Session04

Summary of Events
The players began in the stairwell between the first and second floor of Harrowstone. They descended down, exploring the first floor. There they came across giant spiders, a poltergeist, and a number of animated objects, including a leather straitjacket and manacles, the later striking Malourne and seemingly killing him outright.

Malourne awoke in a coffin with a red-haired priest of Kord standing before him. The priest informed him that he had been resurrected after his body was recovered from Harrowstone and that his companions had moved on some time ago. He then attempted to get Malourne to follow him deeper into the building, but Malourne resisted. Every successful resistance seeming to hurt the priest, but every failure hurting him.

The remainder of the party saw Malourne prone, wrapped in ghostly chains. The witnessed his struggle, but still had the animated manacles to contend with. Shortly after defeating the manacles, the ghostly chains faded and Malourne stood and shared with the party what had transpired.

Continuing to explore they discovered the prison's workshop and the ghost of Vesorianna Hawkran. She, believing the party to be new guards, explained some of what had transpired and that her husband's ghost had been keeping the ghosts of the prisoners contained here. However, his spirit was no longer inside the prison and she could not contain them without some symbol of his office. She also informed the party that the five prisoners might be more easily defeated with the aid of the items they held dear in their mortal lives.

The party then continued exploring the eastern side of the first floor and discovered the Property Room, which contained a number of valuable and useful items. During Samuel's search, he uncovered a secret door, leading into a small room with a sign expressing the danger of the items within:
 * a bloody handaxe, taken by Samuel
 * a smith's hammer, taken by Malourne
 * holy symbols, taken by Malourne save one he shared with Dax
 * a tarnished silver flute, taken by Dax
 * a moldy spellbook, taken by Warwick

Flute in hand, the party headed back upstairs to look for the Piper. Upon detecting his presence, the party convinced Dax to play. Upon playing the first note, Dax was overcome with a desire to continue playing a mournful dirge. The party heard another flute playing the melody to this harmony. As blood began to flow from Dax's eyes and fingertips, he could feel positive energy flowing from himself (perhaps his own life energy). After only a short while, the presence of the Piper was gone and Dax was no longer compelled to play.

The party then headed down into the prison's basement, battling a pair of ectoplasmic humans and a group of skeletons, before taking a short rest at the bottom of the deadfall stairs.

Dax's Journal
This excerpt follows without break from his previous entries, as the prison's horrors have kept Dax awake the entire night.

Perhaps emboldened by his defeat of the Giant Stirge, or more likely possessed by some trickster spirit, Warwick has begun a feverish search for a key. Not a specific key, nor a key to a specific locked door. No, he's searching for a general key. Perhaps a skeleton key, or a key for the unlocked doors. Malourne has also decided to wander off, though I believe I hear him returning as I write. Outright fools, my companions, but I cannot fault their effectiveness. Any other acting so foolishly in a haunted prison would have fallen to the undead long ago, yet we all persist.

Upon thorough searching, Warwick found the laundry whilst searching for treasure. Inside of a prison, mind you, but again I cannot berate his intentions too much. We are here to search and investigate, after all, and we are to be prepared for attacks such as the possessed straight jacket which assaulted us in vaguely clothed rage.

Scribbled in the margins here seems to be a doodle of Dax as a laughing stick figure, apparently highly amused at his own terrible pun.

As we continued our searches, we entered a room which practically radiated unease. Samuel the Hunter heard the sobbing of a spectre and upon approaching the room I did as well. I felt the utter despair of a prisoner clasped in manacles and left to rot. Soon after, in what seemed to be a theme of spirits assaulting us with whatever happened to be laying on the ground nearby, we were set upon by a pair of these selfsame manacles once Malourne entered the room. During the fight, as I attempted to damage the manacles themselves or the spirit manipulating them, they deflected my sword into my companion. Despite the shallow strike, Malourne fell as if dead. I truly feared the worst, but upon closer inspection the three of us spied signs of life in our Cleric friend. His dilemma instead seemed to be caused by ghostly chains wrapped around his body. These chains were the spit of those which had bound the corpse of Father Charlatan.

As we moved to help, Malourne stood of his own will. He recounted to us a tale of a Priest of Kord claiming to have resurrected him after he fell. This priest promised anything Malourne desired, but the devout cleric refused this ruse and won out against the spirit of Father Charlatan in the ensuing battle of wills. There can be no doubt in my mind now. We have encountered two of the five murderers who perished in the fire. They are the cause, or at least a major symptom of, the evils plaguing this town. I fear for our encounters yet with the remaining spirits.

A note alongside: We are low on healing supplies and it is late. Perhaps the lack of sleep, or the dread of this place is getting to me, but leaving is sounding better each passing moment.

As if spurred on by some otherworldly energy, we found our strength yet again and decided to press on. Our next stop was the door across the hall that Malourne said led to a Chapel. Once within, the chittering began and from the cobwebs we were set upon by the most unholy, disturbing, and disgusting creatures to set their foul "feet" upon our plane. Giant. Spiders. Oh how I hate these skittering fiends that so oft inhabit these abandoned places. It took some struggling through the webs, but we did eventually dispatch them. Once free of the beasts we claimed the holy water and healing items from the cupboard of the chapel.

In the margins:  NO DRAWINGS.

Whilst exploring yet another room the demon-objects of the prison animated themselves again. This time, the branding irons used to mark prisoners as such assaulted us. In retaliation, we locked them inside the moldering office desk's drawers. For safety's sake.

Amidst all of our searches and investigations, Warwick remained single-minded on his goal of finding a key. Perhaps we should have listened to him, as the next room was the first on this level to boast a locked door. Of course, Malourne took its refusal to open as a personal insult and set upon it with his hammer. The rotten wood put up minimal resistance to the cleric's fervent hate for doors and locks, allowing us inside. Something here seemed off, as if the ambience had suddenly changed.

Once my foot crossed the threshold, I sensed an undead presence in the room. A ghostly woman appeared before us and identified herself (a courtesy seemingly forgotten by the murderous ghosts and self-animating tools of this place). Vesoriana Hawkrin, wife to the warden of this prison stood, or rather floated, before us. She said her husband had been keeping the other spirits contained, but has since disappeared. She confirmed Malourne's will had dispersed the spirit of Father Charlatan and asked for a symbol of her husband's office so as to exert better control over the restless spirits of the prison.

Vesoriana seemed nonplussed when we mentioned that her name had been appearing letter by letter upon the memorial statue of her husband. I assume this is just the way of the dead, as she urged us to hurry and stop The Splatterman, the professor obsessed with the power of names, as each letter weakened her. She also said The Splatterman is the only spirit with the strength to reach beyond the prison. Finally, the helpful spirit-woman pointed us to the possessions room in hopes we could find some items that belonged to the five powerful spirits to aid in dispatching them. She did, however, caution us that these items were dangerous.

Eventually, we did find these items hidden in a secret room off of the possessions room with the word "DANGER" hung above them. Between Vesoriana and this sign, I truly wish I had listened to them instead of Warwick. At the pirates persistent, mildly idiotic in hindsight, urgings I put The Piper of Illmarsh's flute to my lips once we returned to the second level. This possession from the possessions room immediately possessed me. I regret this so very much.

As blood poured from my eyes and fingers, a dirge poured from the flute itself. It mirrored the dirge of The Piper, and I could feel his presence urging me on to continue playing. I believe that in thanks to my companions attempting to pull the item from my grasp, as well as Samuel's use of the haunt siphon earlier, the spirit was weak and my will was able to overcome him comparatively easy. Vesoriana confirmed The Piper was gone.

I will never do that again. Next time, make the pirate do it.

In the margins next to this line: No, too mean. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Let's just say he owes me a drink.

After fighting off a poltergeist in the sentencing room, we found a large hole near where the prison wall had fallen to the lake. It took all of a second for us to make up our minds: we had to delve down here and dispatch the three remaining spirits. Using the training dummies and Warwick's rope we secured our entrance and exit to the area and descended carefully with the exception of Samuel. He didn't remain behind, he just wasn't careful.

This level had suffered the worst of the fire, and crumbled at the slightest provocation. Much of it had collapsed, and as Samuel ventured into the dark screams began to fill the air behind us. Former humans, covered in rot and ectoplasm emerged to attack us. I must say, I am glad that we found this magic stick in the chapel. A wand of healing. Without it we likely would have perished or fled long ago.

It is now nearly dawn, and so I will close this day's entry soon. We remain in this forsaken pit. Upon entering the center of the level, we found plaques directing us to The Oubliette, Hell's Basement, Reaper's Hold, and The Nevermore. It appears here that several prisoners attempted to claw past the deadfall the Warden triggered. Those selfsame prisoners soon animated and attacked us.

In the aftermath of the battle, as we all settled in for a short respite and I close this entry, I am left with only one thought. I wish the dead would remain dead.