As Sariel listens to the story of how his friend and mentor died, the hair on the back of his neck stands and goosebumps run up and down his arms. Swearing to himself that the professor would be avenged. Chiming it with Sorsul's question he asks, "What 'symbol of your husband's authority would you recommend?"
"My husband's badge of office should be sufficient. I don't know where it is, but I suspect it's hidden somewhere in the dungeons below. I do know that the spirits have objects they once considered valuable in life. They're likely cursed, but I believe they can aid you against them as well. They should be in the prison's property room to the southeast."
The lady looks grave. "I urge you: please hurry. One of the spirits - Splatter Man - is slowly eating away at my resolve. Every few days, he grows a little stronger, and I diminish."
Sorsul nodded, her face sympathetic. ”We will begin with the property room then, as this may aid us against the spirits, should they move against us. And yes, we will do all that we can to retrieve your husband’s badge of office.” She looked to Sariel to see if he had anything to add.
Nodding to the ghost, "Then we shall search the dungeons below for rour husband's badge after we search the prison's property room Mistress Hawkran."
Turning to the ladies, he gestures towards the secret door in the northeast wall. "We should do that next, but do you mind if we investigate the hidden door here first?" As he speaks he moves towards the hidden door, and attempts to push it open.
As they leave the ghost headed for the 'property room', Sariel asks the ladies, "She said the assailants spoke in 'whispers' do you think it might have to do with followers of the 'Whispering Way' or just a coincident?"
Moving through the prison back they way they come, Sariel considers his own question. In his line of work, he doesn't find too many 'coincident.' returning to the foyer, he investigates the door to the west for traps or locks.
Several rusty iron tubs sit in this room, along with washboards, metal buckets, and heaps of moldy clothing.
One of the heaps of clothing is moving, as if a small child or an animal is trapped inside and is struggling to get out.
”Oh what I wouldn’t do for some telekinesis…” Sorsul said, as she pointed towards the heaps of clothing.
Her shadow is dexterous enough to manipulate delicate objects and wield weapons, activate spell completion or spell trigger items....A shadow is too flimsy to function as a suit of armor or shield, though it may wield a shield.
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As Sorsul's shadow begins clearing away the pile of clothes, the source of the motion is soon identified: a straightjacket - which promptly flies toward you!
Sighing as the straitjacket 'comes to life' Sariel, knowing his 'magic' will have no effect, draws his sickle and clumsily slashes at the piece of clothing as it flies past.
While Sariel’s strike was clumsy, it still threatened the possessed item. That allowed Sorsul to flank it, using his distraction to control her shadow and get it in position to engulf the rogue jacket.
Sorsul's shadow claws the jacket, holding it fast long enough for Lady Shae to finish it off with a blast of fire.
Relieved to see the possessed straight jacket go up in flames, Sariel blurts out "Well done ladies." As he sheaths his sickle he quickly looks around the room.
As they leave the ghost area, headed for the 'property room', Sariel asks the ladies, "She said the assailants spoke in 'whispers' do you think it might have to do with followers of the 'Whispering Way' or just a coincident?"
Moving through the prison back they way they come, Sariel considers his own question. In his line of work, he doesn't find too many 'coincident.' returning to the foyer, he investigates the door to the west for traps or locks.
”There are only so many ominous names that cults and secret societies can choose from.” Sorsul said. ”It is like a restaurant in Absalon. After awhile all of the good names have been taken and they all start sounding the same. Until we find out more I don’t think we can make a connection.” She reasoned, even as she joined Sariel in his search.
The door to the west of foyer leads to several small offices. This area survived the fire and is in reasonably-good shape, but the amount of scattered paperwork will take several hours to reorganize. At the end of the office hall, there are two additional rooms. One is a washroom.
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This spacious room smells of mildew and rot. A long desk and chair sit to the south, while to the northwest a narrow alcove contains a closed safe. Thick layers of dust cover everything in sight.
Kneeling down Sariel takes a moment and looks at the safe. Turning to the ladies, he shakes his head. "IT takes a key, I don't know how to 'pick locks.' If we can't open it ourselves, maybe we can find the key."
As he moves towards the desk, he continues, "If it's not here in the office, maybe on the wardens person, or at his home." As he carefully searches the desk, he adds, "The warden's wife may know where her husband kept the key."
”All good ideas.” She agreed. ”And I, for one, can’t lift that. So we will need a key, or the time it takes for my shadow to cut through it. Which would likely waste our sunlight. So let’s keep looking and our eyes peeled.”
After a very thorough search, Sariel can confirm that the key is not in the office.
Realizing they probably weren't going to get in the safe without a key Sariel considered the information they'd gathered. Shaking his head, he observes, "Harkon had said the warden hadn't come home for dinner and his wife dropped the elevator in an attempt to rescue him." Shrugging lightly, "If we find the elevator shaft, we may find where the warden's body is, and possibly his keys."
Pausing he looks towards the two ladies, "Unless there is a better idea?"
Resolute in the idea of searching for the Warden's body and his keys, Sariel returns to the Foyer. Heading through the northern double doors to the long hallway, he begins investigating the first pair of doors he finds, hoping to find something helpful beyond.
”We can hope. Just as we can hope that we don’t run into a pair of possessed pantaloons that try to strangle us.” Sorsul responded.
This flight of stairs 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.
”We are not getting past that. And I hope we won’t need to. Let’s continue with the next door.” She said.
The next door opens to reveal a staircase that leads upward, presumably to the prison's upper level.
”I think we should finish this level first. Ensure nothing remains behind us…do you agree?” She said, turning to her companions.
Nodding in agreement with Sorsul, Sariel heads to the end of the hallway. Deciding to open the smaller doors on the sides of the hallway before going through the double doors at the end of the hallway, he opens the door on the right.
The door on the right opens to reveal a small room - presumably for storage. Once you determine there's nothing inside of interest or value, you proceed to the double doors at the end of the hallway.
Several moldy cots lay strewn around this 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.
Standing in the doorway of the infirmary, Sariel notices the door in the north eastern corner. Turning to the ladies, he shrugs, "I doubt the elevator down is here in the infirmary, we should continue searching."
Moving through the western door to the main hallway, he gestures toward the single door to the north. "This door remains along with the locked one in the south east where we entered."
As he speaks, he attempts to open the northern door, hoping the narrow door leads to the elevator shaft.
Sorsul followed, glad to not spend time in the infirmary. If there was ever a place that would be haunted it would surely be there. She hoped that there would be a way to descend, but she was not so naive as to believe that there had to be one. This was not a game, where everything was a puzzle with a solution. It was not designed for them to emerge victorious. Old buildings collapsed, and this one had the added issue of fire damage. She was just glad that it was safe to traverse at all. Small blessings were still blessings, and deserved to be counted.
The northern door leads to a privy - presumably for the guards to use.
Shaking his head, Sariel turns to the ladies, "Not sure what We're missing, Shall we head upstairs or try and force the locked doors we've found?"
”Id think upstairs. The doors are locked and we don’t know how long it will take to force them.” She replied. ”And even if we have to come back again, it will be good to know that we have cleared out the top floors.”
Nodding in agreement with Sorsul, Sariel heads towards the stairs they'd found.
You take the stairs upward to discover a large cellblock. To the south, a guard area is blocked off from the rest of the floor by an arc of iron bars. Within sits an old wooden table and a few chairs.
Realizing the second floor was a cell block, Sariel's hopes of finding the warden's body or his keys plummet. Shaking his head, he sighs, "We're here, we may as well check everything."
Moving across the floor to the north west corner, he begins checking the individual cubicals.
”Let me see if I can drag that table closer. While I doubt it, there may be something on it we can’t see from here.”
Row upon row of ten-foot-square prison cells line the walls, each separated from the passing hallway by a series of iron bars fitted with a narrow iron door. Skeletons slump in many of the cells, the bones scattered where they lie and coated with a mixed layer of ancient ashes and fresh mold.
Suddenly, every skeleton on this side of the cellblock rises up and begins trying to claw their way out of their cells!
You hear the faint sound of mournful music and the eerie flapping of tiny leathery wings.
STepping back from the prison cells so as not to be reached by any of the imprisoned skeletons, Sariel asks, "Does anyone else hear music or the flapping of wings?"
As he asks, he listens to try and determine what direction the music is coming from.
The eerie music grows louder until it can be heard by everyone. Then the cellblock doors begin opening....
Keeping her cool, Sorsul gathered her shadow. She focused on it, telling herself that the only reason to fear the dark was due to what was in it. And in her case, her shadow was the only thing that had to be feared. And whatever came through the door would learn that lesson. At least, that is what she told herself…
Feeling the music wash over him Sariel sees ghostly figure slowly floating toward him accompanied by a flock of stirges. Stepping back, he hisses at the stirges. His faces changes, becoming pale as his eyes turn black and his mouth turns almost muzzle like. When he opens his mouth to speak his reveals sharpened fangs. He stares at the nearest of the creature, his gaze becoming hypnotic, his voice gravely, sounding like he's speaking in two separate registers, commanding the stirges in Necril ">Go Away<."
Hearing the music getting louder, Sariel turns to Sorsul, "You hear that right?"
Several of the cellblock doors fly open, allowing the skeletons within to charge!
Being as on edge as she was, she lashed out with her shadow at the first sign of movement. The skeleton was engulfed by the shadow, causing loose bones to fall harmlessly to the ground.
His eyes widening as Sariel sees a ghostly figure accompanied by a flock of stirges slowly floating towards him. Intent on asking his companions if they see the true threat, he realizes he cannot move nor even speak...
Sorsul's shadow destroys the first skeleton to get within her reach, but more are coming. Sariel, meanwhile, is held fast as the stirges begin swarming around him.
Seeing her friend paralyzed, Sorsul directed her attack against the two enemies closest to them, focusing on the one that put him in the most danger.
Unable to initially dodge the skeleton, Sariel, seeing the stirges draw nearer concentrates. Feeling the spell 'break' he steps back away from the would be attackers.
The skeletons shatter under the attacks from Lady Shae and Sorsul. Sariel, meanwhile, fights off the paralysis, and when he does, the spectre and the stirges vanish - leaving nothing but an assortment of bite marks on the dhampir.
Using some of his innate magic Sariel heals the assortment of bites and the damage from the skeleton. Looking about quickly he asks, "Shall we continue? if need be I can use Pharasma's blessing to damage the undead."
Wondering aloud, "IF there are many more we should draw them to us so when I channel it will effect all of them instead of just some."
Taking a deep breath, Sorsul nodded. ”Yes. Just remember to eat some candy if you are hurt. I fear that we will need all of your resources available before we are done with this place.”