There are no handprints on the mirror, nor any door behind it. With the difficulties communicating, Dr. Lazarus becomes more determined than ever to solve the mystery behind the curse. If only he could find a way to talk with his teammates about it!
The heavy smell of dust and moldering books fills the air in this stuffy library. The wall-to-wall bookshelves mean this room has no windows, and the perpetual darkness and lack of circulation have taken their toll on the furnishings and air quality. To the northwest, a small reading nook, perhaps once cozy, sits neglected. In the corners of the room stand three-foot-tall marble pedestals, each topped with a small marble statue, though one has been knocked over and lies broken on the ground.
Fully alerted, you enter with weapons drawn. As you come in, a pair of shadows erupt from the cozy alcove and the book shelves, and they attack!
★ ---- ★ ---- ★ ---- ★
★ ---- ★ ---- ★ ---- ★
Turiik
Tarcog & Amvolwatt
Red
Green
Meadow & Silence
Dr. Lazarus
Jayma
Tarcog moves to the corner and Amvolwatt moves up to the Green Shadow.
Then Tarcog channels energy to Amvolwatt so it can better destroy the shadows.
“Anybody got a light?”
Amvolwatt tries to claw and slam the creature with their tail.
(deadly d8, finesse, magical),
(agile, finesse, magical)
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Turiik growls ferociously as the shadows appear and transforms into the beast with ursine claws and fangs. "Let us leave them hale and whole!" He charges past Lazarus to engage the shadow with Amvolwatt.
Amvolwatt strikes a ferocious early blow, and Turiik joins him, side-by-side. Both Turiik and Amvolwatt discover that these creatures have powerful resistance to their attacks.
★ ---- ★ ---- ★ ---- ★
It's the shadows' turn!
Red spends all three of his actions casting darkness.
◈◈◈ Darkness, 2nd Level
Green reaches out a chill and shadowy hand towards Turiik.
◈
Amazingly, it misses! Undaunted, it reaches for Turiik again!
◈
◈ Having hit Turiik successfully on the second strike, the creature starts to pull on Turiik's shadow, giggling maniacally. As Turiik's shadow is ripped away, he feels his great strength start to leave him.
★ ---- ★ ---- ★ ---- ★
Turiik (-19, Enfeebled 2)
Tarcog & Amvolwatt
Red
Green (-33)
Meadow & Silence
Dr. Lazarus
Jayma
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Meadow reaches up and activates her darkvision goggles and chooses her target.
"A smell of decay fills the air,
and shadows attack as a pair.
Those creepy undead
really fill me with dread.
I think I will shoot that one there."
extra damage on the first hit.
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Just as Dr. Lazarus is about to extol the virtues, in Elven, of being in this fine library, the shadows appear and ruin his experience. He curses at them in Celestial, "Vile creatures. I was about to sit down and enjoy some light reading."
As he's about to devise an attack plan, the lights go out.
Realizing he'd be better off seeing the enemy, Dr. Lazarus adjusts his Goggles of Night to grant him darkvision. Then, focusing on the near enemy, he devises a strategy.
After sharing any information (in Elven) with the team, the Doctor sees an opening. However, he considers drawing his curve blade instead.
Dr. Lazarus drops his hammer and draws his Elven Curve Blade.
Dr. Lazarus hurls his hammer.
+1 Striking Returning Cold Iron Grabthar's Hammer (w/ Stratagem) vs Green: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (13) + 16 = 29
or
Tarcog casts Dispel Magic as a third level spell against the darkness. As he is doing that Amvolwatt continues to attack the shadow.
“Does that help anyone?”
Amvolwatt continues to attack the shadow with claw and tail.
(deadly d8, finesse, magical),
(agile, finesse, magical)
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Jayma sees the Shadow casting a spell and...
... recognizes it immediately as Darkness. She warns her companions, "It's casting Darkness!", though the effects are all too soon apparent.
She sees Tarcog attempt to dispel the darkness with little effect and so tries to do so herself. Bringing her staff down hard, she says, "magia discedit," and concentrates on the darkness to try and counteract its magic.
Concentrating on the aeon stone in her wayfinder, she says the words, "scutum magicae," and the space around her shimmers a light pink.
As everyone rushes over to attack one of the shadows, Jayma watches in growing apprehension at the second shadow as her defenders peel away from before her. "In case nobody's noticed, there are two of these creatures in here with us."
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Jayma sees the shadow casting a spell and...
... recognizes it immediately. She warns her companions, "It's casting Darkness!", though the effects are all too soon apparent. Seeing Tarcog dispel the darkness with little effort saves her from having to do the same.
As everyone rushes over to attack one of the shadows, Jayma watches in growing apprehension at the second shadow as her defenders peel away from before her. "In case nobody's noticed, there are two of these creatures in here with us.".
Deciding that offense was the best defense, Jayma glares at the less popular shadow with one of her patented Stares-of-Death™ that even the incorporeal would do better than ignore, and follows it up with an almost sub-sonic snarl that has been known to make Owlbears shake in their figurative boots.
Disappointed that her attempt to shake the enemy's resolve did not seem to have the intended effect, she decides on a more direct approach at intimidation. Opening her arms wide, she calls out, "fire fusillade fries flying phantoms", before pounding the tip of her staff down hard twice: <crack!, crack!>. With each strike of her staff on the ground, a ray of scorching heat blasts from its head and flies towards a different enemy.
Meadow utters a kick-ass poem, dons dashing goggles, and misses the shadow's twice.
Alas, Dr. Lazarus remembers little about shadows other than they are incorporeal undead, but has been able to observe their abilities to rip shadows and cast darkness. He does switch weapons to his Elven Curve blade.
Tarcog dispels the darkness!
Amvolwatt manages to claw the shadow once with another devastating hit! The shadow continues to resist some of the damage!
Then Jayma glares, but Red has seen scarier things in the mirror than a gnome's glare, and remains unaffected. Then Jayma's scorching rays hit, and Green gets torched! Red is hit as well, but only takes part of the damage.
★ ---- ★ ---- ★ ---- ★
Turiik (-19, Enfeebled 2)
Tarcog & Amvolwatt
Red (-28)
Green (DEAD)
Meadow & Silence
Dr. Lazarus
Jayma
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"Strength is surging through my body!" Turiik growls. "Now that this one is still here, I can ignore the other one." He turns and lopes toward the remaining shadow where he tries to tear it apart with his teeth.
Turiik misses with his first attack, and then hits Red for another eight points of damage.
★ ---- ★ ---- ★ ---- ★
It's Red's turn!
It misses twice, and then attempts to hide in Turiik's shadow.
It's hidden from everyone but Lazarus, who can still see it plainly.
★ ---- ★ ---- ★ ---- ★
Turiik (-19, Enfeebled 2)
Tarcog & Amvolwatt
Red (-36)
Green (DEAD)
Meadow & Silence
Dr. Lazarus
Jayma
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Still not sure who can understand him, Dr. Lazarus calls out in elven, "Colleagues, the remaining shadow is still in the corner. Near Turiik." He then considers an attack plan.
Feeling he has a decent opening, the Doctor turns to Tarcog and calls out in Draconic, "Follow me, my boy, I'll provide some flanking on its opposite side." He then moves past Turiik, and swings with his Ghost Touch elven curve blade.
+1 Striking Ghost Touch Elven Curve Blade (w/ Stratagem): 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (8) + 16 = 24
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Jayma looks at the area where Thurston pointed and is having trouble seeing exactly where in Turiik's shadow the Shadow is hiding. She decides to aim for the center with the old tried-and-true, and hope for the best. With six quick slams of the end of her staff onto the floor "<Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack!>, and a "sharp shards shear shadowy shade."
Hero point reroll
Meadow searches for the shadow and grins evilly when she spots him.
"Shadows rise out of the night
Try to stay out of our sight
Cower away from the light
'Show yourself it's time to fight!'"
Meadow Aims carefully and fires a brace of arrows.
extra damage on the first hit.
Tarcog moves over to the other side of the room while Amvolwatt moves to the other side of the space that Dr. Lazarus pointed to.
Tarcog then breathes out a line of electricity.
Amvolwatt strikes at the creature.
(deadly d8, finesse, magical),
The Red shadow screams as Dr. Lazarus slices through it with his ghost touch blade, and then Jayma follows up with her magic missiles and slays it outright. You are alone in the library one again.
Tarcog spends a brief time looking around in the library, trying to determine if there is anything interesting about the collection. He uses his magic to clear away the dust and cobwebs.
Although some of the books are in poor condition, there is an excellent collection of books on Ustalavian art as well as books of literature and history that might be useful for the future museum here.
Meanwhile, it's time to explore the long and narrow kitchen!
The empty countertops of this kitchen, which was used only a handful of times before the mansion was abandoned, contrast with the well-stocked shelves. It appears the owner never bothered to remove the fine porcelain dining ware when the manor was abandoned, and it sits here on display in deteriorating glass-doored cabinets.
As Dr. Lazarus is doing his search of the room, his keen elven eyes notice something strange about the tiles in the midpoint of this kitchen hall! It's a constricting hallway trap.
Tarcog and Amvolwatt carefully back up out of the kitchen when they hear about the trap.
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When her force bolts shear through the remaining shadow, Jayma lets out an involuntary yip of excitement. "It's like we're occult exterminators called in to de-ghost an old building. How exciting!"
She follows the others into the kitchen, but as soon as Thurston points out that the whole kitchen is some sort of constriction trap, she quickly shuffles back out. "Don't mind me, but I think I'll watch what happens from out here." Not being an expert in disabling such traps, she leaves it to the more fleet fingered members of the group.
After allowing Lazarus to tend to his wounds, Turiik wanders over to the statues in the library while the others look at the books. When it is time to move on, he leaves his inspection reluctantly.
"I couldn't try my hand, but I have tools," Turiik says.
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Jayma looks around and sees everyone looking down a their shoes. "Really? Nobody knows how to disable this trap? How embarassing." She considers the situation and comes up with a plan. "I have an ancestor that's helped me in situations like this one before. I may be able to call on him to help me remove this trap."
Focusing her concentration, she chants in a somewhat deeper voice than normal, "I call on my ancestors to aid me with their knowledge of how to disable traps." After a small pause, she adds "Gray Mouser? Is that you? Perfect. I can't think of a better choice of ancestor for this job. So help me out a little here. How do I go about disabling this corridor trap?"
After a pause as she communes silently with her ancestor, she says, "Really? That's all there is to it? This better work Mouser or I'll come find you in the afterlife, wherever you might be." Jayma breaks out her Thieves' Tools, which she carries around just for this purpose and prepares herself.
With the knowledge given to her by the Mouser, and her new manic state, she repeatedly enters the kitchen, attempts to disable the trap, and then quickly exits before the kitchen has a chance to crush her.
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Watching the last Shadow fall, Dr. Lazarus looks satisfied. He sheathes his curve blade and retrieves his hammer.
Looking longingly as Tarcog begins enjoying the fruits of the library, the Doctor tends to the injured barbarian. He calls to him, in Cyclopsian, "Over here, my boy." When Turiik seemingly doesn't hear him, Lazarus sighs, and mutters in Osiriani to Jayma, "Fine, fine, I'll make yet another house call." Lazarus makes an effort of walking all of 10 feet to Turiik and unpacks his healing tools.
Later, in the kitchen hallway, Dr. Lazarus points out the trap. He warns everyone, in Elven, "Be alert, my colleagues. That looks dangerous." Since people seem to have trouble understanding him, he accompanies his warning with animated hand-gestures. Lazarus then casts Guidance on Jayma to help disabling it, and he steps back.
Jayma calls on her ancestors to disable the Constricting Hall Trap. Her first attempt fumbles, and then she uses her Hero Point to gain a success on two of the walls. Unfortunately her next attempt is also a critical failure.
The hall's remaining walls lose their rigidity, becoming fluid and elastic.
The hall difficult terrain, and Jayma in the hall is knocked prone unless she succeed at a DC 26 Reflex save. Unfortunately, it doesn't matter because the trap rolls initiative in the event of a Critical Fail.
★ ---- ★ ---- ★ ---- ★
★ ---- ★ ---- ★ ---- ★
The Hall wins initiative! It has an action for each of its non-disabled walls.
The wall crits Jayma for 56 damage!
Then the other wall hits for 20 damage, knocking the poor little gnome out!
★ ---- ★ ---- ★ ---- ★
Hall
Turiik
Jayma (Dying 1)
Dr. Lazarus
Tarcog + Amvolwatt
Meadow + Silence
Tarcog and Amvolwatt get a rope out of his pack and tie a loop in it.
He says “Somebody better at it want to rope Jayma and pull her out of there?” while holding the rope out for anyone to take.
Meadow rushes in and provides Jayma with some much needed medical aid before running out once more.
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Jayma rushes into the room and quickly disables a couple of the walls before rushing out. "That's not so difficult. Let's try that again." In she rushes, but soon finds that the trap is a lot more difficult than the Mouser had suggested. The hall starts flowing and...
...only by superhuman effort, does she manage to stay on her feet, long enough for the remaining two walls to come crushing in on her. "Oh dear..."
Jayma's eyes pop open and she groans as she gets to her feet and stumbles out of the hall. "I'm going to have to have another little chat with the Mouser when I get a chance. That was not as easy as he said it would be".
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"This completely harmless kitchen is a productive endeavor," Turiik growls. He leaps over the rippling floor to Jayma in the goal of hoisting her up and carrying her out.
Tarcog readies rope, Meadow heals Jayma and Turiik hoists the little gnome out of there. You decide to leave the completely harmless kitchen unresolved for now.
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_______o_________
_______i s_________
____ ee my_____
____ friend______
___ jayma ha___
__s been inju__
_red by the ha_
llway dire i wi
_ll quick to h__
__er aid then__
___flee lee_____
____st i be _____
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Relieved to see his old friend still with us, Dr. Lazarus asks Jayma in Osiriani, "I'm curious. How did it feel taking actual damage, Princess?" He grabs his healing kit. "Yes, you can stay wherever Meadow and Turiik drop you. I'll find you." Lazarus is getting more exercise than he cares to with these recent house calls.
Since we're in a hurry, the Doctor decides to spend a little more time prepping, in an effort to heal her up more quickly. If the group has 30min, Lazarus should be able to get her to full strength.
With Jayma back to her usual self, the Doctor looks around. In elven, he asks, So where to next?" He packs up his tools and periodically checks on his petients.
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Once Jayma gets out of the kitchen, she slumps crestfallen against a wall. "Ow!" When Thurston comes to patch her up and asks about how it felt to take actual damage, she replies weakly. "I must admit that I was knocked out before I could fully enjoy that novel experience, but given the sensations I'm feeling after, um..." she wanly indicates Meadow, "...the nice owl lady brought me back, I can't say I recommend it for one's health."
All patched up, Jayma slowly regains her usual sunny disposition. "Thank you, doctor. If I ever decide to do something as foolhardy as that again, please feel free to remind me of what happened on this occasion."
She then follows the rest of the group in search of the painting.
Seeing how Jayma had done it for others, Tarcog uses his magic to take care of any stains that the experience might have left on her clothing.
As you all look at the kitchen one last time, you realize that the trap is magical as well, so Level 4 Dispel Magic could also work to fix it. But that's a problem for later.
You all head off to the dining room, and probably because you just experienced one trap, you are all on high alert.
This grand dining room features a large bay window to the northwest. On the south wall, long mirrors stretch across the room on either side of the door. Heavy velvet curtains frame the mirrors, a musty smell clinging to the windows and the fabric.
As you all peer in, you notice two things. You see Lady of the Harvest on the far wall, and just as quickly, it winks out of existence. You also all notice that the magical energy in this room has distorted the stability of this floor.
"Let us stay here," Turiik says and then rolls his eyes in frustration. "There's surely no more art to find."
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Happy to see that Jayma is in good spirits after her ... ordeal, Dr. Lazarus follows the group to the dining room. When the subject of his lead, The Lady of the Harvest is hanging on the far wall, he calls out in Elven, "Colleagues, there she is!" Alas, as he approaches, the painting disappears.
Lazarus is about to head into the room to search for clues, but he notices the instability of the floor. He holds up his hand exaggeratedly, so everyone sees. In Elven, he says, "Halt! I've read about this magic." He repeats in Draconic, Osiriani, and Cyclopsian in the hopes that everyone understands.
He ruffles through his book bag to find his thinnest book, "Occult Distortions: Floors and Ceilings." He flips a few pages, snaps his fingers, and sets to work on realigning the magical energy.
Dr. Lazarus is aware that this was a False Step Floor, a floor that would cause you to fall through it only to fall back into the room through the ceiling, landing on the floor once again. Fortunately, he handily disables it.
As you step in and look around, you realize that the room has clearly been visited by some kind of creature who must have fallen through the floor multiple times. Scratches and spatters of blood mark one of the walls, a few feet off the ground and concentrated in the area where the Lady of the Harvest painting had been. Some of the scratches are deep enough to break through the plaster, exposing the inner frame of the wall.
Several small objects -- salt shakers, butter knives, card holders -- have been knocked over in the vicinity. Someone has been here, searched for something on the wall, and when they came up empty, left a mess in their wake.
Tarcog concentrates and channels his magic to Amvolwatt.
“Amvolwatt, can you smell what sort of creature it was?”
Amvolwatt goes over to where the signs of the creature were and tries to sniff it out.
As Amvolwatt is sniffing around, Tarcog concentrates so that he can sense what the dragon does.
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Jayma thanks Tarcog for freshening her up after her crushing brush with death. "Thank you, um... mister small dragon... She drops her head in frustration. "Please forgive me dear, I seem to be suffering from some sort of mental block."
She watches as true to form, Thurston makes a big deal of a simple realignment that she could have done in her sleep. Looking at the damaged walls, she says, "It seems that we're not the only ones in the manor looking for the painting." Getting bored with the dining room, she glances back to the stairs. "So where to next? Shall we head upstairs?"
Jayma thanks Tarcog for freshening her up after her crushing brush with death. "Thank you, um... mister small dragon... She drops her head in frustration. "Please forgive me dear, I seem to be suffering from some sort of mental block."
Tarcog replies “What is there to forgive?”
In spite of what he says, he does seem pleased that Jayma appreciates his help.
Turiik's eyes light up when he spies the Lady of the Harvest, and then frowns and growls as she disappears.
As the quickly determine that there is nothing of value in this room, he says, "Surely there is no artwork left in this manor?" He then frowns and grunts.
Amvolwatt has no idea what he's smelling, but Tarcog confidently thinks he's smelling a Blood Ooze. The smell is the iron tang scent of blood, but slightly corrupted somehow.
Tarcog says “Is there anything other than Blood Ooze that has that iron scent of blood? Can someone explain why there would be a smell of corruption or maybe decay along with it?”
"I know," Turiik says. He rolls his eyes. "I can trick this curse by trying to say the opposite of what I mean." He sighs. "Let's head downstairs. You don't know what I mean."