Ghosts of Gauntcliff, Chapter 3

[Brock Marsh Runoff]

Dorgio shakes his head at the poem. "What is it meaning? It is sounding like gibberish to me."

Any of you... did you have similar nightmares?

Dorgio blinks hard, remembering a strange event from the night before. "I had no nightmares, but in the middle of the night, I thought I was hearing scratching noises at my window. I could have been swearing I'd closed it before I took to bed, but it was open when I examined it. I had thought that in my weariness, I'd misremembered shutting the window, but perhaps not."

"Me bein' a woman was... relevant to the nature of the attack, aye.

Having already come to a similar conclusion, Dorgio maintains his course of silence on that particular topic, though it brings to mind the killings perpetrated by Matyr, and the ways he'd mutilated the women who caught his eye.

"Perhaps we should be examining the dead girl once more...I'd thought we might travel to the temple and purge the place of the spectre there, but this business with the murdered girl and Everline seems to be more pressing. Unless...could there be any connection?"

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"Language aside, 'tseems ta me but one more tale of the bonny hero, gone out ta slay a fearsome beast," Everline says with a shrug. "A'fore we all go harin' off one way or another - can you lads fix me? I really don' wanna feel like this if that ogre returns fer me in dreams t'nigh'. Truth be tole, I'd rather no face 'im in dreams again, so if you could help me with that an all, that'd be just super."

[Ail]

Eustace looks to Juergin perplexed as the young man addesses him.

"Heh? Where did that just come from, Juergin? I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings, I just don't remember treating you badly, but I will try try to remember next time." He ends with a smile to the lad.

But as he turns to Everline, he says

"I will retire to meditate at noon, Everline. Perhaps then I will have something more useful to give you. Right now, all I can do is try some generic healing to see if there are wounds I can treat somehow... or the hypnosis experience. In any event, a healing prayer won't harm you for sure, so here goes."

Eustace casts Detect Magic on Everline, to detect if there was some magical effect still lingering.

Then, he goes for straight healing.
He casts Healing Lorecall first, then follows with Cure Moderate Wounds, healing one of these three conditions if it apparent Everline may be in one of these: dazed, dazzled, fatigued.

Healing roll: 2d8 + 5 + 4 (healing belt) = 19
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3350920/

[ewancummins]

Everline is not physically injured in any way that Eustace can see.
The healing magic seems to have no effect on her.

There is a certain air of ennervation about the the girl, as if something had sucked a piece of the life energy from her core.


Using his magic, Eustace discovers (aside from the expected auras of a few minor magic items) a film hung about her, like cobwebs spun from shadows. The closest thing to this, in his experience, is the magical residue left on folk bewitched by hags. Even that isn't a good match. Eustace sees no sign that the girl is currently under any sort of mind-controlling enchantment. Whatever happened, he seems to be looking at the after effects.

[PathOfDreams]

Having his fill of fine supper and a fair amount of liquor and wine the night prior, Petrie ignores his sense's aptitude to pick out the smell of a hearty breakfast. Instead, he spends time in the morning to himself.

His room is pleasantly warm when he rises from his bed. The light pouring through the open curtains brings him instant energy. He does not shirk it. Petrie tends to unpacking some of his belongings.

He comes across his diving gear; a firm, wide thong made of sealskin to tie back his thick mane, his diving shorts and belt tailored slim to avoid drag and the danger of catching on an outcropping or being used as a hold for some beast of the depths. Next to those he lays out on the bed a pair of sheaths complete with seven inch blades, one constructed of a shard of extra thick shell, the other of volcanic rock; both are rudimentary and unadorned but carry edges finer than the that acheived from the best of swordsmiths; edges only nature can provide. As he inspects their surfaces, he notices a long fracture along a portion of the shell knife. He lays the blade along his palm and swiftly flips it toward the floor a few feet from his own. The blade, while not made for flying, tumbles end over end in a crude fashion. Just as he had expected, it caromed off the floor with a clatter and snapped the shell of a blade along the fracture. He stoops to gather it for inspection. The majority of the blade was intact, nearly, though now two inches shorter and left with a gnarly odd point due to the concoidial fracturing. Humph... 'tis still a cutting edge.

He proceeds to lay out these items along with his diving goggles in an orderly arrangement. Perhaps after today's excursion back the abbey wull not be so long; maybe ther'll be time for some diving before dusk. He reassures himself.

Petrie spends another good hour washing and dressing into his change of clothes, and preparing his leather armor and blades for departure. After he is content that he would be ready at a moments notice, he straps his dagger belt on and wanders from his guest quarters to attend to his gut's hollars for sustenance; he lets his nose lead the way.

[ewancummins]

Petrie follows the scent of cooking food to the kitchens, where he finds a half dozen servants preparing a hash of fried sausage, eggs, and potatoes. It looks like enough food to feed a dozen hungry men.

The youngest cook, a pudgy man in his twenties, asks Petrie-
"Can we make you anything , sir?"

[PathOfDreams]

Surprised to be addressed in such a warm manner, Petrie stammers a bit, "Uh, uhm... uh please, I wouldn't mind some fresh bread to go with that there you're makin'."

He stands for a second taking in the smells and sights and addresses the young cook again, "Uh... you wouldn't 'appen to 'ave some sort of fruit too would ya? And please, call me Petrie. I aren't much for formalities my friend. And besides, you lot should be gettin' to know me well before my ship sails from these shores."

[Ail]

"I can't understand!"

Eustace exclaims as he casts the orison for detecting magic.

"It's almost like a witch, but not quite. And yet..."


He lays his head in his hands as he understands. She's been corrupted, and the entity has left., he thinks to himself. With his shoulders slumping down, he addresses Everline, downcast.


"I will not be able to restore your confidence, Everline. Something foul has touched and corrupted you, and it's not in my abilities to undo. All I can do is offer some succour, some psychological strengthening, I hope. If you will let me, that is. At your convenience, I will ask the others to leave us alone for a while, and see what can be done."

[ewancummins]

kitchen and bakery

Surprised to be addressed in such a warm manner, Petrie stammers a bit, "Uh, uhm... uh please, I wouldn't mind some fresh bread to go with that there you're makin'."

He stands for a second taking in the smells and sights and addresses the young cook again, "Uh... you wouldn't 'appen to 'ave some sort of fruit too would ya? And please, call me Petrie. I aren't much for formalities my friend. And besides, you lot should be gettin' to know me well before my ship sails from these shores."

The pudgy man answers- ''Of course we have some fruit, Petrie. Fresh oranges will do? Would you like a glass of new wine , or maybe some goat milk?"

While he talks, he dishes up a plate of steaming hot hash for Petrie. "This is what the servants eat. We need a lot of energy for our work."

A tall, rawboned woman pulls a fat loaf of fresh bread from and oven and slices it with a long knife.

[PathOfDreams]

Petrie waits patiently for the platter of steaming hash, though by now, in such close proximity, he can already taste it in the humid kitchen air. What a sight! He thinks to himself with exhuberation. Despite whatever potential threat lies under the abbey ruins, this vacation is not disappointing.

Before his plate is ready, he engages the rotund cook once more, "Tell me friend... you all seem the lot to enjoy a rowdy raucous after your duties are complete, what say the next time you all gather for a bit of libation, you'll gather me as well then? The other guests are quite the proper bunch, a bit too proper for my taste. Myself, I'm a working lad and I'd be best off puttin' in with other workin' lads and lasses. What do ya say then? Perhaps we could tell tall tales and I wull treat ya all to some hard peat whisky from my home in Forlorn."

Petrie graciously accepts his plate when it is offered. "I hadn't caught your name friend, what do your friends call ya?"

He thanks the the round man and the crew for their generosity and takes his leave. Wandering as he often does, he seeks a peaceful place to break his fast.

[ewancummins]

The pudgy cook gave his name as Hodgins. Hodgins told Petrie that the servants on the day shift would get together in the evening for card games and a light meal. Petrie is invited, of course!

Now, Petrie has found a quiet spot to eat, in one of the four courtyard gardens of the chateau. Creeping ivy clings to the four walls that rise about him. The angle of the morning sun leaves that garden mostly shaded, with one corner illuminated. The air in the garden court is still, but cool and fresh. Clear water trickles through an articicial stream lined with lacy flowers. A low tree with fat red fruit grows in the middle of the square.
Petrie may sit on one of the stone benches, or on the soft ground, as he pleases.

Not long after he begins his meal, Petrie hears a soft tuneless whistle. A plump, child-sized figure enters from the hall. The strange liitle fellow is dressed in a dirt-stained apron and simple clothes. His big hairy feet are bare, and he wiggles his toes in the dirt and grass as he tramps about the square. Under his right arm, he carries a basket.

"Hullo my lovelies." He begins trimming one of the shrubs, and then stops. Slowly, he turns to face Petrie.

"Oh. Good morning, sir. Didn't see you there. "

[Ken of Ghastria]

Primeiro listens to the conversation with growing concern and a slight degree of frustration, as the topic takes a turn into the metaphysical, with which the young man has little experience.

Once he makes sure that the servant who summoned them to breakfast has left, he says, "Mademoiselle Vaughn, I confess that I do not understand what has happened, but I shall do my best to find out what has transpired and, if it is within my power, help you find vengeance." He looks at the others in the room and says, "This is little more I can do here. I shall speak to our host. Ezra forbid he have breakfast alone. And yes, I shall be discreet. I would certainly like to know whether the maid who died also breathed in the vapors of the notorious 'waters,' however."

With a bow to Everline, he leaves and makes his way upstairs to join Denys, as requested.

[ewancummins]

the terrace

The serving-man leads Primeiro upstairs, and out onto an open terrace. Denys, dressed in a rose colored robe and curled toe slippers, is seated at a folding table near the edge of the terrace's iron rail. Several tables and chairs of similar make rest further down the rail, folded flat.

The big man stands as Primeiro approaches.

"Good morning to you, Monsiuer! Would you care for some tea?"

With the sun directly at his back, Denys' loosely dressed red hair and long sideburns look like a halo of fire. He shifts his stance, and the illusion vanishes.

[Brock Marsh Runoff]

Dorgio's mouth twists into a frown when he hears Eustace's proclamation. "Corruption? Nine hells...I've seen such things before. Years ago, a companion, an elven knight, was afflicted with such a thing by the spectre of a long-dead witch. It was beyond my power to heal, and still is, I am fearing."

He stands, his face a mixture of worry and frustration, "I'll be leaving the two of you alone. If I can think of a remedy, you will be the first to be knowing." With that, he goes to take his breakfast, unsure if he'll be in the mood to eat.

[RocEter]

While Thom preformed his morning ritual consisting of his wig, cover up and the like, he could hear the conversation within Everline's room but couldn't make out what it was all about. Still Thom had taken his normal allotted time to complete his ritual, no need for mistakes, Once that is finished he continues with getting dressed. Looking in his wardrobe he decides to go with something a lot less formal, he grabs a high collared drab gray tunic, black trousers and a good pair of tough brown leather boots with a good solid sole. Tucking his trousers into his boots, he stomps both his feet on the floor one after another for good measure.

Once dressed he steps out in the hall and spies Dorigio coming from Everline's room. He catches up to Dorgio "I take Everline will be taking her breakfast in her quarters this morning?" Thom says, in a indirect way of asking what is wrong with her.