Trill, you have heard that undead creatures often have the ability to steal life force from living entities in an attempt to fill their emptiness. You know that magical and mundane healing effects often have no effect on injuries such as this.

Dawnbringer speaks in Aimon's mind saying, "The Mistress knows you're here now. She felt the death of her servants."

Aimon looks on with concern as Trill examines Eldeth. Healing and medicine are not skills he has ever paid much attention too. He does move to the entrance of the dark hallway to watch for any more spectres coming their way. He tries making out as much detail as he can.

And then he hears the voice in his head again.

"Is she near?" he asks in his mind. "Can we get to you without disturbing her?"

Dawnbringer responds, "No she's staying where she is. She wants you to come to her instead of her coming to you. Nice job handling the specters by the way. There are a few more down here as well." She pauses for a while before speaking in an emotion-choked voice, "Thank you so much for coming for me. I've been here for so long, and you guys have already sacrificed so much. Thank you." After she gets control of her emotions, she clears her throat and says, "Anyways, there's about 10,000 good in this chest with me in addition to several pieces of jewelry and magical equipment."

Trill, in the heat of combat, you failed to notice that the pouch with the Tear of Sorrows stored inside of it is once again caked in a thick coating of frost and ice. A faint mist curls off of the pouch. Now that things have settled down, you have noticed it.

Aimon relays what Dawnbringer has said to him.

"More specters and their leader are preparing a welcoming party for us," he says. "It sounds like whoever this big evil 'she' is will wait for us."

He looks at Eldeth and Oak and narrows his brow at the shape they're in.

"I know I could use a rest first, though," he says. "A little nap before the festivities to recharge."

Trill will carefully pull it out and inspect it, to see if the chilling has altered its function in any way she can tell.

The gem has once again increased slightly one size, but nothing else has changed about it.

Trill will try casting darkness on a pebble and chucking it away from the party, to see if it changes the stone at all.

"Is anyone badly hurt and needs the rest?" Caelynn asks, surveying the group to see if anyone looks injured. "Even though this evil woman is supposedly waiting, she might send her specters out after us. I'd rather face them all at once and get it over with."

When you instinctually draw upon the power of the stone and imbue a pebble with a fraction of its dark power, the Tear becomes translucent for a moment and almost looks like an actual teardrop as darkness seeps out out to fuse itself with a pebble you are holding. The tendrils of darkness reach to the stone clutched in your hand and then emanates outwards in a 15 foot radius. After tossing the pebble away and restoring your sight, you see that the clear form of the Tear of Sorrows has a speck of inky darkness swirling inside that slowly fills the gem, restoring it to its original state. It is still the same size.

At Caelynn's question, Sarith responds, "I think it is just Eldeth and Oak who ran afoul of the specters' strikes.

It’s hard to for Aimon to tell how badly Oak was hurt. The Minotaur seems to relish getting smacked, Aimon thinks to himself. But Eldeth was clearly shaken up.

”There’s no need for anyone to be a hero here,” he says. “If anyone needs to take a breather, we’ll figure out how to guard against more spectres.”

Oak shakes himself out of his thoughts, after a while. And sees the others concerned over Eldeth...

”I’ll be fine after a short rest”, he says. “I’m a little exhausted from the fight, but I’m okay...”.

”Eldeth looks a little worse for wear though...Can we not heal her?.. Maybe she needs much longer to fully recover. I’d not say no to a sleep, but a few moments is all I need really!”

”I guess we don’t know what’s to come, in there... If we can secure this room and stand watch, maybe it’s the best place to get Eldeth back up to full strength before going further...”.

He sits on the floor and starts tending to his axe in a way that rests and calms him, sharpening it slowly with his whetstone.

Aimon looks at the others.

"What if we go back into one of the neighboring rooms and take a breather for an hour or two before heading down to whatever fun awaits us?" he asks.

Oak thinks for a while, “Hold on, how did these spectres approach us? Did they follow us in?... or did they come through the walls??!”

He shudders little, remembering the feel of Narot’s touch on his heart... “If it’s the latter, I’m not sure it matters where we rest... this room or another! We just need to keep a torch lit and keep a vigilant lookout!”.

Oak pulls out his bedroll and tries to help make Eldeth more comfortable for now at least.

Aimon nods and takes up a position in the shadows at the entrance to the hallway. Luckily he came out of the fight with the specters unscathed. He will keep watch so those that need to rest can.

(Stealth to stay in the shadows: 26 )

Oak rests near Eldeth with his axe across his chest...

"I think they came through the walls. If we're taking a moment to rest, here is as good a place as any." Caelynn settles on the ground with her back against the bed and pulls out her recently discovered book. She opens it and begins reading to pass the time.

The book you found is locked shut by a brass clasp. If you want to try opening in, you can make Thieve's tools check, or make a dexterity check.

Caelynn fiddles with the clasp, trying to get it open.

Dexterity: 15

Despite your best effort, it remains sealed. You could try breaking the clasp with strength check if you want.

Strength: 6

Frustrated with her failed attempts, she passes the book over to Oak. "You think you could try opening the clasp? I can't quite get it."