Carrion Crown Episode #2: It all goes Scooby Doo

Is that paint?

Back to the mysterious little village of Ravengro on Friday evening for the next part of the current Pathfinder campaign. It was time for the party to find out who the mysterious graffiti artist was who had defaced a monument to the dead of Harrowstone jail. We were already fairly suspicious of a local farmer, Gilbert, having tracked bloody foot prints back to his abode. We managed to blag (British urban slang - to gain entry, usually to a restricted area) our way into his house, and discovered bloody clothes on the premises. Gilbert seemed surprised and confused, but we collared (British urban slang - to detain or keep from proceeding) him anyway and took him off to the town gaol. It looks as if the blood he used to paint a 'V' sign on the monument came from some chickens he slaughtered.

Veneticus reluctantly agreed that it was time to take a closer look at Professor Lorrimer's trunk of tomes, but despite the enthusiasm of the necromancer Nicodemus Eldritch, who wanted to remove the books to study in private, Veneticus insisted they only be examined with at least one other present, and then returned to the trunk. Still not too sure about Nicodemus, and whose side he's really on!

Ex Libris Professor Lorrimer

Apart from a strange box that looked like it required some kind of triangular key, there was a book called Serving Your Hunger, which seemed to be a treatise on cannibalism, and was bound in human skin, and another called Umbral Leaves. We discovered from these that there were some fairly hefty criminals resident at Harrowstone when it burned down, including The Lopper, the Mosswater Marauder, The Piper and the Splatterman. It looks as if our phantom graffiti artist is the ghost of the Splatterman, and is possessing villagers. It also seems as if he likes to torment victims before he kills them, for example by painting their name on a monument.

Veneticus stayed the night in the village gaol in an effort to study Gilbert in his cell, and saw the man sleep walk, and try to escape from his confinement, before returning to his pallet. This further reinforces the theory that the phantom of the Splatterman intends to use the villagers as its tools.

In the morning, the letters VE had been painted in blood on the monument. Another villager was found to be the perpertrator, but was obviously again an innocent victim. It also looks as if the Splatterman is singling out Veneticus for his attention.  Let him come!

During this session the party questioned some gypsy children they overhead singing a song about the Lopper. Although questioned politely, they publicly insulted the characters, and more importantly, the authority of the church. Veneticus threw stones at the little brats in an effort to instil some degree of respect for authority in them, but this seems to have shocked his less Lawful comrades. Honestly! If nobody is prepared to stand up for the institutions that keep the very fabric of society from unravelling, especially in a land such as this where the forces of Chaos stand ready at every quarter, what will become of us all? The forces of evil can win over their followers at an early age unless they are taught to respect legitimate authority. Weakness will be our undoing.

We have learned that the Harrowstone prison burned down because prisoners rioted and took over the dungeon level. The warden used a deadfall to seal the dungeons, and the fire was deliberately started when it looked like the prisoners might still escape.

Harrowstone prison - yikes Shaggy!

We finally plucked up our courage to investigate the ruins of the prison and have begun exploring the upper level. We have encountered a couple of haunts and some giant spiders. One of the haunts was the wife of the warden, and we have learned from her that Professor Lorrimer was killed by a member of the necromantic cabal, the Whispering Way, and that it was they who removed the warden's ghost, which was keeping the evil spirits from escaping. They have also damaged the warding runes which kept the evil within the ruins, and now its influence is being felt further afield. We also know that if we can find the warden's badge of office, we can banish many of the lesser spirits.

In a secret room, we have found objects of importance to the five key prisoners, including a hand axe, a collection of holy symbols, a flute, a hammer and a spell book. The ghost Vasoria thinks these will aid us in defeating the phantoms.

NB: I'm still getting my head around playing a cleric at the moment. Veneticus has used two of his daily channels, one Touch of Law, and his daily Deflection Aura. He's also mistakenly used his domain spell, Protection from Chaos, against a non-Chaotic haunt, and has switched out his Summon Monster for a Cure Light Wounds on Sir Erudil, who was wounded in the fight with the spiders. The Light spell has been coming in useful as well...