Hallowed Halls (Part 2)

The night is near freezing and it's not even half over yet. The backup has been gathered rather hastily from whoever happened to be available at this hour from the guild. Ahead of the majority of you is a small and somewhat run-down house that could have been overlooked really even in its dilapidated state. Inside one of the windows however is a piece of paper that reads 'SEND BACKUP', in rather urgent lettering.

The cleric of Vardama who has been standing guard outside this house the whole time has explained that a group of adventurers were sent in earlier in the evening to cleanse the house of its haunting with holy water and incense and that the paper in the window is from one of those adventures. Why? Unknown. Also unknown is how much of the job they've gotten done so far, and how safe it is to be inside the house. It is suspected though, that once you enter, you'll be locked inside. Sounds like a Variday night.

Munch has two major skill sets: break things, and hurt people. Skills he is more than happy to unleash upon others. "How long they been in there, how long the sign been up, and who in there's a friendly?" The golem considers. "Or at least was friendly before getting possessed or whatever?"

Patch is groggy eyed and cold, her cloak drawn tight about her as she was roused for this event. "I'm with Munch. This sounds bad if we have rely on a second string." she mentions and lets out a soft sigh. "Any information can help us find a solution. Or, well. Possession is not my realm of expertise." she admits, shrugging.

Slix was making a run to the guild hall during her night shift at the TarRaCe. So as luck would have it, the hasty backup was her getting yanked along for this endeavor.

An illusion of a human woman in slacks and red suspenders fades away to reveal a rust red and white egalrin woman in more robes than normal and tons of colorful ribbons on her wings. She rolls her shoulders after getting the explanation. A bit worried from the fact that backup is needed. "Well if they need backup that bad, we prolly shouldn't dally, yeah?" she croons, making a warding gesture with a twist of a few fingers towards the elf of the group and poking her shoulder.

An errant wind passes by them.

Another hand pulls out a wand from within the robes, gives it a twirl, and boops her beak with it, the same gale passing by.

GAME: Slixvah used a Wand of Mage Armor.
GAME: Patch rolls Knowledge/religion: (20)+9: 29

"There's Adventurers in there. Names of... Dolan, Schara, Verna, and Zyla. They've been in there a few hours so I assume that they've got at least some of the cleansing done, but we can't be sure." The priest shifts from foot to foot. "Also I can't go in with you. The house won't allow it. So I offer you the same blessing I offered to them and hope that you have better luck."

Munch buzzes softly. "'House won't allow it'? Never listened much to what houses allow, but you do you." He glances to the others. "Guess I'll take point. Step back if we run across anything that needs other than violence, yeah? I'm ready to go." He says, pulling the massive axe, Reaver, from his back.

Patch taps her chin. "So. I know the holy water and incense should protect anyone near them in a room from being possessed. The possessed change in manners. Act different. I think I could recognize one who's under such control." listing some of her factoids. Her mind is a web of information and late night reading. "I'm no holy woman, so don't be thinking I can just magic it away, but... let's take this blessing and give it a go, huh?" looking about the others, and then to Slixvah. "Aww, I know this magic. Don't I?"

Slixvah's crest feather pops up with a 'boing'. "Scha-scha? Awh shieeeee-..." An axe is deployed. She glances to it before clacking her beak closed. "Well, I ain't got no incense, common sense, nor blessed spritz. Good ta know 'case we find some ditz with the glitz for this sitch."

She tilts her head at Patch. "... you do?"

The witch shakes her head. "Anywho. Bless this bird, oh harper divine."

The cleric blesses you, and then you head into the house through the front door. It opens easily enough, and once you're inside it closes with a rough and defined click that suggests finality. You can smell the scent of incense thick in the air.

Inside one of the rooms of the manor the scent of incense is even stronger, where the request for reinforcements had been placed at a window. A large suit of armor not surprising to find in such a building was present, or it seemed like it, before they moved back. "Oh, you are living people and not figments of thought conjured by myself or whatever magic is on this place, I hope?" They ask in a low, somewhat staticky voice. "I could be back down unconscious with everyone else, and this is just some dream while I refuse to wake up properly." The Artificer rambles.

Munch buzzes softly and shrugs. "Would we know if we are? Best act like we're real. If we're a dream, hurts nothing, and if we're real, right thing to do, yeah? So, what happened, best you can remember?"

"Well, now I know it's really Schara." Patch says to the group, grinning as Munch's words cause a perplexed glance.

"I was meaning your 'mojo', Slix." Patch laughs, the Egalrin's puzzled expression read with a grin. "Sorry, crammed that in there without context. I just know 'of' some possession stuff. Never dabbled." her glance about the room, and note of pungent smell met with a wrinkle of nose. Munch had already asked the important question, an ear of Patch's now seeming to wait for answer.

Slix rubs at her beak at the incense, though that doesn't stop her sighing a breath of relief at the sight of the armor. "Eyyy, Scha-Scha!" she cheers. "We're alive! I hope. Lemme just uh-" she puts a hand on her wrist, waits, then bobs her head in confirmation, "-yeah! We livin'!"

A glance to given to Patch, a beat of understanding crossing her features as she chuckles and elbows the elf in the side. "'twas the same, yes."

"Well, even if you are figments of my imagination, it is better than being lonely and stuck in a house filled with ghosts all by myself. At least unless you are whatever is behind dragging those spirits out of the underworld downstairs, in which case, it could be incredibly bad to interact with you." They continue rambling. "After all, that powerful cleric just dropped like a rock, unless she was in on it and that's why they let her in."

Munch nods slowly. "So being real, downstairs is the place to go, and if fake, is the place we came from and should return to?"

"I wonder if we can carry incense and holy water with us?" Patch wonders aloud to, looking between the group. "Either way, I shall follow. Someone lead, and we will see what this mess is about. So far I understand is there is a basement, and danger." agreeing with Munch.

Slix blinks at Schara. Can egalrin blanch? Not really, but the way her feathers press down tight against her face. "... tellin' me Verna just went 'thunk'? Uhhh..."

She looks back to the closed front door. Buries her face in her hands. Exhales.

Then perks right back up. "Okay! I'm fucked anyways, so lets go! Lets take whatever we can like Patch said and bring it with us! Downstairs to save some folks!"

You head then to the basement. There are three unconscious bodies on the floor at the foot of the stairs leading you to this location, and the room itself is practically stuffed with ghosts. People who are only partially visible dressed in old-fashioned clothing milling about the space completely unaware of you and of one another. In their midst is some sort of red-glowing... gate? A rend in the air which looks like a wound to your senses.

GAME: Patch rolls knowledge/arcana: (8)+11: 19

Munch stares for a few moments. "....huh. Not sure what I was expecting, but this ain't it. Pretty sure could make that break worse, but not to clear on how to make it better? What's keeping it open? Hard to see with all the 'people' in the way."

"Woah." Patch says. It's all she says for a brief moment, eyes seizing on that 'gate'. A hand grips at the railing, leaning forward just to make sure her eyes are right. "Aww, that's not good." her glance suddenly to Slixvah. "That's a rift into the Gray Halls! It's blocked by Alexandria's barrier, but it's there!"

GAME: Slixvah rolls knowledge/the planes: (6)+9: 15
GAME: Slixvah rolls knowledge/the planes: (6)+9: 15
GAME: Schara rolls knowledge/arcana: (16)+9: 25
GAME: Munch rolls knowledge/arcana: (4)+10: 14
GAME: Munch rolls knowledge/the planes: (20)+6: 26
GAME: Munch rolls perception: (12)+21: 33

After gathering what they could of incense and other preparation items that were still upstairs, Slix descends with the others, a hand held in front of her chest with a half formed handshape. Wings are tight, steps are tepid. And then...

Her bewilderment of the sight before her is caught out by Patch's information. "... and the barrier is keeping souls from going in."

Her gaze flicks down. "... let's... secure the living first. Just a second..."

Feathers on her wings unfurl and snake forth, wrapping around one of the unconscious bodies as she attempts to remove them from the undeathly concentrated area.

"I'm sorry, they all passed out and I didn't know what to do, and I didn't want to pass out and I'm still not sure if I'm not passed out or not." Schara explains as they return to the room, the artificer peeking behind the stairwell. "Verna said it was a gate to the gray halls. It must have been here for some time, since the wards on the city are causing problems. We might be able to fix it, but the ghosts upstairs tried to hurt us, and there are a lot more down here."

Munch peers at the red rift, magicite eyes shifting from green to blue, before blinking with a click. "Huh. Looks like the gate is... natural, for lack of a better word. Some places the veil between planes is extra thin. Ghosts going back and forth wore a hole in the veil, but now they're stuck. Have some ideas to... 'patch' the veil... but the ghosts on this side would still be stuck." He glances to the others. "Maybe head back up for the moment. Not too worried about -a- ghost, but kinda outnumbered if they notice us."

"I'm out of my field. I'll take any and all suggestions." Patch says, watching the ghosts for a time, but eventually was left nodding by Munch's words. "It's strange, and unnatural." a sigh following her words. "And partly the city's doing." taking a few steps back up the staircase. "So, where is the 'possessed' one?"

Slix is busy pulling the rest of the bodies up, her efforts not straining her much as her unnatural feathers do the heavy lifting. "I'm no fan of jumping into a sea of ghosts," she mentions, Verna getting placed at the top of the stairs. "Buuuut. I know some mojo that can let me see allll the ghosties, if we need to get by them and get to that gate."

A glance to Munch, then she shrugs. "I mean, okay, if you want to head back up. But I might be able to get us closer if we wanna risk the biscuit."

Something said catches up to her. "... possessed one?" Slix echoes. "Someone's possessed in tha house?"

GAME: Slixvah rolls knowledge/religion: (13)+6: 19
GAME: Patch rolls knowledge/religion: (6)+9: 15

Slix, as the party is figuring things out, mentions: "Yeah so, the stuff with the holy water and incense keeps ghosts from gettin' in a room. Which also means ya ain't gettin' possessed. Tough cookie down here. Also means if we lead tha' ghosties out, well... chaos."

And, she adds, "'tis a ritual ta ward a room, takes time."

"So we've trapped them down here." Patch says awkwardly to the others after Slix speaks. "They can't go upward, and can't go through the gate. No wonder they were mad. They're all cramped and stuck." a furrow of brow forming as she looks to Slixvah with a shrug. "What would purifying their location do to /them/?" sighing. "No ideas. Not yet. Just more questions."

"We got the ghosts out of some of the rooms up here already, it took less than a minute, but people were getting hurt in the process." Schara warns. "I'm not sure where they went when they vanished, they just, vanished."

"I don't know if there would be enough time to do it down there if we tried it, or where they would go, like Slixvah said. I feel like we should go and tell the people who put these wards up, but I don't know if we can leave, or find anyone involved with these wards."

Munch nods. "I'm generally okay with chaos, but ghost swarm unleashed isn't my idea of fun." He considers. "Can the city barrier be lifted? Bypassed? i assume not as that would be bad security, but I don't know much about it."

"The ghosts we removed upstairs didn't vanish like I thought. They just, shifted down here it seems. I see a few, the ones that attacked Zyla upstairs." Schara notes after peering further down, nearly falling over in the process. "If we did the same ritual here, where would they go?"

Slix rubs her face. "No, I don't think so, Munch. It's super strong. I ain't that strong." A nod to Schara, then a sigh. "... you ever seen what happens if you trap water in a pipe? And keep adding more water? Boom. Somethin's gonna crack and we'll be at ground zero of an ectoplasmic eruption of trapped souls."

Hands on her hips, she taps her taloned foot. Options are limited. Resources are meh, and the strongest person for this- a glance to the unconscious mourner- is out. The bird shakes her head and rattles her fingers. "Aight. I'm just going to try this ta see if we can see somethin' we can't."

Her hands turn into circle shapes. "I pys tiwh ym tiltel eey..." she intones as her eyes take on a translucent film.

GAME: Slixvah casts See Invisibility. Caster Level: 6 DC: 17

Slixvah sighs, pulling down her 'glasses' hands. "Yeeeeeeah. That room is packed wall to wall, no way through. The empty spots are filled with more ghosts. It's just more ghosts. Oops, all ghosts. That should be a breakfast food. I'm rambling, nerves, sorry, it's just helluva lotta spookies down there."

Munch considers. "So... the ghosts are trapped. The hole is there, but blocked, so no more ghosts are crossing over. We can't safely get into the room to do the ritual, and would be bad even if we did." He buzzes softly. "What if... we burn down the house, pave over to top, build a nice memorial, and just leave the room full of ghosts trapped forever buried underground where no one will disturb it?"

Unnoticed to Munch, one of the ghosts is looking at him. Intently.

Munch says, "....I'm not saying it's a -good- plan."

Patch sighs at Munch's words. "It's a chaotic plan, part of me appreciates it. The other part? What if it were you being trapped?" she asks, crossing her arms after.

To Slixvah, Patch grins. "Oh, a lot of them? I, perhaps we should try reason?" shrugging "Or, we find a way to keep them contained under travel?" throwing noodles at the wall. An important thing she learned.

Munch nods to Patch. "Like, have all the ghosts climb into a bag of holding, close the bag, walk out of the city, open the bag?" He considers. "Do bags of holding still work in the city? I don't own one."

"I don't want to just get rid of them though, and not just because I don't know what that would do to the other three with me." Schara offers, stepping back to no longer teeter on the edge. "We should, at least try to talk first, shouldn't we? Maybe they can explain what's going on?"

Slixvah stares at Munch. "... you got a screw loose in there or somethin'?" she bluntly asks, not entertaining that idea.

She meets gaze with Patch, then gives a nervous smile back as she nods with Schara. "Y.. eah. Guess we can talk wit' 'em. Just remember ta be respectful."

More staring at Munch. "... honey. Sweetie. Bless your heart. Yes, let's take the ghosts already shoved in one tight spot into another, even tighter spot," she intones as dryly as possible. "That is a joke."

Munch blinks innocently, and taps his skull. "No screws, they wouldn't survive the weapon grade acid."

GAME: Munch rolls will: (13)+11: 24

The ghost that was giving Munch the hairy eyeball approaches him and its body goes less corporal as their two forms try to occupy the same space. Several other ghosts take note of this phenomenon and then the ghost is shunted aside. It wanders away without trying anything further, leaving Munch with the sensation of having touched death briefly, and the realization that there are now several ghosts watching him perspectively.

Munch blinks with a snap, rather than the usual click, magicite eyes shifting to orange as the ghost tries to do....something. "That... that sort of thing is why I suggested moving upstairs."

Slixvah just side eyes Munch before shaking her head and stepping forward on the stairs. Her throat bobs, and she taps her forehead with a finger, dragging it down over her beak and resting it over her heart. A finger curls around a white thread that pulls out from her, and she gives it a little tug. "Ibg adnm eroh," she intones in an incantation.

The witch quietly steps down the stairs, goes to her knees, then pulls out a tiny, cleaned skull of a rat.

Another glance to Munch as she sees a ghost attempt to meld into his body. And it leaves. A sigh of relief as she continues.

The skull is held between both hands, and her eyes flutter half closed. "Lingering spirits, trapped upon this mortal realm. We knew not of your imprisonment to the confines of this tear. And for that, we apologize for making you suffer more. Please, allow us passage to see the tear into the Halls that you so desperately wish to return to. The blessing of Vardama is upon us, and it is our hope to sanctify your return into a more restful peace."

GAME: Slixvah casts Heroism. Caster Level: 6 DC: 18
GAME: Slixvah rolls bird diplomacy+2+2: aliased to diplomacy+3+3+2+2: (1)+8+3+3+2+2: 19 (EPIC FAIL)

-TBC