrible news, but both Gaius and I will do everything we can to help you find closure and understanding for your father's passing and ensure that he has passed to Myrtyu's loving embrace."
Kendra folds her hands in front of her and listens to the news, taking it stoically. "Of course. Thank you for telling me," she says, lip trembling only slightly. "It is actually a comfort to know that it was not random happenstance that took my father from me. I have no doubt you two will find the ones responsible and ensure they face justice for their crimes."
Gaius returns with a neatly set tray and sets to work pouring tea all round. He doesn't give any more details about Harrowstone, but proves himself equal to the task of keeping a light conversation going and even brings a smile or two to Kendra's face in the process!
"We'll return in the morning?" He asks Signe when Kendra leaves to heat more tea. "We've made good progress but those spirits are dangerous - we shouldn't leave it any longer than we have to."