Aoede drops her halberd and scrambles out of the room as panic and fear floods her link to Tessa. She sprints down the hallway and into the room they'd just come from.
Meanwhile, Tessa tries not to follow her Eidolon twin in flight and think of something, anything, she can do to help those still in the bathroom. She can hear Alekto's scoffing but ignores it as she tries to think of anything she can do.
Llewela steels herself against the terrible feelings of death, but her eyes widen as the feeling of blood in her lungs intensifies. She stumbles back out of the room in shock.
Believer's bond as the chosen of Milani protects her from the more sinister effects of this malevolent spirit's echo. With her friends in retreat, she decides her service would be better applied in checking up on them. She backs out of the room looking to where her friends have gone.
Tessa seems fine at the moment, so she ends her life link with the summoner and bonds it to Llewela who seems to be struggling. She draws breath through her teeth as the link pulls at her life force to sustain her two friends. "Don't fret, I can keep them alive until they shake this off." She assures the worry-prone Tessa.
With the whole party outside in the hallway, the blood stops pooling in the lungs of those affected. It's still there, but you feel it draining away to...somewhere.
Back from the bathroom echoes the most horrible sound, a guttural choking and splashing that leaves little to the imagination of what is happening in there. Or rather, what has already happened in that room. A few more moments of splashing and struggling, and then a single loud sigh of air leaving lungs for the final time.
After that, silence. It is over as quickly as it began. The bathroom is calm and quiet, ready to be searched in earnest.
Taking a quick peruse through the cosmetic items left behind on the sink reveals a handful of ointments, lotions, and the like. None of them are magical outright, but a few look like they may replicate certain effects.
Maccha lands her hand on one of Believer's shoulders. "Thank you." she says, her throat still feeling somehow moist from the water she felt filling her lungs but was never actually there.
Believer gives Maccha a tight smile, shuddering slightly at the strain, savoring the suffering as the life link sustained her companions. She laid hands on herself to offset the damage as they recovered.
"That might need to be the end of our exploration for the day. I did not expect this abandoned manor to be the greatest challenge that we have faced thus far, but no cache of weapons is worth spending our lives in search of."
After the effects of the haunt wear off, Aoede runs back to the others. From the look on her face, she is ashamed of how she abandoned everyone in a panic.
"Whether or not we're finished for the night, where are we going to rest? Heading back to the Wasp Nest might be just as dangerous with all of us worn out as we are," Tessa says as she holds Aoede tight and does what she can to reassure her seeming twin.
Still wincing at the memory of the pressure in her lungs, Llewela also shares out her own healing.
"Yes, I'm no longer surprised this place has been abandoned for so long. At least we know a little about what went on here. If we decide to return we can be better prepared for the spirits haunting this place."
You rummage through the pile of potentially interesting and maybe even magical toiletries, and each of you come away with something worth mentioning and maybe even keeping.
Maccha finds a jar of light white skin lotion that enhances your appearance for a short time (+4 on Cha-based skill checks for an hour, 10 uses).
Believer uncovers a sealed pill bottle with a dozen pills in it that can energize you long beyond the point where normal exhaustion would drag you into unconsciousness (grants the benefits of an 8-hour rest 1 hour after taking a pill).
Tessa finds a bag of bath crystal salts that, when used to soak in a bath for at least an hour, removes any fatigue or exhaustion and also cures 2 points of damage to each physical ability score (3 uses).
Llewela finds a basin of remarkably well preserved foot cream that, when applied, lets you move faster for a short amount of time (increases your base movement speed by 5 feet for 8 hours, 5 uses).
"These are all some... luxury itens." Maccha looks the jar she found from all sides, as if it would grant greater insight into the item. "It'll probably allow us to push through a little bit more, but I am pretty beat up. Maybe we can sleep around here? I know it's creepy, but I want to finish exploring this mansion. Whatever happened here is a sympton of the Chelaxian rule that we are fighting against."
Believer frowned, considering. "I don't trust this place enough to be able to rest here. The main trouble is that our magical resources are about tapped out. We can't endure another haunt like that."
She holds the bottle of pills up to the light. "I'm willing to try these, how about you two?" She asks her fellow casters.
She tops herself off as they make ready to explore further.
"If it means we don't have to come back to this awful place," Tessa says while Aoede nods vigorously.
Once you're done recovering from the horrible bath woman, the hallway continues north. The first door you come to is ajar, and pushes open to reveal another plain servants quarters with nothing of interest (not even a secret door! The next door, on the eastern wall, is much more interesting.
The door opens easily enough (with a little prodding by Maccha to make sure it's safe to open) to reveal what looks to be some sort of family chapel. There are the usual Asmodean symbols, with the crimson five-pointed star featuring prominently in its decor. Stacks of scrolls sit to either side of an altar bench built around the southern walls, and the altar is covered in burnt out candles. To the northeast corner of the room sits the tower you viewed from the outside, which appears to be some sort of study, with bookshelves lining the walls nearly floor to ceiling.
The most striking thing about this room, however, is the skeleton hanging from a rafter at the edge of the towers' ceiling, a noose connecting it to the wood board above. A scattering of possessions lay forgotten on the stairs beneath it, including a large triangle piece that looks to fit the carved triangular spot that you believe opens the secret passage to below the house.
"Watch my back, I'll go grab the key." Maccha says to her friends as she enters the room, assuming a new spirit is going to try to haunt her or the skeleton will grab her. She walks as silently as possible...
...And approaches the triangular piece, picking it up. "So let's explore the basement so we can leave as quickly as possible."
Tessa and Aoede nod, both watching for anything untoward happening in Maccha's or their direction.
As Maccha approaches, her fears unfortunately come to life. An inexplicable gust of cool wind blows from the study in front of her, shaking the skeleton and scattering some of the paper on the floor. The rattling of bones continues as the skeleton reaches up and snaps the rope holding it to the ceiling and drops to the floor in front of her, noose still hanging around its neck. The blazing green malevolent eyes showing its more than just an animated skeleton.
A whispered voice follows the wind, reaching Maccha's ears first but quickly moving to the rest of the group. "I'm not done with you yet..."
Init
Round 1:
23- Maccha
22- Llewela
22- skeleton
16- Tessa
3- Believer
Maccha jumps back when the skeleton releases itself from the rope and quickly grabs both her daggers, she looks back at the group and nods.
I'll hold it here until they arrive.
She steps sideways to make space for them to charge in and attacks the skeleton, knowing the slashing of her weapons would barely make a dent, but hoping the silver dagger would have some extra effect.
No surprises there Llewela thinks grimly as the skeleton jerks into motion. Raising her morningstar, she charges forward, swinging wildly at the undead foe.
Maccha's second slice with the silver dagger does actually connect, scratching along one of the bones in the skeleton's ribcage and causing some damage.
The skeleton, in turn, swings its bony arm down into the pile of refuse underneath its hanging spot and scoops up a five-pointed flanged mace before taking a swing with it at Maccha.
Init
Round 1:
23- Maccha
22- Llewela
22- skeleton
16- Tessa
3- Believer
Round 2:
23- Maccha
22- Llewela
22- skeleton
16- Tessa
3- Believer
Maccha is hit by the swinging mace and coughs blood, but she repositions now that Llewela is here and more help is on the way, continuing her flurry of attacks.
With Maccha's life link still active, she heals partially as it transfers to Believer. She moves into the room and casts Bless.
Aoede rushes in to get at the skeleton while she readies her halberd.
Tessa moves into the room.
Llewela swings again at the skeleton but her attack swishes harmlessly past it.
The skeleton swiftly steps out of the flank the trio has it caught in, demonstrating its intelligence once more as it uses tactics. It swipes at Aoede with its mace and lashes out at Maccha again with a spare claw.
The pentagram-headed mace smacks into Aoede hard, drawing a short breath of pain from the eidolon. It puts so much focus into the mace that its claw swipes wide of its second target.
Init
Round 2:
23- Maccha
22- Llewela
22- skeleton
16- Tessa
3- Believer
Round 3:
23- Maccha
22- Llewela
22- skeleton
16- Tessa
3- Believer
Believer moves in, drawing her quarterstaff. Maccha's last 3 hp heals, bringing her back to full as the tiefling absorbs her friend's damage. Then she taps her chest to use her last Lay on Hands to get her ready to move into the fight.
Llewela steps forward and swings again at the skeleton, cursing as her blow misses again.
Have to focus! Stop letting this place get in your head!
Maccha sidesteps the creature's claw and feels her last remaining wounds closing up. With renewed confidence, she goes on the attack, after moving a little bit to flank with Aoede.
Aoede grits her teeth against the scream of pain and squares up against the skeleton.
She tries to strike the skeleton, but to no avail. Her swing is too wide and too slow.
Tessa moves closer to her friends and casts a spell on the skeleton's mace.
The mace drops from the skeleton's hand, clattering to the floor beneath its feet. It makes a strange growling sound and pulls an evil-looking symbol hanging from a string out from beneath its rotting clothing; it appears to be an unholy symbol in the shape of a crimson wasp, and he holds it above his head before chanting a few words as a wave of negative energy washes through the room.
Init
Round 3:
23- Maccha
22- Llewela
22- skeleton
16- Tessa
3- Believer
Round 4:
23- Maccha
22- Llewela
22- skeleton
16- Tessa
3- Believer
With some regret as the negative damage rolls out, Believer releases her life link on Maccha and Llewela.
She steps closer and cracks the skeleton with her quarterstaff.
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Maccha resists some of the negative energy and focuses on the symbol, trying to identify who the creature worships, assuming it's Mephistopheles related.
"A daemon worshipper?" she says outloud, while still attacking the skeleton.
Llewela stands firm as the negative energy washes over her, then counters, managing to connect with a solid blow.
Tessa gasps as she feels the life being ripped from her body. Still, she's in better shape than Aoede. The eidolon staggers back from the skeleton, barely conscious after the wave of foul energy flows over her. It's only her connection to Tessa that keeps her on her feet long enough to get to her summoner so they both can retreat.
Believer's hard staff smacks the skeletons head clean off of its body, and the rest of the bones clatter noisily to the ground under the rafter it was hung from. It does not get up again.
Now that the skeleton is dispatched and you can finally take a better look inside the room behind it, you find yourself in a veritable study of many topics. A quick glance at the titles of some of the books, though they are old and surely rotting, provides a glimpse into what one would certainly expect in a Chelish noble house. Diabolism, containing summoned creatures, laws, the like.
But the faded summoning circle you see carved into the floor isn't the typical five-pointed star you expect to see. The runic language etched around the circle isn't infernal, you'd recognize that anywhere, but is instead appears to be a cruder, older language. One corner of the workbench that runs around the entire tower study is lined with paintings of a horrible altogether more insidious looking creature. These well-crafted paintings and sketches were clearly done by a true artist and the majority of the completed pieces include colors you wouldn't expect to have readily available, hinting once more at the former wealth of this family.
She (for it is clearly a she) has two thick horns curling back from her brow, light blue fair skin, inhumane clawed feet and hands much larger than necessary, and a serpentine tail that ends in a wide fanged mouth.
Maccha focuses on the desks and finds a small coffer hidden under them. She picks up her thieves' tools by reflex but notices, when attempting to disarm the locks, that it is open.
"This is 10 years old, so around the time we expected." she closes the coffer after making sure they it all seemed safe.
"I have no idea what this painting represents, but..." she trails off trying to gather her thoughts. "The skeleton carried a symbol" Maccha kicks the holy symbol, afraid to pick it up "This is from Slandrais, a Daemon Harbinger. Obsession and unrequited love, so not exactly unpopular. But what is it doing inside a Chelish noble house? I assume this language on the summoning circle is whatever daemons speak"
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Both Aoede and Tessa look like they're about to collapse as they join the others in looking over what else is in this library. After Maccha explains what she's found and noticed, Aoede slips from Tessa's shoulder as the yound woman's head lolls about and her hair turns black.
"Daemons. Lovely," Alekto mutters as she glares at Maccha, Llewela, and Believer in turn. "It seems this family did themselves in dealing with the nihilistic bastards. Too bad I can't even enjoy it because it seems my dear little vessel has managed to get herself half killed, and it hurts all over!"
The devil glowers at Aoede and snarls. "Aren't you supposed to be protecting her? Damned idiot azata! Couldn't even do it right before you had your power stripped from you."
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"Oh, well spotted. I didn't see that at all." Believer establishes her life link with Maccha to get her back to better fighting shape.
She is just about to extend the link to Tessa when Alekto rears her raven-haired head. "Aoede is a stiff breeze from dissipating back to her home realm. You curb your forked tongue! I will happily heal Tessa, you not so much." She says, burgundy gaze glowing as she glowers at the erinys.
Pointedly, she extends the life link to Aoede instead.
Then she casts her final remaining spell on herself to offset some of the damage.
"I think we'd better take these now and have a breather before we head onward. Llewela, did you have any healing left, hopefully at least for yourself?" She pops one of the magical stimulant pills and offers them to Llewela. And to Tessa, once she regains her usual self.
She prays for Milani's guidance as they settle for a respite and considers the root of this particular evil. "That skeleton seemed to have the abilities of an evil cleric. And a pretty powerful one at that. Do you suppose these people just fell afoul of a cleric of Slandrais and he summoned an Erodaemon to destroy them all? Though it seems the cleric must have died too." She asks, trying to understand the implications and still feeling like she is coming up short.
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She is just about to extend the link to Tessa when Alekto rears her raven-haired head. "Aoede is a stiff breeze from dissipating back to her home realm. You curb your forked tongue! I will happily heal Tessa, you not so much." She says, burgundy gaze glowing as she glowers at the erinys.
"Oh," Alekto says as her expression turns into a leer. "I see how it is. You truly aren't that far off from a kyton, leaving me in such exquisite pain." She slides up to Believer much like the first time she appeared. Her eyes narrow and her voice turns dark and sultry. "Perhaps you should just give into your passions. Imagine me at your mercy, screaming in pleasure and pain as I lie on your bed." She stands on the tips of her toes to reach the oracle's ear and whispers.
"Doesn't it just make you burn with need to picture it, to make me pay for all that I've done."
Llewela rests a hand on her chest and prays, and colour returns to her cheeks as the effects of the skeletal creatures burst fades. She then lays a hand on Believer and heals her.
"I am fine, but do not spread yourself too much."
Keeping one wary eye on Alekto, she looks over the circle and the daemonic images.
"If this daemon was summoned here, then maybe this is the focus. That skeleton didn't seem mindless, so I hope that defeating it will go some way to cleaning the house." she hopes.
She turns to the collection of books, inspecting one or two of the ones on summoned creatures to see if they are still usable. Imps and devils she thinks to herself, if they're going to be close, then we need to know more about them
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"Oh," Alekto says as her expression turns into a leer. "I see how it is. You truly aren't that far off from a kyton, leaving me in such exquisite pain." She slides up to Believer much like the first time she appeared. Her eyes narrow and her voice turns dark and sultry. "Perhaps you should just give into your passions. Imagine me at your mercy, screaming in pleasure and pain as I lie on your bed." She stands on the tips of her toes to reach the oracle's ear and whispers.
"Doesn't it just make you burn with need to picture it, to make me pay for all that I've done."
Believer's jaw clenches and her eyes flash at the taunt. Alekto has played this card before though and she steels herself against overreaction. Still, she exhales a hiss of held breath through her sharp bared teeth and swallows reflexively as she tries to put the mental image out of her mind.
Believer's expression becomes pensive as a whisper of memory comes to her, as if from the goddess herself, So must I protect against possession and oppression. She'd been thinking of Tessa and her unwelcome passenger when she'd penned that tenant for herself. But now it occurs to her that without a body of her own, the erinys was as much prisoner as possessor and given that the Fury could only come forward when Tessa was overcome by circumstances, she was more the former than the later.
"A seed sprouted from darkness that strives ever toward the light. You have marked me true. But you are not the only one privy to the mysteries of The Planes. I know from what bright seed does your kind sprout. Were you staked out to be eaten away, bit by bit by the hellish winds and devils of Dis? How many years did you hold against the torment? A century, more? All the while feeling your bright purpose burn away and twist to char and ash. It is not for me to deliver a reckoning unto you. You paid in advance." This last is said with a slight note of sympathy.
Her own inner voice, or the voice of Milani, or some combination of the two spoke up again. So must I be kind and soothe the suffering of others. There was no qualifier attached to that and the creature before her was suffering. Perhaps had suffered more than any mortal could ever bear while they yet lived. Without another word she extended the life link to heal Tessa's body fully. She held Alekto's gaze with her own as her life force passed along the link, as she took the damage onto herself.
Silence stretches out between Alekto and Believer as the fury stares at the oracle in disbelief.
"Pity?" The whispered word from Alekto's lips hangs in the air before her expression twists into one of white-hot fury.
"How dare you pity me, wretch!" Her voice shakes as her hands talon. Her breathing comes fast and hard as she looks like she's about to launch herself at Believer.
"How dare you pity me! I'll-- I-- I--"
Her eyes roll up as she falls to the ground like a puppet with cut strings. Her black hair begins to turn blonde again, starting from the roots, as flecks of black ash rise up and vanish into the ether.
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Standing within arms reach, Believer steps forward to catch Tessa by her elbows and lowers her gently to the floor while she recovers. At least everyone was clothed this time... She thinks with no small relief. She looks to the rest of the party with a slight smile and gives a cheeky wink.
"Well, that was the cherry on top of the $#!+ sundae that was today. Please tell me we found our way through so we can head back to the nest soon."
Maccha's exhaustion due to dealing with all the myriad ways this mansion threw supernatural phenomena at them doubled just by listening to Alekto's voice.
One more planar annoyance.
Maybe because of that, she did not act, just letting her friend Believer be insulted in front of her and feeling guilty of not speaking up, but maybe not speaking up would make Alekto ignore her. It was cowardice, plain and simple, but What else can I possibly do? Stab Tessa?
Of course, soon after Believer showed how a true follower of Milani acts in those circunstances and Maccha is pulled out of her self-pity spiral and runs to help Tessa, the real victim in all of this.
Only a minute or so passes before Aoede and Tessa come to.
"Wh-whu happened," Tessa asks groggily as she sees Maccha keeping watch over her.
"Bet you something sweet that Alekto happened," Aoede grumbles as she starts to get up, then winces as she finds that she's still not back in top shape.
The two get to their feet and lean on each other as the others fill them in on what happened and what has been discovered.
"I know these are paintings and drawings of fell things," Tessa says as she looks over the artwork and the documents. "Still, it seems a shame to just destroy them all given how much skill the artist had. More of a shame they couldn't put that talent to other, better uses."
With your resident eryines stowaway handled, you make it back to the foyer and put the last triangle 'key' inside the pedestal. A short moment and some pressure on the keys later and the wall next to it slides open to reveal a set of stairs down into a lower level. It's creepy and full of cobwebs, but there isn't anything else there besides your group.
The stairs lead down to an obviously unused basement, empty except for a lot of broken crates and empty containers. There's an opening in one of the walls that leads further in, but the clean carved walls end where the opening begins. The more natural tunnel (for that's what it is now) leads even deeper into the ground before you enter another carved out room down in the dirt and stone.
A triple set of lidless coffins sit in a triangle in the middle of the room, with a layer of dirt filling the bottom of each one. A scattering of strange belongings lay around the coffins; mostly clothes but there are also some various things you'd expect to find in someone's bedroom.
The tunnel continues past the strange coffins and leads back up towards the surface, whereupon it eventually breaks out into a closed mausoleum. Whoever lays interred in the solid marble coffin here has been long forgotten, as their name inscription has worn away in the decades since their burial. In a corner is a small stack of crates and barrels full of equipment, hellknight armor, and weapons.
"Vampires," Tessa says as loudly as she dares when she spots the coffins and realizes what she's looking at. "Nononononono! This is not good!"
Maccha's eyebrown shoot up when she hears Tessa "Vampires?" she looks around and confirm it to be the case. "What kind of evil creature is not present in this forsaken mansion?"
Maccha walks towards the cache, finding a real trove of equipment. After discussing the division with the group, she picks up what makes sense for her.
"Calm down you two," Aoede says as she takes a closer look. "See all of the dust? It's probably been years since this was used as a lair."
The eidolon grins as she sees Tessa sag in relief.
"See? Nothing to worry about. At least, nothing to worry about right now. We aren't in any shape to go vampire hunting, I think."
"Well, let's grab the weapons and get out of here before we find another surprise," Tessa says.
Llewela emerges from the tunnel and tenses up as she sees the coffins, but relaxes when Aoede notices the disuse.
"Ha, I guess it would be risky to hide your stuff in a vampire's bedroom." she chuckles.
Her eyes widen when she sees the cache and she moves over and starts sorting through the various pieces of equipment, checking them for quality and wear.