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(19 June 2015)

On the return to the Lorrimor home, the party passed the monument to check on the bloody “V.”  The townsfolk had attempted to scrub the statue clean, to no avail.  The markings also returned to their original state the following morning.

 

The Minstrels

After resting for the night (and into the afternoon), the party went to the center of town to hear the minstrels outside the Outward Inn.  During the show, two stirges came down from the rafters, apparently lured by the music, and one attacked Xiuj Hak Leyng, attaching itself to his shoulder.  With significant effort, the party finally destroyed the stirges, but the battle would have lasting effects which would be discovered days later.

 

The Return to Harrowstone

Re-entering the Harrowstone Prison, the party was greeted by a haunt consisting of five badly burnt prisoners.  Dorvall dispersed them by throwing a vial of holy water at them.  The party proceeded toward the center of the prison, discovering a stairway to the second floor.

 

Upstairs, the party found the cell block.  When Cad attempted to pick the lock of one of the cells, the skeleton prisoners came to life and began to rattle their cage doors, attempting to escape.  Dorvall was seriously injured by a skeleton through the bars of the cell.  The skeletons that escaped were dispatched by Xiuj (with acid bombs that also hurt party members) and Brother Nesphebius (by channeling positive energy).

 

As the party was dealing with the skeletons, eerie pipe music began to play on the entire cell block.  Cain became paralyzed with fear, having seen a ghostly image of the Piper of Illmarsh, and was wounded by the manifestation of a stirge.  After his recovery, Cain ran away as far the staircase, but Cad stopped him from fleeing any further.  Dorvall was also paralyzed with fear, but survived when Nesphebius destroyed the haunt with a combination of positive energy channeling and the use of one of the party’s five haunt syphons.  When the haunt was finally destroyed, the party saw the ghostly image of the Piper being dragged away by a female spirit, presumably Vesorianna Hawkren.

 

After healing themselves, party explored more of the upper level.  They found the kitchen, latrine, and the oversized cell of a prisoner whose now deceased body was being held in place on a cot by chains and weighted holy symbols of various religions.  Unknown at the time, when Maligar threw holy water on the body, the haunt of Father Charlatan was activated.  The party explored a small room with a ladder to the roof.  When the rubble door to the roof was opened (after numerous attempts), some of the rubble from the collapsed tower above fell into the room, injuring Brother Nesphebius and seemingly killing Maligar.

 

Suddenly wrapped in the spectral form of the same chains and holy symbols as the body in the cell, Maligar began fighting for his life against Father Charlatan, who had posed (in Mailgar’s mind) as a young priest who said he had resurrected the elf several weeks after his death.  With help from Nesphebius, the haunt was dispersed, freeing Mailgar.  Like the Piper, the haunt of Father Charlatan was removed by the spirit of Vesorianna Hawkren.

 

During the spiritual battle, Cad continued upstairs where he encountered a giant stirge.  With great effort, the party killed the stirge.  The decision was made to go back to the Lorrimor home to heal.
Brother Nesphebius’ Sermon

The party slept, and upon waking (after Nespebius prayed for the return of his spells), the party healed up as much as they could.

 

With his sermon due that evening, Brother Nesphebius decided to stay home and prepare.  Mailgar and Cain spent the day at the Town Hall, but their research was unsuccessful, as they couldn’t find any more information on the prisoners at Harrowstone than they already knew.  Cad and Dorvall had the same luck at the Temple of Pharasma.

 

rother Nesphebius gave his sermon to the parishioners of Ravengro that evening.  His topic of the undead brought down the house and earned the respect of Father Grimburrow.  As a result, the enthusiastic priests of the Temple of Pharasma agreed to aid the entire party in their research.

 

Unfortunately, Xiuj Hak Leyng took ill that night, suffering from filth fever, which he contracted in his fight with the stirge at the Outward Inn.

 

The party now know the following:

1. The Piper of Illmarsh used pipe music to summon stirges to attack his victims.

2. The ghost of the warden’s wife, Vesorianna Hawkran, is protecting the town of Ravengro by keeping the murderous apparitions within the walls of Harrowstone.

3. The Splatter Man is behind the desecration of the monument.  If he spells out Vesorianna’s name, she will be destroyed and no longer able to hold back the ghosts that are kept prisoner within Harrowstone.

 

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