Essendrum: Essendrum feels the weave flowing in the whispers. His wit and experience help him gauge the magic and he steels his mind to its effects. In the midst of the whispers, something lashes out at Essendrum's mind, stabbing at it, trying to place a seed inside him, to compel him. Essendrum inhales deeply and thinks back to the lessons of his master. He focuses his mental shields and easily defends himself from the assault. With another breath, Essendrum clears all doubt from his mind and focuses on the words whispered.
Speak oh man of deepest dark Hear o man of the darkened tongue Fear oh man of secret hearts Die oh man that I may live
Suddenly there is a foul taste in Essedrum's mouth, like cotton soaked in coal dust. The words were in Abyssal and were compelling him to take the book out of the hands of the corpse.
"Who are you? The guard's employer? These guards arriving here and now is not a coincidence and you know it. We are here because one of us saw an incorporeal being. Was it a ghost or something else we do not know" says Kiza clearly suspicious of the newcomer.
Kiza gauges their reactions and exams the newcomer with the sultry voice's body language. Whether they are tense, being deceptive, or genuine sincerity.
Insight
16
Surprise crosses the elf's face. "An Incorporeal being, where?" she asks with some urgency.
With the elf indicating concern, Enoch lowers his shield fully and steps aside. "Feel free to check it out, but if you need assistance, we're more than willing to help."
(( Persuasion Check to convince her that we're sincere; a 2nd roll is included in case disadvantage is still needed - 23, 18 ))
Essendrum throws caution to the winds and lifts the book with Mage Hand. He opens the door and steps out into the hallway, the burnt book floating on a spectral hand besides him, his wards glowing about him. “I’m afraid I have miscalculated. Evil still lurks here. This book seems also to be sought by evil forces and they tried to force me to take it up. We must move to somewhere safe immediately!”
Essendrum pays no attention to the guardsmen as he has already calculated their appearance and behavior. The elven woman, however, surprises him.
”Dear me. I hope you’re a one-eyed half-orc in disguise and not another brainless noble here to interfere.”
“Flint, I have seen you fell a giant, but I think the foe that haunts that room is something else entirely. The restless shadows of the dead rarely speak and something in there spoke words of Power in the language of the Abyss. If it is a shadow demon, then a paladin’s senses and spiritual armor may serve better than a tankard of ale and spikes.”
Essendrum throws caution to the winds and lifts the book with Mage Hand. He opens the door and steps out into the hallway, the burnt book floating on a spectral hand besides him, his wards glowing about him. “I’m afraid I have miscalculated. Evil still lurks here. This book seems also to be sought by evil forces and they tried to force me to take it up. We must move to somewhere safe immediately!”
Essendrum pays no attention to the guardsmen as he has already calculated their appearance and behavior. The elven woman, however, surprises him.
”Dear me. I hope you’re a one-eyed half-orc in disguise and not another brainless noble here to interfere.”
Essendrum Unfortunately, Essendrum's attempt to remove the book by Mage Hand fails. The weight of the book is above the spell's capacity to move.
Bjorn Bjorn is not sure where the half-orc went and too many spells come to mind for Bjorn to narrow it down.
Essendrum throws caution to the winds and attempts to scoop up the book with Mage Hand. When that fails he steps back to the door and opens it, remaining in the room. He shouts out to the hallway, “There is still an evil presence here, possibly a shadow demon and one with knowledge of the Words of Power! Enoch, I need you! Flint and Kiza, take care for this fiend warps minds. Raven, find Bjorn and drag him here if you must!”
The raven squawks loudly and flies to Bjorn at the corner of the hallway, beating its wings wildly to hover above and behind him to urge him forward, crying, “demon, demon, demon!”
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Since nobody has seen their adversary since he first spotted it, yet it is casting spells, Essendrum suspects it is hiding in the room. If the others who were here did not see it, his old eyes are not likely to, so instead he searches the room for signs of movement or other clues from which he might seduce where a shadow demon would be likely to hide here. If he has any luck, he’ll share the information with Bjorn to increase his chances of spotting the foe when he arrives.
Essendrum gathers a measure of composure and steps away from the door, leaving it open. He begins a running conversation in Abyssal as he walks around the room, hoping to buy time and maybe draw the demon out.
“You flatter me, demon, to try to take me as a host after we slew your last vessel. I am but a humble old man and he was a mighty giant. Surely you could do better, oh great … but we haven’t been formally introduced. I am Essendrum. And you are?”
Hearing Essendrum's warning, Enoch nods at him. He doesn't move towards the door, so as not to alarm the guards, but simply leans as needed to ensure he can see inside, before he taps into his divine sense and attempts to ferret out any nearby evil.
ACTION: Enoch activates his Divine Sense - "Until the end of your next turn, you know the location of any celestial, fiend, or undead within 60 feet of you that is not behind total cover. You know the type (celestial, fiend, or undead) of any being whose presence you sense, but not its identity. Within the same radius, you also detect the presence of any place or object that has been consecrated or desecrated, as with the hallow spell."
Essendrum: The raven doesn't move as Essendrum commanded, telling him Bjorn is close enough to see. The Raven does look at Bjorn and squawks out "Demon, demon, demon". Essendrum steps back and the words that come out of his mouth have a foul feeling to them. Something dark and menacing in the way the words are formed makes the hairs rise on the back of everyone's neck. There is no reply to Essendrum's query.
Bjorn: Bjorn steps forward grasping the Holy Symbol of Oghma and blesses Kiza, Essendrum, and Spike.
Enoch
Enoch steps forward, closes his eyes, touches his holy symbol, and says a short prayer. When he opens his eyes, they widen. He sees flames covering the walls and furniture in this room with thick black clouds of smoke bellowing from the flames. The smell of sulfur, ash, and burning flesh assails his nostrils. This place has been desecrated by a dark power. He steadies himself and looks towards the bed and sees the shell of an ash-colored corpse grasping a book that is folded open in his lap. Flame and ash shoot up from the pages of the book. Enoch blinks and the flames and ash clouds are gone. He sees a room that has been damaged by fire with a corpse with whithered skin lying on the bed in the room. In the corpse's hands is a book that is open. A faint red glow seems to cover everything in this room but from the book, Enoch still sees a bit of flame and ash shoot up from it. There is evil in this room and its touch corrupts everything inside.
The book is the only evil that stands out to Enoch, though the room has been desecrated.
The the hallway the guards stand around, watching this unfold, a bit confused. The eleven woman steps forward, coming up to the door of the room, to the left of Enoch. She looks around and under Enoch's arm to look into the room. "Who in the 9 Hells are you people?" she mutters. She abruptly turns and is face to face with Essendrum. "What did you see in the room and who are you trying to communicate with?" she demands.
The sound of more feet running up the stairs can be heard.
Essendrum steps out of the room and addresses the elven woman.
”A voice attempted to command me to take up that book in the language of the Abyss. Under no circumstances should anyone of weak mind enter that room. On the other hand, those of strong mind probably should not as well if we can figure out a way to secure that book without doing so. Evil stalks the land and I fear it seeks that book.”
The elf nods. "Yes, that has been our experience as well." she says. Essendrum can't help but think she is eyeing him suspiciously. She clears her throat. As she is about to speak 4 more guards come around the far corner of the hallway. She holds up her hand and they stop but keep watching the party. "Well," she says. "Whatever has happened you seem to have gotten its attention. Which brings me to ask what brings you and your companions to Danivarr House?"
(Unless anyone wants to do something else I am going to move this along a bit. If you have something else you wish to do let me know)
The subsequent answers to the elf's questions bring more questions. The party is eventually led to a large room on the 4th floor of this Inn, which is only accessed by a secret panel on the 3rd floor. The elf, you find out her name is Rach, serves as the Captain of the Guard and is an accomplished warrior and mage, by her accounts.
The room you are led to is a 50 ft. x 50 ft. octangle-shaped room with an open staircase in the middle of the room that leads to a platform at its top. You see a large bed and various small pieces of furniture on the platform. On the other side of the staircase is a large oak desk and chair with books littered on top of it and all around it. Around the desk are a few chairs, 6 in all, some made of hardwood and a couple that are padded and covered with a velvet cover. What lines the walls of this room intrigues the party but Essendrum, Bjorn, and even Kiza the most. Each wall contains shelves that span the width of the wall and go about 60 feet high. There is a ladder on a rail system that leans near the shelves and can rotate around the room, giving access to each shelf. On the shelves, and hanging in spots near the walls, are various trophies, skulls of dead beasts, Swords, a helm, and a few other trinkets. What interests Essendrum, Kiza, and Bjorn are the books. The shelves are packed with hundreds of tomes, books, and the like litter, some neatly stacked in rows on the shelves, some piled high enough to touch the next shelf above it, which you estimate is about 3.5 feet.
Rach walks over and sits in the chair behind the desk. You notice it sits higher than the other chairs and she has to move a few books so she can see over it. Kiza displays the Harper Symbol and Rach nods but does not take it. With a sigh, she leans back in her chair and says: "I am sorry but Dral is not here." another sigh escapes her. "He went looking for an answer to that room and more importantly, that book that you discovered and has not been seen since." You learn that the "incident" happened about 3 weeks ago and the staff found the room and body in flames. Once the flames were put out, one of the staff tried to pry the book from the corpse's hands and promptly burst into flames and then ash. A number of the guests complained about the smell and hearing screams at night. The guard investigated the incident but was unable to resolve the issue due to the book's nature. Dral, reaching his wits end over this incident, struck upon a plan and set out to find an answer. He went into the catacombs of the Inn to find it and has not returned. That was a week ago. The Harper's have been contacted but, there is something brewing in the northlands, something about Giants, so no one has been able to respond. Rach says she has been told someone will come by soon but she has her doubts. "This place used to belong to some noble then to a merchant guild that turned it into an Inn." she tells you. "Unfortunately, Thavian spies and wizards started using this as a base to create an insurgent campaign into the area. The Harpers found out and infiltrated the spy ring and were able to take them out but not until the damage had been done. It seems there were catacombs before but the Thavians expanded them and no one has been able to map them out. There have been a few to try but only a couple came back and they were in no mind to tell anyone anything. Now Dral is missing because he wanted to act instead of investigate further." She pauses a moment then asks. "Since you seem interested in this "problem" and have business with Dral, would you be interested in going down and finding out just what happened to him, at the least?" She tilts her head slightly to the right and opens her eyes slightly wider than normal. "I can pay you." she says in a soft little girl-like voice.
Essendrum seems hardly to be listening as his keen eye greedily searches the books around him for those which might contain magical knowledge. When she stops talking he shifts his attention to her.
”I think you will find my young friends eager enough to do as you ask. Ordinarily, I myself would have no interest in spelunking, but this book and a similar object back in Triboar, an evil stone sought by the giants, have me intrigued.”
The old man eyes her shrewdly.
”However, to date your Harper friends have paid us poorly and I mean to strike a harder bargain this time. The bargain I propose is mutually beneficial and is this: I would very much like to copy a spell or two to prepare us for the evil we are to face. As a student of abjuration I could put counterspell to particularly good use. I suspect you have a treasure I covet more than gold within easy reach and, for my part, if you share your knowledge you can keep your sacks of gold to pay guardsmen.”
Kiza eyes the books lovingly. Oh, what I would do if I could spend a week here. Wait did she say catacombs. Oh no now have a sinking feeling. Kiza kept on listening and was seriously considering leaving, until Rach mentioned gold. "How much gold and I hope it's a sizable amount because mixing wizards and catacombs is never a good combination."
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Essendrum:
Essendrum feels the weave flowing in the whispers. His wit and experience help him gauge the magic and he steels his mind to its effects. In the midst of the whispers, something lashes out at Essendrum's mind, stabbing at it, trying to place a seed inside him, to compel him. Essendrum inhales deeply and thinks back to the lessons of his master. He focuses his mental shields and easily defends himself from the assault.
With another breath, Essendrum clears all doubt from his mind and focuses on the words whispered.
Speak oh man of deepest dark
Hear o man of the darkened tongue
Fear oh man of secret hearts
Die oh man that I may live
Suddenly there is a foul taste in Essedrum's mouth, like cotton soaked in coal dust. The words were in Abyssal and were compelling him to take the book out of the hands of the corpse.
Surprise crosses the elf's face.
"An Incorporeal being, where?" she asks with some urgency.
Kiza points to the charred room "In there though be careful"
With the elf indicating concern, Enoch lowers his shield fully and steps aside. "Feel free to check it out, but if you need assistance, we're more than willing to help."
(( Persuasion Check to convince her that we're sincere; a 2nd roll is included in case disadvantage is still needed - 23, 18 ))
Sterling - V. Human Bard 3 (College of Art) - [Pic] - [Traits] - in Bards: Dragon Heist (w/ Mansion) - Jasper's [Pic] - Sterling's [Sigil]
Tooltips Post (2024 PHB updates) - incl. General Rules
>> New FOW threat & treasure tables: fow-advanced-threat-tables.pdf fow-advanced-treasure-table.pdf
Essendrum throws caution to the winds and lifts the book with Mage Hand. He opens the door and steps out into the hallway, the burnt book floating on a spectral hand besides him, his wards glowing about him. “I’m afraid I have miscalculated. Evil still lurks here. This book seems also to be sought by evil forces and they tried to force me to take it up. We must move to somewhere safe immediately!”
Essendrum pays no attention to the guardsmen as he has already calculated their appearance and behavior. The elven woman, however, surprises him.
”Dear me. I hope you’re a one-eyed half-orc in disguise and not another brainless noble here to interfere.”
Bjorn looks about for the 1/2 orc that he was following (perception +6): 22
Did the 1/2 orc suddenly turn into the young lady who suddenly appeared? Misty Step or Dimension Door perhaps? (Arcana +6): 26
Cats go Moo!
Spike:
Tankard in hand, Spike moves protectively between Essendrum and the door to the room, looking inside for any evidence of said evil.
Perception: 5
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
“Flint, I have seen you fell a giant, but I think the foe that haunts that room is something else entirely. The restless shadows of the dead rarely speak and something in there spoke words of Power in the language of the Abyss. If it is a shadow demon, then a paladin’s senses and spiritual armor may serve better than a tankard of ale and spikes.”
Essendrum
Unfortunately, Essendrum's attempt to remove the book by Mage Hand fails. The weight of the book is above the spell's capacity to move.
Bjorn
Bjorn is not sure where the half-orc went and too many spells come to mind for Bjorn to narrow it down.
Essendrum throws caution to the winds and attempts to scoop up the book with Mage Hand. When that fails he steps back to the door and opens it, remaining in the room. He shouts out to the hallway, “There is still an evil presence here, possibly a shadow demon and one with knowledge of the Words of Power! Enoch, I need you! Flint and Kiza, take care for this fiend warps minds. Raven, find Bjorn and drag him here if you must!”
The raven squawks loudly and flies to Bjorn at the corner of the hallway, beating its wings wildly to hover above and behind him to urge him forward, crying, “demon, demon, demon!”
Since nobody has seen their adversary since he first spotted it, yet it is casting spells, Essendrum suspects it is hiding in the room. If the others who were here did not see it, his old eyes are not likely to, so instead he searches the room for signs of movement or other clues from which he might seduce where a shadow demon would be likely to hide here. If he has any luck, he’ll share the information with Bjorn to increase his chances of spotting the foe when he arrives.
Investigation: 13
Essendrum gathers a measure of composure and steps away from the door, leaving it open. He begins a running conversation in Abyssal as he walks around the room, hoping to buy time and maybe draw the demon out.
“You flatter me, demon, to try to take me as a host after we slew your last vessel. I am but a humble old man and he was a mighty giant. Surely you could do better, oh great … but we haven’t been formally introduced. I am Essendrum. And you are?”
Bjorn arrives and mumbles a prayer "... May Oghma show us the way".
Not sure what is going on, Bjorn casts a bless spell on Kiza, Essendrum and Spike.
Cats go Moo!
Hearing Essendrum's warning, Enoch nods at him. He doesn't move towards the door, so as not to alarm the guards, but simply leans as needed to ensure he can see inside, before he taps into his divine sense and attempts to ferret out any nearby evil.
Sterling - V. Human Bard 3 (College of Art) - [Pic] - [Traits] - in Bards: Dragon Heist (w/ Mansion) - Jasper's [Pic] - Sterling's [Sigil]
Tooltips Post (2024 PHB updates) - incl. General Rules
>> New FOW threat & treasure tables: fow-advanced-threat-tables.pdf fow-advanced-treasure-table.pdf
Essendrum:
The raven doesn't move as Essendrum commanded, telling him Bjorn is close enough to see. The Raven does look at Bjorn and squawks out "Demon, demon, demon".
Essendrum steps back and the words that come out of his mouth have a foul feeling to them. Something dark and menacing in the way the words are formed makes the hairs rise on the back of everyone's neck.
There is no reply to Essendrum's query.
Bjorn:
Bjorn steps forward grasping the Holy Symbol of Oghma and blesses Kiza, Essendrum, and Spike.
Enoch
Enoch steps forward, closes his eyes, touches his holy symbol, and says a short prayer. When he opens his eyes, they widen. He sees flames covering the walls and furniture in this room with thick black clouds of smoke bellowing from the flames. The smell of sulfur, ash, and burning flesh assails his nostrils. This place has been desecrated by a dark power.
He steadies himself and looks towards the bed and sees the shell of an ash-colored corpse grasping a book that is folded open in his lap. Flame and ash shoot up from the pages of the book.
Enoch blinks and the flames and ash clouds are gone. He sees a room that has been damaged by fire with a corpse with whithered skin lying on the bed in the room. In the corpse's hands is a book that is open. A faint red glow seems to cover everything in this room but from the book, Enoch still sees a bit of flame and ash shoot up from it.
There is evil in this room and its touch corrupts everything inside.
The book is the only evil that stands out to Enoch, though the room has been desecrated.
The the hallway the guards stand around, watching this unfold, a bit confused.
The eleven woman steps forward, coming up to the door of the room, to the left of Enoch. She looks around and under Enoch's arm to look into the room.
"Who in the 9 Hells are you people?" she mutters.
She abruptly turns and is face to face with Essendrum.
"What did you see in the room and who are you trying to communicate with?" she demands.
The sound of more feet running up the stairs can be heard.
Essendrum steps out of the room and addresses the elven woman.
”A voice attempted to command me to take up that book in the language of the Abyss. Under no circumstances should anyone of weak mind enter that room. On the other hand, those of strong mind probably should not as well if we can figure out a way to secure that book without doing so. Evil stalks the land and I fear it seeks that book.”
Bjorn shudders at the thought of the Abyssal item being so near. He is suddenly glad he did the blessing.
Cats go Moo!
The elf nods.
"Yes, that has been our experience as well." she says. Essendrum can't help but think she is eyeing him suspiciously.
She clears her throat. As she is about to speak 4 more guards come around the far corner of the hallway. She holds up her hand and they stop but keep watching the party.
"Well," she says. "Whatever has happened you seem to have gotten its attention. Which brings me to ask what brings you and your companions to Danivarr House?"
(Unless anyone wants to do something else I am going to move this along a bit. If you have something else you wish to do let me know)
The subsequent answers to the elf's questions bring more questions. The party is eventually led to a large room on the 4th floor of this Inn, which is only accessed by a secret panel on the 3rd floor. The elf, you find out her name is Rach, serves as the Captain of the Guard and is an accomplished warrior and mage, by her accounts.
The room you are led to is a 50 ft. x 50 ft. octangle-shaped room with an open staircase in the middle of the room that leads to a platform at its top. You see a large bed and various small pieces of furniture on the platform. On the other side of the staircase is a large oak desk and chair with books littered on top of it and all around it.
Around the desk are a few chairs, 6 in all, some made of hardwood and a couple that are padded and covered with a velvet cover.
What lines the walls of this room intrigues the party but Essendrum, Bjorn, and even Kiza the most. Each wall contains shelves that span the width of the wall and go about 60 feet high. There is a ladder on a rail system that leans near the shelves and can rotate around the room, giving access to each shelf. On the shelves, and hanging in spots near the walls, are various trophies, skulls of dead beasts, Swords, a helm, and a few other trinkets. What interests Essendrum, Kiza, and Bjorn are the books. The shelves are packed with hundreds of tomes, books, and the like litter, some neatly stacked in rows on the shelves, some piled high enough to touch the next shelf above it, which you estimate is about 3.5 feet.
Rach walks over and sits in the chair behind the desk. You notice it sits higher than the other chairs and she has to move a few books so she can see over it.
Kiza displays the Harper Symbol and Rach nods but does not take it.
With a sigh, she leans back in her chair and says:
"I am sorry but Dral is not here." another sigh escapes her. "He went looking for an answer to that room and more importantly, that book that you discovered and has not been seen since."
You learn that the "incident" happened about 3 weeks ago and the staff found the room and body in flames. Once the flames were put out, one of the staff tried to pry the book from the corpse's hands and promptly burst into flames and then ash. A number of the guests complained about the smell and hearing screams at night.
The guard investigated the incident but was unable to resolve the issue due to the book's nature.
Dral, reaching his wits end over this incident, struck upon a plan and set out to find an answer. He went into the catacombs of the Inn to find it and has not returned. That was a week ago. The Harper's have been contacted but, there is something brewing in the northlands, something about Giants, so no one has been able to respond. Rach says she has been told someone will come by soon but she has her doubts.
"This place used to belong to some noble then to a merchant guild that turned it into an Inn." she tells you. "Unfortunately, Thavian spies and wizards started using this as a base to create an insurgent campaign into the area. The Harpers found out and infiltrated the spy ring and were able to take them out but not until the damage had been done. It seems there were catacombs before but the Thavians expanded them and no one has been able to map them out. There have been a few to try but only a couple came back and they were in no mind to tell anyone anything. Now Dral is missing because he wanted to act instead of investigate further."
She pauses a moment then asks.
"Since you seem interested in this "problem" and have business with Dral, would you be interested in going down and finding out just what happened to him, at the least?"
She tilts her head slightly to the right and opens her eyes slightly wider than normal.
"I can pay you." she says in a soft little girl-like voice.
Essendrum seems hardly to be listening as his keen eye greedily searches the books around him for those which might contain magical knowledge. When she stops talking he shifts his attention to her.
”I think you will find my young friends eager enough to do as you ask. Ordinarily, I myself would have no interest in spelunking, but this book and a similar object back in Triboar, an evil stone sought by the giants, have me intrigued.”
The old man eyes her shrewdly.
”However, to date your Harper friends have paid us poorly and I mean to strike a harder bargain this time. The bargain I propose is mutually beneficial and is this: I would very much like to copy a spell or two to prepare us for the evil we are to face. As a student of abjuration I could put counterspell to particularly good use. I suspect you have a treasure I covet more than gold within easy reach and, for my part, if you share your knowledge you can keep your sacks of gold to pay guardsmen.”
He smiles.
”Surely you can spare a bit of ink. “
Kiza eyes the books lovingly. Oh, what I would do if I could spend a week here. Wait did she say catacombs. Oh no now have a sinking feeling. Kiza kept on listening and was seriously considering leaving, until Rach mentioned gold. "How much gold and I hope it's a sizable amount because mixing wizards and catacombs is never a good combination."