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Carla says "So, here are the names of all the Harrowstone guards. It would be nice to know who are their families here, maybe they have some more information for us. Although people are usually creeped out by me when I talk to them, I'm sure they'd respond better to someone else talking." Then, she muses "I think following this blood trail could leave us to some cultists, maybe. It may be worth our time." She is trying not to admit she isn't eager to return to Harrowstone anytime soon.
Carla sees Barek investigating the body and goes help.
She also asks "What did you find Jack? Should we follow that trail?" She also mentions "If someone enchanted poor Quincey to sleep walk here just to be killed, then none of us is safe." She also tries thinking of any historical figure or fact that could relate to VE.
Carla remains silent as the body is revealed. Her hands tremble in her pockets and Lawrence notices. He nibbles at her to try to break her out of stasis. She finally looks around for other things to focus on. She tells Jack "Hey, maybe you can find some tracks here? I mean, I know I'm grasping at straws, but... isn't there something you can find?" Carla knows that it's a fool's request, so she adds "Maybe Lawrence can help? He has a great sense of smell."
Carla, knowing she's not the best at speeches and convincing people, just comes along for the moment. She considers telling Lawrence to come closer to the monument and find out what exactly is going on, but people might not appreciate a rat running among them. She thinks "Well, Lawrence and I got our spells prepared today to deal with the haunted prison, not an angry mob. I just hope we don't meet an angry mob." She tries looking at a distance through the group of townsfolk what is going on.
She tells Barek next to her "Maybe we should make a point of keeping guard on this monument. It seems there's always something happening here and it'd be nice to catch someone in the act."
Carla wakes up grumbling on a couch. She goes wash up for half an hour then comes back out with her usual cheerful self. She bids all "Morning!" and fills a plate for herself and Lawrence. She goes straight into the books to try and learn what she can. Even if she hasn't learned much about the criminals or haunts, she feels cleverer. After communing with Lawrence to ready her spells, she says "Weird, I got more spells prepared today than yesterday..."
Carla tilts her head slightly thinking "Did Lloyd just call me weird?" but says "Well, he was suspicious of a certain cult doing some bad stuff. They're called the Whispering Way and they don't want nice things, it looks like. They've been trying to get into the ruins of Harrowstone prison. If you haven't heard of it, it burned down about half a century ago with all the prisoners and staff inside." She is about to tell Lloyd the entire story, but she herself can't bring the words out of her mouth. Instead, she just said "It's supposedly haunted and... we've verified that it is, indeed haunted. We have received some help in the form of some magic items from someone. I assume it's from the Esoteric Order of the Paladin Eye, I'm sure you know of it." She breathes in deep then says "In any case, we have to go back to the prison, the Whispering Way were supposedly looking for something in the ruins and we need to find what it is in case it's... well, something really bad. It probably is, though. You can come if you'd like. It would be amazing if you knew how to handle haunts. You know, haunted places."
Carla is the one to open the door. She is tired from researching so much, considering it's not her primary occupation. Desperate for something to occupy herself with, she hopes the friendly looking man arriving is from the town, with some sort of peace offering. She notices that Lawrence is still munching on the treats she gave him as a reward for a job well done in town. Surprised to hear Lloyd's introduction, Carla says "Oh, hi! I'm Carla. I was also late to the funeral. There is actually some stuff going on. Miss Kendra, is it ok if this gentleman comes in?" After getting confirmation from Kendra, Carla invites Lloyd inside and says "This is miss Kendra Lorrimor, the professor's daughter. She is nice enough to let us stay at her house while we... deal with some last request from the professor. It's a long story, really. Anyway, this is Lady Briar Rose Applegate, wait... no, that's not right. Her name sounds like that, though, I'm sorry milady, I can't quite remember your last name. Applestar! Applestar, is the name." Blushing, embarrassed, she continues "This is Barek, Jack and the big one in the back is Balurk. And this here is Lawrence." she finishes holding out a rat that's eating a large piece of cheese. "Say hi Lawrence!" and the rat stops eating for a second to wave his whiskers at Lloyd.
Carla replies to the Lady "Well, from this text, it seems that the Whispering Way cult is after something in the prison. I don't know if they got it, but in either case, if we burn down the prison again we lose any chance to find out what it is and what it could do. Also, we lose the chance to ease the pain of those poor souls." She seems sincerely distraught.
Carla says "Thanks Quincey, this is really helpful! Although most of these I don't know how to use, but I am sure you guys who have train to shoot a bow will do great with these arrows." She takes the spirit board and spirit planchette and says "I've heard of these, always wanted to try. Although it seems dangerous, we might need to use one of these scrolls."
She also tells Lawrence "Can you go snoop around town? Make sure to stay hidden, but otherwise, try to understand what people are saying about us." and gives him a little kiss.
Carla replies to Barek "Well, we should protect ourselves in case they do not cur through armor."
Carla says "Well, I'd hate for the town to come after us or miss Kendra. I suppose Lawrence can walk around town and listen in. However, for some reason, people don't really like seeing rats like him. I never understood why, they're so friendly!"
Carla is visibly relieved to leave the prison ruins. She ignores the onlookers and once Kendra brings in the tea, she thanks her so profusely, her eyes get misty "Thank you, miss Kendra. You are so kind to care for us so. I feel indebted." The tea helps her go through the books more easily and by the end of her research, her morale is high again. She says "yes, Jack, he sounds horrible. Who could be like that? I wonder what this man has gone through to get to this stage." Looking at Quincey kindly she says "I'm curious about what you'll find out. I'd like a look at that book when you're done."
She says to the others, without wanting to bother Quincey and his research "I wonder... This man will likely try to cut heads still in death. We should try to wear extra protection around our necks, I reckon." She isn't sure how smart or dumb that sounds, but she has no filter when she's chippy.
Carla summons her healing powers and moves to slap the skull that has hurt her new orc friend.
Carla manages to caress the skull lovingly without getting burned. Her face shows pity for the spirit. The positive energy flows through her hand into the skull. It was not expecting this treatment and receives the entirety of the damage.
Carla sees the man quickly slice off one of the skulls and is impressed at the man's ferocity with such a small strange weapon. She targets another skull and casts a spell at it. She opens her mouth as if she is about to scream and expel her lungs in the process. She does apply the force on her scream, but no sound comes from her.
The skull is able to withstand most of the scream's damage.
She then moves behind Balurk taking Lawrence in her pocket.
Carla says "Well, if you're sure, open them!" She says "An old building that burned down is unlikely to have working traps in their doors. Also, I don't think that's how a prison operates. Traps are meant for unguarded doors. This place was guarded, I can guarantee it." As the others discuss, Carla starts to have some philosophical questions. She asks to whoever would care to indulge her "Say, if we were to carry a torch, how would that affect the spirits of this place. They are clearly trying to escape the fire and, until we figure out how to free these spirits, do you think they'd react in a particular way if they see fire? I mean, do you think they'd run away from it? Or charge it with all their, uhmmm... might?" She looks at Lawrence and she swears he shrugged.
Carla renews her dancing lights spell.
Carla furrows her brow and says "As much as I enjoy watching you be deterred by a piece of metal, how about we exhaust all the other easier ways before we hurt ourselves on this. My recommendation as a healer is that the best healing is not getting hurt in the first place." She complements "I think Barek is right. It will be much better to find an office with keys somewhere." She thinks for a moment, then says "But a set of keys could be found in the warden's little house outside." She does remember how fragile it is, and says "Maybe we can find something if we don't disturb the foundations too much. Perhaps the help of someone very very small. Like the size of a rat?" She strokes Lawrence's head.
Carla says "Well, it's usually a bad sign if there's a supernatural force keeping doors from open. You can try other doors, but maybe there's something in this room that needs to happen to unlock the doors." She renews her lights spell and starts to search the room. She says "Lawrence, don't just stand there, help me."
Carla replies to Jack " As they see the moldy floor, she takes a while to inspect the mold a bit.
After, as they see the ghosts desperate to get out, she shivers and holds Lawrence in her pocket tight.
Okkkk! I found the perfect prestige class: Stargazer, unless the GM opposes. @GM: Do you oppose? If not, it covers everything I need. I get knowledges and perception as class skill, which I don't currently have, keep witch hex, familiar and spell progression. I only miss out on favorite class bonus.
Carla stops to try tounderstand what Barek means, and keeps imagining chewing on a ghost. She looks at Barek and Jack discussing in the old language of Varisian nomads. She doesn't comment on that, but says "I would feel a lot safer if I could have the time to study about all the 5 prisoners. None of us understand about haunts enough to go into this. They are dangerous enough that it could hurt us in ways that I can't even fathom how to heal." She looks at Lawrence who gives her a judging look. She says "But if you choose to go in, of course, I'll follow."
@Carla: There are several traits that could give you that. But, outside of that and dipping into another class with said skill, I think that's about it. Yeah, but I doubt GM would allow me to change a character trait after the game has started. I'm thinking of a Prestige Class. I would keep my spell progression and and maybe get some nice prestige class thingies.
After agreeing with Barek about the runes, Carla says "So, Lyvar Harkran was the warden's name. I detected the abjuration and necromancy schools of magic. That means it has to do with protection and undead. My guess is that they were trying to conjure the warden's spirit somehow or protect against it. In any case, this probably worked against us. Most necromancy magic is working against us. The good thing is that the magic seems to have faded, but the one who organized this ritual probably got what they wanted from it already." She paces back and forth thinking.
Team: I am thinking that, being a very undead heavy campaign, we should have more than 1 character investing in Knowledge religion. Unfortunately, that's not a witch class skill. Do you guys have some advice on how I can go about getting the sweet +3 class skill bonus on this? I'd hate to dip into another class and lose spell/hex/familiar progression just for this. Loremaster Prestige class looks attractive, but the requirements are very steep.
Carla enjoys the view to the prison. She doesn't mind the whispered comments, she is not completely unfamiliar with those. In a place as superstitious as Ustalav, any source of magic will be met with some sort of push back. Talking to a rat isn't usually a thing people take lightly either. When discussing where to go within the prison, Carla decides to inspect the runes as well. She casts a spell and focuses on them.
Carla replies to Barek "So, there's nothing stopping us from taking these books with us. If we have time pressure to stop the Whispering Way from getting there, we can wait for them there and learn the information as we wait. In any case, I am not eager to enter the prison itself. A haunted prison is very dangerous. If we do go there, we should buy a healthy stock of holy water, but we can't ask miss Kendra here for more support than we've already have. Maybe the sheriff would want to sponsor us?"
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