The Party begins picking up the items, Kenzo takes the Frayed Rope of the Hanged Man, Sterling takes the Scarab Vial of Bonegnasher, Zyblina takes the Spider’s Web decorated Jar of Soulcatcher, Teofila takes the Moldy Spellbook of the Splatter Man, Cole takes the Masterwork Smith’s Hammer of the Mosswater Marauder, Sergei takes the Oversized Bloodstained Handaxe of the Lopper, it feels natural to hold these items for each of you, though you’re not entirely certain why…
Zek and Bastion are left to carry either the Silver Flute of the Piper of Illmarsh or the Collection of Holy Symbols of Father Charlatan. Zek takes the symbols while Bastion takes the Flute.
Van Richten's Journals
There are four journals in the chest. The first is from ten years ago. The next then leaps forward in time to about five years ago. The third journal is a dream log. The final journal is the most recent which describes the incidents that led up to his death.
Rudolph's earliest journals are not present, perhaps they were lost or perhaps they are back in Lepidstadt University.
The first journal goes back about ten years ago wherein the Professor discusses his first encounter with agents of the Whispering Way, but he does not discuss exactly what the Whispering Way is except to say:
The Whispering Way is more than just a cabal of necromancers. I see that now. Undeath is their fountain of youth. Uncovering their motivation does not place me at ease as I thought it might. Their desire to be eternal simply makes them more dangerous.
The rest is quite interesting but the Professor himself circled the above entry.
The second journal covers his time mainly at the University and traveling about Ustalav as a "consultant" no longer actively hunting the denizens of the night that roam the land. The circled entries in this journal consist of the Doctor meeting all of you! He cross references meeting those of you individually with page in his dream journal wherein he met people he named as similar to you all but different. Darker in demeanor and purpose. His most extensive writing is on Sergei, he appears to believe that Sergei may be an individual pulled out of what he calls his dreamworld. The stuff of dreams come to life.
The group continues to read through the second journal, finding more references to yourselves as characters that inhabit his "dreamworld". However, he does not state your alter-ego names from this dreamworld. The journal discusses how he goes out of his way to track each of you and your careers creating "chance" encounters with each of you. Whether to provide guidance or assist with your work, or to simply ensure that you have the proper mentors.
The dreamlog focuses on his life as hunter of the dead within this land named Barovia. There are also neighboring lands, though he does not mention them by name, wherein he encounters foes many of which are described in his "Van Richten's Guides".
In addition to his dreamlog, the third journal discusses the Doctors travels to a place called Brandescar Prison. It was in this place that he met with Sergei directly. Based upon his writings, Sergei did not belong in the prison and it was never clear why Sergei was even placed within the prison other than his mysterious appearance on the island of Talingarde. However, the warden refused to allow Sergei to leave and be given to the Doctor's care. The Doctor believes, but never shared with his colleague at Brandescar Prison, that Sergei may well be an "escapee" from his dreamworld! From a place he names Barovia.
By the end of the third journal, the Doctor has decided to retire. The decision is to ensure that he can independently print the treatises that he wishes to print and to continue to pursue his dreamworld analysis without any teaching work interference as his days are simply too busy at the college to do so properly.
The fourth journal is the most recent and the most troubling. The Doctor's notes seem to indicate that his interest in printing his "Guides" are being blocked from widespread print.
Within the last two months though his attention is taken up by something far more sinister.
Two Months Ago:
It is as I had feared. The Way is interested in something here in Ravengro. But what could it be?
One Month Ago:
Whatever the Way seeks, I am now convinced their goal is connected to Harrowstone. In retrospect, I suppose it all makes sense—the stories they tell about the ruins in town are certainly chilling enough. It may be time to investigate the ruins, but with everyone in town already being so worked up about them, I’d rather not let the others know about my curiosity—there’s plenty of folks hereabouts who already think I’m a demonologist as is.
Twenty Days Ago:
It is confirmed. The Way seems quite interested in something—no, strike that—someone who was held in Harrowstone. But who, specifically, is the Way after? I need a list of everyone who died the night of the fire. Everyone. The Temple of Pharasma must have such a list.
Eighteen Days Ago:
I see now just how ill prepared I was when I last set out for the Harrowstone. I am lucky to have returned at all. The ghosts, if indeed they were ghosts (for I did not find it prudent to investigate further) prevented me from transcribing the strange symbols I found etched along the foundation—hopefully on my next visit I will be more prepared. Thankfully, the necessary tools to defend against spirits are already here in Ravengro within my own lab.
Still, it is time to send missives out! I will need assistance from my closest allies. My dreams indicate that they are all somehow linked to... it all.
Two Days Ago:
This evening I return to the prison, risky as this venture may be. It is imperative the Way does not finish. My caution has already cost me too much time. I am not sure what will happen if I am too late, but if my theory is right, the entire town could be at risk. I don’t have time to update my will, so I’ll leave this in the chest where it’ll be sure to be found by Kendra, should the worst come to pass. Hopefully my work will delay the Way's efforts and by then my friends shall arrive and with their help I can set this right. Then I trust some secrets, long dormant, can be revealed...
On Verified Madness
None of the aberrations are familiar to her. In the margins, the Doctor writes notes on the creatures. His notes in every case, show that he seems familiar with each creature based on his dreams. He makes a distinction between "dreams" and what he describes as his "dreamworld" claiming that none of the creatures had ever been encountered in his dream world. He conjectures that perhaps some of these creatures may dwell in a place he calls the "Nightmare Lands".
The Order of the Palantine Eye
The Order appears to be a semisecret society of scholars and philosophers who explore and study dusty secrets hidden in the past. This particular book contains ancient ceremonies both magical and mundane mathematical theorems. In the back of the book are some notes scribbled by Rudolph. It appears that he was hoping some members of this society could substantiate findings from his dream journal but he appears to have had no luck.
The Yellow Book
As it turns out, Ogre is indeed merely looking at pictures as the language is one that he cannot read. It appears to be made up of the odd phraseology that the group found in the main house. However, instead of a few jotted notes, it is the entire text.
The pictures that the book depicts are... odd. Creatures that appear unnatural and unsettling. There is a feeling in the pit of your stomach as you stare at them overlong, as if you cannot pull your eyes away.
A: Town Square. Simple wooden gazebo serves as the hub for Ravengro's gatherings. The town's favorite stray dog, Old River, is known to hang around here during the day.
B: Posting Poles: poles where townspeople can post all sorts of messages for the town, ranging from news to sales to advertisements.
C: The Laughing Demon: Zokar Elkarid runs this warm and friendly tavern.
D: Ravengro Town Hall: in classic small-town style, Ravengro citizens use this for virtually everything, from weddings to council meetings.
E: Temple of Pharasma: Vauran Grimburrow, the Father from the funeral, is officialy in charge of the temple, but any number of a dozen or so acolytes actually handle the day to day going-ons. The temple sells various healing and holy related items.
F: Ravengro General Store: Luthko and Marta Avanaki run the general store with their five daughters. While the store usually caters to local needs, the town is big enough and on a populated enough route to stock most simple adventuring items.
G: Ravengro Forge: Jorfa is the dwarven master of the forge. One of Ravengro's most valuable resources, she is as standoffish and quiet on her past as one would expect.
H: Jominda's Apothecary: Jominda Fallenbridge keeps a well-stocked supply of pharmacological provisions, both herbal and alchemical.
I: Ravengro Jail: a relatively small jail serves as Ravengro's home for the occasional drunk citizen. Sherriff Benjan Caller runs the jail with his four part-time deputies.
J: The Silk Purse: two moneylenders work out of this building, Luramin Taigh and Quess Yearburn. They have loans available for collateral to farmers or other potential clients. They also sell some of the items that have failed to me reclaimed.
K: The Outward Inn: board and breakfast run by Sarlanna Val. Highly reccomended, if you don't have a free place to stay that is. Local musicians and storytellers often visit for evenings of entertainment.
L: The Unfurling Scroll: Alendru Ghoroven, a retired wizard-turned-teacher teaches reading, math, and history, as well as beginning magical theory. In addition to teaching, Alendru supplements his income by buying and selling minor magic items (primarily scrolls) that he’s purchased or created.
M 1-4: Council Member's Houses.
N: The Van Richten Residence: formerly the professor's house, it is now Kendra's. And your current lodging.
O: Harrowstone Memorial: Other than the looming ruins of Harrowstone on a nearby hill, Ravengro’s most distinctive landmark is a 25-foot-tall, moss-covered stone statue that overlooks the river. The statue depicts a proud, muscular human man dressed in leathers and wielding a truncheon—a depiction of Warden Hawkran. A total of 25 names—the guards who died in the fire of 4661, as well as the warden’s wife, are chiseled into the statue’s stone base.
P: to The Restlands: a large stretch of moorland reserved for interring Ravengro's dead. Thanks to the Pharasmin church's influence in town, Ravengro's graveyard is large and well tended.
Q: Gibs Hephenus, the man who started the fight at the professor's funeral lives here.
R To Harrowstone: this reminder of Ravengro's original purpose looms over the town from atop its bleak hilltop, a constant inspiration for tall tales and bad dreams.
Sanity Rules:
Sanity Score: This is sort of like mental hit points. It’s the sum of all your mental stats (Wisdom, Intelligence, Charisma) less any damage to those scores.
Sanity Damage: this is like hit point damage done in physical combat (like a sword blow, etc), only, it affects your sanity score, not your hit points. So, if you encounter an attack on your sanity and suffer damage, you deduct that damage from your sanity score.
Losing Sanity and Gaining Madness:
When you’re faced with a monster that can do sanity damage, you have to make an immediate will save. If you save, most of the time, you will be able to ignore all Sanity damage (i.e. your mental faculties hold up) though some creatures may do damage regardless of your save (like Great Old Ones).
If you lose ALL of your Sanity (i.e. Sanity pool moves to zero), you gain a lesser madness (this is generally a temporary condition), I will not have PCs suffer more than 1 lesser madness at a time. This mechanic is for flavor not to annihilate PCs effectiveness.
If you lose ALL of your Sanity facing a Great Old One, that will trigger a greater madness. This is permanent though each PC will only ever gain a single one of these.
Losing Madness and Gaining Sanity:
Madness can be lost (and sanity restored in several ways).
1. Rest: Every 7 full days of uninterrupted rest heals sanity damage equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum 1). You’re letting your own sense of self and force of personality reassert itself and mend together the tattered fragments of your tortured psyche.
2. Therapy: Tell someone else your problems (mentor, counselor, confidante, friend, family, priest, advisor, etc). At the end,, the ally attempts a Wisdom or Intelligence check (whichever is higher) DC equal to the amount of Sanity you have lost. Success means you add their ability modifier (wis or int, whichever is higher) to the amount of sanity damage you heal.
3. Magic:
a. lesser restoration: 1d2 points once per day
b. Restoration: 2d4 points per day
c. Heal: 3d4 points/day
d. Greater restoration, psychic surgery, limited wish: all of it, if your sanity was below your edge (in other words, you still had more than half your sanity points left). Or, to 1 point below your sanity edge if you had more than half of your sanity lost.
e. Miracle and wish fix everything
Effects of Restoring Sanity:
Lesser Madness - If all of your sanity damage is healed, your lesser madness is removed entirely.
Greater Madness - If all of your sanity damage is healed, your greater madness is dormant. It will become reactivated if you again suffer a full loss to your Sanity score. A greater madness can only be fully healed with a long term psychiatric stay (1 month, which could well be played out over a downtime depending on how the chronicle proceeds) r the use of a Wish or Miracle spell (hard to come by in Ravenloft!).
Fear, Horror, and Madness:
I will NOT be using Madness rules as the Sanity rules already cover that.
Fear, Horror, and Madness saves represent the power of terror — a roleplaying tool to help players visualize the hysteria that often clouds the minds of characters in classic tales of horror.
Making the Saving Throw
Fear and Horror saves are considered Will saves in all respects. Anything that modifies a Will save likewise modifies Fear and Horror saves; anything that modifies saves vs. fear effects modifies Fear saves.
Fear and Horror saves all use the same basic mechanic: a Will save against a specified DC. Specific DCs depend on the situation and type of check being made and will be provided by me. Luck effects and resistance effects (such as those generated by a luckstone or a cloak of resistance) do not affect Fear and Horror saves; they are outside the purview of luck and are not "active" effects that would be resisted. Divine effects do aid Fear and Horror saves, however.
If a character succeeds at the Will save, then there is no effect, and she is immune to that specific source of fear or horror for 24 hours. If a character fails the Will save, then the margin of failure determines the result. Subtract the final check result from the DC; this result determines whether the character suffers a minor, moderate, or major effect.
Failure Margin Effect
1-5 points Minor
6-10 points Moderate
11-15 points Major
16+ points Major, plus additional effect.
When determining the results of failed Horror save, the player should also concurrently roll 1d4 for the DM to select a specific effect.
FEAR SAVES
A character should make a Fear save when facing overwhelming odds and/or immediate, dire physical danger.
Failure Results
Minor Effect: Shaken. The character suffers a -2 morale penalty to attack rolls, checks, and saves.
Moderate Effect: Frightened. The character is shaken and flees as well as she can. She can fight to defend herself if unable to flee. A frightened character can use special abilities, including spells, to flee; indeed, she must use such means if they are the only way to escape.
Major Effect: Panicked. The character suffers a -2 morale penalty on saving throws and must flee. She has a 50% chance to drop what she's holding, chooses her path randomly (as long as she escapes from immediate danger), and flees any other dangers that confront her. If cornered, she cowers. A panicked character may use a special ability or spell to escape.
Additional Failures: Fear effects stack. A shaken character who fails another Fear save becomes frightened. A frightened character who fails another Fear save becomes panicked.
Recovering from Fear
Fear effects last 5d6 rounds. Certain spell effects (such as modify memory or remove fear) can remove all Fear effects.
Note that as the characters level, the amount of fear checks will diminish as you confidence and power/abilities increase.
HORROR SAVES
The heroes witness scenes of terrible cruelty or behold events that simply should not be. Horror is a broader emotion than fear, and more intimate. Horror often permanently colors a character's view of the world, be it through the shock of realizing that such merciless events are possible or the paralyzing dismay of discovering some monstrous trait within oneself. Horror is the murderer of innocence. Possible examples of scenes that might require a Horror save include seeing someone torn limb from limb, watching a friend transform into a hideous monster, or learning that you slew an innocent bystander while possessed by an evil spirit.
Horror saves are typically prompted by unusual, unique situations rather than by creatures, so unlike Fear saves there's no quick formula to determine the DC. Instead, I will use my best judgment to apply a DC to the scene. As a rule, the more gruesome, abnormal and/or insane the scene, the higher the DC should be.
Failure Results
If a character fails a Horror save, the player should roll 1d4 and compare it to the effect category to select a specific symptom of Horror. If a character fails a Horror save by 16+ points, he suffers Sanity Damage on a one for one basis for each point over 16 (i.e. failing a roll by 20 would result in 4 points of Sanity Damage).
Failure Results
Minor Effect: (1) Aversion, (2) Fearstruck, (3) Frozen, or (4) Nausea.
Major Effect: (1) Fascination, (2) Haunted, (3) Mental Shock, or (4) System Shock
Additional Failures: Some Horror effects have outburst durations that are measured in rounds. A character can carry only a single Horror effect at a time. If a subsequent failed Horror save indicates a result of equal or lesser severity, I will use another outburst of the existing effect. If a failed Horror save indicates a result of greater severity, the existing effect is removed and there is default to the greater one instead. Horror effects do not stack.
Recovering from Horror
Minor Horror effects last one week.
Moderate effects last two weeks.
Major effects last thirty days.
At the end of this duration, the character rolls a recovery check (a Horror save). Use the DC of the original Horror save with a -2 morale bonus, since time and distance heal all wounds. If the character succeeds at this check, the Horror effect is removed. If she fails, the Horror effect persists for another duration period. A character can retry failed Horror recovery checks each time she reaches the end of a duration period. The -2 DC modifier is cumulative with each attempt.
Numerous spells and magical effects (such as modify memory or remove fear) can also remove all Horror effects.
M Koldemar Fighter 1 / Soul shepherd master of many styles monk 1
"I find the symbols fascinating, but that is more for the idea of a man that faked so many faiths. Mine is strong and in only one power. I cannot say I felt something special." Zek comments while looking through the papers.
"This was wardens office, maybe that's why it feels so secure?"
Zyblina casts Detect Magic but other than the potions she found and several items already owned by the Party, nothing registers.
---
Through the Northern Doors
Once the paperwork is gathered and brought to the bewildered guards, the Party returns to the Prison once more. It seems the Haunt in the Foyer has 'given up the Ghost' and does not activate when the northern doors are opened.
Before you is a hallway that is 50' long with several doors to choose from.
He sees a flight of stairs that once led down toward what must be a lower level, but it’s now filled with a mess of large stone blocks and shattered timbers. This is the top of the area that the group discovered a few days ago. Certainly it was an easier way down, but now would take days if not weeks to excavate and would likely need to be handled by skilled craftsman to do so safely.
Cole opens the door to the left (the west however you wish to view it). That door opens to a wider area within the prison itself. From what you can tell, the hall heads about 70' to the west and breaks off to the north at about the 30' mark and again at the end of the hall.
Male Human Kineticist 2, AC 13, HP: 26/26, Temp HP 3/2, Sanity 38, Burn 0/8, Burn Shard 0/1, Fort +8, Ref +6, Will +1 (Second Chance 0/1) Init +3, Per +7, Hero Points 1/1
"I could open all of the doors from here," Sergei suggested, only sounding half serious.
Male Human Pharasman Cleric (Ecclesitheurge) 1/ Unchained Monk 1
Sergei the Haunted wrote:
"I could open all of the doors from here," Sergei suggested, only sounding half serious.
Annnd, I'll be waiting outside. Enjoying the sounds of the screams." Sterling says, turning to go,...
The cleric turns on his heel, and bumps his hooded head into the chest of the taller, burlier Cole. The orcish sorcerer had moved slightly, and was standing directly behind him.
"Or, I can just wait here. And enjoy the sounds from up close."
Male Half-Orc (Pyro) Kineticist 2 / VMC Sorcerer (Orc)
Stats:
HP 26/26 (-2NL) |Current Burn: 1 (Limit+1/rd) | AC 18 T 15 FF 16 | Fort +8 Ref +5 Will +1 | CMB +3 / CMD 15 | Init +2 | Perception +6|Sanity: 33/33 | Hero Pts: 2/-0 | Active:
Cole hooks his thumb towards the new hall and snorts in derision.
"Big talker. Don't let the door hit your pale arse on the way out."
He then proceeds down the newly revealed hallway and looks to the large set of doors/opening that is to his right hand, sword now leading his way again still alight and glowing.
HP 22/22; San 35/36; Rage 5/8; AC 14 (16 vs undead); DR 2/- vs undead; Init +0; Fort +5; Ref +0; Will +0; Per +5 3
Bastion just gives Sergei a nod.
"Open them from here, but slowly." suggests the big man. He holds his own great sword ready, expecting something to emerge.
M Koldemar Fighter 1 / Soul shepherd master of many styles monk 1
Zek'Karis hunts. He is somewhere around, occasionally glimpsed as he passes through the door, sometimes first, sometimes behind someone else, but he is never obviously pushing forward. Just. Somewhere.
Male Human Kineticist 2, AC 13, HP: 26/26, Temp HP 3/2, Sanity 38, Burn 0/8, Burn Shard 0/1, Fort +8, Ref +6, Will +1 (Second Chance 0/1) Init +3, Per +7, Hero Points 1/1
One by one, Sergei began opening doors with his strange power. Let me know if I need to make disable device checks.
One by one, Sergei began opening doors with his strange power. Let me know if I need to make disable device checks.
I'll start with the Hallway doors.
---
The second door to the right uncovers a set of stairs leading up, unlike the stairs leading down, this one is full of debris and can be used to head to the second floor of the prison if you so choose.
For now, I assume no one wishes to head upstairs yet.
The furthest door north reveals several moldy cots strewn around the room, while doors to smaller, more private sleeping cells hang askew to the west. Judging from the rest of this room’s decor, this must have once been the prison’s infirmary.
No Haunts are triggered by the opening of either door.
Does anyone want to enter this room?
---
Cole holds position in the larger area while Sergei opens the remaining doors in the hallway.
Zek scouts and comes back to Cole informing him that there are many more doors here to choose from...
M Koldemar Fighter 1 / Soul shepherd master of many styles monk 1
"This seems like a place where many would be hurting and dying." Zek looks into the infirmary.
"Haunt siphon?"
He focuses and his black eyes turn shortly into milky spirals as he uses Lady of Graves' gift.
Unless there are physical remains, something valuable such as an intact potion or closed cabinet, I don't think we need to enter this? We.did say we.will clear the place...so...maybe? Use detect undead...
"With a place like an infirmary I'd suppose it could go either way. 50/50 more peaceful or more scary."
Teofila volunteers to check out the room along with Sterling. She holds her sword point down as she enters, but at the ready to bring it up if anything inside twitches.
Casting Guidance on herself before going in and using it on perception.
While a few of her other companions enter the infirmary, Zy peers around the room from the doorway, looking for any supernatural auras. Unsure if Detect Magic is still active(2 mins) but can just cast it again if necessary. Also, 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20 Perception, darkvision 60ft
ZA Monk 2; HP: 25 ; Init +4; AC: 16, T: 16, FF: 13; CMB +4, CMD 20; Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +6 (+1 Fort vs. Attacks by Incorporeal Undead); Sanity- 36/36; Legacy- Godefroy; Perception +8
"I agree. There are incorporeal dead that we might not see just glancing through the door." Kenzo says. He will move to cover the others when they start to enter rooms.
Male Human Kineticist 2, AC 13, HP: 26/26, Temp HP 3/2, Sanity 38, Burn 0/8, Burn Shard 0/1, Fort +8, Ref +6, Will +1 (Second Chance 0/1) Init +3, Per +7, Hero Points 1/1
"They get bored easily," Sergai said wryly. "Giving them something to do is good for my peace of mind."
Sergei starts with the left most door and it is not locked and easily swings open.
This stark room contains a low stone bench against the north wall and a ruined desk to the west that sits under three narrow, barred windows. An old brass brazier lies on its side to the south, surrounded by several rusty branding irons. While no haunt leaps out as the door opens, its quite obvious that this was a place where prisoners were branded...
Male Human Kineticist 2, AC 13, HP: 26/26, Temp HP 3/2, Sanity 38, Burn 0/8, Burn Shard 0/1, Fort +8, Ref +6, Will +1 (Second Chance 0/1) Init +3, Per +7, Hero Points 1/1
Van Richten's saber cleared it's sheathe and waited, hovering in front of Sergei, waiting for intrusive specters.
As the four of you enter, the room begins to smell like burning flesh, four of the branding irons rise up and of their own volition heat up blazing red!
Male Human Kineticist 2, AC 13, HP: 26/26, Temp HP 3/2, Sanity 38, Burn 0/8, Burn Shard 0/1, Fort +8, Ref +6, Will +1 (Second Chance 0/1) Init +3, Per +7, Hero Points 1/1
Sergei pulls a siphon from his satchel. It pulls free of his hands like it was yanked, hovers closer to the threatening branding irons, and opens in between them.
Zyblina hangs back for the moment, letting the others attempt to deal with the animated shackles. She does however, peer around the room, looking for any lingering auras. Casting Detect Magic
Zyblina hangs back for the moment, letting the others attempt to deal with the animated shackles. She does however, peer around the room, looking for any lingering auras. Casting Detect Magic
Kenzo whips two arrows into the hovering haunts, bringing one iron low, his other shot misses, high.
Bastion's strike is so hard that it snaps one of the irons in twain!
The haunt siphon is whipped into the room by Sergei and released right next to the last two haunts, the white vapor within turns into a green glowing mist and the remaining two branding irons fall to the ground inert.
The PCs win!
Zyblina scans the room for magic as the Party makes short work of the haunts. You detect no magic save what your allies carry on themselves.
---
Sergei heads to the next door and attempts to open it, but it remains locked. Surprisingly, the key on the key rings cannot be found. Sergei tries to activate the tumblers telepathically... Disable device1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15 success!
The door swings open and tangled mounds of moth-eaten fabric sit on several wooden tables, each surrounded by workbenches. Various sewing tools—shears, needles, rolls of thread, boxes of chalk, and other objects lie scattered over the floor, while the arm of what appears to be a skeleton protrudes from a stained heap of fabric to the west.
Zek does indeed detect the presence of undead within the room. As Cole approaches sword out, rising from the mound of moldering fabric that serves as her tomb appears a beautiful young woman dressed in a tattered but lovely blue dress. In fact, much about the ghost is blue, including her hair, the tears that run from her pale blue eyes, and the clouds of smoke that drift from her lips as she speaks!
"Greetings Guardsmen and Guardswomen, I have bee awaiting your arrival with great anticipation. Your comrades locked me in here, oh so long ago, cowards I say! But I suppose I cannot fault them overmuch as the monstrous prisoners had rioted and, well trained as they were by my husband, in the face of such danger, even the bravest of folk falter.
Tell me, why have you returned to duty here after the prison has lay desolate for so long?"
He voice has a slight echo/hesitation about it that makes it sound quite otherworldly.
M Koldemar Fighter 1 / Soul shepherd master of many styles monk 1
"Your husband? Are you mrs Hawkran? Were you here the whole time?" Zek asks innocently before remembering he's talking to an abomination. He bristles, crouching low, flexing his claws and baring teeth.
But for the moment, at least, he doesn't attack. The group is not prepared, they expected haunts, not ghosts.
Male Half-Orc (Pyro) Kineticist 2 / VMC Sorcerer (Orc)
Stats:
HP 26/26 (-2NL) |Current Burn: 1 (Limit+1/rd) | AC 18 T 15 FF 16 | Fort +8 Ref +5 Will +1 | CMB +3 / CMD 15 | Init +2 | Perception +6|Sanity: 33/33 | Hero Pts: 2/-0 | Active:
Sighing again, Cole states the obvious, trying to get to the heart of the matter.
”Thank you for speaking to us. Truthfully, we need to know what happened here. We are here to help those spirits still trapped here move on, but it would be a lot easier if we knew what happened the day…this placed burned down.”
Male Human Kineticist 2, AC 13, HP: 26/26, Temp HP 3/2, Sanity 38, Burn 0/8, Burn Shard 0/1, Fort +8, Ref +6, Will +1 (Second Chance 0/1) Init +3, Per +7, Hero Points 1/1
Sergei knew too muck about long incarceration. Ghosts were far too easy to trap. Often, they did it to themselves without meaning to.
"Your husband? Are you Mrs Hawkran? Were you here the whole time?"
"Yes, the Warden is... was my Husband, I have been yes".
_Bastian 'Ogre' Zorovich wrote:
"We have come to put the prisoners to rest. What happened to you after the prisoners rioted?"
"That is what I was hoping to hear! I was locked in here, for "my safety", when the fire started I was forgotten about and perished".
Cole Burrns wrote:
”Thank you for speaking to us. Truthfully, we need to know what happened here. We are here to help those spirits still trapped here move on, but it would be a lot easier if we knew what happened the day…this placed burned down.”
She sighs and grimaces, "What happened here... at the time of the fire, this prison housed eight very dangerous convicts. Perhaps the most deranged among them pulled off a daring escape plan, I do not know the details. In death, as in life, I do not know everything.
I came to the prison to ascertain why my Husband was so late for dinner. When I arrived, I discovered that the prisoners in the bowels of Harrowstone had staged a coup. My Husband triggered a emergency deadfall that sealed the dungeon and trapped everyone, including himself and many of the guards, within the dungeons.
I suspect these villains did not account for that fail safe. Thus, the only other way out was the lift that could only be operated from above. Stuck with the prisoners, my Husband and the guards were hostages. The criminals attempted to force the few guards who remained on the floor above to lower the lift, but the guards were too well trained.
Even with their warden and most of their friends trapped below, they continually refused to lower the lift—further, they set guards around the lift’s shaft above so that any prisoner who attempted the nearly impossible climb would have to contend with crossbow bolts raining down from above. Eager to avoid sparking a panic in Ravengro, the guards holed up and did a masterful job keeping the truth of the riot contained while they desperately tried to work out a plan.
I am sad to say, that I spoiled whatever plans they would have dreamed up. I entered the prison as in the commotion they failed to lock the front gates and followed the sounds of shouting to the lift room where the guards were gathered.
When I learned from the increasingly frantic guards that my Husband was trapped with the madmen below, I pleaded with the guards on the ground level to remove the deadfall and stage a rescue. When they repeatedly refused, I managed to dodge the guards, run to the lift’s winch, and throw the release, causing the heavy wooden platform to plummet into the dungeon below in the hope that my Husband could leap onto it and be pulled to safety.
In actuality, the lift crushed several guards and a few prisoners who had been standing directly below it I was convinced my Husband was among them. Taking advantage of my shock, several guards managed to finally apprehend me and swiftly bustled me off to the prison workshop at the other end of Harrowstone, locking me inside for my own safety.
After that I do not know what happened, but a fire was started in the dungeon level and raged uncontrollably, those who could not escape the blaze died of burning or smoke inhalation...such as myself.
Until recently, the spirit of my Husband, trapped so near yet so far in the dungeons below, had contained the ghosts. But that recently changed..."
Giving a chance to jump in with question if you so desire.
