Charles Plemons' Blog

Game summary for March 28, 2013, Carrion Crown Adventure Path campaign, The Haunting of Harrowstone adventure; PCs included Amras Amandill (half-elf inquisitor), Dinendal Ironbow (elf ranger), Sealamin Laughshield (gnome fighter), and Stoella Carter (human evoker).

The group, after hours of research, decided to explore some more of the prison.  They discovered stairs leading down, which were blocked, and stairs leading up, which they walked away from.  They went into the old prison infirmary where they were startled by the sudden appearance of a poltergeist!  Everyone but Amras ran off in fear.  He instead stood his ground and vanquished it using numerous disrupt undead spells.  It was not without effort, however, because the spirit battered him with several medical supplies including smashing a beaker in his face!  Stoella, recovered from the fear, was able to help Amras in the end though with a well-placed force missile.

The party proceeded through a door out of the infirmary and found an old furnace room.  Amras noticed a haunt activating and pulled a haunt siphon, but the haunt was too strong for just one!  The haunt made the furnace seem to flare to life with licking flames and an evil iron face.  The flaming tongue shot forth and charred Amras to within an inch of life.  His unconscious smoldering form collapsed nearly lifeless onto the floor.  Thinking quickly, Dinendal grabbed Amras’ other haunt siphon off his belt and disrupted the furnace haunt!  Stoella spent some time trickling potions of cure light wounds down what remained of Amras’ throat while Dinendal discovered charred human remains within the furnace.  After Amras returned to consciousness, Stoella poured holy water over the bones which seemed to lift the oppressive force of the haunt from the room!

The group consulted their map and went to investigate a steel door they had yet to open.  Unable to get through, they went outside and peeked in through a barred window.  Within were numerous items labeled with little tags.  Stoella was able to extract a small pouch using mage hand and discovered it filled with a dozen masterwork shuriken which she saved for Gnok.

The group went back into the old training room and peered into the hole leading into darkness.  Amras cast light on a copper coin and dropped it down the hole.  It splashed into a not terribly deep pool of water approximately twenty feet down.  From what they could tell, the hole opens up into a larger cavern.

Faced with the options of exploring the second level of the prison or delving underneath, the party decided to instead return to town and rest.  They plan to then meet with Alendru Ghoroven at the Unfurling Scroll and see if he has any magic items that might let them through the steel door they discovered earlier.

Game summary for March 21, 2013, Carrion Crown Adventure Path campaign, The Haunting of Harrowstone adventure; PCs included Amras Amandill (half-elf inquisitor), Dinendal Ironbow (elf ranger), Gnok Thatek (dwarf monk), and Stoella Carter (human evoker).

The team quickly left the scene of the vandalized statue and sought to do research at the town hall.  Therein they offended Councilman Muricar and were run off.  They then had brunch at The Laughing Demon tavern.  Stoella then went to visit Father Grimburrow at the temple of Pharasma but was unable to secure access to the church’s library.  The team then learned through Kendra of The Unfurling Scroll magic shop and school.  They went and met Alendru Ghoroven, the proprietor of the establishment, who agreed to rent out his library for 10 gold pieces a day.  The team spent some time research and found some hints but nothing solid and conclusive.  The group spoke a few minutes with young Pevrin Elkarid at the posting pole and found he was posting about the vandalism.

The party traveled back up the hill to Harrowstone Prison and began searching for the stairway down.  They discovered a number of offices filled with old prison records as well as one containing a very sturdy safe.  They then found an auditorium of some sort and triggered a cold spot haunt!  The party was badly injured by the netherworld cold but made it to the other side and found a massive room partially collapsed by fire.  Stoella went to check out a large opening in the floor and was attacked by a trio of flaming skulls!  The skulls injured her and nearly killed Dinendal.  Gnok and Amras rushed to their aid while Stoella blew one up with a force missile.  She was burned in the process and her last act was hitting another skull with a second force missile.  Amras and Gnok moved in and fought the skulls briefly until Gnok was able to shatter them with his impressive unarmed combat skills.

Battered and nearly depleted of resources, the group crawled out the side wall of the prison and went back in the front door.  They spent the next five hours organizing the papers in the office and another hour researching.  Stoella was very confident the answers they seek are within the papers, but it is going to take more time to uncover them.

Game summary for March 14, 2013, Carrion Crown Adventure Path campaign, The Haunting of Harrowstone adventure; PCs included Amras Amandill (half-elf inquisitor), Dinendal Ironbow (elf ranger), Gnok Thatek (dwarf monk), Sealamin Laughshield (gnome fighter), and Stoella Carter (human evoker).

The group fought violently against the grappling manacles that had pinned Amras!  The team hit with weapons, and Stoella used spells.  Nothing seemed to harm the steel chain!  The group tried to pull the chains off, but the manacles had handcuffed themselves to Amras’ wrists!  Dinendal uncorked a haunt siphon, which seemed to have no effect so he dumped his holy water on Amras and the chain!  Other than making it momentarily harder for Amras to breathe, being both drowned and constricted, the water had no effect.  Sealamin dragged Amras out into the hall in case it was a localized event.  Finally, Gnok used his monk training to snap the chain!  Amras was released but was still cuffed on each wrist.  With no one capable of picking a lock, he had to drag the dangling chains around.

The team went north through the prison and found a laundry room.  Within moments a straitjacket flew into the air and attacked.  It pummeled Gnok unconscious in seconds and wrapped itself around Sealamin, trying to squeeze the life from him!  Stoella had hit it with burning hands while Amras and Dinendal used their swords on it.  Sealamin drew forth a dagger and viciously cut into the attacking apparel as well.  Finally, Stoella brought it down with a force missile.

The team spent a few moments resting while Amras cast cure light wounds and used charges from his wand of the same.  They then opened another door to some kind of workshop.  Within they found an old skeletal corpse from which rose the spirit of the warden’s wife!  She asked if the party were the new guards, to which they answered yes.  She charged them with cleansing the prison of the evil presences she could feel below.  She suspected the five presences belonged to the most notorious of the Harrowstone prisoners:  Father Charlatan, the Lopper, the Mosswater Marauder, the Piper of Illmarsh, and the Splatter Man.  She told them there may be items tied to the prisoners she or they may be able to use to defeat them.  The spirit revealed that a man the party assumes was Professor Lorrimor was murdered by dark robed men who spoke in whispers and that the same men stole away the spirit of her husband.  He was the only force keeping the powerful evil of Harrowstone contained.  She indicated the stairs down were likely blocked but there was a pit or tunnel down into the depths.

Hearing all this, Stoella suggested they return to town and research the five prisoners.  The got back shortly before 1:00 a.m. and went to sleep.  The next morning they searched and found that Lorrimor’s books and papers held nothing on the prisoners.  Later that morning, they heard a commotion out in the streets.  They discovered that someone had painted a large “V” on the statue of Warden Hawkran in blood overnight.  They discussed that it could be representative of the number five and realized there were five of them and the townsfolk were beginning to whisper.  They party overheard snatches of the conversation, including mention of what a scene the party made at the professor’s funeral the day before.

Game summary for March 7, 2013, Carrion Crown Adventure Path campaign, The Haunting of Harrowstone adventure; PCs included Amras Amandill (half-elf inquisitor), Dinendal Ironbow (elf ranger), Gnok Thatek (dwarf monk), Sealamin Laughshield (gnome fighter), and Stoella Carter (human evoker).

The party discovered a thunderstorm was blowing in, so they waited about 35 minutes for it to pass through before travelling to Harrowstone.  They arrived in a slight rain shortly before midnight.  As they passed through the gate, Gnok was overcome with a feeling of claustrophobia and the sense of burning.  He shook it off and found he was the only one to experience the sensation.  Gnok and Dinendal then explored what Sealamin determined to be the warden’s house.  After a few minutes, Dinendal was staggered by falling bits of ceiling.  Gnok got him to safety before the entire house collapsed.

The group then explored the front of the building and found strange markings and symbols around the foundation.  Amras spent some time transcribing some of the symbols onto the bottom of his cooking pot using chalk.

After looking around for a few minutes, the group entered the prison.  Once inside, they found a room where the images of screaming burned prisoners came shrieking out of the doorways!  The door they entered slammed shut and was resistant to all attempts to open.  They discovered the doors were not locked but would not budge.  Finally, Amras figured out they were dealing with haunts and performed a ritual involving sprinkling holy water about.  This seemed to disrupt the hold on the doors.

The group moved further into the prison and found a web-shrouded chapel filled with giant crab spiders!  Amras charged in and found himself poisoned after striking one spider dead!  The team moved in quickly, with Stoella using force missile, Dinendal firing arrows, and Sealamin swinging his sword.  In short order, the spiders were eliminated.  They then discovered a cabinet filled with holy water, a scroll, and a wand.

Next the team moved down the hall and found a large room filled with broken benches, rotting rope, and chains.  Suddenly, a pair of manacles slithered across the floor and clamped down on Amras’ arms!  The team attacked the chain but found the strong steel somewhat resistant to their attacks.  The manacles wrapped all about Amras and pinned him to the floor!