Once More Into the Depths

 

Session 5 Recap Part 2

 

From the Journal of Carlotta Dumaine, Dawnbringer of Sarenrae


Sunday, 10th of Pharast, 4712AR - Night

Things grow more harrowing and horrifying the deeper we delve into Harrowstone’s bowels. One would think we follow a path to the underworld itself, where all manner of demons dwell.

After resting up in town and resupplying it was decided that we needed more muscle to successful brave Harrowstone’s lower level. Gisley spoke with Jorfa the dwarven smith, who agreed to accompany us. She went into the back of her shop and returned, decked out in a suit of mithril plate and carrying a hammer and shield, the latter of which looked quite valuable, as it was studded with gemstones.

Our number now at seven, we headed back to the prison once again. After retracing our steps we entered the northern wing, known as “The Oubliette”, where the Lopper had been held in life. The room was dark and lined with cell. On the centre of the chamber was an iron grate with a rope attached to it that led down deeper into the darkness. The walls were covered in soot and saturated with the smell of smoke. I was overcome with a suffocating feeling when I stepped into the chamber. Before I had a chance to dwell further on these feelings, our ears were assailed by a maniacal scream. It was faint at first, but the volume grew quickly to an almost unbearable level, like some thing was approaching at great speed. Sure enough, seconds later a ghostly apparition appeared, wielding a wicked looking axe and wearing an insane grin. The Lopper.

Though he was incorporeal, he moved with a sluggish gait, and translucent bones could be seen jutting out from his pants, as if his legs had been broken in life. We concentrated all of our efforts on him, attempting to bring him low as quickly as possible, but he moved about from one of us to another, attempting to slice us up with his axe. As each blow hit us, we the blood flow from our wounds through the air and merge with the spirit, bolstering his strength! Aeros cast a sphere of pure fire and though it was ineffectual in hurting him, the Lopper seemed to be afraid of it and did his best to avoid its path.

It was touch and go for a while, as the Lopper spread his attacks amongst all of us, and once again Eswin was brought perilously close to his end, though he did manage to stay on his feet. Finally, in what can only be described as an act of foolish bravery, Thayel decided to use the cursed axe we found on the first floor against him It had already drained the health of Gisley when he first used it and caused him great agony for a few days, but Thayel seemed not to mind. He hit the spirit twice with the axe causing massive damage to the spirit and seemed to successfully fight off the cursed effects of the axe. When he hit the Lopper a third time, it was so great a blow, that the Loppers essence could no longer keep itself together and he exploding in a conflagration of ghostly fire. Fortunately, this time we were not wounded by this creatures demise. Unfortunately for us, Thayel could no longer ward off the cursed effects of the axe and its malevolence took hold of him. Not caring for his own safety, he insisted we move on and not return to town.

Below the Lopper’s grate we found several guard uniforms, a pile of bones and some well crafted crossbows. After gathering up the gear, we headed to the western wing, known as “The Reaper’s Hold”. Once again, we were forced to go into a guard room to raise the portcullis which blocked access to the area.

Inside the guard room we were greeted with a macabre site. On a long table sat the remains of three skulls. Each skull had been broken and someone had attempted to recreate a fourth skull from the shattered pieces of the other three. Slumped over on the floor behind the table was the rotting corpse of a dwarf, its wiry red hair still vibrant. It was here that the Mosswater Marauder had met his end. As expected the spirit of the insane dwarf appeared and the three skulls on the table floated into the air to attack us. Though the fight was strange, it did not offer us the trouble that we had expected and after crushing the floating skulls, we made quick work of the Maruader. Behind the Marauder’s body we found a hidden niche that contained some treasure, including a magical rope.

With the portcullis to “The Reaper’s Hold” raised we entered the darkened cellblock. It was by far the biggest of the blocks and held many cells, their iron doors open. Despite the fact that we heard several eerie sounds and ominous drippings, we made our way unmolested through it. At the southern end of the room we found a door, which Jorfa claimed led to a torture chamber.

Inside the torture chamber we stumbled across a grisly sight. Amidst the bloodstained tools and chains there stood a rack. Upon the rack was the skeleton of a man, dressed in the tattered clothes of a guardsman. His joints had all been broken, his hands had been severed, and numerous long iron needles had been driven through his eye sockets. His jaw had been cracked as well, and stuck in his mouth we found Hawkran’s badge of office. These then, were the remains of the warden. I can’t imagine the pain he suffered in his last moments at the hands of the rioting prisoners. Looking at the scene was enough to make me wretch. A bucket hung over the head of the warden and upon investigating it Aeros was attacked by the animated remains of the warden’s hands. They grappled him about the neck and began to stangle the frail elf in front of us. Gisley grabbed the hands and tore them free, crushing them with his great strength. While all this was happening Eswin had been mesmerized by an open Mourning Maiden which stood at the far end of the room. Before we could stop him, he entered the torture device and it closed upon him. His painful screams echoed inside and we feared the worst, but eventually the maiden opened up again, spitting the elf out onto the floor. His arms were covered in what looked like bloodless puncture wounds and he looked noticeably weaker. As a matter of fact, he could barely stand. Unfortunately for us, Gisley became entranced by the machine and the next thing we knew he was inside. Again, the maiden spit him out and again we saw that the bloodless puncture wounds covered his arms.

Not wanting to drag the poor elf or barbarian around, we headed back to town once again to see if Grimburrow had some magical means to bring them back to health. After spending quite a bit of gold we managed to cure both the barbarian and the elf, as well as lift the curse from the Lopper’s axe. Determined to see the final prison put to rest, we rushed back to the prison.

The winch to the southern wing of the basement was broken and we needed cogs and gears from town in order to fix it and enter “Nevermore”, the final resting place of the Splatter Man. Impatience and frustration began to take hold of our party then and not wanting to head back to town and waste more time, we decided to look for another means of entry into “Nevermore”. We headed back to the torture chamber and after Gisley and Jorfa pounded on the Mourning Maiden until it was destroyed, we found a secret pathway which led to “Nevermore”.

The path was carved from the natural rock of the earth and wound its way tightly from the torture chamber to “Nevermore”. Before we could reach the entrance to “Nevermore” however, we were surprised by a natural denizen living there. A Grey Ooze. Gisley swung at the blob with his hammer, but as he hit it, the head of his hammer hissed, as the acidic nature of the beast ate away at it. Undaunted, Aeros pushed to the front of the line and magicked up some flame spell which didn’t seem to effect the ooze. The ooze shot back at Aeros, grabbing him and burning off the front of his robe with its acid. Gisley quickly grabbed the elf and tore him free of the ooze’s grasp. Frustrated and unable to hurt the ooze, we turned back.

We are once again back in Ravengro resting up. Jorfa is procuring the necessary parts to the winch so we can raie the portcullis to “Nevermore” and the others are milling about the village trying to prepare for the Splatter Man. I feel our greatest test is just before us, and knowing that, I ask the Divine Lady of Light, Sarenrae, for the strength to see me through what lies ahead in the next few hours.

The Depths of Harrowstone

 

Session 5 Recap Part 1

From the Journal of Sister Carlotta Dumaine, Dawnbringer of Sarenrae

Starday, 9^th of Pharast, 4712AR – Night

Feldrin lies in a bed in one of the upper chambers of the Lorrimor House resting comfortably. His ordeal has been much worse than I thought, and though he will recover, he requires several days of bedrest to regain his strength and be of any use to us.

We’ve also been informed by Father Grimburrow that he has sent for Lepidstadt’s premiere Inquisitor Dolmen Vaks to come to Ravengro to interrogate the necromancer Filge in order to glean what information he can from the repugnant spellcaster. Unfortunately, while we rested at night, someone had other plans for the black sorcerer and slit his throat in his cell. This bodes ill for us I think, as Vaks’ wrath is legendary and his stern gaze may come upon us when he arrives. There is of course, nothing to be done about it now, but this sudden act vigilantism in our midst worries me.

Earlier this evening, we headed back to the prison in order to cleanse the lower levels and lay to rest the three remaining spirits haunting the grounds. Before leaving however, we were informed by Gisley that the blacksmith, a dwarf woman by the name of Jorfa Stonehammer, has agreed to travel with us when we leave Ravengro. Apparently, she’s had enough of the goings-on in town and wants to move on. I can’t say that I blame her. While at the smithy, Eswin had the good sense to ask the smith to draw us a rough map of the lower level of the prison, as we had heard that she had been called there on occasion in the past to repair broken mechanical winches that operated the portcullises located there.

Once back inside the prison, we quickly made our way to the pit in the eastern wing that descended to the lower level. After passing through the chamber where we had fought the ectoplasmic creatures, we found ourselves in the heart of the basement. The walls were blackened with soot and the air felt heavy with the pain and anger of long-dead souls. Passageways led off north, west and south. As we made our way to the northern passageway labelled “The Oubliette”, eight skeletons emerged from the darkness and surrounded us – the remains of prisoners caught in the fire, no doubt. We made quick work of them with spell and blade and came out with nary a scratch. Our confidence running high, we headed down the passage. Our way was barred however, by a lowered portcullis. Following Jorfa’s instruction, we headed into a small guard room nearby which housed the winch to raise the portcullis.

Gisley moved to crank the winch for the portcullis, but as soon as he did so, a headless skeleton wielding and axe and wreathed in flame sprung up from the moldy mattress to attack us. The battle was fierce in the tight quarters of the guard room. Many of us had trouble even getting in the door. Gisley hopped up on the mattress to get behind the creature and allow Eswin to move into a flanking position. Thayel remained behind the table firing arrows, while Aeros and I hung back and waited for an opportunity to use our spells.

As Gisley moved past the skeleton he was struck viciously by its axe and scorched from the flame. Most of us were convinced that it was the Lopper we faced, but Thayel suggested otherwise. Owing to the fact that it had no head, he was convinced that this was a victim of the Lopper and not the Lopper himself.

We scored several solid blows against the creature, yet could bring it low. Gisley was struck again by the flaming axe and went down in a heap. The sight of the great barbarian crumpling to the ground made us all lose a little of the confidence we had coming in. The skeleton then turned its attention to Eswin and though the elf nimbly dodged a few attacks, he too was finally struck with the flaming axe and went down. Thayel kept cool through it all however and continued to pepper the skeleton with arrows from a distance.

Forcing myself not to panic, I called upon the divine power of Saranrae to heal my friends and blast our enemy. As I was filled with her radiant light, I felt her voice comfort me and fill me with renewed strength. Gisley and Eswin, being bathed in my goddess’ blessed light, arose and were once more back into the fray, though they were far from perfect health. Gisley injected himself with the curative syringe we had looted from Filge to bolster his strength further.

Finally, after several more minutes of heated battle, we destroyed the creature. But it had one final surprise for us. As it died, it exploded, sending flaming shards of bone to all corners of the room. Eswin caught the worst of it and came perilously close to entering Pharasma’s Hall of Judgment in the Boneyard. I used what little power I had remaining to revive Eswin and cure the rest of us, but our wounds still hampered us. Dejected and bruised, we headed back to Ravengro to fully heal up and rethink our strategy.

Whither Feldrin?

Session 4 Recap

From the Journal of Sister Carlotta Dumaine, Dawnbringer of Sarenrae

Oathday, 7^th of Pharast, 4712AR – Night

I’m sitting in my chambers at the Lorrimor House as I write this, relieved to know that Feldrin is alive. Having licked our wounds from the excursion into the upper reaches of the prison, our party was at a loss as to our next course of action. We had defeated both the Piper of Illmarsh and Father Charlatan, but it was far from an easy task. There were some of our number who wanted to go right back into the prison and take on the remaining haunts, while others believed we needed more preparation and a better armament to get the job done. I had been worried about Feldrin for a few days, as I had expected him to return from his scouting mission within a day. I knew that he had travelled south to root out some necromancer, but exactly where, I did not know.

Fortunately, Aeros discovered while at the Outward Inn, that lights had been seen in an old observatory in the hills to the south. Guessing that this was no coincidence, as a group we decided to check it out. It took us the better part of a day to reach the observatory, but would have taken longer if not for Gisley's fine tracking skills.

The old observatory was a crumbling ruin, yet the rumours were true: lights could be seen on the upper most floors of it. We approached the front door, which was carved into the visage of some lunatic’s grinning face. Eswin easily picked the lock, but inside we found four skeletons waiting to ambush us with crossbows. We made quick work of the undead creatures, however. Further investigation of the first floor uncovered a feasting hall occupied by three goons. Two humans in banded mail and an albino half orc larger than Gisley himself.

A fierce battle ensued, wherein both Aeros and Gisley were knocked unconscious, but in the end we prevailed. I healed our fallen comrades and we interrogated one of the human thugs. He claimed that they had been hired by the necromancer Filge to collect bodies from the Ravengro cemetery for his experiments. We locked him in a storage closet while we ascended to the next level.

On the second floor, we found a bedchamber belonging to the necromancer. An owl sitting upon a perch in the room screeched as we entered and attempted to fly out the window. Eswin fired his bow true and hit the animal, but could not bring it down. The bird flew out the window injured and we never saw it again.

The Necromancer Filge

On the top floor we were greeted with a distressing sight. It was a laboratory with an operating table. Upon the table, bound, was Feldrin, seemingly unconscious. His skin was a sickly shade of green. The necromancer Filge also awaited us, having been alerted to our presence by the owl. We moved to detain him, but he called out and four glass tanks surrounding the operating table shattered, spewing a slimy substance onto the floor and unleashing a quartet of monstrous zombies. Another fierce battle ensued and we may have been done in, but the necromancer kept failing to hit us with his spells. We whittled down the zombies, though this time Eswin was knocked unconscious twice. Luckily, I was standing by to heal him and get him back into the battle. Eventually we managed to capture the necromancer and free Feldrin.

Filge told us that he had been hired by Vrood to conduct experiments on some green worm that had been found in a marshland in southern Belkzen, and that he thought it might be a sign that a new age was dawning on Golarion. We manacled Filge, made a stretcher for Feldrin and gathered as much loot as we could before heading back to town.

Tomorrow we prepare for the prison once again, but now new revelations have come to light. Vrood is preparing some ritual that he believes will usher in a new age for Golarion. From what we have learned of the Whispering Way, this cannot be a good thing. I only pray that we can settle matters at the prison and track down this Vrood before he has a chance to complete his ritual. I am sending word to my father back in Lastwall in the hopes that he may have some information on the Whispering Way and this Auran Vrood.

Cast of Characters

Those Doomed Souls Who Have Come to Ravengro

Aeros, Elven Wizard

Aeros is a minor noble from a disgraced house on the fringes of Kyonin who has come to Ravengro not only to pay respect to his deceased friend Petros Lorrimor, but to venture forth into the lands of men to gain the power and knowledge necessary to restore his family's name.

Carlotta Dumaine, Priestess of Sarenrae

A pampered rich girl who left Vigil for the first time in her life to attend the funeral of Professor Lorrimor, Carlotta has found the outside world to be much more dangerous than she ever anticipated. As a junior librarian at the Temple of the Tome in Vigil, she served as a Research Assistant to Professor Lorrimor while he was at the library. 

Eswin, Elven Rogue

The newest member of the party, Eswin was discovered helping the citizens of Ravengro put the fire out at their Town Hall when the group returned from the ruins of Harrowstone one night. He has revealed precious little of himself to date, save that he is willing to help others, as long as the price is right.

Gisley, Human Barbarian

Gisley hails from the Lands of the Linnorm Kings far to the north. He met Lorrimor when the professor was travelling through his lands and learned from him that success in combat is not always reliant on brute strength, but intelligence and cunning as well. When his parents both died, Gisley travelled to Ravengro to seek further guidance from the professor, but learned on the way that he had died. Now lost and without a home to go back to, Gisley is determined to avenge the professor's untimely death. Woe to those who awaken the spirit of Bjorna, the Great Bear, whose soul slumbers in Gisley's heart.

Glynn-Thayel Ravensorrow, Elven Inquisitor of Pharasma

An orphan turned ship slave who was rescued by Nathaniel Bedlam, a Paladin of Pharasma, Thayel struggles with the bitterness and rage that boil in his blood born of the untold scars of his childhood. His first task as an Inquisitor was to bring Lorrimor to justice for alleged crimes against the church, but when he met the man, he knew that Lorrimor was a good soul. Frustrated with the hypocrisy of his superiors, Thayel left the church and decided to fulfill the will of Pharasma on his own.



New Blood

Session 3 Recap

From the Journal of Sister Carlotta Dumaine, Dawnbringer of Sarenrae

Sunday, 4^th of Pharast, 4712AR – Night



My head throbs. Blood stains several bandages about my arms and legs. I feel pain as I have never done before. I am lying on my side in a cell block on the second level of the prison, having narrowly survived a desperate battle against the shades of former prisoners, but more on that in a moment.



Last night, we returned to the first floor of the prison briefly, being careful to avoid the infirmary with the nasty phantasm in it. We discovered an old chapel wherein we found a few potions and a wand, which we correctly identified as a wand that healed wounds. After battling a few animated objects and a colony of spiders, we headed back to town.



Chaos greeted us. The Town Hall was on fire. After helping put it out, we were given a run down of the entire story. Earlier that night, a militiaman by the name of Vrodish had been murdered at the base of the Harrowstone Memorial Statue. The statue was covered in blood again and the letter E was scrawled across it. Unfortunately for him, Vrodish must have come upon the culprit as he was defacing the statue and met his end. Of the sheriff Benjan Caeller, there was no sign. A town meeting was hastily called. During the meeting – Councilor Hearthmount told us – the lamps in the hall exploded into flaming skull-like creatures and the hall was set ablaze. The ensuing panic and stampede resulted in more than a few deaths. The townspeople are frightened and believe their village to be cursed. I suspect more than a few will pack up and head to safer havens. At that point, obviously desperate, the councilor hired us to fix this problem and lift the curse from the town.



During the clean up of the town hall, we met another elf by the name of Eswin, who claims to be “just passing through town”. Thayel hired him to help us, believing him to possess skills that will be beneficial to us in our quest. I’m a bit skeptical of the rascal, as he seems more interested in money than anything else. Nevertheless, he fell in with our group, making quick friends of Thayel and Aeros, his kinsmen.



Gisley and myself went in search of Benjan, but we lost his trail south on the way to Harrowstone. The others followed the trail of blood from the statue to a shack belonging to Gibbs, the retired farmer who attacked us on the first day in the Restlands. They were convinced he was the culprit, but could not prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt. As a matter of fact, they believed he had been possessed by some spirit. Not knowing what to do with him, they left him as he was in his shack – a mistake I hope that does not come back to haunt us.



This morning we awoke and did some more investigating around town, picking up little information of consequence. Benjan has yet to return and even the potion lady, Jorminda knows not where he has gone. But his tracks lead south towards the prison, so we felt we may find our answers there. Once again however, we waited until nightfall to enter the prison ruins.



On the first floor we came across the restless spirit of Vesorianna Hawkran, the warden’s wife. She told us that she no longer feels the presence of her husband’s spirit within the prison walls and that it was he who kept the ghosts of the other prisoners in line. Now that he is gone, it is only her strength of will that is keeping them from bursting out into the lands beyond. She claims her own strength is waning and that very soon she will be unable to contain all the evil within the prison walls. She begged us to put a stop to the ghosts and return her husband’s badge of office to her. When we questioned her about Lorrimor, she claimed that she saw a group of cloaked figures hold the professor down and drop a gargoyle on his face, murdering him. She claimed that the leader wore armour made of bones and carried a staffed topped with a gagged skull – the symbol of the Whispering Way.



After hearing Vesorianna’s sad tale, we made our to the prison vault, where the possessions of the prisoners before they were captured were kept. With keen eyes, Gisley spotted a hidden chamber within where we found the belongings of the famous five prisoners at Harrowstone: The Lopper’s axe, The Mosswater Marauder’s hammer, The Piper of Illmarsh’s pipes, Father Charlatan’s prayer beads, and The Splatterman’s spellbook.



Next we made our way up to the second floor. In a secluded cell we found the remains of what we believed to be Father Charlatan: a skeleton in rotting robes, wrapped in heavy chains bearing various holy symbols. Thayel grabbed a prayer book tucked in the prisoner’s robes and we moved on.



As we entered the western cell block, we heard the haunting music of pipes. Our new ally Eswin grabbed the piper’s pipes we found in the secret room below and began playing. Blood poured from his eyes and ears and we couldn’t get him to stop. Finally, one of our number, I can’t remember who, got the pipes away from him.



Delving further into the cell block, we were assailed by six skeletons. As we battled them, a ghostly, reaper-like apparition appeared at the end of the hallway. I was draped in a tattered hooded cloak and was accompanied by two ghostly stirges. Gisley and Thayel moved to the front to protect us and Aeros cast a grease spell on the ground where three of the skeletons stood. As Thayel was hit by one of the skeletons, he dropped to the ground, seemingly dead. The rest of us fought on bravely. The apparition, which we concluded was the spirit of the Piper of Illmarsh, set about paralyzing some of us and attacking us with his ghostly stirges. Blood poured from the arms of those attacked, but they came out of their paralyzed state soon after.



Ghostly chains appeared around the body of Thayel and seemed to start crushing him. He was unconscious, but moaning in pain. I thanked Sarenrae that he was still alive, though for how much longer, I did not know.



It was at that point, that things started to fall apart. I was attack from behind by a number of skeletons. They tore into my arm with their sharp claws and I screamed in pain. Having taken care of the skeletons in front of him, Gisley turned to help me, but slipped in the grease created by Aeros’ spell. He tried flinging his hammer from the ground, but unfortunately (I was told later) he hit me in the back of the head, knocking me out.



I was out for sometime, but eventually, the light of Sarenrae swept over me, bringing me back to consciousness. Eswin stood over me with the wand of healing (he has more tricks up his sleeve than I guessed). I was considerably more wounded than before. Bandages were wrapped about my wounds in a haphazard manner. Later, I was told by a shame-faced Gisely that he tried binding my wounds, but in the heat of battle failed miserably, causing me more harm and bringing me precariously close to death’s door.



I struggled to my feet and noticed that Thayel was still wrapped in the ghostly chains and the Piper was still attacking us. I called to Sarenrae for help and blasted the Piper with divine light. It seemed to damage him a bit. Gisley, now wielding the Lopper’s axe, tore at the chains about Thayel, freeing him and bringing him back to consciousness. Everyone was bleeding from multiple wounds and it seemed as though we were all on our last legs. Aeros cleverly used a haunt siphon on the Piper, causing him more damage, yet still he and his pets came on. Finally, in a desperate effort, Gisley charged the undead creature with the Lopper’s axe and tore into its incorporeal body, forcing it to dissipate.



Our first major battle resulted in the near deaths of all of us. Everyone has wounds to lick and I can see a grimness in their eyes that was not there before. The arrogance with which we initially waded into the prison with has disappeared and more than a few of my comrades seem less than enthused about the prospect of fighting the rest of the spirits within these walls.



Sarenrae guide me in this trying time. Though this battle has tested our limits, I feel that there are more dangerous times ahead.

The Courage of Men

Session 2 Recap

From the Journal of Sister Carlotta Dumaine, Dawnbringer of Sarenrae

Freeday, 2^nd of Pharast, 4712AR – Night

I am sitting in my bed at the Lorrimor place nursing wounds received in the prison as I write this journal.  After collecting our wits in the bowels of the prison, we decided as a group to retreat back to the upper level and investigate there further before trying our hands at the bottom-most reaches of the ruin. It was obvious that the fire that gutted the complex started in this deep place, as the walls were blackened with soot and the charred remains of broken prisoners and guards alike littered the floor. It was a place heavy with sorrow and anger and I was happy to be rid of it after climbing up Aeros’ grappling hook.

On the main floor of the prison we headed north into an old furnace room. There we were assailed by some latent psychic energy which animated the old furnace. It sent gouts of flame our way, but luckily we were able to avoid being immolated by the haunt. With the combined efforts of my goddess’ divine blast and a clever use of one of the haunt siphons we collected from the false tomb, we were able to put the haunt to rest. Thayel found some charred bones inside the furnace and neatly tucked them into his pouch for purposes I care not to guess. He then tried using the Spirit Planchette to contact any unquiet spirits in the room. Luck was on our side. He located a spirit and avoided possession. The spirit named Vrood as the murderer of our dear friend the professor. Of course the name meant nothing to any of us, but at least now we have a clue as to who we’re after.

At that point fatigue began to set in and Aeros and myself suggested we head back to the village to rest. But the more aggressive members of our party, Gisley and Thayel encouraged us to go on a little further. That decision was very nearly the end of all of us. We entered a room to the west which seemed to be an old infirmary. Broken cots and wooden debris lay about the room, with bandages, and the odd rusted surgical implement lying amongst the debris. We could feel the air was heavy in here with suffering. Gisley’s glowing hammer illuminated most of the room, but the shadows were long and it was hard to make out exactly what awaited in the corners. A moment or two passed and we began to feel more at ease, letting our guards down.

Suddenly out of the blackness of one of the room's shadows a most grisly sight appeared. I can still see it’s skeletal face now even when I close my eyes. This incorporeal thing had the grinning head of a skeleton with long claw like talons and was draped in a translucent funeral shroud. Its mouth opened and it let out the most blood-curdling shriek. Protected by the faith of my goddess, I stood my ground, but was horrified to see Thayel and Gisley drop their weapons and flee the room. Aeros seemed fine, but when he noticed that the strongest members of our party had fled, he too made for the door, leaving me alone to combat the terrible phantasm. I called out to my goddess for aid and brought her divine light against the creature in a searing ray of positive energy. The creature screamedin pain, but did not whither from the light. Using some sort of magical telekinesis, it shot a pair of rusted surgical knives my way. They eluded the hard steel of my breastplate and buried themselves in the soft tissue of my shoulder.  I cried out and nearly fainted from the pain lancing up my arm. It was at that point that Aeros returned, no doubt feeling guilty about having left me to die at the hands of this undead creature. He pulled me to safety through the door and slammed it shut.

Thayel, having recovered from his initial shock had returned to us, but of Gisley there was no sign. We limped our way back out of the prison, chiding ourselves for risking too much too soon. At the prison gates we found Gisley kicking stones. He was overcome with shame at his retreat from the field, and swore that it would not happen again.

Once back in the village, we headed to the Laughing Demon to see if we could gather some more information. I asked a local farmhand if he had heard news of Feldrin, my half-elf escort, but alas he had not been heard from in three days. I begin to grow worried. If he does not return, I may have to make the trip back to Vigil alone. After a few drinks at the demon and a few annoying jokes from Zokar the proprietor, we headed back to the Lorrimor place, where I now commit these words to paper. Tomorrow, we will investigate in town further, though I fear some of my companions grow tired of these simple villagers. I suppose tomorrow night, we will once again brave the prison ruins, which we now know beyond a shadow of a doubt are haunted. After having garnered the name of the professor’s murderer, I feel we a starting to get on the right track and may yet solve the mystery. Yet I fear we are no closer to solving the mystery of why the haunts in the prison ruins have become more active as of late. I’m sure the two circumstances are linked, but the answers to how – or why, elude us for now.

Prayers of the Faithful #4

From the Writings of Glynn-Thayel Ravensorrow

Divine goodness, I know now the reason I have come to Ravengro; your infinite wisdom lights my way even in this dark place. At first I believed the stirring in my soul to be a hindrance and not of your design, but the longer I spend in the prison ruins, the more I see that I am once again becoming my former self. The calmness I feel in battle when I fully give into who I once was is making me feel more at peace than I have ever been.

 Lord Nathaniel Bedlam sought to cleanse me of evil and tried to remake me in his own image. At that time, I knew no better than to cooperate with his arrogant plans. Now I see that he was wrong to try and change me, and that I am no better for having followed his path. I do thank him and will be eternally grateful to him for giving me my freedom, but it is obvious that my path is much different than his, and I should not have been ashamed of my unique skills. You have brought me here to this town and have shown me that I should not deny my instincts.

Goddess, give me the strength to become an instrument of your judgment. My hand will bring your wrath, beginning with Stressel. I am your weapon. I am Glynn-Thayel.