Abishai's Dragons of Icespire Peak

After a close call with Rasziel, you continue on. At the top of the stairs, a rocky plateau spreads out some 80 feet above the water. A wooden double-door sits slightly ajar for you. The rusty iron hinges creak loudly as they move under the wind's coaxing. You all get the sense that you're being watched by some unknown entity. Standing at the doorway, the wind is significantly lessened as if standing in the eye of the vortex, encouraging you to enter. Lightning crackles overhead, unaccompanied by thunder, and strikes the lighthouse at regular intervals. The waves continue to batter the coastline, causeway, and island. 

From somewhere within the lighthouse, you hear a voice call out. "Finally, you've come! Help me Zephyros! You must come alone! You're the only one who can save me. Please hurry."

Zephyros,

Rasziel gives the red-haired lady a small but quite grateful smile as she helps him back onto the stairs. "I'm flattered milady, was it true concern for a mere merchant I heard in your voice there?" He says with a small teasing but good-natured smile as he brushes off the sleeve of his purple robes.

"Do you know who that is calling you Ironheart? It sounds suspiciously much like a trap." The young dark-haired man tells the bearded veteran as the voice calls out for him.

(Insight to determine if this is a deception: 7 nevermind :-P)

Zephyros calls out to his love, "Silvara? I'm here. where are you?" He ignores Rasziel completely, unaware of the others. The fighter likely didn't even hear the question. 

Without a second thought, Ironheart kicks open the door and rushes into the lighthouse. Overcome with emotion, the veteran frantically looks around to determine the best direction to go. "My love... where are you?"

• Investigation: 9
• Survival: 20

Meira looks over at Rasziel. "Silvara. His wife who was lost at sea."  She pauses, looking over at Zephyros for a moment. She seems reluctant to say more as this is his story to tell not hers. Finally, she tells the others, "He had a nightmare last night. From what he said it was a fair bit like this." She motions with her hand to indicate all that's going on around them. 

"It does sound like a trap though," she says, moving forward to the doorway to keep an eye on the old man (even if he isn't so old!) She isn't sure if he'd try going off on his own, but at this point she's going to assume he might try. So, she's ready to follow. 

"Sometimes dream visions can be true, yet I cannot shake the rather persistent impression that we are being observed and all of this is a contrivance designed to lure us in. The cheese laid before the mice, Zephyros. We should tread with caution and consider - " Alisande says, before she watches Zephyros charge through the wooden double doors with all the subtlety of a Gnomegardian ballista. One hand rises as if to arrest his charge, then descends again in silent resignation as the moment slips past. "Or I suppose we can simply rush headlong into peril. I suppose that's also considered a strategy of sorts sometimes too."

She was hardly one to talk, given her antics in Phandalin of late, but the mage could not shake the feeling that the danger that awaited them within the lighthouse would make the hazards without look like child's play...

Arcana: 11 ((Does Alisande have any clue who or what is causing these phenomena, and how it might be stopped?))

Gareth can't imagine what it must be like to hear the voice of your dead wife calling to you. He's not surprised at all when Zephyros charges headlong into the lighthouse, with little heed for any potential traps or dangers within. If it was Sylvie's voice calling out to him, he'd likely do the same. 

"This is almost certainly a trap," says the ranger, with forced cheeriness. "Well, there's nothing left but to spring it."

He follows the others inside the lighthouse, stowing his longbow in the process. If something is going to ambush them in close quarters, the sword he recently acquired, Oathward, will serve him better. 

Zephyros kicks the door in and rushes into the lighthouse. Crates of rotting fish, rotting ropes, and broken lanterns are stacked along the northern wall of the room. A door to the south is shut with a window just to the right of the doorway. The window is covered in barnacles and a dark-green moss grows up along the sides of the sill. A double-door to the northwest sits open. Through it, you can see the lighthouse tower staircase that leads down into darkness, or up that is dimly illuminated with the same sickly green glow you spotted from outside. 

As you cross over the threshold the voice calls out again, "Yes... you're not far now. Please hurry!"

 Rasziel,

 Zephyros,

 Alisande,

Map:

"Well, Zephyros?" Meria says. "Normally I'd suggest checking out things here on this level first, but you seem to be leading the way here. You have any ideas?" 

Zephyros sees scratch marks along the floor and walls... 'was someone dragged through here?'

The frantic thoughts of his love, Silvara are stripped away as Meira's voice reaches him. His analytical mind returning to him in part, even as his lost love's voice beckons him forward. "I'm coming, Silvara!"

Turning to his companions, the bearded veteran says, "I can't tell where her voice is coming from." He can't help but wonder if his wife is still alive, but how... "I see scratch marks on the floor there and walls there." He points it out to the others. "I agree, Meira. We should clear every room to ensure nothing comes at us from behind. This place is... wrong."

He moves to open the door to the south.

"So he had a nightmare about this. Well that is interesting news." The young dark-haired purple-robed man mutters and lets out a few coughs, then shaking his head in disbelief. He knew full well what one would be prepared to do for those one loved, but he sincerely doubted that this really was the lost wife that was calling for the old warrior. Armed with both caution and a healthy dose of skepsis he still follows the others inside the lighthouse. He considers the possibility that it might simply be the lost wife that is haunting the lighthouse, but even he hasn't the heart to suggest this gruesome thought to the desperate husband.

Perception assisted by Azazel: 21

Meira seems pleased that at least Zephyros still seems to have at least some of his usual sense of caution. As he moves to open the door, she positions herself to be ready should anything be behind the door. 

"We're right behind you," Gareth assures the veteran warrior. He prepares to follow Zephyros into the next room.

Opening the door on the south side of the entrance hall, you're greeted with air thick with salt and static. The fifteen-foot-high chamber walls are covered in faded frescoes of ships tossed violently on black seas, their sails shredded, ship crews screaming, merrow attacking the sailors, harpies luring survivors back to the wreckage, and of dead sailors being raised from the dead to serve again. Above them, looms three monstrous figures, shrouded in darkness and faded beyond recognition. The three figures appear to be devouring the souls of their victims or using them for some kind of dark ritual.

Set into the western wall is a salt and grime encrusted window. Through it, the storm's green glow pulses like a heartbeat, casting sickly light across the chamber. Against the south wall stands a stone altar. Its surface is etched with jagged lightning bolts that seem to shimmer faintly in the gloom. From the ceiling descends a thick metal rod, splitting in two like a serpent's tongue before embedding itself into the altar's core. The rod hums softly.

Just to the left of the altar is another door that is cracked open, through which, you hear some flapping and shuffling around.

Rasziel,

Zephyros walks into the room with practiced caution. Glancing at the frescoes, his mind recognizes the threat behind the next door and turns his attention there. He puts a finger up to lips as if telling his companions to be quiet, as he heads to the door to peek through it.

Stealth: Nat 1/Nat 20= 3

Meira follows Zephyros, though keeps back a few paces. She heeds his warning about the door and tries to avoid being seen. For a brief moment she takes in the frescoes, then the shrouded figures. 'Is it these creatures we must face? Is that what is truly behind this?' she wonders while waiting to see what will be found behind the door. 

Rasziel nods and hides, staying still and quiet, ready for whatever might be hiding behind the door, as is his loyal accountant nestled up in his purple robes. What was depicted in the fresoes tied it all together, only question was who the mysterious creature leading this shipwrecking business was.

Stealth: 18 Perception assisted by Azazel: 14

At Zephyros' direction, Alisande keeps her silence, pacing forward in the middle of the group. Her eyes fall upon the lightning bolt streaked pillar and she frowns, deep in thought. Could this have some connection to a cult of Talos? The violence of the elements certainly seem like the Storm Lord's preferred idiom, but the guile used to ensnare Zephyros through dreams and the tugging of heartstrings - could this really be the work of the Destroyer? 

Alisande sighs in exasperation - in truth, she cannot be sure. Theology has never held the same allure as history or the magical arts, and so her readings have been far less extensive. She eyes the mural with the three hidden figures suspiciously, before angling her wand at the sounds of shuffling from the door beyond.

Perception: 16
Stealth: 17

Zephyros takes a pause as he notices the sounds coming from the southern door and tries his best to sneak up to get a better look. Unfortunately, the big brute trips on his own boot as he gets near the door and smashes into it, causing a big ruckus. However, the door only opens a few more inches because something behind it blocks it from swinging open. Looking through the opening, you see what can only be described as a huge bird's nest. Inside the nest, three small Harpies flutter about, looking expectantly at the face peaking through the doorway. They don't appear to be aggressive at the moment.

What do you do?

Feeling embarrassed as he falls into the door, Zephyros' red face peeks through and sees little... "Harpies!" He shoulder rams the door to widen the gap so his allies can get a better view. "Adolescent Harpies if I had to guess. We should kill them before they can grow to become threats."

Not long ago, the armored warrior would have dispatched these monsters without a second thought, but adventuring with this group had taught him sometimes restraint was warranted, even when it's not logical. The bearded veteran steps over into the nest with his trident ready to strike, but waits for confirmation from his allies. "You don't have to watch." He says to his companions behind him.

"I do not see any benefit to sparing such creatures," Meira says. "We should work together in case they do start to become hostile," she adds. "Does it look like the only access is from this room or is there a way in and out of the spot where the nest is located." (Perception: 11, to try to tell for herself or can she or someone else just look and be able to tell?) 

She knocks an arrow, raising her bow to be ready to provide support to Zephyros should he proceed.