Stepping through the double doors into the mold-stained foyer, Sariel wrinkles his nose. As he moves into the shadows, he lets his eyes adjust to the darkness. Gesturing towards the small door on the right, "Without knowing exactly what we are looking for, I guess we should check behind every door." As he speaks he attempts to open the small door in the southeast corner.
As you approach the southeast door, you suddenly notice the double doors behind you are beginning to close!
Catching motion from the corner of his eye, Sariel turns to see the doors shutting. Stepping to the doors, he puts his hands on them. His face 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, his voice gravely, sounding like he's speaking in two separate registers, commanding the doors in >Stop<
The doors slam shut, trapping you in the foyer. When you attempt to open them, you discover they're held fast by an unseen force.
”What?!” Sorsul cried out in surprise as the doors shut. Trying in vain to open them, she took a step back and looked to Shae. ”I’m going to try to break these down. Watch my back.” Not knowing what was in there with them, and worried for Sariel, she set her shadow to work on breaking down the door.
Banging on the door, Sariel calls out, "It's locked from this side, can you open it from the outside?"
Lady She nodded and spun around, her staff at the ready. She looked around, looking for anything that could threaten Sorsul as she broke down the door.
Tobi hissed, his fur on end and his back arched, also keeping an eye out for anything suspicious.
It takes Sorsul almost a minute to carve a hole into the thick, oaken doors. During that time ... nothing else happens.
Relieved that nothing untoward happened while locked in the foyer, Sariel breaths a sigh as the others join him. He gestures the small door in the southeast corner. "I was going to open this door when the entrance slammed shut. Clearly there are ghosts afoot, so we should remain vigilant." As he speaks he attempts to open the same door.
”Great. Just great. Ghosts…we all need to stay together then. If any of us get isolated again it could end very poorly.” She replied, as she moved into the room. ”Just one more thing to watch out for.” She didn’t say it, but she wondered if her shadow would be of any use against a ghost.
The door opens, revealing a hallway that terminates at a locked steel door.
Finding the steel door at the end of the hallway locked, Sariel breathes a sigh, "Maybe we'll find a set of keys, so we don't have to tear opens doors. Let's continue."
Backtracking he heads back to the foyer and tests the double doors facing east, besides the hallway they'd entered.
"Good idea. It took me long enough with a regular door, let alone that one." Sorsul replied, following Sariel.
Several rows of wooden benches, all spotted with mold and sagging with neglect, face a stage walled off from the rest of the room by a wall of iron bars. Like last time, the door slams shut a few seconds after you enter the room. This time, however, burnt faces briefly emerge from the walls and scream before the door holds fast. The the temperature begins to rapidly drop.
Nodding in agreement with Sorsul, Sariel moves into what appears to be a presentation room of some sort, looking from the moldy benches towards the barred area. Pausing as the temperature drops and the burnt faces emerge. His features shift slightly as he considers attempting to 'command them' as the ghosts seemed to fade away.
As he moves towards the opposite double doors he considers what he knows about the screaming faces.
The exact conditions that cause a haunt to manifest vary from case to case, but they always arise from a source of terrific mental or physical anguish endured by living, tormented creatures. A single, source of suffering can create multiple haunts, or multiple sources could consolidate into a single haunt. A haunt infuses a specific area, and often multiple haunted areas exist within a single structure. While a haunt can be temporarily neutralized by positive energy during its initial manifestation, permanent destruction requires a specific action that is different for each haunt.
Haunts with chilling effects can often be destroyed with holy fire.
”That sounds…scientific.” Sorsul managed, her voice stiff. Not since her youth in Shadowed Absalom had she felt such dread at what was waiting in the dark. But having the knowledge of what was there, why it was there, and how to deal with it, certainly made the situation feel more manageable. ”We have some holy water, do we not? And that bolt from the Professor’s stash?” She asked. ”Well, at the very least we do not need to exorcise every haunt here. We just need to watch each other’s backs to find what we came for.” She said, as much to herself as to her companions.
After a quick moment to regain her composure after the burnt faces in the walls, Lady Shae nodded, looking around the room while waiting for the doors to reopen. "Perhaps there is something in here to give us a clue in solving the haunt issue..."
With Tobi on her shoulders and her staff in hand, Lady Shae begins to investigate the room.
Chuckling as Sorsul calls the information 'scientific' Sariel nods, "It does doesn't it, but like science, they can still be deadly." He watches as Lady Shae investigates the room further, agreeing with Sorsul, "I agree, hopefully we will find the cause of the haunts and deal with it then. But if we find any that are particularly dangers, I can channel energy to deal with them."
As Lady Shae finishes investigating the room, Sariel will attempt to open the double doors towards the east.
Your teeth are chattering by the time Sariel opens the doors.
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The northeast wall of this room has partially fallen, revealing the dark, murky waters of the pond outside. Moldering training dummies and other similar equipment hint that this room may have once been a training area for the guards. In the northeast part of the room, the floor around a dark, jagged hole is surrounded by black scorch marks.
Pulling his cloak up around his neck, Sariel shivers, "Perchance, we should have dressed warmer."
As he steps into the equipment room, he observes the dark murky water and the jagged hole surrounded by the black scorch marks. Noticing the door to the north, he carefully moves that direction, staying near the western wall he asks, "What do you ladies think caused the hole in the floor?"
Once he makes it to the door he will attempt to open it.
As Sariel moves toward the northern door, shrieks erupt from the bottom of the hole. A moment later, a half-dozen flaming skulls rise from the depths!
Lady Shae startles at the shrieks, flying around and sending Tobi flying. With a hiss, Tobi regains himself and hides behind the witch's legs. Spotting the skulls, Lady Shae sighs as her eyes begin to glow and runes appear all over her skin.
"Seems we are not alone after all." She said, pointing her staff at the closest skull.
pausing for a split second, Sariel attempts to determine if the skulls are undead.
Teeth chattering, Sorsul didn’t reply. But when the skulls rose up, the answer became obvious. She moved forward to stand between her comrades and the skulls, her shadow ready to envelop the first one to reach her.
Raising an eyebrow as the undead flaming skulls rise out of the pit, Sariel realizes it's time to earn his keep. Drawing his holy symbol from under his cloak, he presents it as he channels positive energy.
Sariel's channeled energy damages the skulls, and Lady Shae's follow-up blast destroys one. Sorsul's shadow dispatches another as they rush in.
A skull flew at Sorsul’s head and she ducked in time for it to fly harmlessly by her. When it came back around she was ready for it. Spinning, as if though she were bracing for impact, what she had done was bring her shadow over it. While it was hard to tell in the darkness of the prison, the impact was evident. A cracked formed across the skull as it went after her, causing it to break into two pieces, which landed on both sides of her.
Flinching from the burn, Sariel, unhappy with how well his magic worked, drew his sickle, stepped to the side and slashed at the nearest undead skull.
Lady Shae falls to her knees, screaming in pain as the fire burns into her body. She runs as far away from the skeleton and, with shaking hands, locates a silver-colored candy and pops it into her mouth.
Suddenly, the burns on Lady Shae's skin alight with magical light, healing almost instantly. With a breath of relief, she calls to her compatriots.
"These abominations are too strong for me! One good hit from them could kill me!" The fear is plain in her eyes.
Two more skulls fall before Sariel and Sorsul's blows, but the last pair continue to attack.
”Just hold on, we’re going to be alright!” Sorsul yelled out, even as she tried to lure another of the skulls into the waiting embrace of her shadow. She had no idea if that was true, as there was a very real possibility that they would not be fine. But in the danger that they were in, it didn’t seem like the time to face such hard truths.
Relieved that Sorsul was so confident Sariel, slashed again with his sickle at the nearest undead skull.
Sariel and Sorsul's attacks finish off the last two undead, leaving the area safe ... for now....
Realizing the fire had damaged him more than he thought, Sariel takes a moment to heal his own wounds. As he looks at the others, he ask, "Shall we continue slowly?"
Keeping his sickle in hand he moves towards the single door to the north and attempts to open it.
Sorsul glanced over at Lady Shae with concern on her face. While the skulls hadn't landed any hits on Sorsul, it looked very painful when they had latched onto her friend.
"Yes, slowly. We could..." She hesitated. "We could also come back to this place. It is obviously haunted by dangerous entities. What I am thinking is that some more research into what haunts this place could leave us forewarned, and thus forearmed. In addition, whomever is doing the graffiti may know something about what is going on here. If we can capture him, that would be to our advantage. But if one of us falls here, well, that is just going to lead to regret."
Still panting, Lady Shae looks at her comrades, cuddling her familiar, and regains her composure.
"I feel that leaving for now and coming back later may prove more prudent. I'm sorry I lost my composure; those villainous things nearly burned me to a crisp. Sorsul, darling, do you need healing?"
She let Tobi jump from her arms, shuffled through her pouch for another silver candy, and then handed it over to Sorsul.
A huge stone furnace dominates this room, large enough for a child to climb inside. An ancient fire has burned away the entire east wall the room, providing a panoramic, if eerie, view of the lake beyond. That same lake has gradually expanded into the room, flooding its eastern half.
Shaking his head, "Nothing in here but an old furnace." Turning he gestures back the way they came. "We've at least verified the old place is haunted. I'm fine with heading back to town and learning more before we delve deeper."
As he speaks, he moves back the way they came, sheathing his sickle and pulling his hat down to cover his eyes more, in preparation to go back outside.
When you return to Ravengro, you discover the memorial in the town square has been vandalized once again. The bloody letters now read, V-E-S.
”This again?!” Sorsul said with exasperation. ”We should stake this area out again. It is bad enough having to face ghosts, spirits and-“ She almost said zombies, but stopped herself. ”Anyways, we really need to put a stop to this.”
As they walk into the center of town, Sariel sighs and nods in agreement with Sorsul. "Yes, it needs to stop, hopefully we can play a part."
Gesturing towards the tavern he asks, "Shall we ask some of the town folks about it? Maybe if we ingratiate ourselves to them they will open up a little more."
From some of the chatter you overhear from various townsfolk, it sounds like the town council will be hosting a meeting this evening to discuss 'the recent strangeness.'
Deciding to spend a little to eat lunch at the tavern, Sariel move to the table they'd sat at the night before. Dropping his pack near his chair, drops his floppy black hat on top and places his cloak over the back of the chair. Taking a seat, he waives at the server asking, "What is the special for today? Oh and where will the council be meeting this evening?"
”With everyone attending the meeting, it seems like whomever is doing the graffiti will have cover to strike again. While I hate the idea of splitting up, I’d like to stake the area should he or she move again.” Sorsul said.
Nodding in agreement with Sorsul, splitting up did seem like a bad idea, but having someone watch the statue while most of the town was elsewhere seemed wise.
As he thought Sariel reached down into his pack and took out his tea cup and saucer. Setting his Silver tea pot on the table he makes a mental note to ask the staff to put some hot water in his pot. As he rifled through his pack, looking for his spoon and tea pouch he considered other options.
Eventually setting the spoon near the saucer, he began packing tea into his infuser. Knowing Lady Shae and her cat 'October' have a very interesting relationship, he Looks towards the woman and asks, "Lady Shae, would it be possible for 'Tobi' to watch the statue while we attend the meeting?" He smiles, moving the spoon slightly on the saucer, "Wouldn't he be able to observe from a safe distance and alert us if something was untoward?"
Lady Shae sat at the table, nodding off with her familiar on her lap. With Sariel's question, she woke abruptly, her head swinging quickly toward her comrade.
"Uh? Oh Tobi? Unfortunately, he cannot go far from me without disappearing due to his unique existence. But I could use my divination to determine if it would be helpful to stake out the area. Shall I ask my Patron?"
She smiled dreamily at her familiar while petting him gently, waiting for Sariel's answer.
Confused as to cat's unique existence Sariel perks up when she asks about divination. Looking from the lady Shae towards Sorsul, he shrugs, "Why not? It can't hurt right?"
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