Zer-wedula nods and smiles and follows the woman, wand in hand.

After a few seconds of cowering in fear, Cat gets up to follow Zer, ready to blow the undead to pieces.

  Heeding Glum's advice, that was echoed by others, Zer-wedula stays out of her way.  She heads downstairs and out of sight.  The group takes a few seconds to recover their wits, then quickly follow.  She is easy to follow as she makes no pretense of hiding and carries on a monologue.  And as long as you don't get in her way, she will respond to questions.  Though her answers tend to be short, angry and derogatory toward Aldern.

Madam, where is Aldern?
he is here, downstairs

Let us help you (from various people)
I will find him and I will rip his (various appendages) off and (do creative and painful things with them).  You get the impression she responds to specifics and this is too general to garner a useful response.

   You follow her down the stairs and hear from down below doors being smashed open.  As you get to the Entrance Hall (with the stuffed manticore), you notice the curtains and front door are closed, even though you left them open, the door across from the stairs is closed, but the door to the right hangs open.  This cozy-looking drawing room is marred by the unnatural dampness and the thick sheets of mold that cling to the curtains closed over the southern window.  You can easily hear Iesha from the right, so you head that way.  As you pass by the manticore, Glum suddenly focuses on the stuffed monster and dodges as if he is being attacked...(PM to Glum)[Private to Glum: You don't notice the smell of burning as the manticore lurches to sudden life, its face shifting to resemble that of Cyralie Foxglove and its fur erupting into flame. Its burning tail strikes forward in an attempt to burn you, but even flat-footed, Glum is too hard to hit and it misses.  Then it returns to normal.  You notice no scorch marks and the burning smell vanishes in an instant.]...but the rest of you see nothing.  It is all over in an instant as you hear another door being smashed open and Iesha falls silent.
insert Glums response here

   You continue the chase down a short hall with closed doors on each side.  A rather gruesome antique —what appears to be a mummified monkey head— hangs on the northern wall here. A bellpull extends from the monkey’s gaping mouth. A ratty throw rug partially obscures a foul stain of dark-colored mold on the floor.  The stain under the rug is about ten feet across, a swirling pattern of dark blue, sickly green, and black mold that grows in a spiral.  From just ahead you hear Iesha shriek a blood curdling sound, which once again causes the group (but this time, everybody failed their save) to cower in fear.  From ahead you hear Iesha yelling, "You jealous *&^&#%, we weren't doing anything wrong.  Why did you kill us?  I still loved you...", insert more ranting.  By the time you recover and approach the next door, the ranting has died down and you have just enough warning to get out of her way.
   The offending room is a library which features a pair of chairs, one of which lies on its side, set before a stone fireplace. Every available inch of wall space features floor-to-ceiling bookshelves filled with books, their spines riddled with mold. What once was a brightly colored scarf, its reds and golds contrasting sharply with the drab, moldy palette of the room, is torn to shreds by the fallen chair. A single book, open and face-down, sits on the floor between the chairs. A stone bookend, carved to look like a praying angel with butterfly wings, lies on its side in the fireplace itself.
   The room you are in is a dining room.  A large mahogany table surrounded by high-backed chairs sits in this room. The table is covered by a moldy white cloth, and a cobweb-choked chandelier hangs from the ceiling above. Twin fireplaces loom to the west, while to the east, a bank of stained glass windows obscures what could have been a breathtaking view of the Lost Coast. Each of the windows depicts a stylized monster rising out of smoke pouring from an intricate seven-sided box covered with spiky runes. From north to south are depicted a gnarled and tangled tree with an enraged face, an immense hook-beaked bird with sky-blue and gold plumage, a winged centaur-like creature with a lion’s lower body and a snarling woman’s upper torso, and a deep blue squid-like creature with evil red eyes.
[Private to Zer-wedula: The images in the glass are four exceptionally long-lived monsters, and each of these stained-glass windows depicts one of the four—a treant, a roc, a sphinx, and a kraken.  The runes on the box are necromancy-related, that the monsters seem not to be emerging from the boxes but rather being drawn in, and that perhaps their snarling visages aren’t of rage but of fear.  Thinking back to the previous windows, the ones in the music room (msg 78) were classic spell components for necromancy magic.  The 2 people depicted in the attic (msg 41) might be necromancers,  but that would be a guess.  Who they are/were still eludes your knowledge.]
   Iesha starts across the dining room toward the far door, "Honey, this hiding is pointless, I will find you and then we will see how you like to be strangled."

I will now give everyone a chance to respond.  Ask a couple of questions of Iesha if you want.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:28, Sun 01 Aug 2010.

Glum gasps and steps back from the manticore's burning sting.  "Cyralie", he said, "Rest or speak.  You belong in the afterlife, not here."

DM
There is no response.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:16, Mon 02 Aug 2010.

"Iesha, what did Aldern do to you?  Oh, and is he a wizard?" Zer-wedula asks, moving his wand from hand to hand.

DM
Zer-wedula's question actually provokes a response from Iesha.  "HIM a wizard?", and she laughs.  If she wasn't undead, she would probably have a pretty laugh...but now it comes out as a mockery, filled with bitterness, hate and contempt.  "He liked his amusements too much and was too lazy to put the effort in."
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:16, Mon 02 Aug 2010.

Talis asks, "What do you think about this house, do you know how we could destroy it?"

DM
"I wish I knew, I always got the feeling I as being watched all the time."
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:19, Mon 02 Aug 2010.

Cat doesn't enter the library. Mold. She isn't sure why, but mold bothers her. She lets the others question the undead woman. She turns as Glum speaks, "Glum?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:20, Mon 02 Aug 2010.

"Catessa?" Glum wondered what she wanted then added, "Oh, the manticore, I had a vision of it striking at me, but it was also Cyralie."

Tanrov asks Iesha this, " Besides killing you what did Aldern do to you to make you with such bitterness, anger and hatred? "

GM
"He was jealous and mean.  When he found me consulting with a carpenter about this horrid house, he thought we were having an affair and killed that poor man before he strangled me."
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:20, Mon 02 Aug 2010.

  She crosses the dining room with the odd stained glass windows and opens the next door.  She does so with an ease Tanrov would envy.  Evidently her undead state gives her great strength.  "Honey, I just want to welcome you home properly, like you used to after you would lock me in this place to protect my honor."
   This dusty room features a long couch, its cushions caked with white sheets of wispy fungus. The couch faces a stone fireplace with capering imps and birds carved along its mantel. Eddies of dust skitter along the warped floorboards as if caught up by a slight breeze, yet no wind is noticeable in the air.
[Private to Tanrov; Zer-wedula: You notice the dust seems to be being disturbed, as if an invisible person were pacing violently back and forth before the fireplace—footprints even manifest momentarily in the dust with each step before fading from view.
Do you want to do anything?]
   Iesha glances around, but sees nothing and continues on out the other door out of this room. A few feet down a long hallway Iesha opens another door and enters the room...and shrieks (this isn't the fear inducing shriek).  As you look in you see a simple washroom. An ancient metal washtub stands to the west, a ring of mildew crusting its inner surface. A strange, furtive scratching comes from inside the tub.  Iesha is looking at whatever is in the tub.  She turns and bursts through the other door into the next room and stops.  You carefully look into the tub, ready for whatever could scare a Revenant...and see a rat, a pathetic rat.  The creature is a horrific and pitiful sight, a rodent the size of a cat whose face and back are a dripping, pulsing mass of raw tumors and sores. The rat is blind; the tumors have grown over its eyes.  As you approach, it sniffs and begins to shriek and squeak in a frenzy, making a desperate attempt to clamber out of the tub.  But the smooth metal offers little purchase for it's claws.

"Rest in peace, wretched little beast" as he moves to get a better angle and throws a dagger at the thing.  Under his breathe, "I hate this house, it even tortures animals."

To hit 11
dam 15

Notice, I am NOT retrieving the dagger, I've got plenty more.

DM
The dagger hits and kills the rat outright.  It was alive (not undead) but obviously diseased and sick.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:32, Mon 02 Aug 2010.

Poor rat. If Cat can, she asks Iesha, "What's with all the mold?"

In reply to DM (msg #116):

Tanrov looking at the dust asks Zerwelda in a frightened voice if "he can see invisibility" and asks Glum if "he can see invisible undead."

"I can do it once a day", said Glum "... and Iesha's there already, but I'll try it now".

Glum casts Detect Undead.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:50, Tue 03 Aug 2010.

   Cat and Talis follow Iesha into the next room.  This oak-paneled chamber must have once been a breathtaking dancing parlor, but is a sad sight now—the floorboards are warped with moisture and the paneling scratched and splotchy with mold. A once-magnificent crystal chandelier lies smashed on the floor, while frescoes depicting dancing scenes have been ruined by rot and are barely recognizable.  A grand piano, its surface splotchy and keys warped, leans tiredly in the southeast corner.  Iesha just stands in the middle of the room, "I don't remember it being this bad" in a small voice.  She almost sounds vulnerable, almost...in a burst of energy she slams her fist down on the piano, >BAM<, and the piano collapses with a cacophonous ring.  Her strength is tremendous, perhaps up to giant levels.  She whirls gracefully and exits through the next door.  As Cat and Talis prepare to follow, the piano starts to play a catchy but discordant Varisian song and Talis begins to dance around the room in the arms of an invisible partner.  The dance is wildly spinning and Talis does not look like he wants to be there.
[Private to Talis Revain: You can see your partner: Iesha in all her vibrant
beauty.  You feel as if your strength is being drained, as from a long days work, -1 str.]
[Private to GM: nat 3 on 1st save, 20 on next save]

   Tanrov and Glum are in the previous room dealing with the dust.  Glum looks at the dust...1 round...[Private to Glum: yes, there is an undead presence there...]
round 2...[Private to Glum: The undead presence is so overwhelming, Glum is stunned for 1 round and the spell ends.  There was 1 undead, VERY powerful and all around...this is not a good thing...]after 2 rounds, Glum slumps, staggers and drops whatever he is holding.

   Zer-wedula is in the hall.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:03, Thu 05 Aug 2010.

Cat sighs, shaking her head, Evil, evil house. She goes to tackle Talis.

I have no clue what the modifiers for grappling are.

DM
Cat and Garious ride over and Garious easily jumps up on Talis and bowls him over onto the ground.  At this point, a ghostly Iesha appears, radiantly beautiful, but that lasts only a second.  Her beauty grows less as her neck darkens into an angry blue-and-black bruise, her eyes bulge and water, her mouth twists in pain, and her tongue protrudes as if she were being invisibly strangled. She shrieks in rage, and vanishes.
Everyone in the room made their will saves to avoid wisdom damage
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:24, Tue 03 Aug 2010.

Talis pets Garious, "Good boy, I owe you a beef bone, now quit licking my face and let me up."  Get up and ask Cat as he follows Iesha, "Hey where is everybody?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:25, Tue 03 Aug 2010.

In reply to DM (msg #121):

Tanrov will go over and give support to Glum and will pick up what was dropped.  If dust isn't disturbed anymore than we will go into the room where the others are.

Glum growls as he drops everything.  His hand goes to his Holy Symbol but then drops away.  He takes his stuff back from Tanrov and says, "Rest assured.  We are surrounded by a single extremely powerful undead presence.   If we are in this building, the undead is present.  Iesha didn't even register."

DM;
I didn't make this clear, sorry.  Iesha was not in the area of effect, so she wouldn't have registered anyway.  3 things come to Glum's mind as what was registering as undead;
1- the area itself could be registering
2- the house could be registering
3- the mold could be registering
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:16, Wed 04 Aug 2010.

ooc: If you want to pause and do something (search, grab stuff, look at stuff), just say so.
  The group catches up to Iesha as she is searching the entry room (with the stuffed manticore), "Aldern, honey, you're just delaying our inevitable reunion.  And I am so looking forward to it."  She finishes and moves into the short hall with closed doors on each side and the gruesome mummified monkey head on the wall.  She stops and absentmindedly pulls the bellpull that extends from the monkey’s gaping mouth. The head gives out a shrill simian shriek akin to an alarm spell.  She smiles, then closes her yes for a moment and looks downward, "What are you doing downstairs Aldern, you always said that was the servants quarters and that you wouldn't be caught dead down there."  She appears to notice the stain under the rug, (the foul stain of dark-colored mold is about ten feet across, a swirling pattern of dark blue, sickly green, and black mold that grows in a spiral)"Is this still here, it always gave me the creeps."  As your attention is drawn to it, it looks almost like an image of a spiraling staircase descending downward, with each step littered with skulls and bones.
  Iesha rips open the door to the left and starts down some stairs.  "Honey, if you've hired a pretty young cook, I know the recipe for Mountain Oysters."  The stairs lead to the Kitchen.  A large oak table, its surface covered with moldy stains and rat droppings, sits in the center of this large kitchen. Shelves line the walls, and an oversized fireplace dominates the northeast portion of the room. The shelves in the southwest wall are in a much greater state of disarray, and two one-foot-wide cracks in the wall near the floor lead south into the earth beyond the basement walls.  She moves to the right and opens the door and enters the room.  Iesha, "Honey, I'm home...oh, yeah, I AM married and you have really let this place go to the Abyss.  Now where are you."  As the group enters the kitchen, you get a bad feeling as you hear the rising wave of rodent squeaks of what sounds like MANY rats coming from the 2 cracks in the wall.

What do you do?

New map done
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:13, Wed 04 Aug 2010.

Tanrov asks Talis as he digs into his pack for the two flasks of oil, "what are we going to do now" "and will someone else get a fire going so that these flasks can be thrown at the rats".

At her mention of "Moutain oysters", Talis walks funny for a couple of strides, as if his legs clenched together.

Talis gets out his tinderbox while moving to a good tactical position, "If we had some magical fire over there, it could light the oil for us...", looking questioningly at the spellcasters.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:16, Thu 05 Aug 2010.

Glum calls into existence his spiritual nunchaku, which beat down upon the lead rat at the narrow gap, seeking to force it back.

22:48, Today: Glum rolled 9 using 1d8+1. damage spiritual weapon.
22:47, Today: Glum rolled 13 using 1d20+6. possible critical spiritual weapon.
22:47, Today: Glum rolled 26 using 1d20+6. attack spiritual weapon.

OOC spiritual weapon will remain active for 4 rounds after this one.  If it changes targets there will be one attack in the first round but if it remains on the same target there will be two attacks in subsequent rounds at +2 to hit (ie the spiritual nuchaku is capable of a flurry of blows.)

Cat asks Iesha, "What's the connection between Aldern and the ghouls?"

Rats, nasty creatures. She sends an energy blast their way.

15:47, Today: Catessa Fallowfield rolled 14,4 using d20+9,2d6 attack damage
[Private to GM: My DD books are still packed. I don't know if eldrich blast does 3d6 now.]
[Private to Catessa Fallowfield: Yes, 3d6...though I think Talis was hoping for a Flaming Sphere]
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:06, Fri 06 Aug 2010.

Zer-wedula will assist Tanrov and Talis.  Tanrov gets the flasks out, Zer-wedula will light them and Talis will throw them.