Alyssa blanched at the appearance of the apparition. Once Talia stepped forward and asserted their legitimacy, Alyssa found her courage and held her bow nocked and ready but still at her waist.

Orila maintained her position just behind Talia. She hefted her maul in silent support of their claim.

The wraith pauses from lunging in attack, hovering and studying Talia and the others.

"You...are...not...foul...ones."

Its voice is a hoarse whisper carried by chill winds. The wraiths presence as it slowly drifts closer seems to drop the temperature and as it proceeds to hover in front of Talia the party starts seeing their breath in the air.

"We...were...at...peace. We...were...devoted...to...Helm...and...Gaed. We...took...our...duty...beyond...death. But...our...shrine...has...been...defiled. Until...Helm's...light...returns...we...shall...destroy...the...defilers..."

Angel recalls during her infiltration that there was a room that she had seen a chapel above that the orcs had desecrated...and then promptly been chased out of it by some spirit of some kind.

Angel had been quiet during this latest bit of exploration, lagging back and dragging her feet as she followed after the others, pondering her private conversation with Pinna. One part of her was glad the hedge witch, (wizard, whatever) hadn't told the others all she'd seen, but another part of her was... discomforted... by the continued secret keeping. Sure she'd been keeping secrets since before her companions were born -- since before their grandparents grandparents were born if truth be told -- and that was part and parcel of her very continued existence... but...

Yeah, but... what exactly was she discomforted about? She didn't know exactly. If she had to put a name to it, she'd have said she was disappointed to a degree. But disappointed about what? That her big secret didn't get revealed?! That was crazy! She knew she was being silly for even considering such a thing, but much like the icy dart now lodged in her heart, the feeling just wouldn't go away. She idly rubbed the area over heart, lost in her own thoughts, and nearly stumbled into the person in front of her when the others stopped suddenly on entering the last room.

Peeking around the shoulders of the people in front, Angel listened to the wraith's words with interest and was immediately reminded about the defiled chapel room she'd seen earlier. She'd tried to tell the others about it earlier, (posts #308 and #311 above) but no one really cared to listen except for Alyssa -- and she only partly -- so because the she-elf was feeling no small amount of cognitive dissonance, and just a wee bit surly as well, Angel just crossed her arms and held her tongue, waiting to see if the others might remember what she'd told them and make the connection themselves.

"Helm's light..." Yry says, her mind racing as her shoulders shake and jaw rattles from the cold adrenaline pumped into her veins. She looks down at the sapphire in her hand, remembering the holy symbol of Helm. Her face snaps around to face Angel. "The chapel you mentioned, let's go, quickly—before this wraith loses its reservation."

"Glad someone was paying attention," Angel huffed. "Hate to think I was talking only to myself... though it'd probably be a better conversation if I was!" She continued, mumbling the last part to herself as she turned to lead the companions back to the chapel room she'd mentioned.

Angel leads everyone back upstairs and over to the ruined chapel room in the corner of the courtyard.

"In there," she said, pointing to the door in the corner.

Yry enters the chapel, looking around at what remains in it. Although she is looking carefully at everything, she largely skips anything that isn't hand or gauntlet shaped for the sake of expedience.

Talia snaps out of her daze. Having faced down, successfully no less, such an apparition had shaken her. She was impressed by her own force of will. This last bit of adventure since the dragon's cave had seen her develop in ways that even she had not known was within her. Still in a bit of a daze, she smirked at Angel, "Really? I should think that your ego would not handle well a conversation with someone of your own ego."

She quickly held up her hands defensively and smiled broadly to indicate she was jesting.

She then licked her lips and took a stabilizing breath at the new door which allowed Yry to enter before her. Jumping a bit at her laxity, she moved quickly in and past her dear, but squishy, friend. Her eyes scanned for the reappearance of the same of another phantom. She also looked for the desecrated shrine.

As Orila followed Angel up to the second floor. "How many different levels do you think this place has? We should check all of the second floor. I suppose there is a lower level below the ground floor as well. Who knows what else is lurking."

Orila stopped when Angel lead them to the chapel. "So we throwing out the trash and stuff? I'm not really skilled in cleaning."

Alyssa was slow to follow her companions back up tot the ground floor. It was when she realized she was alone with the specter that her legs propelled her after her friends. As the others entered the desecrated chapel, Alyssa waited outside the door with Edmund and Pinna.

This chapel was once consecrated to Gaed the Confessor in the days of old. The watching eye and gauntlet of Helm are shown throughout the chapel while there are depictions of Gaed the Confessor, champion of Helm, performing his famous deeds.

 In the middle of the chamber, a shrine to Gaed stands with arms outstretched. However, the statue has been desecrated by the orcs. Gaed's noble visage has been defaced. His eye has been destroyed and scrap has been added to transform Gaed into the orcish god Gruumsh One-Eye. In addition the Eye of Helm throughout the chapel has been damaged or defaced.

The temperature in the rest of the castle is cool but not unpleasant, the air here as a noticable chill in it similar to the crypt below with the wraith in it. There is also an unseen malevolence in the air, as if the room itself is hostile towards the party. Overall it feels very similar to the crypt below.

Yry, surprised to find this unnatural chill finds its way to her bones as she is fairly used to magical cold, still moves forward to begin undoing the defilement. She takes off the scraps, and uses prestidigitation to clean the surfaces and objects. While she is doing this, she keeps her eyes open for anywhere that the sapphire might have once fit.

With a visible shiver Alyssa follows Yry into the chapel. As the sorceress jumps in and magically starts cleaning the space, Alyssa more timidly stats to clear the dirt, debris, and general filth from around the parameter of the room.

Sure enough Yry studies the statue and realizes that the sapphire was likely the eye of champion that the orcs had gouged out. Without the aid of an expert stonesmith or magical arts beyond simple cantrips it likely would not be repairable by the party at this time, however the other eye socket was also empty and the sapphire would like fit in there.Z

Meanwhile Yyr uses her magic from afar to scrub and cleanse the statue. Alyssa works the perimeter scraping what she can only hope is food scraps off the walls. It is arduous work and completely cleaning the chapel would likely take them hours but it does feel like some of the malevolence in the air is lifting, if only slightly.

Do you want to spend the rest of the day cleaning? Do you want to work with the townsfolks to properly get everything fixed up or just give it the ole "once over" and make it look halfway presentable? Do you want to shill out some gold to hire a wandering cleric to sanctify the chapel or hire a craftsmen to fully repair the statue?

Pushing the pile of debris she has cleaned off the wall with the edge of her boot, Alyssa stopped to stretch before turning to the others. "I'm not sure if the cleaning is working or if the air just feels fresher now, but this space doesn't feel as oppressive."

Looking at the work Yyr has been doing, "Do you think it would be as simple as putting the sapphire back in the statue? It may be worth looking for someone more knowledgeable in Gaed and Helm lore."

---

OOC: I'm good with either.

Honestly, I'm barely keeping up here at work and the next several weeks (months?) are not going to be any lighter.

In reply to Alyssa Tealeaf (msg # 365):

"The sapphire? Yes. Try that." Orlia moved to the statue and tried to see if there was a spot for the sapphire.

---

rolled 11 using 1d20 with rolls of 11.  Investigation

Yry tries putting the sapphire in the socket it will fit in for now.

Angel leaned against the doorframe, not actually entering the chapel, and watched as the others worked. It wasn't clear whether she didn't enter the chapel out of concern for the angry spirit inside it, or simply because she thought such work beneath her... knowing the she-elf either reason was plausible.

When the suggestion came up of placing the sapphire into the statue's empty eye-socket to maybe appease the angry spirit, Angel cleared her throat to catch the others' attention. "You know there's some holy water down in the secret room with the treasure. Probably not as good a real blessing for an actual priest, but might go a bit farther in smoothing ruffled feathers, so to speak." 

Talia looked back to Angel and then to where Yry was trying to affix the sapphire to the statue. "Why's there only one? Helm, last I checked, was not of the one-eyed persuasion. Hmm, but the holy water is an idea. We can wash up things a bit? Maybe not too much. It doesn't need to be a completed job now, just enough to settle the spirit so people can work safely. We'll be fixing the whole place up in relative order soon."

"Yeah, holy water will probably be good, as well. Honestly, I'm just trying to see where it fits. I kind of expected the sapphire to go on a gauntlet--like the symbol, with the eye on it," Yry says with a slight shrug.

"I'll get it," Angel volunteered, pushing her body away from the doorframe and sauntering back toward the inner keep where she could find the stairway leading back down to the lower level. "Be back in a bit," she added over her shoulder...

---

OOC: The following happens outside character knowledge but is included for player enjoyment.

Finding the formerly-secret room again with little trouble, Angel ducked through the partially-open broken door and stepped fully into the treasure chamber. Her eyes went to the open treasure chests first and she wandered over to the first one. She knelt down and ran her hand through the pile of coins, lifting a handful and letting the coins rain back down into the chest again. Smiling wistfully, she thought back to when she'd last seen such wealth. It was a recently returned memory -- one she'd only recalled after seeing their torchlight glinting off all the coins they'd found -- and it was a bittersweet one.

She clearly remembered the gleeful gloating on the faces of her kin when they'd finally managed to break into that last hidden cache from ancient Aryvandaar. "Nar Kerymhoarth. We thought the war was won," she said softly to herself. "And who knew it was the also the moment of our doom." She looked at the crumbling keep around her and briefly wondered if this ancient stronghold would also turn out to be a trap too. History did have a weird way of repeating itself. She let the last coin fall back into the chest -- resisting for the moment the temptation to sneak several into her pockets -- and rose, turning to the shrine.

She approached slowly and when she was standing in front of the altar, she glanced down to the chalice of holy water and then back up to the customary icon on the wall above the altar... Helm's all-seeing eye. She looked back to the doorway for a moment, holding her breath to listen, making sure she was truly alone, and then turning back to the shrine, she focused her intent and assumed her true form.

A large pair of black, leathery wings unfurled from her back. She stretched them out briefly with a soft contented sigh and then folded them again along her back, the dew-clawed joints hanging over her head. Twin black horns sprung from her forehead right at the hairline to arc gracefully over her crown, ending in slightly upturned points, while a spaded tail uncurled from her backside to hang down and swish lazily behind her. Her skin took on a reddish tint, like an angry sunburn, and her once golden eyes with the normal humanoid white sclera become solid red. Her features were still obviously recognizable as the "Angel" her companions knew, but now with a darkly erotic blending of elf and demon.

"No use hiding since I'm guessing you can see it all anyways," Angel said, speaking softly to the icon of Helm's eye as if she were addressing the god himself. She curtsied then to the icon, spreading her wings slightly for effect, and on rising continued to address the Eye. "So this is, umm, me trying to be honest and upfront." She took a breath and swallowed before continuing. "I know you, umm, probably don't think very highly of my kind and all that... and I get it. I wasn't very happy with most of them last time I saw them either." She scrubbed a hand through her hair and her tail's lashing became a bit more sharp and quick, mirroring the uneasiness of her mood. "So I'm guessing this chalice and water is probably, umm, pretty important to you, ya know, 'cause it probably wouldn't look and smell like that after so long if it wasn't. So anyways, we're thinking that this water might help with the chapel upstairs -- the orcs kinda made a mess of it -- and I didn't want you to be upset and think I was being disrespectful or something when I took it. So, umm, please don't smite me or nothing, I'm, umm, I'm trying to do the right thing here." She took another breath and then reached out tentatively to pick up the chalice, squinting and wincing as she did so, preparing herself in advance for the smiting she half expected to come anyway.

When no lightning bolt struck down from the heavens, Angel grinned at the icon. "Thanks. I'll bring it right back. Promise," she said, gesturing slightly with the chalice, careful not to slosh out any of the sacred water. She started to turn away and then paused, turning back. She reached into an inner pocket and withdrew a strange, double-headed silver coin. She looked at the coin, the heads of which on close inspection were Angel herself, one with elven features and the other with demonic ones. "Here," she said, placing the coin on the altar. "You can hold onto my coin until I bring back your cup. Collateral." Nodding to herself in satisfaction, she shifted back to her sun-elf form and left to bring the holy water to her companions.

---

Awhile later, Angel returned to the chapel, carefully holding with both hands the silver chalice that had sat in the forgotten shrine, inside of which was the nice-smelling blessed water than at been hidden away for decades. She stopped at the doorway, again choosing not to enter the chapel itself. "Here ya go," she said to her companions, holding out the chalice for one of the others to take.

The group didn't have a cleric to perform a proper ritual but it seemed just bringing the holy water into the chapel improved the atmosphere and combined with the cleaning they were doing and the hours of work put into the chapel they got it back to a respectable level.

Around the third hour of cleaning and sweeping and consecrating Pinna came running in from the hallway.

"I've been keeping an eye on the crypt with the spirit and he just kind of...disappeared. I've never seen an exorcism before...or maybe this is more like lifting a curse...I mean you are casting them out but...oh yeah not important. I'll come back to that...right."

She paused, seemingly having lost her own train of thought.

"Oh! The spirit! It's gone! I even stepped into the room and...well...nothing jumped up to curse me for defiling the rest of the dead or anything like that. I...I think you did it!"

Talia looked up from scrubbing a flagstone and cut the grumble short on her lips. It reminded her too much of invoking the ire of her mother and being asigned to scrub the floors of their home. Her mother had adored assigning extra chores as punishment for any infractions. To this day, she associated cleaning with punishment. It rarely sat well with her for that reason no matter what her mind told her.

Thus, at the sound of the news, she rather unceremoniously dropped her rag and ran off to check the crypt for herself. She chastised herself all the way down for leaving Pinna to monitor the situation. She assigned herself to clean and maintain her weapons that night.

At the crypt, mshe boldly stepped over the threshhold and waited for anything to happen.

If it was clear, as Pinna said, then she would start to look through the room for any damage or desecrations done here. She really couldn't even bring herself to consider looting the tomb yet. Might just resummon the fell spirit.

Feeling that things were a bit different with the chapel now that the others had completed the work -- which Angel had conspicuously and perhaps conveniently not pitched in to help with by the way! -- the she-elf stepped out of the way to allow Talia to rush past.

Spotting the chalice where one of her companions had set it over to the side after using the holy water inside it, Angel finally did enter the chapel to retrieve the sacred cup. Holding it almost reverently for someone who by all accounts held little faith in any save herself, Angel took it back to the shrine in the secret treasure chamber, placed it back on the altar, and retrieved her silver coin.

Rolling the coin skillfully across her knuckles in what seemed to be a familiar gesture, she slipped it back into her pocket. Then glancing up at the icon of Helm's eye, she smiled and nodded. "Thanks," she said, and then turned to leave...

Stepping into the ancient crypt reveals...nothing. No ominous feeling of dread, no moans of the restless dead, no shadowy presences or oppressive airs. It just seems to be a crypt once again.

Looking around the group finds the crypt of that was the captain of the house guard and judging by the insignias and inscriptions the rest contain the loyal knights that served him.