destined to be overrun and ruined by monsters from the
nearby river, Ispin Onyxcudgel was a well-liked artisan
and a doting husband. When he discovered his wife’s
infidelity, he f lew into a jealous rage and struck her dead
with his hammer, shattering her skull and his sanity with
one murderous blow. Wracked with shame and guilt, Ispin
became convinced that if he could rebuild his wife’s skull
she would come back to life—but unfortunately, he could
not find the last blade-shaped fragment from the murder
site. So instead, Ispin became the Mosswater Marauder.
Over the course of several weeks, the cunning dwarf
stalked and murdered nearly 20 people while searching for
just the right skull fragment. He was captured just before
murdering the daughter of a visiting nobleman from Varno,
and was carted off to Harrowstone that same night.
to discern, but chief among the Whispering Way’s goals are
discovering formulae for creating liches and engineering
the release of the Whispering Tyrant. Agents often travel
to remote sites or areas plagued by notorious haunts
or undead menaces to perform field research or even to
capture unique monsters. Their symbol is a gagged skull,
and those who learn too many of the Way’s secrets are
often murdered, and their mouths mutilated to prevent
their bodies from divulging secrets via speak with dead.
Peredur leans back in his chair, hands clasped across his midsection, and looks over at Fleisher. "It sounds to me as though the Way is int'rested in Harrowstone because it truly is haunted, an' they wish to learn more about whate'er haunts that ruin. So far we've seen a thing that might be a haunting by th' Piper of Ilmarsh, but I'm thinkin' more evidence will be needed. It may be time t'make our attempt at th' prison."
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Fleisher stands, draws his dagger, and holds it up by the blade so the insignia on the pommel is displayed. "I make my blood oath as a Man of Lastwall that I will give my skill, my sweat, and even my life, if need be, to the vanquishment of the Whispering Tyrant and those that would seek to serve him. We will remain ever vigilant against his threat. We will stand as the Last Wall between civilization and the forces of the dead."
He takes his dagger and slices a small cut across his left palm to finish the blood oath.
"That this will serve to revenge the death of the Professor is even the better, for I owe the man much and it will do my heart good to repay him. I am ready to follow with you to this prison and see what we can find of this cult."
Night begins to fall, with a chilly wind coming from the north west, the owls start their hooting, and the wolves start howling in the distance.
You all gather at Kendra's Place.
"I have found the final prisoner's information."
she reveals the info she found.
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Fleisher's face falls at the description of the Maruader's crimes and capture. "Such a sad, broken man. This is a real story of tragedy among the dross of plain sick and malignant evils. The concentration of evils occuring in such different flavors must have been some huge kind of draw for the vile Whispering Way cultists. We need to find out what how they were exploiting the tragedy of Harrowstone and how they killed the Professor."
After the day's research, Fliesher will spend a minute creating another extract of Identification to try to divine the usage of the planchette.
He quietly smiles as understanding of the fingerboard's workings become revealed to him.
wooden case along with a thin wooden
board printed with numerous letters and
numbers. Nonmagical versions of these divination tools
can be purchased in curiosity shops (typically costing 25 gp);
while these items can be used as alternative components
for augury spells, only magical spirit planchettes allow users
to communicate with the other side. Three types of spirit
planchettes exist—brass, cold iron, and silver. Each in turn
allows an increasingly potent form of divination effect to be
utilized. A spirit planchette requires a board to move upon,
but this “board” can be made up of letters scribed upon any
smooth surface—it need not be a prepared board for a spirit
planchette to work.
To use a spirit planchette, you must rest your fingers
lightly upon the planchette’s surface and then concentrate
on the planchette (as if maintaining a spell with a duration of
concentration) for 2d6 rounds while the planchette attunes
itself to the ambient spirits of the area. After this time, the
planchette begins to slowly slide in random patterns across the
board—at this point, questions may be asked of the spirits by
any of the individuals involved in the séance. The consequences
of each question asked of the spirits depends upon what type of
planchette is used for the divination, as summarized on the table
Haunt Siphon below.
The spirits reply in a language understood by the character who
asked the question, but resent such contact and give only brief
answers to the questions. All questions are answered with
“yes,” “no,” or “maybe,” or by spelling out a single word from the
letters arranged on the board. The spirits answer each question
either in the same round the question is asked (in the case of a
yes, no, or maybe answer) or at a rate of one letter per round (in
the case of a single word being spelled out). A spirit planchette
may be used once per day—the maximum number of questions
you can ask with it depends on the type of planchette being used
(as detailed on the table below).
Communication with spirits can be a dangerous task, for
many spirits are jealous or hateful of the
living. Every time a spirit planchette
is used, the user must succeed on a
Will save to avoid being temporarily
possessed and harmed by the angry
spirits. In some areas where the spirits
are particularly violent or hateful (such as
in Harrowstone), this Will save takes a –2
penalty. The DC of this save depends on the
type of spirit planchette being used. Anyone who
fails the Will save becomes confused for a number
of rounds (depending on the type of planchette
being used), and no answer is received.
...
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Fleisher dutifully draws out the alphabet, yes, no, and maybe on a parchement and flattens it out on the desk. He calls the others into the room and rests his fingers lightly on the planchette, letting it grow into the surroundings of the office. "Each day we can ask the spirits one question for a yes, no, maybe, or one word answer. We should work up a list of questions that we want to ask, but first, let's start with one to which we pretty much know the answer.
After the interval, he takes a deep breath and asks the room "Was Professor Lorrimor murdered by agents of the Whispering Way?"
Will Save: Failed
Confused for 1 round
So, no answer
she curiously asks
"Did it work?"
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Fleisher's arm spasms and the planchette slides out of his limp grasp to clatter on the floorboards. He disjointedly looks over Eva's left shoulder and answers "Flaaabwaau hammut ut-uuutu? Uhhhhhhh, wequ zib ar-dun-lum." He blinks repeatedly and whatever he was looking at in the middle distance seems to fade away. He locks eyes with Eva, not quite getting why she is looking at him, then looks down at his hands as they brush back and forth over the parchement of thier own accord. "Wha...? What happened? Oh, the reading. I guess... I mean... Apparently I had trouble with the spirits using my hands. Everything just went cloudy all of the sudden. Maybe one of you with a closer connection to the spirit world should try it tomorrow?"
"I take that as a No.
And it looks like some risk is involved with using it."
I think it's more the time of year and being down to three players--if even one of us is AFK/lacking reliable access for any length of time (as I was for most of this week), it's not easy to maintain momentum.
as night falls a thunderstorm comes to town, raining cats and dogs.
When morning breaks the air outside feels refreshingly clean, but colder and damp.
Peredur gets up early to do sword drills, since the weather was bad the previous night, then goes down to check on Cyler. "How is it with you? Recovered from th' stirge's depredations?"
Afterward he'll go in search of breakfast, and to speak with Kendra. "We've found th' last of th' knowledge we sought. It seems th' Whisperin' Way is seeking haunts in Harrowstone, for reasons unknown as yet. So we're plannin' to pay th' place a visit today, unless somethin' else comes up in th' meanwhile."
Eva wakes up in the morning and gets to her calisthenic exercises for the day.
"That was quite the storm last night, hopefully no damage was done."
After Eva's comment, Peredur is struck by a thought. "You know, 'twould be a friendly gesture to offer assistance to th' townsfolk 'fore we essay the prison. In case there's aught of damage from th' storm." He pauses, then goes on in a more serious tone. "P'raps I'm a fool for lookin' for spirits in everything now, but were any o' th' five criminals known to work on stormy nights?"
Eva replies
"I don't think so. And I think it's a good idea to check out the damage and give a hand to the people if there is any damage."
After your breakfast you all head into to town.
Perception or Diplomacy check to find damaged buildings or areas in need of help.
Peredur is armed and armored, but leaves most of his noncombat gear at Kendra's.
Eva checks out the town as well
Peredur you find that a tree fell onto a chicken coup fence and the chickens are on the loose.
Eva you find a large tree knocked over onto the road going to Harrowstone.
Fleisher you find a group of frightened cats in a tree trying to get down.
Do you do all as a group or tackle one each?
The half-elf surveys the damage. "Thinkin' we best stay together. Where to start?"
"I think we should get the chicken coup, as I think some foxes are licking there lips."
Peredur chuckles at the alchemist's comment. "I have but one thing more to add; 'tis certain that when I've climbed yon tree th' cats will see me as a fine bridge to safety." Then he'll concentrate on shooing wayward chickens back into the coop.
Eva aids Peredur in rounding up the Chickens.
Once at least the majority of the chickens have been secured, Peredur will try to find the best way to get the fallen tree off the fence. (That is, if the farmer(s) haven't taken care of that while the bold adventurers were off chicken-chasing....)
Once the chickens are in the coup, You all tackle the tree and the fence.
and other items on list
a large tree knocked over onto the road going to Harrowstone.
a group of frightened cats in a tree trying to get down.
"To th' cats next, I'm thinking." Peredur will shuck out of his armor and shield, then climb the tree to collect the wayward beasties.
You climb it no problem and calm down the cats a bit.
"Here, kitty, kitty"