The Other Side of Town

The Myste-Hass Calender

19/04/22

Spread throughout town, Father Howell, Sylleth, Nazzak, Gunther and Cao all hear shouts from a crowd braying to burn a white dragonborn wearing a Control Collar. The adventurers intercede, helping to free the dragonborn and beating up the crowd ring leader.

The dragonborn does not free the man and drags him to the fire, branding his face on the pyre.

There is a crack in the dragonborn's collar which meant that he wasn't killed in the explosions with the others. The Control Collar looks like it uses very old technology, there is a power source and glow from within.

Moving through the town, the party heads towards the Temple of Imogen. Passing the carnage in the Market Place, Cao notes that The Oracle's home is intact. The door stands ajar. Hurricane enters the building. It appears empty. The group follow as Hurricane ascends the stairs ahead, there is a bright light from above. His bells are silent.

Slab finds a pantry. Gunther and Father Howell enter to and raid the food.

Upstairs, Hurricane notices a dresser fallen and a body lay face down. Cao puts his hands on his belt and feels his swords appear in his hands. Opening another door, someone jabs a weapon towards Nazzak.

The dead man they found is an older individual, maybe seventy-years old. He has white hair and there is a pool of blood on the floor.

During the fight with the armoured figure, Cao moves into the room and gets hit by something hidden in the corner of the room. The armoured figure removes his mask and reveals a sallow face, then attempts to bite Nazzak. The creature runs at Sylleth, embedding its claws inside Sylleth.

Nazzak moves to intercede and he becomes paralyzed by the creatures bites. Father Howell moves in and uses his Paper Talisman from the underground to cast spirit guardians, taking down the armoured creature. Cao utterly destroys the other creature.

Slab attempts to remove the tongue of the creature, taking a little acid damage from the creature in the process. Sylleth looks at the armoured creature and determines that these are a form of more intelligent ghoul, smart enough to wear armour and orchestrate attacks. His Magical Book implies that they existed and then a religious interference wiped them out. The long-tongued creature is not even undead, it is a living creature that has been created into the hideous deformity that he became.

Cao and Nazzak explore the other rooms and find that the creatures have been looking for something. The Oracle's clothing has been tipped from her wardrobe and boxes. Behind this room is another which appears unexplored by the creatures, in here is a large mirror.

A voice is heard - "You called," is heard from the mirror. "Ahhh, unexpected." Cao finds he can't stand when he tries to leave. "Let me see your purpose. Let me in." Something tries to force its way in Cao's mind. The voice says, "Cao has been tragically overlooked as an ornament. He is a friend of The Oracle and he wishes to assist her." The voice encourages Hurricane to come towards the mirror and touch the surface, which will summon an image of it.

The mirror is polished metal, blackened at the edges and shines clear at the centre.

The voice tells Cao that touching the mirror will bring the user to the voice. "His influence is limited from his plane and The Oracle had a deal, allowing him to see further. Although, where he is now has very limited vision."

"You must touch the mirror. You must say a word. And, I must allow it. Your body will remain where it is and your spirit will come to me. It is... frustrating. You can shut the door and walk away."

"You may refer to me as Yinsed. All I would have is never-ending silence without The Oracle. I am aware of the ghouls. I am old."

Father Howell feels that the voice is lying.

When the group go to leave, the voice cries. It claims that people only want things and The Oracle never let him out. He said he was just a man who visited The Oracle, she was somehow feeding off him and then he ended up in the mirror. He believes he's not the only person who ended up in the mirror. He claims he was a gambler from Chevel.

When we cover the mirror up, the voice stops. Hurricane feels a release of pressure he wasn't fully aware of when the mirror is covered.

The window in the mirror room just shows the top of The Arena.

A little searching reveals some coins, a diamond necklace and a journal-type book which contains details on the people that The Oracle has seen, noting their problems. Sylleth takes the final item.

Nazzak sneaks into one of the rooms to carve a rough symbol of Karr on one of the walls inside The Oracle's home. The half orc hears a colloquial voice who claims to be Karr.

Gunther has a peek at the boarded up Caster's Pouch.

Offensive Defence looks badly damaged.

We pass a cart heavily loaded with dead bodies. Slab harasses the man for looting. Sylleth peeks at the pile of bodies - they are mostly townsfolk and some hobgoblins. Cao instructs them that there are more dead bodies outside The Oracle's house. Nazzak intimidates the men, and Slab takes some money from them. Then, they send them on their way.

The adventurers move to the Temple of Imogen. There is little sign of damage in this area.

The group rests for eight hours in Sylleth's tiny hut at the back of the Temple of Imogen.