In reply to Ember (msg # 54):

"Assuming everyone is healthy again, maybe we should get inside? Less open space to defend at the very least..." Booker said after researching his magics.

Shrugs slightly, "I suppose that wouldn't be a bad idea. Are we sure were done checking around everything outside ?" Malcolm runs a hand through his hair and then puts his top hat back on.

"We barely got started gentle sirs and ladies," the halfling says with his voice low. Being outside wasn't ideal for the halfling that spent most of his life inside, but it was what it was. "Perhaps we should continue to the pond?"

As the party drew closer to the manor, dozens of whippoorwills perched along the eaves of the run-down manor perked up and began to cry out in their eerie song.

There were hundreds of the birds, and they took to the air, flying in a spiral in the sky above.

Once the group was at the building, they saw that the strange dampness of the house was actually some kind of transparent, moist webbing clinging to the manor's exterior surfaces. It covered the wall, the door, the windows--everything--but was only a thin layer that did not hinder access to the doorknob.

"Excuse me," the halfling says moving forward, "this is my job," as he pulls out his tools and begins to sweep the doorway for traps and locks.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:48, Wed 10 Nov 2021.

"What is this substance is it mere dew ?"

He looked for a stick and prodded at the odd wetness coating the manor.

While the others searched the pond and scouted out for other dangers, Ember simply stood tall, eyes slitted closed.  Slowly, his head tilted back with a breath, arms rising outward until two fingers from each hand formed a diamond over his forehead.  It was a big show, but that was expected of mediums.  The elf muttered out a few arcane syllables, then suddenly broke the 'third eye' formed by his fingers and gestured with both hands at the door.

OOC: Detecting Magic on the goo.

Elmelio found no sign of a trap, nor was the door locked. He and Malcolm both found the webbing to be slimy, slippery, and stringy. It clung to their tools in thin strands that had a slight green hue, and when those strands snapped it dropped away and dissipated to nothing before hitting the ground.

Ember could sense magic in the area.

"How very interesting, it is as if the whole of the place is covered in ectoplasm. This much is very suggestive of well severe crossing from the Boneyard. I may need to consult."

Malcolm steps away and focuses on calling Melanie from the Boneyard to him to discuss his findings and if he was honest with himself to just see her again.

The psychopomp appeared--and immediately slumped over, as though she'd been struck. She was in pain, and felt quite unwell. She wasn't quite sure why, though she and Malcolm could both sense a feeling of hatred radiating from somewhere in the mansion.

Melanie is Sickened 3 and cannot reduce her Sickened condition. The reason for this is not clear.

"Something is wrong, something is very wrong. Melanie Oh no, no no no. Can't have you suffering like this." Malcolm looked pained, "I had best send you back."

Malcolm looked to his Eidolon with sympathy.

He sent her back to the Boneyard.

Looking at the Manor, "This place ? I wonder if this whole place will effect her, so and if so we may be more of a liability."

Booker drew his blade and readied a book in his left hand. His sword glowed with light, while his book floated open over his other palm, and a protective aura settled over him. "Maybe I should go inside. If there is a magical effect, I can resist it better than those unprotected."

OOC-Casting light, activating Arcane Cascade Stance.

Ember prepared to share the same information, then winced as his thunder was suddenly stolen.  "I take it magical goo is something you are well versed in.  Splendid."

Still, the mage approached it closer, though after watching Malcokm's issues with his eidolon motioned to Gray Shephard to remain distant.  As an added precaution, Ember kept his marked palm as far from the caul as he could while examining it more closely.

OOC: This looks like a job for Lore; Hauntings
Ember rolled 16 using 1d20+11.  Lore (Hauntings).
...or, you know, not....

"Well," the halfling says, tucking away the tools of his trade, "I don't see anything material that will injure us. Do you wish for me to creep in and have a look around?"

While the material was very likely some type of ectoplasm, Ember wasn't familiar with anything quite like it.

The door looked like it had been shut for a very long time and would probably stick slightly, but the stringy material was thin and did not look like it would offer any resistance. A good tug should open it.

That is a failure.

The door does stick a little, but easily cracked open with a bit of effort.

As it did, the sticky ectoplasm immediately burst like an oily bubble, showering the party in stringy strands of... nothing, as it vanished in an instant of foul-smelling smoke.

The bird song immediately stopped, and all present were glad it did as they all experienced a sudden realization that they utterly loathed all birdlife. This strange sensation lasted only a single heartbeat, and as it faded everyone felt a little better.
Something about the area had felt mildly imposing, mildly enough that nobody had really felt it as they approached. It was obvious only in its absence. For one thing, Malcolm felt certain it would be safe to manifest Melanie now.

And then there was a small thud. And another. Thud. Thud. Thudthumpthud.
It was a shower of tiny bodies. The circling birds had not simply stopped singing, the entire flock had suddenly died and now plummeted from the air. It was over in seconds, the yard littered with the small, unmarred birds.


New hints mean you can retry Recalling Knowledge, but any such checks to investigate the Caul take a -4 penalty while it's inactive.

"What the ?" Malcolm shielded himself from the falling birds and rand over to some of the fallen bodies and looked at them trying to see what may have killed them and then looking skyward. Feeling better he did manifest Melanie again.

"Did anyone see what happened ?"

"What in the layers of hell is going on? Did we just trip a trap that killed avian life? Glad none of us are Tengu." He muttered. Going closer to the door he began to inspect everything more closely.

OOC: What would you like me to roll? Or would you like to do it in secret?

In reply to Pharasma (msg # 70):

Booker pulled out a different book. Had it hover over his hand, flipping it's own pages. However the answers did not seem forthcoming. "Looking..." he said, sounding annoyed at his failure.

ooc-11:29, Today: Booker rolled 9 using 1d20+5.  Using arcana with book bonus and -4.

The halfling just keeps quiet and out of the way, obviously out of his element.

18:23, Today: Elmelio rolled 10 using 1d20+7.  know nature.

with a -4 that a 6. .. lol

Ember raised a hand as though to shield his face as the ghostly material flew at him.  He clicked his fingers a few times as though such a display might be on the very tip of refreshing his memory about something.

OOC: Ember rolled 20 using 1d20+7.  Lore (Hauntings) retry. -4 already included in roll

Booker and Elmelio considered a variety of possibilities--perhaps this wasn't a haunting at all, but something to do with the fey?
Ember was confident it was a haunting, that the material was a type of ectoplasm. He did not, however, recognize precisely this type of manifestation.

With the material gone from the door, it could be clearly seen. It was a double door of dark oak standing in the middle of the manor's facade, carved with a series of overlapping circles with a stylized "X" at their center. It resembled the design of the front gate.

The door opened on to a large entrance hall. The air inside was musty, and as the door opened air from outside swirled into the manor, giving the eerie sensation that the mansion just took a deep breath around you.
Motes of dust drifted through the air of the room. To the north, a pair of wide staircases ascended to a balcony that encircled the room above. An old, musty carpet on the otherwise-bare wood floor partially lead the way to a double door between the stairs. Four other doors provided exits to either side, while the southwestern and southeastern walls had tall cabinets and coat racks set against them. On the upper floor, the railed ten-foot-wide balcony circled this room, leaving the central area open to the second floor's ceiling twenty feet above.

That's a couple of critical failures, but you have no Research Points to lose. Then Ember earns one! Which isn't enough for actionable information yet, but it's a step in that direction.
And oh right, I should describe the room if the door is opened.

Elmelio walks in first to look around. His gloved hands held clasped in front of him. Then he gets to work looking for hidden objects, traps, and possible damaged floor that could either collapse on them or above them.

I'm going to use the Investigate action to look for the above. The rules say it's a secret check, but I chose the skill. I think. Anyway, I'll use Perception at +9

Walks away from the fallen birds to the others by the door ready to head in after Elmelio checks for hazards.

Booker flips through his hovering book. Trying to find something...anything that might help. Sadly, all the answers could not be found on these pages.