Laurie dimmed the lanterns one by one until only a few thin flames flickered in the parlor, casting long, wavering shadows across the walls.  Gennifer adjusted the spirit board at the center of the table, her movements practiced and steady despite the exhaustion lining her face.  The planchette rested atop the board like a waiting eye.

From the music room down the hall, the sound of Shinrei's harp.  Soft, plaintive notes.

Cassian sat unmoving, staring through the table as though trapped behind his own eyes.  His breathing was even, but there was no awareness in him.  No recognition when the others passed by. 

Boff, Gooterat, and Sinak took their seats, the storm outside rattling the house as if urging them to begin. 

A hush came over the house ... as if it were listening.

Laurie placed her hands on the board.
Gennifer exhaled, steadying herself.
The planchette twitched.

"Spirits of this house," Gennifer said softly, "we reach out once more.  Let us know if you would speak ..."

The room fell silent except for the storm and the distant sound of faint harp notes. T hen the board began to move.  Slowly.  Hesitantly.

Next to the heroes, Cassian drew in a long shuddering breath, sat bolt upright, and grabbed the edges of the table!!

"I am here."  Cassian grumbled, peering through clouded, misty eyes.  Although the words issued from the paladin's mouth ... it was not his voice that spoke.

"What is it you would know?"

Gooterat 

Addressing the elephant in the room right off the bat, he asks, "What is below the tower?"

'Ow did ye... Boff begins, then remembers that some questions are taboo. He changes tack, and the questions come tumbling out as his fear loosens his normally stoic tongue:

Are ye Draz Volen?
'Ow many of ye are there?
Are ye... in the walls?

Sinak looks at the others seated at the table, still stunned and not quite himself yet.  "Beneath the tower..." he repeats to himself, tapping his forehead, trying to remember.  He looks up at Boff, hearing the name Draz Volen, but can't quite make out the rest.  "This sounds so familiar, but I'm sorry, I just can't place it.  Can't quite remember..."   Sinak strains and closes his eyes for a second, straining to remember.  

Sinak’s eyes narrow and he shakes his head for a moment, then turns to the paladin speaking in an out of body voice, he says “What happened to Talen Grayward and Miranya Stout?  Where are they?  Are they alive?”  He looks at the paladin with intensity, awaiting an answer.  

Cassian's body jerked once, as if a string had been pulled tight inside him.  His head tilted back, and when he spoke, the voice that came from his throat was not his own.

 Are ye Draz Volen?
'Ow many of ye are there?
Are ye... in the walls?

"Yesssss."  The previously-catatonic paladin whispered.

At Boff’s next question, Cassian's fingers curled against the table, nails biting into the wood.

"Toooo mannny."

The final question.

"Yessss.  Sealed behind a stone wall with cold iron in my hands.  My flesh is gone, but it still waits."

When Gooterat asked what lay beneath the tower, Cassian's mouth twisted into something like a grin.  His voice dropped lower, heavier.

"Mara ... and the thing that answered her prayers."

Sinak's inquiry about his companions drew a longer silence. 

"Miranya is down here with us.  Mara has her ... now and forever."

Cassian stopped speaking and shuddered violently. 

A new voice.  Different.  Clearer.  Sharper.  Edged with scorn and aching certainty.

"You speak of me as though I am some beast in a pit."

Cassian's eyes opened.  They were not his eyes.

"I reclaimed what had been stolen ... what had been taken from me."  The spirit said. 

"I broke tyrants.  Punished cowards.  And for that, I was left here ... Alone."

As she spoke, the walls of the parlor behind Cassian began to weep with blood.  Thin lines of dark red seeped from the plaster, trailing downward in slow rivulets.  The blood gathered, thickened, and shaped itself into words across the wall behind the paladin.

MARA IS LONELY

Boff sees and understands the words on the wall, and a flash of pity briefly pierces through the horror. But then he remembers what else he has seen, and with a gruff voice asks this second personage (if they are still present):

"Wha' aboot the Halvhrests? Wha' happened t' the little bairns... The children?"

Gooterat 

The feeling of pity was shocking to the gnome, but it was gone as fast as it appeared.  Sad she may be, but also angry and extremely dangerous. 

"How can we put your spirit to rest, and if we do so will the others trapped here be freed?"

Sinak looks at the wall with horror, the name seems familiar, but somewhat foggy, like he’s trying to remember the detail.  Clearly they were onto something.  As he takes deep breaths and tries to calm himself, he decides to ask the question that comes to mind.  

“Mara, you are lonely… how do we find you?”  He looks to Gooterat and nods, “How do we put you to rest?  End the curse of this house?”  His hand goes up to the amulet and he fingers it, lost in thought, looking at the paladin, awaiting the otherworldly voice.