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.