| GiveMeHam |
Ike's Log - Fifth Entry
We have returned from our latest foray into Harrowstone and while battered and bruised, I feel we are making some progress in clearing the prison of it's evil taint. Every foul undead creature sent to it's final rest, every haunting spirit secured safely in a siphon filter pays back a small part of having my brother taken from me. I miss him dearly, but having remained busy and the constant threat of enemies has abated the worst of the pain.
I believe we have cleared most of the first floor of the prison now. In addition, we've discovered the ghost of Vesorianna, who was, in life, the wife of the warden of the prison. Unlike most of the haunted spirits and foul undead encountered so far, Vesorianna appears to have been a lady of good and noble intent in her previous life, along with her husband. We were able to gain some additional information about what we're up against here. According to Vesorianna, five horribly evil spirits, criminals and psychotics in life, have become the worst of Harrowstones occupants in death. Now they seek the free themselves of the bonds of Harrowstone and the wards that Vesorianna has used to contain them so far.
While it goes against both my own morals and those of my goddess to suffer the undead to live, I feel we can bring a peaceful end to Vesorianna by destroying the powerful haunts of Harrowstone.
Departing the room in which Vesorianna manifests, we proceeded to the 2nd floor of the prison and were attacked by another flock of stirges and while a few party members suffered minor injury, we were able to dispatch them fairly easily. We explored several rooms on the eastern wing of the prison, and it was here that the true extent of what happened at Harrowstone begins to be reveled. Many of the prison cells we examined in the eastern wing contained the skeletal remains of what I assume were inmates. Some charred by the fire that swept the structure, others who succumbed to the blackening smoke. It is...hard to imagine a worse fate.
After exploring the east wing, we examined what appeared to be a guard station between the east and west wings. A set of bars surrounded the station and while it once must have kept prisoners out of the area, it appears to have kept several former occupants locked in, as we encountered skeletal remains here as well. A few of them animated and attacked the party but were quickly dispatched.
I fear at this point we had grown over confident. Having defeated the enemies encounter on the upper floor to this point, we began a rapid sweep of the west side of the 2nd floor. One of the first rooms contained a skeletal body wrapped in the holy symbols of many faiths. Based on what Vesorianna had told us, many of this suspected this might have been the body of the dreaded Father Charlatan. However, using evil detecting sight granted me by Sarenrea revealed nothing except the ever-present background evil of the entire prison. Despite some misgivings, we continued on, with Lala springing the locks on one set of cells after another and the rest of us exploring them. After we had opened a few doors at the southern end of the west wing, a few of us began to hear haunting pipes playing - surely an indication that the Piper of Ilmarsh, one of the powerful haunts Vesorianna warned us about - was near at hand. As we began to prepare to fight another incorporeal spirit the doors of one cell after another sprung open, revealing an army of skeletons, all turning their red eyes on us!. Facing a dozen and a half of the undead we retreated into a room on the south side of the prison to limit the number of attackers we'd have to face at once.
We engaged in what seemed like an endless fight. The skeletons threatened at every moment to overwhelm the defensive line that Tasin and I set at the door. If a ten foot stack of skeletons wasn't enough, we faced the haunting effects of both the Piper of Illmarsh, who's music seemed to have the power to hold one of us at a time in place and to cause damage as if we were being stabbed by dozens of needles, and Father Charlatan. While I have not yet had time to gather any details from the Doctor, he appears to have engaged in some sort of mental battle with Father Charlatan, at one point appears wrapped in chains and oblivious to the world around him. We expended another valuable haunt siphon and it appeared to damage something, as the essence of a haunt was drawn into as we've seen in past encounters. After what seemed like hours but was probably only a few minutes, we managed to bash our way through the army of skeletons with Tasin, Lala and myself all racking up a significant body count among our enemies and many injuries of our own. Thanks to a cache of healing potions, the Doctor and a healing wand, we were able to stay on our feet just long enough to survive the encounter. As the last of the skeletons fell, the manifestation (I believe) of the Piper of Ilmarsh - a group of stirges - withdrew. We quickly did the same, returning to Ravengro.
A bit of time back in the village revealed that a statue in the city, one of the prettier places apparently fancied by the locals, had been vandalized. I believe Kendra mentioned something about this several days ago, but it appears that someone...or something...is writing letters on the statue in blood. So far, the letters "V" and "E" have been written, several days apart. We have surmised that perhaps "Vesorianna" is being spelled out. But who would know that name, and why would they be writing it on statuary?