"This... is something very new," Lucy comments concernedly. She points a hand at the scythe, muttering a quick incantation, and releases a dim beam of light.
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"Besides which, what help will he be anyway," Lucy says dismissively, looking up from the book she'd buried herself in. "The man ruled an accident what it took us all of five minutes to determine was murder, and he's been treating us, the only people who actually seem to care about finding the murderer, like we're the criminals. He's incompetent at best and corrupt at worst."
"She seemed to handle herself well enough last night, and besides which she volunteered," Lucy says with a shrug. "I don't see any harm in it. Also, food. Food sounds good."
I approve of this arrangement.
Lucy, overhearing this as she enters the house behind them, raises an eyebrow. "Frankly I think the sheriff would run us out of town for getting mugged at this point. What are we talking about exactly?"
Woah, what do you think you're doing multiplying my bet by 10. I'm not that confident.
"Their squabbling was getting on my nerves."
"Or perhaps the warden and his wife lived on the grounds, so he could be reached easily in an emergency," Lucy points out. As she does so, she casually snaps her fingers in the direction of the memorial, casting prestidigitation to clean away the blood.
5 silver says the Warden was evil.
"Sounds like a reasonable plan."
After about a minute Lucy answers, her hair pulled into a messy ponytail and reading glasses crooked on her face. "Darius. Great. Get in here and we'll swap stories." She steps back, leaving the door open for him.
I'll just take high average. Level Up
2 new spells (detect undead and heightened awareness)
Spoiler alert, even levels for wizards are boring.
Yo bring that crap back to Lucy she'll tell you exactly what it is.
Lucy hangs back. "You guys go on ahead. Someone needs to look into the Whispering Way, and hopefully the professor's books will help." With that, she retreats into the library.
"I would also like to mention, gentlemen, that I examined the gargoyle that fell on the Professor. No touching, just looking, but it was still apparent to me that it fell not from old age and rot, but someone using tools."
"I'd be happy to," Lucy says around a piece of toast. "I'm still not fond of Father Grimburrow, and a library sounds like an excellent place to spend my day."
Lucy awakens relatively early and heads downstairs, finding Varsk with his journal. "Good morning Brother Varsk," she yawns sleepily. "What are you doing this early?"
Lucy grips her holy symbol of Pharasma and closes her eyes, letting energy wash over her. When she opens them, they seem darker for a moment, and the energy is released. "Flee," she commands at the zombie.
Point. Not like I need to save them for anything.
Lucy dodges the zombie's clumsy swing and stumbles back. "Guys, I'm officially out if someone else wants to step in here."
That was a misprint, it's going in the first FAQ. It was meant to be "remove the Will save for half damage," meaning the target gets no Will save. Apparently someone in editing misread it and changed it "for clarity."
And Lucy is now officially out of spells.
"I've got this one," Lucy mutters. "Hold on little piggy!"
Lucy quickly enforces her tunic with magic and prepares for battle.
Against mook skeletons and zombies channels are perfect. Otherwise, meh.
"With all due respect Kendra, he's a Pharasmin priest who dismissed a haunting without a proper investigation, so I can't even remotely trust him until I know more."
Lucy drags the body into a different room and drapes her coat over it, a look of barely constrained fury on her face. "Cemeteries are consecrated ground. Sacred. Someone had to have dug him up, dragged him away, and animated him. In broad daylight. Something about this town stinks to the Boneyard and I will find out what."
"So I propose we not be woefully underprepared for a haunted prison after dark," Lucy says nervously. "Shall we leave for the evening and come back to this tomorrow?"
Good night :P
Lucy grimaces at the faint burns on her hand and sighs. "No need, it's minor enough to heal on its own. Still, that was weird. I've never seen a skeleton that literally burned to touch. I wonder if it's because of the fire, or maybe some new modification by a necromancer, or something about the pond that caused the change, although why a pond would cause skeletons to burn is beyond me entirely..." She continues muttering to herself as she pulls a small flask out of her satchel and fills it with some of the pond water, capping it and storing it for later examination.
Lucy's face turns to a strange mixture of disgust and delight as she runs up, hand outstretched and channeling the powers of magic into a skeleton's skull.
After examining the statue more closely, Lucy stands with a foul look on her face. "The statue's base didn't break naturally. Someone used tools to break it free."
Lucy grabs Aada's wrist. "Wait. This place is buckling under the weight of itself, opening that door could easily cause it to collapse."
"Yeah, this place is definitely not haunted," Lucy mutters, following with one hand on the pommel of her dagger.
"Not only that, but I'm starting to get a weird feeling about this town," Lucy whispers. "We've got a sheriff who refuses to entertain the idea that a man people feared and distrusted wasn't murdered-as though falling masonry isn't a perfect way to arrange an "accident"-and a Pharasmin priest who hears 'ruins abandoned since a tragic accident causing numerous violent deaths and now gives everyone who goes near it a creepy feeling' and doesn't think ghosts. It stinks to high heaven to me."
Darius, do you mean you can't edit? Because you stop being able to edit posts after a while.
"In my experience Sheriff, when a place wants to be left alone, you should generally go find out why, because places don't typically have feelings," Lucy replies cooly.
Lucy walks away, still irritated at Grimburrow's dismissive attitude.
"Father, I respect that you want to keep your town safe. But I also believe in weighing the possibilities. In this case, there are two. Either there is something truly dangerous there, or there isn't. Now if the Harrowstone is haunted, or is home to a cabal of necromancers as the Professor believed, then it is my duty as a Pharasmin-and yours, for that matter-to ensure that it is put to a stop. If not, then the only danger we bring to ourselves is the danger of something falling on top of us, and I believe we're all competent enough and experienced enough adventurers or hunters of the undead to evade the mundane dangers of a single decrepit ruin. Furthermore, with a group of us going in, the odds of us all dying to some unfortunate accident are slim, ensuring that no one else would have to come in after us. As there is no harm in looking, and if there is something lurking in the dark then it's our duty to put an end to it and lay whatever poor souls are there to rest, not just let it run loose into the streets of Ravengro, then I see no reason for us not to take this expedition.
Lucy looks concerned. "Father, we and the Professor had reason to believe that a group of necromancers is or was using the old prison for some nefarious purpose. As dedicated man of the cloth in service to Pharasma, isn't it your first and greatest duty to ensure such practices are put to an end?"
"I'll go with you. My family is pretty much entirely Pharasmins, I can probably be of some help."
"I'm no expert in strange languages, but if it is magical writing, then I can read it. If not, I can make rubbings and translate it later, like I think the Professor was going to."
Lucy gets on her tiptoes, reading over Aada's shoulder. As her eyes scan the page her expression grows more and more visibly angry. "Necromancers... dabbling in eternal life... and they're responsible for the Professor's death, even if only be circumstance? I... this absolutely, completely, one hundred percent can not stand!"
Lucy smiles at Kendra. "My name is Lucy Arroway. I wasn't really a close friend of your father's, but he and I exchanged letters from time to time. His books inspired me to take an academic approach to my family's work, and it led me to be the person I am today."
Lucy hesitates, lifts a foot, then puts it back down, deciding that she has no place speaking when she barely knew the Professor personally.
Lucy bristles. Her role model, a necromancer. The very idea was absurd, insulting even. No one implies a friend of an Arroway to be a necromancer.
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