Carrion Crown: The Haunting of Harrowstone [IC]

[Tippnick]

"Speaking of taxing, does anyone need healing? It is prudent to not be injured when going further into dangerous areas.", Zauberei recommends.

[Moriar]

"That is a wise course of action. Thankfully I did not get harmed by that room but I know that others did." Razvan muses, "if there other rooms or encounters like that here we should be at full strength if possible. "

[Ason]

Breathing warm air into his hands, Marius nods at Zauberei and Razvan's suggestion. The young man offers, "If we take a few minutes breather outside, I can brew several minor extracts of healing for people to consume. It might be wise to use my extracts to restore our wounds at this early stage and save the actual curative magics for later, so we then have the option of healing us or harming the undead. I would also add that the northern door remains untouched, lest we forget, though I have no objections to exploring the west."

[BuckGodot]

Rubbing blue fingers together, Othello speaks up, "I took quite a walloping. I could use a few of those drinks... Would any of them happen to be Dwarven mead flavoured?"

[SwordChucks]

Hargrimm brushes frost out of his beard as he says "I could heal the group the same way I tried to harm the haunt, but Razvan asked to be excluded from that."

[Moriar]

Hargrimm brushes frost out of his beard as he says "I could heal the group the same way I tried to harm the haunt, but Razvan asked to be excluded from that."

"Thank you for remembering. If anyone ever uses negative energy to affect enemies I do not need to be excluded," Razvan comments.

[lostsole31]

So, the group reconvenes outside the facade, allowing the five minutes build-up for those that need it. Abrax' senses boosting will abate, though he still has his barkskin.

Meanwhile, you've talked about actions for healing, but what do you actually do?

[SwordChucks]

"I'll use a burst of healing while Razvan steps around a corner. Then any one that's still injured can be sorted out by Marius's extracts." Hargrimm says.

After Razvan steps away:

Spoiler: Healing

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Channel Energy to heal the living: (2d6+1)[7]

[lostsole31]

The energy channeled by Hargrimm, even for those that don't necessarily need the healing, is still a warm balm on body and soul, providing 7 healing.

Now what?

[Ason]

After gathering and restoring all his equipment to its rightful place, Marius offers an extract of cure light wounds to anybody in the party who still requires healing. He then sets to work with his reagents, mixing two extracts of cure light wounds as backup healing for later or in case anybody else needs additional healing right now. After doing all this, he returns his reagents to their storage device and his shield back onto his back, picks up his polearm in one hand and lantern in the other, and nods to the group. "I'm ready if you are."

Spoiler: OoC

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Cure Light Wounds extract heals for 1d8+3, though I'll leave the rolling of it until someone actually drinks it

[lostsole31]

It doesn't take much at all to see that Othello needs the healing the most, as only Hargrimm and Paula are not quite at par, and only just below tip-top.

Othello is given a small vial to drink. It is fluid, much like a potion, but doesn't quite come in a potion bottle. And it is strange, too. Opalescent white with red flecks and a smooth texture, contained in a vial with droplets running down the sides. The potion smells like cinnamon, but there is something about the smell that makes Othello think of paranoia.

Does he drink it?

[BuckGodot]

Othello says, ”Sooooo… what’s in this? It smells like cinnamon… and uh… I have an allergy… to… that. And I’m lactose intolerant…”

[Ason]

Marius breaks into a rare smile at Othello's question. "I'm happy to talk about my work! Sadly, dairy spoils too quickly in the field, and imported spices are too expensive, so I've been unable to experiment with those thus far. This elixir is the latest from Lepidstadt University: it's a mixture of aqua vitae, distilled nitrous, and the crushed leaves of the meadowsweet flower. You're probably smelling the meadowsweet. But it's perfectly safe in moderate doses, and truthfully should not only heal your wounds but dull any remaining pain." Marius beams with pride at the concoction in Othello's hand.

Spoiler: OoC fun fact

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The referenced chemicals are a form of alcohol, distilled laughing gas, and the plant from which we derive aspirin. If I'm going to BS a cure light wounds extract's ingredients list, I might as well have fun with it.

[BuckGodot]

Othello grins back, always happy to bring a smile to someone's face and he quaffs the elixir. "Thank you for the explanation. I bet this would be good with some cakes or something..."

[lostsole31]

The extract only heals 4 healing .... minimum effect. That said, it is still on par with a relatively average one of Othello's lay on hands, so it does alright and he does feel better.

Now what?

[BuckGodot]

Othello looks at Marius and says sheepishly, "Thank you... That helped... Although... Another might do me a bit better... If it's not too much trouble?"

[Ason]

Marius beams at the affirmation. "Be my guest, but do pace yourself if you decide you need more than two. Drinking too many potions or extracts at once can lead to indigestion."

[lostsole31]

Marius gives Othello another extract, but this one had more "oomph" to it as it fully heals Othello.

What now?

[BuckGodot]

Othello looks to Marius, and giving him a solid pat on the shoulder says, "Ahhhh. That did the trick! Thank you! You, Sir, are a scholar and a gentleman."

Turning to the rest of the group, he nods towards the hallway to the west.

"Well, friends... Let's resume our trek and check doors as we go." and he strides towards the hall.

[Moriar]

Razvan nods in agreement and follows Othello a short way behind him.

[lostsole31]

So, to move things along ...

Whether easy or hard, Razvan will listen at each door, maybe checking for danger. Othello will basically pull the rotting door off its hinges, and you'll lather rinse repeat down the hallway. Each of the rooms on the north side of the east-west hallway is relatively similar, and were all offices at one time, each dedicated to handling one of several key aspects of the prison’s operations, such as prisoner files, income, supplies, scheduling, repair requests, and so on.

It would take a few hours to organize the surviving paperwork into something that might be helpful for investigation. And as you are in "exploration" mode and not CQB room-to-room kill mode, does anyone have an issue with taking that time to go through the paperwork?

[Moriar]

Razvan checks to make sure there is no danger, spiritually or otherwise, and then unless there are objections will begin helping to organize the paperwork.

[Tippnick]

Zauberei will gladly put his knowledge and skill into this work. He pushes his sleeves up and rests his quarterstaff near him against the table.

[BuckGodot]

While not the greatest at research, Othello understands the need and will lend what aid he can to the project.

[SwordChucks]

Hargrimm does his best to aid the research by making sure the others have the papers they need and copying notes into his journal.

[Kvard51]

Abrax pitches in, searching for information in the stacks of records and random papers.

[Ason]

Marius follows the others, and when the group decides on sorting papers for a few hours, he nervously proposes one small precaution. "Ah... right, these papers may help solve the mystery, but we shouldn't let our guard entirely down. If this is going to take a few hours, maybe we first wedge shut the doors leading further in with something small and angular? The doors are half-gone already and won't hold up long, but a few extra moments' warning might help in an emergency." At that, Marius will search the area for makeshift doorstoppers and set them up as best he can, assuming the door hinges indicate they swing inward.

After attempting to secure the doors, he asks his familiar, "Thanks for all your help, Paula. Would you mind watching the entrance while we work in here? If you notice anything unusual or get hungry, just run and get me, okay? I don't want you getting hurt." Assuming his pet rat does not object to the request, Marius will then finally set to work assisting the others, chiming in as he starts to work, "Glad we can all share in a physician's most crucial job: proper paperwork filing."

Spoiler: OoC

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I'm specifically thinking of wedging the two western doors of S3 that seem to lead beyond the hallway and also the northern double doors in S2. I don't think we looked behind S2's northern door, but I'm fine wedging it shut for now. Marius will leave S15's doors alone, however, since one is locked, one is broken, and a cold ghost is in there still. Marius is asking Paula to keep watch in S2 and S1 but to stay away from S15. As for the makeshift doorstoppers, I am hoping he can adapt one from paperweights, large office supplies, and/or pitons from a climber's kit if another PC is willing to loan some. No worries if that's not feasible, however.

[lostsole31]

If you are going to wedge the doors, you need to tell me what you use and how you do it. You don't carry door wedges with you.

[Ason]

Marius searches the area for office items like scissors, paperweights, large letter openers, wire file holder stands, or even drawers handles that have rusted off the desks or cabinets: anything angular that can fit into a door gap. He hopes to shove the object underneath the door so that it catches on the floor to delay its opening like a typical door wedge or between the door and the frame on the hinge side so it cannot swing inward easily. If he cannot find an object that works, Marius considers jamming a chair between the door handle and the floor.

Finally, if the doors in question seem roughly as rotten as the doors that Othello had to rip off their hinges in order to open, then Marius will drop the idea entirely on the assumption that any enemies they meet will similarly have to struggle with these doors, which should serve as a sufficient warning system to the party.

Spoiler: OoC

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Again, if this is not feasible, I understand. This idea at minimum requires: a) doors that only swing inward toward the party (since door wedges don't work if the door is pulled away from them), b) sufficient space between the doors and their frames/floors, c) objects in the near area that are angular and sturdy enough to jam into those spaces, and d) doors that aren't entirely rotten away like the entryway doors. It's a gamble, but since we're settling in for a few hours of paperwork in a haunted prison, my intent is for Marius to spend at least a few minutes to make the area slightly more defensible before he starts the work.

If that idea doesn't work, no big deal, and Marius will join the others in the paperwork sorting in that case, with Paula still watching the entrance in case any baddies come in from S1 and S2.

[lostsole31]

After four hours of work, the surviving paperwork in these offices can be organized into a central repository that can be used to research Harrowstone or the five prisoners (although, obviously, no information from after the fire can be found here).

It is now late afternoon. Now what?