Carrion Crown: The Haunting of Harrowstone [IC]

[Ason]

Rubbing his arms instinctively, as if there was still a chill in the air, Marius sidles up to the eastern door. "That went better than last time, I faith. Well done. Let's see what we can make of this mystery door now..." he says as he leans his polearm against the wall. Setting to the task, the young doctor invites Wren to join him in surveying the door for safety and then setting to work on its lock with their tools.

Spoiler: OoC

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Perception check for traps, etc. Disable Device check to either pick the lock or help Wren in doing so.

[lostsole31]

Marius and Wren don't notice any traps. Marius begins work, with Wren assisting him. Marius doesn't succeed on a quick attempt, so they switch places. This time, with Marius assisting Wren, they are able to open the lock. Both attempts took a total combined minute, so it is still short work. Also, Marius realizes that Wren is significantly more skilled at finessing a lock.

It is a metal door, and Wren opens it to a room beyond. A bizarre collection of antique goods rests upon wooden shelves that line the room. Several of the items contain tiny tags with labels written in a careful script.

[Kvard51]

The tags give Abrax an opportunity to be of use, so he steps forward, "I can read those to see what we have here."

Spoiler: Action

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Abrax uses his ability to read any writing as if he was under a Comprehend Languages spell to check the tags.

[SwordChucks]

Hargrimm casts a spell and begins scanning the room for magic auras.

Spoiler

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Casting Detect Magic and looking for any auras in the room. He'll finish checking the room before investigating the auras further.

[lostsole31]

Abrax finds that the script is careful ... but not foreign. This seems to have been a property room for some items.

Hargrimm finds a singular magic aura, and it comes from a stick of hawthorn wood that possesses a faint aura of conjuration of the healing subschool. Does the party wish to ID that here, or wait until getting back to Lorrimor Library?

Spoiler: Magic Item ID

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You don't get a "redo" if you try now and then try at the library. If you try here, your wayward postulations will automatically fail at Lorrimor Library since that is not the library's main purpose. But if you wait to get to Lorrimor Library, ID checks get a +1 competence bonus.

There are a series of other interesting items:

• Set of masterwork thieves' tools
• Bronze war medallion from the Shining Crusade (Value TBD)
• Unframed Taldan painting of Stavian I (value TBD)
• Set of a noblewoman’s silver hair clips (value TBD)
• Masterwork punching dagger
• Pouch containing (12) masterwork shuriken
• Masterwork silver war razor

[Tippnick]

Zauberei will attempt to identify the wand.

[SwordChucks]

Hargrimm studies the silver hairclips. "Was Harrowstone a men's prison or was it open to every criminal?" he asks aloud.

[lostsole31]

The party works together to ID the wand (which means Marius in the lead, and Zauberei assisting). They determine that this is a wand of lesser restoration (12 charges).

Does the party take everything here?

Also, there were a few women's names in the records. While men seem to be more prone to terrible crimes, there are women who do awful things as well, and yes, they were guests of this august air-bnb.

[Tippnick]

We will take everything. Unless the painting is too awkward.

[lostsole31]

Everything is taken for party treasury (q.v. Discord). The painting doesn't have a frame, and is simply carefully rolled.

Wren asks, "Just in case, I recommend Hargrimm be given the wand. Is that acceptable?"

[Tippnick]

"I am good with Hargrimm having the wand", Zauberei agrees.

[Ason]

"Agreed on the wand," Marius adds as well, "Though if no one objects, I believe those thieves tools are a step up from my current equipment, so I would appreciate those myself. Anything too cumbersome we can always leave at the entrance to haul home when we leave."

Having dealt with the immediate items, Marius surveys the room for anything else of note or doors to rooms beyond. Failing to find any way forward, he suggests the party return to the entrance and attempt the northern door.

Spoiler: OoC

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I don't believe we've been given a full map of this room (S16) in the Discord yet, so the second paragraph is my way of asking if there are any visible doors or if this room is seemingly a dead end. When Marius and I speak of the entrance, I am referring to S2: it's the first central room on any path toward the exit and should be an easy stop before we leave.

[lostsole31]

This is the room from Marius' perspective ...

Spoiler: Room S16, Property Room

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[lostsole31]

Marius is ready to move on, as is everyone else it seems, but Wren starts to look around the room. It looks like he is taking his time, too.

[Tippnick]

Zauberei says, "I will help you Wren."

[lostsole31]

It's going to be just shy of an hour, but the party will determine that in the room itself, there is nothing else of interest.
However, what the room leads to, is something else. There is a secret door in the western wall. It is checked clear of any traps or the like, and opened. Inside is a hidden vault, not very large at all, and containing only five objects. All five of the items stored here are tagged with information as to their former owners.

Bloodstained Handaxe: This masterwork handaxe was the Lopper's favorite murder weapon.

Collection of Holy Symbols: These holy symbols were used by Father Charlatan, who would select one from the collection that would match the faith of his victims as proof of his good intentions. There are a dozen holy symbols on fine silver chains - the collection as a whole is valued at 300 gp. The holy symbols include Pharasma, Nethys, Torag, an even such odd ones as Folgrit and a really strange one ... that of a face in some type of sheer curtain of some sort. The silver chains of the holy symbols are all tangled up with each other.

Moldy Spellbook: The covers and pages of this thick, leather-bound spellbook have become caked with mold over the years, but some of the contents remain legible. This book once belonged to Professor Hean Feramin, the man who would eventually achieve fame not through academia but through murder. Known in his final days as the Splatter Man, he was dealt a hideous blow to his morale and sanity by the loss of his spellbook.

Smith's Hammer: This is a masterwork smith's hammer that grants a +2 competence bonus on all Craft (armorsmith, blacksmith, weaponsmith) checks. If used in battle, it acts as a masterwork light hammer. This hammer belonged to the Mosswater Marauder.

Tarnished Silver Flute: This 300 gp masterwork flute was once owned by the man known only as the Piper of Illmarsh.

A deep search of this area only takes 2 minutes, revealing nothing else.

[Tippnick]

"We should take these items. But examine them later. Where to next friends?", asks Zauberei

[lostsole31]

I need to know exactly what you do with these items. I will put them in party treasure on Discord, but I need to know who holds onto what.

[Tippnick]

Zauberei will grab the spellbook.

[Kvard51]

Abrax picks up the holy symbols, thinking to untangle Pharasma’s from the mix. ”I’ll carry these.”

[Ason]

Marius congratulations Wren on the successful find, but when the hidden contents are revealed, he gulps nervously. "The murder weapons... Gods help us. I feel we're tempting fate bringing them but being negligent if we leave them behind for the cultists..." Sighing nervously, he shakes his head to clear away such thoughts and concludes with forlorn determination, "I'll carry handaxe. I suppose only the main chamber's northern or the offices' far eastern door remain. I would wager north probably leads deeper into the prison's bowels, so that is likely where our path must go ultimately."

[SwordChucks]

Hargrimm clenches his fists several times upon seeing that Folgrit's respectability was used to cheat others. "These should all be turned to slag, and buried on hallowed ground, but since that isn't feasible right now, I agree we should keep them from the Way. I can't carry much unless we find a spare bag lying around though."

At Marius' mention of how to proceed, Hargrimm says "I'd like to go to the far eastern door first. If it's a small area like this one, we can clear it quickly. If it seems to go on for awhile, we could decide from there whether to head to the northern door."

[lostsole31]

Is Abrax willing to let Hargrimm carry Father Charlatan's tangle of symbols instead?

Also, is someone going to grab the flute and/ or the smith's hammer?

[Ason]

Marius passively gestures between Wren and the flute and meekly suggests, "I recall your music at the professor's funeral, Wren. Would you be comfortable carrying the flute? It's okay if that's too much though. I get it."

If indeed nobody else in the party volunteers, Marius glumly offers to carry any remaining murder weapons. "My ant haul extract means my only real burden from these is psychological, not physical." Turning clinical to stave of his anxieties with dispassion, he adds more cheerfully, "Besides, if they're fine, I'm worrying over nothing, and if they are cursed, I'm probably a dead man walking already. So it's functionally the same either way. Let's just move on."

[Tippnick]

Zauberei says, "I can cast a spell that can summon an unseen servant that can carry 2 objects, if no one has brought anything to stow these away."

[Ason]

Marius turns to Zauberei with a look of astonishment and--for the first time since the fire--joy. "That is a capital idea, friend. I've got a spare sack in my backpack if we want the servant to just carry all the grisly evidence in that and be done with it."

[lostsole31]

Wren shakes his head. "Just a singer."

Marius takes the flute and the hammer and stows them for now (glumly, as noted). Abrax gives the tangle of holy symbols over to Hargrimm's safe keeping.

"Before we head out again, let me adjust some of what I had told you previously, now that I've been inside this place," says Wren, who then takes several rounds with the group to give more advice on searching and the like.

Spoiler: OOC

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It's been an hour, and the effects of his teamwork only last an hour.

The party leaves the hidden vault and property room. They then cross the southern contained area of the auditorium, and finally back out to the main foyer.

There is a set of double doors to the north that are closed. There are a set of double doors to the east that are closed, but you know lead to the main part of the auditorium (that hasn't really been searched), and the open door to the west leads to the explored offices (that from that "complex" there was no further ingress/egress).

Which doors do the party check next?

[SwordChucks]

"So north then?" Hargrimm says while bravely preparing to take up his place at the back of the marching order.

[Tippnick]

"North is good with me. Please, let's make we check for hazards.", Zauberei urges.

[Kvard51]

Abrax falls back into his spot and waits for the scouts to wave them on.