"I see you," Sarai mutters to herself as she unloads twice into the Stay Puft Marshmallow Village.

Bonus Action: Casts Hunter's Mark on the apparition
Action: 2 shots with Repeating Shot-infused Bad News rifle, plus Hunter's Mark damage, and if one hits her Colossus Slayer Feature also applies...

Shot 1: 30 to hit, for 27 magical piercing damage
Shot 2: 14 to hit, for 17 magical piercing damage
Colossus Slayer: The first shot to hit also does 7 additional damage, if the target is below its hp maximum

Meanwhile, the scorched gravedust warbles in the sphere of water. At its core, a faint spiderweb of green energy spreads throughout the mass of the water (16), which pops with a sudden intensity!

The dust raises up off the floor, and looks peeved.

Quote from JcAndD >>

Meanwhile, the scorched gravedust warbles in the sphere of water. At its core, a faint spiderweb of green energy spreads throughout the mass of the water (16), which pops with a sudden intensity!

The dust raises up off the floor, and looks peeved.

 // I think you mean it rolled a 1... //

Caster simply shakes his head. "I know your fate," he mutters.

Time once again realigns itself as the bubble remains unharmed in this timeline.

Meanwhile, Sarai releases another bolt of arcane gunfire from her rifle into the new amalgam! It vaporizes another portion of it as it remains on its “last legs” so to speak.

Meanwhile, Assassin, vanishes from next to Imani and reappears in a flash of speed. With a high speed spin, she collides her umbrella into the ghost, “I bestow to you... an eternal rest. Night, night.” Attack: 32 Damage: 11 magic bludgeoning damage!

With a pained screech and the shattering of its immaterial form, the ghost fades away into particles of light. On the wind, a whisper seems to carry, “Margraaave... ah... I see... you never... were here... were you? I... We... loathe you...”

Imani pulls out double finger guns from her red patent leather jacket, its illusory dia de los muertos skull bangles swinging from shoulder tassles as she does.

Eldritch blast vs dust goblin!

(Attacks: 26, 17, and 26 dealing 10, 12, and 9 force damage, respectively)

Caster also blasts the dust monster, joining Imani's force damage with his own radiant star power. He remains alert for any incoming danger, and maintains his concentration on the watery prison.

Bonus Action to Attack: 31 Damage: 37 radiant

Action: Dodge

The dust roils and boils beneath the water, screeching as it does so.

Oz will stay further back than Imani and release a Firebolt, Attack: 12 Damage: 17 fire damage. But due to Watery Sphere, that’s a 22, which hits.

"And you, too," Sarai tells the dusty ghost as she marks it and fires twice.

Bonus Action: Move Hunter's Mark to the dusty ghost
Action: 2 shots with Repeating Shot-infused Bad News rifle, plus Hunter's Mark damage, and if one hits, her Colossus Slayer Feature also applies...

Shot 1: 23 to hit, for 11 magical piercing damage
Shot 2: 29 to hit, for 25 magical piercing damage
Colossus Slayer: If the target is below its hp maximum, the first shot to hit also does 6 additional damage,

The attacks barrage the creature, but do not finish it. Instead, it just warbles chaotically into a focused point before releasing a torrent of ash and decay in a 40-foot-cone across the room! Assassin, Caster, and Imani are all caught in the spray and must make a Dex Save vs 17 necrotic damage! Assassin rolls out of the way, 9, but is struck for the... 7 damage... halved... to 4...

All three fail.

As they do, the dust is pulled back into the central pile within the bubble. The dust congeals with the lifeforce and spreads outwards. Limbs form, a whispy head forms around the jaw, and the dust cloud takes on a humanoid shape, floating angrily like something out of a cloning vat. It is still made of dust mind you, but that dust has now taken on human form. It hisses, “Releasssse me... I desssire... ssslaughter... sssussstinance... revenge... sssatisssfaction...”

Assassin lunges forward to stab the creature with both of her umbrellas!

Attack: 26 Damage: 16 bludgeoning damage + 19 sneak attack

Attack: 21 Damage: 15 bludgeoning damage + 12 sneak attack

Assassin drives both umbrellas through the creature’s spiritual core and disperses it into mana.

”You’ll get nothing but sleep...”

Combat OVER!

Sarai's rifle whines a little like a turbine slowing as it cools off. She looks around. "Everyone still here? Oz? Dream? Good. Are we done here, or is there more haunting this house? Can anyone tell?" She looks pointedly at the mages.

"Sure thing, no problem. Let me just check." She conjures an image of a PKE meter into her hand and makes beeping and whirring noises with her mouth. "Hmmm, yes, yes... Lots of activity here." 

She wanders off down the hallway, still beeping and waving the illusory device around. 

Sarai will follow the odd human.

Of course, the illusionary PKE meter picks up nothing. However, it does conjure uncomfortable memories of a Ghostbuster’s spin off with an Italian mobster goblin in Imani’s mind...

Anyway!

As Imani and Sarai walk throughout the house, Sarai picks up information from her surroundings. The house was owned by the McAlasdair family. From what it seems like, they were small time family of mages, likely having moved down to Jerusalem to learn more of the regional magic. Furthermore, she deduces that the family were likely turned into the monstrous spirits... However... one thing didn’t add up. She could determine a family member for each of the spirits, but one was missing. The red head in the picture... the one that looks like Allison Margrave.

“Could this have been her own family, then? Were they among her first victims?” Sarai muses, after passing this information on to the others. 

“It would explain their hatred of her.”

Imani, who has dropped the PKE illusion, responds as they continue to make their way through the house. "I doubt it... The big ghosty was shouting 'MARGRAVE' and demanding they 'give her back'. I think we may not have the full picture here. If I were the betting sort, and if sci fi horror has taught me anything, we're looking at a body snatcher." Imani nods, a few pieces snapping into place. "Seems to make as much sense as anything, and she is a necromancer, after all. I'm guessing Margrave stole the girl's body and has found a new one since we killed her unwilling and innocent host."

Imani shakes her head. "Which, unless I'm sorely mistaken, places her squarely under the jurisdiction of the Church, and out of play for the Grail. We should go back to our latest overbearing man in an armchair and give him the good news."

Caster frowns. "I believe we are missing pieces of information. A body-snatching necromancer seems to be too far afield. I feel that the explanation should be much more simple. Have we searched every room in this house?"

“We have not,” Sarai notes. “It is possible the best course here could be to simply fire the entire house and be done with it.”

Imani takes a few calming breaths before addressing the shapeshifter. "So, in the human world there are these different but related things called arson, real estate, and prison sentences. I don't think now is the best time to go into them, but I can get a list going for you to look up back at the hotel."

She kicks around some dust on the floor. "Also, we can definitely continue searching, but we're not getting a strong 'somebody's home' vibe here, right? If I were the kind of person to leave a dead body on the floor for a month, then I probably wouldn't be too fussy about dishes and laundry. All I'm saying is there aren't any dirty pants or plates lying around."