AA's Carrion Crown: The Haunting of Harrowstone

[Blisstake]

Ulric nods as he replies to Rastan, "they're aware of the false crypt, it was described in Petros' journal. But I agree, it would be wise to rejoin with the others before attempting another foray."

"They're only just now aware because we brought it to their attention. If the Church of Pharasma hasn't been tending to it in decades as Father Grimburrow mentioned, then any manner of creature or spirit could be inhabiting the location."

[Archpaladin Zousha]

"I wondered why I never saw you in any of my classes. Where'd you pick up your training at? I confess I didn't learn EVERYTHING there. It mostly refined and supplemented the techniques my father taught me, which were understandably old-fashioned by the time I arrived in Lastwall."

Eliazar strokes his beard.

"High society in Ustalav has little respect for a solid sword and board, so to speak. It's all about rapiers and Lepidstadt dueling scars now."

[Gwynfrid]

"Oh, you meant the Father wasn't aware. True. Indeed, that means they haven't been looking at this crypt for all these years." Ulric replies to the Pharasmin priest, thougthfully.

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The misunderstanding of your meaning was the player's as much as it was the character's

To Eliazar, he responds: "I wouldn't know much about the ways of the higher society and what weapons they find fashionable in their refined castles. I didn't see them much patrolling the border with Belkzen and looking out for orc warbands. That's where I learned the business of war, years ago... Before I went to Vyrlich, to even darker places." His voice trails off. It's clear not all of that experience was easy.

[Leviathan]

Briar sets down her tools, looking momentarily mournful. "Analysis confirms supposition," she reports. "Means of murder: trauma to skull delivered by blunt instrument. No evidence of injuries beside head wound, but evidence highly limited."

[RocketMan]

Emil frowns, tilting his head to one side and gazing curiously at the prison. The spell's effect casts the base of the wall in a faint blue light. He takes a slow step forward, then another, approaching the wall. "There's something here," he murmurs to the others. "It's peculiar... It's on the walls."

He kneels down at the foot of the imposing wall, eyes going wide as he takes in the red and black runes. "What are these?" he wonders aloud, his slim fingertips moving to idly brush across one of them. "They must have been for some bit of arcana - a spell or ritual?" Emil ponders. "It's conjecture, but perhaps they have the same illustrious author as our mysterious 'V' from this morning?"

[ApatheticAbacus]

Eliazar, Rastan, and Ulric

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You make your way down Ravengro's roads, heading south. The village ends near the base of a sloping hill, topped by the ruins of Harrowstone. A path winds its way up the hillside, the old stones of the road overgrown scattered from disrepair. At the top, the wrought-iron gates of the prison sway in the wing, creaking. Beyond them, you hear the sounds of voices speaking.

[Winterfell]

Benedikt watches at a distance as Briar examines the spot of blood and skull fragments, cursing himself for not finding it. He stalks over to where Emil is standing when the young man reveals that he has found something.

"These are strange markings," Benedikt hisses, kneeling down beside Emil and studying them with a frown. He nods to Emil. "Yes, that is possible. There must certainly be a connection between the two, that much is beyond doubt."

When Emil reaches out to touch the runes, Benedikt reacts instinctively, his own hand shooting out and grabbing the wizard's. He pulls it back slightly. "Careful," he says, releasing his grip. "We do not know if these are dangerous."

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Rolling any potentially relevant skills.

Perception roll: (1d20+3)[7]
Survival: (1d20+4)[24]

[Leviathan]

Briar hurries over to where Benedikt and Emil are standing, fidgeting with her long coat. She blinks down at the runes. "Runic inscriptions, macabre, surrounding circumference of Harrowstone facility. Potential as warding magic from days of prison's operation unlikely, therefore, more recent product of Whispering Way. Similar preoccupation with using blood as writing tool."

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Knowledge (arcana) on the runes: (1d20+13)[16]

[Archpaladin Zousha]

"HO! BENEDIKT? EMIL? BRIAR? ARE YOU THERE?" Eliazar bellows as they approach. He knew the others would probably scold him for potentially giving them away to any inhabitants, but a Knight of Ozem was not really meant to be subtle...

[ApatheticAbacus]

Benedikt

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You find faint tracks near the blood and gristle presumably belonging to Lorrimor. Whether they are the Professor's or someone else's, though, is beyond your ability to know.

Briar

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The runes are for some sort of arcane ritual, but you can't determine anything more from this preliminary look. Copying and studying them again could work, though.

OOC:

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I've noticed post rates slowing down, folks. That's fine if you're busy, but if you don't know what to do now that the tracks are gone, say so and I can make things clearer.

[RocketMan]

Emil's eyes flash with electric indignation when Benedikt grabs his hand. He looks at the other man, a rebuke beginning to form on his lips when he sighs. "Yes, you're probably right. At best, I'll be lucky enough to end up with dried blood on my fingers – to the great pleasure of the Sheriff, I think – and at worst find myself cursed." He smiles wryly. "Your chivalry is noted," the young man says with a laugh.

He jumps up as he hears a loud shout. "Yes, we're here," Emil calls out more quietly. As the others approach he continues. "Are you trying to raise the dead from their slumber, Eliazar, because I think I can already discern the shambling sounds of the charred corpses within." He gestures at the prison. "What was Grimburrow's rejoiner to our request?"

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Eliazar strides into the prison when he hears Emil.

"We have Father Grimburrow's permission to search the crypt in question, so long as we don't disturb the other dead of the Restlands and we share our findings with him and the church. Then he'll decide if we may utilize the items we find."

He gasps when he sees the bloody tracings they're examining.

"Well, I see you've found SOMETHING. What have you learned?"

He takes a closer look at the tracings with Briar, wondering if there's something he learned at the College that may apply to these writings. Know your enemy and yourself and you need not fear the outcome of a thousand battles.

[Blisstake]

"I would also recommend we search the false crypt first. Professor Lorrimor's notes indicated that whatever we find in there may be useful for defending ourselves against spirits. If his theories on the Whispering Way's involvement are correct, then it would be prudent to get whatever help we need before we continue."

[Gwynfrid]

"I agree", Ulric adds, a little sternly. "Even going this far is somewhat risky. Petros was quite clear on that. Also, I think we would do well to follow the rest of his advice and take time to search the Temple's library for information about what happened in the fire. Father Grimburrow promised us unfettered access to his archives."

[Leviathan]

"Likewise agreed. Determining location and contents of crypt important." She looks around. "Could go now. Erm, shortly. Would like to transcribe sample of runic script here for later reference and analysis."

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If possible, Briar will make a copy of the runes.

[Winterfell]

"We're not sure exactly what we've found here," Benedikt says in answer to Eliazar's question. "Runes, symbols, magical, in all likelihood the work of the Whispering Way." He grimaces at the thought. "Both these glyphs and the mysterious V on the statue are painted in blood. They may thus very well have the same creator."

He gives the circle of strange signs a final, lingering look before he turns back to the party. He nods with the general agreement. "This false crypt seems as good a place as any to begin. Let us go."

[ApatheticAbacus]

Music: The Restlands Crypt

Briar transcribes a portion of the runes surrounding the burnt-out prison. Then, having reached a decision on your next course of action, you leave the malevolent husk behind, making the trek down its barren surround, toward the town that lies in its shadows. And it's almost as if the prison watches you go with a chill vision that makes hairs stand on end.

It's nearing noon by now, though Ustalav's grey, cloudy skies make the hour of the day less relevant here than in other places. A light drizzle of rain begins to fall, pattering steadily against the roofs of Ravengro's houses as you make your way through the village.

The familiar gates to the Restlands come into sight, and then its crypts and headstones, row upon row. The sounds of wind and rain are distorted by the stone monuments to the dead into a chorus of whispering voices, indecipherable and ghostly.

For the second time in as many days, you retrace your steps through the vast graveyard, following the route of yesterday's funeral procession. You pass Lorrimor's final resting place, the dark, turned soil of the grave wet with rain. Then you come to a junction, where two gravel paths meet in a T-intersection. An austere signpost names the trails: the Black Path and the Eversleep. This is the place mentioned in Lorrimor's diary, and sure enough, looking about you, there lies a solitary mausoleum, statues of weeping angels flanking it, and all of it worn smooth with weather and age.

Approaching, you find the Professor's handiwork. The metal door to the tomb appears to be locked tight, but closer inspection reveals that the lock has been eaten away by a carefully placed dose of corrosive acid. With a push, the door swings open, creaking and shuddering.

Within, the mausoleum opens into a central chamber, well cut from stone, its floor embellished with Pharasmin religious iconography. Beyond this, a flight of well-cut stone stairs leads down to a long chamber, where a central sarcophagus lies, heavy and solid. The entire tomb is covered in a layer of dust, save for a set of footprints that have disturbed its surface. These lead down the stairs, and toward the sarcophagus.

Every move you make echoes in the confined space. But the scuttling, hissing noise that emerges from the cracked walls of the mausoleum, is most certainly not an echo...

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You've got some time to post. Be sure to include where you'd like your character to be in the tomb.

Map

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[Archpaladin Zousha]

Eliazar draws his sword at the sound of scuttling and hissing.

"Steel yourselves. We're not alone in here," he says, softly but matter-of-factly. He casts his eyes about the crypt, his vampiric blood making seeing in the dark a trivial matter, trying to locate what could be making that sound, and whether or not it was hostile. But in crypts, even false ones like this, most things moving in it tended to be hostile anyway.

Spoiler: Perception Check

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(1d20+5)[19]

[RocketMan]

Emil steps into the crypt cavalierly, his boots clicking on the dusty stone. "The occupants must not mind this darkness," he says, making a swift motion with one hand and whispering a word of power. Instantly, a whirling, glowing ball of bluish light appears, levitating over his palm. It casts the chambers in its pale glow as the young man looks around. "That's infinitely superior, I think."

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Dancing Lights.

The hissing and clicking makes the wizard jump, but he quickly regains his composure. "If there is something else in here, we'll find out imminently."

[Gwynfrid]

Unhurriedly, with a practised gesture, Ulric takes his wide falchion off its scabbard. Frowning, he looks left and right, as if something was missing here.

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Detect Evil
Also, Perception to determine whare the noise comes from (1d20)[8]

[Blisstake]

"I wonder why this place was abandoned," Rastan comments as he takes a look around the crypt. He frowns on hearing the strange hissings, and nervously takes a step back. "Perhaps we'll find out rather soon..."

[Archpaladin Zousha]

"Abandoned may not be the right word, Brother Rastan. I think Petros' notes mentioned this crypt was deliberately used for storage purposes, since no one in their right mind would visit a crypt, and thus the things within would not be disturbed."

Eliazar winces as the lights emerge, shaking him out of his darkvision.

"Next time, warn me before you pull that trick, lad. You might've blinded me."

[Winterfell]

The first noises in the darkness make Benedikt freeze. Emil's orb of light casts his handsome features in its blue light, revealing a wary frown. His curved blades gleam as they are quietly drawn from over his back. "Be silent," he hisses at the others as they begin to talk about the potential threat. "You will only succeed in drawing out whatever is lurking here," the man growls in a low whisper.

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Perception roll: (1d20+3)[14]

[ApatheticAbacus]

Emil's magical light orb illuminates the tomb in a pale glow, with long shadows creeping, spiderlike, across the stone walls. The newfound light shows long cracks in the sides of the low chamber, where the walls have been burrowed through. And then some of the shadows move, slithering out from the corners and walls. Four monstrous insects emerge, covered in rough armour, with a hundred legs apiece on their long bodies. Each are the size of a dog, and it looks like this is their new nest.

Round 1

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To get you all back into posting, I'm going to let you all go before these bugs. In future, we'll be using bloc initiative, which I'll roll OOC.

Map

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[Gwynfrid]

"Giant insects, we disturbed them. I'd wager we look like a meal to them. Let's stand our ground, right here, a perfect choke point, and we have higher ground." The experienced soldier keeps his position, ready to bring his falchion down on a creature as soon as it comes within reach.

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No move
Standard action: Ready a Power Attack (1d20+3)[9] (plus possible +1 for higher ground) damage (2d4+7)[13]on the first attacker.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

"If you had a shield, Ulric, we'd make a perfect two-man shield wall." Eliazar says, shifting his shield forward and preparing to strike.

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No move, same as Ulric.

Standard Action to ready an attack (1d20+5)[16] (plus possible +1 for higher ground) damage (1d8+3)[4] on the first centipede to attack him.

[Blisstake]

"Oh... those are... those are quite big."

Rastan notices the two paladins shielding the path, so he whispers a minor blessing to aid Eliazar.

Spoiler: Actions

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Using Guidance on Elizar. He gets a +1 to any d20 roll within the next minute

[RocketMan]

"What lovely creatures," Emil sighs as the vermin scuttle into view. "I suppose such things are what gives Ustalav its unique charm." Still, they must be dispatched. Emil mouths a word of power and flicks his wand with one wrist. At once a silvery bolt of force jets toward the nearest centipede.

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Magic Missile on C1.

(1d4+1)[5]

[Winterfell]

"Vermin," Benedikt hisses when the party spots the centipedes. "Bring them down swiftly." The two paladins barring his way, his own blades are useless; he draws the ebony bow from his back and knocks an arrow. It whistles through the air toward one of the disgusting creatures.

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Attacking C2 with longbow.

Attack roll: (1d20+3)[15]
Damage roll: (1d8)[4]