Tide of Shadows

[Rogue 9]

"What in all the HELLS?" Bartel pushed himself up by the arms and got to one knee to stand. Once on his feet, he pulled his mace from his belt.

[Academia Nut]

While Bartel was trying to pick himself up out of the dirt an ear splitting shriek of agony and terror ripped across the street next to the rest of the party, filling their minds with dread, except for Ceridwen, whose mind was a fortress against such fear.

[DC 18 Will save or be panicked for 2d4 rounds]

[Charon]

Eight stopped dead as Bartel was thrown.

"Well, that was interesting..." Eight turned away from the church as the shriek of terror let loose.

[Rogue 9]

Bartel looked hard at the small house the shriek had emanated from and strode off towards it, mace in hand, as the construct began to flee.

[Double move towards the house. This will continue until he either reaches it or something else happens; ETA 3 rounds.]

[SirNitram]

Volemack felt it. It was like a much, much bigger Dragon marking it's territory. It screamed: Run away tiny egg-with-wings. Hide with Kobolds! You will be EATEN!

[Charon]

Eight had been about to continue, but the scream left him speechless. The construct stared in the direction that the scream had come from for a second or two before he turned and ran as fast as he could. What came out of the golem was too low to be a scream, and was certainly not reproducible by humans, but it was clear that the construct was afraid.

[rhoenix]

Though he was shaken by the unearthly scream, Fehl held his ground. Undoing the top and bottom straps on the sheath of the greatsword on his back. the big blade came out to rest, balanced on his right shoulder, held steady by his right hand.

His left hand began to move in intricate patterns, as he whispered into the stilled air of the town. (Casting Chill Touch, then Shocking Grasp)

Once he was finished, he took another look around at his companions, taking inventory, and held his position, keeping most of his attention on the church ahead once he had a good idea of where his companions were. There would be time enough after this was all over to make fun of Eight, but now was not the time.

There was work to do.

[LadyTevar]

Ceridwen had drew her heavy pick, the metal glowing faintly in the dimming light as they moved into the village and the scent of death grew stronger. The attack on Bartel happened far too fast for her to react before the scream pierced the night and sent Volemack shivering and the golem running away.

Odd that a Golem would run in fear... but Magic is best met by Devotion. She reached for her holy symbol and called for Bahumet's protection on her companions. (Protection Devotion +3 Sacred bonus to AC for all allies in 30ft.)

Once she felt Bahumet's blessing, then she would follow Bartel to find the source of the scream.

[Rogue 9]

Bartel kept hustling towards the house, unwilling to break into a full run lest he leave himself vulnerable.

[Academia Nut]

After the soul shaking shriek, everything went quiet again in the village, except for the sounds of the living, or in Eight's case the animate and running scared.

Then a high pitched, feminine voice moaned, "Stay... away... hurt..."

It had come from the house next to the one where the shriek had emanated from, to the north.

[LadyTevar]

Ceridwen, paused for a moment, looking to Fehl to see if he'd also heard the voice. It was clear he had. Bartel was running up to join them, so Ceridwen held up a hand in warning, then pointed to the house the voice had came from. Silently, she closed in on the house, holding her warpick ready.

[rhoenix]

Watching Ceridwen out of the corner of his eye, Fehl trotted quietly to the opposite side of the house that she was going. Whatever was in there would have to get past one of the two of them initially, which would be soon made much more difficult by both of them busting in shortly.

Holding his greatsword at a too-relaxed looking ready position atop his right shoulder, he stood to the right of the back door, waiting for Ceridwen to start the party in the front.

[Academia Nut]

Neither Ceridwen or Fehl saw it, focused as they were on the possible escape routes for a corporeal being, but both Volemack and Bartel, still in the streets, had the proper angle to see a small, wispy, faintly luminescent object shoot out of the roof and make for another house.

[SirNitram]

"There it goes, that house!" Volemack yelled, gesturing with the clawed gauntlets he wore. His enhanced and supernatural senses were all fine tuned now; no ghost was getting away!

[Point It Out skill trick used, granting free spot check with a +2 Circumstance bonus to the rest of the party to see it.]

[LadyTevar]

Ceridwen looked, knowing well that her squire's senses were far better than her own.

[Rogue 9]

Bartel cursed uncharacteristically and broke into a full run, returning his mace to his belt. If his quarry was going through walls, it would be no use here. He changed direction for the house the shape had gone into.

[rhoenix]

Fehl cursed, but rather more inventively and rudely than usual. Knowing that sneaking around wasn't going to help at this point, he broke into a full-fledged run directly where Volemack had pointed. Though it didn't look it, his greatsword was ready at an instant's notice to make a special delivery of bloody ruin.

...He acknowledged that as a ghost, it likely wouldn't blood (though it might make the walls do so - his last experience with ghosts wasn't exactly straightforward) that it would shed, but he'd still have a rather satisfying swing at it nonetheless.

[Academia Nut]

The ghost shrieked, "Leave!" before making a violent gesture towards Ceridwen. An intangible force gripped at her and before she could react she discovered her feet were no longer on the ground and she was hurtling back.

Towards Bartel.

There was a loud clang as armour met armour and both figures were taken off their feet by the impact, crashing to the ground in a tangle of limbs.

Shrieking, the ghost then dived straight down, disappearing into the ground.

[rhoenix]

Blinking twice at what had just happened, Fehl shook his head as he said several very unkind things about the ghosts's origin, ancestry, species of sexual preference, and even favorite activities. However, his left hand was tracing patterns again in the still air - when he was done, normally-invisible things would become obvious to his eyes. He looked again for the ghost that had tossed Ceridwen, his right hand clasping his greatsword, ready to swing at a moment's notice.

[LadyTevar]

"Father?" Ceridwen said through gritted teeth as she started to untangle herself. "Have you a spell to track spirits?" The paladin did have the ability to channel Bahumet's power and repel the dead, but she also had a far better way of putting them to rest. "If you can find it, I can put it to rest."

[Rogue 9]

"No," he answered as he helped the paladin heave herself off of him. He stood again for the second time in less than a minute and reached for the ruby-studded starburst hanging from its chain on his belt. "I have other means of dealing with it, though."

[Academia Nut]

The ghost popped its head out of the ground a ways down the street and hissed again, crying out, "Leave!" At that time another wave of energy washed over Ceridwen, this time focused upon the hand holding her pick, threatening to rip it out of her hands, but through a supreme effort the weapon remained where it was, causing the ghost to squeak out in astonishment.

[SirNitram]

"Stop!" Volemack yelled at the ghost. "Bahamut commands you stop! Now stand up and account for yourself, or.. Or.. We're gonna send you to the Nine Hells!"

[Rogue 9]

Bartel thrust out his hand, grasping the starburst's chain. "Begone from here, spirit!" As the cleric shouted, a golden light started to shine from the symbol.

Turning check:


Turning damage:

[Academia Nut]

"Eeeeee!" The ghost shouted out, diving into the earth and disappearing.