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.
