Stranger and stranger thought Ralom as Arvien called the rest of the party out of the guestroom. Arvien peered into the room when it was emptied, now the bed linens were rumpled and the wardrobe was open, filled with several black dresses and robes. There were several animal skeletons, bones bleached and mounted, adorning the room like trophies. Arvien's search of the area revealed nothing else interesting.
Still hungry Arvien wanted to go to the kitchen, Ralom suggested going down the south tower since at some point the north tower collapses. The party moved into the adjoining room which had a number of low tables and stools. The tables had been carved with initials and crude inscriptions, the floor was filthy. A staircase led upwards on the south wall highlighted with leaded glass windows which were cracked and pieces were missing. On the east window a partial inscription read "Death cannot dissuade..." and "... ApBlanc." on the west window. A door led into the tower to the east. Varrid unlocked the door and the party moved into a room with rusted foils and masks hung on the walls, covered with dust. Windows in turrets hung in shards and the floor bore an ominous splattered red stain.
In the chamber was a ghostly figure and a henchman seemingly at battle, swords raised. The ghostly figure had a thick mane of dark brown hair, a broad chest and square shoulders. Across the figures stomach was a ghastly wound from which uncoiled entrails hang. From the look of it the wound was caused by a single slash of a great sword. Below the waist the body dissolved into mists. The gravely wounded henchman stepped back and reached into his jacket. He pulled out a small book and hurled it at the ghost, screaming, "Here! I don't want your book! Leave me alone!" The ghost replied, "But I want your life." He then landed one , final, fatal blow, bowed to the corpse and said, "Another soul for you, goddess." Then he disappeared. Ralom hied to the body and tried to revive the dead man without success while Seglun scooped up the small book. The inside cover identified it as the diary of Duncan ApDuguid, dated 1833. The entries were mostly about the recruitment of Morholt to the worship of Morrigan. His hope was to mollify his parents who found over which religion to rear the child with. The last entry read.
Suddenly a ghostly figure ran right into the chamber from the southeast, she was fair-haried woman with aristocratic features and fine clothes bearing a green and white striped tartan. She raced through the weapons room into the foyer and out the western wall. Arvien followed at a run, racing to the outer door and into the rain squall. The ghostly figure stopped under the large oak tree, looking around apprehensively. The shouts of an angry mob echoed through the air and up the hill flickering images of phantom torches were seen. Seeing Arvien, the woman pressed a bundle she was carrying to Arvien's arms wailing in a plaintive voice, "Please! Hide my child! They mean to kill---" She paused as the sound of the mob intensified. They're coming for me! she continued. "For the love of the gods, Rual, save my child!"
A ghostly noose suddenly slipped over the figures head and violently yanked her off her feet, snapping her neck to the side. She swung in the wind for about a minute, hanging from a rope that faded into nothingness before it met the branch of the oak tree overhead. Arvien opened the bundle and saw an angelic-looking baby. Then the bundle, the hanging figure and the mob disappeared.
Meanwhile Grunyar had been searching the tunnel inside the wall that he had discovered earlier, he found a dead end passage, but halfway down was a secret door leading into the courtyard. He traced the wall to a tower where a road way was blocked by a portcullis. Inside the tower was a henchman and another portcullis on the outer wall, with two doors leading into the curtain wall. Grunyar then left to join the party.
Ralom noted that there were three tombs now present where he had only seen one previously. The third was built the same, white marble and a rounded stone roof. Inside was a stone sarcophagus, unadorned except for the words "Isolt ApBlanc, my beloved bride, 1793-1839" The ceiling was painted with a mural of a dark-haired woman in her late 40s.
Further north part of the castle with arched openings on the north and south, it seemed to be a sheltered entryway as two doors led to the east. Baru and Ralom examined the entry and found the doors both locked. Seglun looked at the ceiling of the entryway which was painted in a mural depicting a knight whose face was hidden by his visor, surveying a battlefield on which a multitude of bloody corpses lay. The knight tramples a banner on which was the heraldic charge of a stag rampant. Drovic searched further north finding another door in a larger tower. Again Varrid was able to unlock the door and Seglun led the way into a hallway lit by oil lamps. There were two doors on the north wall and two on the south between which a staircase led upward. Arvien opened one of the doors on the south which showed a chamber with a cot, wardrobe, table and chairs. A figure sat bolt upright in the cot and asked what Arvien required. Arvien responded that everything was fine, "go back to sleep."
"Obviously the servants quarters," Arvien surmised as Seglun opened the other door and found two cots and servants. The rest of the party had entered the hallway and Ralom stared up the stairs, only he didn't go up, just directly through the stairs and eventually outside. The rest of the party eventually followed. The curtain wall was missing, as was the tower the party was just inside of, the arched entryway was gone and only two tombs graced the courtyard. No rain was falling and the sky was clear and starry. The group headed back to the main keep, Drovic found a door on the north wall which led into kitchen. The room was dominated by a large red-brick oven, heavy wooden tables on which sat pots, pans and leftover foodstuff. Shelves held jars of flour and seasonings. A staircase led up over the door.
When Arvien had finished a quick snack, Ralom suggested heading again for the dungeons. So down they went, the room at the bottom of the staircase was empty, the door into the hall locked, but Varrid again bypassed this block. Seglun led into the hall which was guarded by a soldier in different armor than they had seen previously. Arvien explained that the group was chartered from the young minstrel to examine the cells. The guard, confused but helpful, led the party into a room filled with instruments of torture, and through another door to a hallway lined on the west with barred prison cells. All but two of the cells were empty, a female servant was in one cell and a male townie in another. The guards in the prison areas were sleeping and reprimanded by the lead guard. Ralom asked why the persons were in the cells. The female had disobeyed her superior and was just in for the night. The male had tried to steal from the minstrel and showed some signs of torture, Ralom was torn but left well enough alone.
Baru was examining the torture room and speaking with the guard there. He noted some spy holes in the walls of the room on the south and west. When the party returned he led them out of the torture chamber and they acted as if to leave, Arvien thanking the guards for the tour. Seglun searched the outside hall for a secret door, which she found headed west. This hallway looped the south and west walls of the torture chamber and ended in a locked door. Again Varrid did her magic and the hallway continued in steps headed down. At the bottom was a hallway flanked by prison cells on the west and several guard who angrily ordered the party to leave immediately.
DM's Notes: Again there were no experience points earned for the evening.
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