The party returns to the desecrated shrine, passing again through the vast and quiet hall containing the two dead duergar, their bodies yet unclaimed. There are no signs of life.

Closing the stone door behind them, the beam of natural light pouring through the gap in the ceiling is jarring. It is clear that while orcs once pillaged this room, much damage has been done here since by time and nature.

(How long are you resting here?)

Dwal wants long enough to change cleric spells a bit.

Gerrard:

OOC:  If there is a cure to be had and Dwal can't do it for now, Gerrard would be all for getting the cure as fast as possible--so he would want to go wherever the cure can be found ASAP, not bothering to rest at all.  Of course, he personally has no idea where to get a cure or even if one exists, and he is so distraught that he isn't thinking clearly anyway.

Kei

The trembling in his voice is noticeable a he speaks. "Where's your sense of adventure shorty? Imagine the acclaim when we emerge victorious in clearing this underground city of its ghostly and grey inhabitants. They'll tell the story for eons. And I figure the reward would be equally large." It's obvious that Kei wants to stay and search for treasure, but equally so that he would be happy to leave the ghosts behind and return to town. 

Settling in for a long rest, Dwal contemplates Gerrard's predicament. Arcana: 12

 He knows only that, while a magical cure may exist, it is well beyond his abilities. He wonders if Brinehald, whom Dwal suspects may be more capable than he appears in his position at the Temple of Procan, could point them in the right direction.

It's early afternoon. (A long rest will bring you past sunset. Your meeting before the Town Council is scheduled for tomorrow night.)

Peri:

Grudgingly accepting Dwal's decision to remain (he is the captain so long as they're in this dwarven domain, after all) Peri searches for an inconspicuous place to curl up and rest.  He eventually builds a nest under one of the benches where he feels reasonably well hidden (Stealth 18). He eats an unappetizing ration from his pack, missing the Wicker Goat's fare, and gauges the angle of the sun.  It'll be night by the time we're ready to move again.  I don't want to travel back to town in the dark, so we might as well spend some time exploring down here where it doesn't matter.  If that spook was trapped in the pool room, probably no one's been past to loot whatever's down that hall. This brings their newest party member to mind.  Seems to be motivated by money; he couldn't hardly take his eyes off the pouch we found earlier. Ah well, nothin' wrong with that. Lots of folks take up the adventurin' life for the prospect of treasure. Still, maybe we don't let him hold the party fund, leastways 'til we learn how trustworthy he is. As he turns these deep thoughts over, snug and warm in his makeshift burrow, he drifts off to sleep.

Gerrard:

Too distraught to sleep, Gerrard spends a long time inspecting himself in the mirror, wondering how many years he has lost.  Lost in his private misery, the prematurely aged noble barely notices the passage of time.

Time passes uneventfully. You hear rain outside, although the angle of the gap above prevents any water from dripping inside. Daylight fades, and then is gone.

It is now early evening; while only Peri was able to get any significant sleep (he's pretty good at that), you all earn the benefits of a long rest.

You have heard and seen nothing from the chamber to the south (although the heavy stone door and distant sounds of the rain could have masked sounds.)

Peri:

Peri wakes up and stretches. He doesn't feel possessed, so his hidey-hole must have been effective.  He fixes his towel, which had come loose while he was sleeping, and crawls out to check on the others.  "Everybody ready? Let's go check out that pool room.  Ghosts don't regenerate, do they? I don't want to fight that thing again."

Gerrard:

Standing up and drawing his weapons, Gerrard nods wordlessly at Peri's suggestion and walks towards the door to the pool room.  His aged expression is unreadable, but the twinkle that has been in his eye up until now is nowhere to be seen.  

Dwal

Dwal gets his things in order and speaks to Bjorn for a moment. In Draconic he will say:

"Stay out of harms way little dragon, let the bigger folk deal with all this."

He will then turn to the group. "Aye, I'm ready to go as much as I can be," he says. "Lead the way but remember, stay close and don't spread out too much to as make it harder to heal and the like."

With that said, Dwal will lift shield and hammer and move with the group.

Kei

As their period of rest concludes, so does Kei's prayers to Mask. He was unusually quiet. Gerrard's misfortune had affected him more than expected. He walks over to the matured noble. "Well, if it's any consolation, at least you still have your hair" he says awkwardly. Compassion is not something he was comfortable showing. "How about we try and find a way to reverse this..." He waves his hand around his own face. It is somewhat strange to the group that he makes no mention of treasure or reward.

((OoC I have adjusted Kei's cleric spells FYI))

Gerrard:

Gerrard smiles at Kei’s attempt to cheer him up, but again the expression does not reach his eyes.  He leads the way back to the pool room but doesn’t get too far ahead as Dwal requested.

Passing into the great hall, you notice that only a single torch remains lit - one by the massive double doors on the eastern side of the south wall. The others have gone out and were unreplaced. The duergar bodies have been removed, and the room is unoccupied.

The pool room is exactly as you left it. But with the ghost dispatched, it seems much less chilling now. Just another vandalized old room.

Peri:

Figuring a systematic search will yield the best and quickest results, Peri will start with the SE door (the one least likely to lead anywhere) with the intention of checking each in a clockwise manner.  As it's already ajar, he will peer around the door into the room (Perception 18).  If nothing obvious stands out he'll use his Devil's Sight to check for magic.

OOC:  Do you perhaps mean western hallway southern door?

(Do you mean this room?) The original purpose of this room is unknown - perhaps living quarters? It contains the semi-mummified, skeletal remains of four dwarves and one orc, together with smashed furniture and debris, and more graffiti in the Orc language.

((Yes, I should have said "West hall, SE door." You correctly interpreted my vagaries.))

Peri's Devil's Sight picks up nothing.

Peri:

"Four dwarves for only one orc? What happened here? D'you think they were caught unawares, or maybe they were unarmed civilians trapped in here when the orcs took this place?"