Rise of the Runelords [The Skinsaw Murders] (IC)

[lostsole31]

Draegra sees a set of stairs heading upwards.

[digiman619]

Zada shakes their head at the stairway. "Let's make sure we've got this entire floor dealt with before we go higher up."

[rypt]

"Aye, the less we have to worry about something coming up behind us the better." Al then takes a step back to allow someone with a free hand to access the door to his right.

[DrK]

Draegra

Draegra looks at the stairs then walks back into the corridor. ”I think we should investigate some of these rooms more thoroughly. There must be something helpful here.” He how’s back to the large room halfway down the corridor and this time enters the room to start searching around the room, light beaming from his ring.

[TooterfishPopkn]

Steingott follows Draegra to the other room.

"I agree. Let's check the rooms together from this point on though. Obviously something isnt right in this place."

[lostsole31]

(I had to interpret which room is entered...)

Draegra and Steingott head into the large "central" room that seems like a gallery. A stone fireplace sits in the northwestern portion of this chamber. Paintings hang on the walls to the north and south, each covered over with a thick sheet of dusty cobwebs that obscures its subject from view.

What do Draegra and Steingott do here? What about anyone else?

[DrK]

Draegra

Draegra pauses and then searches the room thoroughly, light illuminating the pictures as he searches around with normal and magical senses (detect magic).

[lostsole31]

Cobwebs obscure the pictures; they would have to be cleared to reveal the pictures underneath. Nothing pings on detect magic.

[rypt]

Al shifts on his feet out in the hallway. "You really think there's something hidden in there? I mean, this guy's been sending us notes and messages for days trying to get us here. I couldn't tell you what we're looking for, but my guess is it's gonna be pretty obvious when we find it."

[digiman619]

Zada nods. "Yeah, identifying the problem will likely not be an issue. Is that everywhere on this level?"

[TooterfishPopkn]

Steingott looks to Zada:

"I think we missed a door or two on this level."

Then to the group:

"Going by the logic that what we're here for will likely be obvious, we may just want to check the last few doors up here to be thorough and get back to the main floor."

He shivers a bit.

"I can't shake this feeling that every inch of this house is suspect."

He heads out of the larger room, heads toward the door in the south east corner, and opens it.

[DrK]

Draegra

Draegra had a last look then nods to Steingott. ”Yes. I agree with you I guess. It’s a long day out here and there is much to explore still. I’ll be right behind you.” Light flashing ahead of the others, he stands ready with Al and Steingott as they look at tye last couple of rooms

[lostsole31]

Steingott opens the door with Draegra behind him. This bedroom features a child-sized bed, a chair next to a toy box, and a looming stone fireplace big enough for a child to get lost in.

What now?

[TooterfishPopkn]

Steingott says plainly. "Hm. This place is absolutely terrifying. I'll be glad to leave."

He shouts out to his fellow investigators.

"I think that's all of the doors up here. Let's head back downstairs and find whatever it is we need to see and get out of here. Unless of course anyone wanted to try any of those other staircases or look at anything more closely."

He begins to head towards the main staircase.

[rypt]

As Steingott heads for the stairs, Al mutters to himself before calling out to the dwarf. "The hell you talking about? There's still two doors behind me." Looking to Norton and Zada standing beside him, "I'm all a**es and elbows in here," he says, raising his spear and shield. "Can you two just check those rooms so we can get moving?"

[DrK]

Draegra

Draegra nods, "As you say, lets clear the floor properly" he replies to Al and then turns up towards the north east door and pushes it open. Glancing back at Al he does nod, "It is creepy in here though. I would not choose to live here, maybe this is why Aldern chooses to stay in the Inn in town."

[lostsole31]

Draegra moves north and opens the door to the northeast. This entire bedroom is caked with a thick, spongy layer of dark green, blue, and black mold.

[meemaas]

Norton will go check the other room, weapon still in hand, just in case.

[lostsole31]

Norton opens the northwestern door. This once fine chamber has been destroyed. The bed is smashed, mattress torn apart, walls gouged as if by knives, chairs hacked apart, and paintings on the walls torn to pieces—with one exception. A portrait hanging on the northwest wall seems to be untouched, although it hangs backward, its unseen subject facing the wall.

Also, there are a pair of double doors in the large central room to the west with the cobweb portraits.

[meemaas]

Norton sheaths his weapon and moves into the room, honing in on the painting that was untouched and backwards. He pulls it off the wall and turns it around to see what exactly it displays.

[lostsole31]

Norton casts light on his tunic and walks in to look at the portrait. The portrait reveals a beautiful dark-haired Varisian woman in thoughtful repose.

[meemaas]

Norton wonders if he recognizes her at all, placing the portrait back on the wall where it belongs facing the correct way, then turns back to rejoin the others, commenting to them about the picture and how it's the only undamaged thing in the room.

[DrK]

Draegra

Draegra looks at the others, "I'd avoid this room. It looks like mould, dangerous nasty stuff". Moving away from that room he follows Norton to the bedroom and admires the woman in the painting. Looking at her he searches his memory for any local or historical knowledge that may allow him to recognise her

[lostsole31]

Draegra turns to look at "the others," but nobody is with him. He has to look south down the wide hallway, get their attention, and then mention it to them.

He then goes into the room to the northwest where Norton is. He only gets into the room and looks at the portrait for a few seconds when suddenly he is overcome by dizziness and staggers. During this dizziness, Draegra (only) hears something...It is a woman's voice saying, "What do you get up to in the damp below?"

[rypt]

Al moves north to get a view of the two newly exposed rooms. After exhaling a quiet curse at the mold-engulfed room to the northeast, he turns his attention to the room to the northwest. Upon seeing Draegra's reaction to the portrait, and mindful of Zada's warnings about spirits and haunts, he adjusts his grip on his shield as he steps closer. "Draegra? You alright there?"

[TooterfishPopkn]

After a few moments and hearing Al call out to Draegra, Steingott assumes something of interest may have been uncovered for better or worse. He walks back up the main hallway to regroup with the others.

[DrK]

Draegra

Draegra reels back as the full magical force of the portrait hits him and shake his head trying to clear his vision. He shudders, body shivering violently as its assailed by something and he continues to try and focus, Al's voice seeming very far away and indistinct.

Will Save [roll0]

[lostsole31]

Draegra goes from reeling for two rounds to seething in unknown anger for a part of a round before he collects himself.See the PM I just sent.

[TooterfishPopkn]

Steingott steps into the room to get a look at what happened and to see of Draegra is okay. Having not seen it all play out, Steingott keeps a distance of about five feet from Draegra and asks, "Draegra...are you hurt? What happened?"

[DrK]

Draegra

Shaking his head he looks about for a sheet, rug or curtain and hurls it over the portrait. ”Its cursed. A look at it and all I wished was to commit violence to woman. I do not know why but this fills me with foreboding of what has come before

[lostsole31]

There is no rug or curtain in here do that with, but one *could* just turn the portrait around again.

[meemaas]

Norton is surprised to see Draegra's response to the portrait. "I wonder why I wasn't affected."

[DrK]

Draegra

Shrugging the oracle is happy when the portrait is turned away and shrugs . ”I don’t know, but she was disturbing, once we discover the secrets of this house I think we should destroy it.”

Glancing at the open doors scattered around the floor he looks to the stairs. “Shall we try upstairs to see if the true darkness is hiding in attic?”

[TooterfishPopkn]

"The attic sounds good. Less doors hopefully. But let's do it quick. The sooner we get out of here the better."

[lostsole31]

The group gets into formation and makes their way up the stairs.

Above, the stairs empty out into a passageway heading south and then east, while there is a door immediately to the west.

What do you do?

[DrK]

Draegra

Pausing to refresh the light to stop it winking out an inopportune moment Draegra nods to the nearest door and gingerly opens it shining the light. A muttered "Don't look at any pictures too closely eh..."

[lostsole31]

Draegra opens the door. A large number of wooden planks, rope, and other repair supplies are stored here. The ceiling above sags noticeably; in several areas patches of the sky above are visible.

Now what?

[DrK]

Draegra

Draegra looks at the others and shakes his head, "Its just a storeroom, nothing suspicious" he moves on continuing around the corner and looking for the next door, he'll enter the next door he finds and search about carefully. Pausing only to sense for magical signatures (via detect magic) ahead of opening any of the doors.

[lostsole31]

Draegra moves to the corner and looks east, seeing a line of alternating doors to the north and south of this 30' long hallway which turns north at the terminus. He steps up to the first door (to the north) and casts detect magic and senses nothing. He opens the door and steps into what seems to be a bedroom stacked with old furniture, sheets and linens, boxes and crates, and other bits. A careful search is conducted in this bedroom by the party, taking about eight minutes. Nothing of value can be found here.

[DrK]

Draegra

Draegra looks at the others as he moves to the next door in the corridor "I'm starting to think there may not be much in attic... But I wonder if the house has cellars. The location on the cliff edge and what you found under the glassworks should make us a little wary if head down after we finish clearing this floor". At the next door he does the same thing, checking for the presence of magic before pushing open the door and shining the light into the room.

[lostsole31]

Draegra finds a similarly-outfitted bedroom, unused.

[TooterfishPopkn]

Steingott moves past his fellow party members and opens the next door down the hall.

[lostsole31]

Steingott moves past his fellow party members and opens the next door down the hall.
Which yields another room like the other two.

What now?

[rypt]

Al grumbles in frustration. "I don't know what to make of all this. We all heard the sobbing when we first got here." He moves further down the hall to get a look around the corner to the north. "I say we check the rest of these rooms just to be sure. Maybe on the way back down to look for a cellar we take a closer look at the fireplaces? It's the only connection I can make to the burning smell I caught earlier."

Al will move 2 squares east of Steingott and then 1 square north.

[lostsole31]

Al gets to the corner, as intended, and then steps into an area he can't see since he isn't carrying a light source.

[DrK]

Draegra

Looking into the next two rooms he shakes his head. "Strange that its so deserted. I had expected so much more danger, not that I'm complaining!" As Al advances he follows up and holds his hand to shine the light into the room. "Lets see what we have in here."

[lostsole31]

Draegra uncovers another bedroom, outfitted as before.

[TooterfishPopkn]

Steingott makes his way past Draegra and behind Alvor.

On his way over he says to Alvor, "Let me guess, three more hallways of dusty bedrooms?"

[TooterfishPopkn]

Once on Draegra's other side, Steingott notices the door on the southern wall and opens it.

"I'd wager the sobbing we heard was some poor soul that couldn't remember which door was their bedroom."

[lostsole31]

Opening the door, Steingott sees that the ceiling of this room angles down steeply, leaving only four feet of headroom to the southeast. A low cot and a dresser are the room’s only furnishings, and the room extends to the east out of view.

[DrK]

Draegra

Draegra smirks at the dwarf. "When things go wrong we'll be wishing for empty bed rooms my friend." As more doors appear he approaches the door to the right of the corridor and pushes open the next door searching forward with lights and his cantrips sniffing out magic.

[lostsole31]

Draegra detects no magic coming from the other side of the door to the east. He opens the door to see a much different room than what he's seen on his floor so far. A desk and a chair sit in the middle of this drafty room. Chimneys rise to the west, while to the east, two intricate stained-glass windows are set into the wall. The northern window depicts a dark-haired woman with pale skin, large green eyes, and a black-and-red gown; with both hands she wields a jagged iron staff. The southern window’s lower half has been broken and patched with canvas; what remains of its upper half depicts a handsome man dressed in regal finery and a crown of ivory and jade. Small scorch marks mar the wood near the broken window. A battered and ruined telescope lies on its side near the desk and a large trap door in the roof has been tied shut by several lengths of rope.

What now?

[DrK]

Draegra

Draegra looks inside the room and pauses and turns to the others "Interesting, this room has some things of interest". Approaching the windows he look at the pair of glass windows "Does anyone recognise either of those people?" He asks inspecting the stained glass and then peeking out the from the canvas to see what lies outside.

[lostsole31]

As Draegra goes inside, Al likely would step to the doorway to keep in Draegra's light.

As Draegra looks at the stained glass windows, the stained glass pictures are not possibly good enough to act as "portraits," per se, but it does strike him odd. He has some architectural training, and he notes it was an unsual design choice to fit this room with arguably the best view of the Lost Coast with windows one cannot see through.

There is an obvious trap door in the ceiling with the pulley system visible where that trap door and section of extra floor could once be raised and lowered. The broken telescope on the floor was once a magnificent piece of equipment but is now beyond repair.

When Draegra asks for anyone who might recognize the pictures, Zada can come into the room to look at them. Draegra and Zada, it seems, are very nearly matched when it comes to historical knowledge, with perhaps Draegra's lore being more far-reaching, though Zada's collection of local legends helping her with more focused historical esoterica. Together, they determine that the northern window depicts Arazni, the Harlot Queen of Geb, while the southern one depicts Socorro, the Butcher of Carrion Hill.

[TooterfishPopkn]

"It appears we've finally found something interesting on the upper levels. Shall we continue on or perhaps give this room a closer inspection? There's usually something interesting on the other side of a trap door."

[DrK]

Draegra

Draegra shakes his head, "Strange, a pair of Gods. Not local and a bit dark of background. Not the usual choice." Bending down he picks up the telescope and examines it. "Nice looking, although unfortunately broken it seems." He approaches the windows and sees if there is a catch or latch to open them and get a better view. Muttering, ""Strange, a view over the sea, why block it with stained glass."

Then looking at the trapdoor he nods "Aye, lets head upstairs then.."

[lostsole31]

Does everyone else move into the room?

[rypt]

Al steps inside, eying the door in the ceiling. "If that just leads up onto the roof, I wouldn't trust anything up there to hold your weight. Enough holes in it as it is."

[meemaas]

Norton will follow along. He's been taking in what he sees and thinking deeply.

[rypt]

Al slowly turns to his left until he is square with Arazni's portrait-window. For a moment, he seems much less concerned about his unsettling surroundings as he gazes at -- or perhaps through -- the colorful glass. He takes one step towards the window before abruptly recoiling away, barking a particularly foul profanity. "There is some magic at work here," he growls, now staring at the floor. "Like whatever touched Draegra's mind downstairs, I had the sudden urge to leap through that window." He gestures with his shield towards the northernmost window.

[DrK]

Draegra

Draegra moves to turn away from the window so he can't see it and speaks loudly to the others, "Do we think smashing the window would help break that effect." He glances around cautiously looking to see how thick or reinforced the glass is and gauge whether a rock or chair from another room would be sufficient to shatter the glass.

[lostsole31]

While stained glass tends to be leaden and heavier than normal, it is still just glass if it is the party's attempt to break it.

[rypt]

"Hell if I know how this stuff works," Al grumbles. "Is it possible that breaking them could cause something even more dangerous?" Taking care not to look high enough to glimpse either window, he turns toward Norton and Zada, hoping they may have some insight.

[TooterfishPopkn]

Steingott chimes in:

"I could take it out from a distance, but it might be best to just close this door and avoid messing with window entirely. Unless of course there's some importance to this magic besides cruelty."

[DrK]

Draegra

Draegra looks about briefly and instead looks to the one of the previous abandoned rooms for some bedding to cover the window with a blanket whilst keeping his eyes averted.“Let’s see if there is anything in here. It seems an important chamber of sorts so we had best look about.”
Lookimg about he’ll explore the room carefully with magical and non magical senses

[lostsole31]

A magical and mundane quick search of the room reveals nothing of interest. The broken telescope on the floor was once a magnificent piece of equipment but is now beyond repair.

[rypt]

Less than keen to trust his safety to a blanket, Al positions himself to put his back to the windows. "You want a boost to see what's on the other side of that door?" he asks of Draegra while looking up at the door in the ceiling. If Draegra answers in the affirmative, Al will set down his spear and crouch down to one knee while raising his shield onto his shoulder. Bracing it with his other hand, he offers what he hopes is a fairly level and stable platform.

[DrK]

Draegra

Draegrae glances up and carefully looks around the trapdoor to see if there is any obvious danger, if he sees none he'll nod to Al, "Yes. Give me a boost, we can see what lies above." Holding the force shield up towards the ceiling for balance he sheathes the morning star and uses his free hand to push at the trapdoor with the intention to stick the light above first and then peek in.

[lostsole31]

That trap door is on there pretty good. Draegra gives what he feels was a good effort, and is unable to unseat the trap door.

[TooterfishPopkn]

Steingott backs into the room to keep his eyes off the window.

"Seems pretty stuck. Perhaps whatever importance this room once had is no longer the case. The window could just be a coincidence. Maybe we could combine our efforts? Or even smash the thing?"

[DrK]

Draegra

raegra looks up at the door and nods. "Just smash through maybe?" he agrees. "Come one, lets go and find something to stand on in one oft he bedrooms, then at least we can have a stable surface to smash through the door.". He'll then pop back into the other rooms looking for a suitable chair or desk/chest to stand upon, or failing that he'll ask Steingott for help in dragging a bed through.

[lostsole31]

Sure, you'll find something. Because of the rails that lifted/lowered the platform, only one person can really stand on top of a table and get a good line to the trap door directly above. What do you do?

[rypt]

"I'll leave the smashing to your morning star, or your flying rocks," Al says, looking to Draegra and Steingott in turn. He will retrieve his ranseur and remain alongside the table with his back to the windows.

[lostsole31]

Draegra, just so you know, a morningstar - while concussive to a fleshy body - is a poor demolition tool as the spikes might snap.

[DrK]

Draegra

Draegra looks up at the stout wooden planks and looks at Al. ”Morningstar is more like a club. Does anyone have an axe handy?” he asks. If no-one can offer an axe he’ll sigh slightly and then stand on the bed swinging the morning star two handed at the locked end.

[lostsole31]

This is not an easy task. It takes several, several minutes of bashing, and the trap door is finally battered through. The cold air of outside whips into the room, and snow begins falling on Draegra as he stands on the table. He looks down to his hand, and his morningstar is just a big dead weight ... no longer a finely crafted morningstar ... but crumpled metal on a split handle.It is not "broken" but functionally "destroyed."

[TooterfishPopkn]

"Of course." Steingott sighs. "Well after all this we better check and see what's up there."

With his back to the window, Steingott exits and begins searching the rooms for a small ladder or anything they might be able to prop against the inside of the trapdoor opening to assist in climbing.

If he finds something suitable, he'll volunteer to climb up and poke his head out the opening.

[rypt]

Though he expected a weapon suited to armored combat to fare better against weathered wood, Al can hear the damage being done to Draegra's morning star even before the samsaran's work is finished. While wincing at the sound of the some of the more destructive blows, he leans his spear into the elbow of his shield arm and unsheathes his shortsword. Once the door has been broken through, he eyes the broken weapon and then the hole in the ceiling. "Gods, after all that, I half expected the whole house to come down." He flips the shortsword around in his hand and offers the hilt to Draegra. "I know it ain't the same, but 'till we can get back to town, it'll serve you better than a dagger."

Al will offer Draegra his masterwork shortsword.

[DrK]

Dragrea

Draegra looks at the damage and deformed metal morning star. ”I had expected better of it to be honest. I think it was that last blow that really did it.” At the offer of the short sword he nods and thanks Al.

As Steingott offers to climb up he offers the dwarf a hand up

[meemaas]

Norton keeps his eye on the entrance while the others focus on the trapdoor. Just in case the noise attracted something.

[lostsole31]

Steingott will clamber out to the freezing ceiling in short order. His darkvision notes absolutely nothing of interest up here.

[TooterfishPopkn]

"Nothing. I regret coming up here."


Steingott brings himself back down from the trapdoor.

"We can keep at this if we want.
I say we leave this floor. There's nothing here.

[rypt]

Al grimaces at the word that their effort was ultimately of little consequence. "Figures as much," he grumbles before agreeing it best that they head downstairs.

[meemaas]

Norton nods. "So far, apart from the cursed painting, this feels like a bust. Maybe there's a basement?"

[digiman619]

Zada sighed. They were sure this was a lead, but thus far it was all turning up empty. "Yeah, come down. We'll check the rest of the place, but this is starting to look like a bust,"

[rypt]

As he steps out of the stairwell and onto the first floor, Al eyes the multitude of open doors warily. "I would like to take a look at the fireplaces...but not as much as I'd like to not be compelled by a cursed window to leap to my death. I say we keep going down and take a look around the rest of the ground floor."

[DrK]

Dreagra

Dreagra shakes his head angrily and then sighs heavily, looking once more at the wreckage of his morningstar. "I agree, these upper floors seem devoid of anything more than strange noises and empty rooms. If we go back to the ground floor we can see if down is more productive than up?" That said he'll follow the others heading down to the ground floor in the hunt for a basement.

[lostsole31]

The party makes their way back down to the ground floor.

[DrK]

Draegra

Once more looking at the manticore Draegra eyes the two doors on the north side of the room. ”Well Let’s see what we have in this house down here. Look for any doors down.” he adds as he heads to the right hand door and pushes it open shining his light into the room beyond

[lostsole31]

Looking beyond, this cozy-looking drawing room is marred by the unnatural dampness and the thick sheets of mold that cling to the curtains closed over the southern window.

[rypt]

Al steps up behind Draegra to get a look through the doorway. Grunting in acknowledgement of another moldy room, he continues further down the hall to the east, all the while listening for any more strange sounds and keeping an eye open for signs of recent activity in the house.

Al will first move to the space between Norton and Draegra before continuing on towards the space which is 5 spaces east of Norton.

[lostsole31]

Al gets to two facing doors in the narrower hallway while still intending east, but he hears something and is made to turn around to face the west to look at what everyone else sees....

The preserved manticore suddenly lurches to life, its face shifting to that of a woman with an impish smile. Its tail strikes Zada along the neck for 15 fire before it returns to normal ... that of a taxidermed manticore.

[rypt]

Al curses and raises his shield reflexively. "Are you alright?" he calls to Zada. Suddenly cognizant of the fact that he was the only one treading new ground, he looks down at his feet and curses again. "Did I trigger that? Some sort of twisted trap?" Taking care not to move his feet, he tries to examine the floor beneath him for some manner of triggering mechanism.

[lostsole31]

Al finds nothing but the ancient stains in the floor.

[TooterfishPopkn]

"What in the...?" Steingott shouts. He takes a step back and hurls a chunk of rock at the "stuffed" manticore.


[roll0] to hit
[roll1] dmg

[lostsole31]

There are now large, gaping holes in the stuffed manticore, and a layer of down feathers and straw inner is whumpfed through the room. But the manticore is unmoving.

[rypt]

Al growls in irritation at not having any idea what caused the manticore to come to life. "I don't see anything over here, but I'm still not sure I want to move 'till you guys are clear of that thing. Maybe cut its damn tail off on your way."

[digiman619]

Zada yelped as the previously inanimate manticore blasted them with a gout of flame. Cursing in Shoanti, they touch the wound and send a bit of positive energy into the burn to help heal it before manifesting their mind blade, now in its polearm form. Those two bits of preparation done, they sliced of the stuffed beast's tail, just to be safe.
Healing Hex on myself to heal [roll0] of the damage, and switch to Guardian, which grants 8 temp HP and 2 points of DR/-, and resistance to the standard 4 energy types (acid, fire, cold, electricity). That (probably) won't be enough to make up for the damage, but it's the best I can do without expending too many resources.
EDIT: Well, that actually puts me above where I was at, actually. Neat.

[lostsole31]

The manticore's unique tail is now on the floor.

[digiman619]

"Okay" Zada said as they collected themself after the attack, "How did an inanimate object like this be the source of an attack?" they asked aloud, bringing one hand to their chin to ponder their own question.

[rypt]

Al grumbles to himself before calling out, "Maybe you'd like to ponder this mystery at a distance?"

[lostsole31]

The best the group can figure regarding the manticore is that it wasn't the manticore, but some type of haunting, semi-illusion, and/or possession.

[TooterfishPopkn]

Steingott keeps his eyes on the manticore and moves slowly towards the hallway to keep near Draegra, Al and Norbert.

Steingott will move east, into the hallway with Norton and Al and try to get a better look into the next area before advancing.

[lostsole31]

The party collects itself together at the mid-hallway, right in front of two facing doors to the north and south, and the hallway opening into a narrow, egg-shape chamber to the east. A mahogany table surrounded by chairs sits in that room. Twin fireplaces loom to the west, while to the east, stained-glass windows obscure what could have been a breathtaking view of the Lost Coast. Each window depicts a monster rising out of smoke pouring from a seven-sided box. From north to south are depicted a gnarled tree with an enraged face, an immense hook-beaked bird with sky-blue and gold plumage, a winged centaurlike creature with a lion’s lower body and a snarling woman’s upper torso, and a deep blue squidlike creature with evil red eyes.

Do you try the doors or go to what is obviously a dining room?

[rypt]

Al takes a tentative step back from the manticore. Only if/when he's confirmed its continued inanimacy does he then turn around...only to be met with another set of horrible stained glass windows. "Oh **** me," he mutters, quickly putting the windows out of his field of view. He has no preference as to which door is opened first, but he hopes it's opened quickly.

[DrK]

Draegra

Draegra nods in approval at the breaking of the manticore and makes sure to keep away from its face. As he enters the dining room he stops at the view. Praying for some celestial guidance (casting guidance) he will look at the windows. ”There may be a clue in the images, wait a moment, please keep an eye on me.” He adds the last as he takes a breath and advances to the windows wracking his brains to see if he can recognise any of the images

[lostsole31]

The first thing Draegra notes is, as before, it was an unusual design choice to fit the rooms with arguably the best view of the Lost Coast with windows cannot see through. Draegra moves up to the windows to get a good look at them, and calling upon his mysterious insight is enough to note that the runes on the box in the window pictures are necromancy-related, that the monsters seem not to be emerging from the boxes but rather being drawn in, and that their snarling visages express not rage, but rather fear. More than that he cannot tell.

[DrK]

Draegra

Draegra looks closley and then turns to the others. "Interesting. The monsters are being captured not released." He stares at the walls and then glances up, "Steingott, what do you think? Are the windows we saw upstairs above these, there were grand windows on each floor" he mutters, as he tries to remember what he had seen on the upper floors in the rooms where there were the big stained glass windows.

[TooterfishPopkn]

"Hmmm. The windows above had different depictions. I would wager there might be some information here we're not catching."

He pauses for a moment.

"I think we need to use extreme caution if we investigate further. I'm pretty sure these sets of windows are over looking the cliff."

[DrK]

Draegra

Draegra nods to at the dwarf. "is it worth heading to upstairs then to have a look He murmurs a little to himself and wanders aroun the small chamber, prodding the containers with a foot.

[rypt]

Al seems more than a little skeptical that the windows are worth their time. "Is it? We saw what -- some forest critters and then a pair of icons of evil? No doubt the Foxgloves had some questionable taste in art, but I don't see it helping us find our killer."

[digiman619]

"It's less the art itself and more the haunt in this place that might be worth investigating." Zada said. "It's not unheard of for such phenomena to make illusions that hide the truth."

[TooterfishPopkn]

"I'm with Al and Zada. I believe these windows are the same as that manticore. Just a part of whatever is going on with this cursed place."

He scans around and up and down the house from where he stands.

"I have a feeling not only are we going to find some answers if we keep exploring the house,
but those answers might even be waiting for someone to find them. I say we keep moving."

[lostsole31]

I agree! *ahem*

Where to next?

[TooterfishPopkn]

Keeping his eyes from the windows,
Steingott begins opening doors again, starting with the door right next to him.

Steingott steps five feet to the east and opens the door to his immediate south.

[lostsole31]

Steingott opens the door, and sees a landing with stairs heading up to the west.

[TooterfishPopkn]

Steingott looks to Draegra.

"Stairs heading up. Perhaps we wait a moment before we poke back around up there and sweep this level first?"

He then checks the door to the north.

[DrK]

Draegra

Listening to his comrades Draegra nods his head to them all and agrees. ”Very well. Let’s clear this floor then we can solve whatever dark riddle haunts this place. I think there is an answer or a story in the windows but it can wait.”

Seeing Steingott heading to the door North he follows the dwarf, light gleaming on his ring

[lostsole31]

Steingott opens the door. Beyond the door is similar to its facing mate ... there is a landing immediately in front of the door, but this time the stairs go down (to the west).

[TooterfishPopkn]

"Looks like we have another floor, everyone. Stairs going down."

Eyes away from the windows, he enters the room to the east and opens the northern door.

[lostsole31]

This dusty room features a long couch caked with white sheets of wispy fungus. Eddies of dust skitter along the warped floorboards as if caught up by a slight breeze, yet no wind is noticeable in the air. In fact, Steingott, you notice the dust is being disturbed, almost as if an invisible person were pacing violently back and forth before the fireplace!

[TooterfishPopkn]

Steingott slams the door, takes a few steps back, and puts up a wall of earth directly in front of the door.

"Ummm... everyone. We have an invisible visitor!"

Spending one point of burn to raise the wall in front of the door and enter Overflow.

[meemaas]

In response to Steingott's statement, Norton moves closer to him and readies his weapon, waiting for signs of the company that were mentioned.

[rypt]

Al hurries into the dining room and is about to ask of location of this visitor when he sees the wall of stone. "You think they're alive, or...part of all this." He makes a sweeping gesture with shield, as though towards the whole of the manor.

After a moment's consideration, he leans towards the wall at the edge of Steingott's conjured barricade and calls out, "What is your name, stranger?"

[lostsole31]

Mud extrudes from Steingott's pores. Zada moves in just enough to see everyone in the group.

There is no answer from "beyond."

[DrK]

Draegra

Draegra grins, ”Excellent, maybe something that could shed light on the mysteries here.” Approaching the door he looks at the mound of dirt and tries to tap on the edge of the door not covered by mud, a loud call of “Show yourself.”

[lostsole31]

There is no answer from the other side.

[rypt]

Al sighs. "Well, anyone think we shouldn't bring this barrier down and take another look?"

[DrK]

Draegra

Draegra clenching a fist just in case nods to Al, "Yes. lets head in. I think if we can find anything or anyone we could converse with we could help unravel the meaning of this horrible place." He adds the last with a glance back at the room where the now broken stuffed manticore stands, "No matter if its not connected to the murders there is still something not right here, and something that seems distinctly dark in nature."

[TooterfishPopkn]

Steingott throws a couple punches at the barrier to bring down the earthen wall and opens the door.

"Excuse me. We mean you no harm. We're here as part of an investigation. We just have some questions."

[lostsole31]

.... Steingott says, after a breathtaking display of violence in knocking down earthen walls. :smallsmile:

There is no answer from "beyond."

[rypt]

Al studies the room for a moment to see if he can discern whoever or whatever it was Steingott saw. If he cannot, he says as much, before asking of the dwarf, "Can you tell if they're still here?"

Al then motions for Draegra to take his place by the door and steps forward into the room. Reversing his grip on his ranseur, he begins to use the haft-end of the polearm as a blind man would use a cane, swinging it back and forth in a low arc to check for any unseen individuals. If Steingott was able to perceive the visitor again, Al will check the indicated location. Otherwise, he'll slowly make his way northward, checking as much of the room as he is able.

[digiman619]

Zada (metaphorically) bites their tongue. An invisible threat was totally possible, but after otherwise coming up empty investigating the building, it felt like the party was starting to grasp at straws. "Are you sure you even saw anything in the first place?"

[lostsole31]

Of course, once Alvor steps into the room, just about everything that might be an opponent would be an unseen opponent ... because it is dark in there, and Steingott at the doorway doesn't have a light source from him, and everyone else is offsides.

[TooterfishPopkn]

Steingott rubs his eyes and shakes his head from side to side.

"I swear...it looked as if someone was pacing back and forth in the dust. Perhaps another trick like that manticore?

Steingott walks north into the room past Al, reaching his arms out in front of him to feel for an invisible body.

"That should help get some of that light in here."

[DrK]

Draegra

Nodding at Al, Draegra steps into the doorway to shine the light into the room, eyes scanning o the left ad right seeking any form of foe or other sign of unnatural presence. Searching for signs of magic his fist is clenched expecting trouble as we waits adn watches. A glance at the previous room and a whispered, "Lets clear these rooms then try downstairs"


Giving light to the room by standing in the doorway and then casting detact magic

[lostsole31]

While Steingott can't notice the pattern anymore, with Draegra's light illuminating a portion of the room, it seems like to Alvor like there is pacing back and forth between the couch and the fireplace.

Meanwhile, Draegra casts his spell, and notes the presence of magic in his cone.

What do you (plural) do?

[meemaas]

Norton will step inside after the others, watching where the others are looking. "I could try casting Glitterdust on whatever it is to reveal it fully. Assuming it's just an invisible person. It would be a waste if it's some kind of Illusion though."

[lostsole31]

In entering the room, the room is now fully illuminated. Norton also thinks he sees the pattern of somebody walking back and forth in the puffs of dust that whip up. Zada moves up to not be left behind.

[TooterfishPopkn]

Steingott steps to where he can best recall where the "foot steps" were pacing and throws some punches.


Brawlers Flurry 1: [roll0] for the hit

First hit damage: [roll1]

Brawlers Flurry 2: [roll2]

Second hit damage: [roll3]

[lostsole31]

Steingott doesn't seem to connect with anything.See Discord DM.
Meanwhile ...You think you hear a woman's voice whisper "Lorey."

[rypt]

Having only just perceived a hint of back and forth movement between the couch and the fireplace -- motion which he does not consider particularly threatening -- Al is shocked to see Steingott assaulting the air above the disturbed dust.

"There, between the-- hells, Steingott! Does pacing mean something to dwarves I don't know about?"

He quickly corrects the orientation of his spear in case Steingott provokes an equivalent response.

[TooterfishPopkn]

"Sorry, Al. I thought it might be a trick but I had to be-WHAA!?"

Steingott's expression goes blank for a moment.

"I can't explain it...but a woman was here in this house. She wonders what her husband was always doing in the basement. I...I don't know how I know this! Or even who her husband is.

He shivers a little.

It just came to me. Almost like flash of memory I'd long forgotten!"

[lostsole31]

Steingott, roll a Will save ....

[TooterfishPopkn]

Please be okay...


[roll0]

[lostsole31]

Steingott, you had sudden urge to go out and drag Zada out of the house, but the urge has passed. All is now quiet in this room. Not even any puffs of dust.

[meemaas]

Norton repeats what he heard aloud. "Lorey? Is that a name? What kind of name is that?"

[DrK]

Draegra

Draegra looks in surprise at the invisible shape and the whispered sounds. Pausing he scans for magic again concentrating on the cone of magic to ascertain more information. ”Lorey? Has anyone heard of that person… but it does suggest that downstairs will be critical.”

[lostsole31]

Given a few rounds to suss things out, Draegra only sees those magical emanations coming from the magic on his allies.

[rypt]

Wishing he had a free hand to rub his eyes, it takes a moment for Al to process the strangely productive aftermath of Steingott's fist-forward approach to problem solving. "Hold on, where'd that name even come from?" he asks Norton. "Did you have some kind of psychic vision too?"

[DrK]

Draegra

Draegra shakes his head. "I saw nothing. But we should looks downstrairs, its seems that way will lie answers." He heads back into the hallway glancing around and looking for the stairs that they had spied (or that he thoght they had spied) that may lead further down into a cellar or basement

[meemaas]

"Vision? No. I just heard someone saying it, and it wasn't a voice belonging to anyone I know."

[rypt]

"Huh." Al gives something of a puzzled look to Norton before looking over at Steingott. "The voice of your mystery woman, perhaps? One of the Foxgloves, I'd assume. Maybe Lorey was a child...or a lover?"

When Draegra urges them towards the basement, Al nods. "Aye," he says, his voice drifting a bit, seeming to indicate that some portion of his attention is still lingering on whatever it was that Norton and Steingott experienced.

[TooterfishPopkn]

"I'll take the lead on this. It will probably be darker down there than it is up here."

Steingott walks into the room and starts to slowly descend the stairs.

[lostsole31]

Sure enough, it is very dark. Steingott take the lead; followed by Draegra (light); Al; Norton (light); and Zada.

The stairs go directly down and open up into a large room. A large oaken table, its surface covered with moldy stains and rat droppings, sits in the center of this large kitchen. Shelves line the walls, and an oversized fireplace dominates the northeast portion of the room. The shelves in the southwest wall are in a much greater state of disarray, and two one-footwide cracks in the wall near the floor lead south into the earth beyond the basement walls.

[TooterfishPopkn]

"Back at it then!"

Steingott starts searching the basement. He walks to the doors in front of him and opens the closest one.

Stein moves ten feet west and to the door five feet south from there.

[DrK]

Draegra

Draegra looks around the kitchen, a slight shake of his head. "Not the most sanitary of places that we could be in." Spying the cracks in the wall he approaches them making sure to illume them to allow him to peer into the cracks to see if they are merely splits in the wall or something that may lead to a more natural cave system outside the foundations.

[meemaas]

Norton will stick with Steingott to provide light while helping with the search.

[lostsole31]

There's a rapidly growing susurrus of bodies slithering through tight confines, combined with a rising wave of rodent squeaks. A few rats make their way out of the cracks of the wall. Ony a few diseased looking rats right now.

Round One (Timing Purposes) ...

What do you (plural) do?

[TooterfishPopkn]

Steingott turns to the screeching and raises a wall of earth in front of the cracks and exposed earth the rats pushed through.

Spending a point of burn to raise a wall.

"Dreagra! Move back away from me!

[lostsole31]

One turn ... one round. He stops one crack

What does everyone else do?

[digiman619]

Zada moves up, their mindblade reaching past as the privide second-line support.
Move up, as I'm already in Guardian mode. I don't *think* I have a standard left, but if I do, I will use Ancestor's Council on myself, giving me +2 next round.

[DrK]

Draegra

Draegra looks at the rats and curses, jumping back as the earth starts building up he looks for any rats that scurry near him to stamp upon them. "Quickly Steingott, as much as you can to fill in that crevice." He looks at Zada beside him and shakes his head, "A miserable place indeed."

[meemaas]

"Rats. Of course." Norton readies his weapon, readying himself to defend against the tiny things if they try to bite him.

Note sure what Norton can do against these, but ready nonetheless.

[rypt]

"There's a sound I don't miss," Al grimaces, recalling some particularly unpleasant memories of his time in Longacre. He steps down into the room to get a better look at the area Steingott has begun to cover. "I don't know if they're running towards us or away from something else, but if there's any other way in here, they're gonna find it, sure as water would."

Al will move to the square north of Norton. In the event it is not currently active, he will activate Indomitable Presence.

[lostsole31]

The sounds continue to build, and more rats manage to find their way into find their way into the room, from underneath the stove, along other sections of the wall, etc.

Round Two

What do you (plural) do?

[DrK]

Draegra

Draegra looks at the door and calls out to the others, "Shall we move through the door? I am happy to cede this room to the rats." he offers advancing to the door on the western wall and opening it

[lostsole31]

Draegra opens the door. Once a pantry, this room has become a filthy, reeking lair of what must be hundreds, if not thousands, of rats. Swaths of fur cling to everything, and mounds of rat droppings cover the floor.

"New" Round One ...

R1T28: Norton, you have a rapier in hand. Draegra just opened Pandora's Box o' Rats. What do you do?

[meemaas]

"Close your eyes Draegra!!!" Norton yells out, moving forward a bit, he waits for confirmation before holding out his hand and unleashing a wave of colors into the pantry, hoping to just flood the senses of the rats entirely and hopefully disperse them without trouble.

Move action:Norton will move to the west one square.

Standard action: Ready an action to cast Color Spray once Draegra confirms he can't see it. I doubt it actually works that way, but IDKDI? The spell will be aimed into the pantry where the bulk of the rats are (I hope)

[lostsole31]

R1T28: "Close your eyes Draegra!!!" Norton yells out, moving forward a bit, waiting for confirmation as he holds colored sand in his hand ...

R1T24: Hundreds of rats from the southern portion of the room surge forth up and over and around their semi-shocked northern members and spill out into the main hall. Though readied with a spell, yet Norton stabs furiously with his non-intended-to-cast hand, skewering several of the creatures for 4 mod to the swarm. A squirming, roiling mass of squeaking rats draws closer, teeth flashing and claws scratching everything in its path, surging over, up and around Draegra (3), Norton (4), and Steingott (2 mod).

Draegra easily keeps it together. Steingott has to work hard not to lose his cool. Norton, on the other hand, drops his sand for his spell and has a complete freakout as rats run all over him (nauseated-distracted).

R1T23: Steingott, you are getting nibbled on by rats, and it is very distracting (even if you are not "distracted"). What do you do?

[TooterfishPopkn]

Steingott let's out a high-pitched screech and begins frantically stomping on the rats gathering in the corner between Norton and Draegra as elemental material gathers around his feet.



Spend 1 Point of burn (for real this time) to use Kinetic first on unarmed strike, in this case my feet.

Flurry 1 Atk: [roll0]

Flurry 2 Atk: [roll1]

Flurry 1 Dmg: [roll2] Xtra dmg [roll3]

Flurry 2 Dmg: [roll4] Xtra dmg [roll5]

[lostsole31]

R1T23: Steingott let's out a high-pitched screech and begins frantically stomping on the rats gathering in the corner between Norton and Draegra as elemental material gathers around his feet. So thrown is he by the teeming mass that not a single blow is effective. The dwarf's career of pit fighting people similarly sized is showing in his ineffectiveness against such a strange "opponent."

R1T16: Granite squeaks a warning, knowing that these are not "fellow, friendly" rats like himself! (delaying...)

R1T13: The remainder of the rats pour out of the room. As this new group rushes past, Steingott finally gets a chance to splatter some rats, doing 8 to the swarm. This second swarm flows over Al (4) and Zada (4). Zada was alerted by Granite from the warning squeak, but Al is completely shocked by this turn of events (distracted/nauseated). They chew on Granite as well, but ony 1 as it is hard to get through the familiar satchel. Over by the doorway, Destroyer McGee takes 3.

R1T7: Alvor, you have ranseur-and-shield in hand, and are in no stance, surrounded by rats, and nauseated. What do you do?

Draegra on deck, Destroyer McGee in the hole ...

[rypt]

"Oh ****." Al makes a futile effort to raise his shield before the tide of rodents pour through the door and overtake him. Craning his neck in the hopes of keeping the rats from his face, he staggers backwards, bumping into the table, and then the wall, his shield and ranseur proving awkward implements with which to extricate himself from the fetid swarm.

Move action: Al will move 1 square to the NE, then 1 square to the N, then 1 square to the NW (ending 3 squares north of his starting position).

Immediate action: If Al is required to make a Fortitude save, he will use enduring shell to add +3 to the roll.

[lostsole31]

R1T7: "Oh ****." Al makes a futile effort to raise his shield before the tide of rodents pour through the door and overtake him. Craning his neck in the hopes of keeping the rats from his face, he staggers backwards, bumping into the table, and then the wall, his shield and ranseur proving awkward implements with which to extricate himself from the fetid swarm.

R1T5: Draegra, what do you do?

[DrK]

Draegra

Draegra sighs inwardly, a muttered ”Rats, why did it have to be rats.” he mutters as he starts to stamp atop the swarm before stepping through the door to a less ratty square.



Flurry
[roll0] dam [roll1]
[roll2] dam [roll3]

5ft to the left through the door away from the rats

[lostsole31]

R1T5: Draegra sighs inwardly, a muttered ”Rats, why did it have to be rats.” he mutters as he starts to stamp atop the swarm before stepping through the door to a less ratty square. His stomps are not random, but expertly and forcefully applied as he does a total 16 mod to the swarm.

R1T4: Destroyer McGee is angry to be in his satchel and still swarmed as he is (delaying...)

R1T3: Zada, what do you do?

Norton on deck, Blue rat swarm in the hole ...

[meemaas]

Norton retreats from the rats, trying his best to hold in his revulsion from the rats crawling on him. He's gonna have nightmares about this tonight.

Move action: Move away from the Pantry and the swarms. Norton wants nothing to do with these.

[digiman619]

Zada takes a step back before addressing their teammates "Spread apart! the further they have to move to reach you, the fewer of us they can get!" They then raised their mindblade; the glaive of mental energy seemed to melt down into light for a second before reforming itself as a warhammer.
5 foot step east
FRA: Reform my mindblade to do bludgeoning damage, as opposed to the piercing it was before. Before you object, the Guardian role specifically calls out that I can re-shape it as if it was a standard mind blade.

[lostsole31]

R1T3: Zada takes a step back before addressing their teammates, "Spread apart! the further they have to move to reach you, the fewer of us they can get!" They then raised their mindblade; the glaive of mental energy seemed to melt down into light for a second before reforming itself as a warhammer.

End Round One, Begin Round 2 ...

R2T28: Norton retreats from the rats, trying his best to hold in his revulsion from the rats crawling on him, and begins up the stairs.

R2T24: The rats continue to chew against Steingott, but his earthen armor protects him!

R2T23: Steingott, what do you do?

Red on deck, Al in the hole ...

[TooterfishPopkn]

Steingott continues frantically stomping at the rats, the gathering of earth having dissipated, while the others spread away.


Flurry 1 atk: [roll0]

Flurry 2 atk: [roll1]

Flurry 1 dmg: [roll2]

Flurry 2 dmg: [roll3]

[TooterfishPopkn]

For the critical.


[roll0]

[roll1]

[lostsole31]

R2T23: Steingott continues frantically stomping at the rats, the gathering of earth having dissipated, while the others spread away. It is a stunning display of savage violence, and many rats are dead as the rest of that swarm scatters!

R2T13: The other rat swarm begins to swarm over Zada and Norton, but Zada is more freaked out about the potential of being freaked out, that she frantically splats the rats with her shovel-headed mindblade to dispel that swarm as well.

Combat Ends!

[TooterfishPopkn]

Steingott shakes off the rat attack and continues the search. He opens the door in front of him (south).

[rypt]

"This ****ing house..." Al mutters as he regroups with the others, kicking at the last of the fleeing rats along the way.

Al will move to the square to the north of Steingott.

[lostsole31]

Al and Norton recover from their distress, and Draegra steps up to Steingott as he opens the door. Two wine racks line the walls here, their shelves empty and dusty. Mounds of broken glass bottles clutter the floor.

[TooterfishPopkn]

Steingott steps into the room and inspects the broken bottles on the wine rack, looking for anything out of the ordinary - bottles filled with anything that doesn't look like wine or anything still sealed and worth keeping.

[lostsole31]

Assuming Zada goes in to lead the search, a check reveals something interesting on the top shelf of the western rack—a hinged and hidden compartment in the back wall. Beyond is a narrow nook in which are hidden eight fine vintages of wine from the famed Vigardeis vineyard in distant Cheliax. Norton can verify that each bottle would be worth 100 gp.

[TooterfishPopkn]

"Boy do we ever deserve this.
Finally a little bit of luck!"

Steingott takes off his backpack, puts two bottles inside, and carefully hangs the pack back over his shoulders.

[rypt]

Moving to the door once Zada reveals what they've found, Al blows an amused breath through his nose at Steingott's rather optimistic bottle packing. "You sure you wanna carry those with you? I'd say unless someone's got one of those magic bags that'll keep these safe, we're better off coming back for them later."

[meemaas]

"Agreed. They are probably safest left here. Unless there's more rats, in which case I am seriously considering burning the entire place down." Norton puts in his opinion on the subject.

[digiman619]

Zada dismisses their mind blade before turning to Norton "Sure, if you want us to get arrested for arson"

[digiman619]

Zada opens the door to their north.

[lostsole31]

With their darkvision, Zada sees two bunks stand in this room, relatively free of dust and mold. A single chair lies on its side between them.

[digiman619]

Zada enters the room to give it a quick once-over before rejoining their compatriots.
Walk in, Take 10 do a Perception check, and then head back out to the rest of the party

[lostsole31]

Zada spends all of 15 seconds in the room before she heads out, having found nothing.

[TooterfishPopkn]

Steingott leaves the wine cellar and heads down the hallway going south. He opens the eastern door at the end of the hallway.

[lostsole31]

Steingott leaves the wine cellar and heads down the hallway going south. He opens the eastern door at the end of the hallway.
The door opens easily enough, revealing a hallway extending to the east before turning unseen to the north.

[TooterfishPopkn]

"Heads up, gang! There's a passage behind this door. It takes a turn about thirty feet in. Im going to take a look around the corner!"

Steingott moves in as quietly as possible along the wall and peeks just his head around the corner, looking down the passage going north.

[DrK]

Draegra

Looking down the passage Draegra mutters a ”look out for rats” before following the dwarf, a fist raised.

[rypt]

With a sigh, Al will follow along with Draegra and Steingott, taking care to stay near to a source of light.

[digiman619]

Zada walks to the entrance of the hallway; close enough to rush in if needed, but far out enough not to get in the way.

[lostsole31]

The passageway turns north and is only 5' long past the dorner before it gets to another door.

Norton catches up with the others, bringing light to the rear.

[DrK]

Draegra

Draegra looks at the door and approaches cautiously. He then places an ear against it and listens carefully, scanning the door with his magical senses seeking to detect magical auras or presences on the far side of it. Glancing at the others he mutters, "Lets hope that there are no more rats. Although on some level it as good to see something that was living in this place."

[meemaas]

"It'd be nice if there were people living here. Those things? Not quite." Norton keeps an eye on the parties rear while following carefully.

[lostsole31]

Before Steingott moved to the door, Draegra passed him. The door to this room is made of iron, and while patches of rust mar its face, it appears to be quite stout.

Draegra listens at the door, and doesn't hear anything. He casts detect magic, and senses nothing in the cone where he looks at the door.

What now?

[DrK]

Draegra

Sensing nothing Draegra shakes his head, a whispered ”Nothing Steingott, I can’t feel or here anything.”. Stepping back he gives space to the dwarf to allow Steingott to open the door.

[TooterfishPopkn]

"Thanks, Draegra."

Steingott steps forward and opens the door.

[lostsole31]

The two switch places and Steingott turns the knob ... only to find that the door does not open for him.

[TooterfishPopkn]

Steingott looks back at Draegra.

"Any good with locks? The knob won't budge."

He heads back down the passage and lets the others know.

[DrK]

Draegra

The samsaran walks up to the door and has a look and shrugs. "Maybe put your shoulder into it?" is all he can suggest as he leans against the door and gives it a solid push to see if he can force it open.



[roll0]

[lostsole31]

Draegra does not even make the door budge.

[DrK]

Draegra

Bouncing ineffectually off the door Draegra shakes his head and then kneels in front of the door and pulls out a small sealskin pouch. Unwrapping it reveals a collection of small metal picks and files. ”Keep an eye out for trouble”. he mutters to Steingott before working on the door.



Disable check [roll0]

[lostsole31]

Draegra is unable to unlock the door on the first attempt.

[DrK]

Draegra

Draegra looks back to the others and shakes his head. "We can try another direction or may just have to batter this one down. If its locked and sealed then there may be something of value behind it, we've not found many locked doors in this vile place." He steps back and looks to the others to see who fancies having a shot at smashing down the door.

[rypt]

Al moves forward down the hall to get a closer look. Upon seeing Draegra with lockpicks in hand, he asks, "Are you sure you don't just wanna give those another try?"

[digiman619]

Zada nodded, though stopped once they realized that their teammates around the corner can't see them. "Let's check the rest of the place before coming back here. Maybe there's a key we missed."

[rypt]

Al shrugs his shoulders. "Not a bad idea." He starts to turn back down the hall, but stops abruptly. "Actually, just to be sure, you should first try the key we found at the farm."

[DrK]

Draegra

Draegra steps aside to let whoever has the key in try the key in the lock. Then looks more critically at the door trying to evaluate how long it would take to batter it down. "If we have missed a key it could be anywhere in this mansion. Maybe just smashing it down would be easier?"

[lostsole31]

Zada, it seems you have that key, as Alvor handed it to you to unlock entrance into Misgivings in the first place. What do you do?

[digiman619]

"Wait" Zada said as a thought struck them. After a quick pat down, they retrieved the key they used to open the front door. "You think they use the same key?" Not waiting for a response, they make their way to the door and put the key in, attempt to unlock the door.

[lostsole31]

Zada finds that the key does not fit this door.

[digiman619]

Zada groans in frustration, slipping the key into a pocket angrily before slamming their shoulder against the door.
Zada Strength check with a +5 STR mod.

[meemaas]

Norton has been quiet, stewing a bit about how much he dislikes this place at this point. "I wonder what the odds are that this is the only entrance to that room." Norton waves over the others, and pulls out one of his journals, starting to sketch a map of the area in it. "Can you guys help me with this? Maybe having a visual aid will help us figure out if we've missed anything."

[DrK]

Draegra

Draegra looks up and then motions back to the ratty kitchen. "there was another door in the kitchen" (on the NE wall I think) "Shall we check that? If not we may have to recheck some of the upper floors to see if we missed anything. There were a number of drawing rooms and the like that we can search again." He shrugs. "Or we can just get some tools from here or a stout table and batter down the door"

[TooterfishPopkn]

"Would we all agree staying quiet at this point is silly? I could just bash the door down with some rocks unless anyone objects."


"I'd have done that to the rooftop hatch but I didnt want the rocks to fall back down on me."

[DrK]

Draegra

Draegra shrugs and then nods. "Please have at it my friend." he adds and nods to the door moving out the way. "Lets hope that this is worth it"

[TooterfishPopkn]

"All right, everyone. Stay back!"

Once everyone is a safe distance away, Steingott begins hurling chunks of earth at the door until it's battered enough for the party to make it through.

[lostsole31]

The door is made of 2 inches of solid iron, and takes a full minute for Steingott to finally destroy. Steingott steps up to look into the room, but not enter fully.

[TooterfishPopkn]

"Looks like we have...another room!" Steingott says before stepping into the room and getting a better look at the whole space.

[DrK]

Draegra

Draegra claps Steingott on the shoulder, ”Less costly than the trapdoor.” he mutters rueful over the loss of his mace. “And I agree, let’s see what is hidden here.” he adds following Steingott into the room, lit shield illuminating the space.

[lostsole31]

The rest of the party moves forward as well, with only Steingott and Draegra having entered the room.

This room looks to have once been some sort of arcane workshop, although it now lies in ruin. A row of soggy books sits on the northern end of a workbench along the western wall. At the other end of the workbench, what looks like three iron birdcages sit, each containing a dead diseased rat. To the east, two stained-glass windows loom. The northern window depicts a thin man with gaunt features drinking a foul-looking brew of green fluid, while the southern one shows the same man but in an advanced state of decay, as if he had been dead for several weeks. His arms raised and head thrown back in triumph, his rotting body turns to smoke and spirals into a seven-sided box.
You experience a sudden urge to read the books on the shelf ..... just an urge, not a compulsion.

[DrK]

Draegra

Draegra looks about, "Interesting, I wonder what could have occurred in here. It looks like a laboratory of sorts." He stops to inspect th cages and the window before heading to the books, drawn to one of them and picks it up to examine what language its written in.


Would a Know (Arcana) or Spellcraft make more sense to understand the cages and the work?

[lostsole31]

Draegra looks to see that yes, those appear to be dead rats in cages, but can't figure out anything special about that.

He then inspects the window, but nothing comes to mind from that weirdness.

Finally, he circles back to look at the wormy books. As soon as he touches them, Draegra gasps aloud and freezes dramatically..Roll a Will save!
Draegra's gasp and sudden internal preoccupation as he touches the books is immediately apparent to Alvor and Steingott (but not to Zada or Norton farther out in the hallway).

What do you (plural) do?

[TooterfishPopkn]

"I dont like the looks of this. Something is happening to Draegra!" He shouts to the others.

Steingott begins to ready a wall to be put up between himself and Draegra if anything foul begins to happen like an attack from his companion. Before following through with the wall he asks, "Draegra...is everything okay? How do you feel?"

He waits for an answer.

[rypt]

Al curses and rushes forward, tossing his spear aside as he places himself besides Steingott and between Draegra and the windows.

Unsure where this latest happening falls on the scale between 'vision of the past' and 'compulsion to suicide,' he takes takes hold of Draegra's arm with his free hand and gives the samsaran a shake. "Draegra?" He does not immediately let go while he waits to see how Draegra responds, if he responds at all.

[digiman619]

Zada rushes into the room, and invoked their ancestor, hoping to aid Draega as they are caught in some unknown sorcery. Oddly, their eyebrows begin to glow as they do so.
Move in and use my Ancestor's Council ability in order to give Dreaga's save.

[DrK]

Draegra



Will save [roll0]

[lostsole31]

Draegra comes out of his fit just fine .... none the worse for wear.

[DrK]

Draegra

Shaking his head Draegra looks at the others, near throwing the book down. ”My thanks, my thanks. I felt the book pulling at me, then saw visions of Vorel researching undeath, drinking a potion and turning into a monster. It was horrifying.”

Looking around he gazes around the room looking for another door and giving the books and window a wide berth

[meemaas]

Norton has been focused on his attempt to draw that map, and didn't even notice that everyone had moved on. Once he realizes though, he moves forward to join the party, putting his failed attempt at a map into his bag without giving it anymore thought.

[lostsole31]

There is a door on the south wall, to the west of the door everyone came in.

Does the party go right for the door, leaving everything in here alone per Draegra's vision/ fears? or do you search in here at all? If so, quick search or long search?

[rypt]

Al releases Draegra's arm and claps him on the shoulder before stepping away. "That was the Foxglove who built this place?" He looks to the images in the windows which seem to align almost exactly with Draegra's vision. "I suppose that's him. Maybe his wife was the one Steingott saw pacing by the fireplace?"

He turns back from the windows and bends down to read the title of the book Draegra touched.

"When we were upstairs, I was certain that whatever presence was in this house wanted us out...or dead. Seems it's either found a less hostile way to communicate, or there's something else here that wants us to know the history of this place."

He'll move then to retrieve his ranseur from the hallway.

[DrK]

Draegra

Draegra shakes his head as Al leans down. ”The visions were deep and intense. Have a care.” Before slowly searching through the rest of room looking for anything valuable. As he does so he’ll nod at the new door, “is it locked?”

[lostsole31]

The party does a deep search of this room, as it seems like it is particularly cluesworthy-potential. This deep search will take 44 minutes.

The stained-glass windows look out over the Varisian Gulf; although the basement itself is underground, the curved eastern wall of this room extends beyond the side of the cliff face. These final windows depict Vorel Foxglove taking the potion he brewed to catalyze his transformation into whatever undead horror he became. Norton assists Alvor in determining that is a depiction of Vorel Foxglove, which coincides with Draegra's vision. The second part of the window shows his new undead body bonding somehow with the seven-sided box, his soul seemingly infused into it.

The books are in sorry shape, but a look through them reveals that they all cover various arts of necromancy and the creation of undeath. Worm-eaten and crumbling, they won’t stand up to much investigation, but Norton's knowledge of the arcane - backed up by Zada's similar knowledge as well as their lore into undeath - helps the party to realize that whoever studied these books was investigating the transformation of mortal into a lich.

The iron cages each contain a dead rat that suffered from disease. Physical contact with one of these rats is likely not enough to expose a character to the disease, but eating one certainly would. Close examination of any of these cages reveals a small symbol of a pig with a mouthful of lock picks peering at a keyhole; under the pig is a guildsign that says “Pug’s Contraptions—Magnimar.”

The door is checked safe and appears to be unlocked.

[DrK]

Draegra

Draegra looks about, shaking his head sadly. "More and more mysterious. To think a lich was born in such a strange and small mansion is odd. Although I would think they do have to be created somewhere." As the books and glass are picked over he glances at the door and gingerly approaches it to open it and peer beyond, shining the light from the illuminated ring ahead of him

[lostsole31]

The door opened, he only sees a passage that immediately heads west.

[TooterfishPopkn]

Steingott looks down and shakes his head quietly and tries to remember if he's heard of any local legend about a lich.

"Before we push forward, does anyone know much about the Foxgloves? With these new revelations, what could we be walking into?"

I'd like a knowledge local to try and determine if we'd have any reason to worry a lich may be on the premises or if Foxglove had been dealt with at some point in Sandpoint's history.

[meemaas]

"I'll admit that I haven't been here long enough to pay attention to the legends about the locals. I do think we'll be justified in burning this place down when we're finished with it, I don't know that the stench of undeath could ever truly be purged after everything we've seen." Norton finishes his statement, drawing his weapon once more in preparation for the trip forward. "Shall we?"

[rypt]

Al sighs as he looks at the cages. "I don't like this one bit. I suppose it's possible this was all for the purpose of curing some sort of sickness, but there's nothing I've seen in this house that makes that seem likely.

"If our killer is a mad noble who turned himself into an undead monster, how does one destroy a lich?"

[meemaas]

"Probably the same way we kill any other undead. Destroy its body." Norton starts towards the door, ready to head down this passage as soon as everyone else is ready.