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No worries. To be honestly, I've been expecting a hiatus or something for a while now because of all the work that you've had to deal with. Like everyone else is saying: family and sanity first. I hope that your father gets better soon. Plus, GMing isn't fun if you're having to stress yourself out to get it done. Don't force yourself! I'll try and be ready to jump back in, but honestly breaks make it difficult for me to keep Theron's actions/personality consistent. We'll see how it works out.
Sorry about derailing the entire discussion about not bringing that book back. That book just seemed like exactly the sort of thing Theron would start messing with ;)
Theron's eyes widen a bit as several of the others suggest that it would be good to bring Kendra with them, but remains silent. After waiting a bit for things to settle down, Theron turns to Kendra with a question of his own. "Kendra, do you happen to have a good sized lockbox or chest that we could hide some things in? We collected a few things from the prison, but I believe that it would be good to keep them someplace safe until we need them. Something close to where I'm sleeping if possible, since I'd like to keep an eye on them."
A moment after Theron reaches the last page his hand darts towards his sword. He quickly looks about the room as if expecting something to jump out at him and his eyes briefly turn black, making it clear that he's looking for evil presences again. When he glances back at the book, a look of confusion briefly appears on his face before it is replaced with one of his irritated scowls. "Damned spirits... " He mutters as he drops the book back on its shelf. "It is just a spellbook, but there's something strange about it. While it may be useful, I suggest that no one else read it until we put the Splatter Man to rest." He pauses for a moment as he looks at the book. "We had better just hope he can't cast the spells he could in life. It seems that he was a somewhat accomplished caster."
Sense Motive DC 15: Theron seems very disturbed by something, but is trying to keep it from showing any more than it already has.
"Maybe. If the wards on the walls are keeping something in... I'm a little worried about what taking cursed items out might do. Maybe one of those spooks is riding one of these trinkets and waiting for a chance to get free. I'm thinking maybe we should hide some of these items in the prison but not where we found them." "I don't sense any evil from any of these items, but that doesn't necessarily mean it would be safe to take them with us." Theron says after looking them over. "However... studying these things may help us find a way to defeat the remaining spirits here." Theron takes a closer look at the underlying magics of the bloody axe to make sure the thing isn't dangerous to the one who wields it.
Theron puts the holy symbols into a sack and hands them to Rose.
"Three left..." Theron repeated after taking a few moments to figure out what exactly Walter was trying to tell them. He intentionally avoided commenting on the 'voices'. The kid was lucky that Theron wasn't like some other inquisitors. He glanced back into the hidden room. "We've dealt with the piper and the charlatan so far.... so this must mean that we will have to deal with three more evil spirits like those two? I really don't like the thought of that." After a few moments, he added: "We should leave and rest before we meet another one of them."
Theron picks up the tangled mass of holy symbols. After making a brief effort at pulling them apart he turns to hand them to Rose. "I think these are..." he begins to say, when suddenly they detach from one another and begin raining down onto the floor. He does his best to hide his embarrassment and quickly picks them up.
Oh, I'm not worrying about Theron being an archer inside a building. I'm pretty well aware of how horribly powerful archers can be once they have their feats and abilities together. I was just pondering the thematic problem of "longswords are a symbol of my goddess, but I'm using a bow instead". Then again, Raj has the same thing going on as well. I guess it isn't like every follower of Iomedae just happens to be born as a high strength character ;)
"Good omen after good omen..." Theron says with a smile when he sees the remains of the door.
"This room should be bigger..." He says a few moments after he finishes inspecting an interesting scroll case. He looks around for a few moments before walking up to one of the shelves. "There's something behind this, could one of you help me move it?" He says after trying to peer behind it.
Ahh, that's pretty cool. I was assuming it was all plot stuff, but it is cool to see that there were actual damage mechanics going on in the background. On a different subject: You know, I'm starting to regret that I made Theron archery focused instead of longsword focused. Yea, I said I would just have him fill in whatever role the party was lacking (which happened to be ranged attacks), but it just feels like it would fit his religion better if his longsword wasn't just decorative at this point. Blah ;)
Theron had fallen over in shock when what he assumed was Pharasma's hand snatched the spirit of Sefick. The combined shock of this, his holy symbol's burst of power, and Lem's wings made Theron sat there for several long moments as he tried to comprehend what had just happened. That was... direct intervention by three gods. I've heard of occasions where Iomedae directly intervened, but I've never heard of three gods intervening at the same time! The inquisitor made a sign and silently thanked Iomedae for answering his call for help. Lem sat up and began speaking before Theron could check on him. The halfling was fine it seemed. Thank goodness. Back here again, huh? Thank you friends. For a long time there I thought I was lost... "Glad to have you back Lem." Theron said with a worn out voice. "Luckily, it seems that when I told that charlatan that the gods were arrayed against him, I had no idea just how true that was." Theron stood up listened silently as Lem explained what had happened to him, and was surprised when the priest showed the mark over his heart. Well, now I know where my holy symbol went. I am honored to be with you, and I will stand with you until Harrowstone's spirits have all been laid to rest and their souls judged in the Boneyard. "I am honored to be with you as well Lem. All you you actually." Theron said while looking around at the group. "Lem, I think that mark on your chest is a symbolic message to us. That we need to work together, and probably for something greater than just purifying Harrowstone."
No objections here. I DM for him, have tried to kill him on several occasions, and I like his playstyle while I'm trying to kill him. :) Lol!
I'm still trying to process Theron's reaction, because he has multiple things to freak out about right now ;) In any case, I don't have any problem with dbauers joining in.
Now that Theron was able to get a good look at the chains, he could tell that his previous idea was futile in addition to being unlikely to help. He tossed away the weight (again) and quickly tried to think of some other way to help Lem. Come on Theron, think. You're an inquisitor. You should be able to do something about this... He had read a bit about methods of breaking the grip of possession, but he had never been formally been trained in it. On top of that, he had already used almost all of his magical reserves. Even if he knew the correct methods, he probably would not have enough power to back them up. Doing an improper exorcism could be very dangerous to all involved. Theron glanced at Dragomir, who was deep in prayer. Well, sometimes we can't rely solely upon the power we've been granted.... I'll just have to wing it. Theron kneeled down beside Lem and set down his bow. Once Rose had finished giving Lem another potion, Theron pushed one of his holy symbols onto the halfling's forehead while making signs with his other hand. "In The Inheritor's name you will leave this body, foul spirit! You have no place here, and the gods that you have dared to mock are arrayed against you!"
Glad to have finally pinpointed all the threats they were dealing with (and that one had already been dealt with), Theron hurries over to where Lem was thrashing about. The inquisitor had something that he wanted to try, but he wasn't sure that he liked it... Cyn:
Does it look like the chains that are wrapped around Lem could have those weights fastened to them? Also, does the knowledge that Theron has about spirits tell him whether doing this would be a good idea or not?
The theory here is that since the weights were used to bind the spirit in life, that they would have an effect on him even now. Feel free to just tell me if I'll need to find out through experimentation ;) I totally wish I had gotten some sort of exorsist archetype right now!
As Theron's senses finish focusing, he begins picking out the individual evils around them. He starts with the one causing the cold. "Raj! The spirit causing the cold is now right where you are standing! Spells, fire, or a siphon should work on that one!" Next, he turns to look at Lem. It takes him a moment to realize what exactly is happening to the halfing. "The spirit attacking Lem seems to be inhabiting him! I... am not sure how we can hurt it." Though, Theron momentarily glances down at the weight he had dropped. "Maybe try binding the chains with the weights we brought? The symbols may help." He suggests with an uncertain tone in his voice. He could only hope that *something* could save Lem.
He glances at the doors that Karrick and Septimus are standing near. "There's a weak one in those doors as well!" He says while pointing.
"No, it moved!" Theron stated as he sensed the the evil (and the cold) moving towards Raj. At least, he was going to use that as the excuse for the miss for now. In any case, the inquisitor was glad that he at least didn't have the cold distracting him... "I can almost see them..."
Theron's senses hadn't quite narrowed down the locations of the spirits, but he supposed they couldn't wait long enough for complete accuracy. He tries to pick the most likely, and coldest, area for Walter to strike. "It i..is right beside you Walter, try here!" The inquisitor points to the space directly in between Rose and Walter. After pointing out the cold spirit, Theron calls out the other things he has figured out to the others. He does his best to speak clearly despite the bone chilling cold. "T..there are two other spirits! One is near or in that foyer Karrik! Another is tied to, but not inhabiting, Lem's chains!"
Someone give this to Lem so I can focus on finding the source of this! Theron says as he pushes the unstoppered potion into the hands of whoever will take it.
Theron ignores the cold and the mad voice of Father Charlatan for a moment and does his best to try and think of what they could be dealing with here. Something about this didn't seem right. Cold and chains? What kind of spirit could do both? Unless... Oh, of course! There are two things here! A spirit causing the cold, and another one causing the chains! The inquisitor's eyes change color as he focuses his ability to detect evil auras. It'll take me some time to pinpoint their sources, but the 'cold spot' can be affected by both positive energy and fire! A heated metal object could seal away the cold! Theron drops the weight (which wasn't as useful as he had hoped), pulls out a potion, and steps over to Lem. We need to either heal Lem or get him out of the cold at least.
Cyn: Hmm, does that tell me enough about the cold spot haunt to guess where in the room I need to aim to damage it?
Well, that didn't work. Theron thinks to himself as he hears someone slump over in the room behind him. He runs back in with Walter and takes stock of the situation as well. Seeing Lem chained to the ground and hearing that voice act like it was some sort of judge quickly makes the inquisitor's blood boil. How dare an evil spirit act like it had a right to judge them? Chains and an elaborate act... I bet this is Father Charlatan. I'll show him what a real judgement is like! Hoping that he wasn't wasting precious time, Theron fishes out the weight with Iomedae's holy symbol from his backpack, and holds it in the air. While looking around to see if this causes some sort of reaction that might point him to the source of the haunt, Theron yells out "YOU are the one who awaits the judgement of the gods, charlatan! Show yourself and be bound again!".
You know, I just found out that apparently it is possible to detect a haunt before it manifests via detect evil. I think Theron is going to start going around with that always on in this place XD
Theron immediately notices the cold, but hesitates about what to do about it. Did this have to do with whatever Septimus found? When he sees Rajuna and Karrik bolting out of the room, Theron decides that they may be onto something. "Something's happening, everyone out of the room!" He begins moving, and he grabs one of those who didn't react in time as he makes his way out of the room.
Theron takes aim for another skull and lets an arrow fly.
"Is there an inch of this place that isn't corrupted?" Theron grumbles to himself as he sees the grinning skulls appear. Getting tired of the constant assaults and finding himself wanting to send the forces at work here a message, he calls upon Iomedae's Justice before readying his bow. The Inheritor's light will drive you out, foul spirits! Justice is coming for you once again!
Hey! We did the recommended number of encounters (four) ;) I'm good with doing one more room, but then again Theron hasn't even taken damage yet today ;)
Theron sighs. "Well, that didn't work out as well as I would have liked. Hopefully those bones have been cleansed and haven't simply made this lake even more dangerous." The inquisitor looks around at the party, and Karrik's wounds catch his eye. He walks up and , begins his spell. May the Light of the Sword heal heal you.
Theron realizes that he should have stuck to his first instinct and NOT tried to use this pond to cool off the bones. They're burning skeletons, destroy them from a distance if you can! They'll burn anyone who stands near them and explode when destroyed! he calls out.
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