Session03

Summary of Events
After saving the townsfolk in the previous session, the party headed to The Laughing Demon where they were greeted as local heroes. After deeply imbibing, Warwick headed off to Gibs' shack to confront him, while Samuel followed to try and keep him out of trouble. After waking him up and having a short confrontation, Samuel led Warwick back to the Lorrimor House to sleep it off.

The next morning, the party headed into the prison and made their way in to the second level. They immediately encountered some stirges, then explored the rest of the cellblock. During their exploration, they discovered the remains of Father Charlatan and found the Piper of Illmarsh's haunt. The party escaped the haunt and began heading down stairs into the first level of the prison.

Dax's Journal
Hastily scribbled on the inside cover:

After the events of the Professor's funeral and the last few days, I've decided to keep this journal of the next few days. The will says I and the other friends he summoned are to remain in this gods-forsaken haunted backwater. I would normally welcome the rest, but the events of the past few days have made me question my own sanity as well as my ability to survive the coming days. Should the worst happen, this is to serve as my last words and my will. If you've found this book, read it in a safe place and hear the tale of Warwick the Pirate, Samuel the Hunter, Malourne the Stoic, and I, Dax Sydel.

in the margin next to this: See if you can make this more poetic when it goes to a publisher.

DAY 4:

We have recently agreed to investigate the incidents of vandalism and general oddity surrounding Ravenbro. As seems to be our luck, immediately after this announcement the lamps upon the wall burst. All present in the town hall escaped the fire into the night, and Warwick and I fought off two flaming skulls. This goes beyond "creepy" and into the realm of apocalypse and doom. Needless to say, this morning we decided to head to the prison and investigate the source of those monstrosities.

Entered the prison in the late morning. After a scouting of the area, Warwick noticed part of the prison had collapsed to the water and sought a way in. We attempted to swim, but nearing the water were assaulted by skeletons risen from the depths. After soundly trouncing these undead, Malourne made it all of three feet towards the entrance the pirate found before almost drowning. We sought another entrance. Nearby stood the eastern balcony blanketed in thick ivy, which we then attempted to climb. A cloud of some sort put Samuel into a deep sleep. A creature known as an Xtabay emerged to attempt to devour the unfortunate hunter yet was quickly dispatched by our resident stoic cleric of Kord.

We should have gone in the front door.

Once inside the prison, a group of stirges which seemingly made the place into a nest attacked. After dispatching these ugly things, our investigation proper could begin. Previously we have grown wary of the events fifty years ago in the prison. A fire ravaged the place, and the prisoners are believed to have all perished within. Such places oft hold restless spirits and undead in my knowledge. Coupled with the vandalism of the memorial statue as someone painted VES thus far upon it, I have begun to see everything as connected back to this place and the fire. I also believe VES to be the beginning of the name of Warden Levar Hawkrin, Vesoriana. Within this prison, there also appears to have been a prisoner uprising that was quelled by the very fire that spelled the prison's doom. Five notorious murderers were being held here, and we believe them to be somehow connected. They are The Lopper who would hide in unlikely places and behead his victims, The Piper of Illmarsh who would use his flute to play a dirge and let his pet stirges feed upon victims, The Splatterman who was a professor of Anthroponomancies and obsessed with the power of the name, The Mosswater Marauder who was a dwarf who murdered his wife and believed if he could reconstruct her skull she would be revived, and Father Charlatan who committed such blasphemy as to be seen as notorious as these mass murderers.

In a room on the second story we found a skeleton bound in heavy chains bearing symbols of a multitude of gods. Believing this to be one of the five notorious murderers we have become extremely wary of returning, Malourne proceeded to defile the dead and smashed the skull to pieces.

in the margin next to this paragraph: Strange acts for a cleric, I shall keep an eye on him. The chains were also odd.

The investigation soon took a turn for the terrifying, as Malourne began to hear a dirge played upon a flute. I suspected, with the stirges present and the dirge, we were dealing with the spirit of The Piper of Illmarsh. My suspicions were confirmed when The Piper appeared before my very eyes and attacked me. Thankfully, Samuel took a haunt siphon from my belt and used it. The vortex seemed to destroy the spectral stirges attacking me, and slam into The Piper's form. We soon left the area for fear for our lives, and upon returning The Piper had gone. The dirge too had dissipated.

Malourne then spent an hour hammering down the door to the western balcony. I took the chance to practice my fiddle while the fool beat on the door like a prisoner seeking his freedom. Soon after, the stooges forced open a stuck hatch and loosed a rain of boulders upon themselves and the ladder above. Before the rubble dust had even cleared the air, a Giant Stirge buzzed through. Thankfully it was quickly dispatched and the doorway to the empty room above was cleared. Did I mention the room was empty? EMPTY. Warwick, the shipless coward of a pirate, then took the Giant Stirge's 4ft proboscis and caressed Samuel's face with it. In retaliation Samuel tore a wing off and rubbed it against Warwick. The professor made friends of many a fool.

in the margins: Never let the pirate live this down. He was the only among us to flee from the spectre of The Piper.