Xer: You are suddenly transported back in time – you are a child, looking out the window at your parents below. Somehow, you know that your parents are trying to kill one another, and that whichever one of them survives will be coming to kill you next. In the yard below, your mother struggles with your father. She is brandishing a torch, and your father is wielding a long, wicked-looking knife. Your father seems to be covered with boils and festering tumors. The vision fades as quickly as it appeared. . .
Xer shakes her head and looks up, confused but none the worse for wear. A search of the room reveals nothing of note, and no source of the ghostly crying is found.
The party exits the room and continues to move counter-clockwise around the second floor, opening the west facing double doors. It opensonto a large room featuring two padded chairs and a long couch facing a wide alcove lined with stained-glass windows. Several music stands lean against the southern wall next to a violin, two flutes and a large harp, all in poor condition. The windows themselves depict a wide array of animals and plants - from north to south are a large pale and ghostly scorpion, a gaunt man holding out his arms as a dozen bats hang from him, a moth with a strange skull-like pattern on its wings, a tangle of dull green plants with bell shaped flowers, and a young maiden sitting astride a well in a forest while a spindely spider the size of a dog descends along a string of webbing above her.
Li Kao recognizes some of the pictures, but can't quite place them, so he strides into the room for a closer look. He lays one palm on the first and mutters a prayer to Irori, and snaps his fingers in triumph. "Aha!" he announces.
"Each of these windows represents a classic spell component related to necromantic magic," the pirest says as he returns to his companions. "Scorpion venom, vampire's breath, the tongue of a deathwing moth, belladonna, and the heart of a maiden slain by poison."
"Ugh, kinda grisley for a music hall," says Sasha. "What do you use all that stuff for anyway?"
"Haven't the foggiest notion my dear," Li Kao smiled. "Let's open another door shall we?"
The next door, facing north-east, opens onto a small bedroom. The entire room is caked with a thick, spongey layer of dark green, black, and blue mould. Sasha grimaces again and makes to close the door. As she does so a child's voice, quivering with fear, floats out of nowhere. "What's on your face mommy?"
Sasha slams the door shut and turns around to the others, "Okay, this place is seriously creeping me out! Tell me why we're here again?"
7 comments:
Li Kao narrows his eyes and looks around to his companions. "We seem to be bumbling from one fright to another without making any real progress. I feel Mr. Foxglove watches and laughs at us. Perhaps we should focus our search so our nerves are not completely frayed by the time we find him?"
With that Li Kao shuffles off back the way they came down to the main room on the first floor. He attempts to find a central location in the room that would place him relatively in the center of the house's layout. He pulls out a bamboo whisk and dusts off a place for him to sit and cross his legs. He then pulls out a scroll from his bag, unfurls it and squints.
"This may take a minute or two of concentration..." He says to anyone who followed him.
He begins a mantra, casting the scroll of detect Undead. With each turn the spell should help him determine the direction of the most powerful emanation of undead energy. Perhaps this will help the party narrow the search...
Yola follows after Li Kao, standing guard over him, this place is also giving her the creeps and a scowl crosses over her features.
Yola mutters under her breath - goddamn undead, damn you foxglove, you'll pay dearly for all the problems you've caused, looking at Sasha, trying to keep herself together. Yola settles her shoulders and waits for Li Kao to finish his chanting.
Mich
Sasha shrugs and looks at Xer and then follows Yola and Li Kao. "So what is it exactly you do and how do you do it? I thought monks just chanted and were meant to be peaceful no offense?"
Looking at Xer, "Monks, you never did tell me why you chose monks?"
Sasha sways her hips playfully, "There must have been some things you missed when I left."
Xer follows Sasha and Li Kao. "You know in all honesty I think Li Kao is a lot of things, but stricktly speaking he is not really a monk."
Slapping Sasha's ass and skipping away. "Do I look like the kind of girl to sit around chanting my life away? I suspect you are missing some parts of what a good Monk can do." Striking a sexy pose. "Besides the work out does great things for your body and flexability. I wonder what might be running through your head Sasha? I am sure you missed a few things as well, but would I be stepping on someone's toes I am sure you have moved on by now?"
"Move, on?"
Sasha waves her hand brushing away an imaginary idea.
"Of course I've moved on. On, off and sometimes sideways. As for stepping on toes that's something I've never worried about that before."
Sasha grips her rapier tightly and keeping keeps an eye on Li Kao. Raising an eyebrow as he does his work she turns back to Xer, "If he's not a Monk: what excatly is he?"
Ariva gave Malvick a nervous glance as everyone seemed to file out of the room at the same time. "What are you giving me that look for? You're not afraid of invisible spirits and voices, are you?" The smile and wink from Malvick didn't seem to qualm Ariva's fidgeting and looks from the door and back to Malvick. "Okay, let's go and make sure the rest of the pack is staying out of trouble." With that Ariva bounded out the door before Malvick could even take two steps.
"You know Sasha with Li Lao that is always the question. I would think he was a cleric half the time with how he talks." Looking at the little man as he casts his spell.
"The real question was how he got involved with the order. Of the lot of them I would say he is the most honest and the only one I really trust."
Post a Comment